Closed A Threatening Situation

[Stardust]

53rd Summer 513

The morning proved that is was going to be a calm, clear skied day. The temperature was warm, but the gentle breeze that blew through the surrounding area of Wind Reach kept it comfortable, tolerable, enjoyable. With only a few clouds to be seen in the sky, nothing about the weather made anything in Wind Reach seem out of place. The Inarta went about their daily business as they always did. In general, it was a day unlike any other.

But as the morning turned closer towards noon, anyone near, or within the mountain would notice something different. There was a silence, a deafening calm that hung in the air. This calmness gave the mountain an eerie, uncomfortable atmosphere. To most of the people within Mount Skyinarta, the air would feel heavy, suddenly stagnant, hot.

Anyone around the Wind Eagles would notice the birds' sudden quietude. They were alert, paying close attention to every noise, every movement, every simple change in the area. The large birds were obviously alarmed.

To any person around, this would be highly unusual and troubling, as if something bad was about to happen.

x

[Lavira]

Lavira was at her usual routine that day, having risen early as always, dressed, and headed for the aeries. It was a bath day, too, for the birds, and she needed to haul the dust and water up. A hard work day, in other words!

Sino had stopped by with some new stones for her nest and Vira had spent part of the morning helping the young eagle out, polishing and placing as directed. However, the teen did notice something unusual about the birds behavior. The young dame seemed especially jumpy that morning, her head constantly tilting and eyes seeming widened, though Vira knew that was physically impossible. She wondered what had the eagle maiden on edge...

This same peculiar behavior was true for the older dame with the mini-eaglets as Vira brought in the tubs of water to lay on the outer ledge. The ink-flecked matron was standing on the outer entrance looking down at the mountainside below. Her head feathers were badly ruffled and her wings were half-cocked, as though expecting to fly at any moment. Whatever she was listening to, Vira wasn't sure. Perhaps the stagnant air was bothering the birds? They'd been fine that morning, but something had them on edge, that was for sure.

Vira moved on to Mohya's, repeating the routine methodically: the tubs left on the ledge so that the dirty water could just be dumped over it; the large, flatbed pans filled and placed in the center so they could clean their skin; fresh meat put in the feeding troughs, and the nest checked for damage. The drinking pool was cleaned, and a treat left by the trough. It was the same as always. But even Mohya looked tense, her normally somber, unhappy air having changed to one of fierce awareness. She turned her grand, crested head towards the attendant as Vira finished cleaning the pools, and let out a low, intense hiss. It wasn't aggressive, but it was...Vira wasn't sure. A warning?

The young woman frowned at this and gathered up her cleaning supplies to return them to storage and move on to Heshvala's aerie. Maybe she should ask one of the Endal. Maybe their birds were acting strangely too.

Vira grabbed the cart handles and proceeded to pull it up to Vala's aerie next. It was strangely quiet, though, out here on the ramp, excluding the low murmur of the Dek's hard at work scraping poo further down. Not even the usually noisy chirps of the eaglets could be heard. The Chiet wondered if something was wrong and pushed the cart upwards. "Heshvala, it's bath day." She called from the entrance, wedging the block behind the wheels to keep it from rolling back down the trail. "Everything okay?"

She poked her head in. The eagle dame was hovering over her nest, looking between the two nervous hatchlings and the ledge outside, as though expecting some mountain cat to come climbing through that needed dealing with. "Vala?" The bird turned her head to Vira and scree'd back, shifting uneasily over the babes.

"Hey, hey..." She said soothingly, approaching the nest then and reaching for the eagles head. Vala bent some, allowing the practiced fingers to work through the down to the skin and scratch at the back of her big head. "What is it, Vala?" It was nearly noon by now. The anxiety in Heshvala's eyes was frightening; even when the eaglets were hatching, she'd never acted like this. But the bird wouldn't say. Maybe she didn't know?

