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Post by Nadia on Jan 28, 2023 22:46:38 GMT -6
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 19:54:45 GMT -6
The entire way back, Renathan felt as if he was being watched. He shouldn't feel as though he was being watched, seeing as he was no longer looking into the mirror-like reflection of the strange creepy wall. He only thought about that whenever he heard a strange noise behind him (where something most certainly would not be) and when he turned around, he saw something large and hulking wriggling around as it fell from the ceiling and began burrowing into the ground just below where it fell. He jumped and stood stark still, yelping as he did. This finally seemed to alert Sarabi, who moved from her position where she had been digging at the wall and then race over to where he was. Of course, he was not hurt- but he was quite shocked. Was that one of those... Giant worm things that lived in the mines? Where did it go? Where did it come from?
[21]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:05:24 GMT -6
Sarabi seemed to realize that the danger was gone nearly as soon as she sauntered on over, but that didn't keep her from sticking beside Renathan's side as he slowly 'unstuck' himself from being stiffened from shock and begin to move forward cautiously to look at the hole that the large wriggling creature left behind as it tunneled through the ceiling and then back down through the floor in such a swift movement that Renathan couldn't help but think that it didn't even hurt to fall like that. The creature was so large that Renathan could hardly even fathom it- it was nearly pliathor sized, from the hole it left behind. Sarabi hung quite close to him, looking suspiciously down into the hole from as far a distance as she could manage while still being protective over the russet mammalian. Renathan peered down the hole a bit closer, first trying to squint to see through the darkness below.
[22]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:12:51 GMT -6
The darkness was impenetrable by the naked eye, and though the creature had made such an extreme noise before that Renathan hadn't even noticed it- but now he could hear what had to be one of the most deafening echoing noises coming from the hole that had been left behind. In fact, there were little pebbles around the hole that were hopping around with the shaking of the earth. The creature did still seemed to be going away, he could tell because the noise got more and more quiet as time went on. The tremors began to die down in time, and finally Renathan had the gumption to shine his flashlight down the extremely dark hole. It went down as far as the light seemed to allow and then went down even further. He couldn't have imagined how far that the hole went down if he tried. He gulped his own spit down audibly, feeling a bit of instinctual fear at the size of the thing. Sarabi seemed less afraid, and more simply cautious.
[23]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:16:13 GMT -6
Renathan did feel like Sarabi's instincts over the creatures in the mines were much better than his were, and she didn't seem to be too on edge. She even bent forward once the noises stopped and sniffed the hole, closing her eyes as she did. Renathan couldn't even imagine what she must have been sensing; were creatures down in the mines even able to sense the same things that he did? He hadn't ever even considered such a thing. "That thing was BIG." He finally manages to get out, as soon as his body stopped feeling quite as stuck in fear as it had been. Sarabi snorts, and then sits up, shaking her head. Finally, she looks up at Renathan and twists her head to the side in a gesture that almost seemed to be liked that of a canid moreso than a gargoyle. "What is it, Sarabi?" The russet mammalian asks.
[24]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:21:30 GMT -6
The gargoyle sat there for a moment, and then in a gesture that was much too similar to Renathan's to be coincidence, she points down into the hole with the entirety of one forepaw. "Oh..." Renathan puts it together, looking between her and the hole and then back at her. "There's something down there, huh?" He asks. She just gestures again, this time a little shaky, and Renathan points as well. "Down there, Sarabi? Something down there?" He most certainly couldn't go down there, that was for sure- it was a huge hole and straight down for goodness knows how long. He wouldn't survive such a fall and most certainly couldn't climb down there himself. However, the hole was much larger than what Sarabi was, and she could fly... Better yet, he'd taught her how to fly. "Okay Sarabi, Fly, and uh-" What was the command for that again? "Get the gem!" He offered, hopefully.
[25]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:27:07 GMT -6
Even though Renathan had forgotten the command words, Sarabi was used to him enough to know what he had meant by that. She bumped into one of his sides with her forehead gently (still enough to sway him from side to side with the force of it) and then she turned towards the hole. Hopefully there would be enough for her to generate lift with those wings down there... He didn't understand flight super well, but didn't wind need to be around for something to fly well? Then again, she was indeed a Gargoyle that came from the mines, so perhaps she would be quite good at flying despite the stale air. She didn't look back again at Renathan as she jumped down the large hole. Renathan couldn't help but step forward as close as he could get to the hole and look down after her with his flashlight. He worried for a split second.
[26]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:33:23 GMT -6
Despite his worries, Sarabi was built for this environment and it showed. She was able to have her wings outstretched fully due to the sheer size of the hole, and she was able to control them even in the stale and tight environment. She stirred up wind with her wings, enough that Renathan could smell how much fresher the air was one it got to moving. He opened his maw in a little 'oh' as he watched. She spiraled in circles all the way down until even his flashlight light didn't touch her. Once again, a bit of worry did indeed rise up in his gut at that, but soon enough he heard her begin flapping her wings and settling down below. He wondered what there was down there in the hole that she would want to grab so much as to make him aware of it. She did seem to know better than he did most of the time, but this seemed a little excessive.
