This occurs after Slate 10 (though I've taken so long, he might as well have written 11-20 ;) I apologize for my extended MIA. nurpg@chocobo.org Recap: The trio (Slate, Dibbka, and Krista) had been evading a group of shades for at least a week using magical steeds. They started riding over the ocean, eventually the magical steeds gave out and they were forced to swim. Slate 10 ended with the trio seeing a ship in the distance.

Dibbka 10 -

Dibbka saw the ship in the distance just as he saw Krista slip under the surface of the ocean. Forgetting their possible salvation, Dibbka tried to swim towards her, tried to grab her arm, but it was no use, his strength had left him miles ago as the shades chased them. It was awe inspiring the way she just slipped silently below the surface, as if the ocean itself was a warm blanket comforting Krista' soul. And so easy, so much easier than the struggle to remain above surface. Just the solace of knowing that you would be warm and comforted...

"DIBBKA!!!"

The buffalo woke from his almost fatal daydream to see Slate struggling to keep Krista's head above water.

"I can't hold her myself! The ship's almost here, if you can help me, when can make it there before we all drown!"

Dibbka forced his failing muscles to move himself forward. Each stroke through the water he took was like molten steel coursing through his veins. At first he fought against the feeling, the excruciating pain which made the dark depths of the ocean seem like a viable option. But then he embraced the pain, using the molten steel to fuel his own adrenaline. It was amazing the power the body had once its focus was clear.

They would make it to the ship.

Just feet from the hull, Dibbka noticed that things weren't kosher with the vessel they were about to board. While it could have just been the pseudo-delirium he was in, the buffalo prided himself on keen hearing, and as it was, he heard no one on the ship above. No shouts of 'Land ahoy!" or "There be land lubbers in the water off of the starboard bow." No sounds of the sails flapping in the wind (in fact, he had seen no sails at all from a distance.) It was as if the ship was deserted and left adrift to float it own course.

There was an old, half rotten rope ladder hanging down to the water which looked just sturdy enough for the trio to climb aboard. Using it, Dibbka hoisted Slate with Krista over his shoulder up onto the first rung. It somehow held the weight of both.

Dibbka shook his head in amazement at Slate's resolve. How had that man maintained his composure, his strength whilst he hadn't slept more than a handful of hours in as many days? Dibbka himself had been able to sleep when the group had found the short reprises from the shades, and yet he was exhausted. Then a thought popped into the buffalo's mind, 'He's driven as if by a demon.' It was a simple thought, but it frightened Dibbka.

Once Slate and Krista were aboard, Dibbka grabbed hold of the rope ladder and climbed. He noticed the hull of the ship was covered in barnacles and sea moss all the way to the deck itself. But it mattered little as he reached a place to lie down. His adrenaline fading as quickly as it came, he saw both Slate and Krista lying sprawled across the deck. And as sleep overcame his wracked body, he worried the shades would return.

Dibbka stood looking out over his empire of Buffalia, savoring the happiness amongst his people and basking in the warmth of the sun upon his face. All the evils of his mind were but a dream as his bride, the Empress joined him on the balcony of his castle. The emperor reached out and touched her face with a loving caress, pulling his bride to him in a passionate embrace. As they held each other arm in arm, Dibbka opened his mouth to ask the Empress a question, but her name would not pass his lips. In fact, he could not remember his wife's name at all.

With this, his bride broke from his grasp and looked with disdain upon her Emperor. "Do you not even know my name!"

"I...I... can't remember..." was all the buffalo could say.

"You can't remember!?! You can't remember!" the Empress' eyes flared with the fire of molten steel as she slapped him hard upon his left cheek, leaving a cold, empty feeling where her hand made contact with his flesh.

Dibbka screamed out in horror as his mind rebelled from the assault. Looking around, the castle had suddenly become covered in sea moss and barnacles. Forgetting his empress, the emperor rushed to the balcony's edge only to find that his empire had become a sea of moss and barnacles. Again reeling from this assault, the buffalo spun around to see his wife standing inches from him.

