Post by Phoenix on Feb 16, 2013 21:29:48 GMT -8
Through the dark leather of his gloves, Phoenix could feel the accumulation of moisture and grime on the wall as he slowly walked along. Unable to see clearly, the connection with the wall was providing him with one of only two sources of direction. The roar of rushing water was the other.
The flooded ground underfoot was growing slippery as the speed of the current began to take hold. Crouching to gain a little more traction and to lower his center of gravity, Phoenix continued to edge slightly forward. Step after step. Placing foot in front of foot. Keeping his eyes on what he perceived as forward, he thought he could perhaps see a glow or at least something slightly brighter than the oppressive darkness. This momentary lapse in concentration was all it took. An uneven surface under the water and he was falling backwards. Throwing his hands out to try and balance, they found only the slime of the wall. The current picked him up and sped him along, completely in control of his movement.
Air whipped past his hair, cold spray washed over him. The sound of the waterfall grew louder and louder, before reaching an almost deafening rumble. Suddenly, the sound was behind him. Gravity took a fierce hold on his stomach. He slammed back down, onto what he wasn't sure. Careening along under the power of the water – turning, twisting, tumbling – he could feel that he was rushing down a downward slope but everything else was driven out of his head by the combination of speed and adrenaline coursing through his veins. The trill of terror was invigorating for Phoenix, it was not often that he was placed in a scenario that he had no knowledge of. This, however, was abruptly interrupted by another bout of weightlessness that ended with him smashing into a pile of algae and muck.
Untangling himself and brushing as much off as possible, Phoenix would stand up, glancing around. All was dark except for a bright glow. It illuminated what looked like a set of stairs ahead of him. The sound of high pitched whining of a dog flowed down the stairs, quickly followed by a quiet female voice. The whining stopped. He knew he had a made a fair amount of noise when he fell into the pile of algae, he hoped that it hadn't given away his position but that was unlikely. Taking care to crouch and reduce as much noise from footfalls as possible, eyes firmly fixed atop the stairs, Phoenix carefully maneuvered himself up the stairs until he could just see what lay on the landing above.
A small girl with blonde hair was standing by a dog, studying the top of another set of stairs. Curiously, there was also a boiler that was being heated by a small fire, hence the warm light. This was puzzling. Why was there a boiler down here? What was it providing steam for? As his eyes grew accustomed to the brighter light, he could make out that the little girl was extremely well armed and sported a small patch with a dragon on it. Was she a member of the Dragons then? Were they behind his current situation? No, she'd have been waiting for him instead of investigating if she had known he was coming. The situation grew in complexity and Phoenix knew he was going to enjoy it. Stealthily moving up the last few stairs, he took the few steps necessary to get behind the boiler, hoping that the crackling of the fire masked the soft noise of his steps. The warmth of the fire helped dry the last of the wetness from his clothes whilst he watched the girl intently to see what she did and if she knew any better than he did about what was happening.
