lucetilogs | DRAFT LOG #2: The Battle Game!

[No sound.

Sheena's hands freeze in the midst of knotting the cloth she found around her face. It stops the dust, great. That doesn't matter - the way her eyes instantly water as she opens them doesn't matter - because she doesn't even know if Raine is breathing. And she can't afford to waste time looking for a card to light the space up with.

Her hands just reach out instead, finding something hard and solid - the staff - and then an arm, and a hand. A hand is good, she can get her own hand around Raine's wrist then. At least to assure herself that she's alive.

The silence in those few moments is more deafening than the sound of rocks falling.

There's movement under her fingers, though. Sheena coughs, the best sound of relief she can manage, finally realizing that the soft echo she still hears isn't outside their new prison - it's Raine, breathing. Okay, good, at least there's that.]

[The sound of her breathing, much like her pulse is faint, it's slow, and not quite even, but it's something. Better than nothing anyway, as the healer doesn't seem to be conscious, or react to Sheena's touch. If she is, there's not enough strength there to make that known.

But alive.]

[Alive is the best place to start. Even Sheena knows that 'faint' and 'uneven' are terrible words when they pertain to breathing and pulses, but they did just survive a cave-in, both of them low on mana and strength.

She keeps Raine's wrist in one hand, using the other to find the woman's shoulder and shake it gently]

Raine? [The dust creates a crack in her voice. The same dust that's making her eyes water enough to blur anything she might otherwise see.] C'mon, Raine, at least tell me if you're bleeding or something...

[It's a comfort measure. Raine isn't going to answer. But she has to try.]

[Reassurances would be helpful, but unfortunately it's only that faint breathing that answers Sheena's queries for the moment. The woman is covered in dust and little pebbles. Her wings are covered, hidden under her robe.

There are scrapes, scratches and bumps from the rocks, but there doesn't seem to be any heavy external bleeding, should Sheena check for it. Her earlier spell at least helped seal off some of those earlier injuries from the fighting. One less thing to worry about.

But there's still no response. Maybe a faint tremble - but it might not be voluntary.]

[It's so dark and closed in, Sheena's not sure what she can do here. Sitting and waiting to regain enough energy to use filial healing might be just as dangerous - it would attract those stupid Shift Hunters and just wear her out again. Meanwhile Raine could be bleeding to death for all she knows.

There is an old trick she can use to solve one of those problems, at least. Sheena closes her eyes again, effectively blocking out the tightness, and ridding herself of the distraction of trying to see when it's just not going to happen. She has other senses that will work better now - listening for people moving around in the tunnel, for one thing.

And her hands aren't broken. From Raine's shoulder they move carefully along the ground until they brush her hair; nothing seems amiss with the rock, and after a few minutes of holding her breath and concentrating on what she can feel, she realizes Raine has a great lump on her head but it doesn't feel like it's gonna kill her.

Now all she really needs is some time, or a gel-! That kit of Raine's! A quick search and it's not on Sheena's person anymore, though. Damn. She's not about to frisk Raine to try to find hers, either. She has another plan...and it depends much more on how quickly she gets any measure of energy back.

Until then she can at least try to make them both comfortable, right? So Raine's head will be carefully resting in the ninja's lap instead, until she can use the one arte she thinks might be a step toward helping.]

[Being made comfortable probably helps, considering what had happened.

Luckily the injury isn't as bad as it had been when she was trapped under the porch, but it's enough to still, keep her from regaining her consciousness on her own power.

In the darkness of Raine's mind there are faint, floaty thoughts. They can't connect to one another, and she can't think, even begin to process what had led to this. There's nothing she can do.]

[It will be a significant amount of minutes before Sheena feels ready to do anything. When she does, first she has to find the right thing.

It's a card. Smaller than her usual fighting cards, and with a different symbol inked onto the front. It only takes a little bit of mana to activate this particular seal...because it isn't always helpful in a combat situation. Given the parameters.

Oh, well. Hopefully it would work. She touches the seal against Raine's forehead and in the brief flash of light, watches it dissolve into more dust motes. Purgatory Seal.

And one hand will be on Raine's shoulder, the other ready to...do something if she starts to scream, or cough.]

[... it's a strange pull.

All of the floaty thoughts, scattered and unintelligible, suddenly felt forcibly pushed together. The sensation, that thin line of being there and not there all blurred together.

For a few moments, its like being on the borderline, until that something happens to push over.

And it did. It's jarring, almost, feeling the threads of reality and yet still being so barely there. Not unconscious but not... fully there. A strange awareness. Darkness, and dust and dirt, as her eyelids flutter, opening slowly and then squeezing shut. What happened-

But she can't speak, and whatever words she attempts comes out in a gasp. Gasping for air. Where is the fresh air?]

It's okay, Raine! [Sheena tightens her grip on her shoulder and puts her free hand on Raine's forehead, too.] It's okay, keep your eyes shut and try to cast First Aid or something on yourself. It'll help.

[She knows very well that was no gentle way to wake up. The alternatives were worse.]

