Everything looks better in the morning, right?

[Vega]

[img]http://standingtrials.com/gallery/image ... ge_id=7163[/img]

16th Cylus 717

Following this

The people they'd come across, Stu and Jeannie, had slept soundly. She and Arlo had taken turns and Arlo had taken the first watch. This meant that Vega had slept, but she'd gotten herself up in plenty of time to make sure that Arlo slept, too. Which meant that when morning came, or as close as they could tell in this infernal constant dusk, she let him sleep as late as they could reasonably afford. It was fair to say, Vega thought with a grin as a tousled haired boy sat up and looked around blearily, Arlo was not a morning person.

"Morning, sunshine. Cup of tea, breakfast. Look lively." She handed him said cup of tea and a bowl of steaming porridge and then she finished off packing up the last of the camp. Stu and Jeannie had devoured the meal the night before, having not eaten properly for two trials before and, then done the same this morning with the oats she and Arlo had packed just in case. "We're out of oats now. Don't ask for seconds."

If it was just morning light she was sure that she'd feel slightly more optimistic about the whole thing, but she had spent the morning listening to Stu and Jeannie bicker about just about everything. It was exhausting and it exemplified why mostly she didn't like people or being with them. Arlo and Ti'niva were different, for reasons that Vega couldn't explain. Maybe it was because they were quiet in comparison to this pair. How Stu ever got a word in edgeways was beyond Vega. When he did, though, he was nasal and whined a lot in Vega's opinion. Rubbing her temple, slightly, she considered that she was getting a headache.

"Right. You two shut up arguing." Enough with the tact and diplomacy, Vega decided. It was over rated. Jeannie and Stu both turned to look at her and she added, for good measure. "You're giving me a headache, and there's jobs to do. Could you get that bedding rolled up and sorted, so's Arlo can attach it to his backpack? Like I've done mine. Great. Then, the other one of you just swill out the pot with that warm water, please?" It was probably best to separate them.

This, Vega decided, was a perfect example of why she didn't want children. Never mind that they were nearly old enough to be her parents, that wasn't the point. She concentrated on packing up their things, caught Arlo's eye and grinned at him. She wasn't in the foul mood she sounded like she was, but if that pair carried on she would be.

Once he'd had time to get himself together and she'd re-rolled the bedding, because otherwise it was going to drag on the ground, they were ready to set off.

"Alright then, it's this way, I think?" She looked at Arlo to check. He was the one with the compass, after all.

[Arlo Creede]

Stu snored. Or if it wasn't Stu, then it was his wife. That much Arlo discovered in the dead of the night while he'd kept watch. Probably Jeannie, he'd decided. Since she'd shown herself not to be able to abide a bit's silence when awake, it only made sense she'd continue the trend while sleeping.

But Arlo could sleep anywhere, anytime. So once he got the chance he'd done it soundly and had complained when Vega woke him. It was Cylus, and might as well have been the middle of the night. But he was content to sit by the fire with his tea and his bowl, and watch while Vega played taskmaster with the two travelers. Lucky, he thought, they wouldn't be traveling with the couple for long.

By the time they were ready, he'd put out the fire and dumped water on the coals after scattering them a bit, to make sure they didn't catch and reignite once they were gone. He'd packed up his own belongings, including the three turkeys they'd killed, and was ready to head out again. Checking his compass before they did, Arlo nodded in response to Vega's guess. "That way," he agreed.

The trail they were able to locate would require them to walk single file for a while, and Arlo picked up the lead and stopped now and again to check his compass. But eventually the forest opened up a little and the path widened as a result. "I recognize where we are now," he said and pointed out a large stone that jutted out of the ground, it's flatter surface resembling an old bearded man, were you to look at it from just the right angle. "There's still a ways to go. A couple breaks maybe," he figured. "But we're headed in the right direction at least."

And that's when he spotted it, just a glimpse through the trees. Arlo stopped abruptly and raised his hand, wanting the others stop behind him, and for Stu and Jeannine to put a lid on it. "You see that?" he whispered to Vega while dropping his rucksack and pulling his bow off his back. "That's a lot of meat, and a very fine pelt." If she looked, she catch a glimpse herself. It was a large Arnabari, grazing in a small clearing alone.

But just when Arlo nocked his arrow, the thing raised its head, looked their way, whirled around and bolted. But he wasn't about to let the thing get away and without a thought, Arlo gave chase, leaving his sack behind on the ground. The young man tore through the trees, leaped over fallen branches and logs, ducked under low hanging vegetation and somehow, managed to keep the thing in his sights.

