[Seasonal Event] In The Dark

[Tribal]

The man was quicker than the winged woman had anticipated and by time she had found the strength to turn in the air and bounce off the ceiling towards him once more, he had moved, slowing her just long enough it seemed for a second arrow to make itself at home in her flesh, only this one was unlike the first. The creature stopped mid-flight; her wings gave a powerful beat, forcing a wave of air in the man’s direction that was strong enough to unsettle his footing.

Lean, long fingers wrapped around the arrow that had embedded itself in her chest and she gave a rasping cry, her attempt at sucking air into her lungs, futile. Slowly the Zith lowered herself to the ground and stepped towards the man with searching eyes as if to inspect he who had finally taken her life and released her from her own personal hell. Her mouth moved as if she meant to say something, smile, or perhaps take one last, shallow breath before her world fell into darkness.

A loud thump echoed through the cave as the Zith’s body hit the floor and her long wings folded in on her, only to spread out as her muscles lost their strength and her eyes slowly blinked closed. It was over; they were safe, or as safe as they could be countless metres underground with no idea of how to get home. The hunter had triumphed with his bow, the girl with the sky-blue eyes was yet to rise, and the determined, animal-loving redhead remained submerged.

Lian raced to help Amunet before the two of them went to Naiya’s aid and just before they managed to reach down and pull her from the glowing waters, Naiya noticed a tunnel at the bottom of the pool that seemed to lead somewhere…

Group NotesFeel free to explore, take what you will from the Zith remains. Amunet you can decide whether or not you sustained an injury during the fall, and as always, remember what Haku said. None of you are very good swimmers, so I am looking forward to seeing how you solve that puzzle together (use what you have collected along the way perhaps). The pool is 3 metres deep, the tunnel is 2 metres long, pool depth on the other side 3 metres, room on the other side is filled with cave paintings (depicting Morphing, Reimancy, and Webbing), and three wooden (locked) chests (of which you can each take one). Enjoy.

[Amunet]

The poor girl had swung wildly with the dagger not hitting anything. The lantern, that was in a death grip in her left hand, seemed to act as a counter balance swinging freely from its handle. Its light was dead of course, but Amunet was not squandering that gift. The Light was a precious gift. The girl wanted to muse on that but she had other distractions. The white knuckled grip was the same on the right with the dagger.

Things were happening so quickly and her ignorance in combat and combat tactics was beyond poor. The girl gasped as she dashed to the pool that Naiya was knocked into. “Naiya!!!” The other red head was injured and fell deeper into the strange glowing blue. The slight sound of the wind in feather fletching that was barely audible till it came close. It hit the wing of the Zith but it didn’t stop it very much. While Amunet was looking for a way to reach Naiya, in those precious ticks, the winged predator grabbed the poor girl and went to fly up with her.

Amunet screamed and thrashed in her panic. The way the female Zith had her arms in its grip squeezing painfully tight was hard to get a stab in. The injury to the wing didn’t seem to bother the creature. Her grip loosened as she lifted up and Amunet continued to thrash and wiggle. The grip lost their hold and Amunet fell down back to the ground. The wet stone and wet boot met and she found herself on her backside having slipped. Amunet doesn’t have a lot of padding on her behind. Her small compact body protested the sudden contact to stone.

She wasn’t exactly hurt but the protestation of her tail bone thudded in her ear. She didn’t have time to ponder that as she took stock if anything else was hurt as her attention was squarely on the predatory zith. Her attention turned to the man she did not know. She gave a heartfelt thank you to Rak’keli and Semele for his appearance. The girl noticed the Zith looked completely starved. It was honestly similar to a wild animal who hadn’t eaten in weeks, months even. There was hardly any muscle mass to do anything and was wondering how she was flying in such a condition. Desperation often was the sauce for many actions.
The red head flinched as the second arrow struck true right to her heart. She swore the Zith looked thankful, relieved even before she died and became utterly still. The man was then at her side to see if she was ok. The girl accepted his help for her to get to her feet. Amunet didn’t take the time to introduce herself as they both hurried to the edge of the pool to get Naiya. Amunet put the lantern down a bit back from the pool as she unwound her hand finally from the handle. Her hand protested stiffly.

