• Closed • [Faldrass] Soft Landings

[Faith Augustin]

25th Cylus 717

They had decided to go and look at the local plantlife and see if they could explore off the beaten track. With equipment stashed in their magic bags and wrapped up against the cold the pair had set off. Faith had, of course, packed up food for them and blankets, she had her medical bag slung across her shoulder and she had strapped on what she insisted on calling a sword, but they both knew was a long knife. She had the crossbow with her, but would have to rummage in her bag should they really need it. She had also packed a change of clothes and bedrolls, just in case and, of course, the spelunking kit and the herbalists kit that she had. As she'd popped back to the bedroom for just one more thing, she'd caught Padraig's gaze and her face took on an amused and somewhat sheepish expression.

Faith grinned at him, aware that she was about to hit whole new levels of fussing. "If I need to cook and I don't have my favourite spatula with me, it will be your fault." Yes, before he asked she informed him, she had brought her favourite spatula from home to this cabin in a luxury resort. It made a difference to the way she cooked, especially their morning eggs."But if you want to live all fast and loose and spatula free that's fine." With a grin up at him she had declared herself ready to go exploring.

The scenery was amazing, there was no doubting it. The burnt orange beach and the looming volcano which dominated the skyline were visually beautiful. Even in the depths of Cylus there were a number of plants which were growing and Faith stopped every now and then to kneel and take a cutting or examine something which caught her attention. In the distance they could see a small forest of strange yellow trees which were the "Yellow Dragon Tree" they'd learnt about in the marketplace the trial before.

Walking hand in hand with him, Faith was quite content and then, there in front of them was a creature sitting on a rock and picking apart the remains of some poor, smaller creature. Standing stock still Faith looked at Padraig with an expression so clear she might as well have had the words 'I told you so' written on her forehead. The dog-sized mouse-like creature hissed at the pair of them, showing it's sharp little teeth, let out a high pitched screech and disappeared behind the rock. Faith said nothing, not a word. Her expression, though, spoke volumes. With a beaming smile she slipped her arm into his and hugged herself to him with delight almost oozing out of her. She did not say it, content to just walk with him and happy in the knowledge that revenge, without a doubt, was a dish best served cold.

"It's lovely here, isn't it?" Faith asked as they crested a rise and stepped onto some flat ground. The sea, the beaches, the volcano and the beauty of the island was laid out beneath them. She wasn't looking at the vista, though, quite content to step into his arms and look up at him. It felt good just to be themselves again, to tease and laugh and love completely. "It's very isolated, have you noticed?" She gave him a wicked glance and then in a moment of perfect, beautiful and ironic timing, three things happened simultaneously. As Faith lifted her head with every intention of not looking at the view for a good while, the volcano let out a grumble. It wasn't an unusual sound and one they'd probably gotten used to over the last few trials. However, the third thing that happened was that the ground they were standing on simply fell away beneath them.

[Padraig]

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It might have been an outing taken on a whim, even considered a lark. But if Padraig had learned anything by now it was that trouble often had a way of finding the two of them. And out in the open, on an island they were were only somewhat familiar with by now, it wouldn't be sensible to head out unprepared.

He was dressed for roughing it, was armed with sword and crossbow, had dropped any number of things in his sack, and Faith was armed with her spatula. Among other things of course, but that was the one he'd teased her about. He'd also brought along some small stoppered jars from his lab equipment in case he found any samples he wanted to take back. And he'd brought a compass along in case they managed to get themselves lost.

Some would say they were over prepared, and point to the spelunking kit in particular. Even he'd eyed the thing and wondered if they'd really need it. But at any rate, no one could accuse them of being ill prepared for a stroll round the island. "It's really beautiful here?" Padraig remarked as he and Faith walked along and now and then, stopped to collect cuttings from plants or small stones and other curiosities that caught his eye. He had to admit, from everything he'd seen and read, it was also had the potential to be an alchemist's paradise.

But then they came face to face with that...thing. He gave it a good long look, furrowed his brow and looked Faith's way. "That's what was in the house? That's not a mouse. That's an abomination." And a trap wouldn't do, he realized, but a crossbow might. He might not sleep another wink once they got home, until he was sure the thing was good and gone.

