Cold as Ice- Darkness
Author's Note: You want longer? Well shucks... All right, I guess I'll give you longer. I'm making the chapters kinda short because I update a lot, you see.... But I suppose I could give you a nice long one. Note that I'm not really sure where this is going.... And this part is mostly humour, so yeah... Next part might not make any sense either!
They were stumbling around in the dark. Well, Freya was stumbling. Amarant, amazingly enough, seemed to be able to see well enough to not run into the walls. Usually there was some way to light the caverns they traveled in. Luminescent lichen, torches along the walls, even a randomly placed fire spell. But there was nothing now, neither of them knew any fire magic, and the walls were completely bare of any life, luminous lichens included.
Freya was cursing her bad luck, her thoughts still dwelling on Fratley and her not being able to get out.
Suddenly she found her thoughts dwelling on Amarant and how he'd seen her crying. She didn't know why, she shouldn't really have cared. It's not like she was close to him or anything. What did it really matter if he thought she was weak, if she knew she wasn't?
Then she suddenly found her thoughts interrupted by a burst of stars in front of her eyes as she suddenly ran into a very hard surface, most likely the cave wall.
Amarant heard the faint squeak that she issued as her head connected with the rock and he stopped. He turned around to look and somehow (SOMEHOW!) saw what had happened. He didn't bother to ask whether she was all right. He didn't really care.
"What the...?" Freya muttered, removing her hat to better rub the tender spot where her head had met the rock.
"Clumsy," he shot at her. Actually it was emotionless, but it was almost as if he'd scornfully shot the comment at her.
"I am not! I just can't see," she replied as she brushed her hair back into place with the claws of one hand and smoothly replaced her large hat.
"Really."
"Yes really!" she shouted at him. She was getting sick of this cave and not being able to see and the constant thoughts about Fratley and then the sudden hating Fratley for not remembering her and then liking him again and realizing she'd never see him and... Actually most of her anger had nothing to do with Amarant. But he was there, so she shouted at him.
"Maybe that's because you've got darkness cast on you."
She blinked. That had caught her off guard. "I do?"
"No. But it could have been the reason."
She blinked again. She was confused now. "Uhh..."
"Forget it."
"Well if I don't have any bad status effects on me, why can you see and I can't?" she demanded.
"I dunno."
"...Can you see?"
"Not really."
She blinked, and then suddenly got angry. "So this is the blind leading the blind!"
"Not really."
"STOP SAYING THAT! Give me a straight answer!"
"Well I can't very well give you a crooked one, can I?"
Now he was just being aggravating.
"I've been using the wall to lead us," he answered, unprompted. "Nothing else, though. There is nothing else. No faint wind current, no sounds of life, no pinpoint of light ahead. Just the wall. Which is fairly solid, I'm sure you've noticed."
"Yes I have..." She was still mad about this. So he couldn't see here either! Well that wasn't much of a shock, what with that...what the heck WAS that hairstyle, anyway? Did he even HAVE eyes? Now she was just mad.
"Calm down. That's not gonna get us anywhere."
"Calm?! I can't be calm! Not when you're leading us here and I may never get back to the surface and I may never see Sir Fratley ever again AND I'LL BE STUCK DOWN HERE WITH YOU THE REST OF MY LIFE! I CAN'T BE CALM!" And indeed, she wasn't calm.
He didn't say anything for a while. She stood there glaring at (where she thought) he was, fuming. Finally, after several minutes of silence, he asked, "Are you done?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Good, let's go."
Go where? she wondered. Was there even anywhere to go? What if this cave just connected to itself a thousand different times and they never, ever got out? Damn, she was starting to panic again. Panicking was bad. No panic! There had to be a way out. There always was.
As she walked behind Amarant, one hand on the wall, he was walking likewise, although in front of her and not behind himself, thinking as well. Mostly he thought "I should get a haircut..." and "Damn, she needs to cool down." Not very interesting fic thoughts. Let's go back to Freya.
Hmm...nope, still thinking about Fratley and how much of a dork Amarant is. Well shucks, isn't this a predicament? Let's have something happen.
Suddenly, without warning, and quite unexpectedly, Amarant saw light ahead. Not a lot of light, mind you. Just a little. But it was enough to make him stop and say, "Hey..." Which in turn caused Freya to stop (though that was because she walked right into his back and fell on her tail) and shout "HEY!"
"Light ahead," he said, and pointed.
