[FIN] Into the Abyss (Taijana/Matchitemin)

[Painted Moose]

It wasn't often that Taijana found the inner strength to branch out on her own, even more so now that Yael had more than a few unwanted visitors. Clutching her father's dagger close to her chest, the young girl picked her way through the dense forest. It was her only form of protection; Taijana hadn't been trained to fight, and wouldn't have gone anywhere without the blade. It made her feel safe the way nothing else could. With it she could stand against the outsiders...if they managed to catch her after fleeing for her life, that is.

In her other hand Taijana carried an empty bucket that she fully intended on filling with fresh water. There was a fresh water chasm near her home, one that if she used enough rope she could just drop the bucket into and pull up. It was risky, probably the most dangerous thing she'd thought to do yet. Her mother, who normally did the deed, was in one of her 'moods'. There would be no help from her for a while.

When she reached the edge of the chasm, Taijana could only feel her heart drop like a stone into her gut. The deep fissure disappeared into the earth, and were it not for the sound of running water Taijana would have thought it was a doorway into the spirit world. Sitting her bucket down, the young girl knelt closer to the edge, looking over with an uncertain look. "M-maybe I should just go back and wait for papa..."  

[Stereochrome]

Painted Moose

thanks for posting! i was gonna do an intro but was just so slow this week. x - x

also great title. someone should totally fall in. B) just sayin.

He had not forgotten the arrival of the strangers from the sea. At night he woke in sweating starts, flinching away from sharpened blades that weren’t there. He had not returned home, and he did not ever plan on doing so – no doubt it was teeming with strangers now, and the tenuous relationships he held there simply weren’t dear enough for him to warrant the risk.

Matchitemin had always been the cursed child, after all. Nobody in the village would miss him, not in times as dire as these; so he stayed away, he lived alone in the wilderness, and he kept a sharp eye out for ugly green-skinned giant women.

The best that could be said for his current state, all things considering, was that he was no longer gripped with sheer terror. His thinking was clear, his focus switching to the needs of survival. He tended to the cuts on his feet and hands. The combed some of the knots out of his hair, as best as he could. He found food to fill his belly. He still looked like a wild thing, no doubt, but at least he didn’t look like a rabid one.

Thirst drove him after the sound of water. Water was not hard to find, but difficult to get sometimes – as it was in this crevasse, which pitched steeply underneath the earth. But Matchitemin had always liked caves, and he was just about to step out of his hiding-place and stride towards the opening when someone else walked out of the foliage. It was a girl; his age maybe, his kind. This was not so worrying. Matchitemin was no social butterfly, but he was not afraid of other Yaeli.

“Is this your well?” He stepped forward, gesturing at the crevasse. “May I drink from it?”
 

[Painted Moose]

Stereochrome

I'm a butt for being so late lol. And yes, someone should totally fall in. We can roll a dice to see who if you want it to be totally rando

Taijana was still leaning over the edge when a noise drew her attention. Out of habit, Tai reached for the dagger she kept strapped to her thigh, and shakily held it up to the stranger. Almost as quickly as her heart had seized it relaxed. "Oh thank the spirits," she murmured. Taijana lowered her dagger and placed her free hand ontop of her heart, willing it to relax. "I think you might have been..." She shook her head. "Never mind."

At least now she wasn't afraid of incoming demons, but she did have a new problem on her hands.

Oh no, he's hot.

In that rough and tumble scruffy way.

"Excuse me? Drink from...? Oh. OH." Taijana laughed nervously, shaking more now than ever as she struggled to get her dagger back into it's sheath. Eventually she had to grasp her thigh and the blade, forcing it into place before she stabbed herself. "It's closest to our house, but it isn't ours. It's everyone's. So you can drink as much as you want." Her attention was drawn back to the crevasse. At some point the distance between the top and the rushing water below seemed to have grown. "I just...Mama drops the bucket down, and brings it back up with the rope. She's a lot stronger than I am, though." She said on a sigh. "Maybe if I climbed down, I could..."
 

[Stereochrome]

Painted Moose

i say... BOTH B)

Matchitemin took a quick step back, bowing his head by way of apology for startling her. Rather on edge himself, he knew the feeling, and he didn’t really wish it on anybody else. And then there was the matter of weaponry -- despite her age this girl was armed, and the pointed edge of her dagger was aimed (shakily) in his direction. He kept his distance.

