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Post by audramya on Apr 14, 2012 1:08:05 GMT -5
 Elizabeth had just come from a trip above ground. She shifted through the items in her sack as she walked at a brisk pace in order to keep ahead of the others that would probably be making their way back from the topside. Technically she wasn’t supposed to go above ground because her rank wasn’t high enough, but occasionally she had to break the rules in order to gather medicine, or at least any medical herbs she could find, to help with her mother‘s illness. The Labonita Territory wasn’t like the Nabila with it’s large square footage as well as it’s garden full of herbs that she’d kill for.
Once she felt like she was a safe enough distance away, Elizabeth stopped to lean against the wall to catch her breath and zip up the bag. She tossed it over her shoulder as she peered down the tunnels, dank and dark for the most part. She chuckled to herself as she remembered there was once a time when she’d been deathly afraid of the dark. Her sister would always assure her there was nothing that could hurt her.
The smile on her face quickly vanished at the thought of her sister. Somewhere out there she was convinced that she was still alive despite what everyone else thought. They were connected and while she wasn’t entirely sure of her location, she knew that Aslyn wasn’t dead. She was just choosing to stay away from them which just infuriated her. Especially with the state their mother was in now.
Just as she was about to begin walking again, her pack caught onto one of the torches on the wall and ripped open dropping the glass bottles she’d gathered onto the floor, shattering them into a million pieces. Not to be left out, the herbs slowly drifted down and landed lightly on the top.
“Damn it,” she cursed as she swung her bag back around to examine the damage done to it and if there was anything she could salvage. At least she could still obtain the herbs. At least that’s what she thought before she accidentally ran into the side of the wall, knocking down the torch from its perch and setting the few herbs she’d managed to find into flames.
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Post by Zachey on Apr 14, 2012 1:36:02 GMT -5
After her mother used the assorted mix of herbs that Isis would collect from her foraging to create various amounts of dosages, Isis made a trip to the market and sold off most of them to the vendors. Between she and her mother, they made enough to supply most in Labonita with some and the rest went towards the potential vendors.
Although she felt anxious being in the tunnels, due to the murky sensation that it held, Isis made sure to appear confident. There were always those few who would take advantage of anyone walking around the tunnels by themselves. The darkness made it easier for them to do such a thing; even though there were a few lit torches placed on the walls, it wasn't nearly enough to keep the shadows away from lurking about the inside.
Taking a breathe to let go of the growing paranoia, she let her eyes graze around the assorted entry ways. There was a sudden shift in light in a the entryway to her left. The altered light made her jump a little.
"So much for being 'at ease'", she heard herself mutter as she calmed herself and slowly made her way into the tunnel that shifted it's lighting just a moment ago. "Hello?" she said in a louder voice, "Anyone here?"
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Post by audramya on Apr 14, 2012 8:50:35 GMT -5
As soon as she heard the voice, Elizabeth turned, startled, and faced the opening of the tunnel. The flames burned brighter as they hit the alcohol from the medicine and slowly began to spread. Quickly she wiped the sweat away from her brow before digging around in her sack in search of something that might be useful as a weapon. After pulling out the dull knife she’d used in order to cut the herbs, she cautiously approached the voice with her heart pounding a mile a minute.
Turning the corner she held her knife high in the air as she let out a fierce cry to hopefully scare and intimidate the person. When she saw the familiar face though she pulled back. She’d never actually spoken to the girl, Isis she believed her name was, before, she knew that she’d seen her around in the Labonita territory. Elizabeth heaved a sigh of relief as she held her ripped back close to her chest so nothing more could fall out.
“Oh my gosh. You scared me,” she laughed now that she knew that she wasn’t in any immediate danger. Leaning back against the wall she slid the knife away in her pocket so she wouldn’t lose it (also so she could reach it quickly in case she needed it since now she was incredibly jumpy). Motioning her head back to the tunnel she’d just come from, she said, “You might not want to go back that way. I, uh, got a bit careless. A fire’s spreading out, but luckily it's not heading in the direction of our territory.”