But once the thing was gone and out of sight, he could only agree with Faith's impression of the place, the scenery and all of it. And then he grinned, intrigued as she stepped into his arms. Isolated? "You're right. Not a another soul in sight. What will we do with all this privacy?" It didn't require an answer. All she needed was his expression and the tone of his voice to realize what he was suggesting. But if he needed to be any clearer, he dipped his head to kiss her.

And just as his lips brushed hers, the volcano belched. Padraig frowned, lifting his head to look around. But before he could form a single thought, the ground beneath them disappeared. There wasn't time to shout out a warning, take the time to figure out what was going on. But only acting on instinct as he grabbed hold of Faith to try and stop her from falling. Except that they both did, right through a gap that had opened beneath their feet, out of nowhere.

How far was it? Feet? Yards? Hard to say. Padraig landed with a jarring thud down below, their belongings scattered around them and Faith getting a somewhat softer landing on top of him. It knocked the breath out of him and as he gazed up, all he could see was blue sky above, as viewed through a narrow opening on the ground. Once he got back his wind, he groaned and grasped Faith's shoulders. "Are you alright?" he asked.

[Faith Augustin]

25th Cylus 717

Dark and cold as it was, it was still beautiful and there in his arms she was quite content to leave the world behind and simply pull herself to him, her hands moving until they were in his hair as his lips and hers met. The volcano made a grumbling sound but she barely noticed it. He lifted his head and frowned slighly, but she didn't have time to really register that before they were falling. Her instinct was the exact opposite of his and, as she felt the ground beneath her give way, she pushed him, even as he grabbed her, with the intention of pushing him away from the danger.

It didn't work, though and they fell. She couldn't judge how far it was, but she knew that she'd landed half on him and that he was winded, at the very least. She landed with a thump and let out a goran, but as soon as she was physically able to she rolled and started checking him, her hands over him. Above them was the roof and the night-blue sky of Cylus' eternal dark and Faith realised something. She could see in the dark as part of her Zuuda capabilities and Faith put her hands on his face, gently. "I'm fine. Bruised, nothing more. I'm so sorry, Padraig. I landed on you." There would be fussing if he'd let her, certainly, but also reassurance that she had scrapes and bruises but nothing serious.

"I can see." Faith explained, keeping her hand on his face and her voice as calm as she could. "I'm going to grab the bags, but I'm not going to stop touching you. I'm just here." She pulled away to get the bags but she kept her hand in his, so that he knew she was there. "It's because of Famula's mark. The darkness holds no fear for her servants. It's where we work and live, I suppose." She kept talking until she had the bag and then got the lantern and the tinderbox. "Just a few trills."

Which is all it was until the lantern lit and cast its glow around the cavern they were in. At which point he could see what she already could. It was a large cavern with an undulating roof. At it's zenith, it was beyond impossibly out of reach and at it's lowest it was frustratingly close to achievable but still just inches out of their reach. Plus, judging by how they'd fallen it was entirely possible that, even should they get a grappling hook up through the hole, it might just fall away more. The cave itself was large and obviously not man-made, but there were two tunnels going from it. In the far distance there was the echoing drip of water and the only other thing that was noticeable and evident was the plethora of very large spider webs. Both of them had the sticky stuff on them, the webs had caught and minimised their falls, to some extent.

"Alright, so, on the plus side, we're well equipped, not seriously injured and it's warmer down here. Also, it sounds like there's a water source." Faith looked around and sighed. "However, we're stuck in a cave on an island where no one will bother looking for us. Before we go anywhere, I want to tend your wounds. Even the smallest cuts can get infected and I'd like you to do the same for me. Then I suggest we pick a direction."

