|
Post by Lethalia on Jul 10, 2019 17:20:10 GMT -6
How are you supposed to find any gems with all of these rocks in the way?!
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 10, 2019 18:08:54 GMT -6
Viridia suddenly popped back out of the pile of rocks, with something in her mouth, curling around it protectively. "Oh? Did you find something?" She inquired, but Viridia attempted to slither away instead. "Hey, come here!" Fiera snapped, stumbling up after her. She reached down toward the wyrm. "Gimme that!" Fiera tried to grab her, and Viridia shied away and growled loudly. "Oh, don't be a baby." Fiera grumbled, holding the serpent down. Luna and Sola quietly peered at the scene from the side. If Lolas could have popcorn, they'd be eating buckets of it. Viridia hissed loudly as Fiera tried to wrestle away the stone in her mouth. "I just! Want to see! What you have!" She cried, finally wrenching the rock out of her mouth. She held it up to her eye... to reveal a perfectly normal pebble from the stream. She looked at Viridia. If a gem wyrm could be smug, Viridia would be positively radiating it.
Fiera huffed. "Fine. You know what! If this rock is so darn special to you, I'm going to keep it!" She opened her pack and held the rock over it pointedly before dropping it in. "Yeah! There, how do you like that?" She closed her pack again and slung it over her back once more. "And don't even THINK about asking for it back. Oh wait! You can't! Because you're a dumb, smug, rock snake! How about THEM apples!" Deprived of her 'special' rock, Viridia simply... got over it, and went back to wandering around the edge of the stream. Fine then.
FF: 6
Viridia: Lv 5.1/Lo 5.1
Sola: Lv 6.3/Lo 6.3
Luna: Lv 6.3/Lo 6.3
[Post 26]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 14:37:09 GMT -6
Fiera kicked some more pebbles into the stream, still a little miffed. Had this area of the caves already been picked so clean? She hadn't found a single interesting thing since she came down this path. She figured it was about time to try the other one. Oh, and rescue that theoretical person she heard in the caves. That would be nice too, she supposed. With that, she turned her heel sharply on the streams and smooth stones, and began to march back up the cave. Retreading old ground didn't seem to bother Viridia too much. The gem wyrm seemed perfectly interested in her surroundings still- perhaps double checking her own work. The lolas on the other hand, seemed to prefer the coolness and the damp, and seemed hesitant to leave. Sola even remained clinging to a rock stubbornly for a time. Just then, however, a one of the lanterns next to her flickered ominously, threatening to go out. She squeaked once with fear and floated upward, flying after her sister.
Fiera ran her hand along the damp rock. Quietly, she wondered how deep the mines must go. Just how far had they dug under the mines, and how far out? She had heard once that deep below the earth was a world in reverse, where rock and fire flowed like water and crystals grew like plants, but from the ceiling. She snorted. Frankly, she was sure those were just stories for children. After all, everything she had seen so far had been... well, perfectly watery.
FF: 7
Viridia: Lv 5.2/Lo 5.2
Sola: Lv 6.4/Lo 6.4
Luna: Lv 6.4/Lo 6.4
[Post 27]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 16:50:24 GMT -6
Still, if she suspected THOSE stories were lies... then maybe the tales of monsters down here were purely fairy tales as well. That made Fiera feel a little better. However, it didn't seem to make Sola and Luna feel much better; their melancholy after leaving the wet part of the mines only seemed to grow as they walked. Slowly, they floated lower and lower to the ground, hugging close to each other. Fiera suspected they just weren't meant for the underground lifestyle. Had it been a good trip for bonding? Yes, it had. Or at least, Fiera thought so. They were certainly fun to have around. But right now it seemed that them staying down here was doing more harm then good. A few minutes of travel later, and Fiera found herself at the branch again. She looked longingly down the other path, wondering what she might find down there... but no, it wasn't fair to the Lola right now. She snapped her fingers.
