One of the Damned (Peregrine x Ashlio)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Zali let out a half-hearted smile when Kyan appeared in front of her, trying to look as though she wasn't freaking out. She wasn't entirely certain how well she succeeded. "Like hell," she responded to his jab about taking all the treasure. Whatever treasure that was. "This was my idea, remember?" As if he was going to forget that. A brief flash of guilt crossed her face, which she was lucky Kyan missed, too busy studying the thing holding her. She only hoped that he would have the sense to get out of her if this trap, or any other, killed her, and not try and do something stupid and noble like rescue her body.

She was jerked back to paying attention to the conversation at hand, and not her wiggling and pessimistic thoughts, when Kyan spoke again. "Slipping through it?" Zali repeated, trapped somewhere between confusion and indignation. "Even if that works, and I don't get stuck in the middle, then what?" She tried to look down, but her head was still rigidly held in place. It didn't matter. A fall from this height would hurt like hell, if it didn't completely shatter her legs. "We're twenty five feet in the air. At least. What are you going to do, catch me?"

She had meant the statement as a joke, something utterly ridiculous that shouldn't be attempted, but she saw the way the idea immediately sparked in Kyan's eyes. "Oh, no," Zali said slowly. The stuff holding her crawled a bit further up her neck as she froze. She tried kicking at it, and the stuff stopped moving again. "I know you love the rigging, but there's no way that's a good idea."

Then again, was she really in any position to be complaining?
 
The suggestion made his eyebrows raise in surprise. And then, a smile grew on his lips. Yes, it was utterly stupid, but what else could they do? And he had already made the swing once without any problem, so how much harder could it be catching someone the next time. He didn't linger on that question for too long though.

"Why, you don't trust me?" he asked with a light chuckle, and grabbed the vine with his other hand. While balancing on a branch, he wrapped the whine around his waist and made a simple knot. For extra security, in case the impact with her made him lose his grip. "But if you have any other ideas, I'm all ears."

He lifted his eyes back to her and let out a tired sigh. "I mean, we could probably just sit and wait until whoever made this comes around to check on it… Oh, they can probably point us in the right direction of the treasure," he said nonchalant and even shrugged a bit. He was pretty confident that she too would realize it was better to risk breaking some bones. Because the trap didn't seem to be made to catch animals, seeing as the monkey had avoided it with no problem, and who made a trap for humans just to say hello and invite them for some rum?
 
Zali shuddered slightly at the thought of whoever had made this trap coming back to check on it. Her mind suddenly veered back to the monkey. Not whoever. Whatever. Whatever it was that had made it impossible for them to follow a single river back out of the jungle, had moved the branches out of Kyan's reach, had made it so that she couldn't kill the lizard. Whatever that "monkey" really was. She didn't know why it had led them into a trap, instead of just dealing with them there. Perhaps it was going to get friends.

That sent another shiver up her back. She wouldn't be able to run properly if she broke her leg, but even that gave her and Kyan a fighting chance. Maybe, right now, there weren't even any eyes on them. Maybe they'd be able to use that to get away. It didn't matter. Kyan was right. No matter what, they had to get out of here.

"You'd better fucking catch me," she grumbled. She took a few more shallow breaths, unable to really breathe properly because of the tightness of the thing holding her, before filling her chest as much as the constriction would allow. She would have to stay calm the whole way through. If she so much twitched it would seize up again, and then she really would suffocate. "Here I go."

Zali closed her eyes, and let every part of her body go limp. Immediately she felt the stuff crawl up her neck, and over her mouth and nose. She held herself rigidly still, glad for the fact that she was so used to diving in the ocean. It would give her a couple extra moments if... if this didn't go as plan. She felt it crawl up over her eyes, along her forehead, before it completely covered her head. For one moment she thought Kyan had been wrong. She thought, she completely believed, that she was about to die. And then she suddenly felt her feet break through the bottom.

The relief that she was slowly slipping through nearly caused her to twitch, to tense in anticipation. She didn't dare, didn't dare move a single muscle, out of fear that would be enough to get the trap to tighten up again, and this time it wouldn't let go. Slowly, achingly slowly, she slipped further and further down through the gel. Her ankles. Her knees. Her waist. The tips of her fingers broke through, and she longed to twitch them so bad. A faint burning was starting to fill her chest, but she knew she'd be all the way through before the need to breathe really overwhelmed her.

You'd better fucking catch me.
 
His palms ached from the climb and every muscle was soar from the days exertion, but he did his best to ignore it all. One last puzzle to get out off, and then he could hopefully, finally, collapse for at least a couple hours. He smiled when she agreed to his crazy plan, but it started to faltered when she began sliding deeper into the thing. A slight panic grabbed him and he feared that he might have been wrong. If Zali died because of his idea, he would absolutely hate himself and probably never find a way to forgive himself. But, first he would have to get of the island himself, so most likely it would be a very short time to regret this decision. And then he could enjoy the after life, listening to her rant about what a horrible idea it had been for the rest of eternity.

Luckily, his smile returned when he saw that he was actually right. It was a strange sight, Zali floating seemingly through thin air, keeping completely still, her body limp and an uncomfortable expression on her face. He first realized she was through when he saw that her pants were no longer pressed against her legs, and instead was fluttering slightly in the warm breeze that was up here near the tree tops. He noticed he had been holding his breath and let out a relived sigh.

When her hips were through, he quickly wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt and then grabbed the vine again, twisting his left arm around it a few times for a more secure grip. It wouldn't help them much if he lost his grip mid swing, and they both fell to the ground. And that was just one of the many things that could go wrong. It was slightly mind numbing to think about. If he swung too slow, he might not reach her in time, or if he swung too fast he might go right past her. Or just miss in general. Or they could both get captured by the thing. Or–

He shook his head in effort to snap out of it, and saw she was nearly all the way through. The second it reached her shoulders, he kicked of the tree and swung right towards her. He realized right away that it was a little too soon. His right shoulder slammed into her stomach, and he managed to wrap his arm arm around her thighs before she tipped over the shoulder and fell. The impact made them spin around violently, while still swinging towards… hopefully the tree, he had lost all sense of direction.