Rummaging in the medical bag for the antiseptic and other things she'd need, she put them down between them and knelt on the floor in front of him. As she just cleaned the minor cuts and scrapes he'd gathered in the fall she chatted as she did so. It was a habit she had in work and it transferred here. "I suppose the other plus to this situation is that there might be all sorts of strange flora and fungus down here, maybe some unusual materials too. However, that's mitigated by the fact that things were just about to get interesting up there. Sorry." The last she spoke as she recognised that her dabbing of antiseptic salve stung. When he got to working on her cuts and scrapes, Faith watched him work and she suddenly gave a very genuine grin.

"Padraig? We're spelunking. It's a good job I've got a kit, isn't it?" She had a look of genuine delight on her face at that. They were in a tricky situation, there was no doubting it, but worrying and stressing would make it worse not better so Faith chose to accept that they would get out of it and not worry about what she couldn't change, instead choosing to focus on what she could.

[Padraig]

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She'd landed on him. And lucky she did, Padraig thought, though he didn't say so aloud. It was a softer landing for her than might have been otherwise. Inevitably they'd both be a little bit bruised and winded from the abrupt landing. But all in all, they'd both been lucky.

Gazing up at the new hole in the ceiling above him, the place they'd unknowingly stood just trills ago, he'd have objected to the fussing. But he knew it wouldn't do him any good. She'd fuss anyway. Or fuss about him not letting her. But while she did, he was able to see better the place they'd found themselves in. The lamp helped, though what he saw wasn't very promising if they were hoping for a quick exit. The place was bigger than he'd expected. The sound of running water was promising.

But it was the stickiness of the spiders' web that irked him, and he brushed what he could off himself, and pulled a string of it out of her hair. And he hoped that whatever spider had spun that web wasn't alike to the rat they'd seen, in being a much larger than life version of the norm. Padraig didn't like spiders.

She was right. No one would think to look for them. At least not anytime soon. Maybe the next morning when the beautiful people at at the resort noticed they hadn't returned but their belongings remained at the cabin. But those sorts of people didn't conduct searches in the wilderness. They'd probably alert the authorities, which would take even longer. They'd have to get themselves out of this mess.

"I don't have any wounds," he argued, starting to sit up. "Just a few bumps and bruises. Lucky for me," he added dryly as he yanked an offender out from under his back, "your spelunking helmet broke my fall." Dry wit and sarcasm, it seemed, remained in good repair. He got up then and dusted himself off, taking stock again of their surroundings.

True though, if they'd been displaced already, at least they might find some interesting things on their way out. Wherever that was. And in spite of himself he grinned at her. "You're right, I guess we are." Spelunking, he meant. "And since you've fancied yourself an aspiring spelunker, which way first?" he said. Since after all, at this point her guess was as good as his.

[Faith Augustin]

He assured her that he had no wounds and Faith raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, and here I was thinking that I was the only medic in this family? I didn't realise you'd been studying medicine on the side. Small cuts can get infected Padraig, humour your woman and let me clean your little tiny scrapes that might be a breeding ground for nasty?" Assuming he did, she'd just quickly clean any small cuts before Immortals knew what got in there from that fall. "Padraig?" She asked, her tone thoughtful. "Do you think Kura was right about my parents?" If it was a strange place to ask, she didn't notice. "I don't want to look for them. I know I have issues with understanding things, but you're my family and I don't want to take either of us there." What that meant about her, she didn't really know but she knew that the only place to look for her parents was Athart and going back there was not something she wanted to do. For all sorts of reasons, of course, but not least because doing so would be difficult for them both. They'd had enough difficult.

Once they'd gotten themselves together, he smiled at the thought of them spelunking and she returned the expression. However, as an aspiring spelunker she should choose the direction? She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you poking fun?" She was fairly sure he was, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. Still, in many ways it was a matter of logistics. "Well, we came up a hill to get there, and the ceiling slopes up to the hole there." That was better evidence than a sense of direction because of the fall, she explained, plus the ceiling was sloping upwards again the other side. She turned so that she was facing the way she assumed they were walking. "Then, I stopped and turned, because we were kissing," she turned again, just like she'd had to with the map. With an earnest frown she explained they wanted to head towards the edge of the island, hoping the water was a way out. She pointed to the exit on the right, which would indeed head towards the shore if her assumption was right. " So that's the one we should choose. Did I pass your test?" Looking at him she considered that he evidently already knew and so had asked to see if she could work it out.