“Sorry.” He muttered, having to clear his throat to speak. It had been a while.

Finally, she dropped the blade and spent some time putting it away, apparently quite unsteady. Was she frightened of him? No, certainly not, if she was sheathing the dagger. But she had mentioned something else, hadn’t she? She had said something about thinking he was… what?

Before he could ask, their attention was back on the dark crevasse, Match’s thirst driving him forward to join her by the rock. Judging by the sound below their feed, the current was quite fast here… and the channel quite deep. He dropped to a crouch and squinted into the darkness.

“Maybe if we try together?”  

[Painted Moose]

Stereochrome

Make it so, Number One

The timbre of his voice was different from anything she had heard before. The girl’s own father had a deeper voice, but this boy. whom already held the look of a wildman, now sounded like one as well. It was intriguing, but also unsettling. His politeness was a refreshing comfort, though. Surely he couldn’t be all bad if he would apologize like that.

“I like that. It sounds safer.” At least, to her it did. She tried to pretend as if she didn’t mind going down into crevasse alone, but it frightened her still. “We have to be careful; one wrong move and either one of us could end up as a cautionary tale for younglings.” It was supposed to be humorous; that was her intent, anyway. Taijana’s humor was anything, but light, though. “How do you want to go about it?”
 

[Stereochrome]

Painted Moose

No matter how much he stared into the dark, he couldn’t make out anything beyond the furthest rockface. Crevasses like this could be entirely harmless or deadly dangerous, he knew -- perhaps there was plenty of solid ground and climbing-surfaces below, or maybe the current plunged straight into deep and airless caverns. Even if it was the (much more pleasant) former case, they’d still have to be careful not to fall, for even if it wasn’t very deep the rock could be painfully sharp.

“You’ve got some rope?” He glanced back at the girl, noting the rope she had with her bucket. “I could climb down it, if you found something to knot it up to. I could take the bucket, fill it and climb back up.”

This apparently dangerous maneuver did not seem to worry Matchitemin. Cave-climbing was a bit of a hobby of his, and he felt fairly confident in his ability to do it (especially if there was a rope to rely on).  

[Painted Moose]

Stereochrome

Taijana hesitated a bit, and then nodded her head. The plan seemed worrisome for her. What if he went down, but never came back up? Though, he did seem fairly confident about it all...

"How about that tree over there?" She pointed behind them to a healthy looking tree that wasn't too far from the crevasse. It was still fairly young, but large enough that she wouldn't be able to wrap her arms around it's trunk. Taijana picked up the rope, looped some of it around her arm, and stood. "I'll secure it to the tree, and when it's tight enough you can try to climb down."

It didn't take her long to make it to her destination. Taijana quickly set about encircling the tree once, then twice, then thrice with the rope before tying it in a quick knot. She stepped back to look at it, then gave it a testing tug. Apparently some of her father's lessons had rubbed off because knot tying had never been her strongest skill. Feeling oddly proud, she returned to the wild boy, leaving a trail of rope behind her.

"I'm ready if you're ready. Are you...are you sure you want to go down, though? I could always try if you don't want to." And it was obvious from her tone that trying herself was the last thing she wanted to do.  

[Stereochrome]

Painted Moose

He agreed to the tree, and after the girl had knotted the rope there he let the other end fall into the cavern. He could see it descending for a few feet, and then there was nothing -- just that inky, wet blackness he had stared into before. Was this really a good plan? Shouldn’t they really have tried to simply pull the bucket up with the rope, at least one time?

But, damn it, he had already suggested they do it this way, and now she was looking at him expectantly, even suggesting that she would do it if he didn’t want to. It wasn’t exactly a challange, Match knew, but… he felt that he had to do it, somehow. He wasn’t normally the sort to do stupid things just because other people were watching, but… well, maybe it was silly byt somehow the fact that she was a girl made all the difference.

“No, it’s fine. Here, give me the bucket.”

He stuck his shoulder through the handle so that it could hang down his side, then grabbed the rope and deftly lowered himself down through the cavern’s lip. For a second, he thought it was all going to be easy… but the lower he climbed the louder the rush of water got, and soon it blocked out all other sound above him.”  

[Painted Moose]

Stereochrome

He's so brave.