Kyan groaned as the weight of them both strained on his arm that was clutching the vine, and the spinning made it even harder to hold her. Invisible forces were trying to pull her out of his grip. "Grab on to something!" he yelled and screwed his eyes shut as the fast spinning started to make him dizzy. Something snapped above them and they fell a couple feets before stopping abruptly. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder and he gasped, tears stinging his eyes. "Anything!" he added with desperation in his voice. He wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Peregrine
Zalika knew immediately that Kyan had swung too soon. She felt him in front of her moments before he collided with her chest, even as she felt the strange substance harden around the last pieces of her forehead, which were still firmly held within the confines of her former prison. It hardened immediately upon Kyan's collision with her, and for one moment Zali would have sworn that her head was about to get completely cut in half. She let out a scream of pain, as a cut appeared on the back of her head where her head had been slammed much harder than should have been possible against the hardened edge of the trap.

It felt like the world went silent after that. There was a ringing in her ears and a faint blackness around the edges of her vision, and it was hard to notice that Kyan's momentum had managed to rip her out of the holds of this trap. The vine got caught in the trap a moment later, which was probably fortuitous, as the branch that held it up in the tree suddenly broke. They dropped several feet before the trap seized on the vine. Zali felt the wind being driven out of her as her gut was once more slammed into Kyan's shoulder. She could feel blood trickling down the back of her head and onto her neck. She knew it probably wasn't bad. Head wounds always bled a lot more than they had any right to.

The ringing in her ears was suddenly and drastically interrupted by the sound of Kyan's voice. It was distant, as though they were separated by the entire length of the ship, even though Zali knew he had to be practically screaming into her ear. What did he want. Grab? Grab what?

Anything.

Her hand fluttered weakly for a moment, before the sight of Kyan's hands slipping down the vine suddenly jolted her out of whatever reverie her blow to the head had put her in. They were going to fall if she didn't... Grab something. Right. One hand closed around the vine above Kyan's head, the other reached out to snag a branch that was only a little ways in front of her. She heaved with all her might, drawing both vine and Kyan towards the tree, even though her arm was shaking in complaint. Instinct, carefully honed after years spent in the rigging of ships, finally kicked back in. If anyone had asked her, she wouldn't have been able to tell them how she got from the vine, barely supported by Kyan's weakening grip, into the branches of that tree. However, manage it she did. Panting heavily, head throbbing as though she had just bashed it against a wall (which, in a way, she had), she perched precariously on a branch and blinked dumbly at the concerned face of Kyan, which was less than a foot in front of her nose.

"...Never again," she finally managed. "We are never doing that again." She lifted one hand to carefully probe at the back of her head. Her hair was thick and heavy in the spot with partially congealed blood, and she had a lump the size of an egg that stung with every prod, but it didn't seem as though the damage was severe. She rubbed her hand off on the back of her neck, and the streak of blood joined the other drips that had already settled there.

She managed a halfhearted grin. "Let's get out of this tree."
 
Kyan was starting to get worried that Zali had actually passed out or something, since she didn't respond to his cry for help. His grip was slipping, thanks to his sweaty palms and aching fingers. They were starting to cramp up, and his injured shoulder did not help. A deep pulsing was centered in the joint, and spread up his arm and towards his neck.

Even with their little drop, it was still a long way down. He would rather not experience how long exactly. So when he felt her moving, new energi came with a rush of adrenalin and relief. The second he felt her weight disappear from his still good shoulder, he opened his eyes again and quickly grabbed the branch, following after her. He could feel it shaking under their weight, but he was too tired to worry about that. They had made it this far, so surely a branch breaking wasn't going to finish them off.

Ignoring his own pain and exhaustion, he leaned close to Zali and narrowed his eyes, examining her face. Before he managed to do or say anything, she talked, and he let out a relief sigh. So she was fine. Bruised and hurt, but fine. And bleeding, he realized as he noticed the blood that had run down her neck. His eyes widened with worry and he reached out to take a better look, but then she suggested they get out of the tree. For a second he had actually forgotten they were still in it. "Yeah, good idea," he said and smiled a little himself when he saw hers. The wound couldn't be that bad then. So all in all, this could have gone a lot worse. They were both alive, and it didn't seem like the trap was able to grab them again.

A lot slower then he had climbed up, he made his way back down, favoring his right arm and trying to move the left as little as possible. It wasn't until his feet were safely planted back on the ground that he let himself feel how exhausted and in pain he actually was. He stumbled a bit when it all hit him at once, panting so hard from the climb that his chest ached.

He reached up to his throbbing shoulder and carefully hugged it, gasping a bit as pain shot all the way down to his fingers. Something clearly wasn't right, but at least he could still move his arm. Hopefully he had only stretched something and it would be fine in a couple days. He took a few deep breath in effort to calm down, and trying to loosen it up a bit, he slowly rotated it and bit his teeth together against the pain.

After, he turned his attention to Zali, who's injuries were a lot worse than his stupid shoulder. "You are bleeding," he said and lifted his right hand up to her neck, leaning close to get a better look at her head. It was his fault, he knew that. Had he only waited another second or two… "I'm sorry," he said and faced her again. "Lets find a place to sit down, preferably away from any other invisible traps, and I'll take a closer look at it." And then they could talk. Something was clearly going on here, and they had to figure a way out of it.
 