The tunnel they made their way down was large, tall and wide at the moment although that could change quickly, no doubt. The sound of water echoed all around them and there were webs everywhere. There were also quite a lot of clumps of different fungi growing around, which Faith stopped and collected where they could, but mostly they walked. "You know what's weird?" Faith asked, suddenly, after they'd been walking in silence for a few moments. "There's all this web, but I haven't seen a single spider. This amount of web I'd expect to see hundreds of them."

It was ironic really and, of course, the timing couldn't have been better. As Faith looked up at him with a questioning gaze, they both heard the strange click-clack scuttling sound. Padraig saw the movement ahead of them, something very large in the darkness ahead. As he did, Faith grabbed his arm and said, oh so very calmly. "There's something really big moving in the tunnel behind us." It appeared that they were surrounded, although Faith didn't know that yet, having not seen the one in front. "My crossbow's in the bag. Shall I get it?" Her voice was a whisper at that, but it had a sense of urgent in it which was rare.

[Padraig]

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The only medic in the family? Padraig raised a brow at her, wore a dry expression while she continued to fuss over his bumps and scrapes in spite of his protests. "Well I see that fall has done nothing to diminish your mastery of sarcasm," he uttered bluntly, but was teasing her while he'd dusted himself off.

But then the question about Kura and a reference to her parents seemed to come entirely out of left field. Surprised him, but he frowned while considering it. Was going to Athart and looking a wise thing to do? Padraig wasn't sure. He feared it would reignite old memories for her. Not that she'd forgotten them or ever would. "Do you want to know them?" he asked. As for finding out the truth, he shrugged. "You've already been told, and have believed, in the worst case scenario. If you tracked down the truth, could there be anything even worse to discover?"

Maybe, just maybe what she'd been told was a lie. And there were two people out there who'd had their child stolen from them and would like to know she was alive and well. But it was a long shot, Pad knew, and surely she'd already considered it. And if she was so sure that she didn't want to know, then she wouldn't have brought it up now. And if she did want to look, he'd be right there by her side.

But poking fun? "Just a little," he said as they set out, having gathered up their belongings. "But now we're here, I can't complain about what I saw at the time as an impulsive purchase. Now I'm tempted to say it was serendipity that made you do it." On the other hand, if she was referring to her legendary ability to turn drawn and written maps on their hands, then yes, poking fun. But the test? "Well enough," he admitted. "I've got a compass in my bag. But it won't do much good, considering that one direction is as likely as another to be the way out of here."

The webs were sticky and clung to his hair and clothing. And strong enough that they'd helped to break their fall through the ceiling. Hundreds, maybe. But it had already occurred to him that there needn't be quite so many as that, was size taken into account. Pad didn't mention it though, and dismissed it for the moment. There was no sense in letting the imagination run wild.

But if it had, it didn't need to for long. There was the clicking of course. But then there right in front of him was a very large, singular shadow. He paused, reached for his bow and was about to suggest that Faith do the same, when she tugged on his arm. "Behind us too?" he said, his voice just a whisper, though his eyes never strayed far from the thing in front of them. "You should, and quick," he said, regarding her bow. "It's friend is coming down the tunnel in front of us," he said while nocking a bolt, raising his bow and taking aim.

[Faith Augustin]

"I learnt from the best," she'd responded, when he pointed out that the fall hadn't hurt her sarcasm any. "Takes more than a little bump to loosen that kind of tutoring." On the subject of her parents, though, she shrugged slightly, obviously conflicted. "It would be a very cruel thing to gain hope after so long, just to discover they were right. For the first time in my life, I've got a glimmer that they might not be. I think I'll hold on to that for a while, then decide what to do." It made sense to her that she should do that and right now, not even taking into account that they'd just fallen down a big hole in the ground, they needed to just consolidate, to be together. It was enough upheaval for a while.

