Post by Campion on Mar 9, 2007 13:30:37 GMT -5
Author's Note: Yes, I've decided to come back and post my most recent story, even though this does not mean I am free from my computer ban. Although, I couldn't help but notice that the forum is as lively as ever and I wish you all good luck with whatever you may need it for.
A slight breeze stirred the air atop the cliffs where Campion stood, a large mansion at his back. He stood on a porch overlooking the entire city below, night showing its true splendor as lights flickered and shown in the darkness. Overhead a full moon peeked from behind the clouds, only to be swallowed up again and leave a quiet blanket of darkness to fall over the land below. Refracted light emitted from the backyard pool, the gently rippling water illuminated with a soft glow which crept over Campion’s robed back as he stared out into the night and lifted his chin slightly as to let the breeze curl soothingly around his neck.
Soft footsteps approached, a shadowed figure slowly rounding the pool edge, staring thoughtfully into its depths. Then he turned and walked toward the railing, finally resting beside Campion and leaning forward heavily upon the iron rail. The soft wind mused with the fox’s dull coat of orange fur, disturbing it ever so slightly.
The two stayed this way for a minute or so, admiring the view, until the fox tilted his head slightly toward Campion. “Nice night to be out here.”
Campion did not speak, nor move any one bit. He simply continued to stare out across the city.
The fox looked over at him in anticipation, waiting for a reply, but when it never came, he spoke up again. “If you want, we can go inside and pull out a movie. Rent somethin’ new.”
At this, Campion turned his head towards the fox, their eyes locking together. “Urano. You ever get the feeling that you could’ve been something more, something so much better?”
Urano reached out and wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulders as he looked back out to the lighted city below. “Oh, Campion. Don’t think such things. Your life is just fine as it is. There are so many others that can only dream of living like you.”
Urano stood holding Campion’s shed robe as the draconic form which once occupied it slid away to the pool side, kneeling down beside the water.
“Oh yes, I know. But just think, ‘what else could’ve I been?’ ‘What else could I have done?’”
He twirled a finger in the temperate water as Urano set the robe down and turned around to face the pool. He was greeted with a muted splash as Campion’s slick form dove gracefully beneath the water’s surface.
Only a few seconds had passed until Campion’s head broke the surface in the center of the pool, smiling playfully up at Urano who was standing at the pool’s edge.
There was something so intriguing about aquatic dragons; so beautiful. Perhaps it was their grace, their ability to appear so perfect in a not-so-perfect situation. But this beauty was only magnified when one witnessed a being such as Campion. He did, indeed, seem to be such a flawless creation, as if he radiated splendor itself.
His form was trim and fit, a slender body of perfect proportions and seemingly pure muscle. This is the body that most aquatic dragons are gifted with, and a body that most other species could never even hope to achieve.
The water running down Campion's green-hued skin and dripping from his long horns glistened with a soft light that appeared to give his face a sort of godly stature, fitting for such a magnificent creature.
The longer Urano stared, the more he appreciated how lucky he was to be so personally close to such a thing. In fact, he started to realize that every move or action of these dragons always seemed to be so smooth and well executed. It seemed with Campion, though, that he was always levelheaded, never known to become raged or mournful. These were some things Urano admired in Campion.
Standing at the pool edge, he couldn't help but smile back at that endearing yet teasing face that belonged to such a marvelous creature of finesse which Urano thought he had known so well.
"Campion… Campion…"
A solid shaft of sunlight blinded Campion the moment he opened his eyes to a new day, causing him to immediately shut them again and roll over, falling back asleep.
"Hey, wake up…"
At this he opened his eyes again and looked up to see Urano standing above him, next to the bed. Once he saw that Campion was conscious, he held out a telephone.
"Phone call for you."
As Campion slowly reached out and took hold of the phone, Urano slipped out of the room and gently closed the door behind himself. Sitting up in his bed, Campion held the phone near his ear and answered with a questioning 'Hello?'. Across the line came a pleasant-toned voice.
"Hey, Camp? It's Kit here."
"Oh. Uh, hey?"
"You have any plans for today?"
"Not… really… No, I don't."
"Okay, well, I know this is real short notice, but I was planning a caving trip with a buddy this afternoon at about one-thirty. He… had to pull out, so now I'm scrambling to find someone to go with. You up for it?"
"Caving?" asked Campion, confused as to what such a thing was.
"Yeah, caving. You know, the underground network of caverns and the such, carved out by ancient, underground rivers. I've gotten a personal guide arranged, so it shouldn't be too dangerous."