And then breaking into another small clearing, he skidded to a stop as he spied the arnari staring back at him from roughly a hundred feet away. Holding his breath, Arlo raised his bow and took aim. But then the strangest thing happened. First there was the strange sound of trees groaning. Just those closest to the clearing. He lowered his bow and looked up, befuddled as several of them closest to him leaned.

And then in a flash, the ground in the middle of the clearing began to sink, the ground to crack outward like a web and the arnari bolted. And before he could quite figure what was going on, the ground beneath Arlo's feet dropped away, and he went with it with a yelp of surprise. A couple of young trees followed him in, some older ones leaned and clung to the edge of the new abyss. And by the time it was done, where a pint-sized meadow had been, there was now a sinkhole about twenty-five foot deep and thirty foot wide.

It was just that one surprised yelp from Arlo though, unless one was counting the thud and the faintest of grunts when he landed on an impossibly narrow shelf about halfway down. Sprawled there face down, half on and half off the shelf, he must have hit his head along the way or when he landed. For just a trill, he viewed a world swimming before his eyes, then that too went dark.

[Vega]

[img]http://standingtrials.com/gallery/image ... ge_id=7163[/img]

When Arlo raised his hand and the pair behind her shut up, Vega gave thanks to any Immortal who happened to be listening. Her head was thumping and if she had to listen to one more argument from back there she was going to start hurting people, she was fairly sure. Arlo had spotted something and, though she didn't know what it was, Vega quietly started to lower her backpack on to the ground. If they were, as Arlo had said they were, a couple of breaks away from Desnind she wasn't going to manage without yelling at them, with the constant yammering, whining and arguing.

Arlo motioned to the clearing, though and she nodded. "I see it," she was lifting her own bow, starting to take aim and then the creature lifted it's head and bolted away. Vega lowered her bow, turned to Arlo with a 'oh well' expression and then he was off after it. Vega's eyes widened and for just a few trill she was transfixed as she realised what he was doing. With a curse and a grin at the same time for the impetuous nature of young boys and the consideration that if she caught up with him she was going to kill him, Vega turned to Stu and Jeannie. "Hang on. I'll just..."

What she would do was lost as she heard the yelp of surprise and felt the ground beneath her feet shudder. "ARLO!" Vega didn't waste any time talking, she was already moving and she moved as fast as she could. A cold dread hit her as she skidded into the clearing and saw the hole. "ARLO!" Vega didn't know why she bothered screaming, to be quite honest. There was a bloody big hole, where else was he going to be? Getting down on to her hands and knees, she crawled over to the hole and looked in.

"Arlo! Can you... oh Immortals, you're there! Arlo!?" Vega looked up in surprise as she heard movement and there were Stu and Jeannie.
"Away from the side. We'll get things set up, you've got ropes, dear, yes?" Jeannie suddenly seemed to be taking charge and Vega just nodded.
"Excellent, Stu will go..."
Jeannie didn't get a chance to finish. "I'm going. Give me that. Thank you. Do either of you know any first aid?" She was going to have to learn that, she considered. They kept needing it.
"I'm a doctor, dear." Jeannie said, Stu nodded.

As Vega was talking, she was pulling the ropes they had and started tying them. "Really? Great. Ok. I'm going to use this tree, wrap it around there. Stu, you're going to hold it, let it out slowly for me, alright. Then, when I get down there, I'm going to tie him, secure him."
"I'll talk you through checking him. If there are certain injuries, you'll need to do certain things. Here, take this."
Jeannie handed over her satchel, which was actually her medical kit. Vega nodded and slung it over her shoulder.
"Don't take risks. There's no point losing both of you," Stu said. He meant it well, Vega understood and so she didn't punch him in the face. They were neither of them in any doubt about how close a call that was, though.
"Arlo is my friend," she'd have to content herself with that and Stu would have to, also.

Tying off the rope around her, Vega checked it and checked it again, then moved to the hole and started to lower herself down. "I'm coming, Arlo. You stay still, alright. You'd better be breathing when I get down there, or I'm going to start worshipping the Immortal of Death till they love me so much that they let me talk to you and I'll have words." She muttered in this and a similar fashion all the way down. It was tough going and it took all her strength and patience to get herself down there at a safe rate, but as fast as she could. The last thing she wanted to do was to hit the wall the wrong way, thereby dislodging that ledge. It was precision and careful work and Vega felt her muscles in her arms and legs straining against the unfamiliar type of exercise and exertion.

