Caelum kept a close eye on Elio to make sure he wouldn't try and do anything else stupid. He was still injured, and walking hurt him, but at least he wasn't bleeding, and the potion was helping him to heal more quickly. After a bit, Azel headed forward to see how Felix and Aurelius were doing.
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There was a column of fire where the monster nest had been. Felix glanced over his shoulder at Aurelius, an easy smile spreading over his face.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. Picked off everything that tried to escape. Though we might find the stray ghoul here and there, it's not going to be nearly as bad."
Felix saw Azel approach and nodded at him.
"That bit's taken care of. Let's regroup a little, and we can figure it out from there."
"Felix!" Aurelius cried out, pulling him out of the way as the ground beneath his feet started to crumble.
Felix stumbled a bit, but was out of the way. He probably would've been fine, as the ground only gave way a little where he'd stood moments before, but where the nest was, everything collapsed, not so different from what Azel had been caught in.
"There's something underground here," Aurelius said, "Ground keeps sinking in, and we know there's a strange magic source."
Felix looked back and fourth between Aurelius and Azel.
"What I said stands. We need to talk about this before we press on."
Azel shifted into a fox when the ground collapse and darted out of the way before where he was standing was able to completely collapse. He held tightly to a tree after he shifted back, hoping it would be enough to stay upright. "Uh… alright. The blond guy… Eli, I think? He seems like he's doing a little better, but I don't think he can walk. He'll probably need to be carried. I don't have any serious injuries, I don't think…" He looked himself over and noticed a large, dried patch of blood seeping through his clothes on his back, but ignored it. "And I don't think… Caelum…? I don't think he was injured either."
Felix nodded.
"Okay, thanks. Got it," he said, "Seems I have some light injuries, Auri looks alright… Let's see what Caelum thinks we should do."
"I think we should go down there, honestly," Aurelius said, "It looks like whatever caused all this is taking refuge underground. There's definitely some stuff hollowed out down there- that's why it keeps caving. But yeah, we should probably go get Caelum first."
Felix glanced at Azel and shrugged.
"Again, up to you if you want to come with us. That is, if we go any further."
Azel nodded a bit and kept following the group, his ears swiveling around to catch any sounds around them. "I'll stay with you for now. I haven't really got anything else to do anyway." He shrugged a bit.
Caelum had gotten Elio sitting up now. Elio's burns were still visible, but the wound on his leg had healed some from the potion. Regardless, he wouldn't be much help. He couldn't use his powers anymore without burning himself further, and he couldn't really walk much.
"Alright, fair enough," Felix said with a nod, "We appreciate the help."
He and Aurelius turned back to reconvene with the other two, who weren't that far off.
"Hey, took care of the nest. Looks like there's something underneath it though," Felix explained, "So, we're trying to determine whether we should check it out further or if we should get some more help."
Caelum nodded a bit, holding one hand on Elio's chest to keep him from getting up. "Alright. I'm willing to help scope things out. I can see really well in the dark, after all. Elio has to stay, though." Elio whined and groaned in protest, but Caelum shushed him. "He's injured and can't use his legs or his powers, so he'd be pretty useless anyway."
"Alright, sounds good," Felix agreed, "We should get going, then. And um… Azel, if you would like, you can stay and make sure Elio is alright. But that's up to you guys."
Meanwhile, Aurelius was paying no attention to the conversation going on behind him. He was turned, staring into the cloud of smoke rising from the sinkhole where the nest had been. His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to scope out what he could from so far away.
"I'll stay in case we get attacked. I should be able to handle a ghoul or two." Azel nodded a bit and stood beside Elio, tightly gripping the handle of the knife he'd borrowed. Caelum nodded in agreement and got to his feet so he could follow the other two over to the nest.
"Well, I'm ready to go whenever. I know I've got some more fight in me, and I'm not badly hurt yet, so I should be fine." Caelum glanced around warily.
"Same for us," Felix replied with a nod and a smile.
He was clearly bleeding still from a scratch down his arm, but he was pushing through like it was nothing. And comparatively, it really was. The bleeding was close to stopping anyway. It just looked a lot worse because even in situations like this, Felix often elected to wear white.
"Let's just hope there's nothing too crazy down there. We can always turn and run if things get rough, though."
Aurelius turned to look over his shoulder.
"What are you two waiting for, then? Let's keep going."
Felix's mouth turned downwards. Aurelius was getting too antsy for his comfort. He just hoped his friend wouldn't do anything rash.
"Alright, alright, relax. I'm coming." Caelum followed the two of them over to the nest, looking around at the destroyed ground. "I'm not sure it's safe to go into the tunnels when they're collapsing like this. What are we supposed to do if they fall on us while we're inside?" He asked, humming thoughtfully. "Would either of your powers be useful for getting us out of that kind of situation?"