Giving the mother a final scratch behind her head, Vira set to work again. She hauled the tubs to the ledge, grunting as they grated over the stone, and began to fill the two with water, her back to the rest of the nest cove.

[Rengar]

Rengar was winding through the climbing tunnels of the mountain, several long, thick slats of wood bundled up and resting on his right shoulder. He was making a delivery, lumber necessary to make new nesting boxes. He'd spent much of the morning carving down pine logs, chipping them down, smoothing them out. He was going to have a Dek deliver them to the Nesting Areas, but he decided to go himself. After all, he was always quite fond of seeing the massive Wind Eagles. He'd seen a lot of creatures in his time, and these birds were among the largest. It was nice to be humbled in size, especially since most people in this mountain were a good deal shorter than him. He knew he was close as the air grew warmer, and the paths became steeper and rougher. Rengar started the perilous climb, taking slow, careful steps, making sure as to not slip and fall. He'd heard rumors of Chiet and Yasi alike stumbling along this path and by the time they healed, they were Dek. He didn't need for that to happen. Higher and higher he climbed, his sensitive nose now picking up the smells of soil and meat, of bird shyke, of smoke. He eventually made his way through an opening, and stepped into what felt like a very odd world. It was eerily quite, definitely not what he expected. He thought there would be sounds of birds, squawking, screeching, eating, flapping wings, and scratching talons. "Hello? Anyone here? I have a delivery from Thunder Bay, where do you want me to put this lumber?"

[Iosha]

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Iosha looked over her patient. The young man was sunburned from the top of his head down to his bryda, and she just shook her head disbelief at the extent of the burn. Since she arrived in Wind Reach, she could never understand the fashion sense of the red haired gingers because of their fair skin was prone to sunburn and started to notice the condition in summer season. The male Inarta often come into the infirmary complaining about severe sunburns on their shoulder and head. Iosha knew the Inarta were sometimes as thick as the sides of volcano, but she just wished some had the common sense to seek the comfort of shade on the really hot summer days when they were outside of the mountain. She poked the young man in the meaty part of his shoulder, and she watched how quickly the skin turned from white to pink.The process took to long for the konti's liking, so she turned to the young man, and said softly with a smirk, “Well, I think you are well done.” The young Inarta just stared at her for a moment as he obviously missed the joke entirely, and he said in a serious tone, “I really don't think this is laughing matter, healer.” Iosha smile widens as she thought to herself, “Well, I guess his funny bone is broke too!” Suddenly, she heard the female voice in the back of her head groan, “For the love of Rak' Keli, stop embarrassing me Iosha...” The voice trailed off, and she was brought back into reality by the annoyed voice of the tomato boy,“Listen if you not going to help me than I will talk to the other healers...”

Iosha glared at the Chiet, and she said sternly as she showed her Avora status, “Listen Chiet, It isn't my fault your too thick headed to find shade when you are out in the fields. Honestly, I should leave you this way just to teach you a lesson, but luckily, I will treat you since I am a such a nice woman.” The Chiet went wide eyed because he wasn't expecting the Konti to have a backbone. He slumped his shoulders and looked down at the floor and apologized, “Sorry Avora...I am just in a lot of pain right now, and I am irritable and hot.” Iosha smiled at the young man and said softly, “Honestly, I wasn't truly mad, so there is no reason to hide your head in the sand. Listen you have a severe sunburn, and you need to stay in doors and rest till it heals before you venture out side into the sun.” The Chiet looked up at her and said with a frown, “Alright if you say so, Avora.” Iosha nodded seeing the hesitation in his eyes for taking time off of work. She wasn't going to ask the reason, so she said softly, “Listen I will make you a cream to put on the wounds. It will cool and moisturize the burn, and it should relieve some of the pain too. I just need you to give me a bell to make it.”

