Navigation Event

The gentle tremors that have been noticed more frequently around central Boreas seemed to have died down for the time being. Certain that you're free from any dangers, you decide to venture deeper into the underground reaches of Boreas, finding a far-reaching cavern beneath the Northern Mines where light seems unable to penetrate. The further you climb downward into the deep darkness, the more disoriented you get, robbed almost completely of your sight. And that's when the earth begins to rumble, sending rock crashing down on each side of you as the tremors worsen and you start to wonder if you'll make it out in one piece..

Skill Claim form

If you complete this thread with at least 3 rounds each, you can claim extra skill points in navigation for participating in a random event! Only the first two participants are allowed to respond. Please be aware that if you take more than three days to reply you might be skipped that round!

Note: You cannot claim other navigation skill points for this event.

Code:

[b]Skill[/b]: Navigation
[b]Points claiming[/b]: 15
[b]For what?[/b]: Participated in anavigation-related random event (earthquake in Locus Obscuro)
[b]Proof[/b]: <a href="http://ardently.org/showthread.php?tid=23947">click!</a>

[*code]+15 - <a href="http://ardently.org/showthread.php?tid=24536">Participated in a navigation-related random event (earthquake in Locus Obscuro)</a><br>[*/code]

With the season turning and the layers of snow melting back in Abaven it seemed an appropriate time to try and see more of the North now that it at least wasn't plagued by winter storms. The girl had been spending a few days traveling far and wide and enjoyed every minute in the chilly lands. Here she could almost always see her breath as she trotted along, paws occasionally crunching through small patches of half melted snow. The sun peeked out from the clouds behind her, warming her back. It was a perfect day for wandering till her paws hurt.

A few hours in Cael spotted the mines, a curious sight with its few remaining rotten wooden beams. Having explored a cave once she wasn't too intimidated by the darkness. Actually, it was rather enticing... oh, why not? Scampering into the darkened depths, she soon found herself farther underground than she'd ever been, and probably much farther than was smart to be wandering sightlessly with little sense of direction.

The rumbling caught her attention before she could determine if she was alone. What-

A rock slammed into her shoulder, knocking her to the side. Rocks were falling all through the tunnels! Oh hell, getting out of here was gonna suck. Supposing she even made it.

For the life of him, Archon could not figure out Caelestis, but he already figured that if there was any hope for Abaven, this girl had to be it. So why did she venture so far from the pack lands? Archon had decided to follow her, not bothering terribly to keep himself concealed. It was very possible that she knew he was there the whole time, but he supposed there was also a chance his distance kept him hidden.

As soon as he saw the mines, Archon suppressed a groan.

"No, no, no, no..."

She dove right in.

"Nooooo..." Archon groaned quietly to himself, only a beat behind her.

The deeper the mines went, the harder it was to see. Didn't Caelestis know it was dangerous underground? As if on cue, the earth rumbled and rocks began to fall.

"Caelestis!" Archon called before he could stop himself. He scrambled to her as she was knocked on her side, attempting to help her up.

"We have to get out of here. Now!" he said, aiming to push her in the direction they had come.

Apparently she was not quite as sneaky as she liked to think she was. There was no need to guess who it was that had trailed her here and was now calling to her. Great. This would be fun. He'd probably tell her what a fool she was for crawling into random dark places and almost getting squished like a bug.

As Archon helped her up and the rumbling continued, Cael couldn't stop herself from casting a glance over at the dark shadow that was his face and huffed out a snarky, "Not gonna try to finish me off?" as she moved as quickly as her partially limping gait would allow for. Thaat was gonna be a bruise. A real big bruise. Refraining from adding more sass to the serious situation was no easy task. In fact it wouldn't have been managed if she hadn't caught the faint sound of more boulders slipping free from above them.

"Back up!" she yelled, throwing herself back against Archon just in time to feel one large boulder graze the end of her nose before it landed with a heavy slam in the dirt where she'd been a moment before. Eyes wide, she took a few shaky breaths as the rumbling roar of the earthquake continued. "Help me check if there's a way around it." Moving cautiously while keeping an ear out for more falling rock, Caelestis nosed her way along the obstacle. And it was just beginning to get lighter, they were probably close to getting out!

In the chaos, Caelestis still had the grit to be snarky, asking if he was going to finish her off. Archon's eyes searched her face for half a second. If it wasn't so dark, Cael would be able to see the bewildered look on his face. If there was anyone in the pack Archon would be opposed to killing, it would have been her! While sassy and a little cold, Caelestis had never outright rejected Archon. He thought they had even had fun together once or twice and he couldn't deny the tiny amount of protectiveness he had begun to feel for her- something akin to how he felt about his sibling's children and their antics.

With the quick but intense blink of emotion out of the way, Archon responded.

"Why would I do that?" he nearly yelled over the surrounding noise.

Besides, he thought as a justifying afterthought, it wouldn't help his relations in the pack if she died.

That was obviously why he'd protect her.

Cael shoved into him and Archon stumbled backwards as quickly as he could before the boulder slammed down in their previous location.

