Vara smiled slightly as she finished turning the letters around. "I knew it was an ambigram!" she thought to herself as the upside and backwards words looked exactly the same as before. standing back to look at the whole picture she pondered what to do next looking around the room for ideas.

hearing Darren's comment she smiled slightly at the image of a singing dragon before she replied softly to his other comment about her. "I am an snow witch/demon." the way she said this last part made it unknowingly sound like she was calling him demon, though she didn't notice as she started to wonder around the room.

"You were in high demand... by guys?" Tok pondered aloud, the whole sentence seemed strange to her. Then, like a sudden revelation she blurted, "Such a housewife..." As she had stated earlier that day. To Tok that seemed very fitting for Darren. He was good at home economics, and since she was raised in something of a cult it was only natural for women to do that sort of thing. They practiced magic as well, yes, but the whole village was still sexist in the way of living 'The natural way'.

"Oh but they will," She teased Shizu a bit, creeping up closer to the small girl while she was distracted by Darren's talking. "But that's only if you let them." To be honest, Tok would be excited if they found a ghost or at least something. She had experienced more horror then any supernatural creature in her lifetime, so whatever could be in the basement if there was one was fine for her. "I here that vampires are immortal creatures that will hunt you down forever until you finally become their prey." She said in a haunted, eerie voice to scare the little girl once more before turning her attention back to Vara. It was curious what the tall girl was doing, switching letters around like that. Having an obvious clue like that seemed a bit easy. "What exactly is wrong with the letters?" Tok asked, nearing closer and petting Lucifer.

Shizu looked at Darren with a sort of exasperated expression. "But you're not monsters," she stated, puzzled at how he could think otherwise. "Monsters are evil and they hurt little girls like me. That's what Pappy told me."

Tok's final statements sent Shizu over the edge. Hastily, she grabbed onto Tok's shirt, burying her face in the soft fabric. "I don't want to be vampire food!" she cried. "You won't let them get me, will you? I don't think I could keep them off all by myself." Shizu had never really experience playful teasing, and had developed a pretty serious disposition to most things, taking them without realizing they weren't serious. Tok's eerie tone wasn't helping the little girl any either. Comically, Shizu was dragged along the floor as Tok walked over to Vara, refusing to let go of the older girl no matter what.

Tok laughed a loud, whole-hearted laugh as Shizu continued to be dragged along the floor. "Shizu, I was kidding," Tok explained after catching her breath, "Rumors like that are just to scare people from taking liberties while their here. Exploring is one of them." It was probably the first time Tok had really laughed like that in a long time, although she constantly giggled from time to time. Shizu, although Tok thought she was somewhat stupid, was a pretty innocently sweet girl.
"But if there is anything creepy down there I'll be sure to fend you from it. Unless it's rats." She added, shuttering at the meer thought of a rat being down there. Basements had rats in them...
Suddenly overwhelming terror flooded Tok's face for a second as she debated feigning sick and just actually going to class today. Nevermind rats, Tok was going to pull herself though this.

'But you're not monsters...' Those words, although just plainly said, struck Tok as almost a compliment. "Nobody deserves such words like that." She said plainly. It was truth.

Darren smiled at the new woman. "Well it is nice to meet someone who isn't connected to fire. I bet you really like it up here. Now you say witch demon. Those are very different things. Are you a mixed breed like myself?"

He looked back over at Tok. "Like I said, with my classes and likes, most people thought I was gay. And apparently a few guys thought I was quite the catch. And I think I would make a great housewife. A cute black frilly apron. I just need to find the perfect business woman." He batted his eyes at her.

"No, we aren't monsters and no one should be considered that way till they prove it. But it is a simple fact that if humans saw me in my natural form or saw your fire or her ice they would think that. Shoot some people think I'm a monster just from this apperance."

"its a fact of life that people judge, all we can do is act like ourselves and not let other peoples opinions affect our own" Vara spoke sounding wise beyond her years for a moment before she replied to Darren's question. "while the weather is nice, the amount of people up here is a different story, though i must say im surprised i haven't freaked out while i was with any of you..." at this vara fell silent thinking to herself in startled realization that she had indeed been freezing the room, but shizu's heat had prevented it from becoming to noticable except that it kept the temperature within comfortable standards in the room.

"its not that something is wrong with them..." musing softly she answered Tok, "but take a look, what does this say?" pointing at the words she had turned upside down.

