Starling coughed, and the dull pain in their chest blossomed into an agony that pulled them right back to consciousness. With a cry they rolled onto their side and hugged their torso, flexing their stomach and back muscles to try and find a position in which the pain wasn’t overwhelming. They gasped for breath, then flinched and tried again with a shallower breath, breathing with just the top of their lungs.
I think I broke a rib. I can’t breathe without it nearly making me collapse… And that cough.
Stiff muscles and joints protested to their frantic movement, and they were kicking up a shower of dust as they moved. It puffed around them, in a strange way reminding them of the mist that covered the floor last time they had looked. In fact, now that they had found an angle to hold their torso that was only a dull pain rather than a blinding agony they realised the room felt quite different. That mist was gone, and so was the heat. It was cold in here now, and still, the air was dense and almost heavy to breathe in.
Crap… did I lose consciousness? How long have I been out for?
The dust swirling around Starling threatened to tickle their throat, they couldn’t afford to cough again, the pain was too intense. Working quickly Starling held their breath and opened their jacket, mimicking the idea they used back in the fire to try not to inhale the smoke Starling carefully tore a long strip from their t-shirt. Being very wary so as not to upset their injury, they tied the strip around their head, covering their mouth and nose.
At least this way I won’t cough from any dust. Ugh, I came down here with no water, no bandages, no knife or equipment of any sort. That's the sort of thing that gets you killed. Though I don’t know what I could have packed to prepare me for that thing.
Starling nodded towards the ruined plinth with a grimace and then looked around for ideas. With the immediate threat of further coughing somewhat alleviated they focussed on what else they could see. To their left, about 4 feet up from the ground is the hole in the wall they crawled through to get in here. It’s ringed with roots that have pushed into this space, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to climb up, although doing so with a busted rib, and then having to crawl on their belly back through the gap did not sound fun.
The only other option was the deep dark gash on the other side of the room, the one that led to the honey smell and even more intense heat - or at least that was how it was earlier. Starling gritted their teeth and braced a hand against the wall behind them, pushing themselves up very carefully and slowly, trying not to jar their damaged chest.
With a sigh of relief Starling straightened up, one hand cradling their lower torso protectively. The room was still dark, but the luminescence from the hole they had entered through gave just enough light for Starling to make out the edges of the space and where the hole was located.
I don’t like the idea of climbing those roots in this condition, but continuing further down when injured is a stupid idea.
They looked over at the gash in the wall and hobbled over. The sweet-sticky smell was stronger than before, the heat pouring through the ragged hole on this side of the room was surprising - it seemed to dissipate quickly, but at the threshold it was almost unbearable, an even hotter temperature than when Starling had breached this chamber. Now that Starling was at the gash, and looking down into it, they could see a red glow. There were dull flashes of blue around the gap, with bursts of heat rushing into the room after every one.
Do I push further, in case that is some sort of honey? Or head off and lick my wounds?
Starling’s memory flashed with images of Jeff and the red sap cauterizing his wound.
What if it is something that could heal me right back up?
Starling hovered, clearly unsure of what to do next. As they stood on the edge of the gash the heat wafted up at them again, hot enough to make them close their eyes and flinch. The deep red glow grew in intensity. Listening carefully Starling could make out the soft noises of a thick liquid moving below them. Soft slaps and pops of bubbles of air escaping.
I… can’t keep going, I have to get out of here, rest up, find some other source of food. Work out what the hell is going on here.
Just as they turned away, the heat grew again, burning their back, and the light increased. Casting a worried glance over their shoulder Starling saw something that made them gasp. The darkness below was filling with a deep red liquid, like the tree sap from before, but this had strange purple striations running through it. Dark but somehow leaving afterimages in Starlings vision. Whilst the liquid churned and flowed into the gap the striations didn’t change shape or move. More of them became visible as the liquid spread, as though they were always there but not visible until the sap covered them.