"I believe that is the problem with invisible traps," Zali said, somewhat distractedly and slightly delayed, when her feet finally touched back down on the earth. "They tend to be a bit challenging to spot." She had moved slower than Kyan to get down the tree, feeling a strange lack of confidence in her own movement. It was as though a faint fog had surrounded her brain, making it so that the things she wanted from her body didn't quite make it in time, or ended up at their location slightly twisted. She hoped she hadn't gotten a concussion, or, if she had, the symptoms would pass quickly enough. The last thing they needed right now was for her to not be at the top of her game.

Like Kyan, she wobbled slightly after safely making it out of the branches, and her hand went back up to the spot on the back of her head. The activity of climbing back down the tree had started the flow of blood again, and the back of her neck was sticky. Briefly, her mind flashed back to the last time she had gotten a head wound, when both she and Kyan had still been traveling "Iron" Eli Rogers. A clean cloth, or as clean as possible, held firmly against the wound for fifteen minutes. Anything cold to reduce swelling, if available. And a nice pork dinner afterwords to thicken the blood. Well, pork was certainly out of the question. She really hoped she wasn't going to have to mutilate her shirt to get the "clean" cloth. She liked this shirt. It had cost her more than was probably reasonable to get a material that was both fire retardant and somewhat water resistant. She wondered if that might make it useless as a bandage.

She turned and started to walk carefully away from the trap, before something else Kyan said suddenly struck her. She paused to look around at him. "Don't start blaming yourself now, you hear me? If it wasn't for you, I'd still be writing up there until that stupid monkey came back with friends..." Zali's words trailed off. In the excitement of everything that had followed, and possibly because of the head wound, Zalika had monetarily forgotten about the monkey. About the not-monkey. Her head must have been starting to clear, because intelligent thoughts were beginning to form again.

Zali didn't doubt in the slightest that the "monkey", she really didn't know what else to call it at the moment, had undoubtedly led her into that trap, probably hoping to catch Kyan in it as well. It displayed intelligence far beyond that of any beast. An unnatural trap, an unnatural monkey, an unnatural river that went somewhere different when you followed it downstream than when you followed it upstream, and an unnatural island. All of it was wildly wrong, and if either of them had any hope of getting off this island they were going to have to figure out what, exactly, was wrong with it.

She sighed, momentarily forgetting to watch where she was going, and stumbled slightly to the side as her knee partially gave out. Ah. Right. She'd hit her head. Well, at least tending to the wound would give her a little bit of time to think about what they were going to do.

They wandered a little bit deeper into the forest, side by side, both keeping a wary eye out on the forest around them. But nothing so much as rustled as they worked their way through the trees and around shrubbery, until the faint sound of a trickle of water began to echo through the forest. Zali groaned slightly, thinking they had somehow found their way back to the creek they had been following before, but as the two of them got closer she realized this wasn't the same creek. This one was notably smaller, with barely enough water trickling down to keep the thing flowing. Small pools of water had formed in depressions in the ground.

When she got a little bit closer she bent down, sniffing the water, before lifting up a couple of drops to taste. It looked clean, with no algae or other strange slimes clinging to the submerged rocks, and no odd smells or tastes accompanied it. "We should probably refill our canteens here," Zali said. "We're going to need water after all that exercise, and if you are going to use it to clean my head, it's probably clean enough to drink."
 
Last edited:
Kyan was more than happy to walk in silence through the jungle, which had also turned rather quiet now. He was too tired to think if anything useful to contribute with, and would rather use the energy he had left to focus on their surroundings. It seemed like they weren't being followed for a change, the whole atmosphere felt different. Lighter almost, and no pricking in the back of your neck. And was it just a big coincidence that they weren't walking in circles anymore…?

Every few minutes, he reached up to his left shoulder and gently hugged it. It was still throbbing, so something was clearly wrong with it. Catching her mid fall, what a great idea... His arm still worked though, he could bend it and move all his fingers, so he wasn't too worried. Surely the strange sensation in his fingertips would go away with some time, and the pain in his shoulder would have to die down sooner or later. Maybe all he needed was to sitt down and relax for a bit.

He still felt a bit shaken up by the whole event when they arrived at the creek, and being reminded about Zali's head wound didn't help. It was his fault, no matter what she said. Yes, she would probably still be hanging in that trap if it wasn't for him, but if he had only waited another second…

"Sit down and I'll clean it," he said and loosened the strap that kept his canteen fastened to his belt. He killed his thirst with several mouthfuls of the fresh, cool water before filling up the leather container. Then he walked over to her, and being as careful as humanly possible, he started pouring water at the wound while poking a little at it, making sure nothing was stuck at it. At least her short hair made the job a bit easier.

"How are you feeling?" he asked when he was done. He bent down to fill up the canteen again, and also washed his hands. "We probably should get some rest soon. Food wouldn't hurt either." It had beens stupid, walking straight into the jungle the second they arrived at this cursed island. They had seen all the abandoned ships, they knew they were going to meet some kind of trouble. Had they taken the opportunity to rest and fill their bellies first? No, of course not.
 
Zali sat down quietly on the rock, pulling her long ponytail over the top of her head so that it would be out of the way while Kyan cleaned the back of her head. Knowing he still had to feel guilty about the injury, Zali made absolutely certain she did not flinch, did not even so much as wince, as the cold water trickled down the back of her skull, sending sharp tendrils of pain coursing through the back of her skull. She distracted herself by tapping out a quick staccato beat on her knee with her fingers, letting her mind race in time with the beat of her fingers.

She couldn't help but feel as though she was on a timer right now, that she was standing in the bottom of an hourglass and the sand was dribbling down on her head. For the moment the forest was empty and calm, almost safe feeling, with the absence of the weight of the eyes on their shoulder. For the moment it seemed as though the forest had returned to what it should be, just another forest. While Kyan was thinking about rest and food, Zali was thinking about how best to take advantage of this situation, and how to stave off the weariness that was dragging down on her bones for as long as possible.

