“I’m in a hole, I was pulled down here by a nasty slimy thing that is dead now – I fell on it. I can’t really move though…”

It was true. The sticky mess on the creature had been slowly thickening with the thing’s death, and was now becoming a thick glue that held Panthar’s body and legs to the tentacles.

“Oh, ick!” he added. “Come find me!”

--------------------

Then he pointed to Jasyn, and then Matt, and shook the end of the rope towards them as well.

This odd and seeming meaningless ritual was ended as the warrior backed slowly up to the lip of the crevice once again. Nodding his head toward a wide-eyed Galen, not a hint of humor in his own gleaming fuschia eyes, he then pointed toward the portion of the rope that disappeared into the darkness below their feet.

"Uh-oh," I muttered as I took the tiniest of sidling steps toward the hole. Then I stopped, shot the warrior a gleaming smile and tilted my head towards Terrin again.

"I think he wants me to go down that hole after Big Red, and I believe he's under the impression that you guys are gonna hold the end of the rope for me--"

I gulped, my gleaming smile growing a tad wee tarnished at the rather unsavory mental image of me slithering down who knew how far into what looked to me to be complete darkness, a darkness punctuated upon occasion by a distant whoop or holler coming from Red. Then I realized the remainder of the unspoken communication the warrior was striving to send to me.

Holding my arms out to either side, I let the remnants of my smile fade and looked down toward my toes.

"I think he thinks I'm the only one small enough to skinny on down there without incident, seeing as how Red had gotten himself stuck you know, and only unstuck because--"

Once again I nipped my words in the proverbial bud, now turning a somewhat disbelieving gaze at the warrior.

That worthy merely continued to stare at me with all the intensity of a starving rancor.

[ 11-08-2006 04:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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...there were more than likely more something-or-others down there. And letting the person nearest and dearest to him skinny down that hole on her own, well...

...even considering the Sith warrior's excellent aim, he just didn't like it.

"Logical or not, the idea of sending you down there into gods know what, even with his good aim, and your skill at getting through the worst of situations, well..."

He trailed, worry clouding his eyes, "...it really worries me. I'm willing to go down there myself; I'm certain the guys could hold the rope without me and then pull me and Panthar back up. And we know he'll stand gaurd and shoot anything that might...

... emerge from below," he continued, nodding towards the warrior. "Panthar is a really big guy, I'm sure I wouldn't get stuck going down like he did. The warrior's idea does make sense in that Panthar might be a strain to pull up from below, however...

...but we can figure out another way. It's your decision; you know I'll back you up in whatever you decide."

--------------------

...keep your eyes peeled and let me know if and when you can see it."

Saying nothing futher than that, Shawn reached for his lightsaber, removed it from his belt once more, and pressed the activation button. A brillant green blade burst into life, and Shawn began using its light and his Force senses to head in the direction of Panthar's Force essence.

I'm coming, he reiterated through the Force.

--------------------

I wrinkled my nose, considering. Then I backed away from the lip a couple steps.

"I dunno, Terrin," I began thoughtfully.

"We can't be positive that just because Panthar is bigger than you that the passage is big enough to let you get through without getting stuck as well--"

Or me, too! came the unwilling appendix to that. I shuddered, shoved the thought away, and went on.

"That's something I don't want to risk; Khaandon knows we're going to have a devil of a time getting him out without having to possibly worry about you as well."

Once again I sidled to the hole, paused at the lip. Beside me the warrior nodded approvingly, then tilted his horns downward.

I sighed in resignation.

"If anyone is going to go down there and see if he needs any immediate assistance, I think it's got to be me. I'm the smallest, and you guys are big enough to haul me out of there in a hurry if need be."

Now I moved quickly to Terrin, paused before him and looked up into his blue, blue eyes.

"Don't worry," I said softly, reaching a hand up to lightly touch his cheek.

"I'll be all right, and if something nasty happens I trust you guys will be more than able to get me out of it. Besides, I have the invisibility device, which might help at least a little should a worse case scenario develop."

