Private The Cave-In

[Marcus Dinn]

It happened suddenly. One minute, Marcus was with a small group of acolytes following a Master into a recently unearthed tomb in the Valley of the Dark Lords. They were each equipped with flashlights. Marcus swept his flashlight's beam over strange statues, stone reliefs and painted frescoes depicting scenes from a dead Sith's life. The Force closed in over his sight, eager to show him what it all meant...

The ground began to shake. He heard the cries and exclamations of his peers, but only distantly. The visions had overtaken him, distracting him from the panic until it was too late.

His danger sense flared in warning at the last moment. He barely avoided getting crushed beneath a falling pillar. The ceiling crumbled as part of the tomb suffered a cave-in, collapsing around them. Marcus braced himself with the Force, preparing for the worst.

When the dust settled, he was lying on his back. He coughed and wiped at the dust in his eyes. There was no sign of the Master or his fellow acolytes. He tried to turn on his flashlight, but it was broken, leaving him alone in the dark...

Saahar​

 

[Saahar]

A sputtering cough would break the silence a moment later, revealing that Marcus was not, in fact, alone.

"Fething feth." Disoriented and blinded, Saahar staggered to her feet, nursing the side of her body which had slammed against the ground. It took a prolonged minute for the nausea to subside, but when it did (and the reality of what exactly had happened set in) Saahar froze.

Well chit. This was not how she saw today going.

"Anyone there?" She called out, scanning the surrounding darkness as if that would do anything to help.

Marcus Dinn

 

[Marcus Dinn]

"Anyone there?"

“Yeah,” Marcus replied, activating his lightsaber. Blue light filled his little area, revealing the debris all around him. The damage didn’t look that bad from his end. Problem was, most of it had fallen over the exit, preventing him from simply walking out of there. “Who’s asking?”

He could sense his peers who had managed to escape moving rapidly away from him, their presences growing more and more distant. Of course they would save their skins and leave them to die. Two dead acolytes meant two less competitors.

“They’re leaving,” he said. “The others. It’s just us.”

Saahar​

 

[Saahar]

"It's Saahar." In time with Marcus, she activated her lightsaber, a faint red illuminating the stretch of ground before her. From what she could make out her companion had quite the silhouette. Tall and wide. Taller than her for that matter.

That certainly narrowed it down.

"Marcus isn't it?" She asked, assessing their situation all the same. There was no apparent exit to be seen. Not by the combined strength of their impromptu flashlights. Dammit.

They both came to the same conclusion rather quickly.

"Of course." She remarked with a bubble of exasperation, "Guess we shouldn't be expecting a rescue party any time soon." With a frown the girl held her lightsaber overhead, gauging how far the light would extend. "You wouldn't happen to know how deep down we are would you?"

Maybe their tour guide had dropped that piece of trivia along the way, but she certainly hadn't been paying attention.

Marcus Dinn

 

[Marcus Dinn]

Saahar? The only girl in his class who was anywhere close to him in size? He saw her in the glow of her red blade, tall and muscular and dark-eyed. Both acolytes had been liberally sprinkled with red Korriban dust, coating their skin and hair.

She recognized him, too. “In the flesh. It seems we are in something of a pickle here.”

Any concerns he may have had about trusting her were quickly assuaged by his visions. She meant him no harm. Which was good, since they stood a better chance of getting out of this alive if they worked together than if they were at each other’s throats.

"You wouldn't happen to know how deep down we are would you?"

“Approximately two hundred feet deep,” he replied, vacant eyes becoming focused again. “The tomb is four hundred and fifty feet in length, by way of a plummeting passage. We could use the Force to dig our way out, but that might take too long.” They would run out of air, that is. “Or we could try to find another passage.”

Saahar​

 

[Saahar]

"Oh." was her response as he listed off the dimensions. Yeah they had a lot to shovel through.

She suddenly felt grateful that Marcus was the one who she ended up getting trapped with. Not that she knew much about him, but at the very least he seemed interested in cooperating. That is, he hadn't yet taken the opportunity to run her through with a lightsaber and save himself one more competitor.

"Another passage it is." She decided, "Digging would be too unstable. We avoided getting crushed once, let's keep it that way."

Drifting her lightsaber to the side, she caught a glimpse of a small tunnel she was certain wasn't there before. That could only mean good things. Hopefully

Canting her head towards the passage she looked over towards Marcus, "Found one."

Marcus Dinn

 

[Marcus Dinn]

Saahar immediately shot down the idea of digging their way out. Fortunately, she found another passage not long after that.

Marcus opened himself to the Force, examining the tunnel. It was smaller and narrower than the one in which they had entered. It didn’t go down deeper into the earth, but that didn’t necessarily mean it would bring them back up to the surface.

“This may connect to another part of the tomb,” he said. “Or maybe it leads somewhere entirely different…” Glancing back at Saahar, he added, “Be prepared for anything.”

He took the lead, ducking his head as he started through the passage.

Saahar​

 

[Saahar]

"Right.." Voice flat, Saahar heaved a sigh and followed Marcus down. This was very sincerely not how she wanted to be spending her day.

Having to stoop to keep her head from ramming into the tunnel's ceiling the girl fiddled with her lightsaber, thumb dancing over the ignition. A nervous tick disguised as simple eagerness.

"You've been stranded in many caves before?" Saahar shifted, attempting some sort of conversation as she regarded the surrounding stone structures.

Her words were rudely interrupted however by a distant sound of growling.

Marcus Dinn

 

[Marcus Dinn]

"You've been stranded in many caves before?"

“I used to go spelunking back home,” he replied. “But always with other people around to make sure I stayed safe. I preferred to dive in the cenotes, searching for treasures thrown into the water as sacrifices to the Rain God.” Both activities were dangerous, but the peril was part of the fun.

He paused, foreseeing the beast in his visions before it growled. “Three tuk’ata. Think fast.”

A trio of the beasts lunged at the acolytes, their eyes glowing in the dark as they growled and barked ferociously. Marcus’ blade gutted one of them in midair, its corpse falling with a dull thud. Another pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. While he wrestled with the tuk'ata, trying to keep its snapping jaws from his throat, the third came stalking toward Saahar, teeth bared.

Saahar​

 

[Saahar]

Saahar blinked at his response. Seplunking? Rain god?

"Right.." she said carefully, " who doesn't."

Before she could form some witty reply, Marcus interrupted, predicting events just before they unfolded.

Saahar frowned as one of tuk'ata locked in on her, flashing its teeth with a certain blood lust. The girl slipped into a defensive position as her frown deepened. Just another great reason to hate animals…

The beast lunged forward only to be met with a lightsaber through the chest. Saahar doubled down on her efforts and sent the tuk'ata's head rolling to the ground a moment later. It was then she realized Marcus's predicament.

"Oh chit."

Haphazardly pulling on the beast's form with the force, she sent it tumbling to the ground beside him.

Marcus Dinn