World of Warcraft®

Coron

Wind, whipping at his face, his clothing, his eyes, his body. It howled, it whispered, it seemed almost...unatrual

The sound of flags flapping about in the wind could have been heard, a Kaldorei laid face down in the sand..wait...sand? What?

The eyes of Coron Moonblade flashed open, his body tense, unmoving, as if expecting something to happen if he did. In one swift movement, he slammed his hands into the sand and pushed himself up quickly, spinning and kick up sand as he drew his scythe and held it at the ready. He stopped, his amber gaze flickering left and right, looking for any signs of danger or harm.

There was wreckage....but he had no idea where he was, that, and there was flags of both Horde and Alliance...so...perhaps an island of sorts? He muttered something under his breath, placing his scythe back on his back before getting a better look at his surroundings. Suddenly, he had a strange feeling cross his mind. It seemed to tug at it, drawing it towards a certain area. Turning, he noticed a cave near by.

"Well...like there is any 'other' option...." he growled, trudging his way through the sand to get out of the strange wind, and to take shelter with in the cave.

-----------

As Coron moved through the cave, he placed his hand on the wall and let his gloved fingers drag across the wall's surface "There is something about this place...it almost feels..." he stopped, removing his hand and looking at his finger tips, as if seeing if any thing came off the wall and onto his hand "...Eerie...that feeling that one gets they know someone is following...or watching...yet when they look...they see nothing" with that, he looked over his shoulder, and like he had said....he saw nothing.

"I swear...C'mon, Corebutt....don't go crazy on me..." he'd mutter to himself before continuing on. After a few minutes of walking, he heard voices, something about disliking rats? He wasn't sure. He crouched down, approaching silently. The voices seem to speak common, possibly meaning they were Alliance, but he wasn't going to come to conclusions just yet; For all he knows, it could just be a bunch of bandits that took shelter with in the cave.

He neared a wall and pressed himself against it, taking a peek around the corner enough to get a glimpse of who it was that was speaking. There were a few humans, and a few Kaldorei as well, perfect, at least he knew they weren't dangerous. Removing his hand from his scythe, he rose and walked into few of the group "Seems like you're all cozy, don't mind if I join you?" he'd say as he slowly, and cautiously, approached the group "Coron Moonblade, Druid of the Talon, Alchemist....and Assassin, per say. I don't mean any harm...just not sure where the hell I am" With that, he waited, his fingers twitched, ready to draw his scythe at a moments notice.

Krystala

Darkness....

Shadow....

"Feel the embrace of the Shadows, child. It can protect you, comfort you, and show you many things. While doing so, it can also destroy, torment, and eliminate your enemies with ease. Let it was over you, let it be a part of you, let it share it's wisdom with you....once you master these things, you will be a force to be reckoned with......."

The words of memory faded as two shimmering jade green eyes opened to the sound of voices near by. Krystala Dawnshadow leaned against the wall of the cave system she had found earlier, though she was much older than the time of which the memory spoke from, she looked just as young as that day....they day she began her training to become a Shadow user, and a good one at that.

"Now what other poor souls have found their way into this cave?...." she'd whisper, slowly rising from her spot to and reaching down to pick up her katana. Even though it was pretty dark, she seemed to find the blade with ease as she picked it up and threw the strap around her shoulder. Making sure it was secure, she walked onwards and towards the voices that she heard from near by.

((1/2))

"You can't be serious"

These were the thoughts of Krystala as she peeped around the corner, noticing a group that she was quite familiar with.

The Rising Sun Fellowship.

"What are they doing here?! What are their motives?! I can't believe this!" she thought with anger, her small fists clenching. How she knew them was pretty obvious; she had corrupted a mage known as Aseria Sunblade, turning her into her...'puppet' and slowly driving her more insane that she already was. She used the mage to cause all sorts of havoc amongst the Fellowship, and it was quite fun.

It was only a months later, she was driven out from the Mage's head thanks to the works of Kel'tira, some rogue, and the Spirit of Aseria's older sister, Lia. She let out a low growl, fading back into the shadows and kneeling down as she thought how to approach the situation with the most care. She couldn't just walk up to them and expect a good greeting, no matter the situation they were in. No, she'd have to approach slowly, work her way into a comfortable position. It was like being a leech; finding a target, latch on, slowly work your way to a good spot, suck the blood. Then once you're finish, let go and move on.