With that I rose up on tiptoe, gave him a little kiss, and turned back to the hole. There I took up the vine, and wound it around my body to rappel down. A final look in the warrior's brilliant eyes told me he approved of the methodology I was employing; taking a deep breath I took that first stomach-dropping step and began letting myself down into the unknown...

The passage was a mess. Light quickly dimmed as, coming to a rocky projection only tens of meters down, the majority of it was blocked by the natural convolutions of the crack. I couldn't help wincing, thinking of Panthar's hulking body being smashed down in this place where indeed my unspoken fears seemed to be proven correct: at times the passage was scarcely wider than me, and again, twisting and turning, covered with rocky protuberances.

After a bit, though, it got better. So to speak... for that's when I encountered the slime Panthar had hollered up about. At least the going was a bit faster... too fast, in fact, for now my feet couldn't find purchase against the rock. I had no other choice at this point but to rappel freely, dangling at the end of the vine like a gleeberfly caught in a web, hoping like hell the vine would hold.

Of course it's gonna hold, you silly goose! I admonished myself as I continued down.

You saw how hard it was for the warrior to unravel it! It's plenty strong!

Yeah, came the devilish response. But whose to say the guy knows how to tie a square knot?

Forcing such pleasantries aside I gritted my teeth and continued downward, bumping and scraping against the wall here, wriggling against the sticky goo there, until finally I realized I was quite literally at the end of my rope.

There was nothing more I could do.

"Hey Red!" I called down into the dark.

"I'm coming, and I hope your Sithy ears are as good as the warrior's eyes, 'cuz I have to drop now and I sure as Khaandon made lil green worrts hope you can catch me!"

With that I forced myself to release the vine...

...and came to an immediate, bone-jarring stop an estimated six feet below. The fact that I was in the proximity of the big guy was evident by the feel of slimy clothing against my body. Groping in the dark, I found him, patted upward until I found his chest -- at least I think it was his chest! -- and placed my hands on it.

"Hey Big Guy, how's it going?" I said with forced bravado. Even with him standing there for moral support, I could simply feel that this wasn't the best of situations that I had ever placed myself in. My little inborn warning system was waving red flags for all it was worth...

...and my uncomfortable hunch was more than justified not long thereafter when, making myself move away from Red, I began to carefully determine where I was by the old hunt n' pat method. Moving carefully, hands waving in front of me, I crept through the darkness, the knowledge that Red was right there being the only thing giving me enough courage to do so. Eventually I hit paydirt, er, rock that is; and after following this around for a bit I made two startling discoveries:

1. There was a tiny opening, scarcely big enough to place my hand inside but hopefully long, as it accepted my in-thrust arm clear up to my shoulder without my hand meeting any resistance...

2. There was a BIG opening, possibly the entrance to a tunnel, one from which there wafted a stench terrible enough to make me quickly back-pedal, slipping and nearly falling flat on my hiney on the goo which was puddled in front of it and, presumably, puddled inside as well.

I moved carefully around, waving my hands again, not knowing where in Hell's Seven Circles I was until I bumped into Panthar once more.

"Well, there's a small opening and a big ol' tunnel going somewhere; I really don't think we should go into that tunnel since it smells like reptile to me.

"But sheesh, Big Guy, that crevice getting down here was hardly big enough for me to get through; how the hell are we gonna get you out of here?"

Placing my hands on his chest again to find moral support in the simple act of touching, I waited, wincing to myself at the thought of what he had endured in the process of simply getting here to this spot where he was.

[ 11-10-2006 11:03 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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“I appreciate the support, there, Li’l Red, but maybe right there isn’t the best place to put your hand… owwwwwwwwww!”

He shifted slightly, still sticking to the tentacles.

“And watch yourself, this gooey slimy mess all over this thing is turning into something like glue, I’m waiting for a sudden burst of energy to pull myself free from it. Right now I’m sorta content to sit, because, well, it really hurts to try to move.”