Taijana couldn't help watching the wild man as he looked down into the gaping pit of doom. What must it be like, to see danger and be willing to take those chances? To feel the thrill of it? He must live an exciting life. In her opinion the entire planned seemed like an unnecessary risk, since with the two of them they could have easily just lowered the bucket and pulled it back up.

However, now that it was so close at hand, she couldn't help being excited. This was possibly the most daring thing Taijana had seen in her entire life and her blood was thrumming.

After giving him the bucket, she settled herself as close to the edge as she dared. In her fawning Tai never noticed that the knot had begun to slip little by little the further down he climbed...

"Are you there yet?" Taijana called out, hands cupped around her mouth to aid her volume.
 

[Stereochrome]

Painted Moose

o 0 o exciting!

As he climbed further, he began to see how simply throwing a bucket down with rope might have been more complicated than it looked. The cavern wall was quite jagged, and after they had filled the bucket there would have been many places for it to get stuck on the way up. Certainly someone who knew the chasm well (like Taijana’s mother, probably) would know all the tricks for getting it out without a hitch, but… maybe it was best for them to try it this way.

Or at least that’s what he told himself, as he realized that he had climbed rather far down now, and that the water below him was more of a powerful underground river than the rushing stream that he had expected.

He heard nothing from the ground above him.

Them without warning, the rope slipped some inches, and his feet dipped into the water below. He let out a sharp yelp, and tried to climb upwards -- but he was dragging in the water now, and that was putting more and more weight on the rope. It began to slip faster, and before he knew it he was down to his knees in the current.

“Hold the rope!” He howled up, squinting at the small gap of sky. “It’s slipping!”  

[Painted Moose]

Stereochrome

It worried her a great deal when no assuring platitude ascended from the chasm. Surely it hadn't taken her mother this long to retrieve the water? If it had the woman might have said as much before sending her daughter off. Then again, Taijana had to admit that her mother wasn't exactly lovi-

Shaking her head, Taijana held her thoughts back lest a spirit eat her eyes for thinking ill about her mother. She was just worried, that's all, and worry makes you wonder.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, but when she looked there was nothing there. Just the rope dipping into the chasm. Taijana furrowed her brow, then turned her concerned gaze back to the gaping hole, only to be caught off guard once more by the yelp. That she heard loud and clear. The words that came after were a little jumbled, but Taijana didn't need much to know what was going on.

Sparing a look over her shoulder, Taijana saw her knot undoing itself at an accelerated pace. Letting out a yelp of her own, she fumbled for the rope and grasped it as tightly as she could. Her palms began to burn as the rope fought to escape. "Hang on!" He couldn't fall! He just couldn't!

...though that didn't stop her from falling. Taijana had been still crouched on her knees initially, though the further the rope pulled her the closer she came to the ledge. All at once she fell over onto her stomach, arms dangling over the edge, but she held on with all of her limited strength.

The petite girl shrieked not only from sheer terror, but from pain. Her arms were on fire and wouldn't hold out for much longer. She tried to burrow her knees into the dirt, but the soil was far too solid for her to get a solid hold.  

[Stereochrome]

Painted Moose

ooh, exciting!
anyhow, Match is my next growth priority, and all I really need is to finish this rp -- but he can't grow for three weeks while i wait for my cooldown, so don't rush or whatever. i'll be replying pretty quick tho to get him ready. B)

The rope kept sliding -- he was down to his waist now, and the current was pushing him sideways. Then, for a moment, he felt himself slow down. He felt some resistance on the rope above him as Taijana struggled to keep hold of it, and that gave him a flicker of hope. Had Matchitemin known exactly what situation she was in, hanging over the edge like that, he probably wouldn’t have struggled at the end of the rope as hard as he did… but to him it seemed that the only option was to try and climb upwards, which of course only put more weight on Taijana’s already-strained hands.

Anyway, climbing out was impossible. The rope was slick and wet now -- and after some struggle he was knocked back by a sudden swell in the current. It came up as high as his chin and pushed him and the rope further down the underground channel. At that moment he felt the rope go slack -- either Taijana had let go, or she had fallen in with him.

He didn’t have much time to consider these options. He was being pulled with the current now, and the only thing he could think to do was to wind the rope around his waist. That way, if the other prentice was still on the other end, at least they might not lose each other in the darkness.

