saveourearth | Run, run, follow me [Open Mingle]

Entry tags:

Run, run, follow me [Open Mingle]

Date: Saturday, 4.1.2020
Characters: OPEN

I.

It's midday when trouble seems to brew underfoot. Literally underfoot, in cases - wherever the Numbered are, they'll suddenly find dormice approaching them, running around their feet, in some cases up their legs, aiming to get their attention, and then running off - coming back again, running off once more in the same direction.

Trying to get the Numbered to FOLLOW.

II.

If Numbered decide to follow the mice, they'll be lead through the streets, fields, or whatever there is (in some cases, this might mean that the mice are trying to lead them through the military area aroudn the air base). Perhaps they'll run into other Numbered on the way - all mice seem to be leading those that they lead into the exact same direction.

III.

The direction of, it turns out, the tunnels under the cliffs. The mice will easily slip through the grates that bar the entries - the grates were made to keep humans out and let a tiny mice through easily. The Numbered, however... well, the grates were installed solid and sturdy to keep humans out. The mice will vanish in the tunnels and not come back.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It would explain at least that much.

Benjiro tucks his notebooks back into his bag while keeping the map out for reference. It would guide them back to their original entrance if nothing else.

The question she poses next is answered with another nod. Absolutely.

Mary Ann does what she proposed and types out a quick message - and then pulls up a second notepad page and hands it over to Ben so he can type in his number and participate in the conversation if he so wishes.

Benjiro is silent some time as he watches Mary Ann communicating with the other groups gathered in the tunnels. His brow is knotted in a mixture of thought and worry as more information is revealed about the sharks and involvement of Mr. Evil.

As discussion reaches mention of previous Echoes at the river mouth, Benjiro writes a note to Mary Ann in his notebook to show her.

Let’s go back. I want to check out what is above the big mouse, but I would rather have everyone else out of here when I do. I do not intend to wake it, but if I accidentally disturb it, then it could be dangerous.

Edited 2020-04-16 15:27 (UTC)

Agreed she responds and starts walking into the direction that they came from. She'll wait until they are a good distance up the tunnel before speaking out loud again.

"...How do you plan on checking out what's above the big mouse, that you expected trouble to arise from it?"

Not that she is necessarily going to stop him, it's important knowledge. but... just please don't cause another earthquake or tsunami or whatever else there's out there these days.

He follows her out of the burrow and up the connecting tunnel. Once they stop, he slides the strap of his duffle bag from his shoulders without yet setting it down.

“There are two options. One being that I climb up there. That requires me to push against the mouse on the way. I could move sideways so that I can take contact on and off until I get high enough to stand on the mouse. Large as it is, I don’t think I would disturb it if I went slowly and quietly, but there is a chance. The second option is I go back home, grab my custom drone, and try to fly it up there. If I lose signal from my drone like I did with the cheap ones I modified to explore the tunnels, I have no idea what it would do.”

Both options have pros and cons.

Edited 2020-04-18 14:36 (UTC)

"...You think it's likely that you'll lose signal? Even though it is more expensive?"

She fully understands why he wants to climb up there, but... look, how should she explain to his aunts "sorry he's not coming home he got squished by a giant mouse"?

“I think the probability is low if I stick close at the entry. The other issue with the drone is the limited space. The camera will capture very little that near to the ceiling in a pass, and if I don’t follow a strict grid path, I could easily miss something,” he answers. He might have more confidence in the signal if he had gotten a drone down this way previously. As for pathing, that will be a challenge with the curvature and spacing. He can do it, but it will take a long while.

"...you'll probably learn more if you go up there yourself," she has to admit. She still doesn't like the idea.

At all. ...but she can't deny that it would be useful. And that he's probably sturdier than most others right now.

“Assuming there is something up there to find, then yes,” he answers. Benjiro is not wild about the idea himself, however, he feels responsible and wants to gather as much information as possible.