Eventually, far too slowly for her liking, she drew level with him and Vega let out a gulping sort of sob sound as she saw that his chest was moving. "He's alive!" How, she didn't know and tomorrow the best case scenario was that he would be black and blue, but Vega gave thanks to XIur and U'frek for that breath. Pressing her knee against the wall just underneath the ledge, Vega wrapped her leg around a thick vine which was growing out of the wall. She put her other foot into a foothold and did her best to position herself so that she was secure and, should the ledge give way, Arlo would land in her lap. Leaning forward, carefully, she lifted his hat which was hanging on a vine, storing it in her bag. "Arlo. Can you hear me?" Her hands and arms were keeping him still and from above Jeannie told her how to check him. Skin tone, clamminess, how responsive his pupils were to light, that kind of thing. "Lyova, if you can hear me," she said with an apparently calm voice. "I need him not to move." She went about carrying out the checks which Jeannie called down to her.

[Arlo Creede]

Completely unaware of anything going on around him, or that he was as good as hanging by a thread on the edge of an unreliable shelf, Arlo had remained in blissful ignorance during the time it had taken Vega to climb down where he was.

Turned out, the back of his leather coat had caught on a snarl of roots hanging out of the sinkhole's wall, and it was that which had slowed his momentum. And at the moment, it stopped him rolling further, and over the edge.

Who knew how long? But at some point Vega's voice became a faint buzzing his his ears, and Lyova's worried chatter a vague awareness in the back of his mind. He frowned before he even opened his eyes and muttered, "Don't move, Arlo. He's alive." There was a cut, a nick really above his right eyebrow, that Vega would see when he lifted his head a little, groaned, opened one eye and looked at her through a haze.

Eventually he opened the other eye, looked beyond her, up, down, and wondered almost drunkenly, "What are you doing down here? Look Cassion. I've discovered a really big hole. I claim it, in your name." He laid his head back down, groaned again, but this time when he opened his eyes they were clearer.

"Where'd this hole come from? And why are you hanging over the edge like that?" he asked Vega and scooted carefully backwards onto the more solid part of the shelf. "It's not a very safe thing to do. We need to get out of here," he decided.

[Vega]

[img]http://standingtrials.com/gallery/image ... ge_id=7163[/img]

Vega didn't do crying. Not at all. It was weak and pathetic as far as she was concerned. Yet, during the course of this season in Desnind which only lasted thirty trials, she had cried three times. When she met her aunt, when she'd made the decision to abandon three people in the dark for the sake of one child and now. Two of those were because of this boy and Vega promised herself that later, when he was fully recovered and able to take it, she was going to batter him to within an inch of his life. It was the words he spoke that did it, when he spoke what Vega assumed was Lyova's words to him, she felt tears escape. "That's right, you wart. Don't you move. Thanks, Lyova, it's good to know your here. I'm going to kill him later, you know that, right? You might want to start looking for a new friend in the meantime." Vega smiled, although it was a strained one.

Then, he opened his eyes again, asked her what she was doing here and told Cassion all about it. Vega smiled at him, her hands checking the head would, which she called up to Jeannie, who shouted back and gave her instructions. "That's right, Arlo. It's a big hole isn't it?" Keep him talking, Jeannie said. Keep him talking, check for bumps. Vega's hands were gentle as she examined his head, examining for lumps and bumps by feel. "How did you find it?" Normally, they could chatter about nothing at all, but having been told to keep him talking, she really didn't know what to say.

"I'm checking your head and I can only do it when I hang over the edge like this. Can you see me alright?" Vega's expression showed her concern, her usual bravado gone. "Arlo, listen to me, alright?" She gently moved his hair out of the way of the cut, off his forehead and she looked at the cut more closely before calling up. "It's not much, it's ok. No, no it's not bleeding now."

Then, she turned her attention back to Arlo and she started unwinding the rope. "It's not safe, you're right. You had a fall, Arlo, you're alright. But we need to get you back up, up on the ground with Stu and Jeannie. Do you remember them?" She started the process of tying him in a sort of harness so that Stu could pull him up. "I'm not going to let you fall, alright? I've got you."

Stu called down. "Once you've got him tied up securely, you climb back up then the three of us can pull him."
Vega sighed slightly and tested the knots on Arlo's harness. "I can't. I'm not any good at climbing, I'm more likely to fall."
"WHAT?" Stu sounded less nasal and whiny now, Vega thought and she looked up at him with a smile. "If I'd know that I wouldn't have let you go down there for a second."
"Yeah, good luck stopping me, Stu. Now stop it. Stop arguing with me. Pull him up first. I'm perfectly secure here." So long as she'd tied herself off well, there was nothing about to leap out of the darkness and kill her, the rope didn't snap and a thousand other things which ran through her head. Still, thank goodness that they had enough rope for two lengths to be lowered down here. Just one would have been scary.