Iosha looked at Miquel and said with a smile, “I need to run down to hydroponic garden for about fifteenth chimes. I need to make my patient some aloe gel for his sunburn.” Miquel busy with another patient waved her off and said to her, “Please don't take too long. I think it going to be a busy today.” Iosha watched as he finished stitching on the side of a yasi's arm. Iosha quickly made her way down the hydroponic gardens where she went to the section of the farm with medical herbs and plants. Iosha started walking through the field as she looked for the plant with thick leafs with spikes on the side of it. She knelt down by the plant, and she took a knife and cut about four leafs off the plant. Once she had the aloe leaves, she went to the part of the garden with the parsley and spinach, and she cut enough of each plant for the the suave. She remember learning in Mura medical library about the different types of foods containing essential vitamins, and a herbalist or healer could add them to their aloe gel to speed the effects of the gel on the burn. Also, it keeps your skin moisturized after a long swim in the ocean.

Iosha went back with the infirmary, and she went into the apothecary to prepare her aloe cream. She grabbed a small kettle and a wooden bowl. She placed the bowl on the table, poured water into the kettle, and placed the kettle over the fire. While she waited for the water to boil, grabbed a cutting board, and started to cut the leafs off the stems. She threw the stems into the garbage, and she slide the pile of parsley leaves over with her knife than she broke off about four leafs of spinach and started to chop them up into smaller pieces. She looked over and saw the kettle was starting to steam. The Konti slide the spinach leafs over with her knife. She grabbed the pairing knife, and she started to cut down the sides of the aloe leaf, and she could see some clear gel start oozing from the center. When it was full cut, she pulled open the leaf and saw a thick clear gel in the center of the leaf, so she took a spoon and dished out the gel from the center of the leaf and put it in the bowl. She looked up and saw the water was bowling, so she picked up the cutting board and dumped the spinach leafs and parsley leafs into the kettle. When she made it back to her work table, she repeated the process for the other three aloe leafs. When the rest of the aloe leafs are cut and scooped out, she walked back to her rather odd smelling spinach and parsley combination. She looked inside and saw the heat made it into a green paste. She picked up the kettle and poured the green paste into the bowl with the clear gel. She started to mix the combination with a spoon till together the clear gel was a spinach green gel.

Iosha walked how with her bowl of green gel, and she put the bowl down next on a small table next to the patient. Iosha looked at the young man who must be only about seventeen or eighteen. She said with a smile, “Alright, I am going to need you to lie down while I apply the cream to your back.” The young man blushed and a weird grin appeared on his face. Iosha shook her head not wanting to know what the young Inarta was thinking at the moment. When he laid down, she took three fingers full of green gel and started to gently rub the ointment onto the sunburns on his back.

[Stardust]

Everyone continued their own daily work as if it was the same as always. As calm as it was though, there was something different about the air. There was something different about the ground. There was something different about the whole area of Wind Reach with the mountain. Anyone who had experienced an volcanic activity in the past, would sense a familiarity to the atmosphere. Previous times when the ground had shook from tremors within the mountain, the same feeling had spread around. The Inarta didn't keep their thoughts about the strange ominous feeling to themselves. They began to speak among themselves, questioning what was happening.

As Lavira cared for the Wind Eagles and the other birds within the Aeries, she began to notice the strange behavior. Some of the birds were aggressive, some were extremely careful, but all were ever-watching, quick to be spooked and very untrusting. As she walked, she began to notice something strange beneath her feet. There was a movement in the ground. Pebbles began to dance on the ground. And echoing thumping noise filled the whole area.

An Inarta woman approached Rengar very cautiously. It was obvious that she was worried about something. She stared at the deep violet hued man for a while, before gathering the nerve to speak. “Oh, right lumber, well...” Her voice trailed off and she looked around, “Maybe you could just set that to the side?” She suggested. “I apologize, I don't know where-”

The ground began to shake.

Suddenly loud squeals escaped from the birds in the area. The Inarta woman panicked, turned on her toes and stepped back towards the Akalak. She began to swear to herself in Nari as she watched the others in the area nervously hold onto what they could. “Another tremor?” She gasped. As if the birds were one entity, they began to take flight, spreading their wings in a panic and took to the air.

