As Above, So Below?

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Fall 58, 523AV She awakes in a groggy state and groans, her hand instinctively going to her head. Rising up from laying on the ground, she slowly blinks before wincing. Her head was definitely injured and when she pulled her hand away she could feel it was wet. The only issue, that she is finally realizing, is that its pitch black. A chill ran up her spine when she realized she was in an unfamiliar place, in the dark. She went to stand, but ended up slamming the back of her head into the top of whatever area she was in. Yelping in pain, she crouched down and held her head with a whine. She was cursing her situation before resting her chin on her knees and staring into the darkness. How did she get into this situation? Last thing Eva could remember was that she was walking back home when she heard the sound of a distressed animal or maybe a child? Eva felt unease about the sound, but also a sense of concern washed over her as she heard the noise a few more times. Maybe a small peek, just to assess the situation, and if it was too dangerous then she would turn back. Well, what she came to was a cave where the noise was even more distressed and pleading than before. Eva bit her lip and convinced herself that just going inside a few feet to see if it was there would be okay. She thought that was a good idea, didnt she, but now she was stuck in some estranged fucking cave because the entrance collapsed out of no where. Oh well, she couldn't reverse the past and could only move forward. So her first step of business is to blindly figure out where she was. She knew she had no light on her and no way of accessing light, so using her eyes in this situation was useless. She focused mainly on her hands and reached up to find the top of the area, touching it when she was in a half crouch and half stand. It was weird and awkward, but at least she wasn't on her hands and knees. She used her ears next to find a hint of noise outside of her breathing. She could hear the sound of water dripping off to her right. The sound of something falling from behind her where the entrance used to be. There was the sound of air whooshing deeper into the cave as well, but it was hard to tell how far or if it was even wind. It would come in periodic bursts, and sometimes Eva thought it was random, other times it seemed rhythmic. Eva didn’t know, but she didn't spend any time pondering it as she had other issues at hand that started rushing forward. She was in a cave with no food, most likely no water, and no skills to survive such an encounter. All she had was theories and none of those were something she either seen or done before. Her breathing quickened at the thought of dying in some unknown cave with no way out. She quickly started to cry with her panic attack growing, and squatted down to clutch her knees and cry into those. WC: 547

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

It felt like a bell had passed and Eva was now leaned against a wall she had found to stare into the darkness and contemplate her life. She didn’t know what to do and felt extremely lost as she tried to find a solution to her issue. Then came a tickling feeling to her right, a sense that she had eyes on her coming from deeper in the cave. Eva turned and looked, feeling as if the feeling started getting stronger. Her eyes couldn't see but the alarms in her head said danger, causing her to want to rise to her feet and slowly back away. However, she stayed still and brought her hands to her mouth, trying to reduce the noise she was making, even though she figured the thing had already seen her. Then came the sound of a low grumble, something like thunder in the distance, but it sounded only a few free away. It started off to her right, then it echoed until it was all around her which caused her to start to tremble. She wanted to run, scream for help, and cry all at the same time. But the issue, that ungodly sound from the darkness came from the only way out of this area. Eva was close to the collapsed entry and tried her best to shrink into the wall. She heard no sound except the thumping of her heart that was trying to beat out of her chest so bad that she swore it was echoing off the walls. A horrifying scent tickled up her nose now, twisting her stomach into knots. The smell of rot from a dead animal mixed with the smell from a bucket of leftover food and waste. She felt the bile rise in her throat and her eyes began to water to the point that she felt the tears on her hands flowing uncontrollably. She was finding it difficult to breath through this stench, and as she felt like she was about to pass out, the smell vanished. The feeling of eyes on her dissipated and the danger bells in her body suddenly settled. She was still shaking like a leaf, and dared not move from her spot as she was once again crying from the terror coursing through her. This time though she wasn’t going to just sit there and wait for that thing to come back. She had to go deeper into the cave and find out if there was a way out. Getting up into a crouching position once again, Eva began walking herself slowly to the back of the cave with her arms stretched out. She would feel against the wall with one hand while the other would wave about so she wouldn’t hit anything. She would use one foot to also scout out the ground, for she wasn't risking falling into a hole or something. The thought of having to climb out of a hole inside a cave was only causing Eva to feel more chills up her spine, so she focused her energy on her touch and hearing. Another bell had felt like it had passed and Eva had found that the cave had narrowed into two openings. The one on the right she could stand up in but she would be shuffling sideways to squeeze through. It smelt like damp rock inside and possibly had a distant sound of trickling water. It was tempting, but she didn’t know how far the passage went and the squeeze itself was uncomfortably tight. Then again, the passage to the left smelt like fresh air and she felt and heard a possible slight breeze coming from it. It seemed the most promising to escape from, but she would be crawling on her hands and knees to get through.That was something she was trying to avoid, but if it meant escape she would try it. WC: 651