Only it wasn't his wife. Sure, she wore the clothes of the Empress, but her body had become liquid darkness, a shadow wearing the clothes of the Empress. When Dibbka couldn't tear his eyes from her form, the shade laughed hideously and pointed to his city. This time when he looked out over the balcony he felt a push from behind and began to fall. The falling, though, did not scare him, what scared him was the fact that his followers were all gathered below the castle, below him, with their arms outstretched as if to receive their emperor as an offering.

Only they were not his followers - they too were shades, and they were chanting "warmth and comfort..."

And Dibbka screamed.

Again Slate found himself on a jagged spire of black rock, sulfur, ash, smoke, and fumes surrounding him. Again, he could not clear his lung or his eyes, and again the dark form with laugh of a million deaths assaulted his ears. As the creature began to unfold its wings, Slate knew what he would find - Dibbka and Krista. If he failed to strike down the dark creature, one or both of them would die, but if he killed the creature itself, both would fall to the ground...unless...

Slate dove forward before the creature could speak, before it could unfold its wings and leave both Dibbka and Krista hanging precariously over an eternal drop, and buried his sword through the creatures wings and its chest in one motion. Again came the noise of steam from a teapot as the demon met its demise, but this time he did not hear the screams of his friends falling to their death.

Cautiously Slate removed his sword from the demon's corpse and peeled away its wings. Slate let out a deathly wail as he realized what he had done.

There, in the arms of the dark creature, lay Dibbka and Krista, there hearts pierced by his sword...

Krista woke clutching her chest as her heart raced as to its death. Looking around, she saw only the deck of a ship, the new moon allowing only the stars to give her light. She did not know where she was, or how she got there, only that she had been swimming to escape the shades.

Her heart raced faster, threatening to rip itself from her chest. The taste of salt in her mouth disoriented her and at first she wondered if she were underwater and the reason she could see no moon. Then a light, cold breeze brushed her face and she knew she was neither dreaming or underwater. And the shades were nowhere to be seen.

To her left and right lay Dibbka and Slate, their sleep seemingly wracked by nightmares. Krista herself could remember nothing from her dreams, a fact that was only marginally comforting. As she looked out over the water, she saw land in the distance. But it wasn't just land that she saw, there were mountains and trees. They weren't near the wastelands anymore. In fact, Krista had no idea where they were.

Another thought hit Krista with little solace. The ship was moving of its own accord, and with no sails (the mast was busted off near the deck). True, Krista had heard of ocean currents, but this was strange to her. Was there some form of magery working with them to save them from the shade. Or were they to suffer a fate worse than that the shades could inflict?

As the thoughts ran through her mind, sleep once again overtook her exhausted soul.

Dibbka felt the soft caress of the ocean air across his face. At first, he felt almost comforted by a warm breeze, almost smiling at the playful wind. But then the shades from Dibbka's nightmares came rushing back to him and the breeze became the white hot tendrils of something much more sinister.

Dibbka bolted upright on the ship's deck, beads of perspiration welled up upon his forehead and his heart began to race. As the buffalo looked around, though, there were no shades, no inky tendrils of darkness reaching for his soul, just the cool night breeze and the waxing moon reflecting off of the water.

The waxing moon?! Before the trio had climbed aboard the ship, the moon had been completely goon, a new moon, and now it was waxing? How long had they slept? Dibbka looked down at his skin and noticed how chapped and purple it was from sun damage. Looking over at his friends, he noticed that their skin, too, was sun burnt.

Dibbka saw his companions wake slowly from their deep slumber. They too seemed confused by what they saw. How could they have all slept for what must have been almost 5 days from what the moon showed. The air too was different, warmer, with a smell of...trees coming from the shoreline? The wasteland had no trees, and what few trees there were near the shoreline would surely not bring such a strong scent.

"Krista, do you know where we are?"

