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mintysprig
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 3:15 pm

On the far side of the local beach, one can find a cluster of rocks, covered in moss and smoothed over from the years of erosion. If one were to work their way around this mass, managing not to slip or be frighted by a passing crab, they would come across a quaint cave. The sand slowly transfers into sleek, round rocks underfoot and the dank walls give little holds to allow one to walk through. Crawling appears to be the easiest method, but be cautious of any creatures.. They tend to be the most aggressive here, preferring to defend their home than allow an intruder inside. When the shore is reached and one scrambles onto the dry land at the end of the pool, do not be surprised to find one or two seals lounging the day away in solitude. The occasional bully will try to chase someone out, but they are usually a docile bunch as long as one minds their own business. Passing by them, deeper into the cave, there is no opening to shed light, but farther in.. Somewhere in this maze of dead ends and dips, a seemingly luminous stream leading to a small shrine can be found. Here, we give worship to the Water Fairy and all it's past followers.

Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 9:46 pm

It was dark and damp, two things that Rory's bedroom was not. Yeah, sometimes in the summer, when it was really hot, he'd get hot and sweaty, but it didn't feel hot here. It was clammy, the surface he was lying on was cool and... rocky? He didn't have rocks in his bedroom either. Had he fallen asleep at the museum while inspecting new specimens? No, he remembered going home and reading a book before falling asleep, without even changing into his pajamas. But this wasn't home. So where was he...?

Rory opened his eyes and inhaled sharply as he confirmed that, yes, this was not his bedroom. It wasn't his living room or his museum or even his backyard. It was a dark, rocky passage... A tunnel? A cave? Slowly, hesitantly, he rose to his feet. His eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly, since he had been asleep, and he swiped pebbles off his damp clothes. The ground was covered in small rocks, and they crunched under his sneakers as he wandered over to the wall of the enclosure. It was wet when he touched it, made out of some sort of eroded igneous rock. The ripples in the rock were interesting, but he could sit there and pull out patterns later. He inhaled deeply. He smelled salt. The sea? It was dark, he still had to strain to make out shapes even with his adjusted eye sight, but he was beginning to understand where he was. A sea cave, it seemed like. "I see... I see..." he mumbled under his breath. He saw, but he didn't comprehend. How did he get here? He didn't have a history of sleepwalking, but there had to be a logical explanation... He began to pace from one side of the passage to the other as he wracked his brain for answers.

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Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 11:00 pm

"Mmm," Usagi mumbled turning as she woke up. Was it time to get up already? Another few minutes couldn't hurt, right. The woman wrapped herself tight in her blanket, pulling it over her head, before suddenly coming to the realization that whatever she was laying on was not her bed. Her bed was soft and warm, but this was cool and incredibly uncomfortable. She sat up, opening her eyes, and throwing the blanket off of her. "Where am I...?" she asked aloud. It was dark and smelled like the ocean? But that made no sense! How could she gotten here? "Maybe it's a dream.." she decided, but it felt all too real. Besides, she couldn't fly and everyone knows that flying is one of the first thing you try to do while lucid dreaming. But how did she get here? And why?

In all honesty, she felt like she was about to cry. No, she couldn't let herself do that! Even if there was no one to see. She had to find a way out! Come on, get up, get, get up, get up! As many times as she told herself that she couldn't bring herself to do it. It was pathetic how afraid and upset she felt. The woman bit her lip as she turned her head to look around the cave. Not too far away, she spotted a figure pacing back and forth. Could she have been kidnapped? Her anxiety began to increase but stopped as she realized the sad truth. No one would kidnap a middle aged woman like her, kidnappers went for young women, teenagers, and children! If anything, they would have gotten Mitsukai and not her.

