The Undercity

[lexi luthor]

Ava pouted her lips and gave the Elf a sideways glance. Odd, she had no idea there were so many creatures she had never seen before. She stuck close to Tay and Kruth'al as they entered the stairway and she took a flashlight for herself.

The air changed, and smelled much more repugnant than it had previously. She had to cover her mouth and nose with her hoodie to keep from gagging. She listened as the others spoke, and took mental notes. A sudden flashback of her descent from earlier sent her into a panic. Was she going to be tackled and apprehended again?

She squatted on the ground hands and arms covering her head. Her body shook violently, as the stress set in immobilizing her. God, she was so scared, she didn't want to die, she didn't want to be attacked again.

[ravebloodnymph]

Tay began to agree with Kruth'al when she noticed movement in the corner of her eye. She turned to see Ava huddled on the ground and she crouched down next to her. "Hey, kid. What's wrong?" she asked, shining her lantern over the area. Maybe she didn't like the dark.

"Major, hold up a moment, please," she called up in as loud a voice as she dared. Still, the sound echoed a bit in the wide tunnel.

[lexi luthor]

Ava let out a terrified scream as the light blinded her vision. The sound echoed much louder and further than Tay's call to the major.

[Malverne]

Morinth took a moment to consider her answer to Manor.

“I didn’t pick you,” she said, “Someone else did. Someone else picked me for this too. Generally, though, they ones they send down here are the ones they don’t care about keeping alive. So yes, there were other prisoners. Don’t ask me the rhyme and reason of this group. In fact, I’d say that there wasn’t any; it was just random.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the major knew she shouldn’t have said it. Her jaw snapped shut and she stared forward into the oppressive darkness. Not for the first time on a ranging, she wished that she had deep naga blood in her veins, and could see in the dark as well as her more barbaric cousins.

Major Greyscale was definitely in business mode, and had no patience for toying around. She just wanted to complete the ranging and get back to the City. And this troll is questioning her?

“Look Grandoul,” Greyscale groaned, keeping her eyes forward, “I’ve told you almost everything I know. We’re after a ghost. An elf, female, pretty young. She’s heading toward dwarven territory, and is still moving, and no one but her knows where she’s going to go, or how far she’s going to go, although I’m flattered you think I’m psychic. Dwarves don’t have settlements, though, they’re nomadic, so, like I said, we’ll hear them before they see them. And one more thing…” Morinth stopped and rounded on the troll, her flat black eyes boring into his, exactly the same height.

“Do not accuse me of being careless with your lives,” she hissed, “It is not in my job description to care about you, no, but it is in my job description to finish this mission. And that isn’t going to happen with all of you dead. Do not assume that I am going to purposefully put you at risk to save my own skin. Do not assume I am not going to get you killed out of spite. And do not assume I’m going to treat you any differently than a ranger, simply because of the ID number on your hand. Do you understand me?” She held the troll’s gaze for an extra second, making sure he knew that she was resolute.

Morinth felt a wave of fear wash over her, with no discernible origin or cause, which was…odd, to say the least. She took a moment to examine the feeling, and turned at the scream to see Price huddled in a ball on the ground, with Manor standing over her. In three strides, she crossed to the girl and knelt down, clapping a hand over Price’s mouth.

“You’re scared,” she said, “Understandable, given the territory. However, sitting down in the fetal position does nothing but delay. The longer we delay, the farther away our quarry gets. The farther away she gets, the longer it takes us to catch her, and the more danger we’re in. If something comes at us, we’ll know it’s coming. We aren’t going to be surprised down here. So I need you to take a couple deep breaths, then stand up and keep moving.”

[Kinslayer6788]

Kruth'al stared resolutly back at the naga. He was used to being barked at. Thats all that trolls do. He was about to retort when he saw Ava crumble and scream and he saw the naga slither over to her and try to shut her up. Knowing it was futile because the act will probably scare her more. Kruth'al walked over to Ava, leaned down, and picked her up turning her head to let her scream and/or sob into his large hairy arms.

Turning on the major, "I will soften the sound, do not let it bother you. She is more frighttened then you can possible understand. I do not know what it says in her file, nor do I care, but she is not used to the undercity. Reguadless, I was not accusing you of not caring. I was just trying to get enought info so that way I could have the best chance of survial. So please lead on Major. I will carry and quiet her."

[KoyiTar]

"I think she was just brought to the Undercity." Nami said about Ava. She had been quite for the most part listening to all the conversations. It was a thing she did just sit and listen to things going on around her. She kept her light forward looking as far ahead into the darkness as it would allow her which wasn't really much.

"To be honest I have my own thoughts as to why we were all thrown together. But a my old employer Nix would say. Thinking gets you in trouble hell just about anything will get you in trouble if your not careful my dear." She continued on even attempting to make her voice sound as much like the goblin as she could.