"What, not gonna let me get crushed?" Archon attempted to snark back.

The girl began to check for a way around the boulder. Archon nosed around. While it didn't completely seal off the cave, there were no gaps large enough for Archon to fit through. There was one promising gap at the bottom left of the boulder where it leaned against the wall. With some digging, perhaps Cael could slide through, but there was no promise the rock wouldn't shift further down. Archon shook his head.

"We have to find another way," Archon said, lifting his nose to the air. With all the settling dirt, it was hard to tell if there was any fresh air flows. Archon decided to investigate. He thought of telling Caelestis to wait, but there was no guarantee that was any safer. Archon cast a look at the girl, opting to let her decide what to do as he backtracked down the cave a little.

Was there more than one entrance? At this point, they were both too far down to guarantee that any turn would lead outside. Any tunnel off track could lead them into another dead end... or worse.

Archon marched back to the boulder, murmuring prayers the whole way.

"We have to dig below it," he said decidedly. "If we dig near here, it should stay lodged between the wall and the ground and we can open this hole up large enough for you to squeeze through."

Caelestis wasn't too tiny by most measures, but Archon was still large enough that opening up the hole enough to get him though would probably cause the rock to fall. They could get Cael out first, then he could attempt to get out.

Archon started digging. The ground was hard, unlike the soil on the surface. It seemed hopeless, but the hole only needed to be a little larger for Caelestis to fit.

"In times like this," Archon murmured to himself, "We have to trust in God."

Much as she loathed to admit such a thing existed, there was indeed  a part of her that delighted in the shock her words seemed to cause Archon. The way his posture changed and the tone of his words as he yelled over the rumbling told her he hadn't really expected it. That pleased little corner of her mind felt like he deserved her ire, after all, his family had twice taken over her home and left her parents and packmates fear stricken. They deserved more than just sharp words. On the other hand though, Archon had yet to do anything to her personally, aside from taking over Abaven but... In the end she ignored his question and dismissed that line of thought in favor of focusing on finding an escape.

As they scoured around the obstacle in search of a way out it began to seem a bit feudal though Cael wouldn't admit it till it was well and truly over. After a bit Archon said they should look for another way and turned to do deeper into the tunnels, but Caelestis wasn't too quick to follow. There was no way to be sure there weren't already more boulders and collapsed stretches of tunnel further in walling off any escape. Instead she decided to stand up on her hind legs, front legs bracing against the boulder so she could try and figure out how tall it was. Did it reach the ceiling or? Even as she stretched as far as she could the top of the boulder didn't seem to be within reach.

When Archon returned and told her they needed to dig under she nodded in the darkness. There sure weren't any better options left. Settling in beside him, she set to work digging in the hardened soil. His words weren't missed even in the continued rumbling of the earthquake. 'You', not 'us'. The fact that he wasn't simply thinking of self preservation, and furthermore thought of her first was a bit surprising to Cael. "We're getting out," she asserted.

A layer of dirt came loose from above them, falling in heavy waves onto the wolves and covering her whole body as she coughed and hacked in the dust that was created. When it was clear she wouldn't be breathing normally until she was free, she crawled closer, wriggling her way into the space they'd opened up. It took some twisting and adjusting and shimmying about, but eventually she slipped out the other side into the slightly brighter space on the other side. Immediately she set to widening that side, digging hurriedly and calling, "You next." There was no way he was gunna get left there like some kind of martyr. No sir.

The two dug side by side, Caelestis refusing to give up on the idea that they would get out together. Archon wasn't so sure, but he nodded at her words anyway. He felt his paws go numb as they scraped at the ground around the fallen rock. Dirt fell from above and Archon did his best to control his breathing between coughs.

Eventually, the gap was just big enough for the young girl to squeeze through. Archon held his breath as Caelestis struggled through the hole. Once she was through, she turned around and began digging, ushering Archon in next. He was apt to decline, but she seemed set on it. Of course she was, Archon mused. Saving someone she supposedly hated. Made perfect sense.

"If the earth starts shaking again, I want you to run," Archon shouted into the gap as he readied himself. "If that happens, go take over Abaven for me."

Archon attempted humor, but he wasn't really laughing. He didn't expect Caelestis to listen to him, but he thought she'd make a more interesting leader for Abaven.

"You can even claim you took me out," he mumbled mostly to himself.

Archon shouldered his way under the boulder. He could barely see Caelestis on the other side and he did his best to hide the panic in his eyes when his body started catching on the narrow walls. The tremors caused his heart rate to spike painfully. He got his head to peek though the other side. The gap wasn't big enough for him to be able to breathe and for a moment, he wasn't making any progress to move further.

Archon's nails scraped against the hardened ground until they bled. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. His back legs kicked helplessly on the other side. The ground began to shift again and Archon made his best attempt to lock eyes with Caelestis.

"GO!" he barked with as much force as his half-filled lungs could muster.

Dirt dropped from the ceiling and Archon's kicking became frantic. He exhaled until his lungs burned. He couldn't see if Caelestis had left, but he knew she wouldn't be able to see him any better.

