h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Right, let's get this show on the road again, shall we ?

Chapter Four: The Threat of Marriage"

"Somebody get me a drink", the King shouted from his throne. This was nothing new, so none of the servants were showing any real signs of obeying the order. They all knew that the bottle of wine was next to the throne, where it always was. The King was hardly able to sit straight anymore. This was also nothing new. It happened almost every day.
The Snack Queen stood next to her father, and despite the fact that she couldn't stand him at times like this, she reached for the bottle and presented it to her father.

He grabbed it greedily and downed the entire contents in one huge gulp!

'Now then girl'
he growled
'You are nearly at the age when a girl is expected to marry in this fair land!
I have spent many hours thinking about a suitable candidate for the position of Prince of the Realm and have decided that the best man for the job is....'

This touching speech is suddenly interrupted by an extremely loud noise outside the castle.

'What the devil is going on?'
roared the King!

This was indeed something new. The servants had no idea that the King was capable of noticing his surroundings at times like this. All of a sudden they straightened their backs, and three of them rushed to the door to see what the fuzz was about.
The Snack Queen, grateful that she was off the hook a little while longer backed away from the throne, searching for a way to get back to her own quarters unnoticed...

... luckily remembering the secret door hidden behind the elaborate wall hanging 'The Rape of the Fitness Queens'.

She cursed quietly as she realised that there was no lighting flint in the place she had concealed it before. She would have to feel her way down the steep spiral staircase and hope that she could recall the correct route when she reached the 5-way branch at the bottom.

Her heart pounding as she thought about the commotion going on behind her, she started down into the black abyss.

shazz

Uh oh...let me think about this...
Good to see it's active again though.

TM.

While stumbling through the darkness, occasionally bumping into crates and unidentifyable objects, her thoughts went where they always went at times like that. Her dear Holorutha, and his quest. She was one of the very few people who knew the truth behind the story, and yet she had never been able to express the horror of it to her loved one. She knew what Holorutha was up to, and hoped sincerely that he would find out before it was too late.
However, she had other problems at hand. She vaguely remembered the way back to her quarters, but it had been a long time ago that she last used this route. She thought and tried to remember the blueprints of the secret hallways...

After a great deal of hesitation she tried the second corridor on the left. It seemed to go on for ever!
'This doesn't seem right'
she thought to herself.
'The Castle isn't this big surely!'

Finally she reached a very dusty door. Hesitantly she tried turning the huge ring handle.
*Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkk!*

A draught of musty air blew out from the other side and she stared in amazement as she saw...

shazz

...the remains of what probably used to be a bridge. Slowly she walked a bit further, until she noticed the ground slowly began to lead her down. Now that she had control of her senses again, she also heard the very soft sound of water.

"Water...down here...?" she thought to herself, and walked on to see where the sound came from

The route descended down further and further, and the path changed from worn-out paving slabs to earth. Gnarled old trees were scattered either side of her and wet, slimey moss clung in great clumps to the tenuous track.

Still she walked, the sound of the water increasing as she progressed.
The path twisted and turned, forcing her to tread very carefully as one wrong step could see her plunge down into the darkness which swirled below her.

One more corner turned finally brought her out in...

shazz

All new material has been added to the story. Not bad actually, check it out...

TM.

The route descended down further and further, and the path changed from worn-out paving slabs to earth. Gnarled old trees were scattered either side of her and wet, slimey moss clung in great clumps to the tenuous track.

Still she walked, the sound of the water increasing as she progressed.
The path twisted and turned, forcing her to tread very carefully as one wrong step could see her plunge down into the darkness which swirled below her.
_________

One more corner turned finally brought her to a hall the size of a cathedral. Although there was no obvious source of light, the hall bathed in an eerie light that seemed to originate from within the walls themselves. In the center of the hall shapes could be vaguely seen. She started to walk towards them. As she approached the objects they started to take form, the form of an antique magicians wand. Although the SnackQueen knew better she took the magic wand in her hand and waved it above her head. A soft sound could be heard and the room started to transform. She could now see 32 doors lined up 8 on each wall. Without hesitation she went and stood in front of the first door. She opened it and was astonished to see a landscape she had never seen before...

After a while the SnackQueen had tried all but one. She had found a different scene behind each door. From beautiful and idyllic landscapes to the darkness of night.

She opened the last remaining door...

So Where Are You All ???

It's finally getting somewhere and now there's no more input...

TM.

For what seemed like ages, Holorutha had been sitting in front of the Castle. Not knowing whether or not he would eventually succeed in entering the castle. But, in his young life he had learned one thing...rushing into things will not get you anywhere, neither will running away from the problem, it's best to wait, think and let things work themselves out.
While he was sitting there, thinking about the task at hand, and pondering his options to persuade Count Farmwell to help him, a figure turned up behind him...

It was THE SNACK QUEEN!!!

At first they just stood looking at eachother, not moving, not saying a word. Finally Holarutha moved towards her and...

shazz ,magic>

...discovered he was speechless...he took one more step, and another, until he was standing right in front of her. He reached out for her, but just as his trembling hand was about to touch the Snack Queens face, she vanished.
Holorutha was not too keen on the subject of magic, so he stood there dazed for a while. Then from behind came a maniacal laughter. Holorutha turned around and looked up. He scanned the entire tower from the floor to the top, and suddenly he saw a face staring at him from what he thought would be the 4th floor...

TM...chapter Five is up. I don't know if you had incorporated this in the actual story yet, but we can continue in the other thread

I think the chapter five bit is an effort by Spook to get us to join in his story thread idea at his homepage! It is being run by The Post also, so that could be how he ended up over here of course!

shazz

Well...to do or not to do...that's the question then...

Up to you PM

shazz

Oh well...why not . Let's see what we can turn this into. My reply is already there I believe