5 - Acorn

[to_dust]

[C'rizz does have his pack with him when it goes dark and impactful, but he doesn't know how to use most of what's in it. He has some water, some food, but limited medical supplies and no torch.

So when he comes to, he has to navigate by hearing and touch. It's very good hearing, but he wishes he had light; a packet of everlasting matches, even, would go down well. Because he can hear things, far away, in the dark.]

Comments

[beingdifferent]

[Esther is prepared too or at least moderately so, her bulky pack's strap looped over her shoulder when she finds herself in the port. She has augmented it with what dried food and water supplies she could get her hands on, as well as a shard of her broken mirror wrapped half in fabric and the lighter she stole from Bond a few months back.

The first thing she does is to retrieve and ignite the former, squinting against the sudden light. She too hears the sounds of movement, and her eyes dart back and forth trying to identify the source.]

Who's there? [Her voice, soft but clear, echoes through the chamber.]

[to_dust]

[C'rizz has to resist his skin flushing dark, to keep him in the shadows-- he makes himself calm, and makes himself his neutral white, slowly taking shape in the gloom.]

It's-- C'rizz, from the barge. [He blinks his watering eyes.]

Are you all right? Are you hurt?

[characterdefect]

Where else would you be from?

[Roderick seems unconcerned, which is not - precisely true; as he emerges from the gloom, there is something in the cast of his eyes which is already not wholly sane. However, he sounds normal. Ish.]

Hi there. [He regards Esther curiously.]

[beingdifferent]

[Her eyes adjusting, she glances at them both in the dim orange light and steels herself. This will clearly be a very interesting port.]

Hello.

I'm fine. Are you all well?

[to_dust]

I might be from here...

I've got a few scuffs, but I'm all right. I just woke up here a few minutes ago; no idea how, it's too cramped for me to have been thrown.

[characterdefect]

[Another sideways look at Esther; then a smile that glints in the dark.]

Just fine, thank you.

I think we might all be in the same boat. Who wants to start taking bets on how long we'll be here?

[beingdifferent]

Me as well. Does anyone know where we are, besides in the dark?

[Now that she knows C'rizz's name and has seen who else is there she snaps the lighter off; there's only one other person to identify, and there's no telling when they may need the lighter more direly.]

I'm Esther. [A soft, very brief chuckle.] And my estimate is four days.

[to_dust]

Down a really unpleasant cave. In the dark.

And I don't know about the two of you- [He's trying to keep a lightish tone, channeling people he knew who were good in this kind of situation-]

But I bet that we won't be in this cavern much longer. I certainly don't intend to. We should try to find the surface.

[characterdefect]

[Roderick is good in this kind of situation. Or at least will be, for a while. He touches C'rizz lightly on the shoulder, a moment of comfort.]

Roderick. I'll say three.

C'rizz, which way would you suggest the surface is? [Just because, to be honest, he doesn't have a fucking clue, and that's actually very annoying.]

[beingdifferent]

It sounds as if we should be well in the end, at least.

[Esther is calm, her brain frantically calculating the situation and her odds of getting out of it safely. She is going to need extra protection, and thus sees the Admiral's insistence on staying close together was based in sense.]

[to_dust]

I can't see any light, and I don't smell fresh air... But I can hear echoes. It opens up quite a bit if we take the passage that's to my left. Your right, Esther. You should go behind me-- if there's a drop or something -- well, if something happens, I have an exoskeleton, and I can take a few extra hits.

Esther, can you reach out for my hand? Let's regroup and get out of here.

[characterdefect]

[Very noble of him - although it worries Roderick at the same time. He doesn't particularly want harm to come to C'rizz, but if it has to be one of them--]

[He makes a noise of assent in the darkness and stands back, letting the two of them go ahead and following behind.]

[beingdifferent]

Yes. [She throws the dice and immediately reaches out in the darkness, unafraid of where he might lead her. Better him first than her.

Turning her head to speak in Roderick's direction, she gives an order phrased as a question.] Can you find your way to us?

[to_dust]

[C'rizz's hand is only slightly warmer than the air around them, the skin thick and leathery. He gives a reassuring squeeze when the warmer, smaller hand finds his.]

We'll all get out of here. Roderick--?

[characterdefect]

[He reaches out to take her hand, slightly irritated at the fact that this puts him distant from C'rizz but cognizant of the reasoning. Still: C'rizz is family. She is not.]

Lead the way, man. I've got your back.

[Maybe eventually there will be a knife in it! But not yet.]

[beingdifferent]

[Linked to them both, Esther turns ninety degrees to avoid walking sideways as she holds their hands. In this environment she's got no reason to endanger Roderick; he'll be far more useful to her if he's alive and working with her.]

I'm ready.

[to_dust]

All right. Slowly and carefully does it.

[Howsoever slow and careful, there's the occasional muttered curse as C'rizz finds upturned rocks with his shins-- but no pitsfalls swallow them, nothing leaps on them in the dark. There's a flow of -- well, not fresh air, but the air of a larger room, with some circulation, the passageway audibly widening as the echoes of their steps get fainter and further away.

C'rizz stops them, shrinking back a wall and tugging the rest with him.]

Esther? I hear motion. Lots. Can you-- very, very quietly light your lighter?

[characterdefect]

[He is beginning to get acquainted to the dark. It's not ideal, but it could be worse. This is a group he understands and thinks he can control; he'd rather the formula didn't change.]

[And yet here it is about to, as he presses his back against the wall at C'rizz's urging. He squeezes Esther's hand in a reassuring way, then lets it go so she can reach for her lighter.]

[beingdifferent]

[Esther stays silent at C'rizz's request, slowly letting go of Roderick's hand after the assertion of comfort. She untucks the lighter from under the ribbon on her wrist and flicks it on, squinting under the sudden light.]

[to_dust]

[C'rizz shields his eyes, wincing-- the wan light doesn't show much, but there's-- movement. Small, hominid... not reacting to the light, either.]

They must be blind. [He's breathing it, low.] I can't hear them talking. Why don't they say anything?

[characterdefect]

Maybe they don't speak. [Barely audible.] But they can probably sense movement.

Be still, or. [You know. Get out something sharp, if you happen to have it. Roderick would kill for a knife right now.]

[beingdifferent]

[The sight of the creatures surprises Esther, almost enough to make her hand shake. She nods, catching Roderick's meaning, and glances between the men, hoping one of them is armed before sneaking her hand into her bag.]

Can we get away from them?

[to_dust]

We need to find the surface. Go up.

[He doesn't know the way-- 'up' will have to do. Any passage that slopes that way-- or any rock face in this cavern that can be climbed.]

Look, I'm sorry, but you're very small and we may need to run, would you mind riding on my back. Roderick, can we move the things from my pack into yours so she can-?.

[characterdefect]

[Rolling his eyes in the dark where they can't see, he slowly, quietly opens his pack and grabs for C'rizz's, making the transfer of items. He'd sooner just leave Esther behind, but that probably wouldn't go over well.]