The Boilerworks

**The Boilerwork** is the first area Zarah passes through in *Blue's Journey: Quest of Zarah.*

## Area

The Boilerworks is located below The Dungeon Area. It is extremly dark down there. Rats and mice roam around. The walls are constantly creaking, but The Paws are what keep the area company. A monster known as The Antenna lurks within the shadows, capturing and killing anyone he spots. The Paws are what heat up the boiler and keep the life of The Queen's Castle alive.

## Inhabitants

* The Snarller
* The Spiders
* Paws

## Solution

Zarah wakes up in a hot metal hallway.. Right next to her is the cage she fell out of. The cage was broken open.

**Zarah**: "Ugh...what is this place...? And why's it so dark all of the sudden?"

She walks around for a while until she finds a room filled with giant heated pipes. Touching the pipes would badly burn her hand. Zarah walks up a long flight of stairs to get to a giant metal door that she has to pull open.

**Zarah**: "Ugh! Come on...you...there!"

Zarah finds a pool of blood and a discarded flash light.

**Zarah**: "What the-"

Zarah picks up the flashlight and hears a monstrous shriek and slithering sound. then stumbles across a family of Paws.

Paws are small, humanoid creatures with fluffy brown/peach/blonde/black fur and rounded heads. Their appearance resembles an adorable stuffed animal. They have large hands and feet. Additionally, Paws also emit a baby animal sound. They have white eyes, that glow in the dark, and distinctive animal features on their faces depending on which animal they are. They also seem to wear clothes that dolls tend to wear. The males have darker colors and the females have brighter colors and long eyelashes.

The Paws notice her and run away quickly.

**Zarah**: "Yikes! Wait a second. Hold on a minute!"

Zarah tries to catch up, but they leave the girl behind. She finds one of the Paws caught in a mouse trap. Its a green cat paw.

**Zarah**: "Poor thing...hold still"

Zarah frees it and The Paw starts to warm up to her and decides to stay with her.

**Zarah**: "Aw, this thing's cute! Come on, follow me!"

They enter a room filled with black goo and spider eggs hanging from the ceiling and walls.

**Zarah**: "Oh, no. I hate spiders!"

As they go deeper in the dark. Big spiders start to show around her. If Zarah is caught, they will wrap her with webs, resulting in a death. Zarah picks up The Paw.

**Zarah**: "Spiders?! Why spiders of all things?!"

The spiders are quick, but weak. They can climb on walls to try and jump onto Zarah's head. Most difficultly, Zarah has to avoid the spiders from getting to the paw. Zarah whacks the spider, which kills them. Zarah runs with her friend and falls through a vent. She slams into a lower part of The Boilerworks.

**Zarah**: "Agh! Ugh! My legs...At least we're still alive, little guy."

As they explore the Boilerworks below, they see a paw cowering in fear.

**Zarah**: "Hey, hey. It's okay. I have another animal friend with me.

Zarah offers the poor thing her hand, but a tentacle wire wraps around it and yanks it upwards into the shadow. Zarah witnesses The Snarller's tentacles moving along the ceiling and goes through a hole. Zero's Paw hides inside her pocket.

**Zarah**: "What was that thing?! Don't worry, we're going be alright"

Zarah feels determined to protect the little thing. Zarah keeps moving through The Boilerworks. One of the rooms has a long suspension bridge, held up by ropes.

**Zarah**: "Again with this thing?!"

The Snarller rises his tentacles, trying to pull Zarah down to the abyss below. Zarah quickly runs across before the bridge collapses. Zarah then hops into a vent.

**Zarah**: "See, I told you we're going to be alright!"

While in the vent, The Snarller sticks his tentacles through the cracks and attempts to feel around for Zarah. Zarah carefully avoids the long tentacles. The Paw rushes out of the vent and finds they are in a large storage room. Zarah then hears The Snarller approaching and quickly hides behind boxes.

**Zarah**: "I hear it coming..."

The Snaller comes in and surveys the area.

The Snarller is a machined monster. It resembles a fan with an eyeball inside. It has mechanical wires stretching out through the back, which he uses as tentacles to carry himself around. Somehow, he is able to combine trash with himself to form hands to climb onto the walls.

The Snarller lifts a few boxes and then quickly gives up. He leaves the room through another door.