Panthar wiggled the device he held in his hand.

“But I have spoken to Shawn, through crackles. He’s down here somewhere, I just don’t know how far away or through how many levels of creepy crawly tunnels and tight openings and slimy lairs of who-knows-what. He said he’s trying to find me, and he’s got a light saber so maybe he can cut through some rock. Just hope he doesn’t bring anything tumbling down around him.”

Panthar shut his eyes, wincing again.

“By the way,” he said, opening his eyes. “Is it me or is the wall glowing? I keep seeing little blue dots on the walls, they blink in and out, I think, but it could be my eyes…. Like that!”

Panthar tried to point at a spot on the wall, but his arm was stuck to a tentacle. When he looked back, the wall was dark again.

--------------------

"Ummm... er..." I finally stammered, still keeping in physical contact with Panthar in spite of the gunk which coated him.

"I don't see any blinking blue d--"

The word ended in a quick gasp of indrawn breath as suddenly there appeared from the blackness something that looked like a tiny galaxy. Myriad blue dots, each one infinitesimally small, suddenly appeared off to one side of where we were -- I can only presume they were attached to a nearby wall since I really couldn't actually see the rock -- and after a short time began brightening visibly. They reached what my astronomer father would have decided was a +4 magnitude, just enough to make out fairly well, before dimming and disappearing once more.

Absolute silence swelled in the absolute darkness they left in their wake. It seemed years had dragged heavily over our heads before I managed to open my mouth and speak.

"What in Hell's Seven Circles was that?!"

--------------------

"Jasyn..." he started, looking back over his shoulder slightly.

Jasyn didn't need any further prompting. He reached for his commlink and keyed in an open frequency.

"Panthar, did Galen make it down there yet?" Terrin heard Jasyn query.

--------------------

"Hey," he said, "they haven't forgotten about us."

He pushed the button on the device and spoke into it.

"Yeah, she's here. I'd say she's a sight for sore eyes, but one, I don't want to make ol' Terrin jealous, and two, I can't see her because it's so dark down here! I heard Shawn, though, I think he is somewhere fairly close, but there must be a lot of rock between us because he still crackles."

He looked in the dark where he last heard Galen's voice.

"You want to say anything to the boys upstairs?"

--------------------

"Yeah," I said, then felt around until I found one of his arms. Patting along it, I soon came to his hand; luckily it was the one holding the communication device. Pulling it to what I hoped was the vicinity of my invisible nose, I spoke up in a loud voice.

"Hi Terrin, guys; look, I got down here ok, but the vine wasn't quite long enough. I had to jump the last part; I'd guess it was about six feet too short.

"Anyway, now the end is dangling up over our heads somewhere in the dark; I guess Panthar could reach it once he gets unstuck--

"Oh yeah, he says he's stuck in some kind of slime, but I'm not too worried about him not being able to free himself. What does concern me a little is that I explored a bit, and found a tunnel leading to who knows where. It's got a bunch of goo in front of it, kinda like the stuff that's all over Panthar, I think, and it stinks to all hell and gone.

"Oh yeah, I also found another little opening; it's at least longer than my arm, but unfortunately about the same diameter. I doubt we'd be able to get through it, or that if Shawn would be able to come to us through that passage.

"It looks like the only opening which might go somewhere might also be occupied by something, unless that's the something the warrior killed.

"Oh yeah, if anyone thinks they're gonna come on down here to join us, which would be nice, think real hard. That crevice was hell's own brand of agony coming through; I think the only reason Big Red made it all the way down was a combination of being pulled by something strong and determined, and the slime he got coated with.

"But there is still some on the walls. Anyway, I really don't think Panthar's gonna be able to get back up the same way he came down; the only way out of this little hole that we're in now is that one tunnel."

I paused for breath, chewing my cheek in consternation.

"Umm... that's all I have to say for now."

