Welcome to Gaia! ::

Instead of slowing down, her anger propelled her on faster, totally ignoring his words and the obvious declining of the rock beneath her feet. It wasn't often that Ebony got mad (mostly because she tried so hard to suppress many of her emotions), but when it did happen it was like a powder keg going off. She knew it was childish to run off pouting as she was, but as she'd often lectured Aphismet about, anger had a way of clouding one's reason.

After a several minutes she finally stopped, satisfied that she'd momentarily lost the white haired man, although he still had to be behind her some ways. That's when reason took over again, and ultimately lead to worry. What if he ended up going a different direction? Ebony would never forgive herself if anything happened to him.

In a softer tone, "Aphismet?" She waited before saying it louder, "Aphismet, where are you?" Becoming a bit frantic, the British woman jogged quickly back the way she came. Just when she was about to yell out to him again, she felt her left foot dip and get stuck in some sort of groove in the ground. No matter how much she pulled, she couldn't get free.

"Guess this is karma's way of teaching me a lesson..." Ebony murmured to herself. Taking in a deep breath she yelled again, "APHISMET!" Hopefully he would hear that and find her. Man was she stupid to storm off like she had.

Wallowing in her self pity for being so stupid and immature, Ebony continued to try and pry her foot free. It wasn't doing any good, if anything it was making her foot more stuck than it already had been. She sighed and took off her pack to dig out some of the climbing equipment. Maybe she could use it to break the rock around her ankle.

Just then a familiar voice called back out to her from the dark and she watched gratefully as another light grew brighter as Aphismet made his way to her. To his question, she shook her head. "No, it's stuck pretty good." Watching her friend and seeing the concern he'd had, Ebony suddenly felt really bad for dragging this sweet, lovable guy out there just to satisfy her own greed.

"Aphismet..." Her voice was surprisingly soft and remorseful. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you out here. But I really was hoping you'd have fun. And that thing earlier...I shouldn't have teased you."

"...I don't like surprises"

She supposed that was understandable. Ebony didn't like surprises much either, though you wouldn't know from how she acted. Maybe it wasn't that she didn't like surprises, but more of that she liked things to go as planned. Thus her getting stuck in a hunk of rock and upsetting her student was most unwelcomed.

Placing her hands over his to help, it was becoming very obvious that their efforts weren't doing much to move or even loosen the rock. An arm ran across her forehead to wipe the sweat away. "This pulling isn't working. You're going to have to crack it instead. But..." She seemed worried finally. "...try not to over do it. The rock might be solid, but we don't know how solid. There's a rock over there, I'll hold the hook in place."

"Don't worry about that. I've had my share of broken bones over the years. She was being serious. Ebony had most likely broken every bone in her body at least once during her life time, occupational hazard and all.

Steadying the hook as best she could without getting her hand caught in the way of the inevitable blow, "Just have at it until the rock breaks." Her face winced up then as she braced herself. It wasn't like she thought he would hit her foot on purpose or anything, it was just she knew how much it would hurt if it did happen. Best to be prepared now. "All right, GO!"

"That's it! Keep going Aphismet!" Ebony cheered, watching him hit the hook in succession. Meanwhile, deeper below where Aphismet was hitting, existing cracks in the floor's foundation were widening and starting to crumble. It would only take a small shift before everything collapsed into the inner sanctum below.

It wasn't long before the hole encasing her foot finally gave way and Ebony slowly pulled her foot out. She took a moment of twisting it to and fro, making sure everything was still uninjured, before jumping up and testing it more. Everything seemed perfect. "Good going mate!" She exclaimed and patted him on the arm. "Glad to know all that training is paying off."

Her laugh echoed off the entirety of the cave walls again and then something seemed to groan, not in pain but rather like the cave itself was under some pressure. Ebony's smiled immediately dropped as she listened intently. "What was that?"

Silver eyes widened as her head lamp illuminated a huge crack approaching them in the floor. Instinctively she gasped and pushed the chef out of the way before a loud cracking sounded and Ebony fell out of sight.

She had scrambled to try and grab onto the boulder sized rocks that fell with her in an attempt to make her way back up, but to no avail. Gravity was not on her side today. Before the thief could even get a good scream out, the wind was knocked out of her as she hit the bottom of this secret chamber. It was lucky the fall hadn't been all that far, but it was far enough to do some damage on her and knock her out briefly.

When the rumbling finally stopped and everything settled, Aphismet's worried shouts were able to reach her ears. Ebony groaned as she shifted to a sitting position. Blurry eyes tired to focus on what was in front of her, but it was hard since the light kept flickering, most likely damaged from the fall. That's when she realized it wasn't the light of a beam, but the flickering of flames. Flames? In a cave? Perhaps she'd hit her head too hard.

"I'm all right Aphismet! But..." Her eyes had adjusted and she couldn't help grinning broadly at all the glinting gold surrounding her. "You're not going to believe what I found! See if you can find a safe way down here!"

The area they were in might have caved in some, but there was an adjourning room where small fires on golden posts lit up the huge room. In the glow of the embers, mountains of gold and jewels shimmered brightly as if welcoming the visitors. At the very back were three massive boulders looking to be clinging close to one another like people would in the cold to keep warm.

"Thanks." She said in a hushed awe as Aphismet handed her the bag. She thought maybe they'd find a relic or two down here in the caves, but she had no idea they'd find something like this! Ebony was overjoyed to say the least.

Forgetting whatever pain she incurred from the fall and eager to investigate more, the woman grabbed Aphi's arm and tugged him along. "Come on! Let's take a closer look." As they made their way forward, several stone statues would be noticed as well scattered about the place in no set pattern.

Suddenly Ebony let go of his arm and practically skipped over to a pile of treasure. Greedy hands plunging deep into a mountain then pulling back out to allow the contents to pour from her hands like liquid gold. A giddy laugh escaped her then. Oh it was all too good! She must have died from that fall and gone to heaven. Course that couldn't be otherwise how would you explain the white haired chef only a few yards away from her looking like he swallowed a bug?

"Can't say I know, but doesn't look like there's anyone here now right?" Steel eyes looked about quickly before locking onto a nearby statue. Chuckling again, she plopped a jewel encrusted crown onto the stone man's head. "You won't tell anyone we were here, will you?"

The thief stroked his cheek affectionately in her glee. She stopped short though when she noticed the odd expression upon the face. He looked like he was surprised or perhaps frightened. What an odd thing to sculpt onto a such a beautiful piece of art? But something about it just wasn't right, so she went to check the next closest statue. It was totally different from the other, everything from the clothing type to the awkward half crouch position it was in. But it held that same horrified expression. Ebony's former joy was fading as a feeling of dread began to creep into her heart. Something here wasn't right.