"Hmm?" she asked, somewhat distracted, when Kyan's words drew her attention back to the present moment. "I'm alright." Normally she might have taken that moment to offer some playful mocking, and later, when they were both safe (she refused to think about the possibility that there might not be such a later), she would certainly ridicule Kyan to no end for the wound on the back of her head. Right now, though, wasn't the time for such banter. It was too serious a moment for that.

"Kyan..." she said, somewhat slowly, as though speaking slowly might somehow give her brain more time to catch up, and would magically make the right words come out of her mouth. "I don't think we have time to rest. I think we need to..." what? What exactly was it that they needed to do? Get off this cursed island? Yes, that probably would be a good start, but somehow Zali found herself wondering if that was even possible. That beach was the only inlet to the island, and even if it wasn't that was where their boat was. As soon as that monkey and its compatriots realized that they were missing, that beach would certainly be the first place they set up a guard. What were the chances that they could make it to the beach and get away before that happened? Going back to the beach now would likely mean walking right into a trap.

Zali still had no idea what this island meant, or how it was possible that all the things that had happened today could have happened, but she knew there had to be some sort of significance to this place. Something that spawned these unnatural creatures and unnatural powers. If they could find whatever that was, maybe they could use it as some kind of leverage to get them off this island without harm. But that would mean... that would mean they would have to head to the center of this island instead. To their original goal, the rumored temple. There was still just a trace of daylight left. There had to be tracks all over this island, and Zali had yet to see any creatures she would label as natural. That would likely mean that those tracks would lead them right to where they wanted to go.

"Kyan, I think we need to go find that temple."
 
Eager to rest his sore and exhausted body, Kyan slowly sat down beside her and started gently massaging his shoulder. He moved his fingers carefully along the joint, trying to feel if something was out of place, but it only resulted in him grimacing in pain. At least it was his left arm, and not his sword arm, if they should get into any more trouble. Knowing Zali right, they most certainly would, and it seemed like she was planning on making it happen sooner rather than later. That didn't surprise him the least, but for once he wasn't going to agree blindly and just do whatever she said.

He let go of his shoulder and turned his head to look at her while she talked. When she was done, he let out a low and tired sigh. "Zali, you don't even know if there is a temple here…" And even if there is, why would they go there right now? Of all the places to go, that surely had to be where you would find trouble. So of course Zali wanted to go there. While everyone would run away from danger, she was more likely to run towards it. And he was stupid enough to follow her. But not this time.

"We've been running around all day and night, without any food. And now we're both injured…" He didn't want to say it out loud, because he knew she would never agree, but what he really wanted was to get off this island. Adventure was fun and all, but this was getting out of hand, and he didn't really have a death wish. Everyone that came here died of you believed the legends, and after the things he had seen so far, he didn't feel any doubt or surprise. If those crazy traps didn't get you, the jungle did.

It occurred to him that Zali might have hit her head a little harder than he first had assumed, since she was making up these crazy suggestions, but this was pretty much the normal state of things. Her coming up with new ways for them to risk their ridiculous lives. "I can barely think straight, Zali," he added and rubbed his tired eyes. Even they felt sore, and dry. If they went looking for that temple now, he might very likely walk right past it, too tired to notice it. Okay, maybe not, depending on the size of the thing, but when you were going to go look for the strong hold of an evil place, you should have a clear and alert mind. Not one that threatened to pass out any second. How could she seriously think this was a good idea now? She had even gotten the worst injurie of them, and she still wanted to press on? He admired her energy, but that didn't make him any less tired.
 
Zali nodded her head silently in agreement to Kyan's words. He had always willingly followed her through all of her mad adventures, and she loved him for that, but she also trusted him because he would say something when he thought her plans were tipping over the edge, and going from simply crazy to downright deadly. She didn't dismiss his concerns, or get angry over the fact that he had voiced them. Instead, she turned to face him, looking him seriously in the eye. For a moment she simply sat like that, looking at his drawn face and trying to guess at all the things he wasn't saying, but was thinking. Finally she sighed, and shook her head.

"I know you think I'm being reckless, Kyan," she said, quietly. She kept her eyes locked onto his, trying to impress upon him her honesty, and also her own weariness and concern. She needed him to know that this wasn't just some rash impulse, that there was actually some reasoning behind it. "I know you think I'm just looking for danger right now, but that isn't the case. I truly believe it is our only valid option. Believe me, if I thought we could get off this island, I would be pursuing that course in a heartbeat. But as soon as that monkey, or any of its fellows, find us again, we are going to be right back where we were an hour ago."

Zali looked away, her eyes scanning the trees for any indication, any subtle hint, that they were being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, but eventually she shook her head and put the sensation to her imagination. The fact that she'd only felt it once she started looking made her think it was most likely that her sixth sense was just playing tricks on her. "There is something unnatural about this place, something, as little as I like to say it, downright supernatural. And it is directly tied into that monkey, that not-a-monkey, we chased. It led us right into a trap. It's intelligent, Kyan, probably at least as intelligent as we are, and I'm sure it was somehow connected to whatever was keeping the stream from moving in a straight line. Think about it in reverse. If we were trying to keep something else on this island, and it escaped us, the first thing we'd assume it would do was make a break for the boat, and try and escape. I'm willing to bet my life..." she hesitated, swallowing slightly as she realized that phrase might be a lot more accurate in this instance than it usually was. If she was wrong... she was not only betting her own life, but Kyan's. Bravely, she forged on ahead. "That there's something waiting for us there. And if we stop long enough to rest, they'll find us again, and we'll be right back where we were.

"My desire to find the temple, or whatever it is on this island that is so special, doesn't have to do with a desire to seek out danger, but a desire to get us out of here. If we do anything they expect, we'll be caught again, and will be right back where we were. If we have any hope of getting off this island, we can't do that. And the only thing I can think of they won't expect is something completely stupid."