They had one obvious goal: To escape the mountain.

Anyone close to them, no matter if they knew them or not, if in their way, would not be seen. The birds moved with no care, forcing themselves out of the immediate danger. Loose feathers filled the air.

Within a chime, all the panicked Wind Eagles began to fly above the mountain, their calls heard through out the city. Anyone outside would notice the birds soaring above the city, those near the mountain walls would have felt the tremors. The workers and caretakers from the Aeries gathered together and tried to compose themselves. Panicked, they would count their numbers, check for any injuries and try to contact anyone they could for help. Any of the workers harmed because of the ground quakes would head to the Infirmary, all with different stories of what had taken place.

x

[Lavira]

OOCI do apologize for the length of this; I needed to make sure the bases were covered, though!

That absurd stillness was palpable by now. It was too much to ignore, just like the tiny stones Vira witnessed jostled around the pan she was currently filling. "What in the..." She murmured, leaning in to get a closer look. That couldn't bode well.

A voice out on the path leading to the aeries stirred her from her study; it sounded like Garren, but the rhythm was different. She straightened, leading off to go to the human entrance on the other side of the aerie when the first tremor rose with a rumble. The shriek of the hatchlings hit her ears less than a tick later, followed by the enormous form of a terrified mother eagle bolting in her direction, likewise screaming with avian fright.

"Vala! Vala, no!" She shouted, backpedalling and then turning, hoping to get out of the way before the bird got to the ledge. Oh petch! The woman thought, throwing herself on the other side of the tin pan she'd just filled in hopes it would protect her from the bird; but everything was happening so fast and Heshvala clearly had not seen her. If she had, there was no slowing the enormous mass of feather and muscle and talon as she easily rushed over the pan, narrowly missing stepping on Vira as she yelped and rolled to keep from getting crushed, pressing herself against the pan.

Loose feathers fell around her as the panicked bird reached the edge of the outer entrance, leading with the other foot and wings spread wide. There was just one problem with this take off. Vira's dismayed and horrified scream made that quite clear, a sound that quickly carried out of the aerie and into the path beyond. The wind eagle's talon had caught on her bryda when she took off, but the breathable fabric didn't tear free as quickly as Vira would have (and wished) wanted; for as those giant wings thrust down and the bird rose, the chiet was dragged with her, claw marks and several broken nails left on the stone where she'd been...

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

Vira was in a panic as Vala rose out of the mountain, the waist of her bryda caught on the very tip of the bird as she soared. That didn't last long, though, for after the first few wing beats and jostling that followed, the whoosh of air around her body as she fell earthward defined what was sure to come. Her mind filled with images of her lean form smashing on the rockface and left dead where she struck. Thankfully, Heshvala hadn't gotten quite that high yet. With a sickening smack and another yowl of pain, Vira hit the mountainside forty feet below the nesting aeries lowest ledge, a dump ledge where bird waste was tossed over each day by the Deks who worked up there. Were it not for the cushion of dried, cracked, and layers of yellow and white bird poo, she very likely WOULD have gone splat.

But the ride wasn't over just yet; the cliffside was uneven and unpredictable, slanting downwards towards another cliff. She slid along the softened pile of excrement, dazed from the impact but otherwise still alive. The ginger tried to see where she was and gain purchase with her feet, but the wet patches of fresher waste made it impossible and it was with renewed panic that the woman saw herself approaching the next drop. Whatever injuries she'd just sustained had yet to strike her consciousness, for it was the nearing edge that stood in the fore of her mind. She dug her palms and fingers in, rolled onto her belly, and clawed with feet, shouting once more. Surely someone above had heard her! "HELP!!" Her feet left the poo-drop and for a horrifying moment, she was suspended, her lower half over the edge, trying to find a grip on the rocky overhang that did not meet a smooth wallface the way she'd hoped. "Someone, help!!" Her fingers dug into the muck, blood from torn nails smearing and making it all the more difficult.