Starling moved quickly, wincing in pain as they hobbled over to the other wall, reaching for the roots hanging down. The liquid followed them, reaching the edge of the gash behind them and starting to flow slowly down the wall to the floor. If the sap was moving at this speed Starling probably wouldn’t have to worry, but it was like something was pushing it up and over the edge, so it flowed over itself, cooling and heating itself as new sap flowed over old. There was a sizzling noise as it hit the geometric patterns on the floor. They flared blue for a brief second, staccato flashes buried under the deep red and purple blanket that was sweeping over them, before they faded away, the worked stone blackening and going dull under the viscous tide.
Starling reached out with their left hand, right arm still cradling their chest, they grabbed a root firmly and tried to pull themselves up off the floor towards the tunnel above. Behind them the sweet smelling sap pooled around the remains of the plinth, flashes of blue lighting the ceiling before vanishing into nothing. The air was getting hard to breathe, heady fumes making Starling’s vision swim. They pulled with all their might, but one arm was not enough to lift them off the ground, and the sap was inching closer to their boots by the second. The boots had been a gift, they were not losing them to some lava honey.
Gritting their teeth, setting their focus, blanking the pain with grim determination Starling reached up with the other arm. Slowly, agonizingly, painfully they raised it up, past their shoulder, past their head and finally gripped a root. With an involuntary groan they pulled themselves up, getting their feet off the ground just as the fluid swept into the space they had been standing in. They braced their feet against the wall, walking them up until they were parallel to the ground. Their back burning from the heat below.
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It took long, agonising minutes to maneuver themselves. Walking their hands up the roots and their feet further up the wall. Finally finding the gap, pushing off with a grunt and swinging back in with their toes pointed into it. They slid into the space, getting up to their hips before friction stopped them. Then they hung there, still holding the roots, legs in the cold tunnel from earlier, torso in the hot furnace that had become the plinth room. With a desperate look back Starling could see the room was filling with the sap, it wouldn’t be long before it breached this tunnel as well.
I… I can’t go on… This is too much…
Every gasp for breath made Starling’s vision swim with pain and the fumes made them dizzy. Their stomach muscles screamed for release as they rigidly held themselves in place over the rising heat. The thought of shuffling through the gap, having to release the roots holding them up, reach inside and find a handhold, keep their chest level around the pain of their rib. It was far too much to take. Unbidden a sob escaped Starling’s throat.
Damnit. No. This is NOT it. I will not give up.
“Come on Starling! This is not where I lose you!” Walt’s voice was there too. He was kneeling over her, hand outstretched, another memory, but a good one.
I can do this! Or I will die trying. I do not give up.
The fire, the radio, the fight with the crab, the disaster in the past, graduating, getting enrolled in the first place. Starling had Never given up.
With a grunt and a yell of pain Starling let go with one hand, releasing the root and swinging around. There was a loud slap as their palm hit the wall and their body twisted to the side. The pain screamed inside them but they held on. Surprisingly, the worked stone was cool, and it glowed blue around their hand. They could feel the power still in it, just a trickle. Just like the power that had flowed from them into the plinth. With something akin to a breath, Starling sucked the power out of the wall, feeling it come to them from all over the room. It felt good, soothing, cooling and relaxing. The random flashes of blue light where the sap was covering fresh wall stopped abruptly. From below, deeper below back through the gash in the wall there was an inarticulate growl of rage, and the sap seemed to well for a second, no longer flowing into the room, before suddenly returning with more pressure than before.
Starling shuffled their hips, scrabbling with their free hand through the gap for something to grip. They found another root, on the other side and gripped it tight.
Now this… This is going to really hurt.
Without giving themself time to really consider it they let go with their other hand. The weight of their upper body transferred to their hips and the hand on the other side of the gap. They wedged their hips in, stopping them from rotating, but when their weight hit the root they were grabbing it shifted, and they started to slip back out of the hole.
Starling gripped tightly, twisted their hips as much as they could. The root continued to slip and then with a jarring, painful jolt stopped. Starling was hanging half out of the tunnel entrance, the back of their head now mere inches from the bubbling sap that burned them through their clothes. In desperation, Starling pulled on the root with everything they had left, the pain threatening to black them out but gritting their teeth they fought it.
