Coming of Age

[VlPER]

The spiders were a little more nimble than she gave them credit for. Especially since seeing their brethren get squashed nearly the same way just moments before. One surged forward, while the other retreated as the rock fell harmlessly to the floor. The closest one now lunged at Seras hoping to finally get a taste of her soft flesh.

The others meanwhile, began pouring around the fallen chunk of rock and headed toward her as well. It seemed they were getting wiser to her tactics with each passing second.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

She had been hoping for them to not be quite that smart. Turns out she didn't get that pleasantry, the spider surging forward. She leapt up and back to the birdge, having a plan B in mind, though as she leapt back it caught her leg, managing to cut into it, though it wasn't a crippling wound. Her spirit hadn't been crushed however, and by her pose as she backed up the bridge, she had a plan.

Seras fell back to the bridge, gathering up the force as she backed up, having quite the simple plan as the spiders followed her. After she retreated three fourths of the way across the bridge, she stopped and turned, doing a simple action to the spiders that were on it. Push them up, just slightly, and then to the side. The aim? Throwing them in the water. It was rather wide, and while not to deep, had very fast currents. Any of the spiders that fell into it would almost certainly be swept away, or so she hoped.

Seras did the action when they were in the middle, the thinnest part of the bridge, where they would find the least to grab onto. Though she might have taken another hit by the one who had charged at her, she did not suspect them being capable of righting themselves from this.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

The spiders were indeed taken by surprise as she swept them off the bridge and into the fast moving current. Gargled screeches could be heard for a little while linger till the stream seemingly sucked them into the cave wave down whatever path the stream moved off to in the mountain. With their disappearance the sound of the cave quickly returned to that eerie quiet, with only the sound of droplets falling from the ceiling forming ambient noise. The path was now open for the young Jedi to continue on her way.

Viper smiled as the voracious insects met with their demise somewhere within the confines of the mountain. Her tactics while a bit wild and haphazard at first, came around to show good sense. Using the bridge as a choke point especially was her best move in her Masters opinion. It showed an ability to see when you couldn't hold your ground and thus needed to regroup and make a stand elsewhere.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras sighed after they were thrown and out of earshot, grunting at the pain in her leg from the earlier hit. Taking a moment to look around for any other spiders, and not seeing any, Seras took out a medical patch and bandages. It would only serve to slow some of the bleeding and keep it from getting dirt in it, but it was something. After tying it tightly off, Seras got up and continuing down the path. Though she also felt a bit tired after that particular spat of force use, as it hadn't exactly been easy for her to pull off.

"I -hate- spiders." She muttered to herself, being more cautious this time as she slowly moved forward, limping a bit at first before she got used to walking with the mild wound.

Seras continued down the path and went deeper into the caverns, her senses on alert, and flashlight out unless the glowing moss continued to be present. Before going around any corners, she would use the mirror she had, looking around the corner before going around it after making sure it was safe. Notably, she also kept a very wary eye on the ceiling, slowly moving forward. Her mind was more on edge then before, both from the encounter and the light wound she had.

Seras would continue to press on, either until she ran into the crystals, or into some nasty critters, doing her best to notice them first this time.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

She would walk through the tunnels for a while before she entered another chamber. While the tunnels seemed to be cramp and dark, the chambers always seemed to be well lit from the moss. The next room though was very different from the first. While it had a entry of rock for the floor, that quickly disappeared to a large deep pool.

Spoiler

The pool showed the only way to the connecting tunnel across the way was straight through the water. There was something a might strange about this room though. Unlike the rest of the cave were some sort of breeze was usually blowing. Here there wasn't a breath of wind. The pool itself, was practically glass smooth...

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

After the encounter from before, she had new found confidence in her abilities, some at least. Knowing you could do something and actually doing it and overcoming a task granted one new found confidence. The dimly lit nature she didnt mind, keeping her hands free as she kept going deeper and deeper into the cave, whistling when she ran into the room with a large, deep pool. "Whoa... What is this..." Seras murmured as she looked around, and saw the exit on the other side.

"Good thing i dont mind swimming but..." She stopped for a moment, looking deeply and carefully into the pool, as well as the exit, taking out her flashlight and checking the darker sections of the pool for anything, as well as the exit.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

The exit revealed nothing more than a further extension of the cave that she had already been walking.

In the deepest recesses of the pool as her light beamed across the more shadowy parts, she would be able to see a shape quickly move and disappear IF she was really looking closely. It moved so fast though, that size and shape could not be determined.

It was at that moment she would recall a memory of Viper telling her to stretch out with her feelings. That her eyes could deceive her and to not trust them. Or was it a memory?

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras did indeed see... Something. She had been keeping a close eye on it and where the light shined, so she saw the slight movement. What exactly it was though, she had no idea, besides it was probably darkly colored.

As for stretching out and feeling, that was something she indeed knew of, both by Viper and before when she was a youngling and had been taught how to sense and feel through the force. And it was something she applied now, calming her breathing a bit and stretching out, feeling the room, the pool, and stretching her senses deeper into it, continuing until she found what was there, if anything.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

At first, she wouldn't sense anything but cool crystal clear water within a beautiful cave. A nagging sensation would come to her mind though that she was missing something. As she reached out further, the shape of a monster began to appear to her mind. An animal roughly the size of a bus. How such a creature managed to live within the confines of this place....or even how it got there was impossible to determine. But was recognizable was the tactics of an ambush predator waiting for its prey. And it was also understandable why the spiders didn't seem to venture withing the connecting tunnel.