Silently, she stood and walked half into view, her long locks of hair covering one of her eyes while the other one glowed from the shadows that were cast upon it. Half of her body would be in view, the other half not. When she was sure she caught their attention, she spoke, her child like voice would ring through their ears, sounding harmless, innocent "Well...fancy seeing you here, Kel'tira Sunblaze....tell me, how is Aseria doing? I haven't spoken to her in quite a while, I'm quite interested in what she is doing with her life now....as for why you might be here, probably the same reason I am; Looking for something, or was washed up randomly on the strange beach, either way.....I'm sure you remember me; Krystala Dawnshadow, the Elven Witch" a wide and insane grin would spread across her face, but only half of it would be in view while the other half; hidden in shadow.

The Caves

Rocks showered down on the people in the caves, mostly missing them, but many more would fall over the entrances, entombing the groups in the caves.

Dust. Rocks. Sand.

The air was full of chaos and noise as the caverns seemed to close mouths over the Horde and Alliance respectively.

When the dust settled, the darkness set in.

Cold, impersonal, and strangely terrifying, it was as if the people could see, hear, and smell their worst nightmares on the edges of their vision.

The caverns echoed with silence.

It pressed down, and the flames that had danced between the two parties died as if smothered by the darkened stillness.

Light.

Not bright, not healthy, but slowly the shimmering glow of the walls took sway, producing just enough light for the groups to see one another, but nowhere near enough for the nightmares to dance away from their minds.

Nightmares.

Allaynna Kidrain

The death knight cried out as the earth shook. Stones tumbling down from the ceiling caught her in numerous places, and as the darkness fell, she closed her eyes, blocking out the cries of the dead, her dead.

When the glowing stones illuminated her enough, she called out softly, the names of the others in the group, and Coron, if that was who she had really seen just before the collapse.

Kel'tira Sunblaze

Kel opened her mouth to speak and was cut off as the ground rushed up to meet her, and then the rocks fell.

Sand and dust filled her mouth as she struggled to turn over, only to be met with a sharp pain as a stone clattered off her back. A bruise tomorrow, likely, if she lived to see tomorrow.

When the earth stilled again, the paladin wove her way unsteadily to her feet, groaning, calling the first name that came to mind, "Cy!"

"Can... anyone hear me?"

Adrian seemed to be in another trance. Sitting near the fire, the voices of the others seemed muffled in his mind.

A rock falling.

He snapped out of it, thinking he may have heard something, his hand was on his pistol.

Another. More of them.

He rolled onto his feet, grabbing his rifle and pushing the others behind him as he maneuvered to face the back of the cave, his rifle pressed tightly into his shoulder, ready for any combatants.

Rocks were falling more and more, mostly missing but he was being pelted with small ones. The entrance was covered and the fire died out. All he could hear was his steady, methodical breathing.

The caves began to... glow. Some sort of ambient light seemed to be taking effect, the impending feeling of fear and nightmare hadn't left, yet seemed to grow stronger. Someone spoke, his finger twitched for his trigger. It was Allaynna.

"I'm up. Adrian, is, I mean. I can't see far but I've got security on the maw of the cave." he said. "I... I might push forward a bit... make sure we're still secured." he added. He lifted his goggles over his eyes and applied the low-light setting. The ambient light was still weak, so it didn't improve much, but it was a start. He looked back and still having his weapon pointed down the cave, put his hand on each person's shoulder and squeezed tightly, but slowly to make sure they were still up, "Squeeze back so I know you're conscious." he said.

There was another?

"Did we suddenly have someone join us?" he asked. He hadn't heard anyone speak after spacing out until the rocks began to fall.

Lyrilia's hand snapped back from Kel's pack. Voices. One somewhat familiar, the other strange. Kreindis, and some mage who appeared to be rather upset. The warrior snorted. She had every right to be upset in this strange place, wherever they were. Turning to look at Kreindis again, who had moved towards Tislina, she eyed the food he had hungrily. Kel had spoken of food in her pack....but there were too many people awake now for her to want to eat it.