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

Eva voted to go for the left and towards the scent of fresh air. She wanted to escape and this seemed like the logical option to her. She got down on her hands and knees and felt around until she found the entrance to the passageway again. With a deep breath, she began her slow journey forwards. She had to stop a couple of times because her dress she wore today kept sliding under her knees and yanking her down. She would pull it up out of her way and tuck it around her back, but each time it would fall back down and start the cycle again. Eva started to get frustrated after about the third time and she eventually just took her dagger and cut her dress bottom off. In addition, Eva used the loose fabric to cover her sore and raw knees, adding a bit of extra protection. When she tested them out, she sighed in relief, but only briefly as they were still throbbing under the fabric. Eva didn't mind, any protection was good protection at this point as she trudged along. She was listening and feeling around, inching along the cold floor until she started to feel dampness. She hadn't heard water dripping while she was shuffling around, so what was this wetness? Lifting her hand from the spot, she rubbed her fingers together and didnt find that it was thick. However, it didn't feel like water as it still had a slight stickiness to it. Eva brought it to her nose and sniffed before gasping and jerking her hand away. It was blood, with its very familiar metallic scent, eva felt repulsed at what she just found. She started wiping the blood off on the walls and floor and even on the front of her dress before her nose tickled with another familiar scent. The rot had returned and Eva’s stomach sunk as she was in a very narrow hole with no way of escape unless she shuffled backward like her life depended on it. She felt the presence of the thing ahead of her and swore she heard the sound of small gravel moving about as if it was walking towards her. Eva bit her lip and slowly tried shuffling back into the hole, feeling exposed and wanting to get away from the bloody puddle. There was no other noise coming from the thing as it seemed to pace towards her. The only orientation that she could get was the feeling in her soul that the thing was there. It was a weird sensation and Eva couldn’t explain how it happened, but it was happening and if it wasn't for the scent of rot she wouldn't believe it. She was scooting back slowly with very little noise for a good while before the sound of a growl rolled through the tunnel and caused eva to grab her ears and curl into a ball. She trembled as the sound petrified her, and tried to stay as quiet as she could so she wouldn't attract attention. WC: 511

