A Cave on the Sea

Lyssa ran as up to the shore line. She was being pursued by a man for reasons she didn't know. She was getting tired, for she had been running for almost an hour now, but she kept her legs pumping. There was a slippery coating of ice splayed across the ground, which made her have to be extra careful not to slip. She had boots on, but they were so over worn that they didn't even have traction anymore. The man was on her heels, and he didn't seem to be getting tired anytime soon. Lyssa just kept her pace until she couldn't any longer. Her movements started to slow and the man easily catches up to her. He grabs her by the waist and throws her to the ground. She lands face-first with a hard 'thud'. Blood quickly stained the ice a dark red from various cuts that had just been created across Lyssa's face. The man rises to his feet and turns Lyssa over onto her back and plants his foot on her chest, hard. It impaired her breathing and some of her movement, not to mention it was painful.

The man glares at the girl's face with no emotion. "Where is he?" he asks in a gruff voice.

"W..where is who?" Lyssa replies, scared to death. She didn't want to die, not just yet at least. Her only response from the man was a kick to the side.

The man, who must be a bounty hunter picks the girl up by the front of her raggedy and torn cloak. "Where is he? Don't play games. Where is Maleci?" he asks her again, his voice on the verge of shouting.

Lyssa was beyond tears, she was speechless. "I....I don...I don't know." she whimpers in fear.

"Well then...Liar or not, you are to die here." The man says and throws her back onto the icy ground. He picks her up again from the back, and drops her again. "That should teach you not to mess with me." he yells, then runs off back into the forest.

Dazed and scared, Lyssa lays there. She rolls over onto her stomach to see ahead of her. Light was coming from somewhere....wait,no...that wasn't light, it was fire. Fire! A pang of hope erupted inside of Lyssa and she pushes herself onto her knees. She looks around for something to prop herself onto, and finds a nice size stick. Grabbing it, she forces herself onto her feet. She shakily makes her way over to the fire, and just when she can feel the warmth from it, she lets herself drop to her knees. She situates herself onto her rear, and hugs her knees to her chest. She was hidden by a bush, an added bonus. Shivering violently, she sits there, awaiting either her death or her rescue.

Shard had seen Lyssa stumble up the gravelly beach. Shard was more surprised than anything else, meeting another living being in this lonely place. When Lyssa approached the fire and hid behind a bush, it was all she could do to keep Ursa from charging over and knocking the girl on her back.

"You might as well come out," Shard said, almost wrestling with her polar bear companion in her attempt to calm the beast,"I'm not sure what happened to you but..ah...if you're hungry, I've got a little food left."

OOC: Sorry for the short post

Lyssa wipes a blood-stiffened strain of hair out of the way of her eye. She looks up from the bush, shivering violently. She flinches away upon seeing the girl and her massive polar bear. The girl was struggling to keep it under control, and that scared Lyssa. What if the polar broke free? Then what would it do? Rip her to shreds? As the wind stings at her face, she looks into the girl's eyes. They seemed very warming and welcoming. Lyssa had always been able to tell if people were nice or not just from their eyes. It was one of her odd traits. What if it was a trap? What if this girl was an accomplice of the man who had attacked her?

Sighing to herself, Lyssa decides to conquer her fear. She shakily rises to her feet and slowly staggers over to the site where the girl was at. Lyssa didn't look like a lively teenage girl anymore, more like a creature that had been living in the woods for years. She stands there, looking at the polar bear in utter fear. She falls down to her knees and looks up at the girl.

'Please spare me, I don't know where he is!' Lyssa says, breaking out into tears.

OOC: No problem, sometimes mine are super short.

Lyssa felt a bit better now that she knew that this girl wasn't after her. She rises up to her feet, now shaking from the cold wind that blew from the ocean. She liked it cold, but not this cold. Tightening up the drawstrings on her cloak's hood, Lyssa turned to face the fire. She stayed silent, not wanting to talk, but to rest instead. She bows her head, sucking up the heat. She would have to talk eventually, so why not just get it over with. Wiping the last of her tears away, she begins to explain everything that had happened to the girl.