The man’s arm and her arm went into the water to reach for Naiya. They both got her out of the water and Amunet could breathe again. The girl took the few moments to collect herself as they all were safe. Well sort of safe. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Naiya as she checked for those injuries she saw her sustain. They were gone, completely. Her windmarks were gone too. Amunet peeled back he wet cloth from her shoulder. Her arrow wound scar was gone. Those sky blue eyes widened as a stone of fear of a different kind was in her stomach as she lifted her shirt from the bottom higher along her right side as the intricate windmarks would be. They were gone.

The girl tried not to panic on that. The Zith was life threatening but this was life changing. She furrowed her brow as the scar was gone and so were the windmarks. ‘wait a second.’ The girl’s eyes darted to the pool. The analytical mind focused on the little bits she knew. ‘the pool healed wounds and old wounds. Scars. Tattoos area type of scar with ink.’ The thought flittered over as the girl clung to the hope of that logic. Not that she had ever been accused of being logical, but it made sense to her.

The girl turned to the man.”I am Amunet.” When Naiya caught her breath, she waited for her to introduce herself. If they were going to be in this predicament, they might as well know who each other are. The girl looked around in the glowing blue and looked at the cavern really well. It was wonderful now that she could look at it. She had heard of the webbers talking about the lines of djed that webbers saw but this was an insight she wouldn’t have understood otherwise till she saw the cavern. A thought came to her as she wondered if this was similar to how the spirit flowed through the body in a web of energy like it does the land. These deep thoughts ran freely as she was the most inexperienced one here. At least she thought so.

( Naiya: I assumed since you was in undergarments that your windmarks were visible. If I need to change that let me know. bruised tailbone hurts, trust me.)

[Naiya]

Amunet shouted, screamed, and swung wildly at the Zith with no true result that Naiya could see, although, something did startle the creature, because her wings flared out and one of them clipped Naiya in the chest, knocking the wind from her lungs and sending her sailing backwards into the darkness. Her grip on her dagger stayed, but she lost the rock in the fall. That was poor luck, the stone was as much help as the blade, more so, because she could throw the rock.

She hit the water with a stinging splash, but rather than her pain increasing as she sank through the water, it seemed to fade, ebbing away, until the pain had left her entirely. She fell through the water in stillness, surprise shutting everything from her mind as the water soothed her pain and healed over the scarred flesh of what had been a terrible wound. Her leg no longer hurt either, and when she lifted her hands, those, too, were whole once more.

Her awe slowly faded, and she realized she couldn't breathe, hadn't been able to since the zith had hit her. The zith, still above the magical water, still targeting the other Drykas.

The zith who might heal as quickly as Naiya did if she decided to follow the girl into the water.

That was the true thought that sent her scrambling for the surface. She kicked her legs, pulled with her arms, each act of pushing against the water sending her body slowly in the opposite direction of the force of her push.

To her chagrin, she found herself at the bottom of the pool, desperate for air, and instead facing the mouth of a long dark tunnel. She tried to shape her hands into better blades to press against the water, taking an extra moment at the bottom of the pool to get her legs beneath her. She used the ground to push up with all of her strength, forcing her way through the water, up into open air of the cavern once more. She bobbed above the surface, gasping for much needed air, but could not manage to stay above the water.

She captured a deep breath, as deep as she was able, and then began to push herself clumsily through the water, seeking the edge of the pool, any edge, so that she could stop being the dark slow moving target against the glowing blue pool.

She nearly screamed when someone grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the water, but it was only Amunet, and the Drykas man she had never met before. They both seemed calm enough, the zith a dark shape against the stone, but Naiya couldn't trust their assessment. She needed to see with her own eyes.

Amunet was assured, speaking to the man, but Naiya stood, silent, dagger in hand, and went to examine the body wary in her action, what if it wasn't dead yet, what if it was pretending. Had they even thought to check?