And then she dropped.

It was worse than being dragged from the aeries by one of the birds. Worse than when she'd lost her eye. The feeling of falling with no guarantee she'd land safely was horrible.

It was another fifteen feet (the breathless moments between overhang and here agonizing) to the next rock-face, and this time Vira was sure she'd broken something, pain lancing up her left side when feet connected, knees forced up against her chest as weight gave out to gravity. The woman rolled, sobbing, down the slant like a marble on a trail. Another heartpounding moment had her tipping off the next drop and onto the next slide. It was rougher than the smoother stone she'd been rolling along, and tore the already damaged bryda further, leaving both thighs and part of her right side badly skinned while her descent continued.

Another ugly smear of blood was left here along with fabric from the willowy pants. Vira took one last drop from this point before she found herself sliding between two narrow walls, jostled from either side as she fought against growing pain to get a grip. For a moment, she thought she had it with her right foot wedged against the wall on one side and her body on the other, but it quickly left her and she was sliding, headfirst, into fading light below. The red head was certain she was going to die now, plummeting into the unknown from who knew how far now, with nobody but an out of control wind eagle even knowing she'd fallen. Some way to die.

The approaching crack of blackness some forty further feet from where her head-first slide had begun suddenly opened up. She was certain this was the end as her head cleared the crack. But fate must have had other plans. She did not see what caught her right foot, nor feel it other than the additional spike of agony when her lower leg dislocated itself from its thigh on that side. She didn't see the sheer luck of having a chunk of scree that had slid from above with her all the way down to this point catch that foot. There was only the jagged spear of having her leg dislocated, the pulsing flame of something broken in her left leg, and the acidic burn of raw, bleeding flesh on her right side. There was only that and the encroaching darkness she stared into as consciousness slipped slowly from her grasp.

And then, there was nothing but blackness....

[Rengar]

Rengar's senses were on edge as the woman suggested he just set aside the lumber, but he couldn't nail down as to why. As he moved the wood from his shoulder to the rocky floor, his nose smelled a woman he could never possibly forget. Lavira, his brother's lover. Rengar relented to his brother, who took over with an adolescent like smile upon his face. He took a step toward the smell as the entire world began to shake. He heard screeches, flapping wings, talons on stone, as the nests exploded in a cacophony of chaos. Everyone, birds especially, was panicking, but it was over as quickly as it started. Garren followed his nose into the nesting area, but didn't see Lavira anywhere, her scent indicating that she'd been here. But there were handfuls of workers with gashes and slashes from beaks and talons. Garren was panicking, wondering where his lover had gone, worrying for her safety. Rengar ripped control back, giving his brother time to calm down and get a clearer head. There were several Dek around, dazed, and Rengar knew a leader was needed. Being an Avora, he started barking out orders. To a large, male Dek, likely a simpleton, Rengar pointed to an unconscious woman, "Get her to the Infirmary, now." Then he told the other injured to get down there, "Anyone not injured, come here, we need to get a head count, see who is missing and who's incapacitated. Move it people I need reports." A headcount revealed that Lavira was in fact missing. "Did anyone see what happened to her?" A bunch of shaking heads. Rengar, if she was here, and isn't now. There's only one place she could be. He then flashed an image of the openings in the rooms that the birds fled through. Rengar took the hint, and walked over to the ledge. First he looked up, seeing all the Eagles flying around, but it didn't look like any riders were among them. So he took a deep breath, looking down, hoping he didn't see a mangled corpse among the stones. And he didn't. He didn't see anything other than rock and stone. Look for her heat. Rengar flicked on his infravision on, scanning the mountain, not seeing much at first. Then, there at the edge of his vision, there was a sliver of red, bigger than a creature, especially at this distance. He couldn't tell if it was Lavira or not, but it did seem to be a person, maybe. Whether it was her or not, a rescue would be needed, with as far down as the person was. Rengar turned to a Dek, a plan already starting, but he needed his gear, and he needed reliable people. "Go to Thunder Bay, ask for Rengar's tent. I want you to grab my pack inside of that tent, everything needed is already in it. Bring it here, and make it fast." To another, "Go to the Infirmary and grab one of the Healers there, and bring them here. Tell them we have a rescue you to do, and will need them on sight. Make sure they bring any supplies they can carry."

