The Night Is Rising // O/O // Closed

"I… guess. Unless you think we should stay in the Jeep?" Ana shook her head and answered her own question. "No, nevermind. It probably doesn't do well in the sand, plus we might get sand in our eyes. And that would suck. We'll just have to go the slow way." She stopped the car and parked it off near the lake, but out of immediate sight of the road, and unbuckled, hopping out. Her sneakers hit the sandy ground, and she pursed her lips, before grabbing some of the knives from Endor, the map, and some candy.

Laurel noticed that Ana grabbed some candy and grinned. Some snacks would make this trek more enjoyable, that was for sure. She shoved some candy into her pocket and grabbed her knives. The lake looked pretty big and she really didn't want to walk all the way around it. Still, how else were they supposed to find the weapons? "Does the map pinpoint any specific location, or just, 'the lake'?" Laurel glanced at Ana for a second, then went back to staring at the lake. Something glimmered a little ways off the shore, making Laurel's heart jump. Was that the weapon? She took a step towards the water, half-convinced it was just the sunlight reflecting off the water. It probably was, but there was something that seemed to be telling her it wasn't just the sun. "What's that?"

"I think it just says the lake." Ana glanced at the map. "Yeah, just the lake." She glanced at the wide expanse of water and shivered. "Doesn't look very fun. We have a lot of ground to cover. And no boat."
She unwrapped a mint and popped it into her mouth. She was instantly on alert at Laurel's tone of voice. She strained her eyes to see. "What's what?" She didn't see anything. "What is it?"
And then she saw the strange light on the water. "I think… we should probably check that out. What do you think?"

"Great." Laurel took several steps towards the weird glimmer. "Yeah, it's our best lead. How nice would it be if that was what we were looking for, though? Then we can avoid walking around the lake and all that." She reached the edge of the water and frowned at the glimmer. The water was distorting it too much to see what exactly it was, but it did look like it was metallic. Maybe it was just some junk someone had thrown in, or maybe it was the weapon. She couldn't tell at all. "Does that look like what we're looking for?" Laurel crouched down, hoping a different view would reveal what it was. It did not, just showed her a different distorted image. "Hmph. Are we going to have to go swimming?" She stuck one hand in the water to test the temperature. It was pretty chilly, not something– Laurel frowned, trying to pull her hand out of the water again. There was something weird about the water, almost like it had grabbed her. "Uh… Ana, I think I'm stuck." She tried again with the same result. The water suddenly jerked her forward an inch or two, almost making her topple into the water. "Agh! What is happening?"

"W- oh shit!" Ana watched in horror as the water tried to drag Laurel into itself? What on earth was happening? This wasn't something water did… right? It freaked her out more than she would ever admit, and she stood frozen for a moment. She had been so startled that she swallowed her mint whole, and choked, until it forced itself down her throat, leaving a burning trail of pain behind it.
She reached out her hand to grab Laurel, trying to pull her away from the evil water.

Looking at all the other weird things that happened to her, getting dragged into a lake by the lake shouldn't have been too surprising. Still, it was unsettling. She heard Ana exclaim in surprise, and then it sounded like she choked on something. Laurel managed to tear her eyes away from the water and looked back at Ana. She didn't look like she was dying, which was good. The water tugged her forward another inch and Laurel let out a yell, grabbing Ana's outstretched arm in an effort to not get pulled into the water. "What is–" At that moment, the water seemed to stop playing around. Laurel's hand shot forward, causing her to lose her balance and topple into the water. "Cold!" She yelled, unable to focus on anything else at the moment. The water dragged her deeper, Laurel struggling to keep her head above the water. After a second, she realized she was still holding onto Ana and let go. She may have been doomed, but that didn't mean Ana had to be. The thing holding onto her hand pulled her down again. Laurel had just enough time to pull in one last breath before the water closed over her head.

Laurel seemed to be struggling with something when the water dragged her down even further, and then she let go of Ana's hand.
Ana just stood there for a moment, a horrified look on her face. Why had Laurel done that? Was she really that useless of a person, that she couldn't even pull someone out of the water?!!
Gritting her teeth, she made up her mind. She wasn't going to abandon Laurel just because she was afraid. She never left people behind, if she could help it.
Taking a deep breath, she dove in after Laurel.

