I crawl myself through black holes

@Kove for the "DELVING INTO THE DEPTHS" Quest

<style> .Bane1 {padding: 10px;} .Bane1 p { margin: 20px 80px 10px 80px; font-family: Candara, Calibri, Segoe, "Segoe UI", Optima, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35px;} .Bane1 q {color: #800000; font-weight: bold;} </style>

Let me out! You bastard... You don't have control over me! LET ME OUT! The man woke up sweating in the middle of the night, strung out by the voices that screamed within his head. It's just a dream... He told himself between troubled breaths, and shaking the sweat droplets from his forehead he got up. A walk would clear his mind.

The forest had become a mixture of the darkest shades of night and the purest whites of snow. Still pretty creepy. And the cold of winter made it feel a lot more like hone to the northerner, but he wasn't at peace. Too many things crossed the young warrior's head, starting with the fact that Meldresi was paunchy after just a couple weeks of... Fooling around with Bane. There was no doubt she was pregnant, her scent screamed puppies, and the thought of being a father wasn't a placid one for the pale beast. But why hadn't Meldresi talked about it with him? Were they even his?

The thoughts distracted the young Epsilon from where he was going, and when he came back to the real world he was standing in one of the many entrances of the caves. A creek ran through it, deep into the darkness of it, but besides the rushing sound of the water there was nothing else, silence reigned the night as it always did. Not a helpful thing when you don't want to think.

The snow crunched underfoot with each and every step he took, not caring too much about the obnoxious noise. He hadn't been able to sleep, the silence seeming to be deafening. The cold air ran through his thicker fur, giving the brute a sense of his short life in Alaska. The tale of why he needed to leave wasn't one he delved into often, but with the snow on the ground and the dark forest overhead, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back. The foam, the falling, the madness. Images flashed through his mind, but you'd never be able to tell from the placid expression holding tight to his features and body language. He was glad to have survived the event, and even more so to have come across the pack—despite the fact that some of them seemed a bit off.

More steps, and then silence, entered Kove's ears. Part of him said to simply ignore it and move on, but the more controlling side told him to go towards the sounds direction. Each step taken moved him closer, but when he saw the pale form of his pack mate, he slowed. His name escaped him, having not made sure to memorize it. After a few seconds, the name made itself known, which he was grateful for. He walked forward a few more paces, his coppery orbs looking to the cave entrance. He'd never gone into them, but was still curious of what lurked within their depths.

"Plan on heading in?" Kove inquired, turning his attention back to the other ghostly male.

The voice of an approaching male made the pale bast's ears swivel in surprise. It was Kove, one of the new males. He remembered from the meeting, as well as from the hunt they had successfully carried out not so long ago. I wasn't... Bane barked coming back to reality, But I've got nothing better to do... Have you been in there before?

The caves were Bane's home, he had picked his own corner close to the rendezvous site as his den, and he had walked into the darkness of Mephala's web many times. He knew the way in and out as he knew himself, but exploring a bit further wouldn't do any harm.

The ghostly male's head shook slowly, looking into the cave. From his current standing point, and the lack of light shining down, he couldn't see too far into it, but the steady sound of the creek's movements couldn't evade his ears. With how prominent the sound was in the night's silence, he'd have to be deaf to miss it. "Never even took a step inside of them," Kove voiced. The idea of traveling inside of them piqued his interest slightly, but the risk of losing his way within their depths had well outweighed his desire to check them out. With Bane there, however, perhaps he would be able to? The other had been in the pack much longer than he, leaving the pale lupine to assume he'd traveled into the cave before. The chances of him knowing the twists and turns of the tunnels well seemed to be great, giving Kove no reason to think of leaving without at least a small exploration.

"It'd be interesting to see the insides, further learn of the area." His legs carried him a few paces closer, eyes focused solely on the opening. He couldn't keep the small smile that was slowly forming away, images of what he assumed the inside to be like swirling through every inch of his mind.

It wasn't a surprise to the young Epsilon that the new member hadn't trailed into the caves. It was dark, too much for many, and not knowing your way could be deadly, all of Kove's fears were a reality down there. But to the restless northerner it was just another experience, one that would keep his mind busy.

Then, what are we waiting for? he said with a grin and eyes gleaming with evil. The depths of the caves were a maze, a dark web of tunnels that extended under the whole territory, with many openings scattered throughout the surface, and in the core of it, the deepest secrets of the lands were hidden.

Bane walked forward, just ahead of Kove, he would be the guide today, knowing that as a newbie, the pale beast would get lost for sure. The sound of Bane's paws splashing in the creek echoed through the vault that served as the entrance, which gradually grew smaller as they moved forward.

