Without so much as a clue as to how long the drop down had knocked her out Sabrina wasn't sure if she was too "well rested" to fall asleep or it was how stress seemed to be poised to attack her at all angles that kept her up. Having managed to drag herself over to one of the cavern's walls she hoped to try and sleep away this awful nightmare but any attempt seemed futile as her entire body screamed out in pain. As she continued to clutch Mark's hat against her chest her thoughts turned to the other islanders on the surface. Surely enough time had passed by now that someone back on the surface had noticed their prolonged absence and started organizing a search, her father assuredly would at least when he'd return home and find that she wasn't there for once.
"Father…" She solemnly thought to herself as tightened her grip around her body. It was true that he always been a bit overprotective of her at times but even she couldn't blame him. Her entire life she had always come off as a shy and fragile girl and with the loss of her mother he was only doing his best to protect what mattered most to him.
Guilt began to flood over her as she remembered why she had ventured out in the mines in the first place. With his birthday in just a few short days she hoped to surprise him by retrieving his favorite gemstone, a beautiful pink diamond, from the depths of the mines but now just being able to make it home would be more than enough. Tears formed in her eyes as he hugged Mark's hat tightly and tried once more to call for him.
"MARK!" She cried. "Mark, please… answer me!"
Her heart sank as her words began to bounce around the walls unaccompanied by a reply before shortly fading away into silence. An emotional breakdown felt imminent but her sense of anguish was quickly dispelled by the sound of a familiar voice.
"Sabrina…?" It echoed. "Is that you?"
She jumped onto her knees and leaned herself forward, keeping her iron grip around Mark's hat as she did so. "Mark! Is that You?...Where are you?"
"Oh thank the Goddess you're alright. I... I'm down here… I think…" He answered back.
Amidst the pebbles around her Sabrina started to slowly crawl away from spot besides the wall. "Be-Below me…?"
"Hang on!" He called back before taking a pause. She hoped that he was implying that he would soon be finding his way to her but after a moment a bright ray of light erupted from the ground on the other side of the chamber.
Scrambling to her feet, she quickly scurried across the room over to the hole the light emerged from. As she came closer to the opening the ground released a low rumble but slowing her pace seemed to calm it down. Besides the gaping hole she fell back down to her knees and carefully peered down into the depths to spot a faint yellow and brown mesh surrounding the source of the light. It was Mark.
Once more tears began to fill her eyes only this time they were ones of happiness and not horror. "M-Mark, you're okay! I've been calling you for so long… I-I thought you might have… I'm just so glad you're safe."
"I'm sorry if I made you worry, I... I don't know how long I was out for. I only just came to…" He shouted up to her before switching his tone to something more serious. "Sabrina I… I need you to come down here…"
"D-Down…? T-To you…?" She asked, her voice quivering with fear.
"Please… I'm…" She could faintly hear him take a deep breath. "I'm stuck…"
Sabrina gasped as the light swiftly bounced away her eyes and shifted down towards the area besides him in order to expose a giant blob of brown. It must have been a boulder or debris pinning him down.
"Oh my Goddess, Mark! Are you hurt?" She cried.
There was a noticeable pause before he answered. "No… no… I'm fine but… I-I really need your help."
"Mark I… I… I can't…" She whimpered while bringing his hat over her heart. "I can't see anything… I lost my glasses… and… and… I'm scared…" She whispered.
"Sabrina please! I can't get out of here unless you help me!" He shouted back.
She offered no reply at the risk of fully breaking down. Being as blind as a bat left her in no condition to try and navigate the few floors between them in search of stairs leading below.
"Sabrina?" He asked.
"I can't Mark… I can't…" She repeated.
"Please! It hurts... I need you to help." He told her.
Deep down she knew she had to at least try to reach him. He was clearly in no condition to free himself and she knew that she lacked the ability to just leave him down below to suffer.
She took a deep breath before shouting back down in direction of his light. "A-Alright… I-I-I'll t-t-try."
She began to slide herself back away from the chasm before he called out to her again.
"Sabrina, wait!" He shouted.
Quietly she returned to her spot over the edge.
"I'm gonna try to toss you my flashlight." He explained. "I don't know how much help it'll be if you lost your glasses but it's worth a shot."
"How am I supposed to catch it?" She asked. "I won't see it coming…"
He paused for a moment. "I'll try and throw it besides you. Hopefully it doesn't break… or miss… Are you ready?"
She hesitated as well before answering. "I… I'm ready…" She nodded.
Dropping his hat into her lap she extended her arms out over the pit as a precaution and closed one of her eyes while looking slightly off to the side. "R-Ready…"
"Here goes nothing." She heard him call out.
After about a second the once stationary light launched into the air and swirled around in a chaotic fashion. As it drew near she slowly turned her view towards it and watched as it appeared as though it wouldn't make it. Frantically she reached her out in an attempt to snag it but only succeeded in knocking Mark's hat into the abyss as the flashlight just barely grazed the side of her head and landed a short distance behind her. In addition, shifting her weight so close to the edge caused the ground below her to once more groan as if it was about to give way resulting in her swiftly rising to her feet and scampering away from her spot just as it plummeted into the pit.
"Sabrina! Are you alright!" Mark shouted with concern.
Up above Sabrina laid on the ground as she tightly gripped the flashlight, her heart was practically running laps throughout her body. "I… I got it."
"Great! …Please… hurry…" He replied before going silent.
Sabrina continued to lie across the floor for a moment as she slowed her breathing down to calm herself. Once the sound of her pounding heart had left her ears she gradually rose to her feet and shined the flashlight around to try and find the stairs down. The entire room lit up appeared to her as a giant collage of splotches colored various shades of grey but eventually she came across a small gaping hole of black just besides where she had received the flashlight from.