[Iosha]

Iosha gently rubbed the green ointment in the his skin with her webbed hands. It was a serious sunburn, and she knew the man would have discomfort for the next week. The konti scoop out another three finger fulls of aloe, and she put it on the young man's skin. The boy started complaining about the cool temperature of the gel, and Iosha smiled at him and said nothing as she started to rub it into both his shoulder blades. The konti said softly as the ointment started to disappear into the skin, “The sensitivity in your skin is caused by the burn. It part of the reason that I told you to stay out of the sun for the next few days. I don't need you to blister.” Taking more ointment out of the bowl, she moved her hands to the middle of the back and started rubbing the lotion into his skin. She could tell the burn was serious because the skin on his back was already starting to peel. It was gross, but Iosha's medical training helped her ignore the sight; however, she needed to get the burn moisturized otherwise it will start to crack. Iosha looked at one of the Chiet assistants and said softly, “I want you to save the ointment, so could you start dishing the mixture into a sealed wooden box, and if you could find a smaller box, so our patient can have a portion of it too.” The Chiet nodded and left immediately to the storage room.

Iosha smiled to herself when she saw the man was more relaxed with each touch. She could tell his muscles are tight in the middle of the back, so she worked her thumbs into the knots. Iosha said softly, “You are really tight in the middle of the back. I suggest you stretch before you head out into the fields again. Especially if you are going to do a lot of heavy lifting or bending over.” The konti moved her webbed thumbs in a circular motion, and she head the young man let out a deep breath whenever she moved her thumbs. She felt her thumbs getting tired, so she scooped out some more lotion, and she put it the lower back. She used the palms of her hands to rub the ointment over a larger surface area. After applying the salve, the konti could tell the young man muscles were tight in the lower back region. She frowned to herself and observed out loud, “Are you lifting or bending over with your back? If you are than you need to stop otherwise you could hurt your back. I suggest you kneel down to get closer to the holes. Also, you should lift with your legs and not you back because you can permanently hurt your spine over time.” Iosha rubbed ran a finger up the young man's spine, and he started to shiver under her touch. When the Chiet returned with two boxes, he started to dish the remaining ointment into them.

Suddenly, Iosha felt the mountain shake under her feet, and she yelled at the Chiet to take cover under the tables. The konti was more afraid of falling glass from the ceiling than spilling any of her ointment. The shaking was up and down at first for a chime, but the shaking shifted directions after a couple of chimes. During the earthquake, Iosha started to wonder why her father's people ever thought it was good idea to make a city inside of a volcano. She was told the volcano was dead by the Isur when she decided to come here from Sultros, but she was starting to feel the volcano was starting to live again. It was scary feeling, but she didn't want to show her fear to the young man and the other Chiet. When the shaking stopped, Iosha moved away from the table and stood up to survey the damage. The konti could tell the infirmary was a mess because of the amount of debris on the floor. She looked over at the young man and said with haste, “I want you to apply to the sunburn two times of day for the next week, but I need to go since I have a feeling it will be busy today.” Iosha saw the Chiet hand the patient the lotion, and she immediately went to talk to Miquel. When she found Miquel, Iosha saw had a welt on his head. Iosha immediately put her hand on his head, and she said a prayer to her goddess to heal his head wound. Suddenly, a blue light from her gnosis mark enveloped his head, and when she removed her hand the wound was gone. Miquel smiled at her and said, “Thank you, Iosha. We need to send a healer out into the city. Just in case the wounded can't get to the infirmary.” Iosha agreed with the older man, and she said with a smile, “I volunteer myself besides we will need you here just in case someone come in the infirmary with a serious injury.” The older man agreed with her, and Iosha gathered up her supplies in her backpack, and she went out into the shaken city in search of injured.