Oh! Mitsukai! Was she okay? Was she at home, or had she been taken away too? No! Nothing could happen to her baby sister! Sure Mitsukai could probably manage to escape, she was smart and much more likely to take initiative in freeing herself, but still! Too many thoughts were racing through Usagi's head, she could hardly take it! She looked back to the figure wondering if they had noticed that she had woken up yet. From what she could tell it was a male, maybe about her age? Oh, but wasn't that usually what kidnappers were? Usagi reached for her blanket as she continued to inspect the man, somehow he looked familiar. If only she had her glasses, she could see better. She looked to the ground, how was she supposed to see like this? And then, to her luck she happened to find them sitting beside her. What kind of kidnapper brought their victims glasses along? No time to worry about that. She looked back up, hoping to get a better look at this man now that she had her glasses. Wait, that couldn't be-"R-Rory?" Usagi called aloud, hoping that it was indeed her friend and not a kidnapper. How did he get here? He certainly couldn't be a kidnapper.

Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 11:48 pm

Rory had been so focused on pacing and pushing his brain to work harder, he hadn't even noticed that he wasn't alone. It was so dark in there, it was a miracle he didn't step on her! When his companion's voice drowned out the soft drip-drip-drip of the sea cave, he jumped. "Usagi!" he cried as he recognized her voice. Even in the darkness, he could pick out the general appearance of his dark-haired friend. "You're here! Brilliant!" Upon realizing his mistake, he corrected himself. "Well, perhaps not brilliant. Sea caves were not meant for human habitation, you know!" He knew he shouldn't sound so chipper, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't find this exciting. The true mortality of their situation hadn't quite sunk in yet, so he was still swept up in the sweet thrill of the unknown, an adventure, a chance to challenge his genius brain. "Judging from your voice, I take it you didn't expect to wake up here either? I wonder why we were brought here?" "Who" had quickly become irrelevant. "Why" was so much more exciting. "Oh!" he cried as he remembered his manners. "Here, it's wet down there, you'll catch a cold," he reasoned, wandering over towards the dark shape that was his friend and extending a hand to help her up. He was sure, with the two of them, they could find their way out. The sooner the better. It was awfully damp in there, and he was sure that couldn't be good for their respiratory systems.

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Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 6:36 pm

Once the man had called out to her Usagi was sure that it was her friend. He wouldn't let anything bad happen, and he was pretty smart so Usagi was sure they could find their way out! Still, he sounded so happy. Typical Rory, always the optimist. Unfortunately she couldn't share in this. However, it did seem that ending up here was a surprise to him as well. "I, well I just woke up here," she replied to her friend. "I don't know how or why..." she added. "What do you think happened?" she quickly inquired. "We weren't kidnapped or something, were we?" the worry began to fill her head again but she was quickly distracted by Rory offering his hand, "Oh," she said, taking it, and pulling herself from the ground.

She grabbed her blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders after getting off the ground. It wasn't really until then that she noticed that all she had on was the night shirt she had fallen asleep in. It was long enough to cover her, but it was still hardly proper for her to go about with just this on in front of her friend! "Oh, I'm sorry!" she squeaked, wrapping the blanket tighter around her yet again. Why did she have to get embarrassed so easily? It wasn't like it was any worse than some of her sister's dresses or wearing a bathing suit, she tried to reason with herself. Oh, but it was, at least those were cute and meant to be seen, unlike the oversized shirt she had on at the moment. It wasn't like there was much she could do about it now though, and there were far more important matters at hand like why they were here, and if they could get out.

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:16 pm

Rory frowned, though not for anything serious; he was simply thinking over Usagi's question. Had they been kidnapped? "It's certainly a possibility," he began slowly as he helped her up. "...but not likely, I don't think. We're in a cave, which would make a good hideout I suppose, for a kidnapper, but there aren't any signs of habitation, and every cave has an exit, so if he wanted to trap us here, he didn't do a very good job." He had begun to pace again, this time in short steps in front of Usagi. This didn't seem like the place a kidnapper would choose, especially not one good enough to steal both of them from their beds without either of them noticing. "Besides, what motive would they have? Usagi, you have a family who loves you, but I'm all alone here, they wouldn't get much of a ransom out of me." For a moment his thoughts went to Lotte, but he shook them off quickly enough. Lotte did bizarre things, yes, but she hadn't been seen in a while, and besides why would she use a sea cave when she had a perfectly good mansion to use?

