In this cave it was dark enough that even Katsa could not see, but she did not feel worried or lost even when her fingertips lost the edges of stone walls while she struggled to find her way again. She knew when she was heading straight and when she was going in circles, so the flint in the pocket of her trousers went untouched. There was no need to waste a light while she didn't need it, and for now at least the walls always came back. Katsa heard nothing moving in the dark.
She'd entered it out of curiosity, having stumbled across the mouth of the small caves while avoiding the kingsroad through whatever off-road ways she could follow. She'd heard water trickling behind what seemed to be the back of the cave and had followed the noise—that she continued to hear now, far in—and wondered what was behind them. It seemed to be a road of its own underneath the ground. Tunnels, perhaps, either natural or manmade, that the longer she followed made her begin to suspect she would find herself on the other side of the Trident. After that Katsa simply couldn't help but wonder if her suspicions were correct, and so she found herself below.
She had been walking not even an hour when she began to notice the blackness giving way to grey, shapes making themselves unfocused but visible in her Graceling vision. Katsa squinted, then paused, drawing to a halt as the sound of water seemed to increase.
She was not alone in these caves.
They were near the surface: that much was clear. And what was just as clear, seconds before it happened, was that the roar of water should not have been growing loud at all. Katsa's body moved before her mind did, her feet sending her flying forwards, barreling toward a single moving shape she could discern in the darkness, into which she slammed only moments before rock came tumbling around them.
The many tunnels used by the Brotherhood had a way of winding and twisting about in one vast and confusing labyrinth beneath the earth. There was a time that Gendry could have navigated the streets of Fleabottom with his eyes closed, but he was not nearly so familiar with this cavern. Somewhere he had taken a wrong turn and so been forced to retrace his steps, but things had only gone worse when he had tripped and landed in a pool of water with his torch still well in hand. Though he had kept it afterward, there had been no hope of sparking it to flame again. But he did not need the torch. He needed only retrace his steps back the way he came. That, at least, had been the plan.
He never heard her footsteps. The water to his rear had deafened him to any other sounds, save for the sudden and unexpected rumbling that came moments before he felt someone slam into his body. The two of them rolled and Gendry instinctively fought back. He did not know who he was fighting here in the dark, but his arms were big and strong from years of hard labor at the forge and he fought the only way he knew how by trying to tighten his arms into a bear hug. No words were spoken, just the grunts and heavy breathing that came with the exercise. He might have hit his head on stone more than once, but he did not let it distract him from his task. You could never be too sure what kind of trouble you might run into with strangers in the dark.
Katsa was not sure whether the vice grip that immediately pressed on her at contact was a person or the earth from above: it all felt very much the same, and she struggled without a second thought. Rock or man, it was strong, stronger than Katsa, and she could not immediately break herself free. That was no problem. She would simply have to find a different method.
She could begin to hear breaths heavy and hot near her ears, and the arms and chest pressing down around her clearly belonged to a man. That was better than rock or any other beast that might have been down here in this cave. Her back hit something solid, and Katsa used that as leverage, trying to twist them around and trap him instead, so that she could wriggle free.
It all happened in seconds—too quickly, with as focused as Katsa was in getting the use of her arms back to focus on the situation of rock and water and whether light still remained in the tunnel.
He hadn't expected it to be easy, but the person he was wrestling was not making it easy for him. It was stupid of him to think he could simply restrain the person and then demand answers, but soon enough he felt elbows digging painfully into his ribs and someone far too squirmy to be held easily. Very nearly he had his chance to try and roll over and pin the mysterious person entirely, until his hand reaching to try and pin his quarry again fell upon his opponent's chest and felt something that other men didn't have.
It distracted him wholly and completely. Had there been any light at all, she would have seen him gaping stupidly. He uttered a muttered "Seven hells" just as she had managed to free herself from his vice grip. He did not make the effort to try and find her again. Instead he stated the painfully obvious. "You're a bloody woman."
