Holes/Session 53
A fragment of the Garden of Remembering
< Holes
INT. Great rift at Sanessee - tunnels
The party has stopped mid-hike. Radek and Midoriki Hano are standing nearby. Amadi has grabbed Rhu's eye and is peering inside.
Greibel surreptitiously picks up his yo-yo.
The Gravedigger simply stands beatifically in the middle of the chaos, like a rock in this ocean of madness.
AMADI
(to Rhu)
Open your mouth and say "Aaaa."
RHU
Aaaa... look, can you get off my face?
Amadi peers into Rhu's ear.
AMADI
No. Keep saying "Aaaaa." Move on to B in a bit.
RHU
Aaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbwwwwhaat you are doing?
Greibel seems to spot someone and starts talking to them, except there doesn't appear to be anyone there.
Amadi pokes Rhu in the nose.
RHU
Huh. Look, I'm a qualified first aid person and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, so if you don't mind...
Rhu tries to push Amadi off. (rolled 16 athletics) She falls over.
RHU
Oh, oops, sorry... here, let me help you up...
Rhu pulls Amadi up and she then holds on and crawls onto his shoulders, inspecting his hair.
Rhu gives up and lets Amadi do what she likes.
Amadi starts braiding the hair.
Squirrel appears and peers curiously over Radek's shoulder.
The Gravedigger peers over Squirrel's shoulder.
Radek is holding his tablet. Complex diagrams fill the screen. He slowly turns his head in Squirrel's direction, narrowing his eyes menacingly.
RADEK
...Yes?
SQUIRREL
(rolled 14 arcana to make sense)
You should tilt it.
Radek swats at Squirrel with his free hand.
RADEK
Begone. Your advice would be unnecessary even if it wasn't utter nonsense.
Ganelon (Radek): Obviously, these diagrams plot the chemical balance of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in an attempt to understand its addictive effects upon children below the age of 13. He's getting close to figuring it out.
Frezak (Gravy): Dammit, Radek. I thought you were a scienceman.
Ganelon (Radek): I'm joking, man, it's actually more Hole stuff.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
She could be saying something metaphorical that's actually very wise and smart, just beyond our natural scope of language.
(he squints)
Wait, no, that's the red one. Forget it.
RADEK
Mm.
Radek nods.
SQUIRREL
The squirrels live in the tree and only walk from place to place as needed. They fall out sometimes.
RADEK
(his attention still on the tablet)
Are you well, Gravedigger? I understand that you died for a moment, there.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Transcending the bounds of mortality is a piddling feat when one has bisected reality itself.
Oooh, lunchtime.
RADEK
You should try to avoid doing that. Leads to situations like this one.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
Sandwich lady! Lunch!
Rhu goes over to Greibel to try to listen in.
Greibel holds out a pile of drugs.
RHU
Um, thanks?
Rhu pockets the drugs, and Greibel looks a bit surprised.
RHU
(to Hano)
Should we keep going, then?
Almost immediately, the shadows surrounding the bubble of light leap out and attack, sharply defined and full of shivers.
Rhu quickly tries to hand the drugs back, but then a shadow leaps at him, devouring his own shadows and leaving him standing slowed in vague etherealness.
Amadi takes a bowl of soup out of her pocket and throws it at a random shadow and misses wildly, hitting Hano in the back of the head.
THE GRAVEDIGGER
(in slow motion)
Mmmmyyyyy luuuuuunch.
Amadi snickers.
Midoriki Hano very deliberately reaches up and wipes the soup off, then grabs a shadow next to her and hurls it at Amadi's face.
Amadi catches it and winds up shredding it in an attempt to eat it.
Radek shoots another shadow and it splits into two shadows, which try to recoalesce, but then explode with a loud pop instead.
Amadi starts fizzing.
Two shadows attack Rhu, knocking him over. Another shadow jumps at the entity Greibel was talking to and gets devoured amidst horrible noises. Two other shadows attack Radek and Squirrel.
Radek is sickened, and then Squirrel helpfully pukes on him as well.
The remaining shadow lunges for Hano and gets zapped like a bug.
Rhu gets up and slams the shadow next to Greibel with his maul. It goes splat.
Squirrel turns into a gaint crabby thing and claws a shadow next to her to shreds, then turns around and pukes on Radek some more.
The puke starts singing.
The Gravedigger harmonizes with the singing puke. Amadi joins in, doing the contrasting voice.
The Gravedigger directs the singing into a blast of discord, and tries to scrub the shadowthing from this reality. Via the application of a shovel.
The shadow turns inside out.
Amadi leads the song into a violent climax, making the shadows shimmer and grow. And grow... and grow... eventually, they become a sort of dark cloud hanging over everything. Then it starts raining.
Amadi pulls a large umbrella out of her pocket, opens it, and motions for everyone to gather 'round. Rhu and Radek do, and the Gravedigger sort of crouches to get under the 'brella as well.
Midoriki Hano just stands where she was, looking irate.
Greibel grins, the rain streaming off him in gleaming darkness.
