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

Post - Second Collapse SO LATE OMFG

[destined_skies]

The first thing Sora noticed upon regaining consciousness was that his head was killing him. The second was that he was in pitch-black darkness. And the third was that the air around him was choked with dust and the heavy, earthy smell of the underground.

The pain on his forehead momentarily forgotten as he realized what had happened, the navigator instantly tried to scramble to his feet. He couldn't see a thing around him, but could hear the gentle settling of pebbles and dirt over the sound of his own breathing. There was a solid wall against his back, which meant that he must have fallen or thrown himself against the side of the tunnel at the last moment before blacking out. The details were all a bit fuzzy.

Trying his best not to freak out and keep himself composed (which was easier said than done), Sora cleared his throat and tried calling out, "Hello? Anybody out there?"

When a few seconds had passed with no response, the brunette attempted to navigate his way forward by touching the wall. After a few steps though, he came to the realization that he didn't know which way was which, and that he could be going deeper into the tunnels instead of back towards the surface. Pausing, Sora checked himself for any matches or something that would give some illumination on his surroundings, but failed to come up with anything other than an oddly red glow which was coming from his back pocket.

Startling just a bit, he tried to twist around to get a better look, with minimal success (while silently wondering what the heck could be causing it). When that failed, he hesitantly reached into the pocket and came out with, unexpectedly, his star charm. The red glow was originating from inside of it.

SO LATE TEAM FOREVER

[point_to_heaven]

Kamina couldn't remember where he was upon waking up. There had been lots of cold and then a warning from over the network about a--a mine! The collapse! People were still waiting to be rescued! He bolted upright and immediately fell backwards, too dizzy to move. "That's right," he said quietly. There had been a second cave-in. And he was trapped.

There was something about being underground he hated; he'd discovered this during a short stint as a mine worker before his first job as a powder monkey on an airship. It reminded him a lot of Abantiare. Close, too close. Almost choking. You couldn't run or dream or show your might. There was no room unless you decided to dig day after day, and you knew that in the end, you were going to get crushed by the rocks above and that you were essentially digging the bottom of your grave. No human should have to work there or, as in the case with miners, practically live there. He had to get out.

Kamina got up slower now, grunting with the effort. Something about his arm felt funny, but this wasn't the time. The people trapped came first. Then him. He wandered what dark corridors were still free of debris for what felt like an eternity until--a soft red light? He headed in its direction. Maybe it was someone who needed help or knew a way out.

TARZAN WILL SAVE YOUUU

[treesurfer]

Tarzan leapt ahread of Hughes for the moment, quickly going into the tunnels of the newly opened shaft. He thought he heard a faint voice within. Had they not gotten everyone out.

He scaled the walls, grabbing as many footholds as possible, Tarzan raced down the shaft.

/HUFF PUFF YOU YOUNGINS MOVE TOO FAST

[fatherofcute]

Hughes started when Tarzan just bolted inside. "Hey, wait!" Did Tarzan hear something? Hughes hadn't, but he hadn't really been listening either. He hefted his pickaxe to his side and out of the way of stabbing himself on its business end before moving to catch up to the man, scrabbling rather noisily at the loose rocks in his way, but relatively managing to get by without accident. Unfortunately, he was left rather far behind.

Whoops, let's try this again!

[destined_skies]

Sora held the charm out as far as he could, measuring how far the odd glow from it could penetrate into the dark. Though he had an inkling as to what was causing it, he still wasn't sure why the stone inside had activated, since it had never done anything like this before. But those details could be examined, later. Right now his number one priority was assessing the situation.

The light only gave him a few feet to see by, and even then the glow wasn't strong enough to illuminate more than the tunnel's outline. Even by staring as hard as he could into the blackness, he couldn't make out anything past his little halo. Heart hammering fast in his chest and throat, Sora tried to swallow the panic that had been slowly building since he'd awakened.

What if I can't get out? What if no one realizes I'm gone until it's too late? Or what if I run out of water, or air, or something before that?

He imagined that he could hear the walls breathing around him, flexing inwards, pressing down on him with thousands of tons of rock and dirt. Reflexively, Sora reached out and gripped the wall with his free hand, realizing that he was starting to hyperventilate. The more he tried to think of something else, the more pronounced the images seemed to become. And by effect, the more his fear grew, until he wasn't even sure if he was the one having the thoughts or if they were encroaching on him from an outside source.

This is how your father died. And you'll follow his fate.

"NO!" The exclamation cut through the silence, echoing off the walls down the chamber. And in his panic, Sora failed to notice that the light from his charm had reached the outline of another person, heading his way.

[point_to_heaven]

...a kid? Kamina walked faster towards Sora, ignoring the pain in his arm the best he could. His shout indicated that he probably wasn't doing too good and who knew if more loud sounds like that would cause another cave-in. Once his eyes adjusted to the small light of the star charm, he realized that he had been right; it was a kid. He was alone too, and from the looks of it, scared. Bad combination.

"Oi," he said, bending over so his face was at Sora's level, "it's gonna be all right."

SORRY FOR THE FAIL D8

[treesurfer]

Tarzan found a red light and followed it until he reached a man and Sora. "Sora!" He called out, coruching down to the boy's level but also keeping an eye on the stranger.

"Sora okay?" He asked cautiously, tentatively placing a hand on Sora's back.

