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

[It's only then that he relents, his arms going around her to hold her close.]

Tell me if it worsens or if there's any other place you were hurt.

[And now he lightly presses his lips against the top of her head.]

[She closes her eyes, relief washing away whatever tension she had left in her until she's fully eased into his arms.]

Besides getting the air knocked out of me, I'm otherwise fine.

[She pulls back just enough to look him straight in his eyes so that he can see that she's being sincere, before letting her gaze drop again.]

I should've been watching where I was going. I didn't even see the hole there...?

[His countenance continues to soften as he gently rubs her arms.]

I should have done the same, especially since you were worried about this happening.

[Ah... Is that what this was about? The fact that he had said something about it not long before it happened... it's starting to make a little more sense now.

She's about to shake her head and remind him that it isn't his fault, but... no. They need to be better about going in circles like that. She needs to be better about remembering that if she were in his shoes and their roles reversed, she would want to take the blame for it, too...]

We just didn't see it coming.

[It's neither of their faults.

But now that she's finally caught her breath, she looks up at where they had fallen from, that flame flickering brighter as it moves up.]

... Do we keep going from here, though? We're in a whole different tunnel system from the looks of it.

[He also knows he can't dwell too much on it, but... Hard to not feel some blame or guilt.

Still, he'll take her cue and look around.]

With your ankle, it would be better not to press on too far. Even if you can walk, if we run into something else, your movements will be hindered and be more at risk.

But we can at least see what's around here. If it's noteworthy, we can come back again later.

[After all, even if Tifa hadn't injured herself, they may not have continued anyway.

So he'll create a few lightning orbs to cast out around them, illuminating the space...]

[Still doesn't mean she won't try to reassure and comfort him—though silent, she presses her hand to the side of his face, her head falling to his chest for a moment to exchange warmth as they look around together.]

If we have to keep going, then we keep going.

[There's a firmness in her voice... little room for argument.]

I don't wanna jeopardize anything with a little twisted ankle. If there's something down here that could lead us to figuring more of this out for these people, then... I wanna take it.

[A sheepish, lightly teasing smile.]

You could always carry me.

[She would of course say that...and he would have said the same. It's a little troubling when they reflect each other at times like these, so he can only let out a small breath before nuzzling her.]

All right. And I will if you need it.

[He might be tempted to carry her from the start—

But now that the orbs have been cast out, they can see they've landed not in a tunnel, but in some kind of cavern.]

Hm... Doesn't seem like anything so far.

[She signals that she wants to get up, but maybe... he gets up first? And helps her up???]

Let's take a look around. Could be there's another exit, or maybe even some crystals...

[Never mind that she sees some more of those scratches on the walls, though much more pronounced down here. And a little less messy. More deliberate.]

[OKAY FINE SHE CAN STAND UP... After Eustace gets up and helps her. He will not let her go, though!! An arm around her until he's satisfied she can hobble on her own—yeah no he will always hold her in some form, be it an arm around the shoulder or her hand on his arm.]

All right, but if your ankle starts straining, let me know. I may have numbed the pain but you shouldn't stress it.

[He'll have an orb brighten and reveal more of the cavern, and the marks becomes more prominent. They are all on the ceiling and walls, but none on the ground, strangely enough. And looking up at the ceiling, there are marks close to the hole they dropped through...]

...Looks like it wasn't that mole we saw earlier that made the hole.

[The smile that she gives him is grateful, appreciative, as she accepts his help, letting him hold her and holding onto him in turn as she stands. Her hand will wrap around his arm, her grip tighter than she means for it to be as she tries to limp forward a little to test.

But don't worry, she won't put too much stress on it!]

No. I don't think so.

[However, in the shadows of Eustace's lights, she things she sees something else in the corner of her eye.]

Do you see that?

[Tifa's own flame flickers near it, and it reveals a small opening in the wall...]

[Eustace looks over to where Tifa is highlighting and his eyes widen a little.]

...That doesn't look natural.

[Scrape marks can be seen, similar to the claw marks they've noticed before.]

[She hobbles forward on her feet a little, sending the flame a little further along... but the closer it gets, the more those fires start to dim, almost as if it doesn't want to approach whatever it is. She wouldn't want to either... and she kind of doesn't, but she knows that if they don't... they might not get another chance to.]

... Should we take a look?

[He frowns as he nears it, and he can feel the sharp cold prick up his skin.]

...I'm not sure. It's hard to say how deep this tunnel goes or if there's anything inside it. We'd be in a poor position if we were caught by whatever made this.