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

The thing started coming closer and Eva could swear she felt it thumping across the ground. Its eyes were now on her and it let out another low growl, causing her body to let out an uncontrolled yelp of fear. She smacked her hands over her mouth and snapped her head up, expecting a giant beast to come running at her any minute. Instead, it was silent, and the only noise that was to be heard was the beating of her heart and now strained breathing she had to do through her hands. The air wasn’t filled with the stench of rot, but instead it was now filled with the smell of blood. Eva’s chest felt heavy and she continued to breathe irregularly as she slowly realized the things' presence wasn't around. She frantically searched the area as if she could see in the dark and began panicking while doing it. Her hands waved out in front of her, patting the ground until they went splat into the pool of now sticky blood. She recoiled from the area and smacked her head on the top of the passage. She winced and grabbed the back of her head as tears welled, then realized she just smeared blood in her hair and yanked her hand away. This was a nightmare, Eva felt like she was being hunted and toyed with by some unseen beast and it was driving her mad. She didn't feel like she was going to be able to leave this cave safely, and if she didn't take action against this thing then she was about to be its food. She couldn't let that happen, she survived too long to let her life end by some unseen thing! The storm of panic she was just feeling left her body and was replaced by an eerily calm determination to kill. She felt around her waistline to make sure she still had her dagger and smiled when her fingertips touched it. Pressing forward down the passage again, ignoring the sticky mess she had to trudge through, Eva finally came across an opening with a strong breeze flowing through it. She grinned and shuffled her way forward quicker until she went too far and one of her hands went off the edge of the ground. She lost her balance and screamed, pushing herself back into the passage that she came from and knocking loose some chunks of rock. Her scream, followed by the chunks of rock, echoed off the walls and sounded like it was going deeper into the earth. She panted heavily and gingerly ran her fingers across the ground until she found the edge. She trailed her tips over the edge and wiggled them along to see how far it went. To her surprise, the ledge seemed to go on for a bit until Eva couldnt move to the side any further. Feeling along the walls of the passage now, she discovered a ledge about a foot or so wide that she could stand against and shuffle her way along on her left side. However, on her right, she felt like there was an open space around a sharp corner of the ledge. She could peek around it and swore she could make out a bag of some sort. Unfortunately, when she reached for it, it was too far out of her reach to safely grab. Eva would need to stand up in the cramped area and hug onto the wall so she could swing her leg over to the other ledge. It seemed simple enough, and Eva had confidence that if she did the task then she would have acquired some goodies. But her gut was telling her to take the other way, it was safer and easier to handle. WC: 630

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

After much deliberation on the thought, Eva voted to go after the bag and ignore the risks. She didnt care if it was dangerous, there was a possibility of light, and therefore a ray of hope was presented to her. Sticking close to the wall, Eva slowly stood and realized her knees were shaking uncontrollably under her. If they were any closer together, they would probably sound like hollow gourds being knocked together in a gentle breeze before a storm. Her body knew what a bad idea this was, and every alarm was going off to prevent her from doing it, but she just closed her eyes and took in several shaky breaths to calm her heart and racing mind. Once she was calm enough, She pressed herself as close as she could to the wall and felt around for a sturdy grip for her hand. Once her right hand hold was established, she peeked around the corner once more and squinted her eyes, trying to find the edge the best she could. It brought a sense of uncertainty, but she pushed it down and took the chance, swinging her arm around and feeling around for a grip for her left hand. Once it was found, her leg followed next and she now had all her weight pulling against her fingers that tried their darndest to keep a hold on the wall. It was at this moment that Eva knew this was a bad idea, but her left foot had found the ledge on the other side and she felt she was too far to just turn back now. So with one final gulp, Eva swung her right leg around the corner of the wall and felt her body shift in accordance. She grinned as she touched the small ledge on the other side, feeling like she was going to make it without issue. The was until she heard the sound of growling behind her and immediately she whipped her head around to look at what it came from. That was an absolute mistake, and the grip she had to keep her upper body from falling off the edge loosened and she screamed as she teetered on the edge before falling head first into the darkness. At first, everything slowed and Eva just watched as her body rotated around and the ledge she was once on vanished in her mind’s eye. She felt the air around her slow and her heart sounded like it stopped all together, for she was now floating in a big vat of emptiness. There was nothing around her to grab on but handfuls of air. Her coils of hair began swirling every which way as her body twisted about to try to reorient itself on what was up and what was down. She didn't realized she had stopped screaming and was now just existing in this impending death fall towards whatever laid below the bottom of this cavern. She didn't get to experience her life flashing before her eyes like everyone else did. There was no beautiful memories to comfort her before her death, and that just made her heart sink when she began to hear something whip past her head. Was this how she was going to die? In complete emptiness with nothing but the cold to greet her? She had no time to think about that as something firm but forgiving caught her legs behind her knees. She let out a scream of agony as she felt them wrap around the thing and her body weight yank them off in a violent motion. She was now spinning wildly like a rag doll before her side hit something else hard and the air was stolen from her lungs. She slid off whatever she slammed into and ricocheted off a few more things before her battered and limp body smacked into the ground. Eva groaned in pure agony and struggled to breathe, her ribs hurting with each breath she took in. Her knees were on fire and felt as if they were being torn from her body when she moved them. The only good thing was that she could still feel her toes, at least she thought, she couldn't exactly sit up to check. Tears welled up in her eyes as a lightheaded sleepiness washed over her entire body. She was tired of this whole ordeal and just wanted to give up. She just fell god knows how far down a cavern, further into this accursed cave, and knew not a way on how to get out. Every inch of her body now was in excruciating pain, and she now lost all hopes of acquiring a light source to help her navigate the area. She was done, little more could be done now. Maybe she could wait for that thing to come and find her and finish her off. It was her last thought before she slowly faded off into a deep slumber. WC: 828

