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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:42 pm
Serenity giggled at Brooke's observation about the dripping limestone, but she winced when the girl hit her head against it.
"Are you all right?" she asked anxiously, stepping forward quickly and kneeling next to her.
When the girl continued asking her questions, Serenity looked around thoughtfully.
"The ones on the ceiling are called stalactites," she replied, "and the ones on the ground are stalagmites ... they're made from the limestone dripping from the ceiling. When they grow enough and join in the middle, they become columns. I think ... there would be more further in the cave, than are out here ..."
She smiled faintly in the darkness, amused by Brooke's reactions to her. "My bag holds many things," she said softly. "It has a magic rune on it from my grandmother, so it can hold as much as I care to put in it, but it never gets heavy or full. Most of what's in there right now are art supplies, for drawing and painting, but ... there's also my flashlight, some spare clothes ... and ... just stuff."
She pointed her flashlight down the tunnel. "It looks as though it goes on forever," she commented, growing slightly uneasy. She wasn't looking forward to going in there. As far as she knew, no one had explored in there yet - and what if there were animals or something else dangerous? Holes in the floor?
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 7:36 pm
(( A "kiss" is when the water hits you, not the stone. Sorry for not clarifying that... ))
Where Serenity's comment made her uncomfortable, it only excited Brooke. "Let's go down! Let's go down!" she said, laughing childishly. All around the cave, Brooke's voice echoed, Go down... down... down... down... in an odd chant. "There might be a HUGE stalag-thingy!" she said, eyes wide. .... lag-thingy... thingy... added the ghostly remnants of Brooke's statement. "Isn't that funny? The echo?" echo... echo... Brooke laughed.
Brooke looked carefully at the bag. Her curiosity was, however, minimal in the face of the potential adventure before her. "Maybe's there are tunnels that lead every which way," Brooke breathed, growing composed in all her excitement. She whispered excitedly, "What if there are bats or fish? Or maybe even lizards and bugs? And think of the plants we might see! Oh, it will be fun! Let's go!" Her last word rose in volume, causing her voice to bounce around the cave. Go... go... go... go... go... it said.
Brooke seized Serenity's hand and attempted to pull her. Really, this had no effect; a small Surprise trying to pull a six-foot tall girl was not going to make much a difference. Still, her excitement shone through Brooke's oddly red and luminous eyes. Normally, Brooke would never allow such emotions to show. But she was young, curious, and the prospect of entering the unknown only delighted her. The dark and dank made her only more comfortable, finally being in her own element.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:40 pm
Serenity smiled uneasily at Brooke's comment about the echo. Funny? No, that wasn't the word she would use. Eerie, yes; and out in the open, for example in the mountains, fascinating: but funny, no.
But she really didn't want to make her new friend (well she thought she could be a friend, she wasn't quite sure yet - the girl was so strange) to think ill of her.
But when Brooke started talking about tunnels and animals and bugs and ... she was terrified.
"I ... I can't," she whispered, her throat closing up on her as her fingers tightened around her flashlight. "Please ... let's stay here ..."
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 12:36 pm
Brooke's face fell as she saw the discomfort in her new friend's face and heard it in her voice. She seemed almost... Afraid? But what was there to be afraid of? Brooke was confused, but she decided to drop the subject for Serenity's benefit. The little Surprise was disappointed to not be going deeper in the cave after all, but she couldn't exactly leave Serenity there. She clearly didn't like the dark, though Brooke loved it.
"Okay..." she said reluctantly, forcing herself to not look at the tempting darkness of the tunnel. "We'll stay here." Brooke found a small, broken stalagmite to sit on. Its point had fallen off somehow or another, and Brooke saw the point on the floor, broken clean in two. Now what could have made that happen? Maybe a stalagtite had broken off, hitting the stalagmite. Brooke looked up, expecting to see a large, broken rock above. There indeed was a rock, but it was whole. It had never broken.
As Brooke wondered about all this, she did not notice the water that began to stream into the cave. She looked down as she felt water soak through her heavy boots. ".... Serenity?" she asked nervously. "I think the cave is flooding..." Sure enough, it was. Water was rushing in, frothing and roaring as it went. Brooke knew that if she didn't get to higher ground soon, she would be swept away into the belly of the cave. But the water was so fast and quickly growing deeper that the little Surorise didn't dare leave the broken stalagmite. It appeared that the water had broken the top off. Brooke looked down at the suddenly dangerous water and saw that it had taken the stalagmite top away long before.
