The Eyes Burn in the Dark [Maegon, Malemar, Winter, Astrea]

[Rovan Dermane]

"Well the girl seems to make an effort, at least," remarked Rovan. The stone had rocked and tilted just slightly, but the stick was not sturdy enough to hold its weight. Astrea's strength and the stick were obviously not enough to remove this obstacle. Rovan approached the cave slowly, carefully stepping over loose rocks on the ground. As he eyed the boulder at a closer distance, he realised the stone had been moved by human hands. It was not plausible that nature could have so inconveniently created a barrier infront of this open cave. Perhaps it was pushed over the edge of the cliff that towered above them? He gazed upwards to the top of the cliff, as if it could give him an answer. Rovan graced his fingers over the stone. Why would anyone block themselves inside that damp cave? Did they fear what was outside in the wilds? Or was it, perhaps something inside that was kept barred away from the rest of the world? He cupped his chin in thought. These questions only helped fueling his curiousity. "The stick was no bad idea. Perhaps, you gentlemen might have the necessary amount of force to remove this," he spoke out loud. Then he turned around to gaze at the others, his cloak broadened by his arms as he put his hands on his sides. "Or will you have a young girl, beat your physical qualities?" Rovan smirked teasingly, especially as he regarded Winter in his wolfshape. He doubted if he could interpret the reactions of an animal, but nonetheless he could imagine the irritated look from the proud Kelvic.

[Astrea Rose Griffin]

Astrea turned to look at Rovan and smirked a little at his his comment about being a young girl. "Hey I am not that young!" She protested playfully. "I will be turning 18 this winter I hope you know." She then glanced to look up at Winter knowing that Rovan's comment was mostly directed to him and she smiled up at him amusingly. She watched his wolf like eyes trying to find some change in his expression. "Come on guys, get down here and help us out!" She called up cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. A strong gust of wind blew by and knocked Astrea off balance once again and with a squeal she grabbed at the rocky cliff so she wouldn't fall. Of course in doing this she scraped her hands pretty badly, but it was better then falling off the cliff and plummeting to her death, but she was still very accident prone. She looked over at Rovan to see if he would be alright, but she suspected that he would be since he had a slightly muscular build. Astrea was just very light and easy to knock over, the exact opposite of these men. She groaned to herself as she looked down at her bloody hands and tried to wipe the blood away by using her skirts but she only stained her white dress red. She muttered to herself angrily as she felt a burning sensation in her hands as air blew into the open wounds.

[Winter]

Winter was minding his own world when Astrea attempted to move the rock, not paying attention to the wilderness neither to the group. His fur coat seemed to be more important, as he looked to it, attempting to identify any dirty spots. As the branch breaks, his ears stand attention and his body in a primal reflex returns its focus to the group. He strolls forth a few steps, leaving a small paw trail. Sighting the failed attempt of the female, Winter tilts his head one way to the other, disappointed. Being taunted by the group, he saw no other option than to help, since Rovan didn’t seem to be the one to get its garments sweaty neither Maegon, Winter had to take this obstacle by himself. As a wolf, he had no grip over objects, unless he carried them with his mouth, still, carrying a wood log between your teeth didn’t seemed to be the best of the options. With a quick run over Astrea, he leaped forward to his satchel, grabbing it. Few steps forward he felt a comfortable place to morph back to his human form, behind a small tree, which covered most of his lower body area, in a small act of respect towards the group. Behind the tree the swirl of lights could be seen as Winter came back to his Human state; he dressed his trousers rather quickly and walked back rather calmly to the group. “Watch and learn…” – he smiled to the group, ever teasingly. He had confidence in himself he could unlock the entrance of the cave, all by himself. He searched the surroundings rather quickly, spotting for a wooden log. He would attempt the same strategy Astrea tried; he wasn’t, after all, gifted of a enormous intellect. Found the rather heavy log, he took a firm grip on it and carried to the boulder, placing it under the loosen part of the rock. “Just a small push now and…” – Winter attempted to push the log down, in the same lever movement Astrea had done, thanks to his small skill in observation, he could copy the exact movement. As he pushed with all his strength forth, the boulder seemed to move a few inches, but not enough to roll out of the entrance. “One more try…” – Winter walked back a step and dusted his hands. He now grabbed the strong wooden log in a inverted position, one that he could make use of his body weight to push it. He elevates his body with the strength of his arms; his feet didn’t touch the ground and he was totally suspended, still, the boulder have moved further, but once again, it wasn’t enough. Almost willing to quit his task, he yells to the group: “Lil’ Hand here!? It’s heavy after all!” – he yelled, rather disappointed with himself for not having enough muscle for the job.

[Rovan Dermane]

Rovan exclaimed irritation as he neared the log where Winter was struggling, putting what efforts he could to aid the Kelvic in his attempts. The rock wobbled over, as Winter mainly managed topple it. "Watch your feet--!" Rovan barely managed to shout, as the grand slab of stone tumbled down on the ground with a heavy thud and rolled a few yards along the stream. The scholar produced a small handkerchief and dapped his brow. This was not work meant for an intellectual, he thought. Nonetheless, the cave stood now open before them. Its ceiling seemed tall enough for a man to stand in, about 6 feet high. The flow of water coming from above now trickled freely before the entrance, continuously making a watery drape infront of the cave. Rovan scuttled against the coming night's chill. He leaned his head in to peek inside, but saw nothing but darkness. He drawed back his head, awaiting for one of the others to enter first.