'I was s...searching for a place to call home for night to come, and some random man came out of the woods behind me yelling for me to stop. Instinctively, I started running. I had just made it here when he caught up to me and tackled me to the ground, thus explaining my appearance. H..he asked me 'where is he?' a couple times, and I had no idea who 'he' is. I told him I didn't know, but he didn't believe me. After reassuring him I didn't know, he threw me to the ground twice, then left me here to die...' Lyssa stammers.

"You okay?" Lyssa asks the girl. She was slightly fascinated as she watched steam from her breath rise up into the air, only to evaporate shortly after. She turns around, facing away from the girl and at the remains of the fire. Hoping the girl wasn't watching, Lyssa stares at the ashes and sticks. Slowly, they began to rise into the air. Concentrating, she begins to block out everything around her and only focus on one thing, the remains. She launches them into the water of the ocean, hoping that would cover up any tracks for good. Sighing to herself, she rubs her face with her hands. She knew if she practiced it wouldn't hurt as much, but she didn't generally like to use her powers. It tended to freak people out more than amaze them.

Turning around, Lyssa watches as the girl and her massive companion make their way down the cave. Should she trust them? Well, it was better to follow them rather than dying out in the cold, so she decides to stay with them, for now. She kicks up her pace to a run until she is next to the girl. How old was she even? She appeared to be only around twelve.

"So..um...I'm Lyssa, who are you exactly?" Lyssa questions the girl awkwardly.

Lyssa nearly faints of fright from the sudden light. She thought it was a trap that she was lured into. Speaking encouraging words to herself mentally she presses on. Lyssa stops for a second to inspect a crystal. It was just a plain old crystal that somehow illuminated light, well, that was how she saw it to be. What if she could use it as a torch? Slowly streching out her arm, she touches the crystal. A burning sensation quickly registered in her head and she snapped her hand back. She looks down at her hand. It was burned, as if she had touched hot kettle. Gritting her teeth, she runs up to the girl again.

Now walking side-by-side, Lyssa stares at the girl from the corner of her eye. The girl couldn't be younger than her, despite her height. Her face and voice looked and sounded more mature than Lyssa was. After a couple minutes of walking and staring, Lyssa decides in her mind the girl had to be around sixteen, just older than her. And she thought she was short for her age. The girl though, she could contol ice, just like how Lyssa could control well, anything she wanted to. Wait, Lyssa could control quite a bit. She suddenly stops in her tracks and turns to face a smaller crystal that was embedded in the cave wall. She points her hand out to it, and wills her power to take it away from the wall. She throws it up into the air above the two girls and the polar bear. Now that their path was illuminated from above, it was quite a hit easier to see. Lyssa could already feel herself getting tired. She really needed to start training. Now walking in light, Lyssa says nothing.

Lyssa stares at Shard. This would be a bit hard for her, talking and keeping the object in the air at the same time.

"Yes, I am the reason." Lyssa replies to her, her voice strained from having to concentrate so hard on keeping the crystal in the air. She lets out a sigh of relief that she didn't lose focus, and keeps on walking forward. This cave was mysterious, and Lyssa liked mysterious things.

Lyssa whips around to face the threat. It ended up being a classic boulder-on-rails type of trap. She was tempted to book it out of there, but she wasn't just about to leave Shard and her polar bear companion. She watches in awe as Shard attempts to stop the boulder.

Snap out of it, Lyssa! You know what to do if you want to save yourself and these two! Use your gifts!

Lyssa takes inhales a deep breath, and streches her hands out at the boulder. She let all of her concentration onto the boulder that was steadily approaching them. It was time. No longer trying to hide her true powers. A vibrant yellow aura started to outline her body. She was venting all of her concentration onto the boulder. Slowly, the boulder starts to slow down. Pain erupted in every part of her body, but Lyssa kept concentrated. If she was to save the trio, she would need to concentrate. Once the boulder had came to a stop, Lyssa throws it back down the path it came, and it exploded into bits of rock. Panting, Lyssa puts her hands on her knees. She felt as if she was about to faint any second now.

No! Don't give up! Fight your desires! You can keep strong, but only if you try!