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

She knew not how long she slept for, but when she woke up she felt water dripping on her face, slowly bringing her groggy mind back to reality. She blinked and turned her head, wincing at the stiffness in her neck before feeling another drop hit her in her temple. She slowly raised her arm up to block the drops and felt her arm burn with pain. She took in a sharp breath from that pain and ignited more pain from her ribs, to which she groaned in pain and brought her other arm up to cover them. The events of what had happened before came back to her and she knew that she needed to assess her body injuries before she could move any further. So, shifting herself over a bit so the water wouldnt drip on her head, she stared up at the darkness and mentally went over her body. Her head had a splitting headache, but she didnt feel any stickiness in her hair when she moved. Her neck was stiff and sore, kind of feeling like she just slept wrong and had a crook in it. Next was her torso, which she knew her right side was absolutely destroyed since it still hurt to breath. Any movement that she did on that side sent shockwaves of pain through her body and brought tears to her eyes. Other than that, she couldnt feel anything else out of the ordinary and moved on to her arms. They were just sore to move, especially in her shoulder area, but it didnt seem like they were immobile. Onto her legs and she feared they were beyond broke, but when she moved them they turned out to be movable. That was all Eva could think of positively about as, just like her ribs, they brought tears to her eyes when she moved them. She was beaten and battered, but nothing was life threatening, so she knew she could continue to move forward no matter how much pain she was in. She took in some breaths and listened to her surroundings, figuring she could focus on that while she was laying down than when she was up and in pain. It was obvious that she was around water as there was dripping all around and her fingers came across a small puddle around her own body. She felt no wind nor did she hear any, and the smell was like a musty, mildew like smell. She bit her lip and decided it was time to get up, laying down was not doing her any good. She rolled to her left side and up on that elbow, feeling pain run through her veins with each movement. She brought up a leg, then another one, getting on her hands and knees before letting out a whimpering groan of pain. Biting her lip until she tasted blood, Eva got to her feet and panted heavily, smiling through the pain and holding her ribs. She was sure if she was in the light of day then she would look like a sorry sight. She went to take a step forward and immediately fell to a knee, her legs unable to support the weight of her body. She hissed in determination and shakily stood back up, gritting her teeth and walking forward once more, taking more and more steps. It was slow and agonizing, her feet basically dragging across the ground as she made her way to what she hoped was somewhere safe or even just the wall. She kept one hand out in front so she wouldn't run face first into the wall, and just shuffled forward. Eventually, her hand came across a large rock and she felt around it until she felt another, this one just a bit smaller. They were wet to the touch, and sort of slippery as she continued to run her hand along its surface as a navigation to where the wall was. That was until the rocks ended and she was once again waving around for a solid surface like a blind man. It took a chime or so to find another solid object that felt more like a wall and she started following it, leaning some of her weight on it as she went. After a while, she was able to pick up on a soft breeze of air coming from her left, and floating on this air current was the familiar scent of rot. She choked a bit in fear, but it was a bit different now as she was in just too much pain to be terrified. Instead a mild sense of fear is all she felt as she decided to trudge towards the smell. It was not a time to feel afraid, especially since she just survived a long ass fall into the depths of wherever. WC: 810

