Ignis of Animi
Member
When Ignis came to, her whole body was sore and her head was pounding. A sharp pain in her right leg caught the engineer's attention.
With a groan, she opened her eyes and tried to push herself into a seated position. The movement sent white-hot pain up her leg and straight to her spine. Her ribs throbbed, probably cracked, and her vision swam.
A few curses slipped past her lips, raspy and cracking from the way her throat tightened.
Muscles spasmed in response to the feeling, inciting more pain, making her body twitch and jump a bit like a fish on land. When she finally managed to force herself still, eyes squeezed shut, it continued. Rather than subside, the feeling became familiar, like an old friend. Her eyes opened and were met with the darkness of the pit she'd fallen into. The air was cold, and her fingertips couldn't be felt. Head rolling to one side, the enlil tried to search for her companion, the reason she'd taken the risk that had plunged her into a cavern in the first place.
Sensing her awareness, Amicus began to stir. The shrublike woodland spirit was relatively unharmed thanks to his contractor's body absorbing the blunt of their fall. He tugged at her magical energy while circling the collapsed avian, trying to assess her injuries. Some things, like the broken leg and cracked ribs, he couldn't fix, but the bruising and cuts were doable. He conjured some vines, which wrapped around her leg, sharply tugging it to set the bone in its proper place.
The resulting scream echoed, only cut off by more vines gagging the enlil. The shrub-like creature held up his hands, a bright white light emanating from them. Though unable to truly fix the broken bones, he could limit their effect on his companion. Amicus spent the next several minutes doing his best to put the worst of her injuries into stasis.
Finally, Ignis sagged, some of the pain wracking her body relieved. Her hand lifted, settling heavily on her familiar’s head and ruffling his leaves.
Amicus locked eyes with her, his beady, black eyes boring into her larger brown ones.
“Are you sure?” the enlil rasped.
The mons infans nodded.
They had never done this before, but their options were limited.
The pair blinked at one another.
“This…” Amicus rasped through Ignis’ lips. “This is fine. I’m sure.”
Ignis gently preened at her own headfeathers using her familiar’s twiggy fingers, sending waves of gratefulness to her familiar for taking on her pain.
The two had switched bodies for the time being.
Amicus groaned and laid down while Ignis crafted a platform of branches, vines, and leaves beneath them. The shield floated into the air, fueled by Ignis’ magical energy and Amicus’ special abilities. It curled around them, cocooning the pair, leaving a small window for them to peer out of.
Inhabiting the mons’ infans body was strange and nearly indescribable. She was used to sharing his vision, the two often communicated by sharing what they saw or heard. However, to be a small stump of a creature was far different from merely receiving sensations and emotions from him.
When they reached the height from which they’d fallen before, Ignis and Amicus were dismayed to find that rubble and stone had completely shut off their exit.
The engineer contemplated waiting to see if Aeria and the rest of the expedition team would return for them. Unfortunately, there was no way to know if any of them had escaped.
The woodland spirit agreed; they would need to seek their own way out. At the very least, they would have to find water. In the best of scenarios, the rest of the group was unlikely to find them before dehydration sets in.
With that, the cocoon descended back into the darkness. Not even Ignis’ eyes could pierce the darkness much. Neither of them could see more than a few inches in front of their faces. Once they reached the bottom of the vast pit, Amicus allowed his (Ignis’) eyes to close while the avian clambered off wearing his body. Carefully, the enlil picked through the rubble in search of anything useful. She was able to find bits of wood from splintered torches and broken supports from the ceiling. Snapping Amicus’ twig like fingers, Ignis set one of the wooden fragments alight.
With a few more chunks of broken support beams gathered, Ignis climbed back into the cocoon, willing it to expand so that her makeshift torch wouldn’t burn the whole thing down.
With nothing but their small light illuminating the vast cave system they had fallen into, Ignis and Amicus moved forward. The cave groaned and occasionally the air whistled as it moved through the cavernous area. Ignis shuddered.
They continued floating in the dark fruitlessly, until the first torch was all but burning Amicus’ fingers. Ignis dropped it onto the ground and lit a new one. Behind her, the mons infans made her body emit a groan. The enlil felt rather apologetic, but couldn’t say so aloud.
A faint dripping noise startled the duo as much as it excited them.
“Water,” Amicus rasped.
Ignis nodded. The cave split off into two tunnels, both far too long for them to see the end. They followed the faint sound of water droplets falling. Two torches later, they found a pool of water with stalagmites protruding from it like stony spears. Stacelites hung from the ceiling like long, needle-like teeth, dripping moisture onto the pool below.
