Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

The Castle That Reaches The Clouds

The castle was, unfortunately, huge. Kipo's eyes widened as it loomed above them, seeming getting even larger with every push of the current below them. But, just as it was tall, it was also in complete disarray, looking almost like it was rotting away. Parts of it sometimes fell away as they watched, just a couple of stones here and there, but frequently enough that it looked like the castle of crumbling onto itself. Half the towers of top of the castle were almost completely gone, with only the base left, and whole parts of walls were missing, exposing part of the interior within, but even with Kipo's eyes, she could really see within it.

A wind blew through them, and everyone in the boat shivered. A low whistled echoed throughout the little valley, coming from the castle, and it sounded like someone singing creepily. Kai jumped, about to say something, but Tulip told him it was just the wind going through the castle before he could say it was a ghost or something.

Not that ghosts don't exist, Kipo thought, but in this case, she was willing to guess it was the castle this time, not... a spirit.

Fei Fei diligently led them towards the castle, not complaining, but Kipo could see her hands shaking on her oar. The river they were on led to a tunnel built into the castle, and even though it was the middle of the day, Kipo couldn't see the end of it, if the even was one.

The boat was, for once, completely silent, with Tulip not needing to give any more instructions. They had no distractions from the tunnel yawing in front of them like a mouth, and though no one said anything, they all saw how each of them sunk into themselves as they passed through the opening, even though the roof was high above them.

Kipo blinked, her eyes easily adjusting to the darkness, and she found a dock waiting just within the entrance of the tunnel.

"Uh, Fei Fei?" she called out. Fei Fei glanced back, not completely seeing her in the dark, and Kipo pointed to the side, towards a dock. "Take us to the right. There's a dock that I can tie us to over there."

Fei Fei looked. "I see it," she confirmed, before paddling over towards it. It wasn't very far, so when they were in range, Kipo awkwardly stood up, grabbing at it and pulling them closer, electing cries of surprise from everybody else. The boat bumped into the side of the wooden dock, and Kipo hopped off, finding a frayed rope on the side, and tied the boat up.

"There we go," she said, self satisfied. She looked to her friends, seeing that some of their eyes had mostly adjusted to the dark.

Coraline stepped out first, wincing as she stretched out her legs, but she didn't complain as much as Kai and Mabel did when they stepped out.

"Ow," Mabel said. Suddenly, she started jumping up and down, making the wooden floor underneath them shake. "Ow, ow, ow, ow-."

"Mabel, that's enough!" Kipo called out nervously, steadying her friend. She nervously glanced down at the wood that dipped beneath them. "This place doesn't look too steady anyway."

"And we definitely don't want to end up in the water," Coraline agreed, albeit a bit harsher than Kipo. But she was right, and when Kipo looked over the side, she saw that the water below them had gone from an icy blue to an inky black, and she didn't think it was just because of the darkness.

"Bingo, a door!" Luz called out from behind them. "Come on, everyone! In here!"

Without delay, the little group followed Luz through the door, a faint light spilling into the tunnel as she heaved it open, holding it there so it didn't swing shut. It seemed pretty heavy, so Kipo hurried through, giving Luz her thanks as she passed. Luz only nodded, saving her breath for holding the door open.

The building they had stepped into was... well, for lack of a more sufficient word, well lit for a room with no windows. It was a very grand room, very tall, with a chandelier that may be bigger than Kipo swing above her. It was well lit, almost like a bonfire, and the room was better lit than if it had been outside.