**Zarah**: "Phew...we got lucky..."

Zarah then passes through a large corridor filled with steam being dejected from broken pipes. Touching any will result in her getting burned to the point of death. Zarah finds an abandoned and heavily damaged electrical room. Zarah sees a group of Paws with their backs turned.

**Zarah**: "Hey! More of those little critters!!"

As she approached them, her paw friend quickly stops her. She jumps out her pocket and gets in front of Zarah.

**Zarah**: "What? What's the matter?"

The group of paws turn around to show that they are in a rabid state. These versions look exactly like their normal counterparts, with the exception of their facial features. Their faces are now a mouth with sharp teeth and blood where their gums should be. Their eyes have gone entirely pitch black and their fur is messy. They also have sharp claws.

**Zarah**: "You know, I REALLY wish you could talk!"

The Ravaged Paws attack Zarah by grabbing, scratching and biting her. The Kitten Paw smashes some of their necks, violently breaking them. Zarah also joins in helping her new friend. After killing them, Zarah whipes a tear from her face, feeling guilty.

**Zarah**: "Hey, by any chance...can you talk?"

The Paw Kitten frowns and searches for some spider goo and writes on the walls. She explains to Zarah that they were paws that have been lost in the darkness for so long. She then explains how she can't talk and is forced to make animal noises.

**Zarah**: "Oh, how did you become THIS? Was you a child once?

The Kitten sits there and her head tilts downwards. She then rubs her head trying to remember.

**Zarah**: "You...can't remember, can you?"

The Kitty then tears up a little. She starts to remember slowly and draws herself as a normal child next to 2 other kids. The Kitty then begins crying a little.

**Zarah**: "Woah! Don't cry, you don't have to remember if it makes you too emotional!"

The Kitty then draws an evil like Queen the size of a teenager and then a little evil boy next to her. The Kitty then punches the two in anger, but harms her hand in the process.

**Zarah**: "Hey, hey! I said you don't need to! Let's just move on."

After that, she finds a room with The Snarller peacefully sleeping on a pile of garbage. His snores sound like monstrous like breathing. Zarah has to sneak past without making any noises. If she makes loud noises, then she will awaken the monster. Running is pointless as The Snarller will quickly stretch his tentacles and grab Zarah, resulting in a death. When she enters the next hallway, she trips and creates a loud noise that wakes up The Snarller. He comes down from the ceiling and starts chasing Zarah into an elevator.

**Zarah:** "Oh, shrimp!"

Zarah hides behind boxes inside the elevator. The Snarller sleeps in the elevator until the ride ends. He wakes up and exits the elevator. Zarah exits the elevator and finds a huge boiling room with huge pipes everywhere. The Snarller is climbing around the walls and ceiling, scanning the area. More of The Paws show up here, but they immediately get killed by The Snarller's tentacles. The tentacles show to electrocute The Paws to death.

**Zarah**: "Electrocution?! That's...well, that's kinda cool..."

Zarah has to go unnoticed in The Antenna's lair as he kills passing Paws. Once at the end, Zarah hears some of The Paws scream as they get killed. The Kitten wants to make a run to get Zarah to safety, but Zarah wants to help the rest. Once back in the room, Zarah finds The Snarller on the ground, eating The Paws.

**Zarah**: "Stay here! It's time to end that monster!"

Most of them run to Zarah, scarred for their life, Zarah whacks The Antenna's tentacles with a nearby rusty axe. Zarah chops all the tentacles off, making the monster cry in pain. The Snarller is now missing all of its tentacles. All of The Paws pick up the Snarller and Zarah guides them into the giant furnace. The Snarller is burnt and blows up. Zarah celebrates with The Paws and she takes off without them.

**Zarah**: "That was amazing! Hey, I just realized. What should I call you?"

The Kitten lets out a meow, trying to speak. Zarah giggles.

**Zarah**: "How about I call you kitty?"

Kitty folds arms in embarrassment. Her Kitten Paw stays with her. Zarah climbs up a long and ends up in a dark empty dungeon.

**Zarah**: "Hello? Anyone up here?"

She is immediately grabbed by **The Executioner's** hand, thus capturing her and ending the chapter. She let's out a loud gasp as she is grabbed. She is imprisoned in **The Dungeon**.