[Stardust]

Chaos rang through Wind Reach. More were confused and frightened, rather than hurt. As Iosha went about, helping those she could, eventually she would run into a young man. “The Eagles are just flying. They say someone fell within the mountain, from the Nesting Aeries.” She was led back to the Nesting Area. A few injured Inarta sat around, waiting for help.

Rengar, the Akalak, approached her. He informed her of what he believed happened, that Lavira had fallen. But before he could explain any further, an Inarta appeared, dressed in more fancy clothing. Obviously an Endal, he pushed past several people and stopped in front of the two. “Akalak, we need your help, my sister is stuck underneath some fallen rocks. We need your strength. Now.” Though Rengar didn't want to go, to keep the peace he knew he had to.

With his departure, Iosha was left with several Inarta to worry about Lavira, the girl who was missing. She noticed several were injured, so while she helped them, the group spoke of ideas to find Lavira. As time passed, many people left and arrived in the aeries, as the rumor of the girl had spread. Several wanted to help, and due to the respect for the Konti healer, came to her for guidance.

Deep below, an injured girl rested.

Pain induced, bitter dreams plagued Lavira, making the forced unconsciousness unrestful. When Lavira wold awaken bells later, due to a minor tremor withing the mountain, the memories of the fall would flood back. The free fall. The tumbling. The pain. Mostly the pain.

After a few chimes of being alert, Lavira began to notice hunger and an intense thirst for water, or anything to drink. An echo of something dripping could be heard, bouncing off of the rocky area, coming from all directions.The smell of sulfur twisted with the metallic scent of her own blood, ate at the girl's lungs, making her disoriented and nauseated. Any forced movement sent crippling pain down Lavira's left leg. When she tried to sit up, her side began to throb, bruised and bleeding in different areas. She would notice the skin on her hands were raw and had scabbed over while she was unconscious. Her head ached. Breathing was difficult in the hot, humid area. Besides the hunger, weakness, pain, and disorientation, the Inarta knew there was something else nearby, watching.

x

[Lavira]

Something chittering and crawling in the darkness...whispers...dripping...the scream that left her lips as she fell forever, and ever, and ever before splatting on the earth far below, nothing more than a bloody smear to be scrubbed off by dek and licked up by dogs.

There was darkness all around again. The teen opened her eyes slowly and saw she was staring up at the crack she had slipped through, the chunk of scree that had caught her foot still holding her sandal a good twelve feet up. High enough to make a head-first fall very uncomfortable upon landing. She must have slipped free at some point while she was unconscious; maybe that was the reason for the constant falling in the not-dream state.

The teen could see the crack only for the fading glow of sunlight, the rust and brown rocks reflecting back the unseen sky. They were quickly cooling, however, as the warmth of Syna receded behind the other side of the mountains. But this chamber was anything but cool; dark, but not cool. It was also markedly difficult to breath, the acidic burn of sulfurous air making her throat raw. Vira coughed and turned her head to the right, trying not to move her body until she could mentally inventory injuries. If she could walk, she might be able to find an exit from this eerie chamber; that meant she had to sit up first.

She began the list.

Vira started at her head, closing her eyes again. It hurt. That had to be a combination of the initial impact from Heshvala dropping her and the one which must have followed after her shoe came off. She wasn't seeing double from her one usable eye, nor was her sight foggy. Maybe a concussion, but she couldn't begin to imagine if it might be serious. It just hurt.

