Midnight Swim [pg13]

[Iƪƪia]

Illia looked wildly around the cavern; two sets of eyes desperately trying to find an escape. She turned toward the collapsed tunnel and barreled into it with all her might. It didn't budge an inch. Bringing up her claws, she attempted to dig through the wall. The rough sound of bone striking rock filled the cavern; Illia knew it was a futile attempt.

The pressure already building in her chest, she swam to the other end of the cavern. She threw herself as hard as she could into the back walls. There was a noise. A noise different than the opposite wall had made, as if this one was... Thinner? She began digging at the wall, feeling some of it give and crumble to the ground. This led to a way out... It had to! They just needed to topple this wall. She turned to the other two and made a swinging motion with her head for them to come help.

(Right, so.... Behind the wall, I'm thinkin' there's a continuation of our tunnel. So have fun trying to break through this wall^^)

[Elle]

Elle looked back at Illia and noticed her clawing at the back of the tunnel. She nodded at Ara and swam back, headbutting the wall. She felt it give a little more. She then continued to push on and claw at the wall, all the while keeping an eye on the other girls. They looked as though they were starting to get light-headed. She continued to dig at the tunnel, despearate to find a way out. She wasn't about to let the other two die, as she continued to chip away at the soft rock.

[yuki]

Arabella clawed with all her might to get the rock to break before her lungs did. She pulled at the earth--the dirt began to break away, dissipating in the water as she did so.

After a minute, she began to get tired. She needed to save her energy. Ara made a motion with her hand to tell the other two that she was close to running out of oxygen.

[Iƪƪia]

Illia pushed away from the wall, her vision beginning to fade. There was no way that she and Ara were going to last much longer. She swam backwards a bit and decided to employ one last-ditch effort to save them. Swimming to the ground, she dug her claws in and looked up at her target. With one swift motion, she pounced with all of her might through the water and collided with the stone. Immediately, it gave completely, sending the three of them toppling through the new opening. The chimera desperately tried to right herself as she began swimming down this new tunnel. This short tunnel. It was already clear that there was a light at the end. She just needed to get to it.

With a splash, the lionesses head crashed up through the water. She clawed at the side and pulled herself up in order to giver her tail a drink of oxygen. She laid, gasping for breath on the solid ground as she waited for her strength to return. While she waited, Illia lazily moved her head to look at the area where they had landed.

As she had previously suspected; this cave was had been created. Someone - or several - had carefully sculpted these caverns out of the stone. However, that was not the most interesting thing that Illia's eyes caught. In the center of the circular room where they had landed was a table, a dozen or so chairs - some upturned - surrounded it. Old fashioned lanterns surrounded the room, none of which were lit. Although, the glow from rocks which the ceiling consisted of gave enough light. From the looks of things, this room hadn't been used in many years, as everything now was covered with a layer of plants and algae. A number of caves branched off of this room, each was also lined with rows of lanterns. Illia pushed herself up, still taking in the sights of the new area. Just what was this place?

[Elle]

Elle sprang out of the water shortly after Illia. She lowered her body close to the ground in order to prevent herself from shaking too badly. She closed her eyes and attempted to steady her breathing as she flexed her wings, thankful to be out of the cavern. Feeling more relaxed, she opened her eyes to examine her surroundings.

She let her mouth fall open as she beheld the room. The lanterns, the table, it looked like it had been... Some sort of base? She cautiously walked over to examine the table. Silently, she wondered just what this place was and what it had been used for.

[yuki]

Crashing through the water, the Chimera gasped for breath. If it had been another minute without air, she would have passed out.
The moon was still out and shinning above. Ara looked up and relaxed, turning back into her human form and swimming to dry land. She stood up and watched Illia and Elle stare with awe into the cave. Her forehead creased. She wondered what had gotten their attentions.

"Hey, what are you--" Ara soon realized and joined them.

She glanced at the table and lamps and a shocked expression came upon her face.

"Why is this here?" She wondered aloud as she walked over to stand between Illia and Elle. She touched the table with her left hand and ran her fingers across the old wood.

There was a mystery here. She could sense it.

[Iƪƪia]

Illia replaced her skin as she walked up to the table. Numerous papers were scattered across the top. Most were either wet and stuck together in clumps or so old and fragile-looking that they seemed as if they would disintegrate with the slightest touch. Carefully, she sorted through the papers, putting the wet and illegible ones off to the side. When she was finished, she had a small stack of yellowed papers, each one containing a carefully drawn map of sorts.

"These are maps," She delicately pushed each one toward the other girls after she was done reading, "That's the Academy."