Turning her nose up at Kels pack, she moved over to the wall again next to her weapons. A sharp pain in the top of her head, the small pattering of...rocks? Falling to the floor.

She felt the cave shaking around her, lowering herself slowly to the floor, the dust filled her mouth, rocks bouncing all around her. Then, nothing. Silence, darkness. The fire had been smothered, the others virtually dissapeared in the darkness. Her weapons! where had they gone?

Leaning over, she felt the ground, the small rocks dotting the soft sand. A glint of metal caught her eye in the eerie light. Light? Sitting up straight, she eyed the cave, stiffened with fear. Fear, she could almost smell it. Reaching for her weapons, she pulled them closer, clearing her throat. Was that Kel she just heard? Her ears still rang from the noise of the rocks. Or was it something else she was hearing?

"Is anyone there? What just happened?"

Ceyara was about to say something when Reyara took back over. "Ugh did you get any sleep?" She thought."

"Unlike you I was being productive. Besides I couldn't sleep here... something about this place sets me on edge." She responded. Reyara stood to her feet at the sound of another of her kind, a druid by the looks of him. "Coron." She said. Unlike the other of her kind here, this druid actually looked competent. At the moment anyway. She was about to say hello, then the ceiling came down upon them. Rocks rained down and the entrance was blocked entirely. Thankfully she was still alive and unharmed.

Then there was a form of ambient light showing. "What in Elune's name?" She said. She could almost feel the pressure on her vision. Like something was moving in the darkness besides the others of the group.

John was pelted right in the head with a small rock, disrupting his focus from his puzzle and looking up to the ceiling. Small rocks were falling from the ceiling and there was a loud crash coming from the entrance of the cavern. The cave must have been collapsing! Or at least near the entrance… John dropped his puzzle in his satchel and quickly got up. As soon as he did, he felt Adrian squeeze his shoulder and obliged by squeezing back.

John had lit up his hand once more, lighting up the cave with the intense glow of the fire "What's happening? The cave isn't collapsing, is it?" He looked around and gradually, the cave would begin to light up with a dim glow, but for some reason… even though that the cave was no longer pitch black, there was still a sense of that impending terror. John made note of all the people around him, noticing a new person had joined the group, an elf. Curious as to how he got here, he made sure not to think about it too much. Now wasn't the time. Now was the time to find out what was going on.

"Were going further into the cave? Figures. Oh look, a dark spooky cave with glowing rocks. Let's go play in it." He shrugged to himself. "Well, I suppose we've got no other choice. I'll follow behind you, Adrian, if your going to check out the caves security. Give you some light and maybe a bit of firepower. Literally!" He nodded with a smirk as he stuck close to Adrian. Something about this cave was… ominous

Allaynna Kidrain

Allaynna rose to her feet once more, she had curled into a fetal position when a wave of nausea and border-line pain overtook her, her hands clenched around her head. They had been speaking to her.

Pleading.

Begging.

"Free us..."

The sound was so real for the death knight, she cursed; a stream of soldier's language picked up in the army, and simply never forgotten. Of course, the voices were only in her head, but that was no comfort.

Imagination became a vivid thing when you had forever stretching ahead of you.

Struggling to focus on the matter at hand, the death knight spoke softly, "We should keep together," her voice trailed off as she pressed a hand against the stones covering what she knew was the entrance of the cave.

"Adrian... That is not the mouth of the cavern. That's the back. Where there was a wall before."

Another stream of colorful language fell from her lips.

"And there's nowhere to go but deeper in."

As the rocks began to fall, I sprang into action, and moved over to protect Tis from the falling debris. I threw myself over her and arched my back and legs to prevent any of the rocks from hitting her. I caught a few on my shoulders and a good sized one hit across my lower back.

As the falling sand and rocks stopped I tried to move so the dust, sand, and rocks fell to the side of the mageling. I could only hope she was still conscious and alright. I felt a twinge in my back as I tried to stand. "Tis? You okay?"

"Kel? Lyri? Anyone? Are you alright?" I coughed a bit as the dust fell into my face and and caused me to sneeze. I tried to focus at where everyone might be, but I had a hard time focusing in the faint light.

Faint light? What the...?

Adrian froze at Allaynna's words. His rifle lowered slightly as he tried to think, and gain his bearing. He looked around, all the group was cognizant and up, and they had a new member. A Night Elf.

