amber ♠ 02

[steelmyself]

I really have to wonder at how quickly we're destroying this place.

[ Archer announces himself over the amber with that casual and dire remark. His tone is bored. ]

First of all, we've upset the balance of nature by killing a predator and allowing defenseless prey animals to multiply unchecked. Those rabbits will probably suffer once they meet the cruel reality of life beyond this tree, you know.

And now we've nearly destroyed the tree itself with our meddling. Isn't that impressive?

[ Now his voice is just dripping sarcasm. ]

Well done, everyone. Whoever brought us all here should really have expected these results. It's exactly what human beings do, after all.

Comments

[cocooned]

[ This guy again... he's always so cheerful. ]

What else are we supposed to do? I mean... it's not wrong to try and solve the riddle, or hunting for food.

[steelmyself]

Oh, you killed the snake because you were hungry? My apologies, I suppose that's sensible.

[ He doesn't sound apologetic. ]

But just why did you try to solve the riddle?

[cocooned]

[ Well. And so... they don't get eaten, too. But considering some of her activities, she can wind up anemic. The protein really helps...

As for the riddle-]

We're supposed to solve it, right? That's why it's there at all. Someone said that last time people were able to get more rooms and things too.

[steelmyself]

"Because it's there."

Ah, that's what they say about Everest, right? You know how many people die every year handling that one?

[cocooned]

Solving a riddle is different from climbing a mountain.

[ . . . ]

Besides. What else are we supposed to do? Maybe solving them will help us get home?

[steelmyself]

[ He laughs, shortly. ]

Listen, young lady, you've been kidnapped. Is the best thing you can think of to do complying with your captor's byzantine demands?

[cocooned]

[ Urk-! S-She hasn't forgotten that, it's just...! ]

T-Then whats your bright idea to get out of here then? I'm frustrated being here too. If you have a better way...

[steelmyself]

We should be focusing on finding a way out, not solving riddles. Digging down into the roots, perhaps, or defeating the mist that lurks above and around.

[cocooned]

I thought maybe if we did solve the riddles, maybe a way out would appear...

[ She frowns. ]

I want to find a way out as much as everyone else. How does someone defeat mist, though? But I suppose digging is possible.

[steelmyself]

So you'd rely on the path our captors set before us? How pitiful.

The first step is finding out more about what this mist is.