PM to join Fifty-eight, Fifty-nine, Ready or Not Here I come (Slaughter

[Aliara Cantrell]

67th of Spring 514th

Humming softly Aliara picked up the silken coils of rope and smiled. Today she was going to practise dancing upside down spins. The first thoughts of hanging upside down was that of concern, if she was to fall Aliara would be injured at any height but she would have to learn eventually. Looking to the last to items on her bed Aliara considered to leaving them behind, no one had bothered her apart from the voice the first time she had entered the caves and he hadn't of done any damage.

The blades glinted expectantly on Aliara’s bed, both the cutlass and the kukri were the only weapons she felt truly comfortable with yet she didn't feel comfortable without them on her hip. This was either due to growing up in Sunberth or maybe it was her job either way every time she looked out the window Aliara imagined being help up and robbed. Not that she carried any miza’s on her.

Sighing softly Aliara slipped the Kukri in her boot and the cutlass at her hip. with the comfortable weight at her hip Aliara pulled her pack onto her shoulder and lifted her chin. Today was her day, today was the day she would succeed. Stepping out the door Aliara made her way to the abandoned mines.

Aliara still hadn’t found a way to light up the cave enough for her to see how far she was off the ground or what she looked liked, not that that really mattered as she only had a professional to go off of and Aliara wouldn't look like that for years to come. As she stood at the entance Aliara tried to think of songs to sing. With her first time in theses mines when she met the voice she had used singing to locate him, what she found was the further in the more it echoed. Using this tactic had worked for her so far. Humming Aliara began to make her way into the mines.

[Slaughter]

Somewhere within the mines, Slaughter was slowly dragged into consciousness by the incessant vibration of sound echoing throughout the tunnels. At first it was only loud enough to affecting his dreaming state, but as the humming persisted and grew incrementally louder Slaughter found himself groggily stirring against the floor of the tunnel. Not a tick later, the Zith's amber eyes shot open and he lurched upward, rising to his feet and staring off down the throat of the tunnel towards its mouth. He couldn't tell if it was day this far in, but his eyse could still make out everything in the darkness. Unfortunately, Slaughter could not see around this one particular bend in the tunnel a few dozen meters away, so he could not catch sight of what was approaching. Even if something rounded the corner immediately though, which didn't sound likely with how much the sounds was echoing, Slaughter would have ample time to inspect it and prepare himself. As such, he quickly checked to make sure everything was in his pack, that his quiver was still full of arrows, and that his bow was beside where he had rested. Everything appeared to be in order, so quickly Slaughter grabbed his weapon and applied pressure to the arch of the curve, forcing tension into it as he tied the bowstring taut around the top hook. With the weapon strung, Slaughter quickly snatched his quiver and drew an arrow, pointing it down the tunnel in the direction of the sound. Still nothing had appeared around the corner. This was okay, and Slaughter would be able to live without ever seeing this creature, but he wouldn't risk anything. Stepping slowly and quietly, bow drawn and aimed down the passageway, Slaughter padded towards the bend in the tunnel. With each step the Zith led with his long toe-claws, minimizing as much as possible the sound his footfalls made. His heart pumped in his chest, and his amber eyes stared intently. For all his days spent in Sunberth, this wasn't the first time he'd had his sleep interrupted. At the other times, though, he could see what was disturbing him and scare whatever it was off easily enough. Here, there was the added risk of not knowing what it was. That wasn't to say he was frightened, far from it in fact, it was simply a new situation in which he found himself for which his mind was running quickly to solve. Finally, as Slaughter neared the bend in the tunnel, he tilted his bow and aimed so that it was slightly towards the direction in which the tunnel was turning. Since it wasn't a sharp corner there was no way for Slaughter to peer around it, so he continued slowly and quietly, his eyes always trained toward the sound.

[Aliara Cantrell]

Her humming began to soften as Aliara lost her vision. She had to control the small amount of panic that always began to build up the deeper she got into the tunnels, it was all her mother's fault/ Those stories when she was a kid had seeded the thoughts into her head of creatures with wings and teeth who would gobble her all up if she was to misbehave.

