Natalie couldn't even scream. She was too scared. She could see her brother and the others disappearing above her as darkness began to envelope her. She could hear rocks clattering around her, echoing through the chamber as she fell deeper into the abyss. Though, what really terrified her was the massive boulder above her that was hurtling downward at a tremendous speed. This was it. This was how she died. Even if the fall didn't kill her, the boulder would. She closed her eyes, bracing for her demise. She felt the wind knocked out of her as pain shot through her body and everything faded away.
"Natalie! Are you there? Natalie?! Natalie, say something!"
The voice sounded distant, coming to her through a pain filled darkness. Her whole body ached, though that might be a good thing. It meant she wasn't dead. The voice echoed around her, as she struggled to get her body to respond.
"Natalie?! Are you okay?"
That voice was different. A woman's voice. Still, it was familiar.
"Natalie! Come on, say anything! Please be okay!"
A third voice another man's voice. She recognized it, but she was having trouble thinking. Her head felt like it was full of cotton. Though, she could tell it was starting to clear.
"I'm... Okay... I think." she managed to say.
She opened her eyes as she tried to survey her surroundings. There was a little bit of light streaming in from what looked like a crack in the ceiling. She could see the boulder suspended above her. Numerous vines were holding it up, though it looked like it was blocking the hole she'd fell through. There were a few more vines on the ground around her. If she had to guess, they probably slowed her fall just enough to save her. And there must have been enough of them to catch the boulder.
Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the dim light as she looked around her landing spot. Her bag with all her supplies was dangling about 5 feet above her, caught on another vine. Though what was more impressive was the room she was in. It was a large room, that looked man-made. The floor was made of a smooth stone, and she could see several large columns supporting massive arches above her. On the far ends of the room she could see a couple of imposing doorways, though one of them looked to have been sealed by a previous rock slide.
"Are you okay, Natalie?" came her brother's voice from above.
"I think so." She yelled, feeling the aching in her body begin to subside, "I was caught by some vines, though I don't think I'll be able to get back out the way I came in."
"Like, you're not kidding. There's, like, no way we're going to be able to move that boulder." came the female voice of her brother's fiance.
"Even if we could, it would probably make the whole structure unstable." called her brother again.
"What do you see?" called her future brother-in-law.
"I think I found the ruins we were looking for. This room is massive. Though it looks like there's only one way for me to go." She could tell her strength was starting to return as she moved about the large room.
"Well, it seems like we're on an upper level of the ruins, though I don't know how we're going to get down to you." Her brother called.
"Well, I can start looking around down here and see if there's a way up deeper in. Though, I'm going to need to figure out how to get my bag first."
"Alright. Just be careful. There's another passage up here, so we're going to follow it and see if it leads down to you."
"Hey, before you go. Remind me what kind of ruins these are." Natalie called up to her brother.
"As far as my research can tell, it's a place where woman would come to become priestesses. There would be several trials they would have to go through before they could be an envoy to the gods. So, just be careful."
"Right, you too."
She sat on stone that had fallen, as she tried to finish recovering. After a few minutes, it grew completely silent from above her. Her ragged breathing seemed to fill the air, echoing around her in the stale air. It was obvious that no one had been hear in a long time, though this wasn't how she'd expected to enter. She still didn't know how the boulder that her rope was tied to had come loose. It was absolutely massive. It was almost like it had been trying to separate her from the others.
She closed her eyes as she focused on her breathing. She'd always been into meditation. It was just something she did when she was scared or angry. She didn't like being out of control of her emotions.
She took another deep breath. She may be separated from the others, but that didn't mean she was trapped. There was still that doorway at the far end of the room. Judging from what her brother said, there was a good possibility that there was another way out. If she was building a temple to put women through trials, she'd have one entrance they came in through, and another at the end that they could pass through when they were deemed worthy.
She could feel her heartbeat slowing as she took another breath. Still, she would need to figure out how to get her bag if she was going to continue deeper into the temple.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and scanned the room for anything that she could use. There were quite a few stones and boulders littering the room from the ceiling above. She could probably stack some and use them as a ladder to get to her bag. Though that would be dangerous if she fell. She could also probably use one of the vines on the ground like a whip to knock the bag loose. That would require quite a bit of dexterity though.
She bit her lip, looking for other options. It looked like one of the vines was looped around the vine that was holding her bag. She could either try to climb it, or use her weight to pull it down so she could reach her bag. Obviously, climbing would be risky if the vine gave way while she was still in the air. Though it wasn't like it was incredibly high. The bag itself had to be no more than ten or eleven feet off the ground.
The last option would be to just go on without the bag, though that was definitely not something she wanted to do. However, she felt she could if there was no other options.
STATS
HP: 10/20
Strength: 8 (Temp 6)
Dexterity: 8 (Temp 5)
Constitution: 6 (Temp 4)
Intelligence: 7 (Temp 5)
Wisdom: 9 (Temp 4)
Charisma: 6 (Temp 5)
Physical Descriptions
Hair: Black Waist-Length
Eyes: Green
Mouth: Normal sized lips, though they are bleeding a little
Chest: Almost flat A-Cup
Belly: Flat and toned, like the rest of your body
Groin: Virgin and tight
Weight: 100 lbs
Height: 5'1"
Body: Your body is lean and toned from being physically active.
Inventory
Nothing
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author