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Post by Zachey on Apr 14, 2012 18:19:31 GMT -5
She heard a small shifting right by the entrance of another tunnel, what they were doing exactly, Isis could not tell. If it had been her, however, she knew she would have been getting her own weapon out. These tunnels were filled with wandering pickpockets and thieves. If they could make money off of anything you carried with you, they would be more than happy to take it and trade it for self gain.
Taking a breath before stepping any closer, the smell of the murky atmosphere filled her lungs, threatening to make her cough. Luckily she was able to hold that down long enough to witness a shriek that could have potentially given her a run for her life.
As soon as she had gotten herself back together after giving off a startled jump, she let out a light chuckle and pressed her hand to her racing heart. "Oh my goodness!" she said practically breathless. She recognized this girl from somewhere around Labonita. Her red hair was what jogged her memory from this close-to-death experience.
Straightening herself out, she let her hands rest behind her head letting her diaphragm expand to its fullest, so she'd be able to regain her regular breathing pattern again. "Gave me quite a scare there," she said almost laughing at the point of. "Sorry to have made you a bit edgy, though."
Before it had been put away, Isis was able to spot the knife that she was putting back into her pocket and in safe hiding, but brought her attention back to the warning of the fiery tunnel. "Well it's a good thing I'm heading off in that direction," she explained pointing back to where she had been before the encounter of the two. "I'm taking a wild guess, and saying that you are too? Heading to the market that is?"
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Post by audramya on Apr 15, 2012 9:09:40 GMT -5
Although she hadn’t originally been heading to the market, she had to admit now that it had been suggested that it didn’t sound like too bad of an idea. Looking into her bag she looked at what she had to barter with. It wasn’t much, but maybe she might be able to get a few provisions that she’d so carelessly lost.
“Yeah,” she said after a moment with a nod of her head. “I think I am.” Noticing for the first time that she’d probably scared the poor girl as much as she’d been afraid, Elizabeth shook her head at her carelessness for not checking if she was okay.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” she apologized. “Just these tunnels. You never know what’s lurking behind the corner,” she said with a shudder. “Are you okay? No scrapes or anything? I could heal them up,” she offered, wishing that it was as easy as using her powers to make her mother better instead of trying all of these herbs and medicines only to result in failure.
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Post by Zachey on Apr 16, 2012 17:37:42 GMT -5
Isis saw the inner pondering that the redhead was going through. It seemed as if she had not been going to the market, but was walking away from it. Oops. Shuffling her rather old leather messenger bag that rest on her right shoulder, as she awaited the girl's answer, she began making up prices in her head for what every item should and could be worth.
After a moment or so of doing this, she heard her speak up, saying that she would go to the market. A smile appeared on Isis's face as she let alone the sack and relished the thought that she wouldn't have to wander around the tunnels by herself any more.
"Oh, it's no problem. Really," she said answering her apology. "Put it this way, I scared you, you scared me. We're pretty much even on that ground. So, no need for apologizing. Oh! And there were no scrapes. Pretty sure you can't get those from a small jump, but even if there were,"she said as she quickly pulled a small vessel from her bag that was filled with a amber colored liquid, "I'm set on remedies on my end," she ended giving her a smile to reassure her that she was fine.
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Post by audramya on Apr 16, 2012 18:49:24 GMT -5
“I guess,” Elizabeth said with a shrug, her eyes moving towards the vial. It seemed a bit silly to waste medicine if you needed a cure for a light scratch and someone with healing powers was willing to help--even if this was just a hypothetical situation she was going over in her mind. Medicine was hard to come by anymore, as Elizabeth knew well, but she certainly wasn’t going to argue with this girl if she wouldn’t want her help--certainly not when she didn’t even need help. Elizabeth just had a habit of assuming and preparing for the worst.
As she began heading off in the opposite direction of where she’d been going, she explained, “I just came from above ground and the fire took most of my findings for the day. So while I wasn’t originally going to the market, I could use a bit more ingredients for a medicine I’m wanting to try.” And while she absolutely hated the market for some of its shady business practices, she couldn’t deny that on occasion they had some useful items.