((it says the same as it did before))

"K-Kidding?" Shizu asked, simply confused out of her mind. "Why would you do that?" Never in her life had someone messed with her like that. Not even her parents joked around, though they were very traditional Japanese. "So, there won't be any monsters?"

Strange as it would be to most people, Shizu didn't feel anger at being duped, just puzzlement. She was also not one to hold a grudge of any kind, hence her reaction to Tok's obvious, at least to her, fear of rats. "Don't worry about rats, Tok. They don't like fire," she whispered, so as to keep the older and taller girl's fear hidden. "I won't tell anyone either, so you don't have to worry." Stepping back, she grinned, showing off her baby teeth for the world to see, hoping that she could soothe the older girl.

Looking back at Darren's mention of monsters, Shizu asked, "You mean like Mr. Hitler?" She remembered something about him from History class, but it had been a long time ago. Something about him killing lots and lots of people during World War II.

Tok gave Darren a sassy 'seriously?' type of looking before saying "Good luck with that one, housewife." She could actually imagine him in a kitchen with a black frilly apron. The thought was really funny.
Turning her attention back to Vara and her mysterious paintings, "It says the same exact thing it did before." Tok stated obviously, still not really understanding. Her expression turned confused, then, "Didn't you move them around?" Was that what Vara was so interested in? It was strange, but Tok didn't see how it would be important.

Tok still couldn't contain her giggles caused by Shizu's ignorance. "Just to tease you a little, but I highly doubt there would be anything down there." She patted her on the head, trying to get Shizu off her for the most part so she could go over to the painting Vara was looking at. "Rats." Shizu made her remember that again after Tok had tried shuffling it off, "Just don't bring those up." Did I really have that scared of a look on my face? She thought, touching her cheeks to see if they were in a relaxed position. They were, all was well.

Tok looked over the apparent words with the picture, the same as when Vara had moved them before. "That is funny, huh?" She mused, "What do you call something like that? I know it's starts with an a..." She stopped there, thinking it was unimportant. Almost as unimportant as knowing what the tip of the shoelace was called, an aglet. Another 'A' word.
Lucifer made his way from Tok's neck to the corners of the picture, tapping his nose on the end of the picture before turning back to Tok. "Really now?" The snake girl said in response to her reptile friend. "Lets just burn the picture down." She suggested, seeing how the painting itself was bolted to the wall. She would have just asked to lift it, as was seen in those moved with a secret code on the back, but that wasn't possible.

"hmn instead of burning it, as that might not work and would just ruin the picture, why don't we try to turn it too?" vara asked as she looked at tok sidelong. "and the word your looking for is called an ambigram, it was referenced in that one movie Angels & Demons." "why is she worried about rats? i would think she would be more worried about the water" frowning at the picture she lifted her hands and tried to turn the picture, though she wasn't successful this time. "besides there is rock behind it, for all that its plaster up front."

"Oh... Okay," Shizu responded to Tok's explanation, releasing her grip entirely. "For me it's water. That's what I'm terrified of. Water is just scary." Though she had released Tok, she followed her over to the painting with the ambigram. It seemed like it was just a big puzzle that took more than one person to figure out. She listened closely as Tok and Vara debated, climbing onto the mantel of the fireplace to put herself at eye level with the painting.

"Your wrong, Vara," she said suddenly, peering closely at th painting. "It's not solid behind the painting. I can feel a flow of cold air. What if I melt the bolts?" The bolts glowed white-hot then, as Shizu directed heat into them. Then they began melting, flowing down the edge of the painting, somehow failing to leave a mark. Once they pooled around the mantel, Shizu cooled them down in an instant, shattering them from the sudden change in temperature. The picture remained where it was for a moment before crashing down to Shizu's toes, causing her to jump off the top of the fireplace in pain. This also resulted in her failure to notice the rough, square hole in the wall, too small for most people to fit in.

"Who said I was afraid of them." Tok stated curtly. It was obvious that she was, but the snake girl was in denial of that fact. She wasn't going to admit it to any of them. Slightly making a 'ch' sound she glared at the painting to avoid giving anyone else a threatening look.
"True," She said to Vara, "But Lucifer says there's something underneath. Plaster is one thing, I wouldn't think he said a rock..." Before she could continue however, Shizu suggested to melt the bolts around and freely started to do so. The poor girl fell, or jumped down with the painting did. "Think things though, idio--" Stop stopped, directed by Lucifer to look upwards where the painting once was. Now there was a hole in the wall, tiny for most people and it looked like it was dug though. It wasn't a mysterious vent or anything, it was as if someone took a shovel and dug through the very walls.
If someone dug through them, how thick are these walls anyways? Tok thought. "Well look at that, Shizu." She said, helping the little girl back to her feet, "You're theory proved to work." Although burning it would be quite as fine

Holding her toes in pain, Shizu looked up at Tok when she spoke. "I thought the painting was hung up by a nail or something above the hole," she explained with a sniffle. To such a small girl, a fifteen to twenty pound painting hurt when it fell on the toes. She stood with Tok's help, looking back at the painting when it was mentioned. "Do you want me to go in and see if I can find anything?" she asked, smiling widely at the fact that she was able to help out.

