The Underneath: Saga of Aupolis

Years Later

The ground was still soggy from the rains the night before. Hours before, really. The light from the sun still had not breached the rim of the ravine, and would not yet for hours more. Above, the trees lining the ravine's lip were a natural canopied ceiling against the harsh weather prone to the outside world. The foliage was dense, for sure, as it began at the ravine's crest and cascaded down the rock walls with vines, small trees, and ferns emerging from cracks and crevices to thrive within the Garden. 

The rains must have been torrential for the Garden floor to be as entirely damp as it was. Vesna's soft leather boots squished and slid in the unfamiliar mud, causing her to curse under her breath as she tried to navigate the slippery substance. Her arms flung out to her sides in an effort to regain balance. She knew she was leaving footprints, but there was nothing to be done. A furtive glance over her shoulder showed her no one followed, and was enough to offset her currently fragile equilibrium. Her right foot flung out one way and her body lurched to the other. 

In the silence of the early morning, there was a sound of pebbles grating together, followed swiftly by the pop of something breaking the surface of still water.

Groaning, Vesna found herself lying on her side with her left arm crushed beneath her weight. Water splashed up and rippled away from her. She sputtered, taking a few moments to cough up and spit out what liquid went down her throat the wrong way. She took a few shuttering breaths and cleared her throat for anything remaining. 

A glance around confirmed no one was near to see the undoubtedly comical incident. Even though she knew she was too far from the Garden Residences, Vesna's face burned scarlet. No one ever came this far down Gods' Gift, where its waters thinned into a pebbled stream with pockets of deeper pools. One of which Vesna currently found herself lying in. The children, as she herself had once done, sometimes liked to come to this area of the Gift and swim in the shallow pools. Never this early though, so she really had no fear of being seen. Besides, where she was going, no one dared go. Not willingly...except those rare few...

Moving delicately, Vesna rolled off of her arm and pushed up, using her other hand, into a sitting position. Cautiously, she moved the wrist in question back, forth, and in circles. She sighed with relief when there was no immediate, unbearable pain. Her forearm and elbow were a different matter. Bending and straightening the joint brought some tenderness, but nothing drastic. If anything, there would definitely be bruising. Satisfied that there were no sprains, strains, tears, or broken bones, Vesna slowly got to her feet...and nearly collapsed from her weight on her right ankle. Setting her foot down tenderly, she took her time trying to assess the damage. She could roll her ankle and move it around, but it strained under any pressure.

A low growl rumbled deep in her throat. The mud was already making her trip slower paced than normal, but now it would be even further delayed. But, there was nothing for it. With a great sigh that emptied her entire lung capacity, Vesna set her jaw and continued on. 

This part of the ravine became the most narrow, for which she was grateful. The rock walls closed together to about the width of three people standing at arm's length from one another. The Gods' Gift gurgled down to ankle deep over smooth river stones and pebbles. The sheer rock walls rose up to disappear behind the natural rooftop of foliage. Here, the mud disappeared as the stream cramped through the allotted space. Vesna was able to grab use of the wall's small shrubs and cracks that served as hand holds, while she tediously picked her way along the Gift. 

The natural corridor continued on for about half a mile. The proximity of the rock walls and the dense vegetation muffled all sound- even the bubbling of Gods' Gift. It was during the trek through this passage that the far off roar of one waterfall was replaced by another. The cascade within the Garden Residence had slowly quieted until it was all but forgotten by the time Vesna entered this narrow section of her walk. With the loss of such a constant background noise, the quiet was almost deafening. The small sounds of the Gift were a welcomed replacement and distraction.