He sighs a slower exhale and runs a hand through his hair before he asks, “If you wouldn’t mind asking on the Network for everyone to clear out of there, I’d appreciate it. And while we wait to be certain it is clear, do you want me to lead you back to the surface first?” He tracked their path after all. If anything goes wrong he does not want Mary Ann stuck down here lost and alone.

"I'll do that.

...take your phone so you can get in contact with us in case anything happens." In case he gets trapped up there or... not that she would know what to do in that case. But she's sure that they will be able to figure something out.

"I'll find my way back, don't worry." She reaches out to briefly pat his arm. "Be safe."

And with that, she'll get on the clearing out and type a message.

“Thank you. And I will. If I do find something, I’ll try to take pictures.” His cell service will not reach so far down, but he will not refuse to use the network for the Numbers should anything urgent arise.

The pat on his arm is met with a smile propped by false confidence, “I’ll be careful.” At the very least he offers her the map printout he marked as it would provide a reference if she needed to look for a right or left turn ahead.

Watching Dr. Tilly start walking, he turns and heads back down towards the burrow. When he reaches the wall of fur, he stops to sit down and log into the Network on his phone to await confirmation that everyone is giving the burrow appropriate distance. As he waits, he strips his socks and shoes off to stuff into his duffle bag. He needs to thank his great aunts again for this new bag when he gets home. It holds so much more than his last one.

Once he feels confident the area is clear, he tucks his phone into a safe pocket in his bag to the outside and secures his flashlight in the back of his waistband angled upward. Entering the space with the giant, he puts two hands to the fur to press in a slow test. So long as the mouse does not seem disturbed as he leans his weight in and no more, Benjiro proceeds. Bracing sideways between the mouse and the cavern wall with hands and feet to distribute his weight across no less than three points at a time, he will climb by pressing outward to each side and gripping the rock when he can find handholds. Slow in the ascent, he is careful to push or withdraw his contact to the mouse without dragging against the fur.

A ripple seems to go through the fur - and probably the skin somewhere beneath, but his fingers aren't long enough to actually touch on it through the giant hairs - but it dies down after a moment, and nothing further happens, there's no change in the pace of breathing of actual movement.

Scaling the wall isn't too hard for him - there are small footholds everywhere, and every once in a while he'll come past a ledge large enough to sit down on it and rest. It just is a good distance up, confirming the estimations about size. The climb does, however, eventually bring him to where the cave starts caving inwards, so he's starting to climb more and more upside-down instead of straight up.

As much as he is able, Benjiro climbs only with the use of the cavern wall, and touches the giant only once he is forced to brace between the wall and fur to continue upwards. The ledges along the way are used to rest, glance around with the flashlight, and to check in on the Network on his phone. Reading the messages from Sadie and Walter in particular put a weight in his gut. It was a spontaneous decision to climb, but no less calculated. He will have to answer for it later.

The actual effort to climb is not so intense thanks to his strength and the ledges that provide adequate rest along the way. So once he has made it to a place where the fur slopes upward at less than a 45 degree angle from the horizon, he looks to transition carefully onto hands and knees perched on the giant mouse. Before he moves further, he looks around with his flashlight once more.

There is fur, fur and more fur, but he can discern a direction now. Assuming that the fur grows so that one would stroke it head to butt, he can now discern that the mouse lies with the nose upriver and the tail towards the sea.

Benjiro notices the alignment of the fur quite quickly being down in the thick of it literally. A moment or two thinking it over, he gathers the sense of orientation to the above world.

Keeping movement slow and tentative, he rises to stand on two feet. He shines his light towards where he assumes the tail to be and then the opposite way to try to judge which direction will take him on a shorter walk to begin.

Then, before moving either way, he turns his flashlight directly towards the ceiling of the burrow.

Whenever he touches the fur, there was the same slight ripple as before - but now that he stands in it and sinks deeper due to his full weight being on a lesser space, his feet will actually touch the mouse's skin. At this point, he's literally waist-deep in.

Walking towards the tail will definitely be easier because he won't have to go against the grain.