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

The smell grew stronger the more Eva wandered through the dark to follow the scent. She had run into a few rocks and nearly tripped and fell a few times along the way, but so far she was managing. Actually, her ribs were on fire and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to breathe, causing her to take a break every now and then. So what should have been a quick little search felt like it had happened over a course of several bells. But all in all, Eva made her way into what she can only assure was some sort of den. The first thing that Eva caught sight of was the piles of rotting carcasses that lined the back of the wall followed by bones scattered around. Then the smell hit her and she immediately began to vomit, further sending pain through her body. Once she regained her composure, and somewhat gotten used to the smell, she scanned the room. There was a strange light emanating in the room's edges, sort of like candles were lit but not visible. It flickered shadows around the piles of rot and bones but did nothing else to add the room. She would gingerly took a step inside and try to see if there was anything more to the room than what was being shown. But the moment she took a step inside, she felt something was watching her followed by a low and familiar growl, causing her to suddenly freeze. The feeling was to her right, and when she looked there were two dark, glowing eyes was staring at her with a murderous intent. Before she could even react, the eyes charged at her and a snarl came from the figure. Eva screamed and stumbled out of the den, into the darkness of the cavern and falling onto her butt. She yelped in pain, barely able to register what just happened, when a dark figure was now upon her. The thing looked much taller than Eva and had an even broader body with hair wisping down to their back. Eva tried standing to run away, but the thing was faster than her injured body and quickly grabbed her up by the shirt, lifting her to her feet. It came in close to her face, close enough that Eva noticed tattoos lining its nearly transparent skin and that the smell that had been following her around was from this creature. ”You seem to have stumbled into an area you were never meant to discover. That fall should have killed you.” The sound of a woman’s voice rang in Eva’s head and she flinched. It made her head sort of tingle from the sensation. And if this wasn’t weird enough, the thing sounded almost disappointed that she had barely survived her fall. ”You are stronger than I expected, that is. You may be a good candidate for my escape.” Eva’s eyes widened as the ghostly being seemed to meld into her body. Chills came over her as a wave of cold air entered her core. She felt like she was going to pass out with a splitting headache as the ghostly figure tried to take over. She winced and squirmed, falling to her knees as she groaned, not wanting to lose herself to the darkness closing in. What was happening to her? This thing entered her body and now she feels like she is fighting tooth and nail not to pass out. ”Insolent thing, do not fight this and succumb to me taking over!” Eva felt rage boiling in side her from her will being so resistant and had a feeling it came from this entity. Now, she felt like she needed to fight harder, as it was trying to take over her body. She focused her splitting mind into pushing out the entity as hard as she could, feeling the headache she was getting lessen bit by bit. ”You foul thing! You still have such a strong will with a broken body like yours?!” Not even a moment after it uttered those words, it shot out of Eva’s body and back into the dimly lit den. Eva panted heavily, now feeling her body flare up with a fever and become covered in cold sweat. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically now, and just sat back on her heels to kneel at the dens entrance.It wasn't but a moment later when the thing came growling back out at her and she just stared it down. Her eyes flared in determination to keep that thing out of her head and all it did was smirk. It caught her by surprise and her determination turned to suspicion as the thing squatted in front of her. [i]”You are quite strong mentally and physically, I am impressed by your determination at keeping me out. You are the first of many who was able to reject my possession. I am impressed and wish to haunt you now.” The thing smiled and Eva looked at it in horror at the idea. She was about to reject it when the thing held up its hand at her, stopping her from talking. ”If you wish to leave this ever changing cave system, you will allow me to accompany you in the form of a haunting. Otherwise, I can continue to hunt you down.” A chill ran down her spine as the thing smiled, and as much as she wanted to deny it, the offer to get out was way more tantalizing. Eva bit her cheek and thought about the situation for little less than a tick before sighing. “Fine, but do try possessing me again or I will get rid of you somehow.” The thing laughed loudly, the sound ringing in her ears and rattling her brain. She gritted her teeth to the sudden pain but was suddenly yanked to her feet and yelped when it happened. The ghostly being urged her to follow and held onto her sleeve as she pulled her along. Eva stumbled after them, nearly falling before yanking her arm back. “Stop, walking fast hurts and I can barely breathe as is.” WC: 1038

