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Considering the fact that Raiden wasn't looking at his feet when it happened... this was rather surprising. While a far fall it was not, it was still a shock to suddenly find nothing beneath your feet; the prefect's hand even scrambled at the wall in surprise and he dropped the rock as he fell. "YAAAAH!" The short shout was unavoidable as he suddenly dropped, and... Thump. His feet were out from beneath him and he was on his rear, half-rolling onto his back with the slight momentum before he recovered himself. ...well. Hadn't expected that. Immediate instinct was to get on his feet, in case something was down here with him. So, pushing himself up, eyes only lingering on the few seeds that had fallen from his branch for a moment, he looked around. And tried to catch his breath. The panic was slow to abandon his stomach. |
It absolutely reeked. She tried to avoid breathing through her nose, taking large, uneven gasps for air through her mouth. But it wasn't deadly. She'd smelt much, much worse back at home. Clinging to the source of light she peered into the distance. The way ahead was obviouslynot that easy together around. Thinking hard for a moment - she walked forward noticing the spewy black sluggy plants. Ewwwwee! The smell of petrol, however, she could handle. Now.. How to get around? She had two weapons (in a way) She had her jumper and she had her fireseed plant. Would the plant/slug be affected by the heat? There were quite a few fireseeds on the branch she'd picked. Keeping flat against the wall of the cave, she kept the light and heat source we in front of her as she edged towards the plant. Please, please, please Merlin, let this work! If it did, even just to burn it or something, she could probably ease herself behind the slug things and against the cave wall. For the first time in her life, it might've paid off being petite. |
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With a sigh he gathered his wits about him again, placed his hand right hand against the gave wall, the fireseed torch in front of him and started walking again deeper into the cave. After awhile he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw a fork before him. Of course. Moving the torch from one side to the other he didn't see anything but could hear a noise coming from his right hand side. Turning to the left he sees the passageway partially blocked and moving closer a foul smell reaching his nostrils. Chance of being blocked by a full cave in and then suffocated to death by the smell or...the noise.... Maybe I should flip a coin..., he thought sarcastically. Looking toward the right again he noticed the noise level changing and swallowed. Was something moving that was making that noise? It sounded like it. Pursing his lips he narrowed his eyes and nodded decisively he'd rather deal with the noise than the smell if he was honest with himself. Going with his gut instinct he reached his hand out against the cave wall and followed the fork to the right with his fireseed torch leading the way. |
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Well, you're still alive and if you've still got fireseed for light, the next turn in the cave should be visible. The passage narrows somewhat, the light bouncing off what look like fairy eggs nestled in the crevices. But as soon as they're noticed, the passage opens into a huge cavern, the light reflecting upward, if not outward. The gentle sounds of water lapping at the shore can be heard, but not yet seen. Along the back wall of the cavern, near where you stand, plant life of all sorts presses up against the stone. Nascent trees crawling with wood lice. Alihotsy plants mingling with angel's trumpet. Slimy bundles of what look like green rat tails nestle against gurdyroots. Deathcaps press up against their muggle counterparts. All ignorable, so long as you aren't anxious for a snack. When you finally come to the shore, you can see what appears to be a lake - though the far side if obscured from view by the dark. What is apparent, however, is that the other two sides have no shores - just sheer rock faces. There is nowhere to go but across the lake. Giant lilypads float on the surface, some appearing close enough to leap one to the other. Gravity resistant trees hover above the surface, again appearing to, at least at the start, be close enough to travel one to the other. As for the water, it seems calm if one simply wanted to swim. There's no telling what lies beyond the limit of your sight, but you have to start somewhere. Quote:
The plant itself squirmed, but was otherwise undeterred by the fireseeds. The light bounced down the tunnel, the giant umbrella flowers casting long shadows. Quote:
As you proceed further through the tunnel, you come across an area that is thick with massive plants in the shape of an umbrella. Plants with long, swaying tentacles are growing in large quantities on the walls of the tunnel. The plants closely resemble Devil’s Snare, but as you get a little closer, you can clearly see that those tentacles don’t belong to a Devil’s Snare but to something that looks almost just like it. You can see fairly well, but as soon as you take a few steps forward, the pathway begins to drop sharply into the dark, and you can no longer see the bottom of the cave floor. To proceed forward, you must go down---but how? Just jumping will result in broken bones. |