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Post by Zachey on Apr 18, 2012 15:50:31 GMT -5
As she listened to the girl's explanation for her being down there, Isis began walking alongside her, down the dim tunnel. The walls looked aged and grimy, and most likely were. From her knowledge, even though it had only began being used as a way to get to the market after the apocalypse had occurred, the tunnels had already been standing long before that. The smell was that of murky water; which all in all was pretty weird since these tunnels had been carved for beings to wander about in them and get places, not for sewers and such things. Again, from what she knew of.
The rows of torches lit the way towards the market. There were many tunnels that one could go through, but only one had the market at the end of it. Isis remembered how her father had showed her how to get there. It had taken her a total of seven trips to finally figure it out. During the fifth and sixth trip, she recalled having made a map that she studied before her seventh trip, in which she had mastered the way. The map that she kept in her home in Labonita, underneath her mattress, had been her lifesaver, and in a way, still was. Whenever she feels as if she's having second doubts about her route, she simply closes her eyes, and the drawing appears behind her lids, almost tangible to the touch.
"What kind of medicine did you have in mind?" Isis heard herself asking after the girl had finished talking. Although she wasn't as skilled as her mom, and didn't know as many mixtures or pastes that could be made from different plants and herbs, she knew a significant amount and be of possible assistance.
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Post by audramya on Apr 18, 2012 21:15:49 GMT -5
“I’m not entirely sure to be perfectly honest,” Elizabeth admitted with a sigh. “I’ve tried so many things, but I’m starting to believe that nothing is going to work.” Although she didn’t know Isis too well, she couldn’t help but think that she’d, for some reason, already knew about her mother’s illness. Why she thought such a thing, she wasn’t sure (maybe it was just the fact that often strangers in Labonita approached her to ask how her mother fared). But, no matter the reason, she didn’t explain why she needed it; only that she did.
Elizabeth stopped in her tracks as it suddenly felt a bit warmer in the tunnels. “Is it hot in here to you?” she wondered as she fanned herself with her hand. Turning around she noticed that the fire had spread through the tunnels with flames licking at their heels.
“Eek!” she shrieked, jumping back. Yelling over to Isis, she asked, “I don’t suppose you have any powers with relation to water, do you?”
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Post by Zachey on Apr 22, 2012 1:50:26 GMT -5
Even though slowly and steadily, it began feeling a bit warmer. Isis dismissed it though, thinking that it had something to do with her sweater that she had on, and simply the anxiety she held from being alert whenever she was walking within the tunnels. However, it seemed as if she had not been the only one to feel the growing warmth.
She turned to see the girl fanning herself off, and noticed something bright from her peripheral vision. As she turned her head to view what was behind them, she felt her mouth drop in terror. Not only had there been a fire behind them, but it had somehow found a path towards them, and threatened to catch their heels on fire.
Giving off a slight jump, she heard her companion ask her if she had any water-related powers. "None whatsoever," she said, and quickly adding, "but what I would give to have some right about now!"
Isis forced herself to look away from the blaze and around to find some sort of safety. Ahead, there lay an entrance to yet another tunnel. It was the wrong tunnel, and not to mention one of the many that were possibly rigged with some sort of trap, but it was there best chance at staying out of the flames' reach. "Come on, we have to go this way," she told the other quickly as the smoke began building up around them.
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Post by audramya on Apr 23, 2012 9:42:55 GMT -5
While Isis was being productive, Elizabeth couldn’t help but stare at the fire in awe. She’d had no idea that it would have spread this far out and now she was beginning to wonder if her little mistake was going to engulf not only the underground tunnels, but the territories as well. Then again surely if they reached that point then the people of Labonita could do something about it right?
Her mind wandered for a bit until she heard Isis urgently grab her attention. As Elizabeth was interrupted in her thoughts, she noticed the smoke welling up around them and she tried to cover her nose in mouth before she started a coughing fit. Still she ran after Isis in the direction she motioned to, into the new tunnel ahead of the fire. The smoke however was still there though not to the extreme extent as it was before.