She approached the creature quickly, plunging her blade though the creatures eye, dropping her weight into the attack to be sure she did the important damage. Assured that the creature was dead, she sat beside the cooling corpse, catching her breath, both literally and figuratively.

They had killed a zith, thin and starved, but still more than a handful. They were trapped in a cave, in what was mostly darkness, unless they stirred the water, it would fall into total black that you could only find underground.

"We need a fire," Naiya spoke, forgoing introductions in favor of staying alive long enough to figure out how they would escape the tunnels, "Light." She hoped someone would begin that search. She had plans for the zith creature she sat beside. With her dagger in hand, she pried loose three teeth from the creature, one long canine the other two shorter, she tucked them away against her chest. Then she rolled the creature over, taking her blade along the creatures back to slice the wings away from the body. The large leathery wings were difficult to cut away, she sat a long while trying to remove them.

When she was finally successful, she dragged them to the water's edge, using her hands to dampen and clean the wings, hoping the healing water might patch the wings as well, but she wasn't sure of the magic of the pool, or if it would work after the creature was dead.

If it did, the pools would be a fine place to repair damaged leathers or furs. Regardless, the creature stank, so she set to washing the wings clean of dirt, blood, and debris.

When she was done with that, she turned back to her companions, seeing what they had done in the time that had passed. Someone had started a fire, which was good. They would grow cold quickly, damp and underground. She only considered those things for a moment before her eyes turned to the ceiling, the intricate web of blue silks catching her eye once more, light by the fire beneath it.

It was beautiful, and decried the times long past, perhaps when the Drykas had lived in the belly of Semele, just like this. Her eyes followed the shape of what she was calling webbing, because it was the closest thing she could imagine to the glowing strands of the web.

Lit by the fire's light, there was a sense of magic to the room, silken strands that shimmered with inner light, healing water that glowed with a touch, and the trio of Drykas who had killed a zith by some combination of luck and teamwork.

"There is a tunnel under the water in the pool I fell into," She called to the others, beginning to process more of their situation. They certainly weren't leaving the way Naiya had come in, not likely Amunet's way either, because she had fallen as well, "There is something in the water, if you're hurt, it healed the claw wounds in my chest." She added, in case the others had been hurt. Had Amunet said her windmarks were gone? She twisted her neck to the fullest of her ability. trying to check, and finding that she could not see the peaking leaves over the curve of her shoulder. Nor could she find the tips of the roots that curved over her hips.

Had the water washed them away as they had washed away her wounds?

[Lian Windrunner]

When Lian didn't feel the pain of the zith's teeth and claws tearing into him, he paused, and risked a glance behind him. Much to his surprise, his arrow had struck true. Even more surprising was the fact that his shot had caused serious injury. In fact, if he were not mistaken, the zith was dying. Lian stared at the creature, barely daring to breathe. But no, he wasn't mistaken. As Lian watched in stunned amazement, the zith female died.

Time passed while Lian struggled to convince himself that he hadn't hit his head when he fell, and was now trapped in some strange dream. Or perhaps even that was a dream, and Lian would awaken to find himself in his tent. But no...how could he dream something this strange? Besides...you couldn't feel things in dreams. Everyone knew that. But Lian could smell the strange air in the cave. His muscles felt the strain from his efforts as he'd fought against the zith. Even now, adrenaline was coursing through his system. Such things didn't happen in a dream.

When he came back from his thoughts, Lian heard one of the girls say that they needed a fire. This he could do. Lian looked around, and found debris on the floor of the cave that he could build a fire with. Once he had enough to get a small fire going, he dug with his hands, creating a small depression in the dirt for a fire pit. With that done, he placed the debris he had gathered into the pit, and used his flint and steel to start a fire.

The same girl who had spoken of the need for a fire said she'd seen a tunnel in the pool she'd fallen into. Perhaps it was a way out? She also spoke of the healing qualities in the water. Lian nodded.

"I've seen the healing magic in the water, too."

Lian hesitated before continuing.