Just… a… little… further
The action was just enough to lever their upper body around and in, relief flowed through them for a second. Then, suddenly, as they struggled to get their other arm into the gap, the root they are anchored on snaps, throwing them free. Desperately Starling scrambled for a hand hold on the rocky floor of the tunnel. They slipped further out, crying out in fear before their hand seized a solid heavy root. Their grip had snapped to it suddenly. [Natural Climbing] activating in their desperation without being channeled. They hold like that for a second, panting, before pulling the rest of the way in and lying on the rough floor just trying to breathe.
I forgot to use the skill, I just assumed… no time, later!
They don’t get much respite, only moments later the sap starts to eddy around the bottom edge of the gap. If it continues to rise it will fill the tunnel.
I… I have to keep going.
No longer feeling anything but pain all over, Starling reached for the wall of the cavern, using roots and rocks to pull themselves up. They dislodge earth and soil but they stagger to their feet and almost fall back up the incline to the way out.
As they stumble in the darkness, the way barely lit by the red glow behind and the green from the lichen and fungus around them they feel a tremble in the ground. Behind them came the sound of stone falling into the sap, of the ground giving way. It sounded like the room they left was collapsing!
The earth beneath them shakes and shudders, and a large crack starts to open in the middle of the tunnel. Baleful light shoots up through it, and within seconds more of the sap starts to push out and fill the tunnel.
Haven’t I gone through enough?
The roof of the tunnel is thick with fumes and smoke, and Starling’s eyes are streaming with irritation. It’s a shock when they collide with something soft and furry, trembling in the tunnel ahead of them. A thick powerful arm almost hits Starling in the temple but they duck at the last second, eyes clearing to show them one of the digging creatures from before. Its fur singed, its eyes and nose looking sore and reddened.
“We need to get out of here friend! You need to run!”
The creature looked at Starling with desperation in its eyes and Starling looks it up and down, tapping [Physical Assessment] even though they are exhausted. The skill highlights the problem. One of its paws is trapped in the crack, and the oozing sap is getting closer.
Starling looks up at its pleading, desperate eyes.
There is just enough room to squeeze past it.
Starling doesn’t hesitate for a moment, bending down and digging around the creature's foot. Its large claws are not nimble enough to get into the crack to free it. The soil is horrendously hot to the touch and Starling burns their fingers as they dig the foot free. They jolt and cry out as one questing finger reaching under the paw to lever it out touches the sap and the burn is like nothing Starling has ever felt - much worse than the broken rib they are still trying to deal with.
As soon as its foot is free the creature pulls itself up the tunnel with its large arms, grabbing roots overhead and swinging up to the exit. Starling, meanwhile, is fighting to free their finger from the sap. It feels like it is being sucked in, and the tide is rising. Bracing their other hand on their wrist they pull with everything they have left, the pain on their finger so intense they forget everything else. It comes free with a sickening splorch and they almost fall backward, throwing a hand out to catch themselves at the last moment.
Ok now run!
Without a second thought Starling barrels up the tunnel towards the light ahead, bouncing off walls and smacking their head on roots. The ground shakes and groans, upsetting their balance. They gasp for air through their face mask, eyes fixed up and ahead as the light grows.
It's a desperate race, fleeing the heat and the noise, the tremors and the fear, but they make it finally, and burst out into the clear fresh spiced air of the forest. They scramble away from the tunnel mouth, pulling the mask from their face and gasping for breath.
I made it. Damn.
It’s too much, as soon as Starling is up out of the tunnel mouth, they nestle into some tree roots.
Just for a minute, I just need to rest for a minute.
In seconds exhaustion overcomes them and they fall asleep.
—
Several hours later, the crunch and snap of something making its way through the underbrush doesn’t wake them. Something stops nearby, looking down at the burned, bruised and battered figure curled up in a knot of roots.
“Hey Kara, look at this. I found another survivor!”