/latest

[fatherofcute]

Hughes huffed and puffed as he struggled to move as fast as he could despite the heavy winter wear and the loose rocks. Cave-ins were terrible things, but nothing was worse than a cave-in in winter weather. Eventually, though, he managed to catch up and held up his lamp to see everyone better.

"Everyone all right?" he asked, immediately setting the lamp down to reach for Sora. "Hey, kiddo!"

tl;dr orrrrzzzz

[destined_skies]

The sudden appearance of another person startled the young navigator. . . so much so that it triggered his fight or flight instincts. Before he knew it, Sora had drawn up his fist in preparation of a struggle, eyes wide and heart racing. He paused before he could throw the punch, though, and immediately felt a huge surge of relief.

"S-sorry," he rasped, then cleared his throat again. All this dust kept choking him up. "For a second there, I thought. ." he shook his head, trailing off. "I guess I just panicked."

At the sound of his name being called, Sora perked up a bit more, and managed to crack a smile at the sight of another, more familiar person coming their way. His fear had melted away as quickly as it had appeared, though he wasn't totally out of the woods, yet. A nasty cut ontop of a bump was present on his forehead, along with a trail of mostly-dried blood that had run down his face and neck. It seemed to have stopped bleeding before he'd awoken, but the cut itself might require a few stitches.

"I'm fine," Sora reassured Tarzan, as the other placed a hand on his back. "Only bump on head. Tarzan no worry."

And when Hughes arrived not far behind, Sora managed a short wave back, in greeting. Wow, did they send the whole ship in after the collapse, or what?

late ffffffffffffffff

[point_to_heaven]

Kamina grinned at the arrival of the two strangers. Usually he'd be wary, but if the boy knew them then they had to check out. He straightened up and turned to face the guy with the lantern. This time he couldn't help but grimace when he moved his arm. Whatever happened to him hurt like hell. Shit.

"Ain't a problem," he said to Sora. "I'd knock somebody out if they came outta nowhere too." He addressed Hughes next, "Yeah, looks like we're gonna be alright. You guys came from the surface, right? How many people are still down here?"

sdfkjdsf I AM SO SORRY D8

[treesurfer]

Tarzan shook his head. "Many men already out. Tarzan not count others. Did not see others."

He wondered about the other group, but he couldn't worry about it. Just hope that they were successfull in getting all the men out.

♥

[fatherofcute]

Hughes shook his head at the question, and spoke even as he fussed over Sora, tilting his head this way and that, and patting him down for anything that may possibly be broken. "How many were with you when you were here? There's a lot of people already up there, but we don't have an official count of the people down here."

Sora didn't seem too hurt... perhaps shaken. Hughes immediately took off the outermost layer of his coat and draped it over the boy. "Come on, Tarzan, let's get these two out."

S'okay!

[destined_skies]

As he was checked over by Hughes, Sora distracted himself from raising protest by turning his attention back to the guy who'd found him. And this time, actually noticed the way his arm seemed to pain him when it moved. "Hey, are you hurt, too?"

It wasn't fair that he was getting all the attention, when there was someone else who could be hurt worse. Besides, the brunette was sure that his wounds were (miraculously) superficial. As bad as the cut on his head looked, it would probably heal in a week. Not like a broken bone or torn ligament.

At Hughes' question, Sora gave a careful shake of his head. "I was with Luffy, but we got separated when he took one of the trapped miners back up and I stayed behind to look for more."

we luff you

[point_to_heaven]

"I was workin' my way down here by myself. Didn't hear or see anybody right after I woke up other than Sora," here he nodded at him, "so I guess it's just the two of us." The news that many people had already gotten out of the mines relieved Kamina more than he could express. It meant more time working for the rescuers to get to the harder to reach places and less time waiting for those who had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Fiertia...did anybody else stuck? Were they still down there? He could only find out in one place, and that was several miles above.

Kamina placed a hand on Sora's head and lightly ruffled his hair. "Just my arm, but it the great Kamina can take it! Let's get outta here!"

S-Sob, finals... almost done... *dies*

[treesurfer]

"Another group working," He said, looking at the cut on the boy's head, scrutinizing it.

There seemed to be nothing too wrong with it, but you never knew with head wounds, Tarzan found. The man with the hurt arm also got a scrutinizing, but the man didn't seem overly concerned either. He also never saw him before, perhaps he is with the crew digging in the other hole?

When Hughes said to move out, Tarzan nodded and, on all fours as usual, he climbed and scaled the walls, leading the way out. He stayed at a significantly slower pace this time for the other two, but stayed ahead to lead the others out. He remembered the way and while it was pretty linear, there had been a few bends and turns that could maybe confuse the others.

;; Good luck, Manders!

[fatherofcute]

Hughes eyed Kamina, and wondered very briefly just what the man was made of to be wearing so little. Wasn't he cold?!

But... Luffy was also in there? Compared to the others, though, he would be less worried about Luffy. The kid had strange abilities that would allow him to survive this thing hopefully unscathed and heroically. Hughes offered the both of them a reassuring smile, gesturing for them to follow him. He'd rather take the rear, but he had the lamp...

"I'm glad we found you," he said thoughtfully, looking around a little as he scrambled after Tarzan. "A lot of the search effort's concentrated in another area of the cave." In fact, he might not have come here if Tarzan hadn't been there.