"Do either of you know how to swim? I can't. But I think we need to find out if that tunnel is the way out of here." he suggested..
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[Amunet]

Once the adrenaline had receded a little she took stock in a few things. One her skin felt fantastic. It tingled slightly but that was going away. The fall did little more than bruise her bottom and her ego. The little woman walked over to the dead Zith after Naiya had rather forcefully and savagely washed it. Not sure there were any awards for athletic washing but she would get it if that was the case. She had at least distracted the thing.

The girl also looked around at the beauty of the cave now that the danger was over. The spider like web that seemed to etch the room was interesting. Vaguely she recalled a few minor details of a story that was once told to her about the grandmother spider. It escaped her for the moment. She wanted a claw, if nothing more than to prove where she had been. “I would like one claw if that’s ok.” The girl asked the two.

Rather she got one, she left it up to the elder two to decide on the remains and if they felt she deserved one at her age or not. Her cold and wet self felt the yearning of the fire when it was lit. There was another yearning deep within when Naiya mentioned the tunnel. “Haku said that your right hand will lead you home. “ It was cryptic but she wasn’t sure how she was going to explain she spoke to a webber that was hundreds of years old and dead. “There is this spirit that walks these caves. He could possibly guide us home. I hope.” The girl knew it sounded absolutely outlandish. “by legend he was one of the greatest webbers of the Drykas. The old timers said he was. “

The Drykas man she looked up into his eyes. He hadn’t given his name and she didn’t press for it. “Do you have rope, sir?” The girl asked the idea was forming in her head, it was out there and it would be up to these two if it was worth the risk. “I don’t swim well. One of us may need to find out where that tunnel leads under water. “ She looked back and forth between Naiya and the Drykas Man. “Just thinking. “ The girl went to the unlit lantern and picked it up dutifully. It was a gift after all. She peered uncertainly at the water wondering if the water would offer a better answer. Her hands would dip into it and let it trail over her fingers, sifting through them for some nugget of something. Anything. The gentle, compassionate creature she was at once attracted to this strange place and yet yearned for the grass and wind. It was a mixed bag. “This place is .. has to be of the Gods. “

[Lian Windrunner]

Seeing the younger of the two girls get one of the zith's claws reminded Lian of Dravite's zith claw. Having made a bear claw necklace recently as a trophy for killing his first bear, Lian rather liked the idea of making a zith claw necklace as a trophy from his first zith kill. So Lian walked over to the zith, and used his hunting knife to remove the rest of the claws. For good measure, he took some of the teeth as well. Perhaps he could convince Seirei to carve them for him. Carved zith teeth mixed with zith claws with some beads in his clan colors would make a very nice necklace. When he was finished taking what he wanted, Lian turned to the younger girl.

"It's fine with me if you want one." he said simply.

Lian turned to the other girl.

"Would you like a few as well?" he asked.

As he waited for an answer, Lian happened to look up, and he saw...the Web. The Web in the physical world. For a few ticks, all he could do was stare, entranced by its beauty as he tried to figure out exactly what he was seeing. The Web wasn't a physical thing. How could he be seeing it as such? After a while, he realized that he must be seeing a representation of the Web. But that begged the question of how his ancestors had created such a thing.

Lian was started out of his thoughts by the name Haku. All Webbers knew the name of one of the greatest Webbers known to his people. But...Haku's spirit walked these caves? How? And why? Surely he would have returned to the Web when he died, and been reborn eventually? It was the fate of all Drykas, after all. And yet...if it were true...to meet Haku's spirit would be to meet a legend. There was also the question of what was meant by "your right hand will lead you home."

Once again, Lian was startled out of his thoughts. This time, by the question of whether he had any rope. Lian nodded. Sir, indeed. Him? He had to resist the urge to chuckle at the idea of anyone calling him sir.

"I do, but I'm no sir. I'm Lian Windrunner of the Sapphire Clan."

Lian looked around the cave again, admiring the beauty he hadn't noticed before when he was fighting the zith.

"I think you're right about this place being of the gods." he mused.

Then he turned to the other girl.

