Din looked into the hole before the speaking male’s lens and nearly responded when the sounds of a struggle grew nigh. There was something slow, tired and weezing attempting to fight something quick, agile, and obviously non human, what with its beastial sounds. Din stepped back, placing his foot on a piece of ground that it had been on previously, it gave now more than it did before, but, as least as of now, there was no tumble to be taken by the otherwise nonchalant human.

Presently the struggle ceased. There were more ghastly noises, then only the sound of a fall. Extremely quick steps proceeded from the silence. Din turned his head to see something near his size, in height anyway, charging at him. He turned and began walking backwards, parallel with the hole in the ground, his eyes pinned on the vague image of a massive spider charging at him, its poisonous venom oozing from its chelicerae as if salivating over a meal. Though Din thought to turn and run, and not seriously, he realized that the arachnid’s pace would easily out mach his own, but being of such size, it could only keep it up for so long.

He stopped and considered taking it on. If Din was to die in the place he so carelessly entered to begin with, he would take something from this life with him, holding its body fluid bathed heart in his hand. For what few moments he had to think, he relished the idea. Spiders were, Din was taught, somewhat territorial. This one refused to enter the nest (at least Din believed it to be a nest) the other travelers had fallen into, unaware of its demise. There were only moments of time and space left to be filled before the monster would have its last killing and last moments of life. If I die here, Din thought in what little time he had, why wouldn’t I see all I can of this damned place?

Finally, the ground about the edge of the hole gave. Din’s body tilted accordingly and fell, his shoulder being the first part of his body to collide with a soft piece of jutting ground, causing his body to flip and turn. The beast reached out a moment too late, watching the human body fall only for a moment before disappearing.

Back to the ground, Din stared up into the blackness overhead. No sky to be seen. He sighed and blinked, struggling to hoist his body up at the waist. He turned to look at the ranks of fall victims that he’d just joined, raising a sleeve to wipe the dirt of his rounded, tan cheek.

“Well then,” he said his head turning beyond the male who had just landed on the female, looking at the one who had inquired if Dan had a rope or an idea as to how they could escape. “I guess I don’t.”

Blinking rapidly as the dust cleared, staring at the tangle of limbs and bodies sprawled across the dusty cavern floor, slowly staring to unravel, it was only natural that Duma would focus his attention on the loudest of them. The woman whose vocal response to the harsh landing sounded more like that of a wounded canine rather than a person. She smelled earthy and wild and canine, although he couldn’t precisely pinpoint what kind of canine.

He sensed the hostility even before the woman leaped to her feat and demanded to know who was there; his proverbial hackles were already rising and his expression became decidedly disdainful and hostile; his eyes narrowed to feline slits and his lips thinned considerably. His features looked like they were set in stone, although he was relaxed enough everywhere else.

The woman looked positively vicious, with that wild expression on her face and her eyes so dark; he was actually taken back for a moment. His manner, in either form, was very relaxed most of the time. Cheetahs weren’t known to be vicious or aggressive unless provoked, but there were exceptions. He turned his attention away from the woman long enough to study the other people beginning to rouse themselves. By the time he’d scrutinized everyone he’d forgotten his hostile reaction to her… well, wild demeanor.

“Duma,” He said easily in response to her snarled question, going for simplicity. He was about to say more, but the increased sounds of the others rousing themselves drew his attention, even as a male stood up in the semi-darkness and asked if everyone was okay.

There was no smell of death inside the cavern other than the spider he’d painstakingly killed. He did NOT want to go through that again.

“Everyone’s alive, at least,” He said to the man who’d asked, sounding abruptly disinterested, waiting to hear others confirming that they were alright or reveal that they had injuries. If they were fine, great. If they weren’t, too bad. He wanted out of this damn nest… cavern… whatever it was.

He turned to the stranger lurking at the top of the hole and repeated his earlier question, sarcasm included, but it looked as if the stranger was very distracted. His attention was focused somewhere away from them and all Duma could see was his back. He heard the hideous shrieks of what he now recognized as spiders and felt a stab of not quite fear… but something close to it. He hadn’t had time to be afraid with the first attack, but now he had time to anticipate the creature above leaping into the nest to finish them all off.

It was times like these that he despised his imagination.

He wasn’t sure what happened next. One minute he was hearing the creatures shrieks and waiting for their inevitable doom in the form of a growing shadow as the spider leaped down the hole/nest, the next the creature was gone and it was utterly silent above ground. The stranger was now down there with them and utterly useless.

”Well, I guess I don’t. Duma just stared in disbelief, speechless.

He was considering one of several scathing remarks that would probably end in an argument of some type with someone when Fallyn saved the day by suggesting they go left. The only reward she would get for it was an interrogation from Duma. 