[Evalynn Frostfawn]

The thing turned and looked at Eva with a furrowed brow, tilting its head before actually taking a close look at Eva in the dark. She could feel its eyes go from her head to her toes before it hummed a response. ”Very well, you did have a nasty fall but I did not expect you to be this injured.” It commented again, seemingly still showing its disappointment towards Eva. ”I will slow my pace for you, but we must leave quickly, my presence won’t last much longer.” Eva didn't like the sound of disdain in their voice, nor the fact that she felt that if she didn't hurry then she wasn't going to get out of this cave. But Eva just bit her tongue and nodded, moving forward with a steady pace and ignoring her burning lungs. Honestly, she was surprised she was even huffing and puffing at the pace she was forcing herself to go. Was the pain in her lungs not as bad as she thought? The thought passed as she suddenly tripped over a rock and tumbled into a pile of small rocks. She yelped, cussed, and groaned in pain before the entity hovered over her with confusion. Eva explained she couldnt see in the dark and the ghost just rolled their eyes and yanked her up, guiding her by the sleeve like a child. Eva blindly followed the guidance of the ghost for a bell or so before she realized that they were basically hiking up a steep incline and was hugging the wall with her shoulder. She didnt know where they were, or how they got up here, but all she knew is if she focused too much on it then she would definitely fall again. And another fall from whatever height they were at would definitely be fatal. So she just focused on listening to what was around her. The scuffing of the souls of her feet on the rocky surface below. The sounds of the occasional rock falling into the bottomless void below. The sound of her heavy breathing as she struggled to keep up the pace they were at. The rapid beating of her heart in her chest, or even the sudden growl of her stomach as it started to beg for food. How long had it been since she had last eaten anything? Eva bit her lip and tried to think, believing it was around early morning as she was heading home to get lunch. Home, how she wished she was there right now, soaking in a tub filled to the brim with hot water. She wanted to hear the laughter of her little growing girl and get to have small kisses on the forehead when Moritz came home from work. Maybe they would be in bed right now, or on the couch telling stories about their days. Eva couldn't remember when they actually had instances like these, but boy did she daydream of them now. Her lips turned into a smile before it was suddenly taken away by the sound of the entity giving a low growl in her head. ”Hey, did you hear me! I’m running out of time, so I am going to disappear here soon. I need you to follow this wall straight until you get to a fork then take the left. Follow that passage and you will find yourself emerging into a large forest. I don't know where it leads, but after that you are on your own.” The being spoke quickly as it started fading from the feet up. It the touc hed Eva on her head and pressed their icy palm hard against her forehead. ”I will return when I rest, so don't think you have left me.” Eva grunted when the ghost pushed her forward before disappearing completely, leaving her alone in the darkness once again. She blinked and raised her hand to where the thing touched her, feeling the skin tender and her hair lightly frosted. She didn’t know why this was happening, but all she knew is that she hoped that this ghost wasn't lying her into some trap. With that, Eva pressed her hand against the wall and started to make her way down the passage, following the directions the ghost gave her. Eventually, as the ghost had said, Eva emerged into a forest blanketed by the cover are the night. She laughed with relief and stumbled forward a few paces before collapsing, tears streaming down her face. She was out and free, with fresh air filling her lungs and uncontrolled sobbing racking her body. She had to get home, she needed to see her family as soon as possible so she could see it wasnt a dream and it was a reality. Fighting back exhaustion and pain, Eva stood and made her way out of the trees and into what was onch fertile farmland. She smiled happily, as she knew where she was and how to get home. The nightmare was over, and the moment she was able to set foot in her house, she was so overjoyed that she just collapsed with a smile and plenty of tears. W: 870