However, if there was no air to breathe and no dry land to stand on, he wasn’t sure what sort of difference that would make.  

[Painted Moose]

Stereochrome

Then I'll be sure to tag as often and quickly as possible. c:

Spirits help them! Taijana fervently prayed that someone, anyone, would magically show up to assist them, but alas, her prayers went unanswered. Her family couldn't have been that far away, so why didn't they hear her screams?!

The rope that had been looped around her wrists and forearms left raw, burning skin in it's wake as it slipped further and further. She tried to hold on as best she could, though Taijana felt her own body being pulled forward.

Then all of a sudden the pressure became unbearable. The weight of his body on the other end had been an ever present force, but now it was if she were supporting him entirely. It didn't last for long, however; before she could fully let out a shriek Taijana was pulled into the abyss.

She fell head first into the ravine, and landed in the harsh current with an audible 'smack!'. Had the rope not been wrapped around her forearm as it had been she might have lost it entirely. For a moment the young teenager was too dazed to think, but the burning in her arms was replaced by a fire in her oxygen starved lungs. She kicked up with all of her might, breaking through the surface of the water with a harsh gasp.

The ravine felt as if it were closing in around her, blocking out what sunlight she could see from up above. Even though there were stones jutting up around her Taijana couldn't grasp a single one of the slick stones. She couldn't grasp one, but....

Instead of trying to grab the closet water logged boulder, she tried her best to move to the opposite side of it. The current that would have dragged her further was cut short by the rope that now bisected it, effectively halting the prentices' progress downstream. The rough stop, however, elicited a pained cry from Taijana. The force of it had applied enough force on her arm to pop her shoulder out of place. Still, she knew if she didn't stay on her side then they would just keep going down and if he was on the other end then she had to try.
 

[Stereochrome]

Painted Moose

awesome, thanks. <3

This wasn’t the first time Matchitemin had been swept away by such a current. When he was little, he played with these things without a fear -- jumping in on one end, then letting the rushing water carry you out someplace else. But that was back in the village, where he had known how all the rivers flowed, and where he knew there were plenty of air-filled caverns along the route. This was different. This was unfamiliar to him, and judging by how cold and quick the water was, he suspected it ran deep and long without much pause.

With this in mind, his only survival strategy at the moment (barring having tied the rope around his waist) was to keep breathing, steady his heartbeat and --

Suddenly the air was knocked out of him, his progress along the rushing water coming to an immediate standstill. The rope stretched taut behind him. Was Taijana holding it? Was it stuck on something? For a moment he imagined her lifeless, broken body jammed between rocks, and panicked. That was all his fault! His stupid idea of climbing into the chasm, just because he was a little thirsty (and wanted, for whatever strange reason, to impress some girl he’d never even met until today).

Still, he had to find out.

He began to pull himself up the rope, moving against the current now. It was dark, and it wasn’t until he was quite close that he saw Taijana -- not dead, thank the spirits, but not in good shape. Her arm seemed to be twisted painfully behind her, and the rope stretched from it to wrap around the edge of a rock. Oh! So that was why he had stopped. It was a good plan, but one that needed to be improved quickly lest the girl’s arm snap off altogether. Putting all his strength into ‘climbing’ the last bit of rope, he scrambled onto the rock and began to pull the rope (and Taijana) closer to him.  

[Painted Moose]

Stereochrome

Taijana pulled her free arm out of the current and grasped the rope, trying in vain to alleviate some of the pressure from her injured limb. It helped, but only mildly. If something didn't give soon she was sure to either lose it, or fall prey to the water itself.

Her sight could barely focus on her own task, let alone the movement's of the wild boy. Was he okay? What if he was already dead, hanging limp on the other end of the rope? Or worse and she couldn't get to him -

Thankfully, she hadn't yet been close enough to hyperventilation to have passed out. Had that happened then surely she would have been done for. Being pulled against the current, though...that both surprised and frightened her. Was he being drug further underground and like an unbalanced blanket, she was being pulled over to his side?

When she was close enough to tilt her head Taijana almost cried with relief. He was alive! And helping her! She held on for as long as it took to reach the rock, then she attempted to scale it with her good arm.Once she was up enough to catch her breath the nerve wracked girl put her arm around him, and held Match close. "Thank the spirits you're alive! I thought...it was..."