Krista shook her head. "I've never left the area surrounding Wyvernloch in my entire life. But there are trees and the air is warmer, so I'd say we we're further north by a good deal."

"Not to mention the fact that the moon is now waxing by at least five days." Slate's voice was like gravel, parched from the days asleep without food or drink. "We need to see if there is any food aboard this ship and then get ashore."

After a quick search of the vessel, it was obvious that there was little more than seaweed and barnacles to be found on the ship. Down in one of the holds, though, was a small sea worthy row boat. And so the trio set out for shore...

It was daybreak before Dibbka, Slate, and Krista made it to shore. To the south of them was the mouth of a river which flowed east-west. On the shore line were trees, and far to the north and south the hints of mountains. What caught the trios attention, though, was the large castle that could just be seen over the treetops.

Dibbka felt something deep within his soul when his eyes gazed upon the castle in the distance. For a moment he was falling from its walls to meet his end amongst the outstretched tendrils of a million shades. And then a chill coursed through his body.

"Dibbka, something wrong?" Slate's voice brought the buffalo back to reality.

"No, just a funny feeling when I looked at the castle. I think we'll find some answers there."

Slate nodded, and they set off for the castle.

The sun had begun to dip below the horizon as the trio stood outside the castle, it's walls and towers sagging into the earth like a old warrior at life's end. As Dibbka, Slate, and Krista moved forward, startled ravens, and as with a sigh, fled the refuge the old castle provided. The movement and noise they caused put the already tense trio on edge even further.

Slate drew his sword as the hair on the nape of his neck stood unedge. "Something doesn't feel right."

Dibbka, in turn, spun around to face an unseen enemy and found only the long, jagged shadows of a crumbling tower there to greet him. A chill raced down the buffalo's spine like a rabbid dog. Dibbka nodded in afrimation to Slate's comment and drew his sword as well. "I don't like all these shadows. I know they're not alive, but I feel like they're watching us."

Just then Slate and Dibbka heard a stiffled scream come from where they had last seen Krista. When they turn to her direction, they found a wavering form, mostly shadelike, but with Dibbka's face. It motioned to the trio, and then it spoke, in a voice identical to the buffalo's, "The Master will see you now." And as they looked around they noticed that they were surrounded on all sides by shades, the only exit a small opening into the ground over which the Dibbka-shade hovered. "This way," it said in the same deep voice that the buffalo was known to have.

After descending many levels, each guarded by an unmoving skeletal warrior, Dibbka, Slate, and Krista were instructed by the Dibbka-shade to rest themselves in the three chairs of a small circular chamber lit only by the light of a single black candle which burn an almost blue-white flame. As it flickered, the trio's shadows danced eerily behind them with a life almost of their own.

They waited, knowing the shades lurked above, guarding their only know escape route. Even more unnerving was the Dibbka-shade which hovered mere inches in front of Dibbka, miming his every move in a twisted form of mockery. Several times Dibbka attempted a spell, only to have the Dibbka-shade use some sort of silence to block his efforts.

And so the hours wore on, and the black candle grew shorter. The trio dare not talk, dare not do anything at all, really, for they knew the army of shades were not far away. In, fact, it seemed that anytime Slate or Krista moved, that the shadows from the flame danced in unison with their movements, mocking them as well as the Dibbks-shade mocked the buffalo. The shades could appear at any time.

With little fanfare, the candle died a painless death, it's flame distinguished as the cord it fed off of was entirely consumed. With it went the shadoes, shades, and the Dibbka-shade, as the room plummeted into an impenetrable darkness. Before the trio could breathe a sigh of relief, though, the darkness became even deeper, if that was possible, and the room seemed to chill as if the castle had been instantaneously dumped into the middle of a glacier.

A voice spoke, boomming from all directions, impossiblly loud and sinister. "Welcome my...guests, you are just in tim for the feast."

Dibbka knew the voice all too well, and if possible, the color faded from his face. His brother, the vampire Aah Zaergo had also been pulled to the world of Nu.