He cursed loudly at their current predicament. Several times. "Ok... well a wall can't just... appear. Right? It's a cave. I felt the wall. It was solid. I probably fractured a bone in my hand from hitting it." he explained. He shook his head angrily and walked to his gear, his rifle still training in the direction of the cave where the wall once was. He set his rifle down and had his pistol pointed down instead, lifting his plate vest and dropping it over his head, securing the straps. He lowered his revolver just long enough to put on his belt and got his rifle back.

He moved back to the front of the group and thought about what was going on. Voices were in his head, and he had a throbbing headache. He pressed his palm against his eyes and tried to get his thoughts straight.

"This might just be the idiot in me, but maybe checking ahead we can find a way out... but we should stick together, so I won't go if everyone else doesn't want to." he said. He turned towards the group, but glanced down the throat of the cave every few moments.

Tislina Dawnrunner

Tislina coughed and her face was briefly illuminated by her own fire before it went out. "I'm fine. Thanks for saving my life Cy." She glanced around hoping for some sign if the others. Sge sneezed as her eyes registers faint light. "What?" She mumbled in confusion.

Alanna Starsinger

Alanna blinked slowly, not entirely panicked by the cave in. She had been in them before. But now the cave seemed to go further back. And she thought she heard voices in her mind. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Aye. If the only way to go is back, then I vote we go deeper. But we must stick together."

Kel'tira Sunblaze

The paladin rose, moving to touch Cyaer, Lyrilia, and Tislina's shoulders lightly, aiming to gather those she knew were alright, and then softly called the others' names, purposely excluding Krystala, as she had no desire to confront the woman again, not after what had happened before. Some things just cannot be forgotten.

Some things should never happen.

Krystala, in Kel's opinion, was one of those. Or rather the cause of a number of those, and so the paladin stood in the cave, her form glowing warmly with Light, and stared at where the entrance had been, then faced the path that had opened deeper into the caves. The dimness refused to lift more than a few feet out from her form, and the whispers she heard tugging on the edge of her consciousness bothered her more than slightly.

Shaking the nagging dreads and nameless fears off, Kel spoke softly, a battle-pitch that carried even if the volume was relatively low, "The entrance is blocked off, if you can hear me, say something. Cyaer, Lyrilia, Tislina, stay still. Tis, see if you can do anything to get more light?"

Allaynna Kidrain

"Yes, it's a cave... And if we are lucky, there is some other way out..." The death knight gouged at the caved in entrance with her boot for a moment, "There's no getting out this way."

Thinking hard, the death knight commenced pacing in a small circle, her hands gripping her sword hilt, "So, we go deeper... we stay together... We need light."

With that said, Allaynna kicked a stone, and then winced as it gave under her foot, and then hissed. Whatever it was died swiftly for, more as a reflex than anything else, the death knight buried her sword in it. Upon closer inspection, the creature was nothing more than a badger, and the death knight glared at it, clearly tense.

John nodded as Allaynna asked for light, moving himself up to the front of the pack. Once there, he lit up his hand with a ball of fire and the cave lit up around them from the blazing light. "Alright… well, let's try and find an alternate way out, yes? Cave is getting a little cold… and creepy. Not the best combo."

Perhaps there was a shift in the earth, causing the collapse of the cave? Maybe it was just that and it was all in John's head? But there was also the fact that the others had felt what he had been feeling. A slight sense of fear.

John practically jumped when Allaynna had stomped on the creature, killing it. "Pleasant…" He mumbled, continuing down the cave and lighting the area around them. He was a bit on edge, but then again, who wasn't? With a slight shiver, John continued down the cave, lighting it up with his hand. "Oh, the suspense is killing me…" He mumbled.

Arthien had entered the cave moving towards the back, she had hoped to meditate so if she would be stuck with this group, she'd be in a relatively decent mood, the cave had other plans it seemed. Once everyone was inside, and without warning rock fell down around them, mostly missing them but sealing them in in the process.

