songerein | closed ⚡🌠 where the pulse of the land offers no respite

Down that same path we were headed?

[Less of a question and more of a confirmation, because she continues with a pensive hum around her sandwich.]

Could try following that crystal dust we found...

Edited 2023-10-08 23:10 (UTC)

[A small nod.]

I think following that trail would be our best bet for now. Either those are remnants from whatever destroyed them, or it could be from whatever took them away.

Hm... either way, we're bound to find something at the end of the trail...

[It's not something that she's looking forward to, but they've made some good discoveries so far, the tagged bats being the biggest thing. It'll likely be a while until they get any news back on those, so anything else that they can discover will be helpful.

Of course, it doesn't take them long to get down to where they had been before, to the cavern with the bat's den inside and the crystal dust trails leading off the path that they had taken to get there. Tifa stops to take a look around, squinting through the light of Eustace's orbs to see where the shimmer of it goes, and she motions up ahead to a path that winds and then dips into a steep decline.]

... That way?

[She looks a little unsure of it—it doesn't look very safe—but that's never stopped them before, has it?]

[Hm... As he thought, the crystal trail continues. It's clear the trail also lead to the bats, and a quick look over reveals more shards within, so they were still on the right track there. But then what of this other path? Had the bats gone further down or is it something else?

It's then that he hears... Snuffling sounds? And soon the sound of digging which Tifa will also be able to hear. And it's further down that very path that looks unsafe, but...]

Stay close.

[Just a quiet call as he looks towards the path. Dangerous or not, they need to go, and Eustace will quickly take the lead.]

[She can hear those sounds... though faintly. It makes her brows furrow, the familiarity ringing a bell in the back of her mind as she follows Eustace to their newly discovered trail. This one is windier, and it looks as though it burrows into a cave-like hallway below, and she only exchanges a wary look before they begin their careful descent.

Meanwhile, the sounds only start to grow louder, and by now, she's sure that she recognizes them.]

... Are there moles down here?

...If not moles, then some other burrowing creature.

[He slowly raises one of the lightning orbs to cast a wider, dim light, and they can see a large shadow in the distance, already half inside the wall.]

[She squints in the dimmer lighting, the sounds already starting to grow further away as the creature continues to dig, dig, dig deeper.]

Well, if I learned anything from being through the mines under Reverein, it's to keep an eye on your feet at all times if that's the case... They like to leave surprise holes everywhere you look, and especially where you don't. Sora and I learned that the hard way...

Really? But wouldn't they be more focused on the walls?

You'd think, but...

[Just as she says that, Tifa trips a little over a loose rock, and of course her panic would spike just as she's about to tell him how she'd fallen through a hole big enough for her to fit through down in the mines—

She grabs hold of him, one hand on his arm while the other takes his hand, and she holds on with an iron grip and a sheepish, nervous laugh.]

... how else are they going to get further down?

[He quickly reaches out when he hears her fall, holding her close as he feels her pulse racing.]

....What happened to you and Sora?

[She's going to try to remain calm, but she swears if her heart didn't just skip twenty beats just now. The Reverein mines are one thing, but getting lost in these ones? Falling through a hole she can't get out of? No thanks...]

Nothing really. He managed to catch me before I could, but we ran into one of those giant moles down there.

[Which sounds crazy saying it out loud, but that wouldn't be the craziest thing that's happened to her here.]

It took us further down where we could get the crystals... through those tunnels in the floor. Some are just... steeper than others, I guess... Or they dug in the wrong spot.

...I see.

[Seeing her still shaken, he can't help but furrow his brows and pull her a little closer to try and soothe her.]

Don't worry. I won't let anything happen.

[In about ten steps, he's going to eat those words and be put to the test.]

Edited 2023-10-09 04:33 (UTC)

... I know.

[Tifa huffs out with a relieved sigh and straightens, though she never goes too far from him after that.

And in about ten steps, she's going to regret not moving just a little bit closer, or not stepping to walk behind him rather than beside, because she's going to completely miss the well-hidden hole that's in the rocks, the orbs hitting it in such a way that it looks like jagged edges with how it lights up the ground further below. An awkward trick of the eye.

And even if she was paying attention, she wouldn't think much of it. She's too focused on the digging sounds in the distance to bother looking down for the one second that it takes for her foot to suddenly slip.

She screams, and it echoes loudly through the caves, and Eustace will feel her suddenly drop from his side, her hand slipping slightly from between his fingers as she disappears down into the hole. Fortunately, she doesn't let go completely, but he'll definitely feel his arm being wrenched downward along with her—]

Eustace!?

[While the drop down isn't a far one, it's still far enough that breaking her fall would still find a way to injure her one way or another...]

Edited 2023-10-09 04:48 (UTC)

—!