“Left?” He echoed dubiously. “Do you know for certain that that will lead us out of here? How far would we have to go? Is there any way we can avoid those oversized abominations?”

If she answered negatively, Duma’s arrogance would come into play:

“I say we should go right.”

Nevermind the fact that he didn’t know either.







(Sorry, I know it’s not that great.)

The pervasive darkness that surrounded the party was lifted some as Din’s gray irises adjusted to the low light intensity. His hands, which held his torso upright as he sat on the ground after his recent fall, slowly sunk deeper into the soft, loamy ground as his head moved in a slow arc to and fro. Chunks of dirt and foliage fell from the edges and walls of the hole, landing with cracks and crumps as they landed on leaves, mud and soft, moist dirt. Very dim, low light filtered into the hole; as for where it came from, Din had no idea. As for what existed in the forest, the traveler at least had some idea (and hopefully near the extent of what there was to know), but despite the things discovered about it, only more questions could be raised.

Presently, his stream of thought was broken by screamed expletives followed by silence.

As his field of vision swept about the hole in which they’d fallen, he began to see this was no simple hole. It was like a new world below ground. He took a deep breath in as he folded his legs inward and pushed himself to a standing position. He swung his dirty hands back and patted down his butt while wiping the hands on his pants.

“I’m fin-” he began speaking smoothly, but his attention had been captured by the woman who…conjured fire. At this sight he chuckled, musing to himself that he wouldn’t see the sun after this day. His eyes, at this time, would only match the pallid, blank expression of his face. It was interesting, but Din was unimpressed. He turned, placing his hands back in his pockets to follow the two women who proceeded to go “left.”

“Yes, let’s pick an arbitrary direction and go.” He spoke smoothly, his voice even. Although there were no inflections, one could assume sarcasm. He followed after the flame conjurer. As he passed by the devil’s advocate, he spoke again.

“I guess they don’t care…Duma.” He emphasized the final part, hanging his head and fixing his stare at the heels of the women that preceded him.

”I guess they don’t care…Duma.”

Duma just scowled, unable to believe that everyone just blatantly ignored his suggestion without an argument. What did that white-eyed woman have that he didn’t? Why follow her? She wasn’t even sure where she was going. He and his kind weren’t really known to be as territorial and dominance-oriented as other shifters, but the thought of them refusing his leadership for the timid woman’s irked him like nothing else. Not to mention bruised his delicate pride. He was the only one here worthy of being the leader of the group, but if they chose not to follow him what could he do?

Follow the woman or go his own way and prove them wrong? Or, even better, follow them and say “I told you so” when they ended up running into a dead end or going in circles. He was the one with the directional prowess here. Besides, if there were more spiders, their chances were greater in numbers. It’s not like he could blindly outrun spiders in a semi-dark cavern filled with unpredictable twists and obstacles.

He continued to scowl even when the woman with the strange scent conjured fire from seemingly thin air – how? – and swept the light over them as if sizing up what she had to deal with. The scowl she was met with wasn’t pretty, and he could tell by her expression that she didn’t like what she saw from any of them.

+2 damage to his poor pride.

It was the straw that broke the camel’s back when the other nameless male suggested they follow the women and went running after her.

“That’s what you’re saying now,” He snarled in a slightly raised voice so they would hear. “But don’t think I won’t say “I told you so” when we all end up killed or worse!”

He balked where he stood for a moment, mulling his decision over, then took a long stride forward. Naturally, when he finally decided to make a move, his path was obstructed by the other shifter.

“What do you want?” He demanded, not completely hostile, he sounded more impatient than anything. The last part of his sentence interrupted by her question. He had to backtrack a moment to figure out what she said and by the time he opened his mouth to tell her it was none of her business, she had already made her move.

Duma recognized the move for what it was; a commonly used ploy amongst shifters. Most partially intelligent shifters could recognize a scare tactic when they saw one, so all he did was respond accordingly. He straightened suddenly from his relaxed posture and gave her a guttural, inhuman growl, which turned into a smirk that most people hated.

“I’d flatten you just to prove that you’re in over your head, but there’s no point, since everyone has decided to follow that timid woman,” He said disdainfully, sounding for all the world like an arrogant prince.

With firm steps, Alysha continued forward, uncaring as to whether she was followed or not. All she knew was moving was better then standing around doing nothing. However soon it became obvious that she was not alone, as Leo and two others walked with her. Preferring not to acknowledge them, Alysha kept the small fire in front of them in the even of a frontal attack by one of the creatures of this maze. It seemed to be just them, for now.

Soon another being was by her side, and Alysha merely glanced at the girl who took her time to speak. "May I please ask what your name might be, Lady? And perhaps why you're here?"