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He noticed that the box had, in fact, budged a bit and now the wailing plant was going FULL FORCE. It was like a lil locomotive, propelled by its wails, and it was just starting to steam up and churn the wheels. Speaking of churning wheels (ie his brain), Fletcher remembered his makeshift earplugs. Had he dropped them just before the landslide? Glancing down at the earthen floor, Fletcher dropped to his knees and scuttled around for a moment before finding the strips of cloth. YES. YES. He grinned triumphantly and jammed them into his ears, gritting his teeth against the momentary discomfort. And then.... total silence. Excellent. It was almost eerie as Fletcher glanced around the cave. He couldn't hear the light rustle of the plants behind him, nor any shifting of the rocks from the landslide, nor even a single tell-tale drip that usually came with underground dwellings. There was nothing else to do, then, but shove the mandrake box --- or the mandrake itself, maybe --- into the barrier. It was his last hope. Fletcher stared down the screaming plant and then shoved into the box again, pushing it determinedly toward the barrier. Good thing this thing was just a lid..... maybe if he budged it some more he could pick it up and throw it at the barrier?? |
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As he continued to walk he felt something about the atmosphere change...like it was denser or something and moving his head so he could wave the fireseed torch he saw vines everywhere. The sight of the vines though made his blood run cold and he stood stock still. It looked just like Devil's Snare. Swallowing hard he moved slower and looked closely at the vines that didn't seem to back away at the light or try to throttle him from behind as it got dark again. His eyebrows drew down puzzled as he realized it obviously wasn't Devil's Snare. His confidence returning greatly he continued onward this time not bothering to touch the walls but he was brought up shortly as he felt himself going lower. What?! He moved his makeshift torch down and saw the pathway drop down sharply. "Great..." he muttered to himself. The fact that he couldn't see where the floor was meant he probably couldn't jump or...at least shouldn't risk it. It seemed his only other choice was to climb on the vines. To do that though...he needed both hands. His eyes going to the fireseed torch in his hand he pursed his lips. How was he going to do tha...oh! He could tie the belt in a knot and hold it with his teeth though...he wasn't sure he could get the belt knot tight enough so that the branch wouldn't slip out as he climbed. He could rip some cloth off and use that...that would get tight enough right? Or...shoe string but then what happened if his shoe slipped off. Pursing his lips he looked down into the hole and sighed he was afraid if he dropped it into the hole the seeds would fall off and then prove useless to him. Maybe no shoes while climbing down vines would be a better thing if only a little icky. There was a reason why rock climbers used those flat form fitting shoes right? Looking around at the vines he pursed his lips and nodded yup it was going to be so. The belt would never be tight enough to keep the branch safe but the shoe string should be. Bending down he used his free hand to untie his shoes and pull the shoe laces out on both shoes. Holding the branch in the crook of his arm his fingers worked on tying the shoelaces quickly together and tugging on them hard a few times to make sure they wouldn't untie. He pulled the belt off of the branch gritting his teeth in preparation in case the branch was hotter than he expected and tied the shoestring onto the branch, again pulling on the string to see if it would untie. Unsure if this would work fully he tied the shoestring to his wrist awkwardly and left enough extra to move in between his fingers. As soon as he was done he took a deep breath and looked down at his socked feet. Surely that would be worse climbing down than shoes would be and decided it best to pull them off. Stuffing the socks in the shoes he made sure the shoe string was still tightly in his fingers and grabbing his shoes tossed them down first hoping he'd hear the thump as the hit the ground rather quickly as he lowered himself down trying to grip the vines tightly but hopefully not tight enough that they'd break as he headed down carefully. |
