Taking the Initiative [Dark]

[Bee]

Mnem drank more of the whiskey than she probably should have, but she had any sentient being's aversion to pain, and she was not looking forward to having her wounds prodded and her wrist mucked about with. Even if Minh tried to be careful. Thank the gods for the med kit. Now she just had to concentrate on not feeling any pain. Right-o. An easy task. Like performing brain surgery, or building a functional freight train from toothpicks and paste.

A sigh. Words muttered quietly and reluctantly: "May I have something to bite down on?"

She didn't want to scream. That would be undignified, and she had suffered enough indignity for one lifetime. Besides, who knew what a pained banshee wail would do to their surroundings. She was not looking forward to another cave-in. She also didn't want to end up biting through her lip. No need to pile on the pain.

[Dark]

Minh was eying the canine's mangled wrist when the question was posed, and she rifted through the pack for something that would work. She finally settled in the short, sturdy stick Monty sometimes liked to play fetch with; she'd slipped in the pack figuring they could eventually use it for kindling, if not else. It was just the right size for Mnem to bite down on and not overextend her jaw.

She slipped it between sharp teeth, and settled back to brace herself. She'd never set anyone's bones before, and she wasn't looking forward to the experience. To strengthen her constitution, she took a healthy swig from the whiskey. She winced as it went down, burning a track down towards her stomach to pool with liquid warmth.

"Alright, let's do this."

Gently probing the swollen area, and calling up an image of what Mnem's wrist should look/feel like, she applied pressure and twisted in one motion.

[Bee]

The stick in her mouth nearly snapped with the force with which she sunk her teeth in, and around the obstruction came a keening, miserable wail. The sound of her wrist getting put back in place was unpleasant and unnatural, and she tried to tell herself that now the worst was over. Her wrist was set, and Minh was bandaging it up, and the prodding and spliting and wrapping hurt like ever-loving fuck, but it was over eventually.

She let the stick drop from her mouth. It was chewed all to hell. Monty poked curiously at with one extended claw, before apparently pronouncing it useless and kicking it away.

She held as still has she could while Minh took care of her head, and Mnem managed to assist in the cleaning of the few minor cuts.

Looking around miserably, she said, "We need to find a way out of here."

[Dark]

"I would tend to agree with you, but... the only exit we know about is, well..." She gestured to the solid wall of rock behind them rather helplessly, nervous about the near constant cascade of tiny gravel fragments--there was no way they'd be able to dig themselves out, and even if they somehow managed to do so without having it all come crashing down around their ears, a colony of very, very angry Slithey Toves resided on the other side and Minh wasn't sure if they'd survive the experience.

"I suppose we keep moving forward. Can you walk?"

She was in the process of helping the canine stand, taking most of the weight, when she heard a pathetic little chirp and turned to see Monty batting at something curled up on the rock floor.

"Now what?" She propped Mnem against one of the larger boulders, "Hold on a sec," and went to investigate. She blinked--it was a Slithey Tove, young from the looks of it, and sporting a rather colorful bruise. He was adorable.

She swatted Monty away, who was in the process of gnawing on one of the creature's many legs, and picked it up as carefully as she could manage. It gave a chirp in protest of being jarred, but otherwise didn't react.



"It must have gotten trapped in the rock slide."

[Kiki]

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[Bee]

For a moment Mnem considered obstinately refusing to feel sorry for the little Tove--those beasts were the reason they were in their current predicament, after all--but she gave up on that after a second or two. To be fair, Monty was the the one who had thrown hirself into a nest and started eating unborn babies, and the Tove looked rather miserable, bruised and twitching.

Mnem could sympathize with that. Gods, she needed more whiskey. But it was mostly gone, and who knew when next on their journey she would need a stiff drink. She reluctantly let the bottle alone, for now.

"Probably," she said, eying the little sunset-toned creature with pity. She didn't have much experience with Toves, but this one didn't seem particularly hostile. Probably in too much pain. She glanced at the med kit. "Does it have any wounds that need tending to?"

[Dark]

Minh looked the little creature over, running a light hand over the Slithey Tove's bruised and battered body and watching closely for signs of discomfort.

"I think he's just really bruised, is all. And he's got some gnaw marks from a certain bander that won't be eating for quite some time." Monty sulked, mumbling a chain of chirps and twittering that could only be described as disrespectful. Minh fixed her with a pointed stare, and she quieted.

"Alright, then," Minh slung the pack over her back, and settled the Slithey Tove in the hollow that had been created between the bag and her shoulder blades. It immediately fell into fitful sleep.

"We can only keep moving forward, and hope that there's an up-shaft. Monty, you're to scout ahead," Minh directed, "And, Mnem you'll be with me. Let's see if we can't get you out of this mess in one piece. Take it as slow as you have to."

[Bee]

Mnem uneasily got to her feet. Her legs didn't seem to want to work properly, damn them; they were aching and wobbly, and rather violently protesting movement. She forced them forward anyway. Slowly, but she was going. She could collapse and rest when they were out of this damn cave and out of danger. She didn't even want to contemplate what else could be lurking in here, if there was a habitat of Toves.

Her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness of the cave, but she kept a hand on Minh--between the two of them, they might have decent vision. And Monty could see better than they could.

It dawned on her fully the cave was only miserably gloomy, rather than pitch-black. There had to be light coming from somewhere, bouncing off something. It wasn't enough of a hope to keep her mind off her present woe--which was considerable--but it did make her push forward with a little more resolve.

[Dark]

Minh stumbled along, keeping a close eye on Mnem when she wasn't tipping over her own feet. Whenever the canine looked to be tiring, Minh would make them take a short little break, just long enough to catch their breath again before pushing forward.

If she wasn't so sure it was wishful thinking, she would have sworn that it was getting lighter as they continued to walk. When she could see clearly five feet in front of her feet, she knew she wasn't imagining it. And it was about then that she started to feel a soft, fresh breeze whisper through the caverns.

"Salvation!"

But she spoke too soon--there was, indeed, a very large opening to the outside world. It was just about fifty feet above the cavern floor, situated in a nearly vertical rock wall. And Mnem was in no condition to fly any of them out, let alone herself.

[Bee]

Mnem could have screamed in frustration, had she the energy. Lacking the necessary motivation and lung-power, however, she merely stared at the latest obstruction in their path with slumped shoulders and dismay.

She just wanted out of the damn cave. She wanted to see sunlight. She wanted to get somewhere where her wrist would be properly seen to, and where she could be given more booze and enough pain medication to knock out a horse. She wanted to knock out Shinrai, come to think of it. If he hadn't gone off about how very dangerous the Marsh was and acted like such an overbearing ass about them joining, then Mnem and Minh would never have made this trip.

She sighed, and turned to Minh. "I can try to fly, if it comes to it, but I don't think I can," she said, gloomily. "Do you have any bright ideas?"