Chapter 6: Underneath The Well
Thud. "Ow. Gat dayumn. That hurt... Musta been goin' too fast. UUhhhokay." He stood up, looking around, which ended up being pointless. "Bah. I bet the God of Darkness is laughing his ass off up there." Jirke tried focusing, but to no avail. He sighed and flared his caste sign, allowing enough light to see about...3, maybe four feet ahead of him. The well, which was about 4 feet across, was closed around his back and sides and only opened up to about a 2 foot crack in front of him, enough to squeeze through, for Jirke. He wasn't the most robust of people, which was all the better for him.
He shoved himself in and, with a little bit of difficulty, was able to get though to a point where the tunnel split off 5 ways. They were much wider than the entrance, big enough for two of Jirke to walk shoulder to shoulder. Jirke could envision that, and it made him grin. He pulled his dagger from his sheath and it began to vibrate. It stopped vibrating and pointed down the second hallway on the left. Jirke tossed the knife and caught it lovingly and began to head down that section. He let the light of his caste mark burn out and then rummaged through his pack. The only thing he could manage to pull out was a jar with a couple of Fireflies. These bugs scared the hell out of Jirke, mostly becasue of the fact that each one was about as big as his hand, and the next thing being that their abdomen had the ability of firing off bolts of fire that can incinerate a small tree. "Yeesh."
As he continued on, he didn't meet any obstacles until the next crossway. He stopped, tucked the jar of flies under his arm, and pulled out the knife and inquired of it again. It vibrated, as before, and then pointed to the nearest wall. Jirke shook his head in confusion, and tried it again. Same results. Jirke looked around, seeing if there was anything he could throw. He had learned before not to distrust his father's knives. They knew what they were doing. He couldn't find anything to throw, so he just decided to fuck it and walk through. He did so cautiously, however, because another thing he had also learned was that the knives made travel to the center of mazes quick and simple, but the also made it more dangerous, due to the fact that the knife only guided by direction. Not by what traps and monsters lay ahead. Jirke extended a finger. Then an arm. Then his whole upper body. His finger went through the wall. And as soon as no more than his fingernail Everything happened at once...Everything being the twisted blob of flesh that fell from the dark ceiling above. It wasn't a blob, per se, but it was so contorted and disgusting, that he couldn't even tell what it was, or what it used to be. It had no head that could be really pointed out, and bits and pieces of all sorts of metal and bone and rocks jutted out at disgusting angles. Jirke even spotted something that slightly resembled a bicycle. Jirke spun around at the first sign of movement, and, by doing so, barely missed what he could faintly tell was supposed to be a fist. It was no bigger than Jirke himself. Jirke, continuing the spin, took his dagger and slammed it right into where the giant knobby knuckles pointed and poked out of the skin. It worked, and it seemed Everything didn't enjoy things not going it's way. It yanked it's hunk of flesh away, and Jirke barely managed to hang on. "Oh shit."
Jirke said this because as soon as Everything pulled it's arm away, it pulled it down, and flung it upward, to the ceiling. Jirke let go just in time to go flailing wildly down towards Everything's lump of flesh where the shoulder went into the other. There was something akin to an explosion, and there was a scream from Everything. Rocks fell, dust fell, and everything was ringing, even Jirke's ears. It was all a cacophony, Jirke in the middle of it all. Jirke caught himself falling, and reached into his backpack to see what he got that'd help him in THIS situation. That was what made adventuring with this pack so much fun...The backpack only found things that it obviously thought he needed, and only when he needed it. He reached in, and pulled out...well...a giant rock. That was the most he could do, because he was much to weak to carry it. He may be Exalted, but that doesn't mean he was a gorgon. The rock fell and with a squishy thunk, landed on everything's head. Jirke landed on his head on the ground below, and flopped to the ground, rather limp.
After a while, the ringing and all other sound died down. Jirke tried to sit up, thinking he'd recovered his bearings enough to try. He did, and his head wouldn't stop throbbing. "Fuckin' occupational hazards." Jirke massaged his temple as he staggered over to Everything's fist, and ripped out the knife.
Still disoriented, but glad he was up and moving, Jirke hobbled over to the wall he was investigating before. He stood there, slumped over a little, facing the wall and staring at it. Regaining composure...okay. We're set. He put his hand out once more to puch through, and this time, nothing happened. Which was nice. He knew he'd have to seek medical attention as soon as he got out of this little makeshift dungeon, so he began to put a lot of thought and more speed into this. After going through, however, he immediately changed his mind. The hallway past the wall was a lot more detailed and different looking in general from the other hallways he'd passed through. [Those other hallways had taken about half an hour to walk through, as well.] This hallway, instead of being grey, dank, musty, and covered in moss, it was made of a yellowish gold kind of clay brick, it seemed, on closer inspection. It also smelled less of rank and more of earth itself, which Jirke deduced, was what the bricks were. Normally one would expect that, but when they were made of the PURE ELEMENTAL BASE of earth, then that gets you somewhere. This purity of substance worried Jirke a little, but also made him a little more anxious to see what he could get out of this. If there was a being powerful enough to craft pure elements into walls, then they probably had some really fun gadgets to tinker around with. At the end of the hallway, Jirke saw a small room with a figure standing in what looked like a really awkward position. One hand was on the wall behind the figure with the index finger extended all the way into the wall. The other arm was extended out to it's left, and set resting on a small pedestal that was built into the wall. His feet were both resting on the floor, but they were pulled together like each leg had been lashed to one another.