Scrambling back up the mantel, she moved the painting out of the way and poked her head into the hole. Even with only her head in the hole, it was obvious her tiny body would fit. As the wave of cold air hit her, she shivered violently, automatically overcompensating by increasing her body heat. "It's really cold in here," she called out, climbing into the hole a little further. "It's like there hasn't been heat in here in forever!" With a thought, she lit a white flame to give her enough light to see by, thoroughly spooked by the expansiveness of the tunnel.

Darren nodded at Vara. She was right afterall. "Hm... freaked out? I don't think that would be very nice to see." He looked over at Shizu when she spoke of monsters but didn't say anything. Hitler was a monster. No doubt at all. He was interested in the darker monsters though. It is a good thing he never found them. He watched as she melted the painting off the wall and then climbed into the whole left over. He sighed. She's wearing a dress that is much to big for her. If she continues crawling like that she's going to end up crawling out of the dress.

"Oi," Tok said, Shizu seemed to enjoy doing things without another people's consent. She did ask if anyone wanted for her to investigate, but it seemed more like a rhetorical question since the girl went ahead and climbed in anyways. "I'm not letting you go there alone." She hopped up onto the fireplace mantle with ease, balancing was her speciality. Tok was pretty small in stature herself, although larger then Shizu, so she could climb in the whole along with the other girl. Giving a look saying Better keep that fire under control

"Ow!" Tok suddenly yelped, sounding almost like one a cute dog would make. She felt something poke at her stomach, digging into her pocket she pulled out a fork. A fork? She thought, How the hell did I end up with a-- oh not again. She sighed, breaking the plastic utensil in half and tossing it aside. Over her years out of the village she had been prone to unknowingly take things that weren't hers. Usually she wouldn't even notice till Lucifer had pointed it out, or she was caught and taken in for her crimes. Putting all matters about her kleptomania aside, Tok tried to look past Shizu into the darkness. It was an impossible task for Tok, having her very poor eyes. "See anything up ahead?" She asked.

" i can warm it up in there without the danger of fire." vara voice would almost sound miffed to most people, though Vara couldn't have said why. she was surprised at the size of the hole within the wall, and since she was tall could quite easily see inside. "i want to see something... if you don't like cold you might want to get away from the wall..." it was all the warning she was going to give as she began to rapidly freeze the water within the wall and stone.

it took a minute for the wall to start to show any sign that Vara was doing anything though it quickly became apparent after wards as cracks spread across the wall at an alarming rate. just as suddenly Vara unfroze the wall the temporary warmth the wall seemed to have quickly disappearing back into it as the wall unfroze and crumbled to the ground. "since we seem to be making holes in the wall anyways..." Varas voice trailed off as she looked at the cave

"No, not much," Shizu replied, the smile evident in her voice. She was really glad that Tok had decided to come along with her, though she was a little sad that the other two couldn't come as well. "Hang on a second. It looks like there's a pit here and-- oof!" Shizu continued, landing on her head as she crawled off of the ledge, having misjudged the boundary. Hurriedly, she stood up, unaware that the majority of the dress had stretched and ripped from catching on rocks, as well as the filth on her face and hands. Undeterred, she looked back at Tok, whose face seemed deathly pale in the white light of her fire, smiling brightly.

The cavern roof was about four feet above the ground, allowing Shizu a foot of head room, and was about six feet wide. "This is fun! Huh, Tok-chan?" Shizu exclaimed, peering into the freezing depths of the tunnel that branched off to the left. Looking back, she was amazed to see that the cave was wider, though no taller than before. The lack of change in height was a rather good thing actually; it meant that they didn't have to risk structural integrity to explore. "There's enough room for you to follow guys, though you'll have to crouch or something to keep from hitting your head." As she finished, she began making her way forwards again, oblivious to the fact that her dress was slipping lower and lower.

Tok watched the walls get colder and break, caused by Vara. "Let's hope the school doesn't get mad at us." She laughed, crawling a bit faster to let the other two inside the now larger tunnel.