"Well, what do I have to lose? Sure, I'll come. When are you picking me up?"
"One in the afternoon."
"Okay, got'cha. See ya then."
Upon turning off the phone, Campion sat on the side of his bed and looked over at his alarm clock. Twelve-thirty? Kit was coming to pick him up at one!
Scrambling to get himself ready, Campion didn't even bother to put on any clothes. Truth is, the only reason anyone would ever wear such garments was to stay warm, but it was a hot summer this year, so clothes didn't have much need.
As he got ready to bound out the bedroom door, Campion reached toward a bundle of black straps and grabbed them off the hook, this being the only piece of attire he actually 'did' wear. It was a tail harness, a series of straps that secured the movements of his tail while still giving it the liberty to move around. This harness wrapped around his body just above the hips and slid down onto his groin, joining together to wrap under between his legs. There were also two supporting straps which ran horizontal across the thighs.
When Campion came stumbling into the bathroom, he had already equipped the harness to himself and stood up to look in the mirror, making a slight face of surprise and raising a hand to his throat.
Why was he wearing his collar? He must've fallen asleep in it, but then again, he didn't remember having it on when he got into bed… Oh well, he didn't mind wearing it anyways, so he just decided to leave the plain, black collar on.
After playfully splashing some water on his face and arms, Campion hurried back out into the upstairs hallway over to the stairs and with energy to spare, jumped onto the stair railing and slid down the polished, wooden surface on his feet, hopping off at the last moment before he would fall off the bottom.
Now that he was downstairs, it was time to go find Urano and let him know where he was going…
The forty-five minutes it had taken to arrive at Hydrod Caves had passed almost in the blink of an eye. But then again, Kit's manner of reckless driving did indeed most likely shave off a few minutes on their arrival.
Before he had left, Campion was having a hard time convincing Urano that this trip would be safe enough and that he shan't worry. But yet no matter how many words of reassurance he could express, Urano seemed to possess an eternal doubt. Finally he had given way under Campion's persistent begging. In fact, Urano's finally agreeing was most likely only influenced by whom exactly Kit was.
Upon having the thought pass through his mind the exact moment he and Kit were stepping out of the car, Campion realized how long he had known the other and vice versa. No, they weren't really childhood friends, but early in adulthood was when they had met.
Kit was, strangely, a wolf, although, the name 'Kit' was usually used as a general nickname for the young of the fox species. Simply speaking of his name in conversation would confuse the majority of listeners, for such a traditional name of one species being carried to another was of very rare event. Though, if one looked upon this wolf and knew him well enough, they would understand why he is who he is.
Coats of white or gray were common amongst the wolves of their country, migrating down from the northern provinces. Even the occasional timber or black wolf would show up here or there. But even more uncommon was an offspring born bestowing a natural coat of rusty-orange fur, comparing somewhat similar to that of a fox's.
There was a legend of old that told of these rare offspring being prophets of their species, sent by the Sluker Konge himself in times of great peril or desperate need. Though in these modern times, no such perils or dangers have arisen for some time, therefore the legends were reduced to mere fairy tales.
Now it was not merely his coat color that had given Kit his unusual name. Ever since birth he had always been a nimble fellow, always enjoying the occasional climb or trial to show off his speed and agility. In fact, it was at a rave party when Campion had first met Kit, who had taken the dance floor with his outrageous style of dancing and slick moves. Although this was some time before Campion had taken up a job with Urano at his club, he had actually joined Kit on the dance floor, a crowd of half-drunken minors cheering the two on. Oh, what a time that was.
It was also known that young foxes would often surpass even their agile parents, outrunning and out jumping them. Although, these traits often gave them a stereotype of being mischief-makers or thieves, which many more as a percentage in their species were.
So thus Kit's exceedingly impressive nimbleness, along with his rare, rusty-orange coat of fur, had truly earned him his name.
Campion had slowly put on his climbing equipment, inspecting every aspect of it. This was indeed something he didn't expect. A full safety tutorial was given before they could depart into the depths of the caves.
Kit's eyes were beaming as Campion turned towards him, obviously frightened.
"I had no clue that this was what you meant by 'caving'…"
Just mere feet in front of them, the cliff they stood on dropped sharply off with no bottom in sight. Even when they had shined their spotlight down into the pit, the beam simply appeared to be swallowed whole into the never-ending darkness. The distant roar of rushing water seemed to give Campion some kind of reassurance, letting him know that at least the pit wasn't bottomless. He turned once again to Kit.