A hand reached behind him, brushing off any dirt that might be clinging to his clothing as he looked up at the bottom of the Devil's Snare he'd just been ejected from. Some dust still clung to his back, but he wasn't much bothered by it. He could clean up after the task was over. Nobody was likely to get through without getting dirty. A quick search of the area revealed the rock he'd dropped when he'd fallen, lying only a few feet away from where he had landed; he quickly picked it up and shoved it into his sweatshirt pocket. It was sharp enough to be of possible use in the future, and who knew if he'd need it again. He kinda hoped he wouldn't, though. Nothing else grabbing at his ankles, please and thank you. Holding his fireseeds aloft, glad that only a few of the precious seeds had been dislodged from the fall, he let his eyes take in what the light touched before cautious steps carried him forward. Left hand in his sweatshirt pocket, he followed the path around the turn; the narrowing of the path was noticeable enough to make him a bit uncomfortable, but surely they wouldn't set any magical creatures on them when they were nearly defenceless. ...his fingers tightened around the rock, just in case. The fairy eggs held his attention for a moment, and he paused to watch the strange way the light reflected off the surface before turning his gaze to the small plants nearby. One of them... looked a bit like gillyweed. Was it actually gillyweed, or was it that imposter plant they'd learned about way back when? As he could hear water, this question seemed like it might be a bit important. Unfortunately, if he remembered correctly... gillyweed that was harvested out of water wasn't really gillyweed anymore, was it? Something about hydration of it while it was on the host plant... He wasn't sure. Kazimeriz had been there, and Raiden had had a hard time focusing because of that fact. The young man separated off a bit of it, watching it as he walked; gillyweed was supposed to wriggle, wasn't it? If it was gillyweed, and not inactive, then it might prove useful... The sheer rock faces on either side of the water... Raiden squinted a bit, looking at them to see if there were any handholds there. Years of Herbology classes were flooding back into his head, cobwebbed though they were. Lily pad hopping with Bunbury. The trees could prove useful too, for balance... he looked back down at the slimy plant in his hand. Gillyweed or not? Swimming might have been an option then. |
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The barrier remained unchanged as the box pushed up against it. Quote:
Two. Three. Four. FIVE. Five full seconds before the fainted thud could be heard as the shoes hit the bottom. What that meant for distance was anyones guess. Muggle physics wasn't exactly on the curriculum. The vines, unfortunately for our champion, were not at all secure. They pulled away from the sides easily and fell limp, attached to nothing. This could hurt. Quote:
The trees floated to and fro, remaining close enough together to provide passage over the water. The lilypads continued to float. Passage on the water. Or, passage in the water? |
The fact that it was twitching led Raiden to believe that it was probably gillyweed. Wasn't as active as one would hope for with gillyweed, but it was something. He shoved it into his empty pocket. Hopefully he wouldn't need it... Hopefully. The young man approached the edge of the water and set one foot on a lilypad, leaning onto it with a fair amount of weight. Had to test if it would handle him, first... If he just jumped onto it and it dropped him in the water, he'd be cold, wet, and heavier from his clothing soaking up the lake. |
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His ear plugs still carefully in place, he bent his knees and wrapped his arms around the box, hopefully lifting it so he could chuck it at the Great Wall of Invisibility.... |
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The root having tipped, the sound echoed off the ceiling, and dust began to fall down from the vibrations. As for the barrier, a crack appeared in the upper left corner and slowly began spiderwebbing down at a near glacial pace. |
Ugh. Raiden withdrew his foot, shaking off a bit of the water that had seeped into his sneaker. These were obviously not the same kind of lily pads that Bunz had had in her class. The ones that had carried everyone, even those bigger than he. Which meant... it was either swim, or use the trees, because he wasn't going to run across the lily pads and hope they didn't sink with him. That path was much too dangerous. Since the trees were much drier, he figured he might as well start with them. But that required two hands, and... he wasn't leaving his light there. Glancing around at everything within reach, he realised that there was nothing at all that could be used to secure it to him... ugh. It took him a minute of deliberation, but he finally realised that he did have something he could use. He tugged the string from the hood of his sweatshirt, tying one end around the branch and then the other around his wrist. He'd try to hold onto the branch as he moved, but this way if he dropped it... it wouldn't fall in the water. Reaching for the nearest tree, he found a spot to grab hold of, and pulled himself up. His feet settled on the roots, arms wrapping around the trunk to keep himself on it, and he paused, waiting to see what it would do. Would it remain in the air? He wouldn't go too far from shore before he was sure of that. Wouldn't do to get a bit out there and then suddenly have the trees collapsing into the water... |
erm... I'm guessing the barrier is no longer totally invisible? Quote:
