Double Dog Dare Ya ( open )

[Yurie Van-Houseton]

As far as bad ideas went, this had to make at least the top 10s. Trek through the abandoned mines and find a beautiful colorful stone. He heard about it and, at the time, it seemed like a good gift for Aylin. When he mentioned it to Kris, wanting a second opinion on what girls loved as gifts, he began to have second thoughts. It was dangerous… Probably. So it’s been said anyways. Though once Kris began to push and press, practically daring him to go. Calling him a chicken if he didn’t. Well… honestly how could he say no to not going? His phone rumbled with a new text notification. Even before unlocking it, he already knew the sender and what message she’d give.

From: Ay

>>> That’s easy. 

>>> You say, “No Kris, I like living, thanks.”

He rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that awful. Only rumors circulated the notion that the Big Bad herself along with other minions lived deep within the Mines. They say that the wicked creatures they faced on a near day by day basis prowled the mine’s dark pathways but, as far as Yurie knew, nobody has ever seen them. Now if Yurie asked one of the older Full Chasers or the more mischievous students about why no one has, he was certain that he would hear the reply ‘because the ones that do go down the mines, don’t come back.’ But since it’s been so long since the mine has been used, Yurie doubted that it was true. With the Darkness coming to them, why would they settle in such a place aside from its dim lit atmosphere. But he supposed that even still, they could be resting and biding their time, in the nooks and crannies of the mines.

>>> I hope you told someone where you’d be.

Now that she brought it up, he hadn’t. He rarely ever does, he sighed and pocketed the phone for now. When more people are involved in his plans then it meant more room for error on his part. It wasn’t practical at all. He’d only worry about their safety. It wasn’t like he’s out looking for Darkness to take down or anything. Teams were good for that but personal stuff that shouldn’t take more than a few spare minutes? He was better on his own. … Probably.

Yurie wandered deeper into the mine. While it had been long abandoned, crates of old pick axes and lanterns that lit the way still littered the walkways here and there.

[Raeyhn Jäger]

Coughing and waving the dust away as a clump of the dirt wall broke away to reveal more dirt, Raeyhn groaned annoyed at her findings. She had no idea why on earth, she believed her brother that there was some ultra rare, super special gemstone down here that she could find and make a one of a kind piece of jewelry. He knew it was her weakness, that she wanted to be fashionable and cute and have the best of the best stuff, so he was probably playing some mean trick on her just to get her off of his back about training his powers. That was definitely it. This was a wild goose chase that lead to nothing but dirt, rocks and more dirt and rocks. How irritatingly disappointing.

Raeyhn sighed loudly as she looked at her clothes. Her black crop top was stained with dirt as was her high waisted shorts. The heels on her boots had surprisingly not come off, but she was certain they would be useless and worthless when she came out of this, and it was all Skailor's fault. In hind sight on her own part, she probably should have dressed better for the occasion but, really this was one of he most dressed down outfits she had. She liked the outdoors, but she had never done anything this rugged before. Looking around her for one last surgery, she sighed again. She was giving up, and besides being here alone was probably not the best idea. As payback she would go get her brother and force him to help her look around.

Walking over to an abandoned pick axe, Raeyhn picked up the coat that was hanging from it. Outside had been cold due to the season, but once she had started working it got hot. Along with her coat she picked up the small backpack she had brought along, she was ready to leave. "Hm... Maybe I should be prepared just in case..." She thought to herself out loud, reaching into her backpack for a small razor blade.

Taking the blade in one hand she sliced clean across her palms before doing the same thing to the other side. As the blood gushed out, she stared and concentrated on the Crimson liquid, watching as it started to form and shape as two short swords in her hand. Her weapon of choice. Putting the razor blade back where it came from she slung the pack onto her back and began her trek back to the beginning, swords ready. She had heard some creature lived here and it would be better to be safe than sorry, even if she wasn't entirely sure she would even be able to take such a being on.

As she began to make it back, she started to hear noises. Raeyhn was unsure if it was just the silence and loneliness getting to her, or if something was nearby. Starting to feel anxious and on edge, she readied her blades even more. Biting her bottom lip she continued onward, but now the sound sort of sounded like footsteps, and now they were coming toward her. What if it was the darkness? She hadn't been in an actual battle with a darkness yet. What was she going to do? Maybe she should call her brother and have him come get her? No she'd have to buy enough time to run away to some place he'd be able to teleport too. Ok, she could do this.

Now the sound was getting really near, and Raeyhn's nerves grew by the second. Normally it was easy for her to be calm, but her imagination was going wild. The dim lighting, the utter silence earlier, they were triggering the wild side of her brain. The side making up all types of things. She even began to wonder if it was ghosts. That would be terrible, and really far fetched. The sound was right on top of her now. Here it came. There it was! It had a physical form, quickly! Stab it!

With eyes shut and a swift motion Raeyhn felt her sword sink in to a body. At least she thought it was a body. She hoped it was a body. She was too scared to open her eyes and look. But she did. She opened them slowly and blinked the blurred vision away a few times. As she focused her eyes grew wide and her mouth gaped in shock, "Oh. My. Gosh." Was all she managed to squeak out.