"Though the Major is right we should get moving. I don't want to be out here doing this at all. But if it is the only way to pardon me from the murder of my father and then get down to who really killed him then I want it done." She said looking back at the others. She wasn't going to stay framed for killing her own father she was going to find out who had really done it and have them brought to justice one way or another. She realized she probably sounded cold and harsh but at that moment didn't care. Standing still was not ideal to her in a dark narrow tunnel that one couldn't see very far past their flashlight into.

[Keylaleigh]

Relgan followed behind quietly as everyone else talked about the mission at hand. A ghost-elf... he looked up at the rocky ceiling. Heading towards dwarf country. He didn't know much about dwarves, other than the fact that they were mostly rock and a little hard to hit with a sword. He just decided that he would stay out of everyone's way and do his best to not get hurt.

Relgan doubted his usefulness on this particular mission, but he would do his best to aid. If they went up against slightly squishier foes, he would be able to shine in combat. Until then... well, he would see what happened.

[Dantes23]

Skaeth ran over when they heard the scream of a small child, while it excited them, they still found themself worried about the girl. It was only shortly after they entered the wilderness that Skaeth hovered off to explore some of the great outdoors, but when they heard all the commotion, they ran back as quickly as they could.

"What'd I miss?" They asked nonchalantly. "One second you're peacefully ghosting around the woods, the next there are screams everywhere. They looked at Ava "you alright?"

[lexi luthor]

Most of the words Morinth said didn't process in Ava's mind. She was much too freaked out to pay attention. She welcomed the arms that picked her up, and buried her face in Kruth'al's chest.

She knew deep down that she wasn't being helpful, but she really couldn't help it. She clenched her jaw, trying hard not to scream again. Ultimately she made herself tense, and her body continued to shake, but at least she wasn't screaming like a banshee.

She really appreciated Kruth'al sticking up for her and taking care of her. She hoped she wouldn't be the death of him.

[Malverne]

Morinth turned away from the distraught young girl, not bothering to give Grandoul a response. Don't be bothered? Her eyes raked through the darkness, her ears straining for the slightest sound. Screams travelled far, and if dwarves were alerted, they'd be nearly impossible to notice if you didn't know what to look for. Which none of them but the major did. Age and previous experience with violence aside, they were completely lost on a ranging. If the troll thought that he was the protector of the group, Morinth worried for all their skins.

"We need to get out of here immediately," she snapped, her voice quiet through discipline, "make as little noise as possible. This way." With speed, Morinth started walking, striding away in a different direction, heading for one of the smaller tunnels branching off of the main one. It was sloped downward even steeper, but Morinth forged on ahead. She glanced back occasionally at her ragtag group of makeshift rangers, taking care to not move faster than they could. Civilians...as capable of navigating and traversing the Wilds as a baby.

[ravebloodnymph]

Tay was grateful for both Morinth and Kruth'al in that moment because she was no good at calming children. Playing and joking with them, sure, but the instant one started crying or screaming, she tagged out.

"She's right, we need to get moving," she found herself agreeing and stood straight, giving a last glance at Kruth'al. "She'll be okay, right? With you?" she asked, almost sternly.

[Kinslayer6788]

Kruth'al was unhappy on how that turned out. He did not mean to inflate himself or make the Major mad. He was scared himself, not just for his well being, but for those who he felt he needed to protect. He would have to apoliogize as soon as they stopped for the night. Kruth'al gripped the child so that she would be confortable as he moved, sighed and started to follow the Major.

Not turning around and hoping that Tay could hear him, "If you mean, will i protect her and keep her safe, I will try everything I can. If you mean, will I stop her from crying. then yes she will calm. If you mean something else I will tear your head from your body."

Kruth'al moved quickly after the Major, but tried to keep a steady pace with Name and Tay. "What do you think of the Major?"

[ravebloodnymph]

Tay blinked, not meaning to offend Kruth'al. She softened her voice slightly. "I apologize, I didn't mean to imply anything. I trust you with her, believe me."

She turned and kept pace with the troll and young mages. "The Major?" she replied, frowning a bit. "I dunno. I respect her. She's tough, and clearly focused on her mission, and like I said, I respect the hell out of that. But if you're asking if she cares about our lives? The hell if I know."

She shouldered her quiver of arrows higher up on her back as the tunnel grew steadily steeper, the air growing dank and even more foul.

[Kinslayer6788]

"Do not worry about it. She will be safe."

Kruth'al's head was just shy of the ceiling of the cave and he walked with a slight bend so that way he could walk while holding Ava. "I think she means well, I just hope we get done this quickly. But I do have to wonder if running into the dwarves would be as bad as she makes it out to be. Then again I have never even heard more then rumor about them."

[KoyiTar]

"The Major seems serious but otherwise I don't really know what to make of her, and I have only heard a few stories about dwarves. None of them good ones." Nami said listening in on the conversation a bit not really having much else to offer at all. She was doing her best to keep up with the pace and not get to far away from anyone in the group.