“Lets just hope with all these improvisations that we don’t hit a dead end,” Elizabeth said, her mind drifting towards the worst possible scenario as it often did.
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Post by Zachey on Apr 23, 2012 14:55:53 GMT -5
Her mind ran frantically trying to remember the destinations of the tunnels that she would have to choose from in just a moment or two. The air was now thickening with smoke, and Isis felt her chest give a little tug, causing her to give off a cough. Even though they were running, the fire was keeping the space between them a minimal one, and shortening that distance fast.
Just in front of her lay a forked tunnel. There were three tunnels that they could take, but once taken, they wouldn't be able to return and choose a different one.
The images in her mind flew at a rapid place of the blueprints she had made to remember all of the tunnels. Now she was wishing she would have studied them some more, not completely knowing why she hadn't gone on with her studies after she learned the simple route to the market.
Just then, a certain image came to her, but she bit her lip not knowing what to do exactly. She knew it was either the left or the right tunnel, but she couldn't tell whether the image she had thought up was right side up, or up side down. Isis regretted drilling herself in all the various forms she attempted on learning about the tunnels and their routes.
Taking a chest-full of air, she grabbed the girl's arm and led her into the left tunnel. She was sure that it was the right one, but then again, that was only a fifty percent chance that she had chosen correctly.
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Post by audramya on Apr 24, 2012 21:23:49 GMT -5
The fire almost seemed as if it were chasing after them as they turned down a new tunnel. The smoke was still thick and Elizabeth coughed along side of Isis as she looked around for some sort of escape. Silently she cursed herself for making such a mistake earlier and she couldn’t help but wonder how it was spreading in the first place. However there was no time to stop and think about it. All they could do was keep moving forward and hope it would eventually halt, die down, or that someone would start putting it out.
Elizabeth stopped at the forked tunnel and glanced over at Isis who seemed to be thinking hard about something. She hoped that Isis knew the tunnels well because if it wasn’t to the surface, to Labonita, or to the markets, then Elizabeth had very little idea where she was going.
Before she knew it, Isis had grabbed her arm and pulled her down one of the tunnels, but the look on her face didn’t make Elizabeth feel too confident. “You do know where you’re going, right?” she asked, half afraid of the answer.
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Post by Zachey on May 2, 2012 3:54:59 GMT -5
The tunnels appeared to be identical in every aspect. Exceptionally alike that Isis began to doubt herself when maneuvering through them in an attempt to find an exit among them. She knew where she wanted to go, but the paths were making it difficult for her to reassure herself of anything.
As she continued running through the tunnels, her mind studied the maps that she had created some time ago. The route she took appeared to be correct - - straight towards the market, left at the fork, first opening to the right, straight until the immediate left, skip the first opening and into the second - - but the underground passages appeared unclear and vague. There was nothing to tell her that she was going the right way.
Her breath was caught in her chest as she laid her eyes upon a brick wall that stood in front of them. Running a hand through her hair, she let herself exhale. Dead end. "Yeah, I know exactly where we're going," she said as a faint smile appeared on the corners of her mouth.
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Post by audramya on May 9, 2012 18:15:57 GMT -5
Elizabeth glanced to her side as she looked at Isis incredulously. It certainly didn’t seem like the girl knew where she was going now that they were facing a dead end, but the smiles that Elizabeth noticed on the girl’s mouth threw her for a loop. Did Isis know something that she didn’t? Placing her hands on her hips, she search the area frantically for whatever she was missing, but she must have been too caught up in the adrenaline rush and over looked it because she didn’t see a way out of this.
Turning around she looked at the flames slowly approaching them. Her mind flashed full of last thoughts. There were so many things she hadn’t gotten to do or experience yet.
Just as she was about to accept an inevitable death, she noticed an old ladder dangling nearby. “Isis, you genius,” she exclaimed. Elizabeth jumped a few times, her fingers only brushing the bar before she finally grabbed a hold and pulled it down. She had no idea where it would lead them up on the surface, but anywhere was better than being burned alive. “Come on,” she motioned as she quickly scaled the ladder. “We can wait topside until someone puts this mess out.”
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