[Yurie Van-Houseton]

Everything looked abandoned for so long. He was starting to have some doubts that he’d even find anything more than pick axes and the occasional metal ore. The mine had to have been gutted of anything valuable long before anyone from Argi City had gotten down to it. But rumors were rumors and his curiosity would always get the better of him. Plus if he did find at least something of value, he could boast about it right in Kris’ face. It’d be excellent proof that he did not chicken out.

Further down he went, the pathways got darker and quieter. Nothing about his own footsteps echoed down the narrow pathways. It unnerved him. Such quiet stillness. The hairs on the back of his head stood on end. Purely for some semblance of security, Yurie activated his powers. The cosmic colors covering up his arms. He slowed his pace as he walked onwards. Doing his best to keep an eye out for anything suspicious but… not quite observant enough.

The blade sunk into his side, narrowly missing vital areas, before he could move out of the way entirely. His reflexes may have saved him from having a blade struck through his chest but how it hurt to not have been quite fast enough. He gasped out in pain. He’s had worse, he’s gone through worse. He has. Truly. But it hurt.

It hurt and he had no time to think about it. Before the attacker could pull back and try again, Yurie moved back and out of reach, the small sword left his body with a wet shluck sound. It wasn’t the best idea, now he would need to worry about bleeding out, but he needed to keep a distance. Pressure, he need to keep pressure on the wound. While it won’t stop the bleeding, it’d slow it down at least a little bit. The wound looked worse than what it was, though it still looked awful. He chanced a look at his attacker, a girl near his own age. She looked so shocked and afraid, it almost made him laugh. The only words he had heard out of her mouth were ‘oh my gosh’ in a murmured tone.

“What the hell.” He muttered under his breath. As deep underground as they both were by now, there was no way he’d make it to the surface let alone back to the city before he bled out. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. If he freaked out now, he’d only take a wrong turn and then he’d really dwindle his chance to absolute zero by getting lost in the mine. At least it couldn’t get worse.

… And then they heard it. Slow, heavy footsteps. Followed very closely by many smaller ones.

Yurie wanted to scream in frustration. “You’re kidding me right?” He threw his backpack down and dug through it with one hand while the other still kept as firm a pressure as he could on the bleeding hole in his side. Xanu had given him a few things for pain. He remembered one was better for numbing feeling to a small area. Fishing out the vial and working as quickly as he could, he poured the homemade potion over the wound. Without waiting for the full effect of the potion to kick in, he conjured up a bright star to use to torch and cauterize the gash close. This was nowhere near as sanitary as it should be, he’d probably get an infection from this. Hell, now it’s internal bleeding and circulation problems he’d have to worry about. But what else could he do!? They needed to get moving.

Looking to the girl, hoping she wasn’t having an internal ‘screaming into the abyss’ moment, he debated on if he should leave her behind. There was no way that he could. She was just as freaked out as he was. If anything she’s probably here for the same reason he is. He knew he’d have to take her with him. It’s be heartless to leave her with the Darkness. She was someone’s loved one. He urged her to get a move on. “Go go go!” The Darkness was probably just around the corner and they needed to leave now. The problem being that they had to head in the opposite way of the one known entrance. What were they gonna do now?

[Raeyhn Jäger]

The guy she had just stabbed looked just as shocked as she did. Well, not that she blamed him, who wouldn't be shocked that they just got stabbed while minding their own business. She was grateful that she seemed to miss anything vital, but the expression of pain on his face broke her heart. How could she have been so careless? She was just so creeped out by the surroundings and then she heard noises, it was still careless though.

As he stepped out of reach from her, she watched as the blood dripped out from him. She wanted to help him, but she was still in shock of the whole situation. He managed a what the hell, appropriate, while he held the wound firmly. Pressure. He was trying to apply pressure to slow the bleeding down. Right, she should really pull herself together and help him out.

Raeyhn retracted her blades, most of the blood returning to her self inflicted wound while the rest of it simply splattered to the ground. Before she would even get a chance to help him with his bleeding situation, footsteps were quickly approaching them. The male flew into action, throwing his bag on the ground rummaging through it the best he could with one hand. He took out a vile and poured some type of liquid over his wound, then created a torch and cauterized himself. She supposed that was a longer term help than any type of block she could have created for him.

Then he looked at her, though there was a short pause he quickly shouted go go go, at her. Go where?? The noises were coming from the direction they needed to go in. Not dwelling on it though she nodded and followed after him running in the opposite direction of the darkness. Reaching into her hair band she pulled out the small razor blade she kept there and shouted after the boy, "Can you fight?!"

They couldn't just keep running father into the mines. What if they got lost, or ran into that witch... What if they came to a dead end? They'd have to fight anyway. Taking a breath and digging the blade into her arm, she cut herself bigger than the first time. Placing the razor carefully back into it's hiding spot, the blood oozed out and as she stared at it intently, it took for of a long sword. "We gotta do something!" She shouted after the male, not even entirely sure if he could help or not. Looking back at the darkness coming, she managed to kill off a small one that had quickly caught up with them.