[27]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:39:32 GMT -6
Despite his misgivings about the situation, it seemed to work out quite well. He could hear her returning up sooner than he had expected. Did that mean that she had found what she was looking for, or was there something else the matter? He strained his ears in an attempt to listen- he was afraid that maybe something was chasing her. However, he didn't hear anything else behind her wingflaps. Soon enough, the light of his flashlight fell on her dark brown flesh, and she emerged with something shiny in her claws. At least she had found what she was looking for? She dropped back down onto the cavern floor, and Renathan cast his flashlight over where she dropped the shiny thing onto the dust that arose with the beating of her wings. He coughed, and covered his mask with his forearm reflexively even though it didn't do much of any help.
[28]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:41:56 GMT -6
Whatever sort of gem she had found was a deep green- and Renathan knew that most of the dark green gems were not at all anything worth much at all. However, he did enjoy working with some of the green gems, so for a moment he was quite excited. However, he soon realized upon picking up the piece that it was a piece of jade- and those were quite common. "Thanks Sarabi." He says, regardless. She flaps her wings reflexively, as if stretching them, and then she turns back around to the hole again. "What is it gal? Is there more down there?" He asks, his voice still a little gravely from the dust that rose up from the cave whenever Sarabi had disturbed it. She turned and looked back at him before pushing herself down into the grand hole again, wings outstretched. That seemed like a yes, then.
[29]
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Post by Renathan on Feb 28, 2023 20:46:17 GMT -6
The russet mammalian didn't have a chance to really catch his breath before more of the dust was kicked up. He hacked into his elbow, and then opened one of his eyes. He felt like there was sand in his eyes even! He didn't really want to take off his mask outside of his home, but he did in that moment to remove the sand from his eyes by gently closing them and then pushing his nictating membrane across them. It hurt quite a bit, but soon enough the sand was gathered at his tear ducts and he was able to pinch them out using his fingers. Before he could even get done with that process Sarabi was flying back up out of the hole again, this time with a red gem, and something that shimmered in opalescent colors as well. He had the wherewithal to hold his eyes shut while the dust settled this time when she landed.
[30]
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Post by Jack on Mar 4, 2023 19:16:42 GMT -6
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Post by Renathan on Mar 8, 2023 1:46:52 GMT -6
Bit by bit, Sarabi managed to bring a rock or two up and then go back down into the hole until finally, she seemed to be satisfied with the loot. By the time that she was done, Sarabi had amassed two jades, a garnet, opal, and starstone. Renathan couldn't really check to see the quality of the gems at that moment due to the darkness (even with his flashlight), but he could identify gems quite easily by sight at this point in his career due to working with them so commonly. "You did a great job, Sarabi." He was sure to tell her, as she bumped her forehead into his shoulder gently. "Of course you know that already." He said. At that, he remembered that she had indeed been working at the wall in the fully lit room before the strange appearance of the really large tunneling worm. "Oh, did you find anything earlier?" He asks her.
[31]
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Post by Renathan on Mar 8, 2023 1:52:50 GMT -6
While the gargoyle was of course not a speaking sort of being, she had been around Renathan for long enough that his speech patterns and tone were easily picked up by her- they had been working together mining for quite a while after all! He was not surprised whenever Sarabi turned towards the room that was lit up by the light affixed to the russet mammalian's mining cart. Renathan was less worried about the worm-tunnel at this point, so he turned as well, walking past Sarabi to go check her handiwork and carrying the retrieved gems thusfar with him. Sarabi turned back to the tunnel with a wary glint in her eyes (so to speak, since her eyes were quite nonstandard compared to most creatures due to the nature of gargoyles) and then she turned away, following after the tall furred individual that she had thrown in her mining lot with so long ago.
[32]
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Post by Renathan on Mar 8, 2023 2:00:17 GMT -6
There was always a chance of danger happening down in the mines. In fact, Renathan's poor balgor Lisle was the recipient of one such terrible occurrence. The russet mammalian had definitely seen his fair share of terrible circumstance over his many years of mining at this point, but he had been lucky each and every time that the worst possible scenarios had never come to fruition. Each time he had been lucky even in his unluckiness, and managed to escape with his and his critters' lives. However, he still had the sense to be wary and worried about the strange area that was attached to the shaft that he had been working in before. A worm, and a strange reflective wall? A dead end? It was a very odd set of circumstances, and he had come to learn that there were no coincidences in the mines. However, Sarabi seemed more confident now- so he had to take her expertise into account.
[33]
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