"Do you know how to swim?" he asked politely..
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[Naiya]

She did not need claws, although perhaps they would fetch a price in the market, she would rather the man took them if he had use for them. Negative the signed to him, she did not want them.

Naiya shook her head, she wasn't a good swimmer. She was strong, though, and she could hold her breath for a while. She looked to the other two, considering them and their predicament with no clear way out of the caves.

"I can swim well enough." She lied carefully, to the man, Lian, they needed to get out somehow, and she was likely the best chance they had. So it was only partially a lie, and perhaps that would give her claim a ring of truth. "Perhaps I should go, and see what is on the other side. I can return for you if there is an option worth exploring. Otherwise we will have to consider our other options."

She steeled her form into confidence hoping to convince them of her lie with her strong words and she shaping of her hands and body.

She stepped into the pool, lighting the water, and seeking the dark hole of the tunnel. She couldn't find it in the glow, so she shuffled around for a stone to drop in the pool, disturbing more of the water as it fell.

She found it then, a dark hole near to the wall, disappearing into darkness. It was a long way down, but if she jumped she could recreate the fall that took her to the bottom when the zith had clipped her.

"I am Naiya Dawnwhisper." She told Lian, Amunet already knew, of course, and the words gave her a chance to distract herself from the risk she was about to take.

She would wait to see if they had anything further to add before she slipped into the water, clutching the edge and trying to see if she could use her free hand to stay afloat.

[Amunet]

She offered a polite smile and a nod when Lian said his name. “Amunet Shimmerstone.” The girl offered to be polite. Considering their predicament knowing her companion’s names was a comfort. Naiya’s suggestion sounded good to her. She took her at her word as this was her friend. Their friendship was fairly new, so she trusted her.

The young lady was always too trusting according to her family. “I am not a swimmer. I kind of almost drowned when I fell in the water. “ The girl admitted with a look of embarrassment. “That sounds like an idea. If you tie the rope around your waist if you get into any trouble we could pull you back, but if you reach something we could use the rope to help the rest of us out. Haku said don’t drink any of the water. “ Lieing to Amunet was easy. Her eyes were wide as she said that last admonition as if it was gospel.

She did take one claw from the Zith and put it into a pouch. She let Lian and Naiya work out the rope situation on whatever was decided with that idea. She took her belt off and looped it around the lantern’s handle. It was likely to get wet again so no use in lighting it now. The wet leather was creeping up onto her behind as it nestled the crevices of her curves. The girl made a face as this occurred. Wet leather had a way of doing that. Amunet thought to pick out the leather from there but considering they are about to go back into the water sometime soon, what was the point of pulling leather out the crack of your behind?

Her hand went into the water and agitated it a little. The blue light shimmered as it was agitated. “Hey. If you swim in it , it looks like you would have light.” The blue light of the water seemed to match the blue fire of the lantern when it was lit. It also seemed to echo the sky blue eyes of the young woman. This was an interesting correlation that she mused on. “I wonder what does the blue light mean.” The girl asked out loud. Rather she meant to say that out loud was unclear but her curiosity was clear as she peered intently at the light as if it would provide an answer. Her hand gently would move the water and watch the light ebb and flow within these strange waters.

[Lian Windrunner]

Lian nodded, looking relieved when Naiya told them that she could swim. Like Amunet, he took the other woman at face value. He didn't know her, and there was no reason to lie about their skills now. Not when lying about them might cost them their lives.

The idea about the rope was a good one, so Lian unwrapped one of the ropes he had made from around his waist, and offered it to Naiya.

"I made it myself out of vines I found earlier, so I don't know how strong it is." he cautioned.

"Still, I think it will be better than nothing."

Amunet mentioned that Haku had told her not to drink any of the water. Lian glanced at the one gallon jar that held the water he had taken.

Well, I guess it's a good thing we haven't been down here long enough to get thirsty. he mused.