--------------------

Shawn raised his wristcomm to his lips. "Hey, Panthar, I'm still moving...

...but I was wondering...

...can you tell anything about your surroundings?" He paused at that, waiting for Panthar to respond...

...and then another thought occurred. "Was anyone else with you when you fell down that hole?"

--------------------

--------------------

Shawn cocked a brow curiously, then responded. "Well, that's not a lot to go on, but I'm still working on it. Judging from the fact I could hear you when you fell, there is either a fissure where the sound of your voice travelled through or we are in the same level of tunnels. What the actual likelyhood of that is I don't know...

...and if it is a likelyhood, be on the look out. Some reptilian creature drug me down here through the waters and dumped me, then left. I don't know when he or she will be back, or if there are any other entrances for the creature to emerge from. I'm going to take the larger of the two passageways here; if your Force sense seems to start getting further away, I'm going to turn back. This is going to be a hunt and peck strategy, but right now I haven't gotten anything better.

How clear am I coming through on the comm to you, and how plausible is it for us to go back up the hole once I reach you? And by the way, hello Galen. I wish the greetings were coming in much better circmstances, however..."

--------------------

--------------------

He paused at that, pursing his lips, pondering Panthar's other statements. "And aside from a whole lot of tunnel and cave and rock...

...sorry, no elevators, not in this passageway. But..."

He paused once more, considering. "Speaking of elevators, however, there is a possibility, dating back to the days when Anakin Skywalker used to cut holes through roofs and jump up into them. It'll take a lot of time, but I can use my lightsaber to cut a hole up, from this layer of the underground, presuming the rock has no cortosis in it. I don't seem to think so, considering the rock has a particular hue and shine. It's worth a shot, unless anyone else has any better ideas."

Saying nothing further than that, Shawn began to do just what he had stated--carefully and cautiously cutting a lightsaber hole through the cave ceiling above him, taking great care to do so slowly and methodically to prevent any further disaster or injury.

--------------------

And then he opened the commlink frequency back to Panthar and Galen. "I don't know if your positioning device is showing that I'm any closer to you, but I'm definitely closer to something."

He paused before continuing then, not certain if this revelation was a good thing or not. "I hear the sound of flowing water."

--------------------

“Flowing water? I don’t hear any hear, but that doesn’t mean it’s not between you and us. And it might explain why the tentacles beastie chose here as its lair, if there is water nearby.”

Pathar kept the button depressed and looked towards Galen again.

“Hey, Galen, did you hear any water when you were over by the hole?”

--------------------

"If you are subject to pure darkness for six weeks the optic nerve will degenerate and you will become blind..."

I couldn't help shuddering a little as I forced that voice to shut the hell up. Then, guided by the only mote of light in this otherwise absolute darkness, I leaned toward the communication device still wrapped up in Panthar's huge paw.

"Umm, no," I repeated, then paused for a moment. All was silent save for the sounds of our breathing and the pounding of our beating hearts.

Then, as if from somewhere far, far away, I heard it. It wasn't a flow by any means, but it was definitely related to it:

The sound of steady dripping.

"Hey Shawn, I hear something like a leaky faucet, only I'm not sure where it's coming from. It is rather dark in here, you know; I can't see a thing except for the little blip on Panthar's comm, so it's a little bit disorienting."

The thought of a leaky faucet teased a niggling shadow of memory from somewhere back in my brain, something I had learned from Dad, who often dragged Jharmeen and I into this cave system or that seeking ancient treasures. Disgusted that I couldn't quite put a finger on it, I let go of Panthar's arm and plopped to the stone beneath us. Nothing; digging my fingers in the hair on both sides of my face I concentrated as hard as I could...

...and then let out a deep breath, closed my eyes, let my head fall back, tried to loosen up...

The shadow solidified. My eyes popped open, even though from my position I couldn't see a damned thing, except maybe for that weird blue glow which was beginning to form on the wall...