"'Fun' is one way to put it..." She murmured as she made her way father along with Shizu leading the pack. Looking down at her hands in the dim light
"Hold on a sec." Tok said, stopping Shizu and taking a hairband from her wrist. "I may not be as good as fixing things like Housewife, but the dress is slipping like crazy." She gathered a handful of fabric and tied it up with the hairband. Not being able to do anything about the top part, Shizu would have to handle that herself. This cavern is getting higher, She noticed, she was almost able to sit up properly now. It continued to the point where Tok and Shizu could almost stand up.
Lucifer twitched, whispering something in Tok's ear. "Shizu, Lucifer says there's a whole up ahead." 'Like a literal man-whole?' She clarified with her reptile friend. It nodded.

Blaze walked around for quite some time and then decided to go into the common room. He looked around for a while and found a giant hole inside of a wall. "Umm well this looks promising." He said as he climbed into it. He had walked for a few minutes and then heard voices. "Hello?" He called out into the darkness. Blaze was a bit confused but he was excited as well. He loved adventures and mysteries. Since it was dark he sparked a flame in his hand so he could see where he was stepping.

"Huh?" Shizu asked blankly as Tok grabbed her shoulder and began fussing with her dress. "Oh! Thanks, Tok-chan. I need to get my own clothes soon, don't I?" The same smile was plastered to her face as she looked away and continued walking forward, feeling a little sorry for the fact that she was the only one who could stand completely upright. Tok was getting closer, but she was still kind of stooped over.

Shizu's ears twitched when she heard a faint echo. It sounded like someone had called out from behind them. "Hello!" she shouted in response, hoping the person could hear them. She didn't dwell on it for too long though, instead kneeling where the whole was, though it was covered with a huge lid. "I'm not gonna be able to lift that," she announced, sitting down and crossing her legs while she waited for the others.

((It just occurred to me to tell you guys, just in case you didn't check Shizu's profile, but Shizu also has control over ice and cold. It's sort of like she just does the opposite to create them than she does to create fire. :D))

Blaze was walking straight for a while and then heard someone say,'hello,' back. He raced towards the noise and after several minutes came to a group of people. He stood there awkwardly for a while not really knowing what to say or do. He remembered meeting a few of them, but had forgotten there names. He looked towards the giant lid sitting in front of them and then back at the group. "So why you guys down here?" Blaze said quietly. He hated just standing there not knowing what to say.

Vara had fallen silent when Shizu had called back to the echoing hello, and had shrunk away from Blaze when he arrived, masking her actions by heading towards the covered hole. she didn't think she would have a problem lifting it, but she also knew she needed something to pry it up a bit so she could get a grip.

quickly fashioning a crowbar from ice, she bends down and rams the end under the lid, before levering her weight on it and propping it up. stepping on the crowbar, she leaned closer, and grabbing the rim, levered the thing off the whole, flipping it over to the side with a loud clang of iron on rocks.

leaning down she realized that the ladder that was there was too slippery for normal use and so froze the ladder steps, before climbing down, breaking the ice as she went until she reached the bottom, and a semi-clean ladder stretched above her.

((Time to introduce Jai'kar! Dun...dun...dun! :D))

"Report!" Jai'kar snapped at the kneeling vampire at the base of dais.

"The door and wards have been severed, my lord!" the pale humanoid figure shouted in response.

"Excellent. Scouts, to your positions! I want to know who is entering our prison! If we can use them for ransom, all the better. Watch for prominent figures. Anyone who we know about from our guys upstairs. You! Get me my armor and sword! Now!" Jai'kar commanded as he stood from his throne. His crimson eyes shone in the flickering torchlight, filled with a maniacal blood-lust. His arms bristled with bulging muscle, tiny hairs sprouting instantaneously as his excitement triggered parts of his transformation. The ivory fangs peeking over his lower lip visibly elongated at the prospect of getting to spray blood. The men around him shivered in anticipation. The last time they had seen their lord this way was many years ago when he killed their leaders. His takeover had unified the werewolf and vampire clans of the region into one 'kingdom.'

The armor was brought to him quickly, the polished black surface reflecting the orange flames of the torches. He donned it quickly, sliding the greaves up his legs, the gauntlets over his hands, and attaching the breastplate over his shirt of chainmail before placing the helmet on his head firmly. Finally, he belted his sword to his hip, and, unable to contain himself, let out a howl filled with blood-lust, that echoed down corridors eerily.

