From the bone idol, I had my shares of shots. We were a great team. Unfortunatly it was Ickwok who finished the Kralove off. When the bone idol brought me back to shore, I blew it up. There was no way, I would have any connection with the bandit arrow.
"Hey Oaksand! YOUR ALIVE!" Screamed Shapdoak, he threw the last tourch into the water, so he could bear hug me." As a result the tourch went out. Now it was pitch black, they could see nothing! (Hence the name Walk in the Dark)
"Shapdoak..." I growlled trying to keep myself from exploding.
"Ye-yes Sand?"
"AGRAHHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ickwok got up. The Kralove was sinking into the water. The Burned figure was still locked up with the giant creature. Ickwok could only think of one thing to do. He dove into the water and started swimming toward the sinking monster and whoever the burned adventurer was.

"YOU IDIOT!" yelled Oaksand and I. Well, Oak did more of a roar, but it doesn't matter. We had nothing and nowhere to go. Square one. No, square zero since we have no light. "It's all hopeless. We're going to die in this stupid cave and nobody will ever find us ever again!" I cried. I sat down and put my head in my hands.

"Shut up, you baby!" I shout at both Shapdoak, and Vederos, "You there, blind guy, i hear you can see, even though you don't see... HELP US!" I demanded

"Calm down, Calm down..." Okaam said, climbing out of the water. Koraz was not with him, however. His nobility outweighed his hate of water, and he dived in. Of course, to save his comrades was not his only intention; He planned on keeping a kralove tentacle as a souvenir, as he had heard they fetched a high price. So, cutting off the tentacle that held the burned adventurer with his dagger, he shoved the tentacle into his pocket and put his empty canteen into the burned adventurer's pocket to provide extra buoyancy and float his friend up faster. How Koraz managed to do this with one breath is a mystery even he cannot solve.

Ickwok reached the burned figure right as Koraz was bringing them up to the surface. Once above the water, Ickwok identified the figure as Mik, the Sram he had run into before the Goblin fight. Ickwok heard rustling inside of the Sram's helmet. He took it off of her head, looked inside, and found the Arachnee that always seemed to be with her. It didn't look too badly injured. The helmet must have protected it.

Ickwok and Koraz helped Mik over to the ledge of land near the tunnel. Hopefully Mik woud wake up soon.

Everything went black as the bomb hit. There was a burning sensation all over her skin. It felt familiar, like tiny spider bites...

...There were spiders crawling over Mik's skin. She was back in Aria Knofob's attic, covered in Arachnees and Arachnids. Every part of her exposed skin burnt with bites. The spiders fell away and vanished as the poisoned dart she had shot at their summoner took effect. She snatched up the final Arachnid's body, and hacked off one leg. She took the leg back down the stairs, and gave it to Aria.
"Oh, thanks a lot!" Aria exclaimed. "Here you are, a magic scroll I found in the attic when I moved in, I am sure you'll find a use for it."
Mik examined the scroll. It was obviously a fake, but it seemed to have some minor magic powers. She thanked Aria, and left, perusing the scroll in depth. It began, "Howe to summon an Arakne"...
...She remembered when she had captured the Arachnee. She had found it, wandering alone in Tainela. She had charmed it to her, using the spell in the scroll, then looked after it, feeding it and caring for it, until it followed her of it's own accord. The spell still linked them, and she could feel it's pain whenever it was injured...

...The Arachnee was in pain. Everything was still black, but now she was certain her eyes were open. She wasn't in the water anymore. She coughed up a lungful of water, and brushed some ash out of her eyes. Then she realised it was her eyelashes. It was no wonder she was in pain. Her back was badly charred, but her Black Scaraleaf gear had probably saved her life, even though it wasn't fire proof. Going by what little she could now see, it hadn't even changed color. Although, in the dark, everything is black.

I got up, and, somewhat having healed Mik, we trudged on... Out of the lair and in darkness.

"I have an idea.." Okaam said, stopping. "Perhaps my shields can provide some light." Without waiting for approval from the group, he used his Glowing shield. It provided a light, but a small one. They could see maybe 7, 8 meters ahead. Of course, being blind, Okaam hadn't the slightest clue how far the light went, so he waited for a response from the group.

This post has been edited by Shadow-Frost: 12 Oct 2009, 15:09

Mik was feeling dreadful. Her arachnee had a damaged leg which would take some time to heal, she'd lost her eyelashes and eyebrows, she was covered in Kralove ashes, and had some nasty burns. Still, it could be worse. Now, the Feca, Okaam, had cast his Glowing Armor to provide light for the others. Mik could already see well enough without the additional light, but it was a welcome relief to be able to see colors, instead of the monochrome images that she normally saw in the dark. She thanked the Feca profusely as they continued down the interminably long tunnel.

"Thank-you, Oakaam," I said finaly calming down. I had scares all over my body, for the first time in my life as an Oaktree, I felt a sense of dispare.
"Listen people," I said, "There are no doubt, more goblins in this cave, probably creatues of a worest kind. I may seem like someone who doesn't know how to work as a team, but let me tell you, how could I be an Oaktree leader, lead my men to victory countless times, earn medals of Valour, and plenty of other stuff, without having leadership skills? If we are going to escape this cave, we need to devise a plan, not just carry on to gods know where. We need to be perpared for the worest!"

