Past, Present, Future [Vyra!]

[DaGlobster]

"They rebuilt their civilization. Below..." Kruz'Iik said, eyes turning downwards. "The carvings, however, hold more than words. The stone thrums with memories, I can feel them." He said, and stuck his hand out towards the wall, a green energy starting to rise from the stone.

"most peculiar..."

[Vyraena]

Vyraena was taken aback by the odd energy that Kruz'Iik was inspecting, but it wasn't fear. It was more of a shock, that something like this really existed.

"Memories? Is that what the carvings are for, then?"

[DaGlobster]

"A secondary function, yes." Kruz'Iik said. "These Formians were far from primitive. Like me, they too were awakened. Would you like to view the memory?"

[Vyraena]

"I would love to, but how?"

Vyraena figured she wouldn't be able to do it by herself, and although she didn't want to admit it, letting the Mindshifter inside her head intimidated her a little bit. After reassuring herself that if Kruz'Iik sought to harm her, he would have done it by now, she spoke again.

"What do I need to do?"

[DaGlobster]

"Come to me. You will see through my eyes." Kruz'Iik said, holding his hands out to her.

[Vyraena]

Vyraena extended her hands to meet Kruz'Iik's and braced herself. She had no idea what it would feel like or what was going to happen. As she grabbed on to his hands, what she was seeing began to fade and be replaced with something else. It could only be the memory that Kruz'Iik was about to show her.

[DaGlobster]

Kruz'Iik took Vyraena's hands into his own. The two long tentacles that stood out from the rest slowly rose to wrap around her forearms, before slithering up her shoulders and towards her temples.

Her vision would darken, followed by a few sharp clicks. Suddenly, her world would violently burst into light. Having the veil lifted was not a pleasant process, and joining herself with an intellect like Kruz'Iik would no doubt leave her feeling exhausted and with a splitting headache

The visions came in flashes. Tall, intimidating ant-like creatures with the body shape of centaurs. Formians being tossed around as their vessel impacted the earth.  A massive chamber, filled with quivering eggs. Their queen, her body taken up by a massive egg sac that rendered her immobile. Formians stalking ancient man, and finally: A single, defeated looking Formian, lying against a wall surrounded by eggs and corpses; some formian, others of different creatures.

The visions left almost as quickly as they had come, and she'd find herself against Kruz'Iik's chest, his hands on the side of her head as he peered into her eyes.

[Vyraena]

Vyraena saw everything... she felt like she was there when it all happened. The images flashed in her mind, then vanished, leaving everything dark. When her vision came back, she was up against Kruz'Iik, staring directly into his eyes. Her head pounded and when she blinked she still saw remnants of the visions that had just been given to her.

"They were driven to extinction, then?" She asked the Mindshifter, her voice weak, still recovering from the strange experience she just had.

[DaGlobster]

"It would appear so. But there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" He asked, and the ground beneath them rumbled. Finally, it would come to Vyraena's notice that they were no longer standing in the middle of the room, but off to the side. The center of the room split open, revealing a massive tunnel going straight down.

As it was opening, Kruz'Iik didn't release his eyes from Vyreana's. "Your mind, it is such a...unique place. I sensed music, beautiful music..." He said, almost as if he was thinking out loud in the last part.

[Vyraena]

Vyraena blushed slightly at the compliment and broke eye contact with Kruz'Iik, turning her attention to the tunnel. She examined it for a few seconds, then looked back at Kruz'Iik and nodded. She snapped her fingers and three orbs of white light formed, one hovering above each shoulder and one floating in front of her forehead. The light they gave off was powerful and brilliant, illuminating a large area around her.

"Would you like to go first, or shall I?" Vyraena said as she directed her attention back to the tunnel.

[DaGlobster]

Kruz'Iik didn't answer Vyraena's question. Her response to his statement interested Kruz'Iik. Perhaps he could get more than mere arcane knowledge from her mind. Given the correct levels of interaction, Kruz'Iik could potentially know everything she knew.

It was something he kept in mind.

Walking towards the hole, he stepped closer and closer to the edge, inching ever closer to a plummeting death of unknown height. When it looked like his next step was going to take him over, it didn't. His foot stopped, and he kept walking, until he was standing in the middle of the hole, suspended by nothing but his intellect. The scary part about this whole thing was that he was doing it casually, with no visible effort whatsoever.