Jirke had forgotten about being stealthy and shuffled his feet a little as he drew near. The figure started, and turned it's head around to look at the source of the noise. It had a look of shock on it's face, and in it's surprise almost fell over.
"Jirke?! What in the fucking hell are you doing here?!"
He shoved himself in and, with a little bit of difficulty, was able to get though to a point where the tunnel split off 5 ways. They were much wider than the entrance, big enough for two of Jirke to walk shoulder to shoulder. Jirke could envision that, and it made him grin. He pulled his dagger from his sheath and it began to vibrate. It stopped vibrating and pointed down the second hallway on the left. Jirke tossed the knife and caught it lovingly and began to head down that section. He let the light of his caste mark burn out and then rummaged through his pack. The only thing he could manage to pull out was a jar with a couple of Fireflies. These bugs scared the hell out of Jirke, mostly becasue of the fact that each one was about as big as his hand, and the next thing being that their abdomen had the ability of firing off bolts of fire that can incinerate a small tree. "Yeesh."
As he continued on, he didn't meet any obstacles until the next crossway. He stopped, tucked the jar of flies under his arm, and pulled out the knife and inquired of it again. It vibrated, as before, and then pointed to the nearest wall. Jirke shook his head in confusion, and tried it again. Same results. Jirke looked around, seeing if there was anything he could throw. He had learned before not to distrust his father's knives. They knew what they were doing. He couldn't find anything to throw, so he just decided to fuck it and walk through. He did so cautiously, however, because another thing he had also learned was that the knives made travel to the center of mazes quick and simple, but the also made it more dangerous, due to the fact that the knife only guided by direction. Not by what traps and monsters lay ahead. Jirke extended a finger. Then an arm. Then his whole upper body. His finger went through the wall. And as soon as no more than his fingernail Everything happened at once...Everything being the twisted blob of flesh that fell from the dark ceiling above. It wasn't a blob, per se, but it was so contorted and disgusting, that he couldn't even tell what it was, or what it used to be. It had no head that could be really pointed out, and bits and pieces of all sorts of metal and bone and rocks jutted out at disgusting angles. Jirke even spotted something that slightly resembled a bicycle. Jirke spun around at the first sign of movement, and, by doing so, barely missed what he could faintly tell was supposed to be a fist. It was no bigger than Jirke himself. Jirke, continuing the spin, took his dagger and slammed it right into where the giant knobby knuckles pointed and poked out of the skin. It worked, and it seemed Everything didn't enjoy things not going it's way. It yanked it's hunk of flesh away, and Jirke barely managed to hang on. "Oh shit."
Jirke said this because as soon as Everything pulled it's arm away, it pulled it down, and flung it upward, to the ceiling. Jirke let go just in time to go flailing wildly down towards Everything's lump of flesh where the shoulder went into the other. There was something akin to an explosion, and there was a scream from Everything. Rocks fell, dust fell, and everything was ringing, even Jirke's ears. It was all a cacophony, Jirke in the middle of it all. Jirke caught himself falling, and reached into his backpack to see what he got that'd help him in THIS situation. That was what made adventuring with this pack so much fun...The backpack only found things that it obviously thought he needed, and only when he needed it. He reached in, and pulled out...well...a giant rock. That was the most he could do, because he was much to weak to carry it. He may be Exalted, but that doesn't mean he was a gorgon. The rock fell and with a squishy thunk, landed on everything's head. Jirke landed on his head on the ground below, and flopped to the ground, rather limp.
After a while, the ringing and all other sound died down. Jirke tried to sit up, thinking he'd recovered his bearings enough to try. He did, and his head wouldn't stop throbbing. "Fuckin' occupational hazards." Jirke massaged his temple as he staggered over to Everything's fist, and ripped out the knife.
Still disoriented, but glad he was up and moving, Jirke hobbled over to the wall he was investigating before. He stood there, slumped over a little, facing the wall and staring at it. Regaining composure...okay. We're set. He put his hand out once more to puch through, and this time, nothing happened. Which was nice. He knew he'd have to seek medical attention as soon as he got out of this little makeshift dungeon, so he began to put a lot of thought and more speed into this. After going through, however, he immediately changed his mind. The hallway past the wall was a lot more detailed and different looking in general from the other hallways he'd passed through. [Those other hallways had taken about half an hour to walk through, as well.] This hallway, instead of being grey, dank, musty, and covered in moss, it was made of a yellowish gold kind of clay brick, it seemed, on closer inspection. It also smelled less of rank and more of earth itself, which Jirke deduced, was what the bricks were. Normally one would expect that, but when they were made of the PURE ELEMENTAL BASE of earth, then that gets you somewhere. This purity of substance worried Jirke a little, but also made him a little more anxious to see what he could get out of this. If there was a being powerful enough to craft pure elements into walls, then they probably had some really fun gadgets to tinker around with. At the end of the hallway, Jirke saw a small room with a figure standing in what looked like a really awkward position. One hand was on the wall behind the figure with the index finger extended all the way into the wall. The other arm was extended out to it's left, and set resting on a small pedestal that was built into the wall. His feet were both resting on the floor, but they were pulled together like each leg had been lashed to one another.
Jirke had forgotten about being stealthy and shuffled his feet a little as he drew near. The figure started, and turned it's head around to look at the source of the noise. It had a look of shock on it's face, and in it's surprise almost fell over.
"Jirke?! What in the fucking hell are you doing here?!"