"No, that's part of the problem," Felix sighed, "Aurelius can cut through rock to some extent, but it's a slow, draining process and would not protect us in the case of a full-on collapse. It's like… weathering, essentially. And me? All I know how to do is set things on fire, really. Powerful, sure, but limited."
Aurelius squirmed a bit.
"You're right, but-"
"But you're being an impulsive little shit."
"I'm worried that whatever- or probably whoever- is down there knows we're onto them, and we won't have time for reinforcements. And they're just going to escape and wreak havoc somewhere else."
"Okay… well, why don't we start by going down into the area that's already collapsed, and see if there's tunnels in the first place. Alternatively, I can send up a flare signal and hope someone takes the time to follow it," Felix suggested, "Then we just hope it's someone with a practical power to help us."
(Finished my art of Felix! :)))
(Super cute!)
"Well, I can do some with my power, but… if I got knocked unconscious or something, obviously I couldn't really do much." Caelum sighed and drew closer to the hole, slowly starting to climb down into it. "I guess we'll just have to try and be careful. I'm not sure if we've got some sort of signal for… you know… if we run into trouble or whatever. It would be kind of difficult considering our powers are all different."
"Well, yeah, but the last thing we want to do in this case is split up," Felix said, "So we definitely don't need separate signals. But I can just shoot up some fire into the sky and hope that we get the reinforcements that we need, and if they're smart, they'll find the path we cut through, run into Elio and Azel, and be able to come to us."
"Then do it. I don't think any harm could come of sending up a signal for help. And once you do, we can get going. Carefully," Aurelius replied.
Felix gave a nod. He snapped and a spark sat comfortably between his fingertips. He made a motion, as if he was throwing it into the sky, and it spread out into a signal, well above the treetops.
(Aaand I will use that to bring in another character. Haven't decided who yet tbh)
(Ooo)
"Alright. Let's get moving. Even though it'll expend some energy, I could have a sort of shadow shield above us just in case. It should keep us a little bit safer." Caelum said softly. It was almost like he was worried that the tunnels would collapse if he spoke too loudly, but he was just always a bit quiet. "It can't hurt to have the extra assurance, right? Other people could be trapped in here too. We don't know what we're going to find…"
(I'm tempted to have Ren trapped in the tunnels or something lol)
(I thought it would be interesting to have someone trapped in the tunnels/held hostage by the person??? Idk, maybe a weird sorcerer, science experiment thing going on, and they have the ghouls drag in subjects or something? But yeah, go for it!)
"True. But we should be able to notice any instability if it seems like it's going to cave, so you can save it," Felix replied, "Something tells me what we're looking for is in a pretty stable area, though. These tunnels look like they were overrun by the monsters."
Aurelius huddled close to Felix and the small glow coming from his palm, desperate to see down the tunnel.
"Well, we know something sentient caused all of this. What, with the magical plant growth and all. and it looks like these tunnels were crudely carved out with magic."
(That's interesting! That would probably work pretty well for your person aha. Ren is just real dumb and would've gotten himself stuck in the tunnels on accident most likely-)
"Right, yeah. I highly doubt that all of this was accidental." Caelum ran his fingers through his hair and tied it back into a small ponytail with a hair band, figuring he wouldn't want to have it be in the way. "I'm sure we'll find some strange things here." He carefully stepped into the tunnels and looked around, noticing that it was growing a bit colder as they continued. There were smaller tunnels on the sides of the main tunnel, and many of them had collapsed. The ice was concentrated around one of the collapsed tunnels, where Caelum could see an arm and part of someone's face through the wreckage. They were alive, but unconscious, and very much trapped.
(I was gonna have mine see the signal and follow. Figured out who I'm gonna use, I'll link her in a minute.)
Felix kept pushing forwards, occasionally glancing at one of the other two guys with him. He shuddered hard at the change in temperature, and likely felt the drop more strongly than anyone else. When he saw the ice, he walked quickly ahead of Aurelius, leaving him quite literally in the dark.
"I'm going to free them," Felix said, "I'll leave most of the ice intact so it doesn't mess with the tunnels any more, but I'll melt what's around them. Watch my back, if you would."
Felix held the flame away from the ice at first as he tried to determine the best and least invasive way to free the person frozen inside.
Aurelius nodded and stood facing the other branches of the tunnels. Not that he could see what was there.