"Wonderful," she muttered, picking herself up from the ground. Then she suddenly realized what he'd said. "Light?!" She nearly climbed over him in her attempt to see the light at the end of the rather narrow tunnel that the cave had become. "We're almost out!" she cried gleefully.
"Not really..."
"QUIT SAYING THAT!"
He paused at that reaction before he decided to continue. "We've been going down, if you'd notice, not up. And we entered the Ice Cavern from the lower entrance. So we're underground, not above ground."
"...Damn." But she was still happier now. There was light! That meant life! Or at least luminescent lichens! And then she could see and not run into things. "What are we waiting for?! Let's go!"
"What are you, six?"
"Walk or I'll climb over you to get there!" she threatened.
"Yes, no man in his right mind would ever want a woman to climb over him."
She blinked, taken aback. She couldn't tell if he was serious or sarcastic, but she was guessing the latter. She'd never heard Amarant be sarcastic. Maybe because his tone of voice never changed...
While she was standing there thinking, he started walking. She ran after him and walked behind him when she caught up. He was acting differently now. Slightly so, but differently. Then again, so was she. Maybe because they were alone and both only worrying about themselves rather than the group. Not caring what the other thought.
That couldn't be it. Maybe she was just imagining it.
The light was still distant. Closer, but distant. It stayed distant until they were close. Which makes sense, I mean, really. It just took a while for it to go from distant to close, and it was all sorts of things in between.
Amarant stopped before entering the cavern the light opened into. The passage had widened in the meantime so that Freya was able to stand abreast of him. She asked why they weren't going in immediately, and he asked if she wanted to die. I get that, don't you? I mean, it's a logical response.
Freya didn't think so. "What the hell do you mean by that!?" she demanded.
"I mean it could be a trap," he clarified.
"...Oh." She paused. "...Who the heck puts a trap all the way down here?"
"People."
"What sort of people?"
"The same people who put traps in really deep caverns on the off chance that travelers would pass by."
"...Isn't that exactly what this would be?"
"That's why it makes sense."
It didn't really make sense to her, but she ignored it. She ran into the light, which opened up into a vast cavern. Amarant followed her in, but before they got a decent chance to look around, the lights mysteriously vanished.
A strange figure appeared in the middle of the room, backlit by a random dramatic soft blue light. Freya's last thought before the chapter ended was, "Well damn."
Author's Note: You want longer? Well shucks... All right, I guess I'll give you longer. I'm making the chapters kinda short because I update a lot, you see.... But I suppose I could give you a nice long one. Note that I'm not really sure where this is going.... And this part is mostly humour, so yeah... Next part might not make any sense either!
They were stumbling around in the dark. Well, Freya was stumbling. Amarant, amazingly enough, seemed to be able to see well enough to not run into the walls. Usually there was some way to light the caverns they traveled in. Luminescent lichen, torches along the walls, even a randomly placed fire spell. But there was nothing now, neither of them knew any fire magic, and the walls were completely bare of any life, luminous lichens included.
Freya was cursing her bad luck, her thoughts still dwelling on Fratley and her not being able to get out.
Suddenly she found her thoughts dwelling on Amarant and how he'd seen her crying. She didn't know why, she shouldn't really have cared. It's not like she was close to him or anything. What did it really matter if he thought she was weak, if she knew she wasn't?
Then she suddenly found her thoughts interrupted by a burst of stars in front of her eyes as she suddenly ran into a very hard surface, most likely the cave wall.
Amarant heard the faint squeak that she issued as her head connected with the rock and he stopped. He turned around to look and somehow (SOMEHOW!) saw what had happened. He didn't bother to ask whether she was all right. He didn't really care.
"What the...?" Freya muttered, removing her hat to better rub the tender spot where her head had met the rock.
"Clumsy," he shot at her. Actually it was emotionless, but it was almost as if he'd scornfully shot the comment at her.
"I am not! I just can't see," she replied as she brushed her hair back into place with the claws of one hand and smoothly replaced her large hat.
"Really."
"Yes really!" she shouted at him. She was getting sick of this cave and not being able to see and the constant thoughts about Fratley and then the sudden hating Fratley for not remembering her and then liking him again and realizing she'd never see him and... Actually most of her anger had nothing to do with Amarant. But he was there, so she shouted at him.
"Maybe that's because you've got darkness cast on you."
She blinked. That had caught her off guard. "I do?"
"No. But it could have been the reason."
She blinked again. She was confused now. "Uhh..."
"Forget it."
"Well if I don't have any bad status effects on me, why can you see and I can't?" she demanded.
