Below the Earth

I shake my head, half amused and half dazed. "Forget it. You fixed the problem." Then I take stock. Liam's hair is a little singed, but he looks as well as he ever does. The Priest is dusted in ash from head to foot, and his white duster has scorch marks, but he seems unfazed. Djhuety's coat has ash on it, and Sylus's fur and feathers are on end, but they're okay. I sigh. We're fine, all of us.
Then it hits me that the Priest is staring at me and smirking, Edgeworth is staring with his eyebrows nearly at his hairline, and Djhuety is carefully studying the cave floor. I'm naked. Buck naked. Feichean leat danaeihuh....I pull my satchel forward over my shoulder, covering the important bits.
"Um...be right back..." then I lightfoot it around one of the bigger stalactites. "Thank you!" I shout over my shoulder.

i say "please please hold your applause il walk it off" nonchalantely then i realize noones applauding me, i grimace as my natural painkillers go off and set my leg while screaming profanities, i start crawling towards the husk of what once was a crab and starts picking about in it for my knife.

Feverish with embarrassment, I tie my hair back quickly, slip into my clothes, starting as I hear the yelps and cries of the stranger. There's pain in that voice. Well, no wonder, considering what that giant piece of sushi did to him. Thinking back over the last ten minutes, I'm surprised he's up and talking at all. I step out, fully clothed now, and walk over quietly. On my left, something glints. A great knife, as long as my forearm. I lift it carefully, and bring it over. "Think this is yours. And you're hurt. Any breaks besides the one in your leg?" He looks up at me, his lined face creased.

I take the knife and sheathes it it my boot nodding thanks towards her.

i start feeling around my body my face a grimace of pain i say "a couple of ribs a ankle and i think i got a mild concussion" then i smile and say "il walk it off", i try to stand but fails miserably, "maybe i need a wheelchair" i say as i look dumbfounded upon the strangers i simply mutter "i could have died from that" as i suddenly realize how recklessly stupid jumping on a spiked crab from several meters above was.

"Honestly," I say quietly, "I'm surprised you didn't. That was very brave of you, and we owe you our thanks. In the way of thanks, if you'll hold still I think I can fix most of your injuries." The man looks up at me questioningly, but before he can ask me, I close my eyes, and let the song loose from my lips, a song of balance and harmony, of bones and muscles and blood working together in perfection, reminding the body tissues of where everything belongs and how it should work, instructing the living cells to make the necessary repairs.The song finishes with a quick, flourishing descant of health and good feeling, and I open my eyes. "There. That's that. How are you feeling now?"

i walk over to the bank where i find my faulty handgun staring balefully at it, i smile and say "thanks everything seems to be where it should be" i toss my handgun on the rocks and start stepping on it while berating it in german.

I stare at the stranger as he scolds his weapon in some deep, guttural language. Which one is that...oh yes, German. Well, at least he's standing...and he's here. Now that's a question.
"You know, I don't mean to be rude, but...you've been following us. Since that day we met. Why?" then something else strikes me. He saw me naked. Worse, he saw me Change. He saw my shapeshifting. Oh hell. Hell, hell, dhamnu mared hell.

i look up from the now mudcaked weapon and say "my line of work dont usually leave room for failure and this was no different i was ordered to bring boyd back alive or not come back at all i figured might aswell follow you guys", noticing a brief flash of panic flash over her face i smile but does nothing more and simply picks up my gun.

I nod slowly. "Right. But if you want to follow us, then walk with us. You've no need to sulk in the shadows." Then I smile. "And for your bravery, you're welcome, at least by me. I'll introduce you properly, shall I? Last time I think we were all a bit tense." I hold out one hand, taking care to activate the glamour on my hands, for all the good that will do. "Liv na Sruth. Pleased to meet you, Ignacy."

i extend my own arm and note silently that i had to change undergarments and preferably soon.

I wrinkle my nose. "Now that the water's safe, I'd maybe use it, if I were you. You're a little...messy."
Soon, we're all back around the fire. I had very, very cautiously caught four more fish, and dinner is plentiful.

Eyeing the remains of the crab the whole scuffle over before I even had a chance to react " i don't think we have enough butter to cook all of this do you?" to ease the scent of tension i get from the others after the events of the day

I make a face. "Eeeew. I really hope you're joking."

my stomach rumbles and i say "i could with some crab tho".

"well it would be wasteful to not use at least some of it wouldn't it?" I ask confused that much meat laying around if cleaned would be able to feed the others for a while at least. With that I begin gathering up some of the larger chunks of the carapace the wheel in my mind turning as i study some of them

I shake my head emphatically."No. We really don't want to eat that. Karkinos blood is made from a weak kind of acid. They were designed to be poisonous. Put it down."

I chuckle "i will concede to your knowledge Liv, however armor is armor and most of you are a bit squishier then me when it comes to a strike to the vitals aren't ya?" i smile again "so we can still use part of it and not have it be a complete waste" picking up one of the pincers and tugging on the remains of the ligament that opened and closed the claw "oh how much fun this would be in a right setting." before setting it back down to gather more of the chunks that are workable. A moment later I realize what i said about the vitals and try to cover it up "wait what did you call this thing?"