"Come on, little ladies, let's go drop you off back home." The lola, of course, had no idea what she was saying, but it was mostly for her to look cool anyway. She strode through the tunnels, abandoning whatever sound was further down in the tunnels. If there had been any sound at all, that is. Perhaps she was just looking for something to do. But soon the lanterns got brighter and the walls got smoother again, the cavern growing and growing, and people milling around her. It was time to bring the lolas home.
FF: 8
Viridia: Lv 5.3/Lo 5.3
Sola: Lv 7/Lo 7
Luna: Lv 7/Lo 7
[Post 28]
(Luna and Sola have been put back in the kennels- from this point on only Viridia is in the mines with me.)
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 17:01:34 GMT -6
Fiera strode back into the mines, eager to get back to work. Well, "work". She wasn't nearly as hardcore as some of these other miners, she noted. They strode by with their buckets full of equipment, hauling out endless gems. Huh. All she needed was Viridia and her trusty mallet. Which is, at least what she told herself, as finding gems had been incredibly difficult so far, likely due to her lack of equipment. Better to think she was superior than cry about having less. She glanced down at Viridia, who was pulling strongly at her "leash". That was good at least- her mining familiar was as eager to get back to work as she was. She slung the mallet over her shoulder and whistled a jaunty tune. Maybe today wasn't going to turn out so bad after all. Ah, but here was the problem- should she try the same path as before?
FF: 9
Viridia: Lv 5.4/Lo 5.4
[Post 29]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 17:06:19 GMT -6
She worried her lip, looking at her options. Crap! She stopped chewing on it again- she always forgot about her lipstick! Ugh. Should she go the same way as before, and try to find something she missed? Or should she choose an entirely different path? The possibilities were greater, but there was a chance she could meet up with other miners, and have to compete for the same resources. She tapped her mallet against some weak stalactites as she thought, crumbling them in the hope that there was something nice inside. She'd really rather avoid people if she could, and there weren't any in the path she had chosen. Well, none that she had found she thought, remembering the bizarre noise she heard back in the tunnels. Did she really want to find it's source? She sighed, and walked back down her old path, smashing another rock as she left. Might as well.
FF: 10
Viridia: Lv 6.0/Lo 6.0
[Post 30]
|
|
|
Post by Renathan on Jul 11, 2019 18:31:01 GMT -6
Down the path, there appeared a slight noise; like a metronome, with a similar beat... Oh; it's dripping water isn't it? Is there water down here?
[Nothing happens - 26-30]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 20:18:13 GMT -6
Fiera's ear flicked. There was that damn dripping noise again. She knew EXACTLY what was down that path- streams, pebbles, a big empty pit, and a whole lot of nothing. She had found nothing but some dumb regular rocks down there, and some water to fill up her shoes. Not pleasant. She went down that tunnel again, clambering over the rock pile, but pointedly AVOIDED that branch. She glanced back at the rock pile though. Maybe... she crushed a few more rocks in that area before she left for real, but didn't find anything. Nope, definitely a waste of time. She kept on trekking, down the right hand path this time. This one, as she noted earlier, was quite a bit dimmer than the watery path. The walls were just as rough, but the lamps seemed more poorly maintained. Were they running low on oil, she wondered, or were they just broken?
FF: 11
Viridia: Lv 6.1/Lo 6.1
[Post 31]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 20:46:21 GMT -6
Leaning in closer to the lanterns, Fiera realized they might not even be real lanterns at all? Well, not fake in that they didn't act as lanterns, fake in that she couldn't tell if there was anything actually burning in there. Was it electric? Magic? She wasn't too familiar with either of those things, but regardless of the physics behind it, the lighting in this tunnel was sickly and poor, as if the lanterns themselves were struggling. The floor here was rougher too; instead of being smoothed by water, it was craggy and uneven underfoot. Viridia seemed right at home, looping effortlessly over the rough earth without so much as a scratch. Fiera on the other hand had to watch her step carefully, despite the gem wyrm's impatient tugging. She made sure to keep one hand on the wall at all times; one wrong step and SHE'D be the mysterious noise crying out through the mines.
