Welcome to the House of Fun! [Plot]

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Fernfur stared at the scratched out message, his heart racing. They were being tested! By who? And what happened if they lost?...

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Ghoststare shot an angry look at the pushy cat. So much for playing nice. "What? Now you care? You seemed fine to explore this place on your own before!" she hissed.

She read it over and over again. "It's a riddle. Who ever left us here left us with a riddle! But... why?"

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Atilla stared at the words. He remembered Mars telling him about writing and how it worked… the letters formed words which had to make sense in some way. Letters were sounds.

Sounding them out in his mind, he was quickly confused. "I don't read Twoleg very well." he admitted out loud. "These sounds make no sense. What does it say?"

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Fernfur grimaced. He wasn't the brightest cat in the clan, but he had been taught how to sound out these symbols long ago. A kittypet he had befriended had told him about Twoleg speak and he had been so fascinated. The two had worked hard to decipher the odd symbols and shapes. He didn't understand what they really meant, but he began reading them out loud. The words came out of his mouth in strange elongated sounds, but he thought he did an alright job.

"Listen close, I’m hard to understand..." he said slowly. "I’m as elusive as a handful of sand. Even if you perceive me, you know me not before you can tell me, what I have forgot. What am I?"

He sat back proudly, tail wrapped around his feet. "How was that?"

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"Not bad." said the anti-clanner with grudging respect. "That still makes about as much sense as before. I don't suppose you can magic up an answer too, can you?"

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Fernfur looked dejected. "Hey," he snapped quietly. "I was just trying to help."

Fernfur always meant well, but sometimes didn't realize what kind of trouble this would get him into. He was unsure about whether he had done good or bad here, and he didn't know what the words really meant.

He sat quietly looking at the floor. The grey and white cat next to him looked concerned still.

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"What's under your pelt?" Ghoststare hissed, her bright green eyes flashing. "At least he could read it. I don't see you being any help so far." Ghoststare gave an affectionate nudge to the saddened cat.

"I'm Ghoststare," she whispered. She felt like coddling the cat a but to encourage him. "You did great."

She thought about the words... they were certainly a kind of puzzle or riddle... But she couldn't decipher its direct intention.

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"It is helpful to know what we're going after." he admitted. "And I don't see you doing anything either, now do we?"

Flicking his tail, he glanced around. "Chances are we have to solve this for the amusement of some sick mind. Then we can leave, and thank the Dark God for that."

He glared at the walls, then out the door. "And I would say that this isn't the only scribble we'll find, too. Someone doesn't carve Twoleg letters in the ground if he just wants to have us fight one another to the death and starve. Either this is a test, or this is a slow and strange form of torture."

_{The words meant nothing to him, and Ravi felt reality slipping through his claws like water. He began to slowly work things out in his mind, or at least try to-But he just couldn't do it. He wasn't nearly smart enough all on his own for something of this level, not without Aku. But he needed to get Aku out of his mind, since it was obviously bringing him down, and he needed to focus on the main objective: Deciphering this...Riddle.}

Atilla glanced again at the door. "There are plenty of rooms out there." he informed them. "One might prove useful. I think this one just has the one scribble in it."

Ravi looked at Atilla thoughtfully, a curious look on his face. "...Thoughtful..." His voice was hushed, and he was trying his best to communicate. "It's just...My opinion, but I think...We should explore the other rooms." If he wanted to get out of there, he didn't want to be the only one alive. Despite the fact that these cats are all strangers, he didn't want them to die.

Atilla looked at Ravi with curiosity, then nodded. "Exactly. If you find any scribbles or anything of use, give a shout. Chances are we work things out faster together." He wrinkled his nose, obviously not liking the idea of working with the others, but it was necessary. "Are we agreed?"

