Chapter 15 - Old acquaintance

Astoundingly her luck had not left her immediately like last time when she went outside. No giant rocks had fallen on her head and no cursed artefacts had tried to take over her mind. All in all the first few hours had been pretty good in Tanya´s humble opinion.

Of course that feeling did not last long as she and her little group of delvers began their ascend to the next layer. Even though they went purposefully slow and covered as little altitude as possible the curse of the fifth layer still took its toll on all of them. Climbing up inside the Abyss could only be described by one word: Pain.

The curse first manifested as a slight nausea that rapidly grew in intensity until Tanya could barely walk straight and they had to pause for a while. An act that caused her much shame for being a burden on her superiors. This weakness was calling her physical training from her esteemed father into question which she could simply not tolerate. If he lost the respect of his men, because they believed he had educated his adoptive daughter insufficiently then his position in the company could be at risk, meaning hers as well!

So Tanya forced herself to continue despite the blood flowing from her eyes and mouth dripping out of her helmet. Her overflowing life fluids might have slightly hindered her ability to see and breathe, but she wouldn´t take off her father´s gift because of such trivial problems. To wear this mask was a sign of her position in his company and the trust he placed in her, so discarding it would be a direct insult to her caretaker. It wasn´t like she needed to see clearly anyways due to the audiovisual hallucinations that assaulted her mind. Trusting your senses could be a deadly mistake in the Abyss. Relying on logic and reason was far safer. Mostly.
(She had intensely memorized rule number 1 of surviving in the netherworld: Nowhere is safe.)

After that complete sensory deprivation set in and the terrible pain all over her body diminished only to be replaced with fuzzy nothingness. This was the specific symptom of the curse of the fifth layer that she had been often warned about. It took all her willpower and training to not scratch her skin raw or cut herself with a knife to try evoking any sensation, because she knew it would be futile. Feeling nothing at all was not the worst thing in the world.

At some point it got too much even for the three experienced Umbra Hands that accompanied her and they had to rest. Knowing that it was not custom to show your face once you became an Umbra Hand under any circumstance, Tanya went inside the tent and cleaned her bloodied mask and face with shaking hands. Her only solace in this horrible situation was that the weight of the curse would only get lighter the further they went upwards.

Luckily, her brilliant father had prepared some medicine for her that helped with the acute blood loss or else she would have gotten weaker by the day. The only thing that could have soured her mood more than the tasteless rations and the constant agony she found herself in would have been cumbering her fellow delvers any more than she already was. She had the growing suspicion that their frequent rests were only held because they took pity on her. How dare they pity Bondrewd´s chosen daughter! Nearly four years in his employ had obviously not been enough to instill the sense of respect into them that she craved.

As much as her companions may have often groaned and ached under the pressure of the curse Tanya did not believe them. These were professional delvers after all! They wouldn´t allow to openly show such weakness in their posture and overall demeanour. Often she vehemently discouraged them from making pauses after just a few hours or so. She would show them that she didn´t need their misplaced sympathy. Disappointing Bondrewd´s high expectations was not an option if she wanted to keep his favour. No amount of false fatigue from them could convince her.

This routine of suffering and subsequent resting continued for five days until they finally reached the fourth layer: The Goblets of Giants.

Seeing the massive floral basins formed by the "flat creepers" with your own eyes was a truly an incredible experience. The colossal plants that gave this layer its name were a sight to behold and a true wonder of evolution. That complex organisms were even able to function at such height and size was astonishing. Another proof how organic ingenuity and the power of natural selection trumped everything that the false god Being X could come up with. The fool would have probably forced the poor plants to worship him if they wanted to survive and then would have been surprised that his plan didn't work out. Idiot.

Tanya had often read about the dangers of the animals within this layer. Compared to the deathly (and in her view peaceful) silence of her "home layer" the Goblets of Giants could house many nasty surprises for the unprepared delver. Chief among them the Orb Piercer.

A creature as mysterious as it was deadly. Only a few of them existed in the whole layer, but they were so fiercely protective of their territory that they still took the lives of hundreds of Black Whistles. One sting from their poisonous, razor-sharp needles was enough to kill a grown man if the afflicted limb was not amputated immediately. They were also rumoured to be unnaturally intelligent to the point that some delvers attributed their high lethality to foresight or mind-reading abilities. She dearly hoped they wouldn´t meet one of them.

Fortunately they were spared of such an encounter in the beginning stages of the layer. Otherwise she was not sure if all of them could have survived the ambush, as exhausted as they were from the long ascend. Not far from the centre of the Abyss which was filled with the aforementioned flat creepers lay a small forest with significantly less dangerous inhabitants so they set up camp there. That didn't give them an excuse to be careless, but at least they would not run into any orb piercers.

The men had earned their sleep so she volunteered for first watch around the tent. A few days ago they would have tried to stop her, but her fellow Umbra hands knew by now that she wouldn´t accept any arguments on the matter. She would not be seen as weak, regardless of what her tiny child-body may have suggested! (This arrangement also served the secret purpose that she wouldn´t be woken up in the middle of the night by her comrades, but instead could sleep all the way through until morning.)

One hour into her shift and Tanya was thoroughly entertained by dissecting a unique insect that she had found crawling over her leg. In all of Bondrewd´s books she had never seen mentions of this specific bug and it made her wonder if she had discovered a whole new species by accident. She would definitely need to find and preserve a few more of these small creatures and analyse them in earnest under the microscope. On her trip back to the fifth layer she would pick up a few fresh specimens as well to satiate her father´s curiosity.