It was an expected question, however the answer was not as simple. To tell the whole truth would in fact set her back, or maybe bring her death however to not tell the truth may hinder her greatly. A half truth should be enough, and that was all she was willing to give. "My name is Alysha and I am hear to speak to Martel." An unsettling silence followed her words which was broken by Leo's laughter.

"S-speak to Martel? Ha! I'd like to see that happening." Leo shook his head slightly in disbelief but stopped when he realized Alysha had stopped walking and was in fact staring at him, an angry woman indeed.

"Tis a shame your mother never taught you manners when it comes to women." Huffing slightly, the hothead turned away from the men and continued moving forward in a much faster pace. She was offended. If she were home, a man with his mannerism would surely have been punished for his outright disrespect. However Leo seemed baffled and looked from Din to Fallyn, raising his hands in shock, "What did I do?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Get themsssssss...." a female voice whispered.

A group of her young spawns eyed her for a moment before leaving their mother, or their Queen. She remained hidden in the shadows of her lair. The floor is ridden with bones from animals, humans and even her own kind. The sound of rushing water could be heard from behind her, its current was fast and untamable yet she would never go near that part. Water was her greatest fear and she detest it. So why would she leave near water? Vain. Her reflection was her greatest joy and she could not help but stare at herself everyday, everymoment as she did now.

A small light shines upon a puddle as the Queen moved near it, careful not to touch its body. She peers over and smiles as a pale woman with silky onyx hair stares back. A total of six eyes surround her oval face, her lips as red as wine and skin almost transparent due to spending so many years beneath the ground. Torso completely bare while her lower half is that of a spider's body, legs and all. Taking her hair, Nani intertwined her fingers between the strands and whispered words of comfort to herself, "Dear Nani, how beautfulsss you aress...." She smiled a mouth full of pointy green teeth.

Fallyn could hardly believe her ears...Martel? She hadn't heard that name uttered in years and years...After the elves left, it seemed religion chilled out a bit, too. But meeting another being who still had so much faith was just amazing...Fallyn almost hugged her. She didn't, because that would have been a little creepy, but all the same. She didn't.

They continued walking in silence for a while before Fallyn could hear the footsteps behind them meaning the others were catching up. She idly wondered what had taken them so long before another, more subtle sound her finely tuned ears could easily pick up: the shuffling of many legs coming down the tunnel, towards them. Fear engulfed her as she let out a shaky breath, then stopped walking to grab Alysha's arm. "Listen. More are coming. It sounds like there are a lot this time...I can't pinpoint how many exactly, but we should turn around. I don't think we can fight them off." In a quiet whisper to herself, she added, "I think we might be getting close to her..."

Damn river. This is the reason Fallyn never stayed out past dark. The nocturnal being that lived near here was extremely frightening and appeared to control the horrible giant spiders that haunted Fallyn's nightmares...and if they were as close to the river as she believed, then they were definitely too close for comfort.

It didn’t take a genius to see that the unknown shifter wasn’t all that pleased with the situation or the people involved in it, not that he could blame her. From what he’d gathered so far, she was a very tense, edgy individual; she was just inches away from shifting to her real form, but somehow controlled herself and fell into a sulk. At that moment, perhaps he would’ve gloated, but his mood took a turn for the worse as the dank smell of the underground assaulted him and the darkness obscured his vision. His positive feelings were plummeting as he realized how deep of a hole he was in, no pun intended. The others were getting further away and he would have no choice but to travel by himself if he didn’t follow them soon.

He’d never admit it, but he didn’t want to be by himself in this dark underground graveyard. He could only hope that the others didn’t get him killed. He was fairly confident that in a one on one battle with a spider, he could win again, but he’d have no chance against three or four or twenty, and it seemed to him that these spiders were pack animals and would attack in numbers. He’d just gotten lucky the first time.

Staring at the slightly disturbing grin/grimace on the other shifter’s face for a long moment, Duma frowned, all traces of his earlier attitude gone. “We better catch up to the others,” He said shortly, after a moment of silence, sounding more than a little sullen himself. He reached over his shoulder and pulled the fancy short sword from the three-way sheath attached to his torso, examining the blade with a look of dismay on his face that had nothing to do with the grim covering the sword. After a moment he turned and half walked, half jogged down the tunnel where the others had went, not looking back to see if the other was following him.

Soon, the others would hear human footfalls and Duma would wordlessly fall in behind the group, his frown discouraging any type of conversation, although he did listen in on what they were saying.

"Tell me grayny, is it true you defeated a Golddigger?"

"Ugh..." A tired sigh escaped Ion's breath. "You guys always get the stories wrong." A drink went down his throat, it wasn't clear what he was drinking, but it certainly wasn't anything light. He was there without his equipment, and half his armor. "First of all, it wasn't me. Second, it wasn't a Golddigger."