With her objective on the other side of the pool though, Seras would have to figure out a way to make the crossing...

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras nearly jumped at the feeling of the creature she got in the force, a bit startled by it being there. But she calmed herself, knowing now swimming was defiantly NOT an option. "Why is there such a bloody large beastie in here..." Seras thought, her mind racing to think a way around the situation she found herself in.

So after thinking and evaluating her options, she looked at the ceiling. She checked to see if the stalagtites were strong enough to support her weight, and if they looked fishy (pun intended), she would check the wall to see if she could grab onto it and use it to climb around to the exit.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

The biggest of the stalactites were indeed large enough to hold her up, and there were just enough of them that she'd be able to cross over the water if she was especially careful. The climb would put her in a vulnerable position where she wouldn't able to defend herself while climbing, but then, what choice did she really have? The wall itself was to steep and slick for her to have any chance at all of scaling across it. Whichever choice she'd make, it was probably best not to disturb the water.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

"Right... Yeah i can deal with this." She nodded confidently. She mentally planned out the climb, squirming a bit in worry regardless. Which came as no surprise to anyone, this would make more or less anyone worried and a bit frightened. The difference was, she confidentially worked through it. Seras grabbed some large stones that were around two pounds, three of them to be exact, putting them in a pouch. If needed, she figured she could make a distraction away from where she herself was in the water, and continue climbing.

After putting the stones in, and finding the safe looking stalagtites, Seras did a cautionary thing. She tore her outer, rough and dense robe into some strips, wrapping it around her hands. Why? Simple, to help her climbing and grip. After that, Seras went to start very, very carefully climbing. Fortunately, she was exceptionally well fit and strong, and pretty well composed given the situation. The question was, if she could hold out long enough to get across.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

The stalactites themselves were somewhat difficult to climb. While some had become dry from lack of moisture, thus no longer growing. Others were still slick from water seeping through the cave ceiling. Water droplets would hit the water periodically, but that never seemed to matter. What mattered was when she slipped some on one of the stalactites. Her sliding foot managed to sheer away a chunk of the rock formation. Just a couple small pebbles worth of material.

But as they hit the water, the feel of the chamber began to change. A sudden feeling of cold overcame her. Below her feet, the water began to get agitated. The tiny ripples from the water droplets were beginning to turn into small miniwaves across the surface...

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

The rough, thick texture of the jedi outer cloak helped her keep a grip on even the slimier ones, though she still had to be very careful, which she was, though it was proving to be a massive mental tax on her mind as she slowly climbed over. Mentally she cursed as she slipped. 'KARKING FRAK' She thought mentally, gritting her teeth and stopping.

And as the feeling in the room changed, the hair of the back of her neck stood up, and for a solid moment she froze from the sudden feeling, the rippling water. Taking her free right hand, she reached into the pocket, took out one of the rocks, and threw it as far as she could in the precarious position. However the action caused her to nearly loose her balance, her body swaying violently for a second. But right after that, the large rock made quite the impressive, loud rippling splash far away from her. A much more notable thing then whatever noises she might be making.

At least, that is what she was very, very much hoping right now.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

A fraction of a second after the rock she threw hit the water, arms shot forth from under the surface and across the room searching for whatever it was that caused the disturbance.

Spoiler

Water sprayed violently around the room from what appeared to be blowholes of sorts similar to like you'd see on a whale. The glowing yellow eyes from the beast seemed to grow quickly agitated as it's search turned up nothing! The cold sensation Seras felt a moment before dropped a few more degrees. She then felt an anger inside her mind, but it was a feeling not hers.

How good the animals eyesight was, nobody knew. Nor really any of it's other senses. The feeling she was feeling emanating from this beast seemed to indicate it was not a simpleton and would not be fooled again. Perhaps it even have a rudimentary sentience. For now, it's search remained on the ground.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

'Must... Go... FASTER!" She thought, biting back the urge to make verbal comments exceptionally well, or any noise from her mouth as she started to quickly move. Her body didn't seem to tire nor to loose its edge now with the very, very large nasty looking around. But her mind was going to after this, take a hard mental tax, and she could already feel the headache building from the stress of the situation. But she wouldn't break and fail, trip and slip now. In a way, the current tension in her body made her able to have an odd form of calm and collected mind, focusing purely on getting out without making an inch of noise.

Though of course it was possible that, at any time, a rock, or a water drop, or even something she brushed against, would decide to fall and make spectacular noise. At which point, if that did happen, caution would be thrown to the wind and speed to impress the fastest of interceptors would be achieved. Not literally of course, but to her it would feel like it if that happened.

[member="VlPER"]

 

[VlPER]

The monster continued to search around the cavern for a while longer before slowly and reluctantly sliding back into the crystal clear water. From her vantage point above, she could see the beast was not going nearly as far back into his lair as before. Instead opting to stay closer to the waters edge to more quickly respond to anything or anyone foolishly going to close.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras kept up her quick movements, her body aching from head to toe with how tense it was, though she barely felt it in the moment as she moved, to much adrenaline, though after she got to the other side and through the exit, she would feel it and then some. But for the moment, Seras managed to keep up her precise movements, though the closer and closer she got to the exit her body slowed down bit by bit. One can only run that kind of mental and physical activity for so long before burning out. Though for the moment it seemed she would reach the exit before anything bad happened, and hopefully before she made any more large noises. The most likely time for her to make any disturbance was when she was a few steps from the edge, and relief was starting to kick in.

[member="VlPER"]