>Uncertain< -- The Watchwher Caves

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Date Posted: 07:46:39 09/22/05 Thu
Author: Oriana & Orisk
Subject: >Uncertain<
In reply to: Yima & Yimask 's message, "All right, everyone up here." on 18:39:08 08/23/05 Tue

Listening to Yima's instructions, Oriana swallows nervously, trying to dampen her dry throat. She'd rather be close in among the other Apprentices, or at least right next to the two other adult women, not in a foggy in-between spot without someone right next to her on either side. And she wants a fur, badly; it's chilly down here. But the woman isn't brave enough to challenge Yima, who intimidates her. She suspects that the gold-handler would be willing to slap her if she was too childish, and possibly throw her out - well, scream at her, at the very least. She probably wouldn't actually throw Oriana out, because that would mean throwing Orisk out too, and Yima seems to care more for the watchwhers than for their handlers. And Orisk has made it clear that he won't argue with the gold, not that Oriana can blame him when it's so much bigger than him. So she nods timidly, though the blond woman certainly can't see her in the dark, and quietly follows the wall until she reaches the passageway to the smaller caves. Orisk walks confidently beside her, making little purring sounds and rubbing his head against her side every so often to reassure her. She feels braver when he's doing that, and reaches down to rub at the top of his head affectionately, then grasps the vestigal ridge running down his neck and back - smaller than a dragon's, but still present, even if it doesn't serve the same purpose - and clings.

Completely blind in the darkness, Oriana keeps her right hand on the wall as she continues down the passage, counting off the caves under her breath. "One, two, three, four...." There will be more on the left-hand side, so this should be far enough, except that when she tries to turn into the fifth one down, Orisk stops dead and pulls back, forcing her to stop if she's going to maintain her hold on him. "Oh! Is someone in there?" she asks him, and the blue watchwher shuffles backwards, which is signal enough for Oriana. "All right. Across the passage, then," she whispers, and this time he doesn't resist her when she enters the closest cave on the left. She doesn't know how far down this one is, though she assumes it's the fifth also, because Oriana's mind still functions on the assumptions born of living in a Hold for most of her life. (It's actually the fourth, since the caves on either side aren't lined up neatly like rooms, but it will take her a while to grasp underground geography." Orisk murrs his approval, breaking free to explore the cave and search for threats and tunnel-snakes, and Oriana is left on her own to feel her way about.

It's not a very big cave, less than half a dragonlength wide and only twice that from entrance to back, shaped more like some sort of tuber than a square room. There's a sort of pillar near the door, on the left, formed by a stalactite and a stalagmite fusing together over the years, and Oriana discovers it by banging her forehead. She squeaks in pain, stumbling back and rubbing at the tiny cut above her eye, and Orisk hurries over to rub against her and croon in loving concern. Dropping to her knees, Oriana wraps her arms around his neck and just hugs him for a moment, letting him lick away the thin trickle of blood trailing down her brow. Eventually, though, she pulls away, even more convinced that she has to learn the geography of her new home. This time, she's more careful, stepping slowly, feeling with her feet, and holding her hands in front of her at eye-level. There are a couple of stalactites dangling from the ceiling near the back, where the floor and ceiling slope together, but Orisk is scraping around in the depression to make himself a bed, so she won't have to worry about them if he's sleeping there. Another stalagmite also trips her up near the middle of the small cave, and she winces, rubs her toes through her boots, and makes a mental note of it, though she knows she'll have to walk around quite a bit more before she can really navigate in her chosen cave.

No spot seems any more suited to sleeping than another, and Oriana dismally concludes that she'll need bedding, which she currently lacks, to make a proper bed. For now, she curls up near the pillar, trying to sleep, but the rock floor is cold, gritty, and hard, and she twists and turns and can't manage to fall asleep. At least while travelling with Orisk before this, they could dig out sleeping spots under the roots of skybroom trees, or Orisk could sleep in makeshift shelters or shallow caves while Oriana napped outside. Dirt, however rocky, still had some give to it. The only benefit to the cave that Oriana can see is the lack of insects. Finally, after listening to Orisk mumble worriedly at her and struggling to make herself comfortable for half an hour, the woman crawls over to curl against her watchwher. In the half-Turn since she'd first bonded with Orisk, Oriana has gone from fearing him to trusting him, and though this is the first time she's tried this particular sleeping position, he's soft and warm enough, and she tired enough, that she soon slips away into dreams.

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