"So there's running water here… I thought you said it had dried up?"
Kit simply chuckled as their guide answered without moving her head. "Why do ya think they call it the Hydrod Caves? I hope you realized that the word 'hydro' is in it."
The guide seemed a bit touchy to Campion, not exactly the most tolerant tigress he'd ever met. It wasn't very surprising that she, also, was one of nimble character. Although it did strike him odd that such a creature native to open air could actually not mind being down in these depths. Her once vibrant coat of striped-orange fur had become one of a lusterless, dusty color from all the time spent in this abyss of darkness.
They passed under rigid ceilings of stalactites and across crumbling, wooden bridges, weaved around stalagmites and through narrow passageways, sometimes in which you had to crawl on your hands and knees to squeeze just barely through.
They hadn't even come upon their first descent, yet, but Campion could feel it nearing, a sense of dread grew inside of him without even realizing it. Then when he glanced over at Kit as they passed over a narrow arch, the other's face seemed to glow in the darkness with excited anticipation.
Oh how Campion did regret this, but he chose to look at it as another experience in his life, no matter how frightening or dreadful it may be.
The cold was getting thick; all air surrounding them stirred not one bit. Musty scents filled Campion's nostrils as they awaited Kit to complete his descent. This was their first cliff wall to descend, first the guide, then Campion, and lastly Kit. They walked on, deeper yet.
Darkness is fear itself, spawning dread in even the strongest of minds. Now Campion's mind wasn't exactly the 'strongest', or even close for that matter. But then again, it wasn't weak, either. It was because of this that Campion felt a terrible anxiety deep down in those caves, a fear that something terrible was going to happen. He knew it was all in his mind, but isn't a mind the most powerful influence of your thoughts and actions? Imagination is another catalyst of our deepest fears, and this is something Campion had in surplus.
Kit turned to Campion as they walked along a narrow cliff pass hugging the wall. Upon seeing him lagging behind, he called out some encouraging words then stood for a few seconds to let him catch up. "Come on, we're almost to a resting point, Camp!"
Taking a few short leaps to catch up, Campion tried to smile over at the other. "Sorry, I'm just… a little anxious-!"
A thunderous crack filled the cavern, leaving Campion teetering on the edge of a crumbling rock face. Acting out of instinct, Kit shot his hand out and grabbed the first thing he could, which happened to be Campion's snout.
As the caving guide hurriedly stumbled over to help, Kit attempted hoisting the other up, grabbing his horn, but the ground beneath Campion's feet was already almost gone, fallen into the depths of the pit he struggled to get away from.
One last sighing snap echoed off the damp walls, causing Kit to release Campion's horn and snout from fear of falling himself. The guide was already down on her stomach, reaching down with a sure hand as Campion struggled to keep a grip on a rocky outcropping.
"Hold on tight with one hand and reach up to me with the other!" she yelled down at him. But Campion was too fazed, his heart seemed to stop and only panic filled his mind. The guide's voice was lost to him as his hand slipped further and further off the outcropping. Finally a single word penetrated his panicked thoughts. 'Reach'.
Campion's hand suddenly shot out towards the guide's, but they only brushed as the rock outcropping had given way just a split-second before. But as their hands simply touched, their eyes met, too.
Looking directly into each other's eyes, Campion saw something beautiful in this tigress, but before he could even think about what it was, two words echoed in his mind. 'Good luck'.
As he continued to plummet into the darkness, Kit could be heard screaming Campion's name in horror.
It was an endless amount of time that Campion stayed floating in the still air, plunging downward, ever downward. But yet, he soon found himself suspended in a roaring, raging substance. His head broke the surface and found that he could breath again. But this didn't last long; the underground stream was narrowing, leaving no air pocket to breath from.
Campion helplessly scratched at the lowering ceiling, but being unable to stop himself, his head was submerged and the water current became even more violent, throwing him into a rapid tailspin as his arms and legs were skinned bloody from hitting the rock walls.
This nightmare continued when all of a sudden there was no more water, but instead only air. Campion opened his eyes quickly and saw a large body of water rushing up to meet him.
A large splash broke the surface of the underground lake, a deafening waterfall pouring nearly out of the ceiling. A body helplessly crawled up onto the rocky water edge, coughing up murky water and bleeding all over from cuts and scratches. Finally Campion simply fell limp onto his side, excess water streaming down his face. Or were those tears? He was crying, his sobbing could be heard over even the thundering waterfall. But his weeping was instantly silenced as two cold hands clasped over his shoulders.