While the study of insects was not her favourite subject she nonetheless found it to be a good way of passing time. Of course she regularly made sure to scan her surroundings for danger, but so far nothing had captured her attention.

Just as she held the bug closer to her eye to inspect its wing structure she heard a rustling in the thicket around their camp.

Cautiously she sat the small corpse down on the ground and slowly grabbed her knife in one and her whistle in the other hand. Whatever had caused the disturbance had either been a harmless animal or a potential predator spying on them. Internally she cursed herself for not wearing her mask at the moment or she would have had a better time seeing through the ambient darkness. The only reason she had taken off the thing was because she enjoyed the feeling of the wind on her skin after days of being trapped inside the airtight mask. Now this irrational decision had come to bite her in the ass.

"Tanya?"

A human? But how did another delver know her name? Either this was a trick or an Umbra hand in need of assistance. No Umbra Hand she had ever known had such a young voice though...

"Whoever you are come out with your hands held high. I mean you no harm, but you will surely understand that I cannot trust a shadow in the night."

Appearing friendly to deescalate the situation was her plan and it appeared to have worked when it rustled again and a most bizarre figure stepped into the light.

Her first instinctual question would have been to ask what the hell the thing in front of her was, but she thought better of it. Maybe this was just an elaborate costume or their appearance was a sore point for them. Unknowingly insulting them would do her no good.

"Who are you? Please identify yourself."

"Tanya... don´t you...? –ahh –"

The oddly fluffy person sighed in defeat as if they had realized something tragic.

"I am Nanachi. –nya"

There was it again. The mysterious stranger had called her by her name again as if they were acquainted. Never had she even head about some kind of...rabbit... person. Also the name "Nanachi" sounded familiar for some reason. She needed to get to the bottom of this mystery.

"How do you know my name?"

"Do you really not remember me? I am Nanachi... from the orphanage! We grew up together!"

What?

Tanya vaguely remembered somebody named Nanachi... Could it be?

"You were the one who found the book!" she blurted out without thinking.

"Yes! Finally! –nya"

"Pssht. You are going to wake the others." she glanced at the direction of the tent behind her.

While her fellow orphan could be a potential threat or a diversion to keep her occupied for a attack by cave raiders she deemed such scenarios unlikely. There was no need to rob her co-workers of precious sleep yet. At least she could extract a little more information out of Nanachi before that.

They seemed overjoyed to be recognized by her. From what Tanya could recall Nanachi had always been rather reclusive and introverted, much like herself. Had Nanachi been lonely out here to be so desperate for company? Impossible. Surviving at these depths alone was unheard of. She needed clarification.

"What are you doing here on the fourth layer all by yourself?"

"... I am not alone..." was the whispered answer.

Good to hear. If Nanachi travelled with another group then Tanya´s group wouldn't need to escort or feed them. Both food and time were precious resources that she would only reluctantly spend on random delvers just because curtesy demanded it. Ignoring pleas for assistance could turn into a PR nightmare so she would have to intervene if asked. Luckily that would be not the case.

"Wonderful." she smiled in genuine happiness.

"And... you?"

"I am just passing through. I plan on getting to the second layer for now and if time permits it even the surface."

Logically speaking, giving away so much information was foolish, but she needed to earn more trust from the... girl?... boy?... in front of her. Tanya had never been able to tell which gender Nanachi belonged to and had also never bothered to ask. Inquiring now would probably be rude so she ignored it for the time being.

"Well, it has been certainly a pleasant surprise to find a familiar face here of all places, but you appear quite... changed. Might I know what happened for you to dress like this?" she gestured to the strange rabbit costume Nanachi was wearing. Last time she checked they had been human so it had to be a disguise.

"Ah... What?... I don´t want to talk about it."

"That´s quite alright." assured Tanya. "I respect your right of privacy, but I must say that I cannot imagine how such a costume could be practical. Other delvers could mistake you for an animal even!"

Why did Nanachi look so stricken? Were those tears forming in their eyes? Oh no, she had just committed a social faux pas by insulting their clothing style, hadn´t she? Who could have known that Nanachi was so sensitive when confronted with totally legitimate criticisms of her fashion style!

"I am sorry. It is certainly quite..." she struggled to find a fitting word "cute."

Children liked cute thing right? Tanya was not proficient at handling social confrontations with minors. Better change the topic! Quick!

"The book I borrowed from you all those years ago has certainly changed both our lives. I have studied the last few years all kinds of notes and reports about the flora and fauna of the netherworld. I aim to investigate a few of the deeper mysteries myself one day. I remember you were always excited to discover this place for yourself. Do you still have a passion for the Abyss?"

Hopefully the personal story would serve as an ice-breaker of sorts to steer the conversation back into safer territories. Everybody who took their job seriously liked to exchange professional information. Self-education and upskilling were imperative to success after all.

"Eh... I guess? I learned a lot about medical theory... – nya..."

Tanya feigned interest: "My, how exciting! Tell me about it."

So began a conversation that lasted long into the night. So long in fact that they continued to chat until Tanya noticed that her shift had ended half an hour ago.

"Excuse me, but I fear we will have to resume our discussion tomorrow. The journey so far has been exhausting and I need my sleep. You should catch some rest as well. Meet me here an hour after sunrise. Maybe you can show me your camp at the opportunity."

"...Alright?"

It sounded more like a question then an answer, but Tanya wrote it off as Nanachi being as tired as her. She was so drained after the long day that she even forgot to inform her replacement for lookout of her bizarre encounter.