Ickwok looked at Oaksand. He knew that they were right. The group did need to be ready for the worst. Ickwok just hoped that they would have at least a little reprive before the next conflict. Ickwok finally said, "I don't know how we can prepare for anything else. Look at us! There are just seven of us here, and Mik is badly injured. What can we do besides to just keep trudging down this tunnel?"

At this Ickwok looked to each face in the group. He realized how hopeless the group looked. He sent up a quick prayer to whatever god could hear him in this horrible dark hole in the earth.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I think we need to use the remains of the bone idol, and find the bandit archer. He seems skilled, and may need help himself. 8 men fighting is better then 7..."

"Where could that kid be?" I wondered. "He's looking for someone...or something. Maybe we shoud keep the idol." The seven of us trudged on.

I checked my watch. It was soaked and burned, but still in good condition. "It's getting late above."

Mik carefully nibbled at a roasted gobball leg as they walked onwards. The slight healing properties that she'd cooked into it strengthened her. Someone had said something about keeping the remains of the Bone Idol. What had happened to it? The last she had seen of it, it had been helping Oaksand out of the water. Maybe the Kralove had gotten it anyway, or it had gone back into the water and been hit by the blast. It didn't matter. There wasn't mush point keeping the remains of a summon. It would return to it's master when called, no matter how far away. But where could the Bandit Archer be? He had to still be in the caves somewhere...
"Do you know where the Bandit Archer is?" Mik asked her arachnee. It shivered in a manner which she interpreted as "No", then blinked at her rapidly. In reply, Mik smiled, and sketched a lantern in her mind.
With the aid of the spell Location, she looked through the walls. There was something moving behind the wall to their left, keeping pace with them. It seemed too tall to be a Goblin, but was it the Bandit?

OOC: Redpip has been active on the fourms, but not this thread, I think I'll minipulate the bandit. On second thoughts, I dont know what to make him say, someone take control of the bandit, or redpip come back.

I shot an explosive arrow. I saw the glance of "you idiot," at me, but I ignored them. I didn't aim at the bandit, I shot a few centimetres away, so I could light up his area. Sure enough it was the bandit.
"You-you sent the Bone idol to help me, aye? Listen erh I think we got off on the wrong side of the foot, please can you help us?"

(OOC: He was behind a wall, a great big rock thing which goes from the floor to the ceiling. We must have come to a passage that connects the two. And if he doesn't come back to this thread for a while, we'll have to use him as an NPC. That is, anyone can post about him, but not as him. )

The Bandit Archer wasn't harmed by the proximity of the explosion. He seemed to be covered by a magical skin, which Mik had seen Bandit Archers use before. It was some sort of shield spell, called Tiptowe. He stared at them, and noticed the remains of the Bone Idol, that Oaksand was carrying. With a wave of his wand, the remains appeared near him, and reassembled themselves into the Bone Idol. Another wave, and it vanished.
"Help?" he said. He didn't seem to know the meaning of the word. He looked more closely at Vedaros, and appeared to frown, although it is hard to tell with Bandits. He seemed to come to a decision. "I'm Mathpip," he said. "I will help."

(OOC: Don't know much about him, apart from his first post. I'm assuming that he doesn't talk much, and that he believes he knows Vedaros. )

OOC: I know the guy behind the bandit, and Mathpip is searching for his tribe (he doesn't know it yet, but it's called Pip).

I walked toward the archer. Before he had had that particular bow, before, before, before, memory!

I was sitting with a Cra. "I've grown enough. I can use this bow." he was saying. Picking it up, he suddenly exploded in smoke. When I looked again, he was somehow a Magic Riktus warrior...

"Hi." I said. "I think you can help us." he shook my hand, and we walked on.

(OOC: Wasn't Oaksand trying to make a Bandit Archer bow?)

Okaam led the way, his Glowing Armor helping all the others to see. Koraz walked next to him, to prove his bravery. Mathpip and Vedaros followed behind, talking softly. Oaksand was next, trying very obviously to not offend the Bandit in anyway. Oaktrew and Shapdoak followed directly behind him, prepared to fight or dig, whatever was required. Ickwok and Mik brought up the rear, Mik limping along, with Ickwok, still feeling guilty, supporting her.
Okaam stopped suddenly. "Koraz, the air here feels different. What do you see?"
Koraz looked around. "It's an intersection. This tunnel splits into two, one to the right and one to the left."
"Don't go down the right tunnel," Mik called weakly. "I can hear water that way."
"I can hear it also," Okaam replied. "So, is it agreed? Do we go left?"

"I think...I think that you and I were friends. In past lives, you as a Cra and me as a Sadida. And...before then. I think we share a destiny and all that sort of mystic stuff." Suddenly, Okaam called out "So, is it agreed? Do we go left?" "Yes." I responded, waiting for the final vote.