If I Had a Heart

You've got to stay controlled. Now is not the time to panic.

Actually, that thing looks like very bad news. Perfect time to freak out!

Once the conflicting thoughts in his head got too overwhelming, Nikolai gave up on trying to find the word he couldn't translate. It wasn't like his memory was in one piece currently, but he was pretty sure he'd never seen anything like... whatever that was. The creature felt like it was dangerous, and he wanted it to keep sleeping, no matter what. Becoming dinner wasn't exactly high on his list of things he wanted to do. Or was it breakfast time? The time of day didn't exactly matter in the tunnels, where the sun wouldn't reach them. Either way, Nikolai was not keen on being eaten.

The sparkling, prickling feeling in his fingers had faded into a soft tingle, and it felt new and strangely familiar at the same time. Just for a moment, he glanced down at his hands, frowning. They looked normal, but this feeling was anything but ordinary. Nikolai couldn't figure out what it was. He thought about mentioning it to the others, but then felt uncertain.

It had to just be the panic.

Probably.

"Well, if it's not that..." Nikolai shivered slightly. Something told him he'd prefer a crocodile over this. He glanced at Eira as he finished his question.

"What could it be?"

The tunnel was getting to be very narrow, but luckily, none of them were big people. It was getting to be difficult for Mel to hold a conversation with Ainsley since she couldn't exactly look behind her, and Aumrauth and Elias seemed to continue to dominate the chatter around them.

Well, they were, until Aumrauth called for them. Nice to know that he remembered they were still here.

"Still alive!" she confirmed. She thought about saying some kind of immortal joke, but was too distracted with Elias's slithering body in front of her.

"We've been traveling for a long time," she mused out loud instead. "What if this is the exit?"

Now that would be pure irony.

"Not likely," Elias called back as he and Aumrauth squeezed out of the end of the tunnel. They had emerged in another cavern, this one about 100 feet long and quite dark compared to the main cavern from before. The ground was no longer sloping, so Elias settled himself to the side so the others could pass and squinted into the darkenss. He thought he could see the glimmer of water ahead, stagnant and ill-smelling. There was the occasional ripple, suggesting fish of some sort, but Elias could see nothing else.
"An underground lake?" he guessed aloud.

Mel squeezed out of the narrow hole, glad that they reached the end of the tunnel. She was beginning to think that they wouldn't be able to reach the end, because there was none.

She took a side step, careful to stay along the wall. It was dark, but they still had the lighted ribbon to see. It wasn't enough light to see much in front of her, though. She picked up a nearby pebble near her feet and tossed it, hearing a small 'plop' that indicated it landed in water.

"Seems like it," she answered back.

Smelled like it, too. It was veeeery musty.

Ainsley shrugged at her question, his cheeks turning pink. He knew a lot about birds, though that wasn't exactly an asset in the caves. He was nowhere as proficient with weapons as he would like, not being able to much more than defend himself. Ainsley supposed he could mention his ancestry, his mother being a nymph. He was sure that there was some magic in his veins, but he didn't have much to show for it.

Before Ainsley could spit out an answer, they passed through a small passageway and neared what the others had decided was a small lake. Unsure of what exactly they were supposed to do, he remained alongside Mel, watching her toss a pebble into the water.

"How big do you think it is?" He wondered aloud to his companions, bringing his hand to his nose in an attempt to mask the musty smell.

Aumruath lifted up the black-lighted string and peered into the murky, potentially-wet, darkness.

If he wasn't still recovering from almost-burning-alive, he would've rushed forward to see what exactly it was without hesitation. But he was smart enough to know he needed a little more time.

"Mel," he said. "Can you do that light thing again? Or do you need fire for that."

Mel had no idea what the answer to Ainsley's question was, but Aumrauth seemed to be one step ahead when he asked if she could use her light powers. She had to repress a pout because, yes, she could do that, but it meant she could only use the light available to them now, which were only their ribbons.

And in order to see what was out there, it meant they'd have to be covered in complete darkness... which she hated. Darkness was just... well. Few things scared Mel, but darkness was one of them.

