theresnodoor | OOM - The Labyrinth Part I

Entry tags:

OOM - The Labyrinth Part I

There is boredom. There is restlessness. There is anxiety. And there is recklessness. Stages of reactions following the common phrase of There's nothing to do. If left alone for too long, this condition can result in conversation, conflict, experimentation, explosions, discovery, and death.

Among others.

But sometimes, Fate steps in. Someone looks down and notices the ever-increasing stages and says, Hey. That looks kind of dull. Let me help you out there.

The common reaction to such politeness is gratitude.

Well into the stages of boredom, Rachel opens her eyes and finds herself not in her bedroom, her apartment, or even the Bar's couch. Instead of soft fabric, there are hard, rough stones beneath her back. Instead of open space, the walls are close and dingy and the ceiling is low. And when she sits up, sharp and sudden, she is staring out of an archway that leads into the darkest of dark hallways, despite the flickering torch on the wall.

Blue eyes dart in every direction and not a single one of them makes sense - including the other person, crumpled on the stones nearby.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's a squeeze.

For a while its like the light never gets closer.

And at the frustrating point of that it suddenly ends.

It isn't outside. It's a cavern.

An insanely high cavern. With a forest.

And a water fall in far distance. All....picturesque.

Rachel, as stated, is on her heels. And really, really not enjoying the journey. Jo gets a light push as the girl comes up behind her because out of that space now, please, yes, thank you.

Only to step bare-footed onto the cavern floor and blink at the beauty around them.

"...okay."

Jo doesn't like this anymore than the cabinet.

Beauty hides horror just as well.

"No more castle walls."

"Yeah."

Number one on the list of reasons why this is better than the castle. Rachel frowns and steps forward. The floor is still cold stone but at least it's natural, and without all the walls.

She's peering at the forest curiously. Actual forest or rainforest? Where the first would be far more comfortable, for familiarity's sake.

It's generic enough.
Jo almost hates how spread it is.

The small hallways had so little space to scout.
This just kept rolling on in every direct before hand.
Breezes ruffling the trees. Water cascading. Birds somewhere.

Freedom. Space. Natural world, if not exactly safer, is usually more reliable.

Rachel nearly trips over something on her way to the cavern entrance. Looking down is a surprise, more confusing than pleasant.

She crouches and picks at a leather satchel, worn but in good condition.

"We might not be alone."

Random bags on the floor.

Rachel frowns and continues her search.

"Well, whoever it is should show up soon," she states after a moment, holding up a small rectangle of something shiny and plastic. "They'll come looking for their granola bars."

Jo frowned. There were no signs.

Of anything that would have sent someone running.
Not even footsteps, or disturbed ground, around them.

"And their bottled water," Rachel continues, still focused on the satchel, "and their..."

She pulls out a small box, which rattles gently. Her eyes widen and her voice softens, words coming out slowly as she reads: "Remington rifle ammunition."

At this point, Rachel too starts looking around the cave for signs they have missed. Someone who knew they'd be here and what they might need.

"Way to make the idyllic even creeper."

Rachel says nothing, eyes on the forest. First the not-Drode, now this, after mysteriously appearing in a castle with no warning. In her experience, the thing that's behind this would be obvious.

But this is Milliways. Probably. And that means different rules.

"So."

She glances back, one eyebrow lifted. "Take it or leave it?"

"Keep the rifle shells at least."

They're tossed Jo-wards.

But Rachel doesn't get up from the crouch. She stays where she is for a moment, inspecting the bag.

You'd think, as many times as she's been lost and abandoned in the middle of nowhere, she'd have developed some sort of survival skills so far as finding and preparing food go.

Sadly, you'd be wrong. Which is why when she does stand, Rachel's still holding the satchel.

Jo caught the box and started reloading.

Having a box with the even more left in it was going to be annoying to carry. Maybe they should keep the the --

Apparently whole bag given the way Rachel's still looking at it.

Slightly distastefully, but not about to put it down. The satchel is only useful while it's in one piece and if she wears it and has to morph, that will be lost in a second.

"I'm taking it," Rachel decides after a moment, shrugging as she flips the satchel closed and slings the strap over her shoulder.

"Noted." Even if the food is still suspicious.
The same as all of this is. Will be.

"Onward and upward?"

Into that forest.

Jo can decide how appetizing the food is once they get hungry.

Rachel turns her gaze toward the cave entrance, out to leafy green and sunshine. It's much, much better than the castle. But that doesn't make it less suspicious.

What else can they do? Rachel nods and starts walking, picking her footing on rough stone carefully with bare feet.

It's strange. So completely calm.

The wind blowing through leaves.
The splash of water. The birds.

It would be refreshing, if they had walked there themselves. If they hadn't crawled their way out of a cabinet from a castle. If they could be sure the forest is at all real.

It's strange, instead. And suspicious.

Rachel's gaze is up as much as down, all around. You never know what's watching you, what's paying more attention than it should.

"Maybe I was wrong." It's ironic.

A stiffly amused ironic.

"About something specific?"

A bird calls and Rachel watches it take off, frowning lightly at the short wing span, the sweet song.

"Or are you just making conversation?"

"At least the castle walls were predictable."

Honest. Unassuming. Bland. Blank. Nothing to hide.

Rachel makes a face, but says nothing. Unprotected on all sides is a problem - but at least there's room.

A soft buzzing catches her attention, though it could have been there from before they left the cave. Something soft and innocuous with all the outside noise but there's something odd about the sudden stop-start of it. Something a little unnatural.

Stopping as her gaze moves up the trees again, Rachel says thoughtfully, "Take this." And the satchel is held out.

Beginning a trend of using Jo as a hat rack.

Jo's noticed. And it gets a disgruntled sneer.
But it's an impatiently accepting one.

She'd rather have a bear than not, over not having a bag.

Rachel's looking off, so Jo follows her gaze. Listening.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject