Like canaries in a coal mine [OPEN]

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone in Tulgim
Content: One of the mines in Tulgim has collapsed a second time, trapping some of the rescuers inside!
Setting: Mine 2b
Time: From late morning onwards
Warnings: Possibility of bloody or violent descriptions
Notes: Please note in the thread subject whether your threads take place either pre- or post- the second collapse

Comments

[murcielago]

Ulquiorra recognised the voice that called through the rock as he struggled to his feet, but he couldn't quite place who it was. Getting up wasn't easy when you didn't have two working arms to push yourself up with, but he managed it all the same. Even at his elevated height he couldn't see anybody in his immediate area and his night-sight was perfect. It was useful being part bat sometimes.

"Ulquiorra Schiffer of the Fiertia." He replied, his voice carrying even though he made little effort to raise it.

He glanced around, his keen hearing going a long way to figuring out which direction the voice was coming from. He stood there for a moment, his working arm bracing the other, which still felt entirely off. He came to realise that although the pain was intense, it was also dulled to normal feelings and hanging decidedly limply from the joint. An attempt to move it confirmed that it was dislocated at the shoulder, but he stifled the cry that he wanted to make, instead hissing through his teeth in discomfort.

He couldn't feel any bone sticking out, but he was sure that the laceration must be severe for him not to have started healing yet. That, or he wasn't out for quite as long as he thought. Being unconscious in the collapsed mine shaft had messed up any perception of time.

[freds_and_wills]

Gilbert stood up shakily; even though he had the general survival ability of a cockroach, his leg still felt like it was going to collapse underneath him. He limped over to a wall and braced himself against it with his left hand.

"Oh, you!" said Gilbert, some sort of... not cheerfulness, but certainly slightly more chipper than a neutral tone. "Ul...ki..."

He hesitated a moment. He'd just heard the man's name, but for some reason...

"Schiffer!"

[murcielago]

Ah, it was him. The idiot with the inability to remember his name.

Still, it wasn't the time to correct him. They had to get out before a third cave-in happened.

"That's right." He conceded, his eyes sliding sideways to pinpoint his position on the other side of the new wall. "Do you have a spade?"

Not that it would do much to help with their predicament. Rock wasn't as easy to dig through as mere soil. He looked at the floor for his own and saw the shaft snapped and the metal part buckled and half covered with a rather large rock. Well, that put pay to that idea.

[freds_and_wills]

"Hm? -Oh," said Gilbert, recognizing that he did indeed have a spade, he just hadn't remembered to use it as a walking stick. "Yes, in fact, I do! So! ...where should I dig, then>"

[murcielago]

He walked --surprisingly easily considering the accident-- over to where he could hear Gilbert's voice. Letting go of his limp arm, he pounded his fist on the wall where he was. It seemed thick there, so he walked to the side and tried again. After a few attempts, he found something good. As he hit it, dust fell from above.

Ah, not quite so dense. It made little sense to try and dig through a thick wall of rock when a thinner or looser one wasn't far away.

"Here. To your right. Don't dig, lever the rocks out of the way. It will probably get you out faster." He said, being pretty convinced that he was closer to the entrance than Gilbert was.

With that, he turned to pick up the broken stem of the shovel he'd been using, figuring that even thought it was now useless for the digging purpose it was made for, it should work well enough as a levering tool.

[freds_and_wills]

...ah. That would work. Gilbert just had to get situated so that he could dig while keeping his weight on his right leg. Well, not dig.

...

Was this little shit ordering him around? Ah, well, it wouldn't do to bitch while they were stuck here.

"I'll treat that as a suggestion, albeit one I'm going to take," he said, partially to Ulquiorra and partially to himself. If he kept doing it, Gilbert would punch him. He angled his shovel and stuck it... approximately where the other man had told him, then did as he'd been... suggested to. It was harder than he expected, but he managed to get something heavy out of the way.

[murcielago]

Ulquiorra barely noticed the snide bitching that was going on at the other side of the wall and instead concentrated on shoving the snapped bit of shovel-handle between two loose rocks. He would have very much liked to have tried this two handed, but... alas.

"Please yourself." The morose boy muttered, wedging the stick in as far as it would go. "Stand back."

And with that, he kicked it, hoping very much to send a good potion of the wall down.

[freds_and_wills]

...huh.

What the hell did he just do.

Gilbert blinked a few times in the darkness.

"What the hell did you just do?" he said, echoing his thoughts.

[murcielago]

Ulquiorra's night vision, although flawless, wasn't any good at seeing through dust. He coughed drily into a balled fist as the dust cleared.

"Hmm." He mused, peering through the dust and floating particles of sandy rock to see if it had actually managed to bust down the wall portion he'd hoped.

He didn't reply, not being sure just yet.

[freds_and_wills]

Gilbert moved his shovel over to the other hand and limped through... where the wall had been, without any concern for the possibility that it would lead to more rock falling on him.

"...Holy shit," he said, turning back to Ulquiorra. "Really, what the hell did you do!?"

[murcielago]

Ulquiorra looked at him, stepping back so he could get through and re-gripping his rather painful arm.

"Levered it." He stated simply. "It only took a kick." He said, expanding on his explanation.

He listened to the silence, hoping that something would make itself known. He strained to make out any other voices, or the tell tale rumble of another collapse in the distance. Hearing nothing, he turned his back on his crewmate, heading for the opposite wall. It was rubble, but after placing his bloodied hand against the rock, pressing and getting his hair full of loose dust, he was satisfied that it wouldn't be as difficult to break down as the other.

"We need to get out before anything more collapses." He said, following up his statement with a brief silent pause. He then turned to gaze over his shoulder at Gilbert. "Can you walk?"

He didn't care, as such, but if him helping the other got them out more quickly, it would be infinitely useful if he knew.

[freds_and_wills]

...what kind of kick was that...

Well, it wasn't worth it to just boggle now. Gilbert would have to ask this guy for a fight. He deserved a good trouncing for his attitude, at the very least.

"Of course! What do you think I've been doing up until now?" He was just stuck limping, after all.

[murcielago]

"Limping."

He wasn't deliberately arrogant, he just ended up that way. While he didn't go out of his way to big himself up in regards to his abilities or anything of the sort, he didn't put on a modest front to cover his cool self-confidence, either. He didn't really have it in him to.

He considered how to break the wall easily, but came up empty. While a bala blast was effective against people, it was near useless on non-living creatures. Well, it looked like it was going to have to be the traditional route.

This time though, he untied his sword from it's place at his waist and wedged the sheath between the rocks. He'd buried the handle of his broken shovel and it was really the closest thing to hand.

[freds_and_wills]

What was with this guy? Did he want a punch in the face?

"That's walking," said Gilbert huffily. He limped over towards where he... thought he heard Ulquiorra's voice coming from, and stopped before the point where he might've run into a wall.

[murcielago]

"In a fashion." He replied, completely needlessly.

He drove the scabbard between looser rocks and twisted, checking to see how well it worked. When some pebbles fell at his feet from the small movement, he seemed satisfied to give it a harder push and a bit of a twist. Before the wall collapsed into rubble, he turned back to his 'companion'.

"Get back." He said stiffly. "You can take that as a suggestion if it makes you feel better."

And then he yanked it, sending the other wall tumbling down. He jumped out of the way before it fell on him, making sure to take his scratched and probably dented scabbard with him.

[freds_and_wills]

"It's definitely walking," said Gilbert, doing as he was told (he was definitely going to punch this guy later). Of course, he really did have to wonder what the hell this guy was doing.

Could he see what he was doing? Gilbert really had to wonder...