[Maegon]

Maegon sighed in relief, though more relieved with his own safety than Winter's. Astrea showed herself to be actually pretty intelligent, what with the lever and all, but her lack of strength led them nowhere. Winter was stronger, but without mimicking Astrea's strategy he wouldn't have cleared the way for them. With all that, Rovan still didn't look too confident in entering the cave. Maegon wouldn't either: you could only see a couple of feet inside, the rest being all pitch black. As he was making his way next to Rovan, he spotted the bloodstains on Astrea's dress, which led his eyes to her scraped hands. It wasn't anything overly dangerous, but who knew? Even if it wasn't dangerous, it hurts a bit to carry things with bloodied hands. "Hey, Astrea, can I see your hands for a second? I might be able to something about it."

[Astrea Rose Griffin]

Astrea turned to look at Maegon with curiosity. He seemed to be referring to the burning cuts and scrapes on the palms of her hands though she wasn’t sure what he would be able to do about it. “Um…alright.” She said hesitatingly as she showed him her bloodied hands. Her hands were pretty small, but she was a female so it was to be expected after all she was pretty petite for her age. She sometimes envied other girls in the orphanage who were 3 years younger than she was and stood a head taller than her. It almost made her seem even more weak, which truly bothered her. She never wanted to be known as a weak person just because of her gender.

[Maegon]

With a smile, Maegon hurried to the horse, taking a few bandages and a clean piece of cloth. With the cloth, he grabbed Astrea's little fingers and carefully cleaned up the scrapped hand. He couldn't help but think he could be acting a little bit naive, worrying so much about some simple cuts and scratches, but he really didn't want to have the responsibility for anything. He could look like a kid or an idiot, making such a fuss, but being careful shouldn't be a problem. Only after the palm was clean of dirt and blood did Maegon apply the bandage, making it go between her fingers and fitting around her palm. He couldn't help but think Astrea had a skin too smooth for that kind of adventure. "Too tight? I can loosen up the bandage if it is."

[Astrea Rose Griffin]

Astrea allowed Maegon to clean her wounds clenching her teeth a bit when the cloth accidently grazed the open wounds, but she didn’t mind. She watched his hands work as he tenderly wrapped the bandage around her hand and then she looked up to smile at him. “No it is ok.” She said softly looking into his eyes. “Thank you.” She said her warm eyes meeting his. She slid her hand out of his and then approached the cave entrance peering in. “It is kind of dark.” She stated as she cautiously walked into the cold cave shivering a bit. She placed her hand against the walls of the cave so that she could easily navigate through the dark, though it still wasn’t very easy. She felt as if there was nothing around her except darkness and it was hard to figure out if she was walking on level ground or not. “I can’t see anything.” She said as she walked in deeper and then accidently tripped on a rock, but quickly stabilized herself. She muttered to herself angrily since her little trip probably made herself look even more weak and vulnerable.

[Rovan Dermane]

At first there was barely any visibility in the cavern for Astrea. The air was damp and cold, and her sounds echoed through the deep. It was as if her bustle and voice disturbed a sacred silence in this underground room, only exchanged with an occassional drop of water from the moist ceiling. As the Kelvic stood outside, he could smell the hint of something different. There was a faint odour of sweat and blood, that only his nose managed to detect so far. Astra saw a light enter the cavern from behind her. It was Rovan who had entered with a bright lantern, which he had in the meanwhile lit with flint and tinder. The vast size of the room was revealed as he entered with the light. Its width was more than 10 foot broad and the ceiling seemed to rise well above the first 6 feet deeper inside. The length of the room was obscured, as the light could not reach further into the darkness to reveal the end of the room. In the center of it, were the remains of an old bonfire. They were not the first to have been here, it seemed.

[Winter]

Winter had felt the scent penetrating his nostrils when he started his walk forth the entrance of the cave. The mixed odor of sweat and blood could make his primal side jump right out of him, releasing a relentless wolf… His senses went high and he immediately made the group aware. “There is or there was something here… It is hunting or it was hunted. Eyes sharp people.” He was a tad nervous, the air from the cave chilled his skin as a shiver ran down his spine, he was brave, but heck, walking on the unknown, in the dark and with a light armored group? It could be suicide, still, it was worth the risk, there could be something of great valor deep inside these caves. The Kelvic kept going forth, keeping his eye both on the group and in the cave. They were starting to get used to the low light of the cave. He could no longer stay morphed in his human form, he felt threatened in his current position. His human form was in good shape, but didn’t have half of the experience he had in his wolf one. He discards his pants rather quickly and with a quick whistle, he throws them to Astrea once again. While he threw, he morphed in the same spiral of lights. He was warmer now, thanks to the chilling air coming from the depth of the cave the others should be feeling a little cold; with his fur coat, Winter had nothing to fear, at least the weather. The cold reveals that there should be a water stream somewhere inside, or the cave had some strange properties Winter wasn’t aware of. His eyes now could see better in the dark thanks to the natural abilities inflicted on the wolves worldwide, they hunt both in day time and night time… Still, the cave was really dark, so it seemed. That would be when Rovan brought his torch up, revealing the layout of the cave. Winter still kept his led position on the group, with senses high and with a primal way to lead. He was after all starting to feel hungry… He did morph only three times, but he was used to morph and always have something to eat after, this would be a whole new experience to him.