Continuing down, she assessed that her neck and shoulders were okay for the most part; sore, but okay. Vira raised her hands slowly from the ground and straight up from where they had lain: the palms were covered in red and black scabs from clotted blood and at least three of her fingernails were missing, the spots where they had been bare and bloody. She tried to remember where that might have happened. The aerie's before the fall? Sliding down the crack? She wasn't sure. There were a few scrapes here and there along her arms as she turned them in evaluation, but nothing too serious besides her hands there. She moved on.

Her torso was something of a mess, she decided. Unable to tell if it was the unpleasant air or a broken rib(s), Vira ignored her breathing difficulties and nausea for now. The nausea was most likely caused by the sulfur (anyone who spent too much time around the hotsprings or other various vents that weren't maintained in the city would recognize that feeling). It was her side that drew the most attention. Vira started to sit up, but the movement made a pain-filled sob climb into her throat, forcing her back onto the bloodied rock she was laying on. She had to sit up, though. She had to know what else was hurt and if there was anything she might be able to do to patch the injuries.

Trying again, the ginger pushed through the pain (with a hand pressed around the worst of the area) and managed to sit up, though her eye filled with spots and she was afraid she might black out again. It took several chimes for the spots to leave her vision and her to resume her self-evaluation. Twisting carefully, Vira pulled at the bunched material of her bryda until the worst patch was revealed. The woman had to squint to see it, however, the light in the hot chamber too dim to make out. What she could make out, however was not pretty in the slightest. In all liklihood, the young woman was going to have one ugly scar on that side.

And people think my face is bad... She thought somewhat dejectedly. They always went for the pretty ones 'round here.

A huge chunk of raw flesh had been ripped from about where her right breast began, all the way down to her hip, the widest point of the continuous tear being a full thumb-length further than her hand. It stretched further after skipping several inches to tear more along her hip and upper side of her thigh. The deepest of the wound was about kidney-level, she guessed, the deep groove looking like she may have struck a jutting point when that one had been made, a piece of flesh probably still clinging to the rock that'd taken it.

It was with begrudging need that she turned her single eye onto the first of her legs: her left.

Even in the dimness, she could see that it was clearly misaligned below her knee. How could it have broken so badly during all of that? With extreme care, Vira leaned forward and touched the swollen point that had turned her leg crudely out so that her toes were pointing away from her body to the left. She let out another cringing whimper and began exploring it again, applying the lightest amount of pressure that she could tolerate. Even then, it was agonizing.

She was about to look to her right leg, the sandal missing from that foot, when something set her nerves on fire in a whole new way. For a moment, she thought she had heard something in the dim and dark cave. Maybe it was just her nerves but even as she looked around, Vira was certain she could at least feel something watching her. That single orb stayed raised for the longest time, her breath all but held as she searched the darkness for something that may only be her anxiety and pain talking. When nothing stood out, though, she resumed her evaluation.

The right leg wasn't as bad as the left. There was no break to contend with, but managing a dislocated joint was going to be difficult. It didn't look like the knee itself had been dislocated, only stretched severely so that it sat a little lower on the leg than it should have. It was the collapsed space between the lower part of her leg and the upper that made the woman shudder anew. Even swollen as it already was, Vira knew it was bad. It would be excruciating walking on her left leg, but there was no way in all of Mizahar she would be able to put weight on the right leg. But there was nothing she could see in reach that could stabilize the joint and keep it from becoming more agitated than it already was. The eighteen year old didn't even want to touch it.

"This is not good..." The drip-drip-drip of something in the chasm she'd fallen into made concentrating even more difficult as the pain of all the injuries combined began their slow march into agony the longer she stayed sitting up. "Not good at all..." The nausea only made it all worse and already, Vira was beginning to see spots again. Fearing she might blackout a second time, the woman closed her eyes and laid her head back, her right arm drooping over her face the way one shielding sunlight on the beach might.

"Gods...how'm I gonna get out of here? Nobody even knows I'm down here and nobody's gonna search, I just know it." This was not good at all.