A slight breeze stirred the air atop the cliffs where Campion stood, a large mansion at his back. He stood on a porch overlooking the entire city below, night showing its true splendor as lights flickered and shown in the darkness. Overhead a full moon peeked from behind the clouds, only to be swallowed up again and leave a quiet blanket of darkness to fall over the land below. Refracted light emitted from the backyard pool, the gently rippling water illuminated with a soft glow which crept over Campion’s robed back as he stared out into the night and lifted his chin slightly as to let the breeze curl soothingly around his neck.
Soft footsteps approached, a shadowed figure slowly rounding the pool edge, staring thoughtfully into its depths. Then he turned and walked toward the railing, finally resting beside Campion and leaning forward heavily upon the iron rail. The soft wind mused with the fox’s dull coat of orange fur, disturbing it ever so slightly.
The two stayed this way for a minute or so, admiring the view, until the fox tilted his head slightly toward Campion. “Nice night to be out here.”
Campion did not speak, nor move any one bit. He simply continued to stare out across the city.
The fox looked over at him in anticipation, waiting for a reply, but when it never came, he spoke up again. “If you want, we can go inside and pull out a movie. Rent somethin’ new.”
At this, Campion turned his head towards the fox, their eyes locking together. “Urano. You ever get the feeling that you could’ve been something more, something so much better?”
Urano reached out and wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulders as he looked back out to the lighted city below. “Oh, Campion. Don’t think such things. Your life is just fine as it is. There are so many others that can only dream of living like you.”
Urano stood holding Campion’s shed robe as the draconic form which once occupied it slid away to the pool side, kneeling down beside the water.
“Oh yes, I know. But just think, ‘what else could’ve I been?’ ‘What else could I have done?’”
He twirled a finger in the temperate water as Urano set the robe down and turned around to face the pool. He was greeted with a muted splash as Campion’s slick form dove gracefully beneath the water’s surface.
Only a few seconds had passed until Campion’s head broke the surface in the center of the pool, smiling playfully up at Urano who was standing at the pool’s edge.
There was something so intriguing about aquatic dragons; so beautiful. Perhaps it was their grace, their ability to appear so perfect in a not-so-perfect situation. But this beauty was only magnified when one witnessed a being such as Campion. He did, indeed, seem to be such a flawless creation, as if he radiated splendor itself.
His form was trim and fit, a slender body of perfect proportions and seemingly pure muscle. This is the body that most aquatic dragons are gifted with, and a body that most other species could never even hope to achieve.
The water running down Campion's green-hued skin and dripping from his long horns glistened with a soft light that appeared to give his face a sort of godly stature, fitting for such a magnificent creature.
The longer Urano stared, the more he appreciated how lucky he was to be so personally close to such a thing. In fact, he started to realize that every move or action of these dragons always seemed to be so smooth and well executed. It seemed with Campion, though, that he was always levelheaded, never known to become raged or mournful. These were some things Urano admired in Campion.
Standing at the pool edge, he couldn't help but smile back at that endearing yet teasing face that belonged to such a marvelous creature of finesse which Urano thought he had known so well.
* * *
"Campion… Campion…"
A solid shaft of sunlight blinded Campion the moment he opened his eyes to a new day, causing him to immediately shut them again and roll over, falling back asleep.
"Hey, wake up…"
At this he opened his eyes again and looked up to see Urano standing above him, next to the bed. Once he saw that Campion was conscious, he held out a telephone.
"Phone call for you."
As Campion slowly reached out and took hold of the phone, Urano slipped out of the room and gently closed the door behind himself. Sitting up in his bed, Campion held the phone near his ear and answered with a questioning 'Hello?'. Across the line came a pleasant-toned voice.
"Hey, Camp? It's Kit here."
"Oh. Uh, hey?"
"You have any plans for today?"
"Not… really… No, I don't."
"Okay, well, I know this is real short notice, but I was planning a caving trip with a buddy this afternoon at about one-thirty. He… had to pull out, so now I'm scrambling to find someone to go with. You up for it?"
"Caving?" asked Campion, confused as to what such a thing was.
"Yeah, caving. You know, the underground network of caverns and the such, carved out by ancient, underground rivers. I've gotten a personal guide arranged, so it shouldn't be too dangerous."
"Well, what do I have to lose? Sure, I'll come. When are you picking me up?"
