Prompt: Draw or write your Reosean performing tasks that involve strength to help free the Matriarch. This could be moving supplies between teams, mining a closer path to the surface from her cavern, or attempting to break the wall she in encased in with whatever you find. This process will not be painless for her.
Featured Reoseans:
Ethel 13478
A22: Kinosa
Naros 14587
Just here for the CP:
Mendras 16720
By FourDayz and Renya06
A distant cry for help that remained too long unheard, sparked a deep rumble that echoed throughout the Beneath.
Elsewhere, its repercussion could be felt as reoseans of all shapes and sizes made their way towards the Caregiver's cavern.
---
"What's going on?" Naros' green eyes widened at the sudden commotion happening around their little group, "... Should we help?" As his companions seemed as nonplussed as he was, the pink puller stopped a green and orange calico headian that was passing by, asking him what all this excitement was about. After introducing himself as Cailu, the newcomer began to explain the situation; he spoke of the Elder's recent declaration, urging that all who were able should lend their efforts to free the Matriarch from her crystal prison.
“Is there anything we can do?” Ethel asked after Cailu’s extremely brief explanation.
“Yes, yes! Come. I will put you to work immediately.” Cailu began leading them to their new worksite. Every creature of every species rushed all around them. Tyrians and winged humanoids flitted around the caverns carrying building materials and supplies on their backs. Runners sprinted up and down the halls with messages in their jaws and as the drew closer to the Matriach’s cavern, carts filled with fractured crystals passed them. Operations were already on the way.
The rumbling started again but this time they were standing in front of the Matriarch’s cavern. The sound was so loud Cailu was nearly shouting to be heard. “You’re going to be doing a lot of lifting so take your time and mind your backs! We don’t have enough earmuffs to go around at the moment so just bear with the noise for now. The process is unfortunately very painful for her. Oh, and keep your ears open in case someone’s calling for you!”
He handed a harness to each one of them and once they were strapped up tight, they stepped inside. Scaffolding was scattered around the Matriarch and people worked tirelessly to hack away at the wall of crystal. There was so much to get through, the task looked nearly impossible. Cailu lead them to the side where a set of stairs led them to the cavern’s bottom floor. There were the carts they had passed by. Cailu stopped here and the Matriarch’s pained cries died down, finally giving their ears a break.
“You can either mine or help keep the work area clear of crystals. Both sides are in need of extra paws. It’s up to you.”
Mendras had already made up his mind. He knew next to nothing about mining and would likely cause the Matriarch more pain but what of Ethel? There must be something she could do—
“I’ll haul.” Ethel said, interrupting his thoughts. Mendras opened his mouth and earned a sharp look from Ethel. He continued anyway.
“Not to be rude but, those carts look heavier than you!”
“I don’t need to only pull carts to help.” She said with an eyeroll. “I’m sure there are other tasks.”
“Indeed there are.” Cailu chuckled. “Those carts will need someone to make sure the crystals don’t fall on their journey out. And you Naros? Have you decided?”
Up on her perch, high above the crowd, Kinosa observed the comings and goings with an eagerness that betrayed her interest. She couldn't even pretend to be nonchalant about this anymore. Not only had the headians been found after being missing for ages, but now they were attempting to release the Matriarch as well? Her heart raced - this was going far beyond anything she could have anticipated.
She couldn't use her powers for the extraction itself. After all, there weren't any shadows inside the rocky cliff for her to warp to, and trying to warp the cliff itself, well... the poor headian had already suffered enough without adding missing limbs to the mix.
Getting the debris out, however? That, she could do. Before she had a chance to change her mind and reconsider the fact that she was going to have to socialize, she dove through her own shadow.
---
"I might be a bit on the short side, but I'm still a puller!" said Naros to Cailu's question, chest puffed out, "Just hook me to a cart and I'll-" a furry blur of gray and purple interrupted his speech as it seemingly appeared out of thin air, causing Naros to scream bloody murder.
"Oh relax, you oaf," Kinosa rolled her eyes at the pink puller, who was still howling, "I'm here to help."
“NAROS! RELAX!” Mendras barked but couldn’t be heard over the shrieking. Cailu shoved his tail into his mouth, muffling the sound and saving their ears. He calmed down quickly.
“You’re louder than the Matriarch herself!” Mendras muttered. He resisted a glance in her direction. He could feel her eyeless gaze on them.
Ethel tried to ignore them and addressed the newcomer. “I’m sorry, what did you say? Who are you?”
She kept her fur from bristling through sheer willpower, but her long tail betrayed her anxiety, twitching back and forth with a life of its own. "I said he's an idiot, and who I am doesn't matter." Objectively, she knew what she was getting into, but engaging with others still felt daunting.
Naros stammered her name unintelligibly around a mouthful of tail. Now convinced he wouldn't start screeching again, Cailu cautiously released Naros, silently swiping his tail on the ground in a bid to wipe away any trace of slobber.
"Kinosa!" Naros reiterated, spitting fur. "Please give a guy a warning. My heart can't handle this." Unconsciously sticking close to her only source of solace, she ignored him from where she stood mere inches away. "What are you all looking at? Let's get a move on! Those rocks aren't going to move themselves, now are they?" Kinosa said with a smile that suggested a joke that she knew only she would understand.
Kinosa trotted over to the closest cart. Maros followed along with the rest of the group.
“In terms of clumsiness, think she’ll be better or worse than Naros?” Mendras whispered to Ethel as they walked.
“Oh, hush and be nice!” She replied and shoved him in the shoulder.
Caliu was hooking Naros up to the cart when he gave his final set of instructions. “You just need to take the carts out of this cavern and down the hall. Someone else will do the rest. Any questions?”
The group shook their heads. Caliu helped Mendras with his harness and left them to do the rest.
Being too small and frankly uninterested in physical labor, the purple chaser trotted beside their group, unburdened.
"Kinosa," Naros sighed, "didn't you say you were going to help out?" He struggled to pull his cart over a bump in the road, while Kinosa merely strode past it with a smug saunter. "Who says I'm not?" she answered with a toothy grin.
The hall was winding and uneven, but fortunately not that long. Another team, with carry-on bags, was waiting for them to fly the debris back to the surface. Even though both carts had left the wall with a similar load, for some reason, when they unloaded their cargo, Naros' pile was noticeably larger. He quirked his head quizically at the piles; his partner sat beside him, the picture of clueless innocence.
“There’s just no end to them!” Ethel huffed. She took a moment to catch her breath before going back to the corner of the Naro’s cart she somehow couldn’t clear.
“Hold on, how exactly are you helping?” Mendras narrowed his eyes at Kinosa as Ethel continued pulling chunk after giant chunk of crystal and rock out of the cart. “This is magic right? How.”
“Mendras!” Ethel hissed.
“I’m not trying to be rude,” Mendras explained though his tone said otherwise. “I’m just curious.”
She looked confused, "Magic? What do you mean? Whirl just brought more than you did. Are you that insecure that you feel the need to accuse me?" she said, looking offended on the puller's behalf.
'Please,' she thought, confident, 'I've been playing this game longer than all of you brats combined have been alive.'
“I am NOT—huh?” Mendras growled then stopped abruptly. He heard a click and felt the straps fall to the ground. Ethel had leaned over and unhooked him.
“Help me.” She stated and gave him a look that said or else.
Mendras climbed into the cart without glancing at Kinosa. He didn’t need to see her face to know that she would keep up her innocent facade.