That had to be it.
Slowly she began to drag her feet carefully across the uneasy floor in an effort to not disturb it enough to collapse yet again. At the base of the second hole she shined the light down and felt a gush of relief when the outline of the blur she saw appeared to be a staircase of sorts. Taking each step as though it were carefully planned she began her slow decent downwards. In spite of the pain it cause her right hand remained gripped against the wall at her side so she might be able to catch herself in the event of another cave in but the steps beneath her refused to make even a peep. Once at the bottom she paused for a moment to quiet down her agitated heart. Scanning the floor she spotted the gaping crater that Mark had fallen down and approached it with caution.
"Mark…?" She asked as she shined the light down.
From her new position his form was much clearer. It was still fuzzy and a basic mesh of colors, but there was more to him this time. She couldn't see it but he was smiling as the light shown down on him.
"You're almost there Sabrina. It's just another floor." He told her.
Once more a great sense of relief cast over her. Just a few moments ago she had believed that there was still quite a ways to go when reality was she was already halfway there.
"Don't worry!" She shouted back with a hint of confidence in her voice. "I'll be there soon."
Her moment of triumph was soon short lived as a burst of pain started to stem from her injured wrist. With a frail yelp in pain and without a second thought she dropped the flashlight from her grip and fell to her knees.
"No!" She cried out as her eyes followed it down into the darkness.
It bounced about on the floor below before rolling off into the region beneath her, out of view.
"Sabrina! What happened?" Mark asked.
"M-My wrist…" She sobbed in defeat. "Argh, I'm so stupid… I'm sorry Mark… I didn't mean to… I'm so stupid…"
"It's alright Sabrina, it's gonna be okay!" He called back. "The light's shining on the stairs actually, they should be right behind you."
Sabrina took a moment to try and compose herself before slowly looking back. Off against the wall in the distance she could see a small speck of light coming up from the floor like the rising sun.
"I-I think I see it." She said. "I'm coming Mark… I'm coming…"
Without a clue as to what lied between her and the stairs across from her she hesitated for a moment before commencing a slow crawl towards the light. Though it was possible that Mark was beginning to fall in dire need of help the growing sense of fear inside her combined with the absolute need for caution at this point forbid her from moving any faster. Trapped far beneath the surface in what might as well be a minefield of rockslides cast in eternal darkness was the last place she wanted to start being reckless.
Once beside the source of the light she gazed down to again spot the faint outline of what looked to be steps and turned herself around. Carefully she began to slide herself down the steps with extreme caution. In her mind it was the safest way to descend. When she managed to reach the bottom without so much as a hitch she breathed a sigh of exhaustion and practically hugged the ground with relief. A pained grunt from Mark brought her focus back to the task at hand.
Carefully, she climbed to her feet and scurried over the flashlight and retrieved it before focusing it upon Mark in front of her, letting out a loud audible gasp when she saw his current state. He was seated upright on the floor with a handful of moderately sized boulders resting atop his legs, a tiny stream of crimson red trailing out from underneath them. Beside him laid his open backpack, likely from when he had managed to retrieve his flashlight.
"Mark!" She cried as she ran over and embraced him.
He wrapped an arm around her and gently stroked her back. "You made it, I knew you could do it."
She huddled herself closer to him to try and conceal her tears, though her voice easily betrayed her actions. "Mark, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"
"It's alright Sabrina, I'll be fine. I just need you to help me get out of this mess." He replied.
She detached herself from him and wiped her eyes clean before focusing her attention on his legs. "R-Right."
They both gave one another a half smile and nodded before she shifted herself off to the side.
"I'll try to help as best I can." He told her as he placed his hands against the bottom rock. "Just push as hard as you can when I say go."
She nodded.
"Alright… now." He commanded.
With strength she didn't even know she possessed Sabrina pushed with all her might and with Mark's combined effort the larger rock quickly rolled off of his legs in no time. Those few that remained were able to be clear on their own with little work. Had she been more attentive during the process Sabrina might have taken not of how not once during the whole process did Mark flinch in response to any of the stress his legs might have experienced.
Focusing the light on his legs she could clearly see that the puddle she spotted early was indeed blood that had seeped out of injuries and hung her head in shame.
"I'm so sorry Mark…" She uttered quietly.
"It's okay, I'm… fine now." He replied uneasily.
Upon closer inspection she noticed how his right leg appeared to almost be literally bent out of shape.
"Mark…" She began slowly, a grave hint of horror in her tone. "How… how are you not in pain right now…?
He ashamedly looked away from her and took a deep breath. "Sabrina I… I can't… I can't feel anything…" Her eyes widened as he heard her gasp. "In my legs…"
The light produced from the flashlight between them transformed the tears in her eyes into sparkles as she threw herself into him.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I'm sorry Mark…" She repeated. "This is all my fault! I should have never asked you to come out here! I should have just hid at home as usual! I-I should have…"
She found herself cut off both by her lack of words and his tightening embrace.
"Everything's going to be alright. I don't blame you for any of this." He told her. "It was my choice to come down here and help you, that cave-in was no one's fault. Right now we just have to focus on how we're both okay. Can you do that? For me?"
She continued to cry for a moment before gently pulling herself away and silently staring him in the eyes. She wanted to smile but guilt still managed to have an iron grip on her emotions.
"I know you can do it." He added. "You've already managed to make it all the way down here to me. I know you can be braver for just a little longer."
The edges of her lips began to slowly tip upwards. He was right. Just the other week if you had told her that she'd be able to not only survive a cave-in but rescue an injured friend trapped in the darkness she'd have thought you were nuts and yet here she was. If she could brave the darkness then surely she could muster up the courage to simply remain calm.
"You're right." She smiled. "I can do this."