Shizu looked up as the man who had called out arrived, smiling brightly as she greeted him. "Hiya! We're exploring this cave here to find the basement! Want to join?" she exclaimed as she stood up. "I'm Shizu! What's your name?"

The bang of metal hitting, and crushing, rock scared the bejeebus out of Shizu, who felt a cool sensation as her bladder released with fear. It was quite a good thing she was wearing a fresh Pull-up. The last one would have leaked. Anxiously, she watched Vara climb down the ladder, peering into the dark depths of the hole. Impulsively, she followed, using her heat abilities to float down rather than climb. Landing with a soft thud, she looked around, unable to see anything that didn't have light shed on it by the hole; a diameter of around three feet. With a thought, a ring of white fire surrounded her and flew out, doggedly seeking the boundaries of the chamber. The room was bathed in a eerie, silvery light. Luckily for Vara, the flames produced no heat, as she would have certainly been hit as they flew out. "You guys coming?" she shouted up to the others before she walked over to Vara and examined her surroundings.

They were in a massive room, easily big enough to fit the school into. Rocks lay everywhere in piles, and there were even a few stalactites and stalagmites, though they were concentrated around the rim of the cavern. Branching off from the chamber were various tunnels, obviously carved out by some living thing. Shizu's eyes showed nothing but wonder at the strange world they had entered, though she wouldn't go any farther without Tok.

((Sorry it's taken me... forever))

Leon, by now, had been tagging along with the group long enough to see what they were doing. Isn't this damaging school property? He thought, but decided that was probably unimportant since the hole in the wall had already gotten larger. He turned to Blaze, "A couple of kids going exploring in a dark cavern," He said, "What could possibly go wrong, eh?" He nudged the boy's shoulder, smiling with a light and friendly attitude. He followed the group down the tunnel.

Tok dropped down with Shizu into the open room. It was huge, just a cave under the entire school. most of the tunnels seemed carved out by some creature or machine, Lucifer noticed, and he informed Tok that the cavern obviously wasn't here before people had found it.
"You hear something?" She asked Shizu, in an eerie tone to scare the little girl a bit. Just as a light joke to level the mood of this place, but to her dismay Tok had actually heard something. At first it seemed just like the echoes of jumping down here but Lucifer confirmed that he heard it as well, almost something of a laugh. It was faint, probably only able for animals and bugs to pick up. "I bet there could be ghosts down here or something- Hey! Mr. Ghost?" She shouted at nothing, "Don't give us a hard time down here, okay?" She laughed at the end, hearing her voice echo through the walls of the cave.

((its fine))

Vara was silent as the echoing howl blasted over her. "that sounds like a wolf's howl..." the display of shizu floating down as well as tok climbing after her went unnoticed as tok made the slightly flat joke. " and here i thought i was the only one" Vara spoke softly a smile playing around her lips as she kneeled to study the floor.

"I wonder what made these..." speaking softly to herself she still said it loud enough that the rest of the party could hear her, at least the ones in the tunnel with her.

((sorry bit of writers block))

Shizu didn't respond to Tok's jives, instead staring down one of the corridors that branched off of the main cavern. Unlike Lucifer, she hadn't heard the sound, but she was picking up something different: heat. Suddenly, she sprinted to the opening of the cavern, her infrared vision picking up on two figures down the tunnel, as well as a general draft of warm air. The figures seemed very important, though for the life of her, Shizu couldn't think of why. Instinctively, she pulled her hand back, charging up a flame, and threw it down the hall, watching blankly as it exploded and sent the creatures running. A second later, Shizu was sprinting after them, unaware of why she needed to.

"Sir! Sir! Sir!" a wolf yelled, loping up to the dais, upon which sat Jai'kar and his throne.

"What?" Jai'kar snapped back, irritated by the pup's eagerness.

"Scouts nine and ten report seeing Itzli of the Phoenix and Glaecix in the cavern, as well as a few others who are at this time undetermined!" the wolf exclaimed, turning into a human and giving a rough salute. "They have successfully entranced the Princess and are luring her back here as we speak! What about her friends?"

"Itzli of the Icy-Flame, huh?" Jai'kar muttered to himself with a sadistic grin. "Let them come! With luck they will pay a ransom, or tell people that can pay about the situation. Not to mention, they may give a fight!" He and his confidants roared with laughter then, a sick and twisted sound that echoed off the walls as they celebrated their fortune.

((Itzli is Shizu's birth name. Her parents named her Shizuko because of her muteness, as Shizuko means silence. :D))