Fights were rarely a struggle for Katsa, exactly, but she still expected it to be a little more of a struggle than that. She was on her feet as soon as she was free (she could still stand on her feet—that at least was a good sign) and was grateful for this darkness that should hide the colors of her eyes. One never knew how someone would react to a Graceling, nor whether stories had spread of a lady with her particular Grace, and she wasn't sure whether she wanted to deal with that headache in the moment when there were other things to worry about.
Of course, even she couldn't see him in this light, either. He could be any number of things as well.
"Well," Katsa grumbled at him, "at least we know you've not lost any feeling in your hands."
For all he might be complex, Gendry was simple compared to a Graceling. He desired only simple things and chief among them in the moment was light. Unfortunately for the both of them, there was none to be had. There was the sound of dripping water, but everything else had fallen silent. Though it was scarcely proven yet, there was a very real threat of being trapped. He felt it only natural to blame her. He might have been shy about touching a woman, but his accusations were blind to sex.
She doesn't hide the sarcasm in her voice. Katsa reaches in front of her, trying to touch rock or feel for air: of the former there is plenty, but of the latter there's barely a hint. But water has made it in here somehow, and it flows still where they can hear it. They cannot be completely trapped.
Katsa's Grace knows where to go, but she cannot leave this man behind, either.
"...Katsa." It's a risk, giving him her name, even without the sight of her eyes or her titles, but she cannot think of anything else to call herself. "And what about you? A criminal, or a goldcloak, or something else?"
"A knight." It was a better description than criminal, though he was certainly that as well. Her name meant nothing to him though, especially here in the dark. As to his own name, he was well prepared for not giving his own. "They call me the bull."
It was her voice that kept him from exploring the same direction she was in. Much as she was looking for somewhere to escape, he was doing the same. But all he found was stone walls and damp, sticky stones. The feeling of being trapped was unsettling and it was all he could do to keep talking and so banish the thought from his mind.
She sounds skeptical, even down there in the dark. Katsa has heard of knights, but not this one, though she think it would be an unnecessary lie or personal dressing if it were not the truth. A few steps to her right and her hand meets nothing but blackness: a welcome change from the dirt and resistance that was all she had been finding before. Katsa sidles a little further.
"I don't suppose you've horns that could break us through these walls, could you?"
At the moment, he lacked his bull-shaped helmet. He had lost that months ago before being taken to Harrenhal , though they would have served him no good now. Gendry was strong and hardheaded, but not enough to go bashing rocks open.
"I've mislaid them. Couldn't say where." He did have his sword and so he drew that instead. He had seen blind men tap a stick along the ground, so it reasoned that he could use a sword for the same. He followed her voice as he tapped the sword along the ground in front of him. "What were you doing in here?"
No more earth comes against her fingertips as she continues to move forward, and Katsa straightens and lengthens her steps, emboldened by the space found in the darkness. There must be light somewhere, she thinks, so that her eyes can adjust and see what's around them, or at least a pocket of air from the outside. She fingers the flint tucked in a pouch on her belt. Until there's a clear source of air, she won't risk lighting a flame.
"I was curious." That's honest enough. "I thought I saw a path, so I took it just to see where it leads. Is it your cave? The roof may need some rebuilding."
"We use these caves." He did not bother to elaborate on who the we meant. "It ain't no decent place for women to go mucking about."
Though if they didn't find their way out, then it would make scarcely any difference at all. But just as she wasn't giving up, he was still intent on his own exploration. Eventually the tip of his sword found a wall and that wall led to rubble. From the feel of it, this was where the cave had collapsed. The stones were thick, but this seemed a more likely place to start than anywhere else. He set his sword to the side and started searching for any stone that could be loosened and pulled free.
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munebox2015-05-16 09:50 pm
no subject
She'd entered it out of curiosity, having stumbled across the mouth of the small caves while avoiding the kingsroad through whatever off-road ways she could follow. She'd heard water trickling behind what seemed to be the back of the cave and had followed the noise—that she continued to hear now, far in—and wondered what was behind them. It seemed to be a road of its own underneath the ground. Tunnels, perhaps, either natural or manmade, that the longer she followed made her begin to suspect she would find herself on the other side of the Trident. After that Katsa simply couldn't help but wonder if her suspicions were correct, and so she found herself below.