"Ha! I knew those stories about you were all a farce..." A scowling blistered man spoke with much arrogance. The man's friends all laughed and gargled their drinks as they allowed their leader to continue mocking Ion. They sat there, around a creaky unbalanced table, like sweaty, filthy hogs gorging over garbage. And like the hogs, they were all talk and spit.

"Yep, every single one of them, I am just a common folk as you are." Said Ion as he sat his glass down on the bar, and at the same time he laid down several coins, some of which rolled just few inches. His silver-filled head turned towards the men, which he then realized, weren't all that common-looking. "Or... maybe not as common."

"Heh, watch it." Growled the man as he flexed his fist toward Ion. The other men stared in disgust as well, as Ion lifted his body from his bench. They all had this weird body built to them, and with barely any clothes on they looked unshaped, deformed almost. Ion could barely tell they were all men, if their patchy mustaches and half-shaved beards didn't give them away, they could have easily been circus freaks.

"Yeah, yeah. Save it guys, not today." An amusing chuckle spurted out of Ion as he finished. The man who was the biggest, then stood up abruptly, and challenged Ion with his menacing body. "I said, watch it." Ion's brows wrinkled down one before the other, and a smirk formed from his left cheek. "Isn't there some kind of dress knitting club you guys need to attend?" The man's eyes then widen and his brows expanded in anger. He then roared and slowly swung at Ion with his left arm. It was the most pathetic swing Ion had seen in a while. All Ion had to do was take step back and bend his body backwards. He didn't bother; Ion just kept walking until he was out of the bar. As he quickened his pace to go out, the men followed him with a very lazy and unbalanced foot.

"Later guys, say hi to wives and children for me!" Ion waved to the men as they bended down, and stretched their arms to their knees in order to catch their breath. Wheezing, snorting, and some even spitting, they all could hardly curse Ion. But there was indeed other lighter chatter among them. "Is any of us even married?" Said a bald one, with a wide nose and small eyes, just before he received a smack on the side of his head by one of the other men. "Shaddup you scaly bum."

Ion stared back at them smiling and almost mocking their rightful misfortune, but there was hardly time to do that, he had to continue to his current objective. One that he had to retrieve in less than a week, and had now been at it for months. It would've been easier if they would've given him directions, but all there was, was a name, and a number. All he knew is that he could find it in the plains, but which plains? The plains to east? the north? in the other side of the planet? However, he decided to stay around the town some more. After all, it would make more sense to stay and research, than walk and get lost.

He fiddled with a gold chain from the mountain shrines. "I hope Shonomaru gets here with that cargo today."

“Stop!” The Leader called.

Even while a thrill caused by adrenaline raced through him, causing his body to relax and his senses to become even more heightened, if possible, subconsciously, he argued with himself over the title he had unknowingly given the strange woman. As much as he hated it, his less than Human mind insisted that there be a leader, and it insisted that it was this woman who really had no right to be ordering them around.

She knew magic… but still.

“I don’t hear anything… It’s quiet now.”

Strange, that this sentence would fill him with alarm more than anything else, the silence buzzing around him. Wait, a rustling noise… the stench of the giant spiders invading his senses, the darkness becoming rather suffocating now that he attempted to see through it. His eyes weren’t made for this stuff.

A snarling growl, an ugly sound, erupted from his throat, his facial features partially transforming in response to the three words and the fear –his fear- that came with them. His lower face elongated slightly, his nose becoming that of a feline… but nothing else changed.

After a moment, he concentrated and returned his features to normal. He wasn’t so sure changing was a good idea with these creatures. It could give him even more of a disadvantage. His greatest strength was his speed and agility, but it was useless here. His claws were useless. His teeth… he could use those. But wouldn’t a sword do better?

Duma exhaled a deep breath as he regained control of his animal instincts and raised his short sword, preparing for the worst.

“What are they waiting for?” He hissed. Why weren’t they attacking? They obviously weren’t afraid… they didn’t’ seem intelligent enough to do their own thinking.

Hollow instances of a high-pitched drip of water every few seconds tormented the mind of the lone figure, that rested within a silken cocoon, not of his own doing. All but one of his eyes were covered in the sticky substance, trapping his arms and legs and preventing them from moving. His lips were also unable to move and make the necessary formations to utter an audible language.

Traumatized by the event, he hadn't thought about the blade that his right middle finger could morph into. As soon as the thought it, the skin revealed that it was in fact metallic, the nano-technology quickly acting to form the sharp tool, as he pushed forth to slice through the thick silk. "I wonder... If there are others..." He thought quietly, knowing not to make a sound to have to endure the same horrific process once more. "Damn it, damn my traveling."

He walked toward the light of the cave, something the movies advised not to do, but he knew that in the real world, that was the safest option.