Fletcher promptly dropped the box to the right of the mandrake and out of the way of the main path of the cave. He froze and he half-turned as his eyes slowly darted around the tunnel, searching for some visible sign of what was going on since he could hear not hear a thing. He could see dust falling on top of his head, but wait... what was that shiny little gleam on the left side of the barrier? HALLLLLLLELUJAH. The barrier was cracking! It was breaking! He was almost freeeeeeee! Fletcher could have SANG he was SO PLEASED right then. He fist-pumped the air like a champ and whooped, though of course he couldn't hear himself nor the plant. He could have picked the thing up and kissed it, he was so happy. In just a few moments the whole barrier will shatter and he'll be on his way! RIGHT?! |
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His eyes widened however as he felt the vines give and looking down the branch hung from the shoestring did nothing to illuminate how much farther it was that he had to go. Cursing to himself mentally he looked around trying to think of what he could do, and swiftly at that before he hurt himself. Before he realized it though he found the vines pulling away completely at his touch and he bit his lip. What was he to do now? Cling for dear life? Or drop and hurt himself.... Ummm yeah not much of a choice he pulled on the vines with all his strength trying to get as much of the vine underneath him as he could and enough to hang on to. Yup clinging for deal life sounded like a much better option and so...that's just what he did. What's the worst that could happen? He could fall anyway.... Biting his lip he looked down into the darkness trying to see past the fireseed branch hanging at his side. |
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The redhead leapt back as the pus spurted, fearful for her body limbs. Was the pus acidic? Cos if it was, that would HURT! So that hadn't worked. What had inspired her to go left? HMM? But it wasn't really the time to be feeling sorry for things that had happened ages ago - she had to concentrate on the present. Now. How to get back this pus spurting plant? Thankfully, she still had light. How long would that last, though? She had to get out and think faster. Pus. What would happen if she just chucked a seed at it and burnt the plant? It would explode..? That would be a massive explosion and she didn't fancy getting killed by an explosion of gas. It would be a stupid mistake. What killed plants? She didn't have any weed kill lying around. But then again.. what if she was going about this the wrong way. The pathways were covered by this smelly, gross stuff - couldn't she just walk through the umbrella plants? At least they LOOKED a little safer.. then she could just cut across and get back on the path. Hmm? She made for the umbrella and looked up around her. Merrrlin.. |
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The bark was rough, but the trees were supportive. At the moment, the tree you are on is floating away from the one in front of it, but will float back. In the distance, a glow can be seen in the trees. It doesn't illuminate the area around it, but it is in the direction of the rock wall that borders the lake furthest from you. Between you and in, trees and lilypads float toward and apart from each other. It will be rough going, but you do have a path right to it. The far shore remains in a different direction, shrouded in darkness. Quote:
At the same time, the echo from the mandrake's screams was vibrating most of the tunnel - most severely, the roof, at which the mandrake was currently pointed. The cracks continued to grow, but the barrier still stood. Quote:
What now? Are you in reach of the top of the cliff to grab on or did you go too far before the vine gave way? Quote:
They continue to cast broad shadows as the light hits them, much like a muggle umbrella might. |
Okay, okay. Raiden held fast to the tree he'd climbed into, fingers pressed against the bark. It didn't seem to give, didn't seem as if it would sink down into the water, which meant he could use them to cross. Hopefully. They swayed, which meant he'd have to time himself, and his movements, but... he could do that. It would be okay. The glow caught his attention in the darkness, and he frowned at it; it wasn't quite the way he was gonna go, but... it was light. Light would be useful. Yet part of him said he should leave it. That it could just be a distraction, a trap to eat up his time and energy. He still assumed that was what the daffodils had been designed to push him towards... Not everything can be a trap, Kururugi. It might be worth it. After all, his only light source at the moment was fire-based. If he were to lose it... If he slipped up and fell into the water, then he'd be locked in complete darkness. And he'd be wet. He shifted on the tree, waiting for it to sway back in the direction of the other that led toward the light, and then jumped toward it, feet pushing firmly off the roots they stood on as he reached for the trunk of the next. If it was bad, he could always stop and go the opposite direction, right? |
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He grabbed the mandrake's pot with his free hand and held it up toward the barrier, deciding to run along it and shove it/aim its screams toward the barrier. Perhaps the closer he got to it the more it would crack and shatter. LOUDER, Mandrake, LOUDER! |