When Usagi apologized, he shook his head, though he didn't know why she had apologized. It was so dark, he hadn't noticed what she was wearing at all. "I said that all caves have an exit, so we should be able to find our way out... Do you have a lighter, or a flashlight? Maybe if we could see better, we could find the passage out better." He stopped pacing and now faced his friend expectantly. He didn't carry a lighter or flashlight around with him all the time, but Usagi was much more responsible than he was. If either of them were to be prepared, it would definitely be her.

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Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:32 pm

What Rory said was a good point, but it wasn't enough to completely calm her down. Crazy things happened all the time on Nirvani and while the cave may not have been the smartest place for a kidnapper to choose, didn't mean it wasn't possible. Maybe it was just a really dumb kidnapper, and maybe they didn't even have a motive! It could just be some crazy person acting on a whim, and being in Nirvani, it seemed like a pretty likely possibility. Still, Rory was right. All caves did have exits which meant that they could escape safely before their kidnapper returned! They would just have to work really fast and hard, but they could do it! Even Rory thought so! Which was definitely a good thing and- Wait! A lighter or flashlight? Who carried those kind of things around in their sleep? Oh, why couldn't she have been more prepared. "No, I don't," she answered honestly, looking back down.

She hoped her friend wouldn't be disappointed with her. Would they really be able to find their way out? Luckily, her eyes had begun adjusting to the dark a bit more, making seeing a bit easier, but some light would be nice. The woman sighed, "What are we gonna do, Rory?" she asked the man. She was no good at adventuring and getting herself out of weird situations, no matter how much she liked to pretend to be, and she knew it. Sure, she could pretend, and she probably would have when she was younger, but now she knew there would be no point to it. It wasn't like it would help anything, after all.

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:32 pm

...So neither of them had a lighter or a flashlight or any other light-exuding device. Rory frowned thoughtfully and made a mental note not to do anything unless he had a small flashlight in his pocket. Just in case. It was funny how he never quite felt motivated to prepare for emergencies until he was in one! He wondered if there were a psychological reason for that. BUT THAT WASN'T IMPORTANT. This current crisis was much more crucial. Usagi posed a good question. What were they going to do? They couldn't just sit there forever. It was damp and chilly, they were without food or drink. Maybe someone would find them, but how long would that take? No, they had a better chance of making it out of this cave unscathed if they could find the exit as soon as possible. "Can you walk, Usagi?" he asked finally. He was lucky, he hadn't taken off his shoes when he climbed onto his bed to read (Natalia had always said it was disgusting that he did that, but it had finally served some purpose!) so his feet were still dry and snug and protected, but Usagi... For the first time, he peered through the darkness to see what she was wearing. It was hard to tell, it was so dark in here. "If you're barefoot, it may be difficult, but I think we should walk," he said decisively. If it were just him, he would have taken off long ago, just exploring the caves, but he didn't want to put his friend at risk. "Caves don't go on forever! I'm sure if we can feel our way along here, and we'll either find our way out or find a dead-end, but then we can just go in the other direction..." It was beginning to sound exhausting, and he wondered if it was a good idea at all. Ahh, why hadn't he studied maps better? When they made it out of here, he was definitely going to open a special exhibition on Nirvani caves, as a precautionary thing. But for now, he was concerned. It wasn't just him, he couldn't go rushing forward without considering the consequences. He looked at Usagi, or rather, towards her, and lightly grasped her shoulder. For some reason, it helped him focus when he knew she was there, and not just some figment of his imagination or something. "What do you want to do? If you think we should stay we can stay. I don't want to force you to do something you don't think is safe." Finally, he was beginning to feel the stress of the situation. This wasn't so much fun anymore.

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Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 7:53 pm

"I should be able to," she answered her friend. It probably wouldn't be too comfortable walking around the cave barefoot but the woman would do it if she had to, and it didn't seem like there was much choice now. She nodded in response to Rory. He was right, walking would be the only way to get out of the cave, and there was no point in sitting around doing nothing. Oh, but what if the kidnapper came back!? Wouldn't they be mad that the two had tried to escape? Would they give them an even worse punishment then what was planned? That's what always happened in the movies! The woman bit her lip again, this was a tough decision. Still, if they stayed here the kidnapper was sure to come back to them to do whatever evil he or she had planned. No, they as may well risk escaping. At least they would have a chance that way! "Let's go!" Usagi decided.

