RE: Grand Battle (S?) (Round 1: Matmor Atoll)
07-10-2013, 04:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-10-2013, 05:45 PM by Cat.)
Kay phased back into existence about three meters off the ground. There was no pause for her to consider her options, no opportunity to think about the fact that her body appeared perpindicular to the ground besides close her eyes, nothing she could do to stop the inevitable: she fell. Hard. Her arms extended automatically, attempting to help absorb the impact. Her body still landed with a thud, her breath taken away instantly. The fox rolled onto her back and into a coughing fit, her lungs acclimating rather violently to the air itself. It tasted salty to her.
Air doesn't usually taste salty... in fact, it usually doesn't have a taste. It seems like the beach, but... it doesn't feel like it.
Kaylee's eyes opened to the sight of... a parquet floor? She pushed herself up, swinging her legs around into a sitting position, cross-legged on what she could now tell was the floor of a massive, ornate room. Stained glass windows glowed with an oddly iridescent hue, depicting events entirely unfamiliar to her. Row affter row of furniture that looked almost, but not quite like benches filled most of the room, leaving a space down the middle. Intricately carved columns supported the high celing, leaving very little doubt in what the room was for.
It was a church. Kay threw the thought back and forth in her mind, trying to figure out what sense she could make of the new development. On one hand, it was good news. Wherever she was, there was life. Intelligent life, at that. There might be a way to communicate with them, maybe get back... well, not home, but somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Somewhere that she could hide away from everything.
Kaylee shook her head to clear it. There was no time for her mind to wander off course right now, if what she had been told was true. So her thoughts turned back to the matter at hand: whoever had built this chapel. They were intelligent, obviously. Peaceful at least amongst themselves. But there wasn't anything she could tell about their feelings towards outsiders. Making contact with them could be a good way to make allies, improve her chances of survival for now... or they could give the others an extremely easy out. There were risks and rewards beyond that, but... it didn't really matter. Those two were the most important possibilities. She scratched at her forehead with a claw before sighing. The risk was too great to try to make contact. Her left paw squeezed her notebook tightly. It seemed like she was alone again. Just like it seemed like she always was... or had been for a while. For a little while she just sat and thought, remaining as quiet as she could for fear of being found. She flipped open her notebook a few times, examining the contents repeatedly. It didn't help but to pass the time... but that didn't deter her from doing it.
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Kaylee heard a noise. Though to her, it was much more than simply a noise. It wasn't footsetps. She was certain of that. But whatever it was, it was in motion, and it was moving towards her. Her vision blurred as she spun, eyes flicking back and forth across the room, looking for some form of salvation in this place of worship. Eventually they found a target: a strange-looking rope ladder that extended from the ground to the celing, through a small square opening. There was no way to know what lay beyond it, but there was only thing she did know: being found was a bad idea. So she ran to the as quickly as she could, practically jumping onto it as soon as she could. The climb wasn't easy. It seemed like the ladder was made for someone to use predominantly with arms, and thus most of her strength was compromised. The rungs were unevenly spaced, leading her to the conclusion that it was handmade. She glanced around the room again, at the windows, the pews, the floor. From this height, it was easier to notice that the rows weren't quite even, the windows not quite equal... everything seemed just a little bit off. But there wasn't much time to think. Her attention turned back to the climb, and once she reached the top, she tugged the ladder up after her, hoping that would be enough to save her from any possible pursuers. Feeling around as she got the last remnants of the ladder up, she found what she assumed to be a door of some kind for the opening. The fox flipped it quickly, shutting off any remaining connection to the main room... she hoped.
It was dark. Kay's eyes flittered through the room, but nothing stood out. There was a small patch of light somewhere, but it was faint enough that she still could hardly see the paw in front of her face. A poor situation, to be sure, especially since she was unsure if whoever was moving downstairs would have heard the closing of the door. It had seemed quiet to her, but that didn't mean anything on the other side. She didn't want to make any more noise by tripping over something stupidly, or knocking anything valuable over. So there was really only ever one choice for her, as soon as she'd entered.