"I can do that," she said, but it almost came out to be a grumble. "I don't need fire, just a light source. So... our ribbon lights."

She held up her own hand with the shining yellow ribbon.

"I can combine four of the light sources into one and use it to look around, but we'd be in the dark while that happened."

She shifted her gaze between the three of them, half-hoping someone would complain or think of something else.

"As if we aren't already practically in the dark," Aumrauth muttered. "If something sneaks up on us, it's likely to eat me first. I smell like cooked meat, anyway."

"I have a lighter," Elias offered, producing the well-used cigarette lighter from his pocket. "Would that help dispel the darkness until you finish or does this...ability suck up all sources of light?" He was intrigued by this other aspect of magic, though it didn't directly apply to his work.

Mel pursed her lips and took a deep breath. "Yeah. That would help. Can you light it in front of me so I could see?" she asked the doctor, even though she had no reason for her to see light. It was a good enough half-lie, though.

"I can pick and choose my light sources, so it'll work just fine," she clarified, then glanced at everyone's light-up ribbons. "Okay," she breathed out quietly, trying to focus.

She didn't need to use hand motions, but it often helped her focus. She brought her hands together into one slow clap, and the light surrounding the three ribbons—pale yellow, forest green, red, and black of all things—merged into one orb, first of a multicolored glob, but then turning white.

Mel flicked her hands out and let the orb slowly wander around in an organized fashion, casting the light equivalent of the four lit-up ribbons. It was just enough light for them to see what was ahead, though.

Mel had to concentrate on the movement and combination of the light, so she didn't get to see what was under it. The orb also wasn't able to go that far from where she was standing—about 50 feet, halfway across the cavern—before it strained her eyes too much.

The light illuminated a lake about 60 feet long. The edge was shrouded in shadow, but there was the suggestion of a turn on the right. Near the center of the lake, a tiny island was visible. Sitting on that island was a solitary chest.
"Oh, lovely," Elias said dryly. "Another trap, perhaps?" He ventured to the water's edge, though he kept a few feet back. "It looks shallow enough. Anybody brave enough to see what's in there?" His eyes fixed on Aumrauth. The elf was arrogant and immortal; perhaps he'd be willing to risk mutilation once again.

Aumrauth scoffed.

Yes, it had been his idea to volunteer himself for the risky things, and yes, he didn't care, but now that the others were catching on, it wasn't as fun anymore.

"Yes, but I'm only doing this out of spite," Aumrauth said, meeting Elias's eyes and pointing two fingers from his eyes to Elias's.

"If I get eaten, you might as well go on ahead without me. It'll take me longer to get out of that one."

And with that, he strutted forward into the water, hiking up the skirt of his new-ritual-robe-from-the-earlier-non-dangerous-chest.

The water stilled immediately upon Aumrauth's entry, then a light ripple at the far end of the lake began to move toward him. Elias rested his hands on his cane with a wry smile. This should be entertaining.

Aumrauth audibly groaned. His eyes rolled back into his head and he drew his dagger, looking into the water.

"I swear if I have to kill another freakish animal today," he muttered, trudging forward.

Raptor followed Nikolai's gaze as he looked over at Eira. Raptor had a very good idea of what the scaly wall of flesh blocking the doorway wasn't, but that wouldn't help them now.

"Whatever it is," Raptor said, "we should avoid it and go a different way-"

He turned his back to the flesh wall again, only to pause after taking a single step. Self-preservation had been drilled into his head so much so that he forgot about a very possible explanation for the thing in the doorway.

Feeling nauseous and uneasy, he looked back at the doorway.

...If he was going to hide something in a labyrinth like this one, he would hide it behind something dangerous and difficult to get through. He wouldn't consider the prize to be something like an exit, but someone had brought them here against their will. Whatever force that had kidnapped them likely saw the exit as a prize for them to win.

Raptor really wasn't liking the idea he was getting.

"...What if the exit is hidden behind that?" Raptor asked.