Brooke only hoped that she would not have to follow it.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 10:29 am
Serenity was equally alarmed by the water that suddenly started rushing into the cave, and she was quick to respond.
"Quick!" she cried, running forward to catch up with Brooke. "Come with me!" She put her flashlight between her teeth and reached down to take Brooke in her arms, lifting the tiny second to sit on her shoulder, high above the reach of the water that was growing more powerful by the moment. Then she turned and fought her way against the current, trudging carefully, strenuously towards the mouth of the cave.
Walking became more difficult as the water grew to be above her knees, but still she fought her way forward. It was growing lighter in the cave again as they drew nearer the mouth, but even so Serenity's fear was only mounting.
She gasped as her foot knocked against a stone under the water, and her flashlight fell into the depths as she tried to keep her balance.
"Hang on!" she called to Brooke, keeping one hand on the girl's leg so that she couldn't fall but putting the other to the wall to help her keep her balance as she fought the water.
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 11:20 am
Brooke gripped Serenity's shirt, terrified. Now she was high above the ground, higher than she had ever been before, and the floor of the cave, which seemed so far now, was filling with the horrible, sudden water. The water was growing closer, and Brooke felt that she'd rather be way up high with the floor so far below than up high with a wall of water approaching. Brooke was thankful for Serenity's steadying hand, but Brooke was far from reassured. When Serenity slipped, Brooke had to suppress a scream.
"It's no use," Brooke called over the roar of water. "The current is too strong!" The entrance of the cave seemed so far away... "Maybe the water doesn't go all the way up! Can you hold on to anything?" Brooke looked around, but all the stalagmites had been covered by the water. The stalagtites appeared to be too high... Panic gripped Brooke, and she nearly fell off of her lofty perch in her search for something for Serenity to secure herself to. "Can you make it to the beach?" Brooke asked hopelessly. If only they had known when high tide would be...
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 11:48 am
"I can make it!" Serenity called back, a steely determination in her tone that she had never had before. She curled her fist around Brooke's clothes, determined not to let the girl fall, and fought her way forward. They were so close ... almost there ...
The water was almost to her waist now, and she found toeholds in the floor of the cave to give her enough grip to push herself forward. There was no way she was going to let either of them fall prey to the water, she would never forgive herself ...
Her bag was growing heavy now ... not the inside, though she was certain that if she were to dump it upside down there would be an immeasurable amount of water pouring out, but because of the weight of the material itself. She was sure all of her supplies would be ruined ...
But the anger at having her life's work destroyed only fueled her adrenaline, and she pushed forward even stronger, until suddenly they were free of the cave.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:00 am
Brooke gasped, relieved to be saved from the oncoming wall of water and rushing rapids. (( LOL )) "M-may I come down now?" Brooke asked, a bit shaken. She felt dizzy being so high, and now the sun was cooking her like an egg in a frying pan. So much for being saved from the sun, though being saved from water should have been enough. Still, Brooke refused to complain again to her savior. Serenity didn't deserve to be whined at by someone she had just saved the life of.
"Thanks," Brooke said, feeling that a simple 'thanks' was grossly inadequate, but was unable to come up with anything better. Brooke's feet felt cold and heavy, and she discovered that they were full of water. Well, she'd have to empty them, but not while on top of Serenity! She didn't need to be any more wet; and her bag was soaked through as well! Brooke felt a bit at fault for all that. She had insisted they go into a cave, hadn't she? Maybe caves that were away from water were better...
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 5:03 pm
Serenity looked up at Brooke, who was still on her shoulders, and nodded thoughtfully. Yes, the little girl did look as though she needed to get out of the sun ... it did seem as if it was bad for her. She ran up to high ground, where the tide would not reach, and carefully lowered the girl to the ground.
"Don't worry about it," she murmured softly at Brooke's thanks, "anyone would have helped you the same way."
She pointed up towards one of the caves that was far away from the water's reach. "Why don't we try that one?" she suggested tiredly. "It's safe from the water, but you'll be safe from the sun, too."
She wasn't sure how far that cave went, probably not as far, because it wasn't near the water and so the water couldn't make it deeper.
"If you want to rest there for a bit, I'm going to lay my things out in the sun and see if I can't save some of them."
She tried to hide her sadness, but she was close to tears now that the danger had passed. All of her supplies ... all of her work ... mostly likely ruined ...