"It's called a karkinos," I say distastefully, "one of the things left over from the bad old days. And do you have to do that?"

I chuckle again "yes I did this thing going by the muscles was very strong, and it took a bit to be able to move the joint, I am glad it didn't grab you." as I begin carefully piling the chunks i have gathered thus far "and you said it was designed? to what purpose other then to be a royal pain in the arse in a fight. by the way i liked the move with the explosives" I begin pulling cleaning off the innards of the carapace scraping the remains of the meat out and realizing how much shell there actually was.

"That's exactly what they were designed for." I say, my nose wrinkling at the stink of the blood. "The karkinos are left over from the old War. Nasty things, made for damage and little else."

"You said are, as in more of them, do the live in some sort of Hive or are they a solitary predator?" trying to scrape a bit more of the meat off another chunk, before taking off my coat and wrapping the bundle in it to make it easier to carry. Standing "shall we continue to a more strategic place to camp, seeing as this place is more dangerous then we though?"

"Don't worry, there was only one. Karkinos are naturally solitary. We'll be fine here."

That evening, we settled quietly
In the three days that follow, we keep to the path that winds through the cave, doing our best to keep together and fairly under control. We learn fairly fast that Edgeworth can see the chemical changes in the Priest's brain, and this allows us to keep somewhat safer by knowing exactly when to remind, sometimes help, and once or twice force him to take the pills that keep his mind within fifty miles of sanity at least. The pools provide food, though it's rarely interesting; fish and a few small white lobsters. I can live on a diet like this for a long time, but I don't know how long everyone else will do well on a fish diet. Djhuety's vial of Wyrd Water can always be used as our last resort, but until we know what's ahead the three of us have agreed to save it and keep it a secret.
The problem of food pales though, beside the problem of the darkness. Some of us have no problem, but Kiaja has gotten quieter and quieter as we've gone on, and I'm feeling nervous and jittery. I'm really sick of this endless darkness. It doesn't feel like the absence of light, but like a rustling black animal, pushed back only a very little by the lights we all carry, always testing, pushing, trying to insinuate itself into our circle. It makes me jumpy, and I have to work at staying calm, keep myself from starting at small noises. Sylus doesn't seem much better off; he's always shifting his feet, ruffling his wings, his ears twitching nervously.
To pass the time, those of us who know the riddle games play it. We talk over anything we can think of. I hear a little about Edgeworth's time in the Army, and the controlled timeslip he used to get into the present. That makes Ignacy discuss the German army, and after an uncomfortable moment the two are sharing war memories. Of course, the Priest ruins the discussion eventually, but we're all getting to know each other a bit.
I start as something swishes by my ear, but then the weight of Sylus falls heavily on my shoulder.
"Another riddle for you, Storyteller."
I smile. "Go ahead." Playing riddles with the griffin has been a lot of fun. It's a challenge, and has kept my mind off the darkness. I also take it as an honor that he feels comfortable riding on my shoulder.
Sylus mewls, the griffin equivalent of clearing his throat, and speaks.
"I never was, am always to be,
No one ever saw me, nor ever will
And yet I am the confidence of all
To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball."
I think for a long moment. "The future." I say. Sylus grumbles. "Tomorrow is the proper answer, Storyteller." I roll my eyes. "Same difference."
The griffin shakes his head, lowering his ears slightly in annoyance.
Something rumbles off in the recesses of the cave, and the griffin starts, his ears shooting up, talons digging painfully into my arm. I wince. "Relax." Sylus makes a little muttering coo. "My apologies."
"You nervous too?" I say quietly. "You're not the only one. This place makes me feel like a rabbit smelling fox."
Sylus ruffles his feathers. "I as well. I was born up among the tree branches. This place..." he shakes his wings uncomfortably. I nod. "I know." Then I straighten. "All right, try this:My house is not quiet, I am not loud, but we are fashioned together.I am the swifter, at times the stronger; my house more enduring, longer to last.A times I rest; my dwelling still running. Should we be severed, my death is assured."
The griffin opens his beak, but the answer never comes. Instead, he raises a paw, pointing ahead.

In the weak light from our various sources the shadows twist and writhe like things alive. It is easy to imagine small eyes watching us. skittering among the branches, Sylus outstretched claw pointing to the mass of stone, emerging from the cavern floor and arching up, if it were a living tree i doubt it could hold itself up. As we draw closer veins of crystal within the tree catch the light reflecting it back to us and illuminating the cavern. For a shining moment the cavern is beautiful, though as we grow used to the brilliance the macabre aspect of the view become apparent, The skeletons of people and animals adorn the trunk and branches of the tree. "ye gods" is all i can say, at the scene that has unfolded before it, beautiful and terrible.

For a long moment, I stare at the shining branches and their fearful burdens. I shake my head, looking away. "Which way is west?" I say quietly, looking down at the crystal-veined stone of the floor.