Otherworld

Part 30

Bridged was the unlucky one who found the end of the caves. She was walking ahead of the others when the floor fell out from underneath her feet. It happened so fast that she couldn't even scream. Air rushed by her for an endless amount of time before she crashed hard against the floor of the cave. The sudden stop caused her to cry out in pain.

"Bridged!" Arnold's shout came from somewhere above her and sounded far away. "Are you okay!?"

Bridged gingerly pushed herself up and took stock of her injuries. She was lucky enough that she hit some sort of sloping wall before she crashed into the unyielding floor.

"I'm fine Arnold! Just a little bruised and shaken up!"

"Hold on! We're going to try to find a way down to you!"

"I'm not going anywhere!"

Bridged had to satisfy herself by not moving. It was pitch black down here and without any light she could easily get lost. Bridged passed the time by keeping her feet as an anchor and extending as far as she could reach in any direction trying to feel something. She felt nothing but empty air and the same cold stone floor of the cave.

Bridged looked up as something hit her lightly on the head. She reached up and found a pebble. She peered up above her trying to see through the darkness. Sounds reached her within a few minutes. It was the sound of someone making their way carefully down towards her.

"Arnold?"

"Hold on Bridged. We're coming down."

Bridged stood up as soon as she saw a pale flicker of light. "Are all of you coming down?"

"Yes. It's a good thing that Moani decided to carry that extra length of rope with him."

"Be careful," Bridged called up once the light Arnold carried with him illuminated their surroundings. "You're coming up on a bulge in the cave walls. It's not a very soft landing."

Arnold chuckled as his feet touched the ledge. He turned and looked down at Bridged. Bridged shielded her eyes against the light. She couldn't see Arnold's face, but she knew that he was smiling at her.

"Move out of the way so that I can jump down to you. The rope's not long enough."

Bridged moved and Arnold let go of the rope landing lightly on the balls of his feet. He stepped forward and swept Bridged up in a hard hug. He buried his face against the curve of her neck. "I thought I lost you. I've never been as terrified as I was today when I saw you disappear."

Bridged clung to Arnold. "You weren't the only one who was terrified."

Arnold laughed as he pulled away from Bridged far enough to where he could wrap his arm around her waist. He looked up and Bridged followed his gaze. The rest of their group made their way carefully down the rope. They had an easier time reaching the bottom since they were so much taller than Arnold.

"I'm fine. Really. Just a little bruised." Bridged reassured them all.

Lenki peered about them trying to see farther into the new part of the cave they were in. "Which way should we go?"

Naknaki frowned about himself. "One way's just as good as the other. We'll have to keep track of where we've been."

Nakira pulled some wrapped charcoal out of her bag. "I've been saving this just in case." She walked forward and made a mark on the wall. "There, that way we hopefully won't get too lost."

Naknaki smiled and nudged his sister's arm. "Good thinking. We might as well see where this goes. We can only hope that it leads to the warriors we are looking for."