As his feet touch the mouse's skin, the soft rising of the body due to the intake of breath hitches for a moment, and when it continues again Benjiro feels the urge to align with it, slow down his own inhaling and exhaling to the rhythm of the mouse. At the same time, a heartbeat that is almost deafening resounds in his ears, together with a feeling of warmth, of belonging, of safety, like a mother might feel to a very young child. And he receives an echo that makes him, or used to make his preincarnation, feel safe.

Edited 2020-04-20 14:54 (UTC)

His upward attention is quickly retracted as he sinks into contact with the skin below the field of fur and the air current from the breathing of the mouse dwindles. He freezes in place until the breathing cycle continues, and as his shoulders relax, he exhales. A pause follows as that urge to slow down rises. Benjiro does not breath in...at least, not until the shock of the thunderous heartbeat startles him into a gasp in the next instant.

Rather than becoming fearful or more anxious, a very different kind of feeling overtakes him. A warmth so absolute in a way he has never experienced blankets him. It quiets the anxiety. His thoughts go still for a moment. Tears seep into his eyes as he stares off in the darkness with his flashlight lowered.

He’s safe. He knows how to hide. He knows how to mend.

A cool tear slipping down his cheek stirs him out of the stupor, and he sniffles softly as he rubs his eyes with his free hand. Whatever that had been, it was intense. It would be hard to describe later on when he reports to the other Numbered, but the knowledge and trained awareness left in its wake give him a lingering sense of security.

More aware of his body, he realizes now his breathing is trending unnecessarily slower. Tapping two fingers together quietly to get the rhythm of seconds into a physical sensory, he cues mentally to switch his breath in or out every three seconds. He keeps tapping until he has collected his thoughts enough to focus on the task at hand.

Surveying the way that follows the fur, he elects to travel that route with steps kept silent and tentative. He can always climb again after circling to the head from the cavern floor if he finds nothing else unusual on his travel towards the tail.

Edited 2020-04-20 17:40 (UTC)

There is nothing unusual on his path to the tail, just more fur the ripples that go through it every time he sets down a foot.

So long as the rippling from his steps does not increase in intensity or frequency of the rippling reaction, he keeps his pace slow and steady. Along the way, Benjiro keeps a running total of strides in his head to track an approximate distance while heading towards the tail and thus the bay.

As he makes his way, he also turns his flashlight upward at regular intervals to check the ceiling for any signs of openings or questionable cracks.

By the time that he reaches the tail, he's standing under the Channel - not too far in, but the tail continues outwards. Apparently this specific mouse prefers to sleep stretched out instead of curling up.

Coming to a halt as the fur starts to slope more precariously downward, Benjiro peers down and sees the tail trailing. A look around at the back end is confirmation as he recognizes the relatively lower slopes as familiar to seeing Bunsen stretch out on his belly at home.

Looks like he might follow the tail from here. To do that, he has to get down, so he searches for a ledge he might be able to jump to along the cavern wall down lower or to the sides.

He'll find one, and getting down won't be an issue. There's less space between wall and tail than there is between the wall and the rest of the mouse, but there's still space enough for Ben to walk.

Finding the right sort of ledge, he makes his jump easily and scales down to the floor of the cavern. Once back on the floor, he adjusts his duffle bag to bring it in closer when he realizes how much less space there is around the tail. It strikes him as odd that the cavern appears almost molded around the mouse. The tunnel it had come here through could have collapsed, and yet, the tail has ideal space. So long as there is no need to move at least.

Once again tracking distance with minor adjustments for a smaller stride in less space, he follows the tail.

Edited 2020-04-20 18:25 (UTC)

The tail goes on for a WHILE, and the tunnel continues to appear like it's perfectly moulded around it. Eventually, that means that Ben will have to duck as he walks because the tunnel becomes lower, the curve of it ...curvier.

He is not well suited for small spaces, but the teenager will duck or crawl as far as he can safely in hopes of at least shining his light at the end of the tail and whatever may be at the tip around the curvature.

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I'll send in the NPC next tag

Thank you <3

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