Zali only meant to rub her eyes, to try and wipe some of the weariness away from her face, but the darkness her hands provided felt too reassuring for her to lift her head out again. "I don't know, Kyan," she mumbled through the palms of her hands. "I feel like I'm thinking clearly, but maybe my brain is just so scrambled I can't even realize it anymore. Am I wrong? Is there some other way off this island, that doesn't involve jumping head first into a potentially suicidal situation, in a hopes of finding some unknown leverage to use against creatures that can, apparently, warp a river so that it doesn't lead to the same place when we are walking in different directions? My instincts tell me its the only option left, and I've always trusted them before, but my instincts are also what led us into this situation in the first place."

She finally gained the resolve to lift her head out of the cradle of her hands, and tried to conceal some of the desperation that was playing over her features. "Is there anything else we can do?"
 
If they hadn't been busy hiding from… he wasn't even sure what, he would have groaned loudly in frustration. Shit, she was right. Everything she said made completely sense, even to his exhausted brain. Good thing one of them was still able to think straight. Of course they would be waiting for them on the beach, at least the chance for that being the case was very high. They probably even knew exactly which ship to wait by. And who knew how long those other ships had been there. They couldn't bet on any of them being seaworthy, or that they would even manage to get one of the beach without anyone noticing. It was probably more likely for them to fly off the island.

He pressed his hands to his face and muttered a few curses. It was very tempting to yell them at her instead, to blame someone for this mess they were in, but that wouldn't be like him at all. Maybe later, when he was even more exhausted. For now he could just hate her a little, quietly… Okay, probably not even that, just mildly displeased and annoyed. That he could manage. At least for a few minutes.

So, there was no time to sleep then, they just had to press on and hope they didn't pass out on the way. He probably shouldn't be the one complaining though, he wasn't the one with a hole in the back of his head. "No," he finally replied with a sigh and dropped his hands back down, keeping his eyes resting on the ground. There wasn't anything else they could do, at least not that he could think of. Beside from going back to the beach–if they could even find it–hiding was the only option. But, hiding on an island that they knew nothing about, while the other party probably lived here? The chance to succeed was very slim.

"You're right," he continued and lifted his gaze to look at her. It wasn't anything to discuss. He would follow her, once again. After rotating his shoulder a bit, he fastened the canteen to his belt, and then moved his hands over his body to make sure that everything was still at it's place. He didn't even have to pay any mind to it, the hands just flowed over his body automatically after having done it so many times before, checking every item on the belt and every pocket in his clothes. It only took a couple seconds, and then he gave her his usual node, telling her he was ready.

He didn't quiet get what she expected to find at this temple. Something to help them get away, yes, but what? He wouldn't even consider asking her, there was no way he would be capable of understanding any of it now. Maybe if she explained it very carefully, but they didn't have the time for that now. Pluss, he kinda hoped she didn't really have a clue either, so he didn't have to be the only stupid one. He didn't dare to find out though.
 
Zali did not take any pleasure in Kyan's proclamation of her rightness. Indeed, more than anything, she wished he had some alternative to offer, some idea that was better than two tired, battered humans seeking out the stronghold of a supernatural enemy in hopes of having some unknown grace waiting there that they could somehow use to escape. Only she would have ever proposed such an idea, and only Kyan would ever have had enough faith in her to follow along. She tried not to think about what it would mean, what would happen, if she was wrong. She didn't want to be the one responsible for his death. She wouldn't be able to bear it. Then again, if her decision was going to lead to their death, she wouldn't have long to hate herself for it. She'd be following after him within the first couple minutes.

Unconsciously, Zali imitated Kyan, running fingers over her form to touch all the important things she kept with her at all time. She only noticed what she was doing when her fingers brushed the empty air in the small of her back where one of her knives had been. She let out a quiet sigh, once more regretting the loss of the mermaid-handled knife, even if it was the one that had jolted them from their ceaseless, circular plod down the endless, directionless creek. If they ever got off this island, she'd be wiling to spend some good money to find another one like it. The first one had served her well, hopefully later ones would prove equally valuable.

Reminding herself that she was supposed to be completing her check, Zali finished her quick check, ending ritualistically by running a finger down the bone carving on the bag around her neck. She glanced at Kyan just in time to catch his nod, and offered a nod of her own in response. They were as ready as they were ever going to be. She tried not to think about the fact that it probably wasn't ready enough.

Moving as silently through the forest as they could to avoid alerting any unwelcome ears to their presence, stepping on roots and exposed rocks to cover their tracks should the monkey or its friends try and follow them from the trap, the two friends moved deeper into the forest. Despite how deserted and soundless the forest was, seemingly devoid of any life, there were a surprising number of tracks to be seen in the forest. Zali suspected that an experienced hunter would have been able to identify fifteen to twenty different species, easily, and many more that weren't so easily identified. Zali would not call herself an experienced hunter by any means, most of the food she and Kyan gathered instead of purchasing was provided by the sea, but she was quite sure that some of those tracks belonged to animals that had no place in this world. One, she was quite certain, appeared to have the hooves of a deer, but only walked on two legs.

For the most part, Zali ignored the individual tracks, following them only so long as they tracked the most easily traversable parts of the woods. What she was looking for instead was some sort of thoroughfare, some section of trail that looked as though it was traversed frequently, or at least often enough that it was likely to lead somewhere important. But, as they wandered deeper and deeper, and the last of the remaining light began to fade, Zali began to feel a nagging sensation of fear, wondering if they were ever going to find such a thing. She had been acting upon the belief that these creatures did have some sort of central hub, presumably the temple of myth. Why had she been so quick to convince herself of its existence? Perhaps because all the other legends so far had proved to be accurate. But, of course, why wouldn't it be the one part of the myth that might actually be useful which would turn out to be false?

