--- Kat ---

Kat and Lily glanced around the area they were in. It was a broken down room with holes in the ceiling that showed they were underground, and the rocks on the ground that had fallen through those holes just confirmed things. The room was otherwise pretty empty so it was hard to say what it had been used for before. Kat glanced down at her wrist somewhat worriedly, but it was still mostly full. *Ok, so I didn’t forget to refill this morning... then where...*

[The arena!]

*Oh, yes of course! I suppose it’s about time something like this happened to us. We’ve lost a bunch of people and it’s been like a week or so, and we’re just now fighting? I suppose we managed to dodge some bullets, quite a lot if you consider the fact that Hedera hasn’t fought yet either... actually wait. What if we ARE fighting Hedera?*

[Can that happen?]

*I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t. The only rule about who we can and can’t fight was that they have to still be in the tournament and that they can’t be on our team, and for all that we’ve been spending a lot more time with Hedera than Green, she’s not actually on our team.*

[Ah... that’s a decent point I suppose. Hopefully we don’t have to fight her...]

*Eh... I’m not sure it would actually be a bad thing. One of us could just forfeit and then go fill up our bracelets again at the barrel. It’s not like it would even be a setback, more of a minor inconvenience.*

[Guess that’s-] Lily’s thought was cut off when an explosion detonated somewhere nearby, it didn’t hurt but it did shake the ground. More dust fell from the ceiling and a few smaller rocks fell through the cracks in the roof even as Kat moved to stand over Lily with her wings flared. The few that fell down and bounced off Kat wouldn’t have hurt anyway... but it was an automatic reaction.

*Shit. Do we want to stay here? Was that explosion part of the scenery or someone else actively trying to get us to move?*

[Why wouldn’t you just assume it’s our competitor or maybe their Timmy running around with explosives?]

*Because the explosion, while loud, wasn’t exactly close to us and it certainly didn’t hurt...* Kat winced as another explosion went off... though this one was even further away. The room barely shook, with most of the evidence that something happened being the few bits of dirt that fell from the holes in the ceiling. Kat frowned at the floor. *That’s... hmm... further away? Why though?*

[I’m not sure either. I wouldn’t have thought that Thyme would set up an arena with regular explosions... but maybe they got through all of the more normal arenas already and there’s some hidden rule about not re-using them? Or like, an agreement with some third party not to do so?]

*It’s certainly possible. Makes it harder to know if it’s the right call to leave though. We seem safe enough here and honestly, I’d rather force whoever is coming to fight us into close range. Neither of us have good long distance attacks and we can both manage to escape should the whole place collapse on us.*

[I agree... but maybe we should see just HOW deep we are? I’m not sure how deep we want to be, but if we’re fighting someone with Earth magic then we don’t want to be too far down. Taking to the skies would be much better in that scenario.]

Kat nodded and started to glance around the room once again. Lily hopped into her arms after a moment and Kat smiled. She wasn’t going to directly ask... but she felt better knowing Lily was safe and the pair of them could work together to shield each other from whatever might come. A third explosion rocked the area, but they just ignored it and kept looking around.

The holes in the ceiling were the first place they checked but the only traces of light they could find where the enchanted lamps on the walls. Despite the large chunks now on the floor, they didn’t carve away enough dirt and rock to reveal the surface. Another explosion rang out while they were looking up, and Kat needed to place a hand over her face to avoid some rocks but it was fine in the end.

The next thing they checked was the two ’exits’. One of them was clearly not worth their time, a door that had been long destroyed with gravel pouring in from the bottom of the door, showing that it was caved in. The second wasn’t any better, once they opened it up there was just a bunch of rocks... though there were some gaps in the rocks. Hard to tell if it lead anywhere else, but the gaps at least were real.

Kat was considering her water transformation to explore the cracks when another, much closer explosion went off. The blast impacted them strongly, even if it still wasn’t enough to really hurt. The wave of pressure shook the whole room and more of the ceiling started to collapse. Multiple large chunks fell down, cracking the floor and the blocked doors had more rubble spilling from them to fill in more space.

Kat was only able to remain on her feet due to her tail, and even then, a few pieces of the ceiling had fallen down on her head, cracking on her horns and doing minimal if any damage... but it made the explosions a much greater worry then before. They hadn’t really been ’getting closer’ in any sort of predictable pattern, but the fact the explosion had gone off nearby meant there was reason to be worried.

*Targeted? Or simply random? Actually, do you think our competitor is similarly stuck in some sort of room underground? We thought they were doing this at the start... but that means they’d have to escape and start blowing things up?*

[Unless the first explosion WAS them getting themselves out of their room? Not sure what the rest of them would be though. Still we can’t stick around and worry. If the roof collapses just because we took too long escape is going to become a pain.]

Kat gave a silent acknowledgement as Lily leapt from her arms to tackle the areas along the ground while Kat looked for hidden switches at waist height. Lily found an answer to their problems first... but it was not a great one. Behind one of the fallen rocks that had been in place at the start of the fight, was a tunnel leading somewhere. The problem was the size. Kat could fit sure... but only just barely and her horns meant she’d need to be looking downwards. Her wings would barely fit even pressed against her back... it wouldn’t be a good time.

Transforming was an option though, and Kat was willing to follow Lily along the tunnel. Her smaller size meant that it was no issue... except for the fact that it was a small tunnel in arena filled with bombs. If something went off while they were in the tunnel Lily would have to protect herself, and teleporting out might be an issue. Lily had never tested her teleport at even moderate ranges, and if the tunnel collapsed that might be a necessity.

Another explosion rang out and Kat listened warily. It was further away then the most recent one, dirt and stones still fell to the ground alongside a bit of shaking... but it wasn’t so close as to be worried the newly found tunnel would break under the strain.

*Let’s go.* Ordered Kat with a grimace. She didn’t want to take the chance but the fact of the matter was, this place was falling apart and there was only one exit. Even if they wanted to hide underground this place clearly wasn’t the best one for them to use and the longer they sat around waiting the higher chance there was that the whole ceiling just came down on top of them.

Ultimately, there wasn’t any other choice. Even if it did put Lily in more danger then she’d like. The question was then, did Kat move ahead first, making sure that the tunnel was clear... or did Lily move first so that her shadows would have the most area to work with. If Kat’s water was taking up half the tunnel, that was a lot of space Lily couldn’t access.

In the end, Lily moved first, so it was no longer in Kat’s hands. It was still nerve wracking for the pair of them. The explosions continued and dust fell from the much, much smaller ceiling. Nothing blocked their path though, even as the pair crawled onwards. The main challenge came from reaching a nearly vertical shaft up towards the light. A normal person would struggle to make the climb, but for Kat and Lily it was a simple matter. They just had to hope that surfacing wouldn’t immediately see them face to face with more issues.