savetheearth | Below the mineshaft roads, it will all unfold;

Below the mineshaft roads, it will all unfold;

Who: See tags
When: 08-30; 5PM and onward
Where: The mysterious (not)abandoned mines outside of town
What: Kanti has finally called everyone together to
Warning: Content warnings will be tagged as the threads progress. Prepare for possible violence at the least.

After much planning, the trip to the mine is finally coming to fruition. Granted, this fruit could be ripe and juicy mangoes or disappointing red grapes with the seeds still in, but the point is that it is coming to a head. The supplies have been purchased and packed. The lunches have been made and also packed.

Early Friday morning, a post goes up on the network that is filtered to the known volunteers with directions and the words:

Today. 5PM.

What does this all boil down to?

Aww yeah motherfuckin' mines!

((OOC: The details of what to expect in the mines have been posted in the Gdoc so check that out before you post. The info is a bit too long to be posted here. People not involved in exploring the mines can feel free to tag in the Pre-Trip Preparations thread if it's suitable.

Sorry for posting it this early, but I work late tomorrow and I don't want anyone to have to wait up for me.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Inside the mines, Vanessa is pretty quiet as usual. For once, being tiny has its advantages and she can get through any smaller passages or crevices pretty easily.

But she is still pretty bad at this whole "working with groups" thing and is fairly likely to wander off somewhere on her own and get into trouble. Also, despite her better judgement, she'll come quick if somebody nearby runs into a problem.]

[The fact of the matter was, the Disns had no idea what they were doing. They had: a baseball bat, flashlights, and a granola bars. Isaac had never been in a fight, while Miria had never won a fight. They were throwing themselves into the deep end here.

But you know who did seem to know what to do? Vanessa. So the two thirty-year olds decided that it was probably wise to follow the instincts of the girl in her late teens ahead of them. After all, she was so savvy and cool. Friendly too! So, Miria holding the bat up defensively, they trailed behind their buddy in trepidation.]

[Vanessa had no idea what she was doing.

The further she went in these mines, the stupider an idea it seemed to actually be. Oh, sure it sounded great until she was actually down there, creeping around in pitch black where there might very well be all kinds of... things waiting to attack her. Her nerves got more on edge with each step she took, and it didn't help that her mind was already starting to play tricks by telling her how easy it would be to get lost down here. But... that shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure to walk upwards, right?

Right.

Lost in thought as she was, it wasn't until she was looking down a passageway when she heard the footsteps come up behind her. Instantly, she sucked in a sharp, surprised breath and spun around, shining her flashlight at whatever horrible nightmare spawn had snuck up on her in this dark place and grabbing at her knife with the other hand.]

[Common reaction: when someone shines a flashlight in your face, you squint and cover your eyes. Usually complaining or protesting follows.

Isaac and Miria's reaction: waving brightly.]

Hi Vanessa!

[It's fun to wave.]

Edited 2013-09-03 07:08 (UTC)

You--

[She's just going to stare for a second, blinking at the two of them in a moment of disbelief before shaking her head and laughing quietly to herself. Honestly, what kind of reaction was that to suddenly getting blinded in a deep, dark cave?]

-- don't sneak up on people down here.

We weren't sneaking up on you! We were-

[They paused to consider. Miria scratched her head while Isaac rubbed his chin.

Dark, creepy tunnel. Following a buddy. Possibly assuming said buddy already knew they were there.

Whoops.

Sorry for sneaking up on you!

....

[Right now she's just glad that nobody else was around to see that these two managed to get the drop on her.]

Don't worry about it. What are you two doing down here?

We decided to come and help find whatever the thing we need to find!

And maybe fight bad guys!

But hopefully not.

Hopefully not.

[Because she knows she can hold her own in a fight, but these two...? Well, they had done better than her against the fungus things and it would probably be better to not try this alone.]

Well, I was about to head down there. [She shines her flashlight down the passage she was checking out.] I guess you guys can come along if you want.

[They salute her.]

Yes, sir!

We'll follow your lead!

Without fail or major-ish fear!

Uh, right. Just stick close and make sure nothing sneaks up on us.

[She turns and starts down further into the mines.]

And try not to start any fires.

[She couldn't help it.]

[They flush at her words.]

THAT WASN'T OUR FAULT!

[Nontheless, they follow her deeper into the dark.]

So, why'd you decide to explore the mines?

[She cracks a bit of a smile at that reaction while she's facing away, but she lets it drop.]

I'm not sure. I know those emails said that the Sage's story was bullshit but there is something going on underground.

I don't know. My gut just tells me that there's still something going on down here.

