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 Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 11:12 am
 Nitor wasn't sure exactly when he started to get a bad feeling about the caves they were wandering about in - it was probably sometime after he thought he spotted the exact same rock pile about three times. The first time he had chalked it up to imagination, the second to coincidence - there were a lot of rock piles in the caves..but this time? This time he was almost completely sure that it was the same one.
They were lost..he was positive...now he just had to convince Alaera. Half the time his mate never noticed such things she was far to busy serching and hunting for clues or treasure or whatever else caught her attention that day. "Umm..Alaera?" He questioned as he sped up to walk beside her "Are you sure you know where we are going?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 11:22 am
 With her attention intensely focused on a very interesting rock that had several small red crystals jutting out of it Alaera at first didn't pay much attention to what Nitor was saying. "Yes dear." She told him in a somewhat irritated tone as she flipped the rock over before stuffing it inside of her pack. Honestly how many times had they gone out searching for treasure when Nitor would believe that they were lost and they would round a bend and find themselves back home. He worried too much. With a slight huff Alaera ignored him and went on searching. They had only been in here a short time, at least it felt like only a little while, so they likely weren't that far from the entrance.
"Of course I know where I'm going." She finally told him in a confident tone as she made her way through the cave. All they had to do was follow this particular path a little further and...crap. Alaera brought her hooves to a stop at a point where the cave branched into three separate paths. That didn't look familiar. There should be a single path out. Glancing back she couldn't see the path they had taken. This was not good. But she couldn't quite admit that she had gotten them lost. Oh who was she kidding, panic was already setting in. "Oh Nitor I think we are lost!" She said stepping closer to her mate. "How are we going to find out way out?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:41 pm
If Nitor was a cruel stallion he would have said 'Of course we're lost! I told you that age's ago!' When Alaera stepped close to him in a panic...but Nitor wasn't mean and further more he couldn't stand to see his love upset and so he merely nuzzled her reassuringly.
"It's alright dear..we'll find our way out..." The stallion assured her although when he turned around to try and figure out exactly how they were going to do that well..he was stuck. All the tunnels looked and sounded much the same..they were all dank, dark and moldy - hardly things that were going to help them find the way they had come. "hmm..perhaps we should focus on making sure we arn't going in circles..do you have any of that rock which leaves white marks when drawn across other rocks?" Surely she would - Alaera was always carrying around such things with her. His own pack sad to say was back at the mouth of the cave where he had left it stuffed with their lunches. There hadn't been much of a point to dragging it along when it was full but now he was rather wishing he had brought it.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:09 am
The funny thing about panic is it removes all rational thought from ones mind. Normally Alaera was fairly confident and rarely fell apart because of the events around her. Even when they were traveling to these new lands she was calm every day they marched further and further from what they knew. Nitor's question regarding the rock she almost always cared with her sounded like pure idiocy even though deep in the back of her mind she knew what he was getting at, but the panic blocked those thoughts and she looked over at her mate. "I really don't see what good that rock with do." Giving her head a shake, of all times for Nitor to take a real interest in her rock collection now was not the time!
But then it hit her, the reason why he wanted that particular rock. "Oh!" She stated, the word echoed off the walls of the cave. "Oh dear I don't know if I have it with me." What would they do if this happened to be the one time she didn't bring that rock. Frantically she dug through her pack but the little light in the cave made it impossible to see. So she did the next best thign and dumped the pack out on the floor and began shuffling through the various rocks. "It has to be here somewhere." Breath, she told herself, calm down and breath. It wasn't working, not much at least, but Alaera did focus on breathing, something she had practically stopped doing a few moments ago. "Here it is!" She nosed the rock closer to Nitor, and it was a fairly large piece as well before working on putting all her more recently gathered treasures back in her bag. "Where do we start?" Alaera asked as she glanced around before returning to the task at hand of returning her other rocks to her bag.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:41 am
"Easy..Easy" Nitor tried to calm his mate as she frantically shuffled through her pack and ended up dumping it all out on the floor. When she finally found the rock he nosed it to the side and then tried to put all of her other rocks back in her pack - if he let her leave them here in her panic then she'd never forgive him. Once her collection was once more safely tucked away he turned to look at the tunnels around them.
"Alright well I think if we always keep the wall to one side of us and draw a line to make sure we don't keep going in circles we'll eventually find out way out...we haven't been in here too terribly long, it should take up but a little while before we start seeing sighs of the entrance" Or at least he hoped that was the case anyways. Picking the tunnel to their right he scratched a mark along the caves wall and walked forward, making a mark every few strides as he went.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:08 am
With her treasures back in the pack and the strap secured so they couldn't fall out Alaera turned to Nitor. She was glad he came along on these trips, if she was on her own lost in this cave well she wasn't sure how she would find her way out. Nitors calm presence did wonders on her nerves, she was no longer gripped with panic, the panic was still there but lessened. He was right of course, they hadn't been in here all that long, she could tell by the number of new rocks they had collected, had her pack been filled to the brim then that would have signified a much longer time in the cave.
Falling into step behind her mate Alaera remained quiet, allowing Nitor to concentrate on marking the wall. Glancing back seeing the marks on the wall reassured her that in no time they would be out of this cave and back out into the sunlight and open spaces. "Remind me to never rush into a cave looking for treasures ever again." She told her mate with a slight laugh. Or at least learn from this mistake and start marking our path right from the start, she added mentally.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:18 am
"How about I just promise to always come with you when you want to rush into a cave looking for treasures" He told her, glancing behind him and giving a small laugh "We both know that you'll never stop rushing into things like this" He pointed out.