It didn't take much hesitation before the pale brute was following the other. His paws splashed through the creek after Bane, claws clicking against the occasional stone that decided to rise higher than the others. His bright orbs looked at area he could see, working to try and find any ways to memorize the path they were taking. Each place he looked seemed the same as far as he could tell, leaving the male without a way of knowing where to go if lost. "How do you know where you're going in here?" Kove questioned, eyes trailing back to the form in front of him. The tunnels were sure to be an interesting sight for him, but without learning of how to maneuver through them, he'd be left needing to always follow another around like a lost whelp.

Bane took a glance back at the other male, his eyes wide open trying to take in the last little specks of light that came from the already-dark outside. Maybe it was natural to him, and to many others as well, but it only caused a chuckle to emerge from the pale northerner. It was just too funny.

You're using the wrong sense... Bane pointed out, his voice rebounding from the walls, Common mistake, you can't use your eyes in here. Your nose though... he suggested, a pint of arrogance in his voice. But it was true. The cave wasn't deserted, smelly bats left a trail to follow in and out of the system. Easy to track. Wanna try?

The thought of using his nose to learn the way had never occurred to him, mainly due to not having expected anything to actually live down in the tunnels. Raising his snout up slightly as they walked along, he drew in a breath. Sure enough, something was off, but the scents were unfamiliar to him. Without having ever spent much time in cave systems of any sort, the smell bats and other living things left behind in such places was a mystery to him. Possessing the ability to catch a scent was one thing, but the skill needed to place a name to it was entirely different.

"Which scents in particular are suppose to be helpful?" Kove questioned, head moving once more so it no longer faced up an at angle. The wet Earth produced from the creek was easy to pull from the group of aromas, as was the water. Both could help in leading him from the tunnels if he were to be separated from the other pale lupine, however there was no way for him to know just how deep the water ran. It could lead him all around, farther from or closer to the world above, which to be true, he was unable to guess.

It wasn't strange to Bane that new guy hadn't thought of using his nose prior to his advise. Everyone is just so used to go by their sight that they tend to forget that the entire species doesn't just have an excellent visual capacity, their sense of smell is prodigious as well. Bat dung will do the trick... the northerner joked. But it was true. Although you might be intrigued about how a bat "goes" when they spend most of the time upside down, they do "go" sometimes, and it smells pretty bad.

The creek is very helpful too when you're deeper inside, bats tend to stay close to the surface. The water always finds its way out. the northerner stated, and stopped advancing to let Kove lead the way. He was sure the new guy would do just fine.

Guano. Of course.

They'd entered the web of tunnels through a cave, but somehow the putrid scent of the bat feces evaded his mind. He'd never been use to the smell, nor was there any chance that he would be unless he'd spend more time down in the tunnels. Sniffing at the air, the ghostly male was quick to separate the bats' excretions from the few other smells, but it was stale. They were moving deeper into the tunnels, and on top of that, the bats were probably still out and about. Relying on the bat droppings would only work for a bit longer, and then he knew he'd need to rely more on the creek.

Kove gave the other a glance as he stopped, but still continued forward. He tilted his snout both up and down, sorting through each smell as he continued taking one step after the other. Figuring Bane had more than likely been in the tunnels for long periods of times before, the pale man didn't hesitate to continue forward. He followed along the creek, finding the area to be getting darker, but the sound of the moving water never vanished. It was always there, trickling along with nothing else to do. "How many times have you been in these tunnels?" he decided to ask, not stopping or looking back as he continued walking.

Having given the new member an easy trail to follow, the silver warrior stayed back, following Kove very closely. He still kept his own senses wary, making sure Kove was going in the right direction, but it wasn't because he feared getting lost, it was because he knew that for sure sooner rather than later they would come across a fall, given that the level they were at was much higher than the actual cave system usually was, and to continue moving forward they would have to jump. He didn't warn Kove yet, trying this way to test his abilities, besides.

A couple times... Bane woofed sarcastically. He had been in the caves more times that he could count, his den was in there, his prisoner was in there, and lately, his children were in there.

Once again, Kove found himself looking to the other as he heard his response. He knew not the man well, and yet he still felt that a mere couple of times couldn't possibly be enough for him. Choosing the option of not questioning it to be wiser than getting too curious, the ghostly man kept his maw shut, jaws sticking closely against one another. That is, until the sound of the trickling water changed a bit. It was neither rushing nor dripping, but seemed to be flowing downwards. It was too dark to see when the change in ground level was going to occur, so his senses of sight and smell where momentarily 'shutoff' so he could focus on listening. Listening to the nearing sound of water being pulling lower by gravity, and listening so he would know when to stop. That was what he did, too. After testing the space by acting as if he were going to take another step further, only to stop once his paw went lower than the rest, his head turned so his orbs could adjust and focus on the other light figure.