When they finally stumbled through a curtain of vines and leaves and onto a part of the forest that had been tramped down by the tread of dozens of feet, if not more, it took all Zali's self control to keep the sigh of relief from escaping her lips. As much as she had been watching the forest, looking for any signs of a frequently used pathway, she had also been keeping an eye on Kyan, more worried about him than she was willing to admit. He had stayed very quiet about it while they had been getting away from the trap and tending to her own wound, but it didn't take Zali very long to spot the way he was favoring his shoulder, and how often his fingers would stray upwards to briefly wrap around the joint. Of course, it wasn't surprising that their theatrics to get her down from that trap had wounded his shoulder. He had, temporarily, been supporting both of their body weight just from one hand. She tried to keep herself from feeling guilty about the wound, reminding herself that she didn't blame Kyan for the wound on the back of her head. It had just been a bad situation. A bad situation she had gotten them into by not paying attention and running into the trap in the first place.

Trying to rub the grit of tiredness out of her eyes, Zali squinted in the ever-growing dusk, trying to pick a direction for them to travel. If she guessed wrong, who knew where the trail would take them. Then again, if she guessed right, who knew where the trail would take them. She glanced both directions, but there was no fortuitous sign hanging from one of the branches with helpful instructions like "magic temple this way". Indeed, there was nothing to distinguish either direction of the trail from the other.

At least, that's what she thought at first. Night was coming so quickly at this point that every second seemed to encourage more and more shadows to gather between the trees, changing trunks and branches into nothing but shadowy pools. But, at the same time that the darkness was growing, Zali thought she saw a light growing as well. She changed her directionless squint into a slightly more focused one, peering off down the trail to their right. No, that was definitely light, she was sure of it now, not just some trick of her sun-starved eyes.

"Kyan," she whispered, nudging him briefly before pointing off down the trail in the direction of her, potentially imaginary, glow. "Do you see that?"
 
When they stopped, Kyan took the opportunity to rest his eyes for a couple seconds. He had perked up slightly after their last break, but his energi level was rapidly declining again. If it hadn't been for Zali silently urging them on all the time, he would have curled up in a bush long ago, and probably slept for a day.

He took a deep breath, followed by some water in hoped of perking up again. The pain in his shoulder didn't help much, but he tried his best at ignoring it. Poking and massaging it hadn't helped any so far, so maybe complete rest would do the trick. Now it hurt no mater how he moved the arm, and lifting his hand to grab on to anything was especially painful. As long as he kept the shoulder immobile, it wasn't too bad.

It seemed less and less likely that they would make it off this island, and he wondered if Zali was thinking the same, or if she really thought they were going to get away. Everyone else that had come here had died. What made them any different? There wasn't anything special about them, except for a lot of pure, dumb luck. He was worried they had run out of it now, after years of good use.

He moved his focus to Zali when she spoke up, and then to the direction she was pointing at. After a couple second, he nodded. There was a light, and it seemed to get brighter the longer he stared at it. Probably thanks to it getting darker every second now. The only comfort he took in that, was that they were hopefully harder to spot for the people looking for them. Unless they had the power to see in the dark, which wouldn't surprise him by now. Anyway, standing out in the open was not a good idea.

"Let's go," he sighed and once again checked that everything was in place before following her back into the jungle. It would be a horrible idea to walk up what was maybe one of the main trails, so instead they stuck to a smaller one that also seemed to be going towards the light, just through a longer curve.

While they walked, carefully avoiding stepping on branches and any other potential sources of noise, Kyan kept his ears sharp and eyes darting from side to side. He kept looking back at her though. Her head injury still worried him, she really should rest a little soon. His shoulder might hurt a lot, but what about her? Hitting your head always hurt like hell, and she had been bleeding. Maybe he shouldn't have let himself be convinced that easily back there. They could have found a place to hide, probably should have.

They moved much slower now, stopping at every single imaginary sound and movement. The dark, quiet jungle played a lot of tricks on your mind. The lights got brighter the closer they got, and not long after it was possible to make out a high, rocky wall, covered in vines and different kinds of small vegetation. It would be no problem climbing over it, but what would they find on the other side? Sure, it seemed quiet now, but that didn't mean there weren't any there. Most likely there were guards. Unless they all really were out looking for them…

When passing through an especially dark shadow, under a old tree that were leaning to the side, he carefully grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. "What now?" he whispered as he leaned in close, and glanced towards her eyes for a second before slowly looking around them. It felt like he couldn't put his guard down for a single second, that someone could jump out on them any moment. It started to make him jumpy.

So, they had found the temple, or at least some sort of building. It didn't matter what it was, the important thing was that people obviously lived her. Monkeys didn't know how to light fires. Now, it was only figuring out what they should do. Climb up and peek over the wall? Try to sneak around it? Take to their senses and run the other way? There were a lot of options, that's for sure…
 
Zali had to consciously stop herself from straining her eyes in an effort to pierce through the darkness. The sun had fully set now, and thousands of stars were winking into existence in the sky. The moon was notably absent from the sky, and Zali tried not to take that as a bad sign. It would be helpful, she reminded herself, with no pesky moonlight to reveal their invasion. Unable to rely on her eyes, Zali closed them, listening to the sounds in the night air, and placing her hand on the ground to try and feel any vibrations that might alert her to someone's presence.

The night seemed remarkably peaceful, all things considered. Considering they were trapped on a magic, haunted island, being hunted by supernatural monkeys and lizards that couldn't be killed with knives, that was. She would have snorted at herself under any other circumstances. It sounded like some bard's tale. It sounded like a bad bard's tale. But this wasn't any story, it was real life. If she made a mistake, there'd be a lot more to deal with than an unhappy audience.

There didn't seem to be any activity on the other side of the wall than the occasional hissing spit of the fire. She certainly couldn't hear any footsteps, or anything to indicate there was life waiting on the other side of that wall. "Let's take a quick look," she finally answered Kyan. Glancing in both directions, she quickly crossed the clear gap in between the edge of the forest and the wall, before latching onto a vine and scrambling as quietly as she could up the wall. She paused just shy of the top, making sure Kyan had kept up with her, before carefully worming her way up the last few inches. She peeked hesitantly over the wall, but didn't see anything other than... a few floating balls of flame. Lovely.