"When you get back up here, young lady, you and I are going to have words."
"Yeah? 'Get' will be the first word, 'Stu' will be the last and 'out of my face' will be the middle. Now, he's hit his head, he's got a cut and this is dangerous so if you don't start pulling right now when I get up there I'm going to be 'avin' words all of my own with you. Now get on!"
The sound of Jeannie's voice had never been so welcome to the young redhead and a few trills later, they started to pull Arlo up.

As they did that, Vega started to try and climb up herself. She did this, not by virtue of actually climbing, but actually by putting her feet against the wall, holding on to the rope she had and pulling herself up using her strength. When she had gone two 'steps' and had enough rope to do so, she wrapped the rope around her arm, winding it so that she couldn't fall. As they continued to pull Arlo up, Vega discovered the problem with that as a technique as her foot slipped and she fell, her arm yanking hard. She let out a curse in Rakahi at the pain in her shoulder and decided that the thing to do was stop being clever and wait.

Once they had Arlo up on the ground, with Jeannie tending to him, Stu came back and helped her up. He was working hard to pull her, and Vega helped as much as she could with no skill at climbing and an injury in her shoulder, which she tried very hard to just ignore. Eventually, she clambered out of the hold in the ground, filthy, sweating and in no small amount of pain herself.

Her first words, namely, "Thanks. Sorry." Vega spoke to Stu, but then she turned her attention to Arlo and Jeannie. Looking at Arlo who was, at least, awake and seemed more lucid again, Vega couldn't help but look at him with exasperation, relief and fondness all intermingled. In the end, she gave in to relief and a broad grin crossed her face. Stu, who apparently assisted Jeannie in her work, started to examine her shoulder, causing Vega to wince. "It's alright, it's just a ... ow. Gerrof," she exclaimed as he pulled some bandages out of the bag Jeannie had given her and started binding. Vega turned her attention to Arlo, her gaze concerned as she asked. "How you doing over there?"

Of course, she ruined it. "Cos when you're alright? I'm going to kick you into next arc you steaming plonker. Here," she threw over his hat, which she fished out of her bag with her good arm. "I went down after that, but since you've survived too, I suppose you should 'ave it back."

[Arlo Creede]

"Don't you move," Arlo had repeated, even as his mind began to clear a little. And then he grinned, a little drunkenly, in response to apparently nothing at all. "Lyova wants to know why your eyes are leaking," he said as he cautiously sat up and let her tie the rope in place around him. The fairy's curiosity probably wasn't surprising. Her form was far more magic than solid, which meant her grasp of how mortals were made, physically speaking, was shaky at best.

"I can see you fine, all three of you," he said when she asked, though the way he said would give her a sense that he wasn't serious. "I'm fine. I'm seeing like I ought to. But you shouldn't have come down here. The edge, or this shelf could crumble any time." They talked too much, that was who Stu and Jeannie were, and he said so. Nonetheless when they discussed pulling him to the top, he called up, "Leverage the rope round the nearest tree. It'll make it an easier haul."

It would make it easier for them, even had he been dead weight. It also meant that if their hands slipped on the rope, the tree would be enough to prevent whoever was being hauled up from dropping again. But by then his head had cleared enough so that he could at least help by grabbing onto exposed roots and footholds, in order to take some of the tension off of the rope. In fact he'd have insisted that Vega go first, if he'd thought for a trill that she would.

And if Jeannie thought he'd sit still and sit back while Stu labored to pull Vega up on his own, she'd thought wrong. In spite of her protests, he waved off her efforts to tend to him until he'd added his back to the task of pulling, and made sure Vega was on solid ground again. Only then did he let Jeannie have at him, and begrudgingly at that when she came at him with a rag soaked in something that stung when she dabbed at the cut on his forehead. He yanked away, hissed through his teeth in protest, but she persisted anyway. And then showered him with questions like how old was he, what cycle was it, and so on.

"I'm doin' just fine," Arlo told Vega when she asked, and he seemed to be considering he snatched his hat out of the air and put it on his head in one clean gesture. "And I'd like to see you try." Kick him into next arc, he meant. "You're alright?" the young man asked though with genuine concern. "I think it's a couple breaks back to Desnind. But if you'd rather we can stay awhile." He was fine for walking, he felt, and they knew where they were now. But he'd rather not push on if she was feeling any ill effects from her own trip down into the sinkhole and back.