She looked around the cave, unsure of which way they should start, "Which way should we go?" she asked the man. Rory was smart, he had to know! She was lucky she wasn't alone, and of all the people in Nirvani who could have been kidnapped along with her it was Rory! Funny how things worked out that way. she looked around once more, trying to see if she could figure it out herself, but she couldn't. She hoped this wouldn't take long. She had the flower shop to run, and the cats to feed. Her assistant wouldn't know how to get along without her their and Mitsukai was too forgetful to take care of Seymour, Patches, and Javert. She wondered if her sister had even noticed her absence. She could only hope that the younger woman had, and that she had done something like notify the police about it! She was probably at work though, completely oblivious to her older sister's disappearance.

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 1:07 am

It was strange, but Rory almost felt proud when Usagi decided to go. He really had no control over that decision, nor did it reflect back on him in the slightest, but at the same time he harbored a bit of pride that his friend was so willing to face the challenge head-on. If she had wanted to sit and wait for help, he would have sat and waited, making the best of their situation, but he was glad they were on the move. It would, at the very least, distract them from the potential danger of their situation.

When Usagi asked which way to go, Rory squinted through the darkness. He really couldn't tell where the passage continued, but he was sure he could feel along the wall. "This is just a shot in the dark," pausing for a moment to chuckle over his pun, "But I think if we go this way, along the wall, we should find something." Really, at this point of time he wasn't sure how much his brain would be able to help them. It was mostly luck from here on out. As an afterthought, he reached out and took Usagi's hand, holding it loosely and almost hesitantly, so that if the contact was nonconsensual, she could retreat. But he didn't want her to, for practical reasons, as he began to explain, but also for the simple comfort that he wasn't alone. "Here, we should continue on like this so we don't get separated. It'd be... well, we don't want to get separated." He spoke seriously in adherence to the gravity of the situation, and it tickled his ears to hear himself speak with such authority. With a self-conscious clearing of his throat, he began to feel along the wall with his free hand. "...Well, let's go then."

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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:15 pm

So even Rory was unsure of which way to go, that certainly wasn't a good sign. It wasn't like they had any other options though, so they'd have to do as he suggested if they wanted to at least try to get out. She nodded in response, stopping as Rory took her hand. Her first instinct was to pull her hand away, which she began to do. It had been a long time since she had any sort of physical contact with a man, and to be honest it scared her, even if it was just for practical reasons. As always, Rory was right though, it would be best to stay like that and shortly after pulling away she timidly reached back for his hand. "S-sorry," she stammered in apology for letting go a moment earlier. He would understand, wouldn't he? "Okay, let's go," she agreed as they started on their way.

She could feel her hand shaking and was sure her face was bright red, luckily the dark would conceal the latter. There wasn't much way to hide the shakiness though. Goodness, she was a grown woman! She shouldn't be acting like this, it wasn't like she was a teenager holding hands with a boy for the first time or something. Then again, the first time she held hands with someone it was a complete stranger, and her savior. She had gone through too much that night to really get flustered over hands. No, she wouldn't think about that right now. She'd forget about it like she always did. Now was not the time or place to think about that incident. She had to think about getting out of here, not that.

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:48 am

To be totally honest, Rory hadn't quite noticed the intimacy of this situation, the two of them, trapped in the dark like this. Nor had he put much thought into the fact that he was an adult man and she was an adult woman. Not that he hadn't thought of Usagi in that way! She was an attractive woman, and he had, on a few instances, taken the time to acknowledge that fact. But he had been so wrapped up in the excitement and intrigue of waking up in the cave that he hadn't quite acknowledged her yet. But when Usagi began to withdraw her hand, even though he had braced himself for the possibility, he was hit with realization. "N-no, I'm sorry," he quickly replied as she apologized, clearing his throat. He continued to walk silently, thankful for the darkness as a blush nipped at his skin. He felt silly, for not thinking of how it would seem. He had grabbed her hand in the most innocent and platonic of ways, but he wasn't dealing with Nat here. All of a sudden, he felt self-conscious and careful, afraid to cross the line out of Usagi's comfort zone. Maybe he was just imagining it. She felt a little shaky under his loose grip, but he could just chalk it up to fear of the cave or something. That's what he told himself, as he felt along the side of the cave, along a passage. "Are you okay? If... if you need to slow down or stop, just say so..." he said, trying to sound nonchalant, but his voice sounding quite tense instead. Although he had tried to keep his grip loose, the more they walked, the more his hand tightened without him realizing it.