She had been walking not even an hour when she began to notice the blackness giving way to grey, shapes making themselves unfocused but visible in her Graceling vision. Katsa squinted, then paused, drawing to a halt as the sound of water seemed to increase.
She was not alone in these caves.
They were near the surface: that much was clear. And what was just as clear, seconds before it happened, was that the roar of water should not have been growing loud at all. Katsa's body moved before her mind did, her feet sending her flying forwards, barreling toward a single moving shape she could discern in the darkness, into which she slammed only moments before rock came tumbling around them.
no subject
He never heard her footsteps. The water to his rear had deafened him to any other sounds, save for the sudden and unexpected rumbling that came moments before he felt someone slam into his body. The two of them rolled and Gendry instinctively fought back. He did not know who he was fighting here in the dark, but his arms were big and strong from years of hard labor at the forge and he fought the only way he knew how by trying to tighten his arms into a bear hug. No words were spoken, just the grunts and heavy breathing that came with the exercise. He might have hit his head on stone more than once, but he did not let it distract him from his task. You could never be too sure what kind of trouble you might run into with strangers in the dark.
no subject
She could begin to hear breaths heavy and hot near her ears, and the arms and chest pressing down around her clearly belonged to a man. That was better than rock or any other beast that might have been down here in this cave. Her back hit something solid, and Katsa used that as leverage, trying to twist them around and trap him instead, so that she could wriggle free.
It all happened in seconds—too quickly, with as focused as Katsa was in getting the use of her arms back to focus on the situation of rock and water and whether light still remained in the tunnel.
no subject
It distracted him wholly and completely. Had there been any light at all, she would have seen him gaping stupidly. He uttered a muttered "Seven hells" just as she had managed to free herself from his vice grip. He did not make the effort to try and find her again. Instead he stated the painfully obvious. "You're a bloody woman."
no subject
Of course, even she couldn't see him in this light, either. He could be any number of things as well.
"Well," Katsa grumbled at him, "at least we know you've not lost any feeling in your hands."
no subject
"No. Only my eyes. Who the bloody hell are you?""
no subject
She doesn't hide the sarcasm in her voice. Katsa reaches in front of her, trying to touch rock or feel for air: of the former there is plenty, but of the latter there's barely a hint. But water has made it in here somehow, and it flows still where they can hear it. They cannot be completely trapped.
Katsa's Grace knows where to go, but she cannot leave this man behind, either.
"...Katsa." It's a risk, giving him her name, even without the sight of her eyes or her titles, but she cannot think of anything else to call herself. "And what about you? A criminal, or a goldcloak, or something else?"
no subject
It was her voice that kept him from exploring the same direction she was in. Much as she was looking for somewhere to escape, he was doing the same. But all he found was stone walls and damp, sticky stones. The feeling of being trapped was unsettling and it was all he could do to keep talking and so banish the thought from his mind.
no subject
She sounds skeptical, even down there in the dark. Katsa has heard of knights, but not this one, though she think it would be an unnecessary lie or personal dressing if it were not the truth. A few steps to her right and her hand meets nothing but blackness: a welcome change from the dirt and resistance that was all she had been finding before. Katsa sidles a little further.
"I don't suppose you've horns that could break us through these walls, could you?"
no subject
"I've mislaid them. Couldn't say where." He did have his sword and so he drew that instead. He had seen blind men tap a stick along the ground, so it reasoned that he could use a sword for the same. He followed her voice as he tapped the sword along the ground in front of him. "What were you doing in here?"
no subject
"I was curious." That's honest enough. "I thought I saw a path, so I took it just to see where it leads. Is it your cave? The roof may need some rebuilding."
no subject
Though if they didn't find their way out, then it would make scarcely any difference at all. But just as she wasn't giving up, he was still intent on his own exploration. Eventually the tip of his sword found a wall and that wall led to rubble. From the feel of it, this was where the cave had collapsed. The stones were thick, but this seemed a more likely place to start than anywhere else. He set his sword to the side and started searching for any stone that could be loosened and pulled free.