Her mother would scold her then say ‘do you want the creatures to get you? they will eat you whole for climbing on the buildings!’ Aliara would always run and hid under her bed for over 7 bells. The idea had stayed with her since but this was the only way she would be able to practice. Tightening the straps of her backpack Aliara continued to tiptoe blindly in the dark. It was weird to walk somewhere without knowing what was around her, Aliara stopped humming as she turned left, well what she thought was her left.

Taking a few shuffles to the side Aliara brushed up against the wall of the tunnel, it was ruggard and Aliara found the it was also slightly damp. Cringing Aliara continued to run her hand along the wall as she resumed to take her careful steps. If the wall turned right she would turn right, it would make it easier to get out then her singing. Though it did provide some comfort in these barren hostile tunnels.

Aliara was at a disadvantage in these tunnels, she was completely blind, as it was practicing took bells to throw her ropes onto a hold and even then she had no idea whether or not they would hold if she was to climb up on the silken rope. Humming softly Aliara chewed her lip softly as she began to question whether or not she should practice here anymore.

[Slaughter]

All of a sudden, the humming stopped, leaving Slaughter momentarily lost. That wasn't any real obstacle to the Zith, however, as the race had exceptional hearing. Closing his eyes, Slaughter listened carefully for the footsteps of the approaching person. He found them soon enough: rough and quiet but distinct. The padding of soft footfalls against an earthy floor, brushing grains of dirt and tiny rocks along the ground. Judging by the tentative nature of the steps, the person could not see as well in this darkness as they would have liked, giving Slaughter a distinct advantage. Turning the corner, Slaughter found the intersection of the tunnels he'd crossed last night to make it here. He'd chosen his sleeping place last night knowing that even if someone ventured this far into the mines it'd be unlikely they happened to pick the single tunnel beyond which Slaughter was sleeping. Directly opposite him was a shaft to the surface, and it was from here that the steps were coming from. Not wanting to reveal himself just yet, Slaughter continued forward stealthily, gingerly stepping and using his bare foot-claws to cushion his movement. Just as he entered the intersection, he saw who was humming earlier. A young woman, considerably young by the looks of her, stumbled forward along the wall, using it for guidance. It was obvious from her blank stare that she couldn't see well in this dark. As for Slaughter, he could make out her shape well enough. She carried with her something interesting, but the Zith was more intent on the morsel that hobbled forward in the dark. Were he hungry he would have considered eating her, but it was the middle of the day. All Slaughter really wanted to do was return to sleep. "Very dangerous to be walking blind," the Zith said in his rudimentary Common, snarling softly in an effort to intimidate the girl. "Don't know what you might find." Abandoning his stealthy approach, Slaughter took a few steps toward her while scratching his toe-claws against the floor, keeping his bow-half drawn but careful not to make any noise with it. The idea of the terror that might be shooting through this girl at this moment thrilled Slaughter slightly, but he was careful to remain mysteriously intimidating. "Why you here?" he asked, wanting to know there was a good reason for his sleep being interrupted.

[Aliara Cantrell]

With the question in mind Aliara continued through the darkness, somewhere in the distance Aliara could hear scuttling of what Aliara hoped was just simple rats or mice looking for food.Her feet began to feel heavier with each step and her mouth tasted of sand. This was a stupid idea, why had she come here?

The voice came like a whip in the silence, chilling Aliara too her toes. The first thing that came to her mind was her mother's stories, trying to relax as much as she could so what ever it was, would not see how terrified she was. The creature snarled between his broken common, a simple thing that was enough to make Aliara frown deeply.

“Well i know you’re here,”

It was a smart ass remark, a great example of Aliara attitude that she retreats to when threatened or scared, not that it ever actually helped the situation.

“And who said i couldn't see?”

The distinct sound of claws on the rocky floor told Aliara that the creature was coming closer, instinctively Aliara’s hand went to her hips and she took a step back. The darkness was terrifying, the unknown creeping towards her growling and snarling was nothing compared to what she didnt know was in the darkness. The creature spoke again causing Aliara to laugh out of nervousness, no way was she telling it.

Aliara’s instincts screamed for her to grab her cutlass resting at her hip and slash out, but to take the blade out of its sheath Aliara needed the hand that was resting on the damp rocky wall. Aliara’s Kukri was in her boot leaving her weaponless. Raising her eyebrows the to darkness she challenged the beast. Her hand slowly dropped from the wall giving Aliara more of a chance to draw her weapon but also leaving her completely blind.

“Why should i tell you?”