Arthien coughed as the dust stirred around her, as she regained her breath she formed a small flame on her hand, enough to cast faint light around her, "Well that cave in complicates things, there is defiantly something strange about this cave, you know what I'm talking about, first our portal disrupts and we end up here, then once we take shelter in this cave, the only notable form of shelter, it randomly seals us in, there's something unnatural about it." Arthien turned to see Cana again, seemingly unhindered by the darkness, and her clothes lacked the dust permeating the air "There is no 'we' Cana." she muttered keeping her voice low so that, if there was anyone else that survived, they wouldn't hear her. Cana chuckled "Keep thinking that Ari."

Arthien heard one of the others call out,

The entrance is blocked off, if you can hear me, say something.

"I am here." she said keeping her voice rather low "What shall we do about getting out of this cave?" despite her agitation she kept her voice civil and calm.

Coron

Coron opened his mouth to say something until he heard a rumble above him. Looking up, he saw that the rocks where about to give way, and he was standing right under it. "By Elune..." he'd mutter, running forward, disregarding everything else just so he could get out of the way. He even JUMPED AND ROLLED to dodge the falling rocks. He ended up, flat on his !@#$, near Ally some how.

As he got up, he quietly swore "Well, some entrance, as soon as I find a group of people, the rocks fall..just frigin.." he dusted himself off "Just frign brilliant...". It was only when Ally had killed some badger, that the string of curses stopped, and his attention snapped up towards the woman, obviously alert and wary after the 'near death experience'. "Light, huh?..." he'd mutter, reaching into his waist pouch and pulling out a potion, which he'd push the cork down more firmly and cause two chemicals inside to mix.

This potion began to glow a bright green, illuminating anything else in case the Paladin strayed to far ahead with the light orb "You're not the only one, human.....every since I arrived at this cave...the feeling that you are being watched by something is pretty obvious....kinda makes the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end...so where to, Miss Death Knight?" he'd asked Ally, not being sure of her name yet, seeing as he wasn't given any before the rocks fell.

Krystala

"Greeeaaatttt....." Thought Krystala as she watched the rocks fall towards her. However, as they fell, she didn't move, not an inch, she let the rocks fall right on top of her, and what seemed to have crushed her. When the rocks and dust had settled, wisps of black and purple smoke would pour from the cracks in between the rocks, slowly swirling around in one spot.

As it span, Krystala slowly began to retake her form. It was obvious that she had dispersed into pure Shadow before the rocks really had much of a chance to crush her small body. When she was finished reforming, she tilted her head side to side and stretched "Ya know..." she began, raising her arms above her head in another stretch "...I would say 'ow'...but then again...the only things that were hurt were my feelings, when you took my puppet away from me"

The Witch would smirk smugly at Kel, but other than that, it'd fade quickly to a straight and hard line "I don't want to be here any more than you do, Kel'tira, specially with the likes of you and the rest of the Fellowship here. But it seems Fate likes to play the cruel hand on both you and me and stuck us together...and while I dislike it with every fiber in my being...it seems it is something we cannot escape...at least...until we find out what is up with these caves.."

She tilted her head, closing her eyes and raising her hand to an ear "Can't you hear them?...the voices?...something is here...this cave, it doesn't seem normal...there is something strange about it" she lowered her hand, opening her eyes to look at the woman again "Then again, usually I would be the one who'd like such please and crys, however, I don't have the luxury to enjoy them...so how about for now we come to a truce, hhhmmm?" She didn't offer the woman a hand to shake, Krystala knew all but to well that the woman in front of her would rather have her head on a spike than be an ally.

Adrian patted the Mage on the shoulder after producing the flame for light, as well as their new arriving comrade. "Hold on," he said to the group. He walked to the pile of rubble that once was the entrance to the cave and pressed his hands on it. Beating it gently with his fists and feet, testing the density, he sighed and let out a string of curses under his breath.

"Damn IT!" he ended with, over exaggerating his arm movements. "The rubble is too thick for my explosives to make much of a difference," he said. He lifted his rifle and moved to the front of the group again. "John, stick close behind when we start moving. Just hold your light high up." the Marksman said. "I'll take point, but just be ready everyone. Once everyone is ready we can start."

Dropping to a knee for a moment, he dug into his bag and produced several grenades and breaching charges, attaching them to his belt and vest, the last thing he pulled out was a roll of detonation cord and put it on a hook on his belt. Checking to ensure he had adequate medical supplies still, he threw the bag over his shoulder and readied his rifle.