Exhausted, the pair settled nearby. Ignis extinguished the torch and both of them were taken by sleep before they could do much else.
[946 words]
With a groan, she opened her eyes and tried to push herself into a seated position. The movement sent white-hot pain up her leg and straight to her spine. Her ribs throbbed, probably cracked, and her vision swam.
A few curses slipped past her lips, raspy and cracking from the way her throat tightened.
Muscles spasmed in response to the feeling, inciting more pain, making her body twitch and jump a bit like a fish on land. When she finally managed to force herself still, eyes squeezed shut, it continued. Rather than subside, the feeling became familiar, like an old friend. Her eyes opened and were met with the darkness of the pit she'd fallen into. The air was cold, and her fingertips couldn't be felt. Head rolling to one side, the enlil tried to search for her companion, the reason she'd taken the risk that had plunged her into a cavern in the first place.
Sensing her awareness, Amicus began to stir. The shrublike woodland spirit was relatively unharmed thanks to his contractor's body absorbing the blunt of their fall. He tugged at her magical energy while circling the collapsed avian, trying to assess her injuries. Some things, like the broken leg and cracked ribs, he couldn't fix, but the bruising and cuts were doable. He conjured some vines, which wrapped around her leg, sharply tugging it to set the bone in its proper place.
The resulting scream echoed, only cut off by more vines gagging the enlil. The shrub-like creature held up his hands, a bright white light emanating from them. Though unable to truly fix the broken bones, he could limit their effect on his companion. Amicus spent the next several minutes doing his best to put the worst of her injuries into stasis.
Finally, Ignis sagged, some of the pain wracking her body relieved. Her hand lifted, settling heavily on her familiar’s head and ruffling his leaves.
Amicus locked eyes with her, his beady, black eyes boring into her larger brown ones.
“Are you sure?” the enlil rasped.
The mons infans nodded.
They had never done this before, but their options were limited.
The pair blinked at one another.
“This…” Amicus rasped through Ignis’ lips. “This is fine. I’m sure.”
Ignis gently preened at her own headfeathers using her familiar’s twiggy fingers, sending waves of gratefulness to her familiar for taking on her pain.
The two had switched bodies for the time being.
Amicus groaned and laid down while Ignis crafted a platform of branches, vines, and leaves beneath them. The shield floated into the air, fueled by Ignis’ magical energy and Amicus’ special abilities. It curled around them, cocooning the pair, leaving a small window for them to peer out of.
Inhabiting the mons’ infans body was strange and nearly indescribable. She was used to sharing his vision, the two often communicated by sharing what they saw or heard. However, to be a small stump of a creature was far different from merely receiving sensations and emotions from him.
When they reached the height from which they’d fallen before, Ignis and Amicus were dismayed to find that rubble and stone had completely shut off their exit.
The engineer contemplated waiting to see if Aeria and the rest of the expedition team would return for them. Unfortunately, there was no way to know if any of them had escaped.
The woodland spirit agreed; they would need to seek their own way out. At the very least, they would have to find water. In the best of scenarios, the rest of the group was unlikely to find them before dehydration sets in.
With that, the cocoon descended back into the darkness. Not even Ignis’ eyes could pierce the darkness much. Neither of them could see more than a few inches in front of their faces. Once they reached the bottom of the vast pit, Amicus allowed his (Ignis’) eyes to close while the avian clambered off wearing his body. Carefully, the enlil picked through the rubble in search of anything useful. She was able to find bits of wood from splintered torches and broken supports from the ceiling. Snapping Amicus’ twig like fingers, Ignis set one of the wooden fragments alight.
With a few more chunks of broken support beams gathered, Ignis climbed back into the cocoon, willing it to expand so that her makeshift torch wouldn’t burn the whole thing down.
With nothing but their small light illuminating the vast cave system they had fallen into, Ignis and Amicus moved forward. The cave groaned and occasionally the air whistled as it moved through the cavernous area. Ignis shuddered.
They continued floating in the dark fruitlessly, until the first torch was all but burning Amicus’ fingers. Ignis dropped it onto the ground and lit a new one. Behind her, the mons infans made her body emit a groan. The enlil felt rather apologetic, but couldn’t say so aloud.
A faint dripping noise startled the duo as much as it excited them.
“Water,” Amicus rasped.
Ignis nodded. The cave split off into two tunnels, both far too long for them to see the end. They followed the faint sound of water droplets falling. Two torches later, they found a pool of water with stalagmites protruding from it like stony spears. Stacelites hung from the ceiling like long, needle-like teeth, dripping moisture onto the pool below.
Exhausted, the pair settled nearby. Ignis extinguished the torch and both of them were taken by sleep before they could do much else.
[946 words]