_{Ravi nodded at Atilla's words, agreeing with him every bit, but he was worried about the others. Were the others too proud or stubborn to agree with Atilla? He was especially worried about Ghoststare and Fernfur's opinions, since Atilla and those two didn't seem to be friendly towards each other. "I agree, but what about the others?" He was still a bit nervous, scared that if he said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing, everybody would turn against him. Man, how he wished Aku was there.}

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Ghoststare glared at Atilla. "Fine. We'll split up."

Her blood was boiling. She didn't like the idea of separating... Besides, what kept any of the other cats from just leaving the rest here to die if theydid find a way out? She didn't trust Atilla farther than she could throw him. He was in this for his own benefit, she could tell. Ravi... she wasn't so sure. Fernfur just looked pitifully innocent.

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Fernfur nearly jumped out of his pelt as a loud clanging sound of a chime spread through the room. It echoed around in the dead wood of the rooms like a death toll.

"W-what was that?" He stammered. Without meaning to, he cowered next to Ghoststare. Realizing his action, he straightened himself and licked his fur, coolly. "Sorry about that..." he whispered to her.

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_{Ravi pricked his ears and jumped at least three feet into the air, his fur bristling and his claws unsheathed. His eyes were widened and round, his tail fluffed out to about twice its normal size-Then he realized he wasn't dead. "I am...Sorry." He said quietly, starting to groom his pelt quickly, flattening the fur quicker than it would flatten itself. Since some of them didn't seem too keen on the idea, although they agreed, he nodded. "Alright. I guess I'll go with Atilla since...Yeah." He didn't want to say it although it was obvious, but it didn't seem that Ghoststare and Fernfur trusted Atilla, which could end horridly. So he put it upon himself to partner up with the cat-He had no reason to dislike or distrust Atilla, and Atilla haf no reason to dislike or distrust him. Did he? A tiny, almost non-audible clunk sound came to Ravi's attention, and his tail flicked curiously. "Did...Did you guys hear that? I-I think it came...From the hallway." Ravi looked around disdaintfuly, almost doubting that he ever heard it in the first place. "Should we check it out?"}

Atilla jerked his head up as the BONG of the clock echoed through the room, his claws sliding out in anticipation. He had learned to trust his instincts, because in a strange place they were the only things he could. His companions were gone. He had to trust himself to keep himself alive.

Just a cluck. Was that what is was called? No, Mars had called it something else. A click, a clock-right, a clock, because that's what sound it made. Click, clock, click, clock. When the tom had been captured by a family of Twolegs, he had had the resourcefulness to find out many of the names of the things there. He had even convinced a kittypet to teach him to read sounds, which to him sounded very impressive. He had been more impressed of the reading than he had let on. But he still didn't trust Fernfur, or Ghoststare for that matter. They seemed too much like clanners. Maybe they actually were.

Ravi, on the other hand... he guessed that the quiet tomcat had been a rogue, living on his own. His respect for him increased-not only was he willing to trust someone who nobody else did, but he was intelligent and, if his instinct was correct-which it often was-a more formidable ally than he let on. He and Ravi had the same opinion on the first thing, and he was smart enough to know to stick with the cat who agreed with him.

"Sure." he said, his claws slipping back in. "Let's go see. You never know, it could be useful."

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Fernfur case a wayward glance at Ghoststare. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't want to sit here and wait while they go look. I want to see for myself..."

Ghoststare seemed like someone Fernfur could find comfort in, but right now he wanted to look out for himself. Atilla and Ravi were taking charge and Ghoststare could come with them if she chose to, but Fernfur wasn't going to stay here with her just because the others were going. Splitting up didn't mean two and two, did it? No, Fernfur would go where the muscle was...

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A low growl burbled from Ghoststare, her anger not making any effort to hide itself. What was with these cats? Split up. Look for clues. Now they weren't splitting anymore... did that mean she would have to work with them all? If she wanted to find a way out, she may just have to for the time being... But she was keeping an eye on Atilla.

Ghoststare thrust herself to her paws and padded quickly toward the hall. She hissed over her shoulder, "What, aren't you coming?" She snapped her head back forward as her eyes spotted something white in the hallway. "What the hell?"

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