Archon relaxed for a moment, his eyes pinning shut.

"God. Please..."

His hearing tunneled as if in a dream, though he might have just been nearing his body's limit. The rumbling grew more ferocious. Archon felt the boulder above him shifting and kicked out one last time into the darkness.

When Archon came to, the tunnel had stopped moving. How long was he out? Seconds? Hours?

"Caelestis!" he rasped.

He could breathe. Archon moved to stand, but was pulled painfully back. Looking back, Archon could see that the boulder had pinned the lower fourth of his tail. It was probably mostly fur, right? Archon tried to pull against it, but a white hot pain shot up his back. The tunnel was lighter. He had to be close to the surface.

He was so close.

"Okay," she mumbled in response to his directives, trying to sound as obedient as possible even though she was hardly listening and frankly didn't plan on doing as she was told anyway. She couldn't even be sure she'd get out in time if the rumbling came back and she ran. No, she was pretty sure it was better to focus on digging and widening the opening right now anyway.

As Archon finally made a move to try and crawl through, Cael stepped back a bit to give him room, waiting with bated breath as the larger wolf shouldered his way into the gap. As he struggled, she felt her chest tightening with panicked worry. It was only when the rubling of the earthquake returned and Archon told her to go that she was certain - he was trapped in there and there was no way he was making it out on his own. Frowning with indecision clear on her face, she froze. Should she leave him? Maybe they were better off without the Abraxas man, even if he was starting to grow on her despite her best efforts to remain distant... That was wrong though, but...

At last she turned to step away while a cloud of dirt came down from the ceiling. SHe only made it a couple paces before another rock came her way, slamming brutally into the same side she'd been hit on before and knocking her against a wall. Shit, that hurt. As she winced and tried to stand, she found it difficult. That was when she decided to go back. She wasn't getting out before the earthquake stopped when she had massive bruises blossoming over her shoulder making it hard to walk. So she crawled and hobbled her way back, sliding down into the divet that Archon was stuck in and moved to grab him by the scruff, bracing her hind legs against the boulder and aiming to yank him free.

What a hellish day. The boulder was shifting as the earthquake raged on, and Archon came clear at last. Only then did she begin to crawl towards the entrance, good deed done for the day. Of course she didn't expect the additional rock that came down, this time a smaller one. It struck the back of her head just right, causing her to lose consciousness halfway to the exit.

Archon faded in and out of a dizzy consciousness. At some point, the consciousness seemed to stick and Archon started forming a plan. He had to get his tail free one way or another. He had to get Caelestis. They had to get out. It was noticeably darker now, although the dust had cleared. Archon wasn't sure, but he thought the shape in front of him had to be Caelestis.

"Caelestis," his voice scratched out, barely audible.

Archon twisted against his tail. He could feel the fur pulling out, but the pain went deeper than that. He was pretty convinced that the tip of his actual tail was caught. Archon kicked against it the best he could, using his hind legs to scrape at the fur and skin connecting him to the boulder.

Though the pain was sharp at first, at some point it blurred in the struggle. When Archon eventually was freed, he lay on the ground panting. He wasn't sure he felt entirely attached to reality at the moment. He wasn't sure it was a good feeling. He felt like he was floating inside a body that wasn't his. Was this his soul's way of rejecting his mortal body as it failed him?

Numbly, Archon stood and moved over to the figure on the ground. He couldn't feel the steps, but he could still control his movement somehow.

"Cael?" the body's voice said softly. He needed to reach out to her. They needed to get out of here, but he wasn't sure his body could carry her in this semi-conscious state.

The stone hit hard, real damn hard. This dreamless blackness that it sent her into was eerie. Occasionally she'd feel herself rouse partially, her eyelids would flutter and hazy blotches of light came in and out of focus. This was going to be the mother of all headaches when she woke up for real, uggh.

It was the shuffling sound that started pulling her from the haze of her mind. The darkness immediatly rose up to meet her but it was chased away when someone called her. Who was... oh, right, Archon. Yes. For a moment she struggled to bring their situation to mind but once she'd turned and caught a glimpse of his brown fur through the thick clouds of dust her memory began to clear back up. They were in a cave or tunnel or something, yes, cool. But- oh, right, the earthquake. Less cool.

Yanking herself up to her paws, Cael instantly regretted that move and struggled not to heave. It felt like the ground was sinking away from her and she was slowly beginning to fall while her vision narrowed on either side. "Hell," she hissed between her teeth as the feeling faded at about half the speed of a snails pace. Once she didn't feel like hurling and could safely untuck her head from between her forelegs, Cael wasted no time in rising and beckoning Archon to stumble towards the exit with her since she was pretty sure he was almost as roughed up as she was so no one was gonna be walking normally here.

While she was sort of surprised everyone lived and made it out in one piece from that ordeal, she didn't show it. Instead she opted to lean against one of the wooden beams that was still standing outside the mine after almost stumbling and falling the other way. Next, she'd turn to Archon and nod seriously. "I'd say that was... a rousing success."