It hurt Lyssa so much mentally that there was actually sweat dripping down her forehead. It was almost in the negatives outside, and she was in a cave sweating.

'Well no time to waste.' Lyssa says as she starts to walk again.

As she walked, Lyssa fought herself in her head. She just wanted to rest; just for a minute. Another part of her knew that if she rested, she would end up unconcious. She had to keep on moving ahead. She wipes her hair away from her face. She didn't feel like having her hair frozen to her face from sweat. Wait? Was that possible even? Could sweat freeze? Lyssa ponders this as she carelessly walked across the icy bridge that Shard had built. She just totally blocked out everyone and focused on that one thing; could sweat freeze? Her thinking session was interupted by her tripping on a wire that was strung across the void. That was random chance, unless....were they expected? A large rumbling noise fills the cavern....

Lyssa you idiot! Pay attention to what you are doing! Stop thinking about freezing sweat dammit!

Lyssa speeds up, rushing to get to Shard and the polar bear, who were already in the chamber. Suddenly, she is knocked backwards by a large boulder. Her back slammed across the ice bridge, slightly cracking it from impact. Dazed, she looks up as the enterance to the chamber was sealed by a rockslide.

No! Why didn't I pay attention? Why did I have to get so sidetracked? Now I'm all alone...

'S...Shard?' Lyssa calls out, hoping that the two weren't hurt. The ice bridge was starting to crack, and soon it started to crumble. Lyssa lets out a cry of fright as she is dragged down into the pit down below.

With a large splash, Lyssa lands in...water? She quickly rises to the surface. If she wasn't freezing before, she was now. She quickly swims over to a rock that jutted out over the water. She reaches up, grabs it, and pulls herself onto it. Once on her feet, she looks around her. It seemed as if she had came across a different path. Shaking violently, she starts slowly making her way through the path. The path started to incline, and so did Lyssa's hope. If the path rises, it might lead back into that chamber!

Now only fueled by hope, Lyssa walks up the path.

Lyssa walks slowly through the tunnel. She hears noises every so often, but when she tries to invenstigate them, they turn out to be nothing. To be truthful, she was quite scared. As she walks along the path, she recollects what happened in the last couple of hours. It was really a lot of things packed into the small time frame. She had gotten chased, beaten up, was somewhat saved, made what she called a friend, went down a cave full of traps. Fell around fifty feet into freezing water, found another tunnel, and walks along the tunnel, hearing occasional noises that seemed to be whispers. She must be going crazy.

You are obviously delusional, Lyssa. Voices? You are overreacting. You are scared. Give up. There is no hope. Curl up and die, no one would care anyways.

Lyssa tried the best to ignore her thoughts, but it was quitr hard since she was the one thinking them up. She was just about to give up hope when she hears voices and the sounds of a fight. Shard! She must be in trouble! Well maybe not, not with her polar bear companion. Noe that must be a scary thing to fight. Lyssa starts runing through the tunnel, tracking the noises. Soon she was at a dead-end and the battle sounds seemed to be coming from below now. Lyssa scans the walls. There had to be a switch or chain or something! She stares at the wall that ended the tunnel. Odd, there seemed to be individual sqaures arranged in random order. A puzzle trap maybe? Lyssa couldn't figure out what the slides where supposed to create a picture of. She quickly scans around her for inspiration. There were inscriptions in the wall, and Lyssa inspects them, then looks back at the puzzle wall. Just to see if it would even work, she tries to push a tile. Nothing, not even the tiniest movement. Then it hit her. She didn't need to use her hands. She concentrates on the inscriptions on the slides, then they started to glow. Was this a wall meant just for a Spiritual Legacy, or was she just expected? Did someone, or something create this puzzle just for her?

As the puzzle glowed, an image started to form in Lyssa's mind. Was it the solution? It must be. She the turns her attention to the wall again, and with her powers, starts to move the pieces into their places. Once the puzzle was completed, the floor under her fell away and she fell into a room that was lit by crystals. Her vision was fuzzy from the fall and using her powers, but she manages to make out the image of Shard fighting....ghosts? Lyssa wanted to help and fight, but she had no strength left.