"One in the afternoon."
"Okay, got'cha. See ya then."
Upon turning off the phone, Campion sat on the side of his bed and looked over at his alarm clock. Twelve-thirty? Kit was coming to pick him up at one!
Scrambling to get himself ready, Campion didn't even bother to put on any clothes. Truth is, the only reason anyone would ever wear such garments was to stay warm, but it was a hot summer this year, so clothes didn't have much need.
As he got ready to bound out the bedroom door, Campion reached toward a bundle of black straps and grabbed them off the hook, this being the only piece of attire he actually 'did' wear. It was a tail harness, a series of straps that secured the movements of his tail while still giving it the liberty to move around. This harness wrapped around his body just above the hips and slid down onto his groin, joining together to wrap under between his legs. There were also two supporting straps which ran horizontal across the thighs.
When Campion came stumbling into the bathroom, he had already equipped the harness to himself and stood up to look in the mirror, making a slight face of surprise and raising a hand to his throat.
Why was he wearing his collar? He must've fallen asleep in it, but then again, he didn't remember having it on when he got into bed… Oh well, he didn't mind wearing it anyways, so he just decided to leave the plain, black collar on.
After playfully splashing some water on his face and arms, Campion hurried back out into the upstairs hallway over to the stairs and with energy to spare, jumped onto the stair railing and slid down the polished, wooden surface on his feet, hopping off at the last moment before he would fall off the bottom.
Now that he was downstairs, it was time to go find Urano and let him know where he was going…
* * *
The forty-five minutes it had taken to arrive at Hydrod Caves had passed almost in the blink of an eye. But then again, Kit's manner of reckless driving did indeed most likely shave off a few minutes on their arrival.
Before he had left, Campion was having a hard time convincing Urano that this trip would be safe enough and that he shan't worry. But yet no matter how many words of reassurance he could express, Urano seemed to possess an eternal doubt. Finally he had given way under Campion's persistent begging. In fact, Urano's finally agreeing was most likely only influenced by whom exactly Kit was.
Upon having the thought pass through his mind the exact moment he and Kit were stepping out of the car, Campion realized how long he had known the other and vice versa. No, they weren't really childhood friends, but early in adulthood was when they had met.
Kit was, strangely, a wolf, although, the name 'Kit' was usually used as a general nickname for the young of the fox species. Simply speaking of his name in conversation would confuse the majority of listeners, for such a traditional name of one species being carried to another was of very rare event. Though, if one looked upon this wolf and knew him well enough, they would understand why he is who he is.
Coats of white or gray were common amongst the wolves of their country, migrating down from the northern provinces. Even the occasional timber or black wolf would show up here or there. But even more uncommon was an offspring born bestowing a natural coat of rusty-orange fur, comparing somewhat similar to that of a fox's.
There was a legend of old that told of these rare offspring being prophets of their species, sent by the Sluker Konge himself in times of great peril or desperate need. Though in these modern times, no such perils or dangers have arisen for some time, therefore the legends were reduced to mere fairy tales.
Now it was not merely his coat color that had given Kit his unusual name. Ever since birth he had always been a nimble fellow, always enjoying the occasional climb or trial to show off his speed and agility. In fact, it was at a rave party when Campion had first met Kit, who had taken the dance floor with his outrageous style of dancing and slick moves. Although this was some time before Campion had taken up a job with Urano at his club, he had actually joined Kit on the dance floor, a crowd of half-drunken minors cheering the two on. Oh, what a time that was.
It was also known that young foxes would often surpass even their agile parents, outrunning and out jumping them. Although, these traits often gave them a stereotype of being mischief-makers or thieves, which many more as a percentage in their species were.
So thus Kit's exceedingly impressive nimbleness, along with his rare, rusty-orange coat of fur, had truly earned him his name.
Campion had slowly put on his climbing equipment, inspecting every aspect of it. This was indeed something he didn't expect. A full safety tutorial was given before they could depart into the depths of the caves.
Kit's eyes were beaming as Campion turned towards him, obviously frightened.
"I had no clue that this was what you meant by 'caving'…"
Just mere feet in front of them, the cliff they stood on dropped sharply off with no bottom in sight. Even when they had shined their spotlight down into the pit, the beam simply appeared to be swallowed whole into the never-ending darkness. The distant roar of rushing water seemed to give Campion some kind of reassurance, letting him know that at least the pit wasn't bottomless. He turned once again to Kit.
"So there's running water here… I thought you said it had dried up?"
