The lioness walked slowly through the hallway, seemingly content with herself. Vigil scuttered beside her, and gave an occasional glance to the injured Sarah, who lay face down across the lioness' back.
He looked forwards once more, down the length of the hallway. This section of the ruins seemed endless, with no variation, no intersections, and no noise but the sounds of their own feet echoing off the walls.
A band of letters decorated the wall, stretching forwards and backwards down the length of the hallway. They were random sequences, with no particular meaning, but looked endless. Vigil glanced behind them. The spot where he had escaped the Unown swarm was in that direction, but was so far away that he could not see it. How long had they been walking down this corridor?
"Name?" Vigil chirped inquisitively, glancing up at the lioness as she sauntered onwards.
She gave him a glance before replying. "Abbey. Don't bother with giving me your name, nor the mouse's. We won't be together that long." Vigil twitched his mandibles. Had he ever met someone so cold in his life? No one came to mind.
A quiet groan caught their attention, and both looked back to the awakening Sarah, who was just opening her eyes.
"Vigil?" She inquired. Abbey returned her gaze to the path before them.
"Sarah." He responded, "Feeling better?"
"Kind of. Are we…" She felt around. "Moving?"
"We are. The lioness I blinded earlier has agreed to help us." He glanced to Abbey.
"No I haven't. You are injured, and your safety makes you the perfect incentive for you bug here to assist me where I require it." She clarified. "When my objective is done, then we will see what will become of you."
Sarah squeaked quietly at the thought of being the lioness' food once she got what she wanted. Her eyes darted around the dark hallway for a moment, before she closed them and calmed herself.
When she decided she was sufficiently calmed enough, she looked towards the ground. "Why is it so dark?
Vigil glanced at her, stepping closer to the lioness. "Light barely manages to penetrate the ruins this deeply. Even I am nearly blind in this low light setting."
"He's my eyes for now. I can't see a thing either. Bug, what is that up ahead?" She nodded ahead of them, where the passageway seemed to end. Vigil bounded forwards to investigate.
"Stop." He ordered. "Long drop. Narrow chasm."
"I see it. What's that light in the distance?" Abbey inquired, peering far to the left, down the length of the chasm.
The chasm towered high above them, and fell far beneath them. Light, off in the distance, made the fog glow a brilliant glow that faded to white the further away the fog rolled. A gentle breeze ran between the rock faces.
"I don't know. But that light is illuminating the rest of the chasm." Vigil glanced downwards.
"A light?" Sarah asked, attempting to turn herself around to see it.
"Stop squirming or you will fall off." Abbey ordered, readjusted the mouse with a quick shake.
They studied the cliffs, and the light. Straight ahead, the tunnel continued. It looked like it had been ripped off of the rest of the ruins passageway.
"We're going to jump." Abbey concluded. "Hold on."
"What?" her passenger inquired, shooting her a serious look.
"I told you to tighten your grip! Because I am jumping now!" Abbey informed, leaping from the edge of the gap. Vigil watched with surprise as they soared across the abyss to land on the other side.
Taking a few steps back, Vigil moved upwind of the hallway. He knew his light body would easily be blown away, and wanted to make the most he could of his position. His antennae twitched with the wind, feeling its coursing nature. The wind came in gusts, short bursts that would send him flying to the bottom of the chasm.
With bounding leaps, he flew into the air. His was airborne, with no ground to grip. This was it, his leap of faith. He would make it to the other side, or be blown to his death. His antennae twitched. A feeling of dread grew inside him as he looked to his left.
He felt his carapace smash against rock as he bounced off. He remained motionless, falling, spinning downward with incredible speed.
He landed. A moment later, he twitched, glancing around before righting himself. He felt the cold, smooth brick. He spun around, looking at the chasm. He had made it. He had cleared the jump. A feeling of relief coursed through him as the tension shed from him.
"Vigil!" A voice called him. He turned, and found Abbey walking down the severed corridor. Sarah lay on the lioness' back, waving him over. He bounded over.
"Vigil! You made it!" Sarah looked at him with relief.
He nodded. He had. He had cheated death.
The hallway broke into an intersection a bit further ahead. A chill wind swept through as they glanced down both directions. Each path was short, and the trio noticed the paths were roofless. A few cautious steps down the path to the left revealed these not to be corridors.
The cavern was massive. Tall, sturdy pillars of stone, naturally formed held the cavern roof up. Around them stood intricately carved formations. No, these were not corridors, these weren't natural rocks or fallen pillars. This was the full, unfettered expanse of a city!
Vigil emerged from the alleyway, scanning the city. He could not comprehend the sheer size of what lay before him. Around them stood houses, the homes of people long gone and dead. And among these ancient structures stood stores, businesses, and the governing body of their civilization.
But the streets were empty. The ground they stood upon sloped downward, down towards the large body of water that had claimed the lower sections of the city. Water that was illuminated by pillars of light from the surface. And judging by the quality of the light, the sun was setting. The ambient light within the cavern was fading. They would be left in the dark, and not even Vigil's eyes would help them.
"Night approaches. We must find shelter from the cold." He waved the lioness to follow.
"Now hold on." The lioness growled. "The mouse is my bargaining chip. That means that you do what I say, not the other way around. So we will continue to move until I say so."
Vigil stared at her, his head twitching as the seconds passed. "And if you grow tired? If I grow tired and we meet the swarm? Or worse, the-"
"Or what? What could be lurking here that isn't the Unown? What could be so dangerous that it has you jumping out of your shell?"
"Carapace." Vigil corrected. He looked around the cavern before answering her question. "The ghosts."
"It's true! It's true! One chased me earlier! A little before Vigil found me!" Sarah squeaked.
"Ghosts." Abbey could not believe what she was hearing. "And just where do you see these apparitions?" She looked around.
"We have only seen one, near a ruined fountain on one of the upper levels. But I suspect there will be more when night approaches. I do not know their tolerance to sunlight."
"I'm going to go ahead and call you insane. But you won't be of any use to me if you can't see. So we will go find somewhere for us to sleep. So go, find one." Abbey shooed him away, looking up to the slowly fading sunbeams through the cavern ceiling.