[Vega]

[img]http://standingtrials.com/gallery/image ... ge_id=7163[/img]

If Vega heard the question about leaking eyes, she certainly didn't answer it. She snorted, though, when he said that he could see all three of her. "So the fall didn't knock any humour into you. Shame." When he said she shouldn't have come down, though, Vega stopped what she was doing and looked at him with raised eyebrows, then shook her head and carried on. It was such a stupid thing to say that there was no point arguing with him. "I know they could," crumble at any time, "and I already leveraged your rope round a tree you lummox. I'm not a total idiot."

They got him up though, thank Xiur and Arlo was right when he considered that she would not have gone first under any circumstances. It just wasn't happening and at least he didn't argue that. Still, it was dark and a little unnerving down there whilst she waited, hanging and trying not to give in to the pain her shoulder. Touching it, she winced but she didn't think she'd dislocated anything, just bruised and maybe torn a muscle. Either way, she wasn't going to try and climb up again and so she waited, shaking the dirt out of her hair as bits crumbled.

"What are you doing? Arlo Creede, go and let Jeannie check you out! Oh you....." whatever he was, the stream of Rakahi which exited the sinkhole suggested that she wasn't entirely happy with his choice. However, they were soon both back up in the not-light of Cylus and Jeannie fussed over him whilst Stu fussed over her. All things considered, Vega thought that she'd probably got the best out of that deal and she couldn't help but chuckle at Arlo's words. "Would you? Would you really? You'll see me more than try, you carry on." Kicking him into next arc seemed like a mighty fine idea right about now, but she was too busy trying to hide the wince as Stu bound her shoulder tightly.

"It's not dislocated, but I'd say you've got some muscle damage. It'll be a few trials, rest it and be sensible, you'll be fine."
"I'll have you know, Stu," Vega grumbled, "I was born sensible. I have achieved sensible in ways that some people," she raised her voice in Arlo's general direction, "can only dream of." She didn't quite have words, though, for how relieved she was when he grabbed his hat and she beamed in delight at him. "Me? I'm not the one that just dropped down a big hole. Stu's just fussing. I'm fine."

Getting up, though, Vega moved over and wrapped him in a one-armed hug. "Bloody idiot, you scared the life out of me," she said, quietly to him. "You sure you're ok? Soon as I've got movement in both arms, be prepared for that kicking, alright?" Solemnly, she handed him her flask and shook her head. "I just want to get out of here and get back to camp. Lets go." She did, though, make sure to turn to both Stu and Jeannie and thank them. Then, it was back to Desnind where they could drop of Stu and Jeannie and get some rest. In the quiet.

[Inali]

Congratulations!

Vega

Knowledge:

• Leadership: Designating tasks
• Creature: Arnari
• Arnari: Agile with good hearing
• Leadership: Regaining control of a tense situation
• Jeannie: Doctor
• Strength: Utilizing rope and muscle to secure oneself to a location
• Medicine: Basic triage care
• Medicine: Moving fall/trauma victims could cause additional injury
• Medicine: Keeping a trauma victim talking to gain information regarding their status
• Etiquette: Apologizing for angry outbursts to mend fences
• Stu & Jeannie: Helpful in a crisis
• Stu & Jeannie: Annoying when not in a crisis

Loot: None
Injuries: Rope burn: left arm - will heal fully in 5 trials. Strained shoulder - will heal fully in 4 trials, provided no additional stress is placed on the joint
Fame: General good deed (+1)
Devotion: None
Magic: These points cannot be used for magic

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

Arlo

Knowledge:

• Fieldcraft: Dousing a fire
• Navigation: Using landmarks to augment a compass
• Running: Sprinting through forested terrain
• Creature: Arnari
• Arnari: Agile with good hearing
• Vega: Willing to risk injury to save you
• Intelligence: Assessing danger via environmental cues
• Strength: Pulling oneself upward using rocks and roots
• Stu & Jeannie: Helpful in a crisis
• Stu & Jeannie: Annoying when not in a crisis

Loot: None
Injuries: Concussion: 50 trials to fully recover, first 10 trials of recovery will include headaches that are triggered by vigorous movement and bright light. Small cut above eyebrow: 10 trials to fully heal without scarring, provided the wound is cleaned and not exposed to excessive bacteria.
Fame: General good deed (+1)
Devotion: Pray to Cassion (+1), Discover a new location (+1), Give someone directions (+1), Have an adventure (+3) = 6
Magic: These points cannot be used for magic

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

Cute little thread about what can go wrong in nature. I really liked seeing Vega taking the lead and learning a bit more about medicine and trauma care in a very hands on setting. I think Arlo played the feeling of 'a hunt' wonderfully as well. It's easy to jump over branches, but there are many more dangers underfoot that you can't see or dodge! I liked the interaction between this pair and can't wait to see what else they get into!