"Come along." He beckoned, extending a hand towards Vyraena.

[Vyraena]

Vyraena reached out and grabbed Kruz'Iik's hand without a trace of fear in her eyes. Instead, there was something else: excitement. Her contracts often put her in life-threatening situations, and she was used to the risks involved. Besides, there was no time to be afraid. There could potentially be an entire unknown civilization down that tunnel.

The orbs of light that had originally been floating around Vyraena had moved outwards until they were circling her and Kruz'Iik. She held his hand tight and nodded at him, signaling that she was ready to begin the descent.

[DaGlobster]

Without much warning, they just started descending straight down, as if they were on a slow moving platform. Kruz'Iik supposed it would be a novel sensation for her, the sensation of having your feet flat against something you couldn't feel.

As they descended, the walls of the tunnel had patterns that spiraled downwards.

"These marks must be put into the stone so the Formians could ascend and descend this main tunnel without risk of falling or a necessity for stairs. We need to remember that Formians are insects, so this small city of theirs is designed for those who can walk on walls, and the roof."

[Vyraena]

"Who would've thought there would be an ancient underground city somewhere like this?" Vyraena said as she looked around. As they descended further, the darkness got more and more intense. Vyraena could create more orbs of light if she wanted to in order to help increase the visibility, but she decided against it. If anything were to be down here, regardless of what it was, the extra light would surely draw attention to them.

She thought she could hear the trickling flow of a small water source somewhere in the distance, quietly echoing off the walls of the cave. An underground river? Vyraena contemplated the possibilities while she looked at the walls, watching to make sure nothing went wrong.

[DaGlobster]

As they descended, they started to hit tunnels. While the tunnel walls before were lined with patterns to assist climbing, now, they were lined with perfectly square holes, each going farther than Vyraena's light could shine.

"There must be miles of tunnels all around us. If they were as advanced as the memories said, there's all kinds of facilities down here. Schools, doctors, stores, homes...an expedition could spend decades mapping this place out" Kruz'Iik said, marveling at the possibilities. Of course, for someone who could abandon their physical shell like Kruz'Iik, exploring this place would be only a manner of days.

The further and further down they went, the louder the underground river got, until they finally hit actual ground, coming to a stop inside a shallow stream just slightly deeper than the ankles.

[Vyraena]

When they reached the ground, Vyraena let go of Kruz'Iik and took a few steps, leaving them about an arms length apart. The orbs of light returned to their original places above Vyraena's shoulders and in front of her forehead.

In front of them, a vast city reached out into the darkness. She couldn't tell how far it went, exactly, because it didn't end in her range of vision. She looked over at Kruz'Iik. "I guess this means it's time to start exploring, huh?"

Before waiting for a response, Vyraena walked to the edge of the stream and headed towards the city, slowly, observing everything she passed carefully and thoroughly.

[DaGlobster]

Kruz'Iik followed behind her, taking in the sights of the city. There was something about the sheer cyclopean mass of this place. It was definitely much larger than he could ever anticipate. Their vessel would have been barely large enough to hold around a hundred individuals, but this city (and the tunnels they saw on the way down) could potentially have harbored millions in their time.

"If the Formians weren't exterminated by that other, unkown race, they would no doubt dominate Le'Ranna to this day. To think a single queen could sustain populations this large..." he said as he walked directly besides Vyraena.

[Vyraena]

"It's fascinating, isn't it?" Vyraena said excitedly as she approached one of the buildings. It was covered in carvings similar to that found in the vessel they had examined earlier.

"These carvings are their legacy, aren't they? The only thing they left to show both the success and plight of their race."

[DaGlobster]

"Yes, but these tell not of this particular group. This tells the story of their species as a whole. This wall   tells of their true home, about their origins. It is a reminder of their roots." Kruz'Iik said, raising a hand. Like the carvings back in the first chamber, a green shimmer started to come off of these rocks.

Kruz'Iik looked to Vyraena, and extended a hand towards her. "If you accept, do so knowing that all this knowledge could be too much for you to bear."

[Vyraena]

Vyraena extended her hand towards Kruz'Iik and grabbed hold of his hand. "I came here to find out everything I could about these ruins, and I intend to go back with as much knowledge as I can gather." She said as her vision faded to black.