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Weird. So she had a path .. covered by whatsits plants. Hmm. She stared at the pus-plant for a moment. If she even dared to walk over them without protection of some kind she would get burnt.. and most likely cause a huge gaseous explosion which would then implode the cave. heh.. Soooooooo not a good idea. But maybe she could actually.. kill them? She took one look at her fireseeds and she prayed to Merlin this would work - and wouldn't kill her. heh. Using her jumper as a sort of glove, she tried to twist the little seed off the branch and feeling the intense heat, she threw it into the little pus-squirter's direction. Would it set on fire? Would it explode? Or would nothing happen? And then she took a few dozen steps back. |
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"Okay...not fun anymore," he grunted as he sat up and stared down into the deep hole. "Now what!" he yelled as he sat trying to catch his breath and looked around. Should he just go back? He wanted his bloody wand! He tried to look at the cliff face to see if he could climb down using just that but he would almost certainly cut up his feet if not fall anyway at some point and with his luck it would be farther down and he couldn't reach the top this time. Maybe...he was meant to go the other way? But he needed his shoes now. FAAAAAAAAAAANTASTIC. Grunting he looked down into the hole again and looked around before lying back down on the ground and staring up at the cave ceiling. Why couldn't there be a sign that said 'Go this way'? Resolutely he stood up and started walking back to the fork. Smell over broken bones any day it seemed. |
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Now that the glass is gone, it seems to path is clear. Quote:
Surely there is something else in this tunnel you can use to move forward? Quote:
Well, there's only one way to go now...back down. Perhaps those squishy plants and umbrella flowers can be used in some other manner? |
Fingers scrambled at the bark, and he slipped slightly on the roots before he caught his footing; indeed, his foot dangled between two of them for a moment before he managed to get it up to safety. One arm wrapped securely around the trunk, securing him enough that he wouldn't fall into the water. He liked being dry. The swaying... he could work that to his advantage, and he knew it. Raiden waited, holding onto the rough bark and ignoring the slight stinging in his fingertips, watching for the moment where both trees swayed toward each other. Muscles tense, he waited, and when the moment looked right, he leapt for the next one as they moved closer to each other. |
Thank you for finally posting. :D Quote:
Fletcher had taken to loudly humming (off-key, of course) the theme song of one of his favorite Muggle films as he held the mandrake out to the barrier. He totally felt like that adventurous history professor... the one named after his dog. What was it? Ohio Jones? Illinois Jones? Something like that. Anyway, he was giving his best effort and finally, FINALLY, it seemed to be paying off. The barrier had broken! HUZZAH! Fletcher whooped loudly again and carefully set the Mandrake down. "Thanks bud," he said REALLY LOUDLY, unaware as he was of his volume level. It's all in the ear He carefully maintained hold of his fiery branch and replaced the box cover over the plant, with a bit of difficulty. And now that that was taken care of, he could FINALLY move on! Fletcher practically skipped past the barrier and held his light source high. YAY one more step closer to his wand!!!!!! |
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Sighing he looked at the rock wall in front of him and then back down the hole before looking at the wiggly vines next to him. If it wasn't Devil's Snare what was it and could he use it.... Moving toward the cave wall he reached his arm out carefully as he wracked his brain for the name of the plant. If it looked like Devil's Snare but didn't...kill people...did it act the same as Devil's Snare and could he get it to lower him down the hole. Then he could get his SHOES and get this over with. "You want to lower me down right..." he side to the plant things as if trying to persuade it like he would Fia. Moving his hand closer he touched the vine carefully wondering just what would happen. |
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When you finally come to the shore, you can see what appears to be a lake - though the far side if obscured from view by the dark. What is apparent, however, is that the other two sides have no shores - just sheer rock faces. There is nowhere to go but across the lake. Giant lilypads float on the surface, some appearing close enough to leap one to the other. Gravity resistant trees hover above the surface, again appearing to, at least at the start, be close enough to travel one to the other. As for the water, it seems calm if one simply wanted to swim. There's no telling what lies beyond the limit of your sight, but you have to start somewhere. Quote:
The umbrella flowers cast long shadows as the light from the fireseed lit the tunnel. |
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