'S...Shard...' Lyssa mumbles, then falls unconcious.

Katherine rubbed her hands together attemting to heat them with friction. She had traveld all this way to become... lost. Metias had his blanket on covering his massive black body. The ice was thick in this area holding the weight of the war horse easy. Looking into the distance she squinted... is that cave iced over? Upon further investigation it was. Carefully katherine touched the ice. It was unnaturaly cold and smooth almost like some one had sanded it.
There were several other caves spread out through out the land scape.
In the last cave the floor seemed to be covered in ice. Moving deeper into the cave Katherine heard a roaring noise almost like...no... impossible a polar bear, comming from right below her.
CRACK!
Katherine fell through the floor of the cave! Only to land on the bear she had heard moments ago.
"Nice bear." She said, panicing. She reached into her pocket and offer the inteligent bear jerky as an offering.

Ooc- sorry this is short and not very detailed but I am sleepy.

Lyssa woke up with a jolt to a loud noise. She had maybe gotten an hour of rest, which was no where near enough. She looks around her, her eyes halfway opened, slightly blurring her vision. The only reason she knew Ursa was still there was because she could feel the warmth of her body. Wait, where was Shard though? It was too dark to see, for the room was barely illuminated by odd plants that were attatched to the walls and ceiling of the chamber.

Oh no, did they take Shard? Did she give into the ghost things? If they did, what am I to do? I certainly cannot take down ghosts!

Shakily, Lyssa rises up to her feet. She yawns groggily; she might have gotten an hour of sleep, but was it enough? Suddenly, she starts to hear voices again. If these were ghosts, Lyssa was going to send them back to the grave. She pulls her bow off of her back, only to find that it had been cracked in half. What was she going to do now? Putting her snapped bow away, Lyssa drops to her knees out of exhaustion. She was just too tired. She hears the voices getting closer to her, but she shrugged them off. If the ghosts were to attack, she would end up wide awake....hopefully. She crawls closer to Ursa, and curls up to her for warmth. The polar bear didn't react in any harsh way, which was good because Lyssa was definitely not in a fighting state of mind. Smirking at the fact that Ursa didn't maul her to death, Lyssa falls into a pit of dreams.

Katherine watched with wide eyes as the big white bear ripped at the jerky with the same ferocity as mauling a living thing. She shuddered as the thought of, this could be me, crossed her mind. Metias made a neviouse noise above the ice as he realized he was alone.
"Stay," she called up to him. Slowly she pushed herself to her feet, narrowly avoiding kicking a girl fast asleap next to Ursa in the head. She turned around slowly and saw Shard laying a few feet away. The girl would freeze over there.
Slowly she walked over picked shard up and placed her next to ursa and lyssa. Quickly she covered them both in her cloak. Then she looked around the room and gaped a what she saw. A huge map and several gems. She picked up a red gem as big as her fist. Upon contact heat and energy rushed into her body. Startled katherine dropped the gem and she watched it bounce and roll across the icy floor. The energy remaind but the heat faded. Then she picked up a green one. Her skin tingled and the cuts she had recived from falling through the ice closed up before her eyes. Picking up the red one again, she walked over to the two girls and touched both of them to their bare cheeks. After doing this she picked up the map rolled it up and waited for the two girls to wake.

Lyssa was suddenly awakened from a burning sensation. She shoots up, leaning her back on Ursa. Looking around her for what had woken her up, she lets out a yawn. Odd, she felt more regenerized than normal. It felt great. She felt as if she could use her powers forever. Her eyes come to rest on another figure, standing a little bit away from the trio.

Lyssa quickly rises to her feet. She starts to reach behind her for her bow, but lets out a sigh at remembering it was snapped in half. She didn't feel like using her powers to fix it at the moment, so she just prays that this person was not hostile. She was still soaking wet, but she ignored how cold it was making her. She would be lucky to live for a few more hours being this wet. Even her spare clothes in her tiny pack were sopping wet.
Shivering, Lyssa stares at the girl. She then notices that Shard was also awake. She watches as Shard fearlessly confronts the girl.