After a bit of walking, it felt like the passage had gotten a little bit lighter, like there was a light source ahead...

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Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:16 pm

"No! It's okay," Usagi replied to her friend's apology, shaking her head.. After all, he had only grabbed her hand for practical reasons, he didn't know she's be so jumpy over something like that. Him apologizing hadn't helped her much, it only drew her to think more about the situation. Her face was probably redder now than it had been before! At least the dark cave proved some purpose. She stopped again as Rory asked if she was alright, pulling her mind from her previous thoughts, "I'll be fine," she assured her friend. Bad thoughts or not, she couldn't let it slow them down. The sooner the two got out of there, the better! Oh what were her poor little cats up to without her? As they continued on she became a bit more comfortable, shaking less. In fact, she hadn't even noticed that Rory had tightened his grip on her hand, and while she certainly didn't do so consciously she may have done the same. She stayed quiet most of the time, unsure of what to say. It wasn't like she had anything meaningful to talk about and she didn't want to distract Rory from finding the way out, even if all it involved was walking with his hand along the wall. After walking for a while she finally noticed that cave didn't seem as dark, were they really close to getting out of here. That was certainly good news! Good enough to excite Usagi! "Look, Rory, Look!" she pointed out. Her previous fear and insecurities gone at the thought of finally escaping this cave. "Do you think we're close to an exit?" she asked turning towards him. She sure did hope so. If not, she'd probably shrivel right back up into the poor, pathetic, person she had been not too long before.

((Ehhh, short. D: Sorry, Loli!))

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 4:09 pm

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Now for his last and absolutely favorite – ah.. ah, Goddess darn it, they weren't doing anything but trying to escape either! Ilex was getting frustrated with how unappreciative these people were of his meddling! He sighed loudly, though it wasn't as if anyone could hear him and, even if they could, he was so tiny it would hardly be considered a 'sigh' as mortals regularly knew it. In any case, he figured he may as well help with the mood here too and then go to his shrine for a much-needed nap after all this magic use. Really, he wasn't intended for all these shenanigans! He zipped ahead of them and quickly created a romantic picnic lunch, complete with silverware, butterflies unnaturally placed inside the cove, and... Oh, were those walruses? He guessed some chivalry from Rory could make the girl fall in love! So, he coaxed the beast awake and directed it back at the blonde so it knew just who to attack when Rory came close. Yes, that would do! Ilex poof'ed out without another word and left everyone to their business.

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Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:28 pm

Rory took a few steps forward before stopping, but once he was sure that the light wasn't just his imagination, that right around that bend in the passage was some sort of light source, he spun around to face Usagi again, his ecstatic grin just barely visible in the dim glow. "I think it's very likely!" he agreed, though he didn't want to make any definitive statements just yet. "Good job Usagi, I knew we could do it." He almost hugged her, in his relief and excitement, but he restrained himself because it was already awkward enough, with them just holding hands. "But enough standing, let's see," he said before continuing towards the light. And what he found confused him.

There was a light, but it wasn't coming from anything natural. There was a picnic blanket, and food, and... butterflies? "What's this?" he gawked at the scene before them, dropping his friend's hand in his surprise. Butterflies didn't live in damp sea caves, and neither did picnics just spring out of nowhere! Maybe he had been wrong, maybe this was a kidnapping scenario, or.... No, not even that was a sufficient explanation for all of these. He took another step into the cove to get a closer look. There was a strange sound, and he turned to see a walrus, large and tusked and very much alert. "Whoa! Usagi, don't make any sudden movements!" he cried as he froze. He wasn't that up to date with walrus attacked patterns, but he knew what damage those tusks could do to other walruses, and neither Rory nor Usagi had thick water-resistant skin or a layer of blubber to protect them.

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