Other stallions might be annoyed by such a thing but in all honesty Nitor just saw it as one more unique quirk about Alaera that he loved. Sappy maybe but true. Coming to another fork in the path Nitor paused for a few moments before choosing the path to the right and marking the wall again. After a little while and many forks he thought ..maybe..just maybe the tunnel was getting a little bit brighter. That could be a good thing - it would mean that they were getting closer to the tunnels mouth. Of course it might just be his imagination too. "Is it getting brighter do you think or am I just imaging it?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:25 am
Letting out a laugh Alaera felt another large chunk of tension and panic slip away. "You know me too well." It was true, she would likely never stop rushing off to find the next treasure but she was certain after this experience that she would be at least a bit cautious when approaching caves. While it seemed like forever since they starting marking their path and searching for the exit Alaera was pleased to know they only met up their their markings once and it was an easy enough task to find another path to take.
Bringing her hooves to a stop Alaera inspected the spot they were currently in. "If it is your imagination then I think I'm imagining the same thing because it does seem to be getting brighter." Part of her wanted to rush forward and find the exit, but rushing was what had gotten them lost in the first place, so she restrained her urge and continued following Nitor as he marked the wall. No sense in stopping the marks now just in case this wasn't the exit.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:41 am
Feeling his mates excitement he felt the need to warn her "It could just be a crack in the cave wall letting some light in" It simply wouldn't do to get the mare's hopes up only to have them dashed a little bit later. Best they kept going and being cautions as they had been. Continuing to mark the wall Nitor lead the way forward..however as they came around the bend he was a little bit surprised to see the path split - one path looked brighter..but the other followed their tried and true method of always going to the right. Pausing he turned to look at Alaera.
"What do you think we should do? This path is brighter..but it means we don't keep to our method..."
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:52 am
The brighten cave gave her hope but Alaera knew there were other reasons for a cave to get brighter, one of which Nitor had pointed out. It could also mean there were glowing rocks ahead, something she remembered from a cave in their old home lands. Much as she wanted to get out of this cave she didn't want to believe without a doubt the brighter path was the way out only to become disappointed. Considering their options Alaera took a couple of steps into the darker path and then did the same in the lighter path trying to see if there was any indication of the exit on either one. She couldn't find anything as both paths were quiet long.
"Let's take the brighter one. If it comes to another branch and we can't see the exit from either of them then we will double back and take the darker path so we can mark our way once more." The problem with constantly going right was, even though it had proved a good tactic so far, was that it could be leading them in one very big circle thus eventually putting them back where they first started or it could be leading them even deeper into the cave. Sure it could get them out but one had to consider all possibilities while lost.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:02 am
Nitor watched as Alaera investigated both tunnels, thankfully she didn't go very far down either one before coming back - it would be absolutely terrible if they were to get separated. Being lost was one thing - but being lost and alone was something entirely different. He wasn't all that surprised when she suggested they take the lighter path - it had been the choice he had been leaning towards himself. He would kick himself if they took the darker one and wound up missing out on the opportunity ti find their way out.
Caves...Nitor was quickly deciding he didn't much like them all that much - even they did tend to find interesting objects in them. "I was thinking the same thing" Nitor agreed with a slight bob of his head before heading down the brighter path.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:14 am
One big benefit to the brighter path was that they had a much easier time seeing where they were going. The rest of the cave had been dark but it had held a few glowing rocks here and there, enough to show them where it was and wasn't safe to step but didn't do much else once they got further away. This path however was very easy to follow and seemed to only get brighter as they went along. So either they were getting closer to the exit or finding the largest collection of glowing rocks yet. Alaera really hoped it was the way out, she had had enough of caves for now.
"I think..." She began to say but was afraid that without seeing the entrance completely that her hopes would be crushed when realization set in. Instead she picked up the pace just a bit. With the light in this section of the cave they could move at a faster pace and still remain safe as all the rocks along the cave floor were visible. This path was a long one and Alaera was just about to give up and suggest they head back when the light changed. It was no longer flat everywhere but a few distinct beams were breaking through. Could it be? Was that the entrance up ahead? "Nitor!" She said in excitement. Alaera was almost one hundred percent positive this was the way out, mainly because she could see something that looked very much like Nitor's pack which had been left at the entrance. "I think that's you pack! It is isn't it?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:42 am
Hurrying to keep up with Alaera as she forged ahead, joy in the growing light evident in her steps. "I..I think it is!" He exclaimed, breaking into a canter and skidding to a halt next to it "It is!" He cried "It is!" Which meant that...scooping up his pack he put it back around his neck before trotting around the last bend and looking out into a sea of grass and trees spreading out from the hill the cave was in.
"We found our way out! It's a good thing you had that rock with you!" He exclaimed in joy as he spun around and nuzzled his mate. Who knew how long they might have been stuck in that cave system without it.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:52 am
Alaera wasn't sure what to be more excited about, the fact that it was Nitor's pack or the fact that only a few more steps and she would be out of the cave. Both were exciting prospects and so she hurried outside with Nitor now that he had recovered his pack. Oh it was so good to be outside again. In a burst of excitement Alaera ran down the hill enjoying the sun on her face and the soft grass beneath her hooves. She would do her best to avoid caves for as long as possible after today. Which reminded her, trotting back over to Nitor she gave him a nuzzle before tracking the rock from him and placing it back in her pack. She would never go on a treasure hunt without it.
"Let's go to the waterfall for tonight. I think we could both use a good dip and it's very relaxing to be around." The waterfall they had found on one of their first adventures in this new land and had been considering for a while now on whether to make it their home or stay with the herd. For now it was an escape from the herd, a place to go when they wanted to be alone and to relax and that was exactly what Alaera was looking forward to. With the rock secured in her pack once more Alaera glanced back at the cave one last time before taking the lead. Now that she was out in the open again she knew where she was going and they would be able to reach the waterfall a bit before sunset.
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