"I dunno."
"...Can you see?"
"Not really."
She blinked, and then suddenly got angry. "So this is the blind leading the blind!"
"Not really."
"STOP SAYING THAT! Give me a straight answer!"
"Well I can't very well give you a crooked one, can I?"
Now he was just being aggravating.
"I've been using the wall to lead us," he answered, unprompted. "Nothing else, though. There is nothing else. No faint wind current, no sounds of life, no pinpoint of light ahead. Just the wall. Which is fairly solid, I'm sure you've noticed."
"Yes I have..." She was still mad about this. So he couldn't see here either! Well that wasn't much of a shock, what with that...what the heck WAS that hairstyle, anyway? Did he even HAVE eyes? Now she was just mad.
"Calm down. That's not gonna get us anywhere."
"Calm?! I can't be calm! Not when you're leading us here and I may never get back to the surface and I may never see Sir Fratley ever again AND I'LL BE STUCK DOWN HERE WITH YOU THE REST OF MY LIFE! I CAN'T BE CALM!" And indeed, she wasn't calm.
He didn't say anything for a while. She stood there glaring at (where she thought) he was, fuming. Finally, after several minutes of silence, he asked, "Are you done?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Good, let's go."
Go where? she wondered. Was there even anywhere to go? What if this cave just connected to itself a thousand different times and they never, ever got out? Damn, she was starting to panic again. Panicking was bad. No panic! There had to be a way out. There always was.
As she walked behind Amarant, one hand on the wall, he was walking likewise, although in front of her and not behind himself, thinking as well. Mostly he thought "I should get a haircut..." and "Damn, she needs to cool down." Not very interesting fic thoughts. Let's go back to Freya.
Hmm...nope, still thinking about Fratley and how much of a dork Amarant is. Well shucks, isn't this a predicament? Let's have something happen.
Suddenly, without warning, and quite unexpectedly, Amarant saw light ahead. Not a lot of light, mind you. Just a little. But it was enough to make him stop and say, "Hey..." Which in turn caused Freya to stop (though that was because she walked right into his back and fell on her tail) and shout "HEY!"
"Light ahead," he said, and pointed.
"Wonderful," she muttered, picking herself up from the ground. Then she suddenly realized what he'd said. "Light?!" She nearly climbed over him in her attempt to see the light at the end of the rather narrow tunnel that the cave had become. "We're almost out!" she cried gleefully.
"Not really..."
"QUIT SAYING THAT!"
He paused at that reaction before he decided to continue. "We've been going down, if you'd notice, not up. And we entered the Ice Cavern from the lower entrance. So we're underground, not above ground."
"...Damn." But she was still happier now. There was light! That meant life! Or at least luminescent lichens! And then she could see and not run into things. "What are we waiting for?! Let's go!"
"What are you, six?"
"Walk or I'll climb over you to get there!" she threatened.
"Yes, no man in his right mind would ever want a woman to climb over him."
She blinked, taken aback. She couldn't tell if he was serious or sarcastic, but she was guessing the latter. She'd never heard Amarant be sarcastic. Maybe because his tone of voice never changed...
While she was standing there thinking, he started walking. She ran after him and walked behind him when she caught up. He was acting differently now. Slightly so, but differently. Then again, so was she. Maybe because they were alone and both only worrying about themselves rather than the group. Not caring what the other thought.
That couldn't be it. Maybe she was just imagining it.
The light was still distant. Closer, but distant. It stayed distant until they were close. Which makes sense, I mean, really. It just took a while for it to go from distant to close, and it was all sorts of things in between.
Amarant stopped before entering the cavern the light opened into. The passage had widened in the meantime so that Freya was able to stand abreast of him. She asked why they weren't going in immediately, and he asked if she wanted to die. I get that, don't you? I mean, it's a logical response.
Freya didn't think so. "What the hell do you mean by that!?" she demanded.
"I mean it could be a trap," he clarified.
"...Oh." She paused. "...Who the heck puts a trap all the way down here?"
"People."
"What sort of people?"
"The same people who put traps in really deep caverns on the off chance that travelers would pass by."
"...Isn't that exactly what this would be?"
"That's why it makes sense."
It didn't really make sense to her, but she ignored it. She ran into the light, which opened up into a vast cavern. Amarant followed her in, but before they got a decent chance to look around, the lights mysteriously vanished.
A strange figure appeared in the middle of the room, backlit by a random dramatic soft blue light. Freya's last thought before the chapter ended was, "Well damn."