The Legend of the Labyrinth

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  Pekepeke was too scared to feel any pain when Waiata dragged her into the tunnel. She looked back briefly and was relived to see how small the passage entrance was. From what she had seen of the monster chasing them, it would not be able to fit through.

[Kade Rivok]

Seeing that the friendly bats had found the entrance, he dashed into the passage right after them, his heart pounding in his chest.

"In here!"  He called to the rest behind him, trying to make sure that they would follow.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata finally let go of her sister, finding a perch on the ceiling, breath hard as she struggled to control her racing heartbeat. She'd barely caught a glimpse of the monstrous creature but she'd definitely gotten enough to haunt her nightmares. She did a combination of a yawn and a shudder at the thought. They'd been on the move for at least three days with barely a pause and it had been late afternoon when she'd come across the beasts in the first place. The entire group needed rest, especially after that escapade.

[Booklover]

Breathing heavily, the shrew followed Dantin into the small tunnel. She was exhausted from all that running, but still wanted to get as far in as possible. The monster might not need food, given it would have been in the tunnel for countless seasons, and she doubted there were plants, but they certainly would. They might be safe from it in the tunnel, but their supplies of food would eventually run out.

[The Skarzs]

  Stoneater saw them disappear into a tunnel in the wall, and it grabbed at the last creature to step through. The monster reached its arm in as far as it would go, feeling around for the soft flesh of the topdwellers with a frustrated moan.

[Verdauga]

Brink and Algirdas were pushed several feet forward and onto the ground of the "room" by Ara. Grabbing them by the paws, he dragged them out of the beast's reach. Looking around the dark crevice, he half-smiled and said "That bally creature must'a been blind! Can't he see I'm not bally scoff, wot?" Hesitating for a moment, he continued, in his lower, clipped tone, "Speaking of scoff, we don't have much, do we. Torunis here likely brought his own, and Brink, the Wanderer and I brought ours, but you three," he said, looking at Dantin, Wiata, and Peke, "don't have any such thing... here." With that he took off his pack and held it out to them, gazing at it longingly. "There's plenty o' vittles in there. Help yourself."

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata hesitated, biting her lip as she shifted uncomfortably. Now that he mentioned it, she was rather hungry but it was undoubtedly the only food he had and she'd rather go hungry herself than see other beasts under-nourished. She knew there were several types of mushrooms that grew in the labyrinth before her family arrived there, so it was likely they'd be somewhere around this place too, though finding them in this silent, blank walled maze would be another problem. Close to her home, if there was an underground stream or other water source nearby, the walls would be babbling on about water and drowning and all sorts of things to indicate such. Here it was eerily peaceful, without any dire threats or gruesome descriptions of torture techniques carved into the ancient stone.
Waiata shrugged the matter off, turning her attention back to the offered provision pack as her stomach grumbled, prompting her to accept the generous invitation. She shifted on her perch, winced as her lip biting went too far and drew breath to accept, then hesitated.
"You haven't eaten anything either."

[Verdauga]

Ara shrugged l managed a half-smile. "There isn't enough food in this Labyrinth ta feed me, dearie. Without Dantin there we wouldn't be here, and without you and your bonny sister, Algirdas and I would still be in that pit." He pushed the pack forward. "Go on; take some. I'll eat what's left, if it'll put your mind at ease."


OOC:Employee appreciation day here at the maze corp.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata gave Ara a grateful smile and took the ration pack.
"Well, I you put it like that... thank you. Pekepeke and Dantin, you have something to eat first."

[Kade Rivok]

Having made it to a safe spot, Dantin's nerves started calming down, which had the opposite effect on his demeanor.  He lost the cold calmness that the panic had brought on and returned to his usual self.  As Ara, and then Waiata, offered him food, he shook his head and sat down with a thump, his unsteady paws giving out midway.

"N- no, that's ok.  I've, uh... got a b- bit of food on me."

He pulled a small pouch from the back of his belt, hidden under his cloak, and retrieved a dried damson from it.  He held it out to show the group, but his shaking paw was unable to properly hold the wrinkled fruit and it fell to the ground.  Dantin looked at the damson, and then at himself, only now noticing the fact that he was trembling.  Grabbing the edges of his cloak, he pulled it tightly about himself and huddled against the wall as the fear from their predicament finally set in.  There was no way he would be able to eat at the moment.

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  Like the mouse, Pekepeke's stomach constricted at the thought of food; she was simply too scared to eat. But she knew that Waiata would not even taste anything until she did. In procrastination she picked up the strange shriveled ball on the ground and held it out to Dantin.
  "Excuse me, but you dropped this, dropped this."

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata dug in the pack and pulled out a chunk of what looked to be a type of flat bread, well hardened by time. She held it out to her sister, her eyes determined and reflecting the stubborn light of strong, filial love.
"Here, eat this, Pek."

[Kade Rivok]

Dantin nervously shook his head at Pekepeke.  "N- n- no, you, uh... you can have it...." 

His gut churned as he huddled inside his cloak.  Once more the walls seemed to draw closer, intent on crushing him, and the mouse closed his eyes, trying to hid his terror.  He knew he needed to calm down, but his quickly beating heart wouldn't let him.  He'd never been so close to death, able to see it literally chasing him, and his mind was having a hard time coping.

[Verdauga]

Ara clapped his paw on the mouse's shoulder and hauled him up to his feet. "Here me chap; eat. You can't outrun anything if you're dyin' o' starvation, wot?"

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  Pekepeke took the bread Waita offered and held it in her teeth while she inspected the thing Dantin had given her. She removed the bread from her mouth and nibbled it cautiously. It was quite tasty, she thought, and tested the bread as well. It was also good. She pocketed the bread and continued eating the dried damson.