Allaynna Kidrain

The death knight rose to her feet, starting down the cave alongside Adrian. Her sword drawn, she found she could really see fairly well as her eyes adjusted to the low light, and the cave was not unpleasant all in all. Not too moist, the ground was sandy for now, and aside from the glowing stone, it was unremarkable.

The death knight pondered this strange phenomenon as she walked with a measured stride, things darting on the edges of her vision. Once in a while, she would catch sight of something that would, and did, make the dead woman shiver.

The death knight stopped suddenly as she came to a sharp, sheer cliff.

"Watch out," she called back, staring into the abyss, and then along the ledge that continued, "This could be trouble."

((I'll get Kel's up tomorrow))

Adrian walked silently in front of Allaynna, his weapon up and held tightly. He was chewing his lip, focusing on the tunnel in front of them. His vision was better now, being used to the dark. All he heard were the group's footsteps, and his slow methodical breathing.

His eyes darted from side to side, up and down, watching every way for avenues of approach.

A shadow darted from the corner of his eye.

Turning fast, he squeezed the trigger twice in succession. The rifle roared and ripped the air. The sound painfully echoing off the walls. Moving closer, nothing was there. Nothing was there. His ears were ringing from the deafening staccato of his rifle.

"I'm sorry about that," he said meekly. He didn't normally make mistakes like that, but something about this cave put him on edge. He hoped he didn't damage anyone else's hearing. Be it temporary or permanent. Moving forward a bit more, Allaynna said something. He turned to ask her to repeat what she said, but his foot slipped down a cliff face. He fell down, sliding off.

Rolling and burying his fingers into the ground, he stopped himself from falling right as his hips moved over the edge. He took a second to catch his breath, as the scare made him stop breathing momentarily. He sighed and after a few attempts, swung his leg over and rolled back on to the ledge, remaining on his back with his eyes shut, trying to collect himself.

Kel'tira Sunblaze

Calmly, the paladin gathered the group with a wave of her hand, ignoring Krystala pointedly, "I do not wish to sit here longer than we must. We walk, now, alright? There is only one way to go. I will lead."

She glanced around the group, drawing her mace and shield, both of which glowed with holy Light, "Stay close."

With that said, Kel set off down the tunnel, her footsteps careful, her eyes peering intently through the darkness, searching for some sign of... something. The ghosts that flitted on the edge of her vision haunted her, past mistakes, friends calling after her for vengeance...

Shaking it off, she continued walking, struggling to focus on the path she was treading. Sandy floors gave way to stone, her plated boots echoing off of the walls and floor, drowning out the cries of the damned.

She stopped suddenly, raising her hand to the others, "Careful! There is a cliff here!"

Sending up a burst of light, again failing to illuminate much more than the ten or so yards closest to her, she cursed loud and long, falling to her knees to reach for the rope secured to a stone spur.

A gently tug assured her there was something heavy on the other end, and as she hauled up on the rope, the smell of rotting flesh hit her an instant before the elven body passed the edge of the abyss.

Clenching her teeth, Kel raised a glowing hand, carefully examining the corpse, a distant relation, but one she had known and chosen when she sent people out looking for this place. With a soft prayer, she closed the man's eyes, ripping the Sunblaze badge from his tunic, and examining the lacerations down his chest.

They were deep, and the bloodstains on the corpse attested to the length and breadth of the claws of whatever did this to him.

Beckoning the others over, the paladin rose to her feet, "I do not know what did this, but tread carefully, friends."

After stretching, and twisting, the young rogue looked around, decided that staying close to the mageling might be a good thing for the both of them. He could watch her back, and she could blow up anything the found. Yeah, he liked that idea.

"I'll stay close to you, if you don't mind, Tis. Since Krei isn't here to protect you, allow me to fill in for him, and I'll let you blow up anything that we find, okay?" His voice was light and carefree.

He kept turning his head as they moved down through the cavern. He swore he could see furtive movement just out of his vision, but try as he might, he saw nothing there when he glanced in the direction.

"I'll be happy when we get out this dark dismal place, it gives me the creeps." He whispered it softly, but it sounded like a shout in his own ears. 'What the hell?'