I blinked, strained to see it better, then shook myself back into a more disciplined frame of mind. I could investigate the blue glow in a moment or two; now was the time to offer anything I could that might help the others get us out of our predicament.

"Hey Panthar, Shawn; listen up." I paused for a quick breath, then burst out with my remembrance.

"My dad was a scientist, and he taught me something about caves and how they form. I mean, I'm no expert and neither was he, but he did know about and taught me the basics.

"Long story short: caves form when there is pressure that cracks the rock, and water from nearby sources percolates into those cracks, widening them and hollowing them out. There's some chemical processing going on as well, that I really don't remember much of and it wouldn't be useful to us now anyway. But the thing is this:

"Water always seeks base level. If Shawn was taken down through the swamp and then dumped where there was air, then he must be somewhere above water level! Caves can be big suckers; the cracks and crannies can go on for miles and miles, and a lot of the time what causes the cracks is the ground uplifting by natural forces.

"Guys, I think that Shawn isn't below us, but somewhere far away and more than likely higher than we are. I mean, we're practically next to the bog where the waterdragon was, right? That must be base level; Panthar, Shawn, see if you can contact anyone aboveground and ask them if they can find any higher ground out there.

"Particularly rock; I'm betting there's a big ol' plateau not too awfully far, and the cave system extends to that, and Shawn is somewhere out there--"

I cut myself off with that, for the words suddenly evoked a mental image of how terribly, terribly ginormous this system must be...

...not to mention how terribly, terribly tiny we all were by comparison.

[ 11-26-2006 10:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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...but last I heard what I thought was anything from them, I didn't get a very good signal. I've gone up a couple of layers wherever I am, however...

...so maybe..."

He paused a moment, pursing his lips in thought. "Hey, I have a standard issue Eagle Enterprises commlink that Aaron Barnes gave me when I went off looking for you all," he observed. "Right now we're all communicating via a standard frequency, but this particular commlink is set up to tap into some secured Eagle Enterprises frequencies as well. Now, I don't know if there is any way this could help us all find each other somehow...

...but I think I'm fairly certain it will help me contact anyone with an EE commlink more easily, and hopefully more so now that I'm up a couple of levels. Let me try...give me just a minute."

With that, Shawn reached down to the commlink to access a secured frequency, then sent a message out.

"This is Shawn Petrolu. We think I might be in a cave above water level...look for higher ground. Can you read me..?"

--------------------

...and Shawn, he assumed. He wasn't really picking the Jedi up very well on the standard frequency everyone else was using, but occasionally he could hear a word here or there. He wondered just how in the kriffing hell they were going to get Galen and Panthar back, and furthermore how they were ever going to find Shawn...

...but then Galen's suggestion that perhaps Shawn was above water level caught his attention.

"Hey, we're all still here, listening in," Jasyn said into his commlink, "Matt and I will go have a look and see if we can find any higher ground. If we find anything, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I think a couple of people are going to stay here by the hole and wait with a commlink as well, should anyone get any further ideas.

In the meantime, hang in there..."

He trailed, standing and pursing his lips, brushing off swamp grass as he did so, "And maybe we can think of a way to get you guys some light down there in the meantime, somehow. It'd be so much more helpful if you could see...anything."

Even as Jasyn said just that, Matt Stanza joined him, handing over a wrist comm to one of the two remaining parties at the hole where both Galen and Panthar had gone down. Terrin, still holding on to the vine that they had made a rope, accepted it with a nod, his own blue eyes deep with thought and concern.

As Jasyn and Matt headed off to take a look around, Jasyn couldn't help but wonder just how the hell they were going to all get back together again...

--------------------

"Just make sure you guys keep in touch!" I hollered, hoping they'd hear me.

"And if you could drop anything in the way of supplies: a knife, a rope, something we could use as a canteen to carry water in, anything you can think of that you might be able to cobble together that would fit down an opening hardly wider than I am would be greatly appreciated!"

Light, Galen; light. We need light, they mentioned light, where have I seen light...

....