[The sudden jerk of his hand and her scream sends him staggering back, falling to the ground, but his reflexes are quick enough to tighten his hold and swing his other arm around as he rolls onto his stomach to try and grab her.]

Hold on!

[Except as he tries to pull her up, he feels the ground cracking beneath him. Shit.

Thinking quickly ~~and rolling a freaking nat 20~~, he sees a nearby stalagmite and he uses his dreamotion to fling out a vine, the end wrapping around the column of rock tightly before another flies down to wrap around her, connecting them. And just in time as the ground beneath him gives way. They'll fall about a foot or two before the the vine around his arm tightens, making them dangle and swing from the momentum.]

[She tries to bite back the sound she can feel welling up when the ground crumbles all around her, but it comes bursting out when they fall those couple of feet closer to the floor below. She holds tight, her fingers crawling up to take a more secure grip around his wrist as the two of them swing together a couple dozen feet off the ground, and she can feel the rocks tumbling over her head and into her hair, and she coughs out loud from the dust that's poured into her lungs.

Looking up, she sees the vine, can even hear it being stretched taut, and she glances at him with both a look of surprise and worry... and maybe a little bit of shame for having been the one to take the fall.]

... Eustace.

[Her voice is breathless, panicked. Scared... though hardly for herself, but for him.]

Are you okay!?

[There's a slight grunt and grimace from the vine tightening around his arm, but he just endures.]

I'll be fine. What about you?

[Even the vine that's around her tightens, but Tifa tries to remember to take in several deep breaths.]

Just... a little winded...

[She just fell through a hole. Again. How many times has this happened now? She's lost count...]

But I'll be okay. [That is, until she looks down and sees how far they are from the floor below.] Not sure if these vines are gonna hold for long, though...

[She's definitely feeling that strain.]

They'll hold as long as I control it.

[But he also can't hold it forever.]

Tifa, can you make a light? If it's closer to the ground I can lower us down, but if it's better to go back up, I can pull us that way.

[And she knows that...

Which is why she helps to strengthen their grip... with more vines to coil around them, little starflowers blooming around them, though their glow is dimmer than usual. Still, it's enough to help them see each other a little better.

As for a proper light, she ignites a flame in the palm of her hand that she gently tosses to lower to the ground below where it spreads a little wider to help illuminate it.]

... It's pretty far.

[A little further than where they are in relation to the ground above them, but there's also the low crackling sound of the rock.]

Should be able to break our fall if you can lower us a little more.

[As he looks down at how far the ground is, he then looks up at the vine. It's still holding at least...]

I can get us to where you can safely drop down at least. Just be prepared to make a nest if we end up falling.

[Nest of vines and flowers. That should help cushion the fall at least.

And with that, Eustace concentrates and the vine quickly begins to lower them down.]

Edited 2023-10-09 16:20 (UTC)

[He'll feel her hand tighten around his arm as they lower themselves, and regardless of whether they do fall or not, Tifa does create a bed of flowers at the bottom, right beneath them, should the vine snap and they take a tumble together.

Because she can hear the pressure on the rocks above them, and more dust crumbles and lands in her hair, making Tifa cough again before she's rubbing it out of her eyes.]

...Just a little further and we should be safe to jump...

[Though, will the rocks hold???]

[Well we got a 20 13 SO a little excitement.

As more dust falls, Eustace will glance up right as there's a sudden snap of part of the vine fraying from the tension and cut of the sharp rocks. But hearing a different kind of crack further up, he quickly looks back.]

Get ready—!?

[Just as he's about to tell Tifa to go ahead and let go, there's an odd shudder through the vine, one that is clearly made from something outside messing with the vine. And then there's another snap, louder this time, before the vine completely goes slack and they fall.

If course the landing will be softened by the nest, but Eustace will hastily try and pull Tifa to him regardless, wanting to protect her.]

[And despite Tifa's high dexterity, she still rolled a 6 on the fall... And even with her advantage of +5, it's a bit of a tumble as they land. Eustace will manage to grab hold of her, at least, but it will be Tifa that hits the flowers first anyway, and while they do add some padding, it's not much and Tifa lands with a heavy thud, protected only by Eustace's arms around her.

She coughs, all of the air leaving her lungs, and she feels a sudden, sharp ache in her ankle that spreads through her leg as they roll a bit through the flowers before finally stopping.]

[When they come to a stop, Eustace winces a little, but he managed to ~~roll a 17~~ endure the impact. He lays there a moment to catch his breath before he quickly moves to check on her.]

Tifa, are you all right?

[She's already attempting to push herself up and give him room to do the same, but her hand is reaching for her leg and clutching it noticeably tight...]

Yeah, I'm fine...

[She's not totally fine, and she'll try not to wince or hiss in pain as she tries to look him over.]

Are you?

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