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:11 am
"Y-You'll still help me?" Brooke asked, eyes wide and wetter than usual. "After that happened...?" Brooke didn't mention how she had also noticed Serenity's fear of going deeper into the cave. It confused Brooke as well. She loved the dank and dark, and could see better when the sun was not stinging her sensitive eyes. "Thank you... very much," Brooke said quietly, feeling a rush of gratitude for Serenity. If Brooke had been in Serenity's position, she doubted that she would have been half as kind. After the scary water incident, anyone might just run away!
"I'm sure that most of your stuff will be okay," Brooke said hopefully, though secretly she suspected everything that was non-waterproof would be destroyed. Let's try your idea! "Brooke gave one of her small smiles again. Abruptly, Brooke's mind wandered, seemingly for no reason. What am I? she pondered. The sun hurts me and I can see better in the dark than in bright light. Serenity doesn't like going in caves very much, but I instinctively love them... Maybe it's because a cave is good shelter from the sun and easy for me to see in. Maybe I'm some sort of mutant human-cat, though that doesn't explain why the sun damages me so easily, but as soon as I get out of the sun, my skin heals in a blink. Maybe I have really sensitive eyes and skin, with wierd restorative powers... Or something...
Brooke cut off these thoughts when she felt the sun beating down once more. It was too hot... It burned mercilessly... "Let's hurry," Brooke gasped.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:47 am
Serenity blinked at Brooke, momentarily distracted from her bag and its wetness. "Of course I'll still help you," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why wouldn't I? It wasn't your fault that the tide came in so fast ..."
She picked up her pace, hearing and feeling that Brooke was starting to have trouble breathing. What sort of Second was she, that she had so much trouble with the sun? But whatever she was, it wasn't her fault that the sun did this to her, and Serenity ran as fast as she could towards one of the higher up caves.
"Here," she gasped, panting a bit as she lowered Brooke to the ground just inside the mouth of the cave. "Now you rest here while I set my things out in the sun to dry them off, okay?"
And she headed back out into the hot sun, slipping her bag from her shoulder as she did so.
She paused a moment, staring at her bag, almost too afraid to open it up and see what had happened to its contents: but she knew that the longer she waited, the more damaged her things would become. With a sigh, she opened the flap and tipped it upside down. A cascade of water came pouring out, drenching the sand where she was standing, and only when it stopped did she move to dryer ground and kneel down, taking things one at a time out of her bag.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:10 am
Brooke immediately felt her skin cooling, her eyes losing the maddening itch. Despite what Serenity had said, Brooke leaned out of the cave entrance to take a peek at Serenity's bag. It looked hopeless. With a regretful sigh, Brooke pulled back into the cave.
This cave didn't go nearly as far back as the other cave, but it was wider. At the entrance, the upper "lip" of the cave leaned farther than the bottom, it seemed, forming a kind of roof over what was similar to a porch. Grass grew on the "porch". Then, going deeper into the cave, the rocky botton was smooth and sandy, with only a few loose rocks here and there. At the back of the cave was a huge, solitary boulder. It resembled a mutated chair; one side of it had a tall back and a flat seat where one might sit down upon. The other side of the tall-backed chair jutted out, completely flat like a bed. So the headboard of the bed served as the back of the chair. It was a rare and odd-looking formation, and Brooke stared in awe and confusement.
Carefully, the little Surprise clambered onto the seat of the chair. It was stiff and hard, but also sort of nice. Brooke looked around the cave from her stone throne. There wasn't much dust here. Everything in the cave was smooth and without debris. Excitedly, Brooke wondered if this cave might have once housed some humans, or even recently housed some. The cave was empty aside from the chair-bed.
"Perhaps," Brooke mused, "this place was a secret hideout for bandits. Then the were found out by the authorities, so they had to take everything and run. Or maybe a lone hunter lived here, and was attacked by a bear and killed or something!" Almost expecting to see it, Brooke searched the cave for any traces of blood. There was none. "Or maybe it's just a plain old cave with a weird rock," Brooke sighed finally. I would have noticed blood long before anyway, Brooke thought suddenly. That's another odd trait of mine. I can smell blood really well. I can smell Serenity's all the way from here! Maybe I'm a shark-thing.
Brooke leaned back, sliding down the hard, straight back of the stone throne. Just gotta wait for Serenity, Brooke told herself.
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