It would have seemed like a waste to drink some of the healing water, but if he had gotten thirsty enough, he would have done so. Lian wondered what was wrong with the water that you couldn't drink it. Was it good for healing, but poisonous if you swallowed it? It seemed as good an explanation as any. Weren't there some plants like that, too? Poisonous if you ate them, but good as a paste to put on your skin for a variety of ailments? Lian knew nothing of medicine, but he remembered a time when Lily had gotten burned while trying to cook something. Their mother had been alive at the time, and she had placed a salve of some kind on the injury. Lily had gotten some on her fingers, and had been about to lick it off when their mother had yelled at her not to do so.

Amunet's question about the water jolted Lian from his thoughts.

"Perhaps it is connected to the Web in some way." Lian mused out loud.

The Web on the ceiling of the cave suggested that the entire cave was deeply connected to the Web in some way. And although he hadn't made that connection until now, the glowing healing water was the same color as the strands of the Web. Lian wasn't sure what that could mean, but he knew that it had to mean something..
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[Naiya]

Naiya took hold of the rope, using the strength of her arms to lever her self back onto the rocky edge of the pool. Sitting, dripping with healing water, she wrapped the rope around her waist, tying it the loose end tightly so that she would not lose it. The other she handed back to Lian, he could tie it somewhere or keep hold. "If I get into trouble I'll pull three canter beats, that way, if it's a tangle, there is no confusion." She informed him.

"I'm going to jump to the bottom." She began to explain the plan that had formed in her mind. "I'll reach the tunnel more quickly that way, which will help since I don't know how long before there will be more air." She began sifting through the dirt for more rocks to drop, hoping to illuminate the mouth of the opening she wanted to jump for.

After a short moment of thinking, she began weave together the long strands of her hair, moving the sections one over the other into a thick rope of braid. It was simple, hanging from the base of her skull like a tail rather than beginning at the top of her head. It wasn't as pretty, but with her hair wet, and nothing to comb it with, this was her best bet. It would keep her hair from tangling around her limbs, and from getting caught anywhere.

"Once I reach the end of the tunnel, I'll tie the rope off and come back." She informed the others, glancing at them to see if they were following her words. "If the two of you can't pull yourself along the rope, or of the rope doesn't hold, we will find another way."

She began dropping the stones she had gathered into the pool, aiming for the mouth of the dark tunnel. Apprehension crept into her shoulders as she moved, stepping along the edge until the plunk of the stone lit a glowingly blue path to the dark hole that was her goal.

She waited a moment in place, the glow fading slowly as she said a prayer. She didn't normally pray, content with the thought that the gods watched over their children, but she had others in mind today that required her words.

Should she die here, trapped in the belly of Semele, Shahar would miss her, would agonize over her death as he did over Hope's passing. Khida would morn too, whether in response to Shahar's sadness or to Naiya's departure, it would matter not. Her animal companions would not understand, but Shahar would care for them, they would be alright, but only if Shahar was, so it was for him that she prayed then.

She prayed to the gods, all of them, any that were listening, to look after her family, all that it entailed, and to help keep them safe from harm if she could not be there to do so instead.

Then, she dropped another rock, following it's fall, took a deep breath, and jumped in after it.

After having fallen into the water so many times today, jumping in gave her a sense of control, less disorienting than the other times, and she let that bring her calm. She could do this.

She hit the bottom quickly, allowing her momentum to bring her into a crouch where she hovered for a moment before pushing on into the tunnel.

The light of the water did it's work, but it did not allow Naiya to see much of use, illuminating only a small space around her, she wished she had more rocks to throw. She was pulling herself along, the small space allowing her to kick her legs some, moving her forward with a number of scratches and bruises on her limbs that healed instantly in the water. Most of her movement was from dragging herself, a process that become more frantic as her lungs began to protest the lack of new air.

It did not take her long to navigate the tunnel, her hands finding open water quickly enough, a bit more than a bodylength away from the opening. She was suffering though, she needed to breathe, and a few bubbles escaped her lips as she tried to figure out what her next action should be. She couldn't tell, it was too dark, so she gathered her feet beneath her and pushed off the ground, breaking away from the ground and up towards what she hoped would be the surface.

She kicked her legs, scooped water with her arms, and hoped that her strength would be enough to let her survive her attempt to save the others.