"What do you want to do here?" Kove inquired, swiveling his ears about as he spoke in order to follow the sounds of the water. It didn't seem to be too far of a drop by how little time it took each drop to reach the liquid below, but he could be wrong. The male always relied too much on his eyesight, leaving him often uncertain in situations that prevented him from seeing. Being in the tunnels, though, was helping him a bit, even if they'd only been in them for a small amount of time.

Bane's predictions became real, unsurprisingly as usual. The sound of rushing water slowly became that of falling water, and by how loud it was, Bane could tell that the fall was a long one. He followed Kove all the way to the fall, and stopped behind him as he did. This part, as the rest of the journey, would be a challenging decision to make, and Bane was eager to see how the new guy reacted to it.

You're the guide! What do you want to do here? Bane said as he placed himself right beside Kove, feeling the edge of the creek. Many times had Bane found himself in the exact same situation, and he knew it could be worrying at first. If you throw yourself down, then how do you come back up? Common mistake. You don't need to come back up, the river flows through the mountains and sooner or later it finds its way out of it. But Mephala's web had its own twist to it all, besides always finding a way out, you would never fail to get to the main chambers of the system, the chambers where glowworms and fluorescent mushrooms, some of them pisonous, broke the obscurity and transformed it into an amazing display of light that had amazed every one who managed to get in.

Are you afraid to jump? he teased, smiling sarcastically in the darkness.

What Kove wanted to do was different from what the whisper in the back of his mind wanted him to do. The man found his old, childish ways slipping through, and he wanted nothing more than to just jump down into the water below. His conscious, on the other hand, the reasonable part of him, wanted to find a different way around. Just like many times before, his cautious side was pushed to the side, making way for the side of his mind that often made foolish decisions. Who knows, maybe the jump would be a fun one. It had certainly been fun back when he'd launched himself into Duck Lack, but, sadly, that adventure had been cute short. Surely, though, this one would not. This time, Kove believed he'd be able to continue on with the adventure, wherever it might lead. He was, apparently, the guide.

"Oh, yes," the ghost answered, his own bit of sarcasm playing in his words. "I'm terrified. Can practically hear my bones rattling from the fear." The sound of the water traveled farther down than he'd first suspected, but surely it was a survivable jump. Thoughts of reason entered his mind once more, and glanced to Bane. "Is the jump survivable?" he inquired, wanting to be sure before making any rash decisions.

Sorry this is so short, I'm trying to catch up on threads and my muse isn't helping at all... :s

Bane chuckled at Kove's words, for some reason and against all the statistics around the matter, Bane had actually found Kove's words funny. Unusual, but true. Unfortunately, for you, there's no way to know... Bane's sarcasm spoke again. He knew the fall would be survivable, he had noticed that the water's constant falling made the rock turn into a pool, and usually it was hard to touch the bottom. They would be okay.

It's fine, there's no need to apologize. c: I understand that muse issue... Perhaps this gif of what I envision Kove looking like as he jumped could help a bit. Most likely won't, but I find it hilarious. You go, little corgi. Follow your dreams of being a professional swimmer.

If Kove had been born a human, he surely would have smacked himself in the face by now. The younger male provided no real insight to the matter, leaving him with nothing else to do but guess. Sure, he considered shoving the other off before him in the hopes that it truly was survivable, but that would reflect badly back on him. Glancing around, he didn't see any other way but down, so that ended up being the only option for him. "Guess I'll have to jump and see then, huh?" Eyeing the space over the ledge gave him no more insight than what he already had, the darkness of the tunnels not allowing him to see too far. Taking a step closer, his muscles started to bunch up. Without saying another word, Kove jumped forward and away from the ledge, not wanting to risk hitting it on the fall down.

The fall didn't last as long as he thought it would, but then again, he had not experience with figuring out how long it would take to reach the bottom of a fall. Jumping off of ledges into darkness was not something he thought he'd ever do, though the jump made him realized that you often did things you'd never have envisioned yourself doing before. When he hit the water below, he was glad to not have been with the feeling of his bones crushing against stones, and swam to where he could stand on the ground. Giving a shake of his coat, Kove's ears perked and waited for the splash of the other. "Might just have to do that again someday," he murmured to himself.

Hahaha that's the cutest of Corgis

Expectantly, Bane pricked his ears up to hear the splash that was sure to come, and making his own mental calculations he decided that the fall was probably the highest he had ever come across in the caverns.

