SoS B1 C3 X4: Glowing Fruit
Ulysses got off the bike and started double checking his gear. "Well it can’t smell any worse than what they use to serve us in the Army. There’s a reason they’re called survival rations. It's rather eat those or die."
Laemon followed Allarah to the point she'd indicated. He peered up into the darkness, made a few choice faces of consideration, and handed her a flashlight from his pocket.
"Point it out?"
He scaled the stone face carefully, hands seeking hold on the slick rock, nose furrowed against the stench. He grumbled something about being glad he had brought gloves.
Two, three minutes passed, and a rope fell. "Come on up. Try to kill your sense of smell if you can." The Cliffside is steep and slick, but easy enough to scale. Laemon lent the two a hand as they get to the top of the rope, then pulled it back up."If we're not back in an hour or two... we might be dead," he called down. He then beckoned to Allarah. "After you." Her magic had been accurate after all.
The tunnel bored into the Cliffside. A quick flick of the flashlight showed that it transitioned from natural to hewn, and quickly. They could hear water rushing in the distance.
Allarah stepped ahead of them and began walking at a quick pace. She didn't like how dark the tunnels were, or how close the walls seemed. It was all too familiar for her. She just wanted to run as she had before. She shook her head and dispelled the memory. "I hope we don't get lost." She looked around for any ladders, something that would lead up and out. Maybe signs that pointed the way to the surface, though she didn't think she would be that lucky.
The low roof of the tunnel quickly proved damning to Allarah and Ulysses, who had to tilt pretty severely so that their heads wouldn't scrape the damp roof. Trickles of water ran along the ground and between their boots, filing in from spouts on the wall and floor and roof, and from corollary paths which they quickly learned lead to nowhere. Allarah caught scent of something surprisingly pleasant in its fragrance, and a glow in the distance down the hall.
"Here's hoping we find some turtles and a rat." Ulysses said as he followed Allarah into the tunnel.
"Well, that's odd. I don't like it." She grabbed the pen from her pocket and continued forward. "Be ready." She approached it cautiously, ready to lash out with her magic at a moment's notice. Allarah cast out with her divination then picked up the pace once more. "Looks like fruit. This is a weird place for fruit to grow. Especially glowing fruit. What do you guys think?"
"There's enough weird shit on this planet to be messing with glowing fruit. Let's leave the glowing fruit alone and not end up in another B rated horror movie."
"Sorry to disappoint, but I never had time for fictional movies in my youth Ulysses. Documentaries were fun though."
Laemon shrugged. "Might be something, might be nothing. Suppose energy cells would glow and be fruity?"
Ulysses looked over to Laemon and sarcastically said, "Yes, energy cells are fruit, we can all go home."
"Not before we gather some," He responded dryly.
Allarah pulled her pen in half and tucked one end into her pocket revealing a short, thin blade. "How about I cut one or two off for further examination?" She entered the side-room with the fruits and saw them growing on vines covering the wall. Their roots settled down into a septic pit below, and from the fruit's surface, in pores in the meat, water flowed.
"On the other hand, we should probably leave these here and get moving." Allarah turned back down the hall and continued, not bothering to sheath her knife. She stopped for a moment and looked back. "Unless either of you think they are important for some reason. As far as I can see, they're part of the filtration system. We could carry them for light and olfactory protection I suppose. You just really shouldn't eat them."
Laemon knelt down, cut a couple of the fruit from the vine and set them in a pocket in his bag. "Never know what's worth what," he said.
Ulysses cut one of the orbs for himself and used it as a lantern. "At least we know they don't blow up." Ulysses started to head down the tunnel.
"Ulysses, if you don't crush it by the time we get back, I want to dissect that fruit and have a nice long look at the innards." Allarah looked at Ulysses and Laemon. "I'm gonna flick the flashlight off for a second. Do me a favor and hold up the fruit so I can see how much light they cast."
Laemon held up his. it's blue glow just barely touched the walls on either side of them. Not enough to guide by, but plenty enough to be caught by
Allarah glanced at the flashlight in her hand. It was far more conspicuous than the fruit. She flicked the light back on and continued down the hall at a quick pace. "Thanks. Let’s get those energy cells now."
The halls quickly gave way to winding paths half cave and half hall. Branches were frequent, and while some were walled off to corral people along the proper path, others invited the party down with the sounds of ailing machinations, water flows, or echoes of conversation.
In short, they were lost.
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