[She can hear Sheena's words and they sound rational, but given the state of things they're not wholly registering. In order to cast a spell she'd have to focus.

Being hit on the head with a rock isn't particularly conducive to that.

Still, Raine tries to focus on getting her breathing normal and taking in more of the situation. Her eyelashes flutter open widely again, tearing up slightly before she keeps them closed, coughing on the dust and shuddering a little.]

I'd do it, but I don't have the energy. [That coughing sounds painful, but there's not a lot that can be done until she's sure the seal won't wear off and snap Raine back into unconsciousness again.] You've gotta try. I can't get outta here by myself.

Can you...

[The words are nearly choked on, but she swallows and tries again, slower. Breathing. She still feels barely there and speaking is difficult as it is. If the seal wears off it's no good to either of them if she pushes too hard before she can stabilize herself.] ... C-can you ... help me sit.

You hit your head. Are you sure you wanna?

[She'll move her hand from Raine's head to between her shoulderblades, though. In case she does still say yes. And she keeps her voice gentle and light]

If you get sick in here we're both gonna suffer.

I... I don't know.

[Everything just feels so disoriented. The earlier fighting and the collapse all feel like a blur and she can't put together what happened, what led from point a to point b. It brings a wave of dizziness with it. Maybe she shouldn't. Instead she tries to focus on breathing again, giving a slight change to the subject.]

... were you ...?

I'm okay. Just kinda dirty.

[The hand on Raine's back starts rubbing it, in small circles]

Do you have enough power?

[She moves her head from side to side.

... Oh wait, it's dark.]

Can't... focus. Should have gels... in my bag. Is it here?

I dunno. I didn't wanna try looking and hurt you on accident. I can't find mine either, it might be under one of these rocks.

[Raine will be able to feel Sheena move, reaching around in their small space and trying to feel for the bag. It's hard to do with the half-elf's head still in her lap, but she doesn't want to move from there. It might freak Raine out even further.]

[If Sheena can't locate the bag, she'll have to prepare for the possibility that she has to cast. She coughs a little again, but tries to hone in on that inner focus of hers. If she could manage that without anything happening...]

[It seems like she's coming up empty. Then a fist closes around a different sort of cloth. In the darkness, behind her makeshift mask, Sheena grins.]

I think I got it. Hold on and I'll find a gel for you.

[Raine's bag probably also meant Raine's water and food, too. But she needs the healing more, and sooner. The only way to tell the gels apart in the dark would be...taste or smell. Great.

Sheena's internal clock is all wrong after so many days underground - she doesn't know how long Raine has until that Purgatory Seal fails.]

[She knows verbal confirmation is important in situations like this, so she tries her best to give an answer.]

... okay.

[And then just wait, as Sheena searches. That lightheaded feeling isn't going away; the feeling of thoughts and everything feeling as if it could crumble down to complete dark at a moments notice hangs over her, and she shivers again.]

[At last one that smells like apples. A hand finds Raine's shoulder again - she's shivering.]

Hey...are you cold? [Never mind that for now, Sheena.] Gimme your hand, I found one.

... I'm fine.

[It's a murmur, a very thinly veiled I'm-trying-not-to-freak-out one. She carefully lifts her hand up in the dark, uncertain of where she's reaching it to, specifically. It's gloved, though, and probably covered in the same dust and dirt that they're both dealing with at the moment. Even so, that's... not the issue. The issue is staying conscious, and to fight that feeling.]

[When no hand lands on hers, Sheena realizes that Raine is just holding her hand in the air somewhere. But the shoulder she's holding did the moving, so she lightly follows that arm until she reaches Raine's hand - and pulls off her glove, replacing it with the apple gel]

You'll feel better once you eat it. [She's trusting that it will be easier for Raine to do that than to try to figure out how to do it herself. She's had her eyes shut almost this entire time, because there's no point in keeping them open in a place where there is no light.]

[The hand trembles once the gel is secure, but Raine forces herself to focus on bringing it up to her mouth instead of questioning. It feels almost urgent to do so now, as the feeling of disconnect is steadily growing stronger. She could barely hear Sheena's words, as it was.

The taste of the gel is surprisingly real, with its flavor of apple, and yet with traces of that dust from the air. Still, it doesn't keep it from doing it's job, as she quietly focuses on consuming it ...

And then the waiting, again -- waiting for that confirmation of stability, if it wasn't too late. The moment is silent save for her heart in her ears -- as if that wasn't confirmation enough. The gel needs to do its work, however, and so the wait, as she lets her hand fall away from her lips. Counting the beats, as it were.]

[There isn't any hesitation on Sheena's end; when she hears Raine start to force control of her breathing, waiting, she drops one hand to run gently through the other woman's hair. In some vague way she can tell that her friend is just shy of panicking - with good reason - and is hoping that the only gesture of comfort she can pull off at the moment will help.

With her ears still alert for sounds in the tunnel, friendly or not. But there's been nothing so far, and from her position she can't feel very much movement of air between the rocks, either.]

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