They did not, in fact, get to keep them. The ax-wielder (who she’s taken to calling Ax in her head for brevity’s sake) decided to take some initiative, and one of his spirit weapons is currently glowing dimly in the back of one of the Stone Divers sect members, and Shi Cho’s swarm managed to finish off the other (messily. Very messily). The Unearthly Depths cultivator apparently surrendered, though, so… good for her. That accounts for everyone, save the beast tamer, who apparently just… left sometime in the fight.
They stand together in the chosen tunnel now, Kaena having retreated quietly to the back of the group. Yun Ka is busy stitching Ax’s limb back on, a flurry of mechanical activity bandaging it at the same time. Raika herself, or at least Raika’s Mask faces the others, perched at one end of the somewhat shorter tunnel so she doesn’t brush her head against the ceiling.
“So,” she says. “We know that the Witch has control over this area. The stone walls are alive. Shapefixit has experience with this material, and Yun Ka is an expert in experimenting with and studying unique Qi signatures. I have my nose, Jin Rou, you’ve met the witch, and Shi Cho, your bugs can scout ahead of us. We’ve got a good chance of making it through the maze towards her. At least better than we do alone, or in groups.”
Ax raises his good hand. “You mentioned carrying something?”
She nods. “You’ll be carrying Taran, who’s currently incapacitated, and Kaena. Their Qi is likely more at risk here than even ours, though they seem to have some technique to mitigate it. I believe the draining effect comes from contact with the stone around us, or at least is added to by contact, and the more people we have not touching the floor, the more they might be able to recover.”
Kaena starts a bit at being referenced, and looks at Raika, eyes… surprisingly expressive, as if surprised to be mentioned or remembered. Raika just nods to them, once. They seem to read into a bit, but nod back.
“And us?” asks one of the remaining Stone Divers, pointing to himself and the surrendered Unearthly Depths cultivator, who seems to have shut down a bit and is perhaps the weakest in the group after spending Qi in combat and resting against the stone now.
Raika shrugs. “I don’t want to kill you. I don’t think you’re of particular use. Haven’t even learned your names. If we win, we all get out of here and you can go back to your sect. We lose, you’re dead anyways. Jin Rou's the strongest among you, and I’m pretty sure myself or Ax have decent chances of winning one on one with him, never mind in a group.”
Ax cocks an eyebrow, easily looking over Yun Ka’s head at her. “Ok, you do know my name is-”
“I actually don’t care right now, we have bigger things to deal with. As payment for saving your life and having my friend stitch your arm back on, you carry our stuff and have a big ax. I’m calling you Ax.”
He looks like he might protest, but then actually shrugs, wincing at the pain in his newfound stitches. Yun Ka is finishing up a splint and strap to carry with him, and while Raika’s confident in her needlework, it’s, at best, not a large chance that he’ll recover use of it. Might end up as just another drain on his system as he cycles Qi and tries to heal it. Without an actual healer, the chances of a full recovery are… not great.
But he doesn’t seem to mind, and it would be hypocritical as hell for her to judge someone on their healing capabilities and what is or isn’t possible.
“Shapefixit. I can guide us by the strength of the Qi in these tunnels, but I don’t understand their layout. What do you know?”
The goblinoid squirms a bit under all the attention from people so much taller than her, but clears her throat to speak nonetheless, filling the air with her clicking, warbling accent. “It’s godflesh. Every part of godflesh can eat what it touches, but slowly. We have not seen many monsters yet, so perhaps this god is asleep, or perhaps the Witch has… done something to it. Somewhere in the tunnels, hidden, there should be a core, the heart. That is where the Witch will likely be.”
“Jin Rou, you said you met her before. Near the end of the Crag, where the sea leaks in. Did you see anything like that?”
Just about everyone turns to look at him, his sect members especially almost taking a step back in their suspicion. He sighs, refusing to meet their eyes, and shrugs. “I don’t know. It was… overwhelming. Dark. She’s old. Powerful. We met in an empty chamber, with a lake in the middle of it. Even with lights, she still… it still looked like it went on for miles.”
“Could you recognize the tunnels you went through if we see them again?”
It takes a few seconds, but he nods, and she doesn’t hear his heart speed up for a lie. Useful, if only a bit.
“Alright. The Witch is watching. Don’t expect it to be easy. Yun Ka, when you’re done, I want you to try to set up a moving formation for us, something to disguise us. Shapefixit, you and I will guide forward. Shi Cho, if we hit an intersection, you send out some bugs, but keep them small, avoid her notice.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Shi Cho nods, pale skin a bit paler after how much Qi the last fight dragged out of them all. “If my swarm members are too small, they won’t live long in the dark.”
“That’s fine. Call them back if you need to. We’ll use what they see to decide where to go, they don’t need to explore whole tunnels.”
“Why do you think she’ll even let us close?” The Unearthly Depths survivor says, her eyes half-vacant. “We’re in her belly. Drowning in her waters. Trapped in the dark, with monsters-”
Raika steps over to her and slaps her in the jaw. Not hard enough to break anything, only just hard enough to break the skin. The woman, visibly a few years older than Raika was before her change, looks up at her, teary-eyed and trembling.
