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

[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?

[Oooh no he's not letting her off that easy, and she'll it in the way his eyes narrow.]

Like hell you're fine.

[He sits up to look over her leg.]

Where?

[Tifa bites on the inside of her lip a moment, knowing that he would ask her instead, and that even if she wanted to, there's no getting around it.

So, she motions to her ankle.]

Think I twisted it funny or something when we landed. [~~thanks, dice~~ And before he can say anything else:] But I'll be okay! It only hurts a little bit. Just need to walk it off...

[That expression is getting darker, Tifa.]

You want to try and walk this off?

[Just going to reach over and touch her ankle.

And give it a bit of a squeeze.]

[She flinches when he reaches out, and as soon as he gives it a squeeze—]

Eustace! Don't—!

[And as she goes to swat at his hand, she hisses quietly in pain instead.]

What was that for!?

Because you're treating this too lightly!

[His voice rises a bit more than he intends, and he has to bite back more of what he'd say, instead just focusing back on her ankle.

He'll once again reach for it, but he won't treat it roughly like he did before. Instead she'll feel the coolness of his dreamotion as he applies the healing skill he had developed. It would help reduce the swelling, numb the pain, and bring relief at least.]

[Tifa's brow furrows, starting a little at his voice, her lips turning down into a frown, and she says nothing else as the icy coolness drifts over her ankle, though her own lights start to dim.]

[Just a quiet,] Thanks... [As she rubs a hand over it, the pain numbed away enough that she can at least touch it without irritating it too much...

She really would have been fine—it was just a little twist of her ankle, nothing that she hasn't dealt with before. Nothing that was as bad as some of the other things she's had to walk off in recent months. And with that out of the way, she'll push herself up onto her good leg on her own... or try to, anyway.]

[And when she tries to push herself up, he's going to pull her back down—to him and careful that she isn't stressing her injured ankle.]

What are you doing?

[She has no choice but to topple into him, using him and the flowers to help break her fall, her face twisting just a bit when she feels that achy twinge in her ankle again.]

I'm getting up.

[She says it so quietly, yet so matter-of-factly.]

We can't stay here...?

[But it's more that she doesn't want him worrying about a little injury, or... whatever it is that's bothering him.]

Tifa.

[Just one word, her name. In that tone of voice and look she knows very well.

She's right that they can't stay here long, nor does he plan to. However, he's also not just going to let her get up and walk like this was nothing—because it's not nothing. It's not even about the sprain anymore—if there's one thing he "disliked" it was how she kept pushing and trying to hide things just like this.

It's not like he doesn't get it since he will do the same, but he's been working to be better about it at least with her. And if it wasn't so visibly painful he would have let it go. But it is, so he won't.

...And he may also be feeling a bit guilty that he couldn't protect her better.]

[Oh, she knows that look and that tone well...

...

And she'll relent after a few stretched out beats of silence, her body relaxing and yielding beneath it until she lets her more of her weight rest on him.]

It really isn't that bad, I promise. Feels better after your magic, too...

[She's telling the truth! Like him, she's just annoyed with herself that she let it happen at all. Pretending like it's all fine is easier for her than admitting that she had made a bad landing that could have hurt him, too, if she hadn't been more careful.

But she also knows what it feels like, and how frustrating it is to be on the other side of this, so before he can say anything else, she sighs.]

I'm sorry... We could rest here until it's numbed a little more?

[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.]

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