Kit simply chuckled as their guide answered without moving her head. "Why do ya think they call it the Hydrod Caves? I hope you realized that the word 'hydro' is in it."
The guide seemed a bit touchy to Campion, not exactly the most tolerant tigress he'd ever met. It wasn't very surprising that she, also, was one of nimble character. Although it did strike him odd that such a creature native to open air could actually not mind being down in these depths. Her once vibrant coat of striped-orange fur had become one of a lusterless, dusty color from all the time spent in this abyss of darkness.
They passed under rigid ceilings of stalactites and across crumbling, wooden bridges, weaved around stalagmites and through narrow passageways, sometimes in which you had to crawl on your hands and knees to squeeze just barely through.
They hadn't even come upon their first descent, yet, but Campion could feel it nearing, a sense of dread grew inside of him without even realizing it. Then when he glanced over at Kit as they passed over a narrow arch, the other's face seemed to glow in the darkness with excited anticipation.
Oh how Campion did regret this, but he chose to look at it as another experience in his life, no matter how frightening or dreadful it may be.
* * *
The cold was getting thick; all air surrounding them stirred not one bit. Musty scents filled Campion's nostrils as they awaited Kit to complete his descent. This was their first cliff wall to descend, first the guide, then Campion, and lastly Kit. They walked on, deeper yet.
Darkness is fear itself, spawning dread in even the strongest of minds. Now Campion's mind wasn't exactly the 'strongest', or even close for that matter. But then again, it wasn't weak, either. It was because of this that Campion felt a terrible anxiety deep down in those caves, a fear that something terrible was going to happen. He knew it was all in his mind, but isn't a mind the most powerful influence of your thoughts and actions? Imagination is another catalyst of our deepest fears, and this is something Campion had in surplus.
Kit turned to Campion as they walked along a narrow cliff pass hugging the wall. Upon seeing him lagging behind, he called out some encouraging words then stood for a few seconds to let him catch up. "Come on, we're almost to a resting point, Camp!"
Taking a few short leaps to catch up, Campion tried to smile over at the other. "Sorry, I'm just… a little anxious-!"
A thunderous crack filled the cavern, leaving Campion teetering on the edge of a crumbling rock face. Acting out of instinct, Kit shot his hand out and grabbed the first thing he could, which happened to be Campion's snout.
As the caving guide hurriedly stumbled over to help, Kit attempted hoisting the other up, grabbing his horn, but the ground beneath Campion's feet was already almost gone, fallen into the depths of the pit he struggled to get away from.
One last sighing snap echoed off the damp walls, causing Kit to release Campion's horn and snout from fear of falling himself. The guide was already down on her stomach, reaching down with a sure hand as Campion struggled to keep a grip on a rocky outcropping.
"Hold on tight with one hand and reach up to me with the other!" she yelled down at him. But Campion was too fazed, his heart seemed to stop and only panic filled his mind. The guide's voice was lost to him as his hand slipped further and further off the outcropping. Finally a single word penetrated his panicked thoughts. 'Reach'.
Campion's hand suddenly shot out towards the guide's, but they only brushed as the rock outcropping had given way just a split-second before. But as their hands simply touched, their eyes met, too.
Looking directly into each other's eyes, Campion saw something beautiful in this tigress, but before he could even think about what it was, two words echoed in his mind. 'Good luck'.
As he continued to plummet into the darkness, Kit could be heard screaming Campion's name in horror.
It was an endless amount of time that Campion stayed floating in the still air, plunging downward, ever downward. But yet, he soon found himself suspended in a roaring, raging substance. His head broke the surface and found that he could breath again. But this didn't last long; the underground stream was narrowing, leaving no air pocket to breath from.
Campion helplessly scratched at the lowering ceiling, but being unable to stop himself, his head was submerged and the water current became even more violent, throwing him into a rapid tailspin as his arms and legs were skinned bloody from hitting the rock walls.
This nightmare continued when all of a sudden there was no more water, but instead only air. Campion opened his eyes quickly and saw a large body of water rushing up to meet him.
A large splash broke the surface of the underground lake, a deafening waterfall pouring nearly out of the ceiling. A body helplessly crawled up onto the rocky water edge, coughing up murky water and bleeding all over from cuts and scratches. Finally Campion simply fell limp onto his side, excess water streaming down his face. Or were those tears? He was crying, his sobbing could be heard over even the thundering waterfall. But his weeping was instantly silenced as two cold hands clasped over his shoulders.
, lol