[Now what the hell was that buzzing noise?]

Well, you have good instincts...

[Isaac glanced around at the sound. He tried to clear his ears to see if that would help, but no dice.]

So far.

[Damnit, what the hell was with that noise?]

Do you two hear that?

Yeah, it's... really irritating.

It's sort of like a... [She makes a whining sound like her mouth, before switching to "zzzzzzzz", then back to the whine. Evidentially, she couldn't choose between the two sounds.]

...Definitely irritating.

Edited 2013-09-06 05:12 (UTC)

Definitely.

[Very irritating, although that whining sound from Miria is starting to catch up and after a few seconds she turns her head to them.]

You... you can stop that now.

[And of course, she doesn't see the bristly hair thing with claws that comes shambling into her flashlight beam.]

It's just a noi- Vanessa, look!

[Isaac quickly point at the thing in the light. Miria lifts up her bat defensively.]

[Yeah, no stupid questions like "at what?" here. As soon as they point behind her, she's turning back around. Good thing too as that gives her just enough time to scramble aside when the Vermedi rushes forward with its claws outstretched.]

Watch out!

[Her back hits the wall and the thing barrels straight past her, aiming to latch on to whoever's closer between Isaac and Miria.]

[The thing rams into Isaac. His arms automatically go up in defense. It scratches his arms before Miria whams the bat right in the monster's face. She hits it a couple more times until attention turns fully to her.

Well shoot.]

[Vanessa fumbles with her dagger while the creature goes after Isaac. Memories, both from her life and another, flash through her head. Dogs, monsters, men with spikes through their eyes, all coming for her. For a second, she zones out before she snaps back to reality.

No. Not this time.

The Vermedi is almost on Miria when she dives in, flipping the knife around in her hand, and slamming her shoulder into it. The knife flashes once, twice, three times, digging past thick hair to bite into whatever the creature had for flesh before it turns its claws on her.

One swipe of the claws comes close but she twitches her head to the side as she dances back out of reach, leaving a thin red scratch on her cheek, before she settles between it and the Dians with the bloodied dagger held in a reverse-grip before her.

If it wanted them, it would have to go through her first.]

[Miria almost thought she was alien food before the dagger struck. She quickly took the opportunity to help Isaac get back on his feet. Isaac's attention was on the multiple stabbings, but he could still sense exactly how bad his wounds were. His right arm was hurt, but nothing that wouldn't heal soon. His left arm, oddly, seemed to be perfectly fine, although he didn't reflect on it long. That was when their buddy stepped between them and the monster.

Vanessa is now deemed the coolest person ever in the Dians' books.

Let's count the numerous aspects of Vanessa's awesomeness: smart, cool, courageous, cool, friendly, funny, cool, and can kick pretty much anyone's butt.

Of course, the couple couldn't think about more details at the time. More important things were occurring.

In no shape to fight, not to mention his lack of a weapon, Isaac stood behind Miria. As for his wife, Miria stepped closer to ~~world's greatest warrior~~ Vanessa, her bat raised high above her head.

Bring it on, jerk.]

[Right now, Vanessa's focus was far away from how "cool" she was, she wasn't even thinking about where the sudden knowledge in her head had come from. It was like suddenly having a map in her head, of vitals. Heart, lungs, stomach, arteries, veins, tendons. All at once she knew where they were and how to strike each one.

Later. She could worry about it later. Now, they had to deal with this thing. When Miria comes up beside her, she gives her a quick nod and goes on the attack again before the wounded Vermedi has time to recover.

Its right side had taken the worst of the stabs and she zeroes on in that side, following that map in her head. Feint, get inside its defenses and then, gut, chest, throat, the inside of its arm. She's vaguely aware of claws scraping down her shoulder and then she pushes it away. Between the cracks to the skull from Miria earlier and the stab wounds, the thing staggers away with one good arm but still doesn't give any sign of being out of the fight.]

Miria!

Yes, sir!

[Miria, not having the same knowledge as Vanessa, chose to hit any random spot on the Vermedi that was open. It seems to do a bit of damage actually. A hit to the head, hit to the stomach, hit to here and there. Generally, seems to be working well.

That was about when the next echo hit.

She's back on the train, wind racing by. She can see trees speed past her. She looks outside, toward the bottom of the locomotive.

A boy, covered in blood, possibly missing an arm, is lying not ten feet away. She can't even tell if he's alive.

The sense of vertigo passes, but Miria finds herself unable to move from her state of shock.

But the Vermedi sure can, as it moves to scratch the woman.]

Miria!

Below the mineshaft roads, it will all unfold;

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