He had been poking fun and he admitted it, too. Faith smiled and shook her head, the way that she managed her complete lack of a sense of direction meant that she had to turn in the direction in order to visualise. "It's mean to pick on me, you know," she explained, good naturedly as they started to move together down the tunnel. "I thought that it looked like the kind of thing that you'd wish you had in certain circumstances." She pursed her lips and glanced at him sidelong, pleased that the tunnel wasn't low so that he had to stoop. So it wasn't serendipty, she explained, it was good planning.

However, all banter went out of the window when she saw the large creature, at his words, 'behind us, too?' Faith felt real concern hit her. "Alright." She was already crouching on the floor, rummaging in the bag as he knocked his crossbow and put a bolt in it. The thing in front of Padraig started to move forward as the one in front of Faith did and from his back came the apparently very calm utterance of, "Well that's why there aren't any spiders." She wasn't calm, of course, not at all, but either through training, discipline or natural tendency, Faith tended to present in such a way. "I think there's more behind this one." Faith cursed herself for putting the crossbow in the bag as she rummaged around inside the magic bag.

What she was seeing with her perfect vision in the dark was a very, impossibly, really huge spider. Faith's eyes widened as she saw it and she looked at it with an almost, almost, dispassionate interest. It was huge, large enough that they could both ride on it simultaneously. Large fange, lots of teeth, a lot of eyes and eight legs. There was an almost scientific interest from her, other than the fact that she was terrified.

The problem was, of course, that the careful organisation which she had undertaken before they left had been for nothing when everything tumbled out of the bag. So, the problems with a magic bag became apparent as her fingers searched fruitlessly. "I can't find it. I can hurt it without it." Faith sounded a little panic-striken as the chittering click-clacking noise increased and, as though they were communicating, the noise came first from in front and then behind them. "Do spiders have blood?! I got it! I got it!" Lifting the crossbow from the bag, she quickly moved to load it.

Just as she did, before she could lift it, both spiders charged simultaneously with a constant clack-clack-clack noise which was at just the right sound, pitch and frequency to rival nails on a chalkboard.

[Padraig]

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It was an interesting take on things. Better to hold on to a glimmer of hope in the face of the unlikely, than to face the disappointment of likely reality. As a scientist, Padraig understood the sentiment somewhat. As long as there were unknowns to solve, a scientist and researcher had plenty to keep him busy. On the other hand, pursuing them doggedly until they were solved was part and parcel to being a scientist.

None of that applied of course to matters of the heart. And in this case the answers could be devastating. "Wait then," he told her as they walked through the dark, underground passageway. "As long as you like. Indefinitely if you'd rather. But if you decide you want to know, I'll be right there beside you."

"You know you love it," he said dryly with a grin she couldn't see in the shadows. Picking and teasing, those were things they'd done since the beginning after all. It kept the blood pumping in a sense. Meanwhile, there was something else to get the blood racing and there was nothing appealing about a monstrosity lumbering towards them both, it's countless eyes flashing, feet and mandibles clicking. And not just one, but two of them.

"What is it about this place," he ground out while taking aim, "and creatures too large for anyone's good?" It must be something in the soil or the air. "What do you mean more?" Wasn't two enough? Padraig was deadly calm, but when he heard her empty out her sack behind him and go rummaging through its spilled contants, his tone was incredulous. "You can't find your bow? Why weren't you wearing it?"

This was no time for a squabble though, the eight legged wall was stalking closer and then it charged. The sound the things made sliced right through him but there was nothing but to block it out. He'd nocked an bolt and raised his bow, primed it and taken aim, so letting out a slow breath, he put as much calm as he could into firing. It would be hard to miss, considering that the thing nearly filled the entire passage ahead of him.

His bolt found it's mark then and the creature in front of them shrieked, stumbled on four or five legs and went down. Down and out? Maybe, or maybe not, but even in the shadows Padraig could see a trickle then a pool of blood that might as well have been black in the diminished light around it.

It answered it least one question however. Spiders did have blood, he thought as he spun round on his heel, already nocking another bolt but hoping she'd fired and downed the other one already.