Of course, the glowing blue walls!

Excited by the possibility I scrambled to my feet and scuffled over to where the blue glow yet was. Joyously enough, it was even beginning to strengthen a little. Catching my lip between my teeth I got up close and personal with it, nearly literally sticking my nose smack dab against it.

It appeared to be a strange kind of lifeform, like a licken or fungus, which coated the rocky chamber we found oruselves in.

Bioluminescence...!

I turned and scuffled back in what I hoped was the way I had come, my arms outstretched and waving madly about until at length one of them whapped up against Panther. He grunted a little; poor guy must be sore as a hungry rancor, after what he'd gone through.

But now was not the time for molly-coddling. I leaned toward the mote of light which revealed the communication device and cutting a sharp request to Panthar that he put it on transmit, I hollered out as distinctly as I could.

"Guys, there's this weird glowing blue stuff down here. If you can find something like a jar or anything like that, and something I could scrape it off the rock with, I think I can fashion us a nice little lantern."

I paused at that, then waved my arms around until they found Panthar once again. Moving my hands along his frame until they came to his own, I grasped them and began tugging as hard as I could, hoping like hell that the stuff gluing him to the rock wouldn't turn out to be too cement-like where I wouldn't have the strength to free him.

--------------------

As they moved away he turned and cast an inquiring look at Terrin, cocking his head a little and peering at him from beneath his lowering brows. Then, as nothing else exciting seemed to be happening, and no one appeared to be needing his services any longer, he went back to the gnarltree and sat cross-legged on the ground before it. Once seated he lay his spear and then knife carefully on the ground before him, along with his whetstone, getting everything ready to sharpen his weaponry. The shield he carried slung upon his back was becoming unwieldy, so he took that off and laid it on the swampgrasses next to his other weapons.

Her face was a study in concentration as she approached Terrin. She knew there was some kind of power within her, a power which at odd times would burst out from her in wondrous glory. But a power over which she had yet absolutely no control; sensing that it erupted in response to her emotions, she now strove to keep herself as close to Jedi-calm as she could.

"Escuse me," she whispered as she stopped behind Terrin, reaching out now to tap him tentatively upon his shoulder.

"Is there anything I can help you with? I don't want to just stand here while Mother--"

She paused then, biting her lip with the effort it took to keep her emotions at bay, emotions which drew thunderingly closer with every passing moment.

--------------------

Terrin arched an eyebrow then, eyeing the knife the warrior had laid out.

Hmmm, well there is one supply that is needed.

As for a jar or a water cateen or something to that effect, Terrin didn't see that the warrior had anything in particular that would serve well in that regard...

Terrin's thoughts were then cut short as Darra tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her, listening to what she had to say, and considering.

"Well," he started in reply, "I'm going to somehow have to communicate to the warrior that Ga-" he paused, not quite used to this, "That your Mother needs his knife. She also needs a jar to make a latern from, and a water canteen."

He paused, furrowng his brows a bit as he once more considered the warrior's weapons, particularly his shield on its sling. "I don't know if we could somehow use the warrior's shield and sling as some sort of container to carry light or water...

...but I can't think of anything else at the moment."

Pausing at that, Terrin then spoke into the commlink. "Galen, I'm going to throw down the vine we used as a rope for you right now...

...and we're working on some of the other things you need. The warrior has a knife, but we're going to have to communicate to him somehow that you need it. Hang in there, we're working on it now."

At that, Terrin stood, looking back towards Darra. "I'm going to try to wake him and ask for his knife; I really don't want to take him by surprise or appear to be trying to steal any of his things. I might need your help to get across to him what I need, however; signing back and forth is difficult."

Saying nothing more than that, Terrin turned towards the sleeping warrior...

...and really not liking the idea of coming up on him in his sleep. Still, he knew now wasn't the time for hesitance, so he approached the warrior, came to his side, and very carefully laid a hand on his shoulder as if to stir him.

[ 11-27-2006 12:45 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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