FF: 12
Viridia: Lv 6.2/Lo 6.2
[Post 32]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 21:57:00 GMT -6
As she slowed down to watch her step better, she realized there was another good reason for it. The walls were glittering, near iridescent with tiny crystals. Nothing big enough to pry off and take home, no, but maybe with a little hard work she could excavate something nice. Viridia seemed to agree, winding around and examining the walls more than pushing forward. The spot she was in was random, but Fiera supposed it was as good as anywhere else. She crouched down, finding a nice outcropping, and began chipping bits off with the mallet. Viridia sniffed the pieces coming off, as if also examining the outcropping for potential. A few minutes later, and Fiera had a nice little pile of rock fragments going at her feet, but nothing inside the outcropping seemed too different. Viridia still seemed interested though- maybe if she pushed a little deeper she'd find something?
FF: 13
Viridia: Lv 6.3/Lo 6.3
[Post 33]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 21:59:23 GMT -6
At Viridia's behest, Fiera kept on hammering, even though her arm was getting quite tired by now. She could see how the tunnels in the front of the mines got so smooth, like this. Chances are they used to be a lot rougher, until all the rough outcroppings had been chipped off in the search for gems. It was a lot harder to mine on a surface that was already smooth, so chances are everyone had moved further down. Did that mean nobody came down here? Fiera didn't think it was that far from the surface, to be honest. Maybe the others who came here just knew something she didn't. Like that there weren't any gems here. Or perhaps there was aggressive wildlife. Fiera decided that she would take the second one, as the ache in her arm was too tiresome for her to consider the possibility she could be doing this for nothing.
FF: 14
Viridia: Lv 6.4/Lo 6.4
[Post 34]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 22:03:43 GMT -6
Finally, she seemed to break into a cavity of some sort. She sucked in a deep breath as a blast of stale air hit her in the face. She peered into the hole, and marveled at the sight. It almost looked like a geode. She had seen geodes a couple times. Her father kept one on his desk, the kind of trophy or trinket that rich men like to keep around. A status symbol. A couple others had floated by the black market back home as well. To her disappointment however, this didn't seem to quite be one. Whereas most geodes had an inner filling of crystalline structures, this one simply had a greater concentration of the colorful, shiny flecks that lined the walls around her. Instead of being a valuable talking piece, it was simply a pocket of air that happened to be a bit more colorful than the surrounding mining tunnel, that was all.
FF: 15
Viridia: Lv 6.5/Lo 6.5
[Post 35]
|
|
|
Post by Renathan on Jul 11, 2019 22:05:58 GMT -6
Eww, there’s fungus growing down here! [31-35]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 22:12:37 GMT -6
Fiera stuck her hand in the hole, disappointed. All that work, for nothing than a pretty sight. Just then though, her hand fell upon something inside the hole. Could she have actually found something? She hurriedly brought it back up... only to find more fungus. Ugh. Granted, it was a different type than last time, though still a little disappointing to find. She supposed she could hock it with the other mushrooms she found. She opened her pack and got out the other ones. At least she brought extra wax paper she thought to herself, setting both of them in a cradle of paper. She carefully tied them back up with twine, and set them back in the bag. There. Hopefully that'd keep them from getting too damaged before she got out of here. Mushrooms were pretty delicate, weren't they? She hadn't actually eaten enough of them to know, to be honest.
FF: 16
Viridia: Lv 7.1/Lo 7.1
[Post 36]
|
|
|
Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 11, 2019 22:16:37 GMT -6
She began to chip around more of the false geode. Maybe something else would be buried nearby? Soon, she had widened an other wise small hole into a massive gap in the side of the tunnel, and was no richer for it. She huffed. Well, at least there wasn't a chance of anyone stepping in the hole anymore and accidentally twisting an ankle. In fact, it would be pretty hard to miss now. Although... she looked around at how much the hole extended into the middle of the tunnel. She might have made it much more difficult for people to get carts in and out of here. Oops. Oh well, she shrugged. She hadn't done anything wrong...technically. Mining was the name of the game here, did it really matter how she changed the tunnel to do it? Besides, it already appeared that no one frequented this tunnel, so they likely wouldn't even mind the damage.
FF: 17
Viridia: Lv 7.2/Lo 7.2
[Post 37]
|
|