It wasn't hard to figure that out. Each piece of paper contained a drawing of a different section of the school or the grounds. Illia handed the last piece - which contained a perfelct reproduction of the thord floor - to the others before she walked around the table and examined the entrances to the branching caves. None of the passages were lit by glowing rocks like this room was, and the torches seemed as though they hadn't been used in years. She turned back towards the others, certain her exprssion was as puzzled as theirs were.

[Elle]

Elle craned her neck to look at the papers that Illia had pushed aside. Sure enough, they were two-dimensional representations of the entire school. The dragon put her skin back on as she went to examine the other papers. However, none of them were readable. She took a step back and looked around the otherwise empty room.

"Why would there be maps here?" She muttered, "Who would want them?"

Or who had wanted them? The papers were so yellowed, they probably hadn't been touched in years. The same could be said for the rest of the room. She watched Illia walk over to the tunnels and look down them. Could there be more rooms? Elle looked from Ara to Illia, hoping one of them would say something to ease her confusion.

[yuki]

Ara heard Illia say something and then Elle responded after a minute. But she wasn't really paying attention. Her green eyes narrowed. On the walls of the cave there were markings. She didn't understand what they meant. It looked like gibberish to her.

Maybe it's a different language? She cocked her head to one side.

"Hey," Arabella walked over and stood by Elle. "Did you see this?" she said pointing behind her at the wall.

But then she realized what Elle and Illia had been talking about. She spotted the yellow papers on the table.

"Maps?"

[Iƪƪia]

As she contemplated the purpose of the maps, Illia heard Ara mutter something. She looked up to see her pointing at the wall behind her. As she too began to study the maps, Illia trotted over to the wall and found what had captured Ara's attention. Strange markings, the likes of which she had never before seen adorned the walls. At first, they looked like simple stray marks but on careful inspection, it was obvious that each line was carefully planned out. It seemed like a different language. One Illia wasn't familiar with. Perhaps it was an ancient language?

"How old is this place?"

From the layout of the maps, it must be as old as the Academy at least. Perhaps even older. But what sort of purpose did it serve and who used this place?

The chimera had little time to contemplate this before a loud booming noise interrupted her thinking. She remained still, listening for the smallest sound. Instead, another deafening noise resonated within the cave. Then another, and another. Then silence. Illia remained still, continuing to listen for another sound. That noise was still fresh in her mind. It was exactly like the one that trapped them in this cave. She closed her eyes in an attempt to further enhance her hearing and waited.

[Elle]

Elle tore her attention away from the maps in front of her when she heard Ara say something. She turned and noticed that there was some sort of strange language scrawled upon the wall. She glanced it over curiously, but was unable to decipher it. As Illia moved over to the wall, the dragon thought that she might have recognized the writing, however, after she turned away from the writing she looked as confused as Elle felt.

Then, a sudden loud noise shook the cavern and interupted her thinking. She remained frozen, barely able to breathe as the noise eventually faded away. After she found herself able to move again, Elle looked worriedly around, wondering if one of the tunnels led to a way out. As much as she wanted to know this cavern's purpose, she decided that she didn't want to run into whatever was making that noise.

[yuki]

Arabella's eyes widened at the next vibration that occurred inside the tunnel. She was known for being clumsy and swayed to her left, bumping into Illia on accident.

Ara looked at her apologetic, then the earthquake stopped.

"What is that?"




(sorry it took so long to post^^ I wasn't home for a couple of days. I was on a trip)

[Iƪƪia]

Illia staggered backwards as Ara collided with her. Opening her eyes, she glanced around the room, the sudden motion setting her on edge. Slowly, she walked forward, still listening for the sound to return.

"It's something... Something big... Or strong... Or both."

She frowned as she began contemplating the options. This school was host to a large number of strange creatures. It could be anything! To top it all of, it sounded dangerous. That cavern collapsing probably wasn't an accident.

The cavern! The realization suddenly hit her. Was there a way out of here? Or had they just blocked the only exit. She looked worriedly at the tunnels branching off of the main room. One of them had to lead to another exit, right? She chose the one straight in front of her.

"We really should look for a way out."

[Elle]

Elle's breath caught in her throat as she listened to Illia's words. Something big... It must be big and strong if it could collapse a cave so easily! But what could it be? This school was home to all manner of strange and dangerous creatures. They could really be in trouble!

As Illia decided that they should find a way out, Elle gratefully followed her into the cavern. There must be another way out! Who would go through all the trouble of building this place and only leave one exit? Of course there was another one... There had to be!

[yuki]

Ara started to hyperventilate. She didn't know why she was panicking so much, but what if they were really trapped down here? Forever.

"We. Have. To. Get. Out. Now." she breathed, saying each word slowly.

Above their heads, the loud noise started shaking the cavern again. It was like something massive was pounding a drum.