Without the need to be contained by a torch and a fuel source, the little balls of light were distributed evenly across the entire courtyard that surrounded the temple, evenly illuminating the entire area, and the walls of the temple itself. Despite herself, Zali couldn't help but pause and admire the structure. It couldn't have been built recently, but the exterior of the structure was as smooth and clean as though it had just finished being built yesterday. The structure was low but graceful, made up of as many curving lines as straight ones. The firelight lent a faint orange hue to the white stone, almost making it look as though the structure itself was producing the light.

Zali's attention was immediately refocused when a faint crunch of a footstep on gravel sounded off to her left. She lowered her head before she had time to think that the movement might be more suspicious than stillness, and held her breath, waiting for a shout to go up. They couldn't have messed up already. They just couldn't have. She couldn't have.

But the footsteps didn't falter, and they faded suddenly as, presumably, whoever had walked near entered into the temple. So, not completely deserted, then. But it truly did seem as though the temple was mostly empty. Or everyone was simply inside for the night. She tried not to think about that.

Glancing once more at Kyan, Zali gestured at the wall before making a quick motion, indicating she thought they should go over and drop down on the other side, before racing into the temple.
 
  • Love
Reactions: AshlioFern
Kyan's shoulder didn't appreciate the climb, but he clenched his jaws tights against the pain and followed after her, trying to put most of the weight on his right arm. Once on the top, he had to concentrate hard on his breathing so not to make any sound. It was a struggle, since his lungs really wanted to gulp in as much air as quick as possible. It was just sad how little energi he had left, when climbing a silly wall left him that out of breath.

The climb down was easier, and he followed Zali when they moved from shadow to shadow, getting nearer the structure with every step. The one time they passed close one of the floating flames, he couldn't help but reach his hand out to touch it. He waved his finger quick trough it, but still managed to feel the heat sting him. So it's actually real flames and not just an illusion, he thought while he sucked on one of his now slightly soar fingers. Well, it might be good to know.

When they reached the opening leading into the building, his heart was beating so hard it felt like his whole chest was vibrating slightly with every beat. He wanted to ask her 'what now?', but was afraid someone might hear. It would be stupid to assume the place was empty. And, Zali had her back to him, so he couldn't even give her one of his very communicative stares. Like the one saying 'have you lost your mind?'.

But he knew they didn't have much choice. It was this, or lying in the jungle until they were found. So he followed her inside, keeping close to the walls and making sure he placed his feet as quiet as possible. Good think they had a lot of practice sneaking around.
 
Even Zali, who practically made a living off of getting herself into dangerous situations, had a problem keeping herself calm as she and Kyan worked their way deeper into the temple. Every shadow contained some unknown monster, every sound was the marker of impending doom. She had to keep her hands clenched in fists to keep from grabbing one of her few remaining knifes, which might have felt comforting but would only serve to get them caught, if some kneejerk reaction to a rolling shadow caused her to throw it and have it clatter against something. Not to mention, Zali thought to herself with a frustrated sigh, knives were probably useless against whatever things they might encounter in here.

To add insult to injury, the temple through which they were now wandering was unlike any building Zali had ever entered before. It wasn't made up of straight walls and 90 degree angles, but rather curved and wound, branching and breaking and twisting and doubling back on itself with alarming frequency. It felt almost more as though this building had just grown up out of the ground however it pleased, rather than being constructed in anything resembling a logical method. Then again, considering what little she knew about this island and its inhabitants, maybe that was exactly what had happened.

Whatever had brought this building into existence, there was no denying that it was now serving to utterly bewilder her. Zali was beginning to worry that she would get herself utterly lost, and wouldn't be able to lead them back out of this place again even if she did find something worth holding ransomed. She wasn't even sure she was leading them towards anything valuable. But the more she wandered, the more certain she became that there had to be something in here. The one good thing about this temple's convoluted pathways was that it made it intimately clear when they were in a new area, or if they were crossing someplace they had already been before. Zali ended up turned around and back someplace she had been before often enough to know that the walls of this place weren't changing around, which began to quietly hint at exactly how massive this building was. There had to be something here. There just had to.

At three points during their search, Kyan and Zali were brought to sudden, heart wrenching stops when the sound of something approaching through the echoing hallways suddenly reached their ears. The wide, rounded hallways seemed to bounce echos, making it nearly impossible to tell from which direction the sound was coming. The first time, they bolted down a side passage, only to suddenly realize that they were hurrying exactly towards the individual they were trying to avoid. Each time they only barely managed to duck out of the way in time to avoid detection from some bizarre creature, a monster that seemed some alarming blend of both man and beast. The worst moment was the last one, when a man with a wolf's head came walking past, only for him to suddenly stop and sniff the air. For a moment Zali thought she felt her heart halt, desperately afraid of what it would mean if this creature's nose and ears were as sharp as a true wolf's. Pure luck saved them from detection in that moment, as a shift in air brought the scent of lavender into the hallway, pungent enough for even Zali's nose to detect. The wolfman sneezed, shook his head irritably, before moving away down the hallway, and Zali let out a tiny, shaky breath as her hands trembled.

Gradually, a map began to build in Zali's head as she memorized the corridors. As the image began to build more slowly, and more and more new paths unfolded in her mind's eye, a sudden realization struck her. It was enough to halt her in her path.

"Oh," she whispered, the word really nothing more than a faint breath of surprise. The paths in the temple were beginning to form a shape, but it wasn't one she would have ever expected. It wasn't a square. It wasn't even a circle. It was a sphere. And that meant there was a center. This temple had been built around something. And she was going to find out what.