Without waiting another second, Bane threw himself down the waterfall, trying to jump as far from the edge as possible, he didn't want to die from crushing into a rock or something. Suddenly he was fully submerged underwater, and paddling to the surface. For a moment he thought he hadn't caught enough air, but then he came out of the water and took a deep, relaxing breath.

Are you alright pal? the Gamma called, blind to where his buddy might have gone after the fall. For the time being, the silver wolf just doggy-paddled in the opposite direction of the sound of the waterfall, trying to get to a point where he could touch the floor.

"Are you alright pal?" The words had a light echo to them, but Kove ignored that. He'd grown up within a cave, and while he'd never been permitted to travel deeper into it during the exploring stage of puppyhood, he'd still been able to hear the echoes. The fading, repetitive echoes that use to mock him when he was a pup, filling his ears with the distant sounds of his older siblings voices. He opened his maw to call back to the other ghost, knowing there was no point to thinking of past events. They were old happenings, and irrelevant to the current situation. "Yeah, I'm fine," he called out, directing his voice in the direction of the waterfall rather than anywhere else. "How about you?"

Stepping into the water a bit more, allowing it to travel up his legs and close to his chest before stopping, his copper gaze scanned the area. He couldn't see much, of course, but that didn't stop him from giving it another once over. "You reach ground yet?" If he had, then Kove could assume he was close than expected, but if he hadn't, then it'd be a hit or miss on when and where he'd come from.

Bane swam all the way to the ground, trying to get out of the cold water as fast as possible. Yeah, come over here, you've got to see this! he exclaimed after shaking the water from his pelt, and walking forward without even waiting for Kove, Bane doubled in a corner to the right to find himself inside one of the main chambers where the glowworms sparkled.

There was something about those bugs that left Bane open mouthed every time he saw them, they kind-of resembled the open night sky that was so rarely ever sighted inside the pack-lands. Hurry up man! Bane shouted, and waiting for his companion to arrive, Bane started licking his fur to get rid of the excess of water.

There seemed to be no hint of pain to other's voice, making Kove sure the other had fallen just as successfully as he had. He wondered what the other had found that he believed must be seen, so after giving one last shake to his coat, the pale being made his way towards the other. His ears were perked, listening closely to where his voice had come from, following after it. When his voice rang out again, he was glad to hear it, for it assured him that he was moving in the correct direction.

It took only a moment before Kove had reached his companion, and the sight he witnessed when he did was one that was sure to stick to his memory. He'd never seen glowworms before, so witnessing them for the first time in such a deep and dark place made it quite the sight. “Those things are amazing looking,” he commented, copper orbs staring up at the glowing bugs in awe. “These tunnels sure do hold quite a bit up interesting things to them, huh?”

I think we could end this one with one last post from you if you don't mind. :)
I really enjoyed RPing with you, thanks a lot! <3

Bane too was amazed every time he saw the glowing bugs in the caves, he just was quite used to it by now, so Kove's reaction was naturally a bit amusing for the snow warrior. He couldn't help to chuckle silently avoiding being heard by the other wolf.

You don't even know... the silver wolf assured. His words suggested that in fact, Kove sure couldn't imagine the kind of things Bane had had the disgrace to experience within those tunnels, but that's a story for another day.

So... Bane said sharply, probably interrupting Kove's thoughts, Wanna find our way out, cap?

The feeling is mutual. c: Thank you for the thread.

As amazing as the sight was, Bane's words made the wolf realize he could not stay there forever, just gazing up at the glow of the bugs. Heturned his gaze to the space in front of him before saying anything, then gave a slight nod of his head. “Yeah, let's go,” he voiced, turning himself around as he did so to leave the chamber. Stopping outside of it, Kove glanced over his shoulder to give the glowing bugs one last look, wondering of the other chambers where some may reside as well. One day, he planned to travel down into the tunnels again, if only for a small bit of time, so he could get a real feel of the area. Until then, he returned his gaze forward, and after making sure his companion wasn't left behind, moved forward.

The pale wolf recalled the fact that the water always left the web in some way, so he followed along it. There was no real rush, but Kove still moved fast, keeping track of the way the water twisted and turned all about, until they reached the outside world once more. After crossing the threshold of the cave they came out of and walking out into the more open space, the ghost looked over to Bane one last time. “I am glad I hadn't been able to sleep, else I would have missed out on such an awesome thing,” he said, giving a small, crooked smile as he did so. “Thanks for telling me how to navigate those things.” With thosefinal words, Kove turned away and took a few steps away, before stopping and giving a slight word of goodbye. With that finished, he departed from the space and other lupine, knowing already that he would end up investigating those tunnels some more at a later date.