Raika crouches in front of her. “Stay here and die, then. Or try to kill one of us. You have choices. Don’t waste them on whimpering.”
It’s not particularly kind, but… it feels right to say. She’s a cultivator. She should be more.
They all should be. Even Raika. Especially her.
“We move out in ten minutes,” she says, letting her voice echo down the tunnel a bit to make sure she holds their attention. “The more time we waste, the more we lose energy. Move forward, or stay still and die. Be ready.”
Then, she turns to Kaena.
They still look shaky, but… they avoid her gaze. Not out of fear. Not out of frustration. Out of… no. Not quite shame, either. Perhaps just disappointment.
Saying nothing, Raika walks to the back of the tunnel with her friend, leaving the rest to prepare themselves, set up gurneys or a backpack for Ax to carry their weaker members. Not much time, but… a bit.
Once they’re far enough that she’s fairly certain that no one can hear them without actively listening in, she crouches, refusing to tower over Kaena in this moment. Kaena just… looks at her.
“I did what I had to do,” they said. “They were going to turn on each other sooner than later, and I couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t turn on me first.”
Raika nods. “I know. You’re not a fighter. I figured it was something like that. Apparently it’s… it’s been maybe a day for us, down here, but I know it’s been longer for the rest of you. I worry this place warps time as easily as it has space.
“But you sat back and watched. It might not have been guaranteed, or easy, but you pushed them into killing the disloyal. And you benefited.”
Kaena is quiet.
“I don’t dislike what you did. Lie, cheat, manipulate. Do what you will. But Raika, in our wholeness, cannot stand how you did it.”
“In your wholeness, hmm?” Kaena says, scoffing lightly. “Not exactly all-better, are you beastie?”
“No. We’re coping. After we escape, we’ll re-evaluate. Our parasite is removed, and we are changing. In the meantime, we need to focus. I am not angry. I am not even disappointed. I am simply informing you that I will not allow it to happen again. Factor it in as you need to.”
Kaena says nothing this time, but… Raika smells a hint of peach out of the mercury scent. Not sweetened, not sugary, but… present, where it was in retrograde before. Kaena’s expression remains stiff, worried, but it relaxes a bit, carrying the scent of something like relief.
Raika extends a hand, palm up, clawed and monstrous. It has one finger too many, and some of its claws extend well past the end of the limb, but it rests there, between them. An offering.
Kaena lightly touches her palm with the tips of their fingers. Soft, delicate flesh against padded muscle and chitinous armor plates.
“Us monsters have to stick together. Right?”
Kaena scoffs, but it is lighter, and in the dark, invisible, Raika scents the salty taste of what might be a tear. “Sure, beastie. I suppose we do.”
Raika nods, her Mask smiling faintly. It looks worse than normal, less organic, but… it’s truer, and the Mask is less equipped to express that. It rings a bit truer for it.
“Speaking of snakes,” she says, “what happened to Jun Vral?”
Kaena sighs, low and soft. “Went off on their own. Said their snakes were strangely resistant to the drain in here, said he’d go to scout. Didn’t come back. We… I haven’t had time to think of a plan for him.”
Raika nods. “He’s survived worse than tunnels. If he claims resistance, then it could be he’s alright, just separated by the Witch or the tunnels. All the more reason to kill her quickly.”
Kaena nods. Raika smiles, delicately closing her hand over Kaena’s, sharp-edged weapons against delicate skin… but softly enough that they don’t draw a drop of red. Just enough to know they’re there.
“You’ll be alright for Ax to carry you?”
Kaena sighs, rolling their eyes and resuming a bit of their usual posture. “I’ve been through worse, beastie. And if you’re right, I’d appreciate the chance to recharge. This place… it’s not a good place to have your Qi on the outside.”
Raika nods. “Watch over Taran while there. He’s asleep, and said something about hibernating.”
They nod. “Of course. Surprised it took this long for them to fall into it, honestly. I’ll watch them.”
“Good.”
She turns back to the group, seeing most of them ready and waiting, afraid and drawn, tired and hurt.
It’ll have to do.
“Come on,” she says. “We’re moving. The longer we wait, the worse this place drains us.”
Ax hesitates a bit, but eventually agrees to Kaena’s presence under a look from Raika. Yun Ka set up a sort of scaffolding on his back while working on his sling, and Taran is already taking up one spot there. Kaena climbs up as carefully as they can, though it’s more than a little awkwardly, and just as Ax is about to get up, Yun Ka actually hops up on his shoulder too.
“Your service is appreciated!” She says, still artificially bright even down in the dark. Before he can go to protest, she deploys a dozen mechanical arms in a radius, like a massive crown above the whole group. Each one holds a small tablet, a series of runes and formulae deploying and beginning to glow from them. The jade at her side glows a bright green, a bit faded from its norm, and she waves to Raika.
“It might last us a few hours, or a few days,” she says. “Hard to tell! Very difficult to make a moving formation. Not as difficult as making a formation that’s always being eaten, though. Good challenges!”
Raika nods.
“Shapefixit? Let’s go.”
“I’ll see you soon…” whisper the shadows to Raika as they move deeper into the dark.