The grin that crossed her face now was perhaps the most Zali-esque grin she had given since entering the forest. It was a grin that spat in the face of danger and fate, and promised that she was ready for anything the world could throw at her. For a moment it spread wide at the world in general, before she finally turned it towards Kyan. It said more than words ever could. She'd finally found what she was looking for.
 
Kyan walked around with his heart in his throat, and he was unusually jumpy. The other times they had been sneaking around on their many adventures, the fear of getting caught had never been this high. Usually they only had to fear getting their hand smacked or get put in jail, possibly be hanged, but there was always the possibility of running away before any of that happened. Here there wasn't anywhere to run to, and he didn't even want to consider what these strange creatures might to do them if they got caught.

Which almost happened way too many times in these confusing halls, and how truly horrifying the creatures that passed them were... Monsters, looking both like humans and animals. He couldn't wait until they found whatever Zali thought was in here, so they could get the heck out again. For now, he put all his trust in her and let her lead him trough the winding halls. He was too tired to pay much mind to them, so if they got separated, he would have no idea how to get back out. He'd probably end up as dinner for one of the creatures walking around.

It felt like cold water ran down his spin when Zali turned to him with the wicked grin. He wanted to yell 'no!' and say he refused to go along with her crazy idea - which never worked anyway, she always got it her way. Instead he swallowed and took a shaking breath. "What?" he asked, whispering so low you could barely hear it at all.
 
"I think I just figured out where we are going!" Zali said, voice as carefully pitched as Kyan's. "This place definitely has a center. If there is anything we can use to get out of this place, it'll be there." She quickly took a couple of steps down the hallway, before pausing just as abruptly as she had started moving. Too wrapped up in her own thoughts, it wasn't until that moment that the concern in Kyan's voice suddenly registered in her ears. She turned around to look at him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," she promised, face serious. "I'll get you out of here, one way or another. I swear." Zali lingered in that position just long enough to let Kyan sense the sincerity in her eyes, before turning away again to move down the hallway.

Of course, somewhere in the middle of her chest, there was a knot that had formed. It was born from some sense of foreboding, some feeling that she was going to have problems keeping that promise. She did her best to smother it. Worry over the future would do her no good in the present moment. It would only distract her from reacting properly to things in the present moment. She would succeed, and that was all she had to think about. That was all that mattered.

They moved slower now. Before, the two (or, at least, Zali) had been wandering without any real purpose or destination in mind. All she had been doing was trying to find something that would give her any hint about where to go or what to look for. Now that she had finally found her goal, however abstract it might be, she moved with greater care, choosing their passages purposefully, and out of more than some vague desire to avoid discovery. There was no telling how much time had passed. Between the tension that set every one of their nerves on edge, and the seemingly never-ending passageways they roamed, there was no way to accurately measure time. For all Zali knew, the sun could have risen and set several times since they had first descended into these disquieting halls.

But the lack of an awareness of the passage of time did not lighten the time pressure under which she was currently operating. The halls might be quiet now, but Zali knew that was because the occupants of this place had to be out searching for her and Kyan. The longer this took, the more likely it was that they would start to give up on their search, assume that she and Kyan had somehow managed to slip through the cracks of whatever supernatural traps they had set, and fled the island. These strange creatures might not like that their prey had escaped, but they couldn't search forever. Those who gave up would undoubtedly be returning to this place, which would, in turn, drastically increase their chances of discovery.

Zali didn't notice as her thoughts brought her feet to a halt until she suddenly sensed Kyan right behind her. She pulled her thoughts out of their morbid tracks and refocused. "We are getting close," she whispered, ears straining for any noise other than her own breathing and fluttered heartbeat. There was nothing. At least, she didn't think there was. For a moment, as she sought any stray sound, she thought she heard something, almost like a deep throbbing, something that seemed to resonate in her chest more than it was actually perceived by her ears. But, as soon as she tried to pinpoint the noise, it vanished, a passing resonance that had danced by her like the echo of a shout, distinguishable only for a brief moment before vanishing. She shivered unconsciously, before turning to round another corner.

And then they were there.

The hallway ended abrutply, looking out over a room that was a perfect circle. Not only were the walls round, but the ceiling was domed, and the floor dropped away to a low point in the very center of the room. She was staring into a empty sphere, so smooth and perfect that there seemed to be no way that it could have been made by human hands. But that wasn't the astonishing part. Floating, utterly unsuspended, in the middle of the room was a glowing sphere, so bright that she couldn't make out any sort of color, just glowing, brilliant light. Every moment or two, a jolt of colored light would suddenly spark from the orb, connecting to the wall, where it would wiggle for a moment along the walls before vanishing, sinking into whatever it was that made up the surface of the walls. It was like watching something alive, something sparking and responsive that was connected to the very earth itself. Zali couldn't help comign to a halt this time. It somehow felt as though stepping into that room would be invasive, almost irreverent.

"What..." she whispered, and her voice seemed to echo all around the room, pulsing like the flashes of light from the orb. What. What. What. What. Zali rolled her jaw, desperately trying to fix the words that seemed stuck in the back of her throat. "What is that?"
 
Kyan stood behind her, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. He had never seen anything like this, and had a feeling that the only people that had were the ones who had been on this island. A small shiver went through him as he wondered how many of those people were still alive.

"It's...beautiful," he said softly and stepped forward with heavy, tired feet. There was something warm and inviting about the light-orb, and he reached up to touch it without really thinking through his actions. Before he even reached it though, a spark shot out from it and connected with his hand. Kyan instantly pulled back and groaned as he bent over. "I really have to stop touching things that float in the air..."

Then he lifted his gaze up to Zali and the feared he had been feeling all along was showing more than ever since they arrived at this island. They had come to this place, this exact room, to find something to help them. To save them away from the creatures who clearly didn't want them here. And what did they find? More strange things that didn't want to be touched. He didn't say anything out loud, but the message was clear. How is this going to help us?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back