Well, whatever it is...

[Tifa takes another careful glance around before she's lowering her voice.]

I don't think it knows that we're here.

[Despite how thick that chill is, and how much her skin tingles when it touches it, she has a sneaking suspicion that if it was something that created that, it would have long since sniffed them out if it were down here.]

I'd say we could ignore it, but...

[She gestures to the flames and how they struggle to stay alight.]

[He still feels uncertain... But she has a point. If this is something that is responsible for what happened in the caves, this could be their best lead.]

Let me throw a feeler out into it. If nothing responds, then we can go in.

A feeler? You mean like your lightning?

[She's going to nod anyway, because whatever it is, it's a good idea. Better to run in, fists blazing, and praying that nothing comes tumbling out of the dark...

Especially since she's having a harder time maintaining her dreamotion down here. At least his is quick, a flash and then it's gone, if needed.]

[A nod.]

I can also imbue it with some nightmare energy to make it resist the levels that exist here.

[As he conjures it in his hand, the normal bright yellow hue has ripples of black, producing more of a cold heat to it.]

But to be safe, stay behind me.

[She does as she's told without question, stepping so that she's more or less behind him rather than tucked at his side, which is easy when she can simply duck below his arm, and she continues to hold onto him for both balance and for support, one hand gripping his cloak while the other balls into a fist at the ready in case anything does leap out of there...

As she watches that light dance around between his fingers, she gives a firm, sure nod.]

Ready.

[With a nod, he peers through the hole again. There is definitely a thick atmosphere of nightmare energy within... Which only makes him wonder not only what made it, but what is down there to make it continue to permeate so much.

So with some focused concentration, he expands the lightning in his hand to create another lightning orb. However, a thin strand remains connected to his finger, almost like a string, and he then slings it out through the tunnel.

He has no idea what's there, but he can at least use this to get a sense of how deep it may go. And at the very least, the strand of lightning can keep the tunnel illuminated a bit. So on and on that orb will fly through the tunnel, bouncing every now and then when it hits a wall...]

[Everything remains still, silent, save for the crackling of the lightning as it travels. Tifa holds her breath, waiting for a sign of something—anything—that might give them a hint of what could be down there. Even if it is a roar or a rumble, it would at least tell her that her hunch was right... but the further it travels, the quieter everything seems to become...]

Looks like we might be in the clear... [A pause.] Should we go inside?

I'm still hesitant... But since there hasn't been a reaction we should be in the clear.

[A worried look at her.]

Sure you'll be all right?

[She meets his worry with a sheepish, though reassuring smile.]

I'll be okay.

[As long as he's there with her, is what her eyes say, before they sharpen again and she's the one that starts to move first to his side from behind where she'll reach for his support.]

Might be the only chance we got, yeah? I'm sure the researchers'll be glad to hear about whatever we find.

[He can't help but be wary. There's something about this nightmare energy that pricks at him in a way that it hasn't before while down here, even at the reactor. It sends his nerves on edge, like it's trying to reach into him. But he shakes it off when she moves and nods. Whatever it is, he—no, they can handle it.]

All right... But I'll go first.

[Always looking out for her, even when he doesn't have to...

She won't fight him on this one and lets him go first, leading her up to the large, broken wall. She shivers at his side, the nightmare energy so thick that it pricks at her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It has... an eerily familiar feel to it, though not one that she can easily place. It sends a chill up her spine, and coils around to her chest, and she finds herself out of breath for just a moment before she remembers to take a deeper one...

It's hard to see anything inside, even with the light, but the closer they get, the more she can spot those scratches upon the walls and, more importantly, on the ceiling, where there's another hole broken into it, likely leading to another system of tunnels... or maybe even up to the ground floor.]

What do you think this place could even be...?

...I'm not sure.

[At least the tunnel is large enough for them to walk through, though he has to crouch a little so his ears don't scrape against the ceiling. He uses his lightning orbs to help light they way, where they can clearly see the grooves of those claw marks. Slowly he reaches out touch them before withdrawing his hand as if burned, the nightmare energy still present and thick. It surprises him, really, as he's never felt anything like it before.]

I'm not even sure if the creature made these tunnels...look, here.

[He crouches down closer to the ground to point another set of claw marks, ones made for digging. Touching it doesn't give off the same feeling, in fact it's a bit calmer.]

I think it's using tunnels already made, possibly even overtaking it as its own. It's not uncommon for animals to do so.

[He then notices the entrance growing wider...and the nightmare energy getting thicker.]

...Careful, I think we're almost at the end.

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