[Faith Augustin]

"I'm sorry, I'm getting it!" Faith sounded as full of panic as she felt and him yelling at her simply added to the ineffective scrabbling. She got her hand on the bow and pulled it to her then knocked a bolt into place as the charge started. She was lifting it and it all happened in a dreadful yet almost beautiful slow motion. As she lifted the crossbow, she knew that she was too late finding it, too slow loading the bolt and she looked up just in time to note that the spider's fangs had something milky white tinged with green dripping from them.

Letting out a yell of surprise at just how close the thing was, Faith understood a number of things. Faced with a moment of decision making she experienced, alongside it, a moment of absolute clarity. It was charging and she was all that was standing between it and Padraig, who currently had his back to it. There was no way it was getting past her. No way.

Yet she knew, she didn't have time to aim the crossbow. So Faith stood and put her feet in such a position as to be as immoveable as she could. One in front of the other. feet separated and knees bent, she braced herself as she lifted the crossbow just to the point that it was parallel to the floor. She wasn't going to move, she would not budge and as the frankly enormous spider ran at her, Faith put her crossbow against it's eyes (or some of them, anyhow) and released the trigger.

The spider screamed. Faith had a moment of not realising that spiders could do that, but scream it did and the sound made all the other sounds seem almost melodic. It worked, to an extent, in that the spider screamed because a crossbow bolt had just embedded deep into it and Faith was suddenly covered in ichor and gloop and the strange jelly-like substance from inside the spider eyes.

And blood.

Who would have thought, she considered with calm and dispassionate interest, who would have thought that a spider would have so much fluid inside it? As blood and gloop poured out of the spider over Faith she realise that it was, in fact, pouring over her. Because as much as she had stood firm and unmoving, Faith was five foot four in height and waif like in her stature. She was a tiny person and it was a very big spider and somehow, in her determination, she'd missed the fact that she was no longer standing but was laying on the floor, clutching a crossbow, with a spider pouring blood over her.

The creature reared up over her, ready to bite with the fangs and, whatever it was that was covering her now included fang-drippings she noted. As the beast lifted itself, Faith held on to her crossbow, changing her grip so that she held it more like a cudgel or club. There was no way she was going to be able to do more than that, but her plan was that, as it started to lower to finish her, she was going to beat it to death. However, Padraig had turned, his creature temporarily stunned or... something, just in time to witness a most bizarre sight of Faith battering the spider atop her with her crossbow.

At least she was obviously unhurt, if a little covered in gloop and blood. It was bleeding out and would be dead soon, so long as she kept those fangs away from her she'd be fine, she considered. So, she bludgeoned at the spider and somehow, it seemed to be working at least temporarily.

[Padraig]

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With his focus necessarily on the hulking eight legged thing in front of him, Padraig couldn't have known what Faith was doing, or more importantly, exactly what she was planning. If he'd known, he would have set her straight. All of her focus, every last bit of it should be on keeping herself in one piece and unharmed.

His arrow had flown true and the thing was down. Though he couldn't have realized that it wasn't out just yet. He was too focused on getting to Faith. And by the time he turned around, it was too late to stop her taking the tact she was using. Any other time he would have stared, eyes wide and mouth agape, wondering what possessed her to try and throttle a spider to death.

But instead, considering the close range he dropped his bow and drew his sword instead, ready to plunge the blade in. He was about too when he heard a menacing hiss from behind him. It appeared the one he'd shot had gotten back up on some of it's legs and was hobbling towards him at a very impressive speed. He spun back round, ready to use his blade when the thing managed to get hold of his trousers' leg with its pincers.

It was big, heavy, wounded and madder because of it, and he grunted in surprise as it pulled him off his feet and began dragging him back the way it had first come. It turned into a wrestling match then, and Padraig yelped as one of the sharp talons on the things feet sliced through his shirt and caught him across the chest. No poison there, but it bled, and it stung.

The pain of that he'd feel later but the only thing on his mind was getting back to Faith. And somehow he managed to roll into position and leverage his sword between him and the thing's belly. He drove it in and the thing collapsed, covering him with goo before he could finally wriggle out from underneath it. Then he was scrambling back to Faith to help her finish her own spider off.