Kaylee rubbed a couple of fingers together for a few moments, then slowly pulled them apart. A spark was between them. It seemed to remain still, perched between her fingers. In reality, the electicity was flowing constantly, but since it followed an identical path, there was nothing to differentiate the flow from a stationary object. It threw off a bit of light, thankfully. Not enough to really light up the room, obviously, but at least now she could see her own paws. There was a rope hanging from the celing near her. She stared at it for a moment before shaking her head. It wasn't worth the curiousity. Not now.
The fox moved warily, carefully. It seemed like there was some clutter... but it also seemed a bit like a labyrinth. There weren't walls, per se, but she was definitely in some kind of indentation. It was wider than she was tall, but it was clearly there. It rose to slightly past her stomach, but stopped there. It did create a very easy to follow pathway, and in theory, a pathway should lead to something. So Kay followed it. Eventually she realized where it was leading to: another ladder. This one wasn't made of rope, but it was spaced just as the pervious one had been. She licked a ther lips nervously. She would have to turn off her little flashlight to be able to climb it. And she still had no idea what that previous rope was connected to. She took a few minutes to collect her thoughts... and decided to keep going. It still wasn't worth trying to figure out what everything did. It was entirely possible that it could be an alarm of some sort, and that was not something she needed to deal with.
Kaylee pinched the spark in between her fingers, slowly reabsorbing it into her body. The feeling still made her shiver after all this time; tt still felt unnatural. But it was a power, and it was hers; she had to do what she could with it. It was no use trying to hide it, disguise it, anything like that. It was a part of her now. She shook her head. Her thoughts were beginning to wander again, and there was no way to know if she had time for that. She put her hand on the ladder, shoved her notebook into a pocket on her pants, and began to ascend. The climb was still awkward, the ladder still for someone of a different build. But it was easier as a solid thing, rather than a rope one, that could swing back and forth. The thought crossed her mind, however, that this one couldn't be pulled back up after her. She could be shutting herself into an untenable position... she would have to see. But she could see. Her gaze difted upwards. It seemed like the climb was almost as much as it had been to get from the floor to the first celing. How high was she? And why could she tell that? There was light that reminded her of the light in the chapel, still with a strange hue. At the top of the ladder, she finally realized why:
The whole place was underwater. She could tell, now. There were more stained-glass windows, surrounding a bell... but there was a more 'normal' looking one as well. And there was a fish on the other side of it. The simplicity of the answer to the light question surprised her. Not because of the answer itself.. because of the implications.
I'm underwater. This whole building is underwater. How long has this air been in here? How long have I been in here? How long am I going to be able to breathe down here?
Kaylee's thoughts turned from a quiet, sane analysis to an absolute mess in a snap. There was a time limit. She couldn't stay in here forever. But there was also no way that she could go back down to the main chapel. There was definitely something down there. But the others were almost certainly outside as well. She hadn't seen anyone in here yet, so it was logical to think that they had all ended up in disparate locations. But the air was something that would force them all together. She'd show them. She'd show that thing... the host... she wouldn't have to do anything. She would stay down here until she knew the air couldn't take it anymore. And she would hope that the others would go after each other while she waited. It was a good, solid plan. Her breathing steadied. She brushed the hair from her eyes and allowed herself a smile. It was finally looking as if she had a good handle on things.
That was, of course, the instant the windows shattered.
The fox brought the notebook in front of her face quickly enough to protect her most important parts from the shards, but the rest of her body wasn't as lucky. Quite a few cuts appeared on her body, some of them having also sliced holes in her clothes. Nothing too major was damaged, the cuts weren't very deep. But that wasn't the most important thing. The water was rushing in, past her. It was draining into the space where the ladder was, where she had ascended. Descent was no longer an option. Waiting was no longer an option either. The air was leaving as the water flowed in. There was only one option, and she took it: Kaylee dove through the open window, her notebook clutched in one paw, and swam for the surface.