(Cool cool cool)
"Alright… be careful. Whoever they are, they look… very young. I think they might be a kid." Caelum watched worriedly from a few feet away as Ren became more visible. He was stirring a little as more of his body was freed, starting to shiver from the cold despite being the one who had caused it. He coughed weakly, turning his ears back and struggling to wake up. Caelum was clearly antsy as he watched, not liking to see a kid in that condition at all. He could tell that Ren was injured from the blood that was becoming increasingly noticeable.
(Realized a bunch of her character sheet wasn't filled out, but I added a lot of the important stuff. For the purposes of this RP, she's got the ability to transmutate things around her into other substances and into objects, usually weapons when in combat. Septima Morning-glory)
"Hey, kid, everything's going to be fine," Felix soothed, holding Ren's body close to his own as he continued to melt the ice.
He shivered again. God, it was way too cold here for his liking, and cuddling a soaking wet kid was not helping his case.
"Hey, Aurelius. Dig through my toolbelt, I have some more fortifying potions. You know where they are."
Aurelius bent down next to Felix and Ren, and he went into one of the pouches, pulling out a vial of blue liquid. Upon Felix's command, he carefully tilted the kid's head so he could get some of the potion into their mouth.
Meanwhile, Septima was going for her daily walk before work when she saw the flare. Luckily, the path the others had cut through was right within her line of sight, and she was able to go through where they had been before. Septima pulled up on some of the dirt and rocks in the ground and fashioned herself a spear before charging forwards. Eventually, she ran into Elio and Azel.
"Did you send that flare?" she asked, her eyes darting back and forth, "I'm here to help."
(I like her!)
(Also, side note, Ren is very small lmao. Like, 4'10 small)
Ren was shaking violently by now, curling in on himself to try and preserve what little heat he has left. His breathing was sharp and wavering, and his skin was very pale, bordering on blue. He definitely couldn't stay down here much longer. Caelum drew closer, still very worried. "It's too cold down here. We need to take him back to the surface or this could kill him. At the very least he'd get hypothermia, if he doesn't have it already."
Azel looked up when a woman approached, his ears perking. Elio waved from where he was slumped weakly against a tree. "Uh… our friends must have sent it. They're through the trees that way—" He pointed, "—investigating the source of these plants or whatever. They probably need some backup."
(Sorry, I've been having trouble keeping up with RPs this week)
Though it put his body in pretty significant physical pain, Felix made sure to hold Ren close, all while lighting a small flame in the air around them to warm him up more.
"Yeah, probably. I can try to keep him warm in the meantime, though."
He gave another hard shudder.
"Why don't you take him up? We can start pushing ahead. You look freezing down here yourself," Aurelius suggested.
Felix scowled.
"We're not splitting up, dumbass."
Septima gave a nod to Azel and looked in the direction where he had pointed.
"Thanks. I'll do what I can. Know anything that might help me prepare? Or are you lot in the dark, too?"
(Np! <3)
"Although it's dangerous, it honestly might be our best bet." Caelum sighed, crouching beside Felix and Ren to check their conditions. "If you get hypothermia down here, there's not going to be much you can do in the case that we find something we need to fight. It would be too dangerous for you. We also can't really keep them down here; they would probably die." Ren stirred a little in Felix's arms with a soft whine.
Azel shrugged a bit. "We're pretty much in the dark too, to be honest. We've been fighting some ghouls, though, so we figure that they're somehow involved in all of this."
(Small bump ^^)
(My bad. I'm kind of in a weird transitional place rn. In and out of town, about to move out of my parents' place in a couple of weeks. Been a little hectic, but I'm still interested in this rp. Also I'm not bothered by you bumping it at all bc sometimes my notifs do get lost.)
"I won't get hypothermia," Felix started, "But he seems to be in a bad way, so I guess that's for the best. And Aurelius certainly couldn't make the trip back up holding another person. I'll thaw a bit, and I'll be back down. I don't want you two to have to fight alone."
With that, Felix headed back up towards the surface, Ren in his arms. The cold was stinging, and a deep ache set into his bones. He might have a hard time producing fire after being exposed to the cold like this, but he was in no real danger otherwise.
Septima gave a firm nod.
"I heard about the ghouls. I take it some goons came here for the job and they were horribly unprepared. Which is why they sent a flare."
At that moment, Felix came out into the clearing, carrying Ren. His eyes widened a bit when he saw Septima.
"Ah, so it's you. You're the unprepared goon."
Felix scoffed as he leaned down to help Ren rest.
"And your cousin. To be fair, this was most unexpected. But you'll help us out, won't you?"
"Oh, absolutely. Why don't you stay up here. You're soaked. It'll dampen your flames. Besides, looks like the kid you brought in could use your help."
"Guess that's an order?"
"Yup. See you later, Felix. Take care."
Felix then indicated where the other two would be and Septima jogged down into the tunnel.