The water pulled Laurel deeper into the lake. She fought to keep from screaming and wasting precious oxygen, but she didn't need to worry. A few seconds after the water closed over her head, the water all around her was replaced by air. Instead of being pulled by something, Laurel was now falling through pitch black. The only thing she could think of was that there was some sort of portal under the water, though that was ridiculous. Laurel looked around wildly, the wind snatching at her wet clothes and rushing through her short hair. From above her, a sudden splashing sounded, almost like someone had jumped into a pool. Laurel managed to look towards the sound to briefly see a spot of light. Had Ana followed her? Why had she done that? Laurel had let go so Ana wouldn't be dragged into who knows where! It made her feel a little happy that Ana wouldn't abandon her, but at the same time… Laurel's thoughts were interrupted when she hit water again. Falling into water from that height should have felt more like smacking into concrete, yet it didn't hurt at all. She surfaced and started treading water, then looked up. Unfortunately, the light that had appeared was gone, and there was nothing but black above her. All she could do now was hope Ana was also magically stopped from splating onto the surface of the water– or her, too.

Ana felt the water closing over her, and fought against the panic that was rapidly growing inside her. Fuckfuckfuck, she thought. She was running out of air, and her heart was pounding so hard it hurt, like it would bounce out of her chest, breaking all her ribs in the process.
To top it off, she had lost sight of Laurel.
So she was having a great time.
And then suddenly the water turned into air, and she was falling. She could only manage a relieved breath before she smacked into more water. The water this time didn't pull her down, and with a few hard strokes, she broke the surface of the water, coughing.
She glanced around, treading water. She had lost her shoes somewhere, and her wet clothes were pulling her down. She spotted Laurel treading water a few yards away and felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She stroked over. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Laurel heard a splash near her and let out a breath, turning towards the sound. Hopefully, that was Ana falling painlessly into the water and not her dying. A few seconds later, Ana broke the surface and started moving towards her.
"Yeah. I mean, besides all this craziness," Laurel waved at the water and weird underwater cave they were in, "I'm good. What about you?" She gave Ana a concerned look, then decided she should be looking for a way out, not at her friend. Laurel spun a little in the water, looking for something that was not water. In the distance behind her, she saw something glowing slightly, and maybe something that looked like a beach? She couldn't be sure, but it was better than just treading water until they got tired and drowned. "Does that look like land? I think that looks like land." Laurel waved one hand towards the weird glowing light, then started swimming towards it. "Come on, maybe that will lead us out of here." She couldn't wait to get out of the water– her clothes were dragging her down and she was getting very cold.

"I'm fine," Ana said, although her voice stumbled slightly, from her chattering teeth. "It's not warm here, that's for sure."
She stroked after Laurel, doing her best to keep kicking, although her legs felt like lead. "I hope that's land," she said. "Or else I will die here. And I really don't want to die by drowning." She couldn't feel or see the bottom, and that made her worried. Down there, deep down, there might be something, some sort of creature, slowly swimming up from the black depths, reaching out it's tentacles or whatever to grasp her legs and pull her down, down, down-
She swore and swam a little faster, heart beating fast. She hated the water.

"Yeah," Laurel agreed. The glowing thing got closer and closer, and Laurel was becoming almost 100% sure that it was land. The land itself didn't seem to be glowing, but something on it. She swam a bit quicker, not wanting to stay in the freezing water anymore. After a few more seconds of swimming, Laurel felt something under her feet. They were still a little ways away from the land, but a few seconds proved that the floor of the pool had risen enough to touch. Laurel stood, finding the water was coming up to her chest now. She waded forward, each step bringing her more and more out of the water. "Oh, thank the gods," she sighed in relief, glancing over at Ana. "Now we just have to hope there's a way out." Laurel shook her head and emerged completely from the water. The beach was mostly little pebbles mixed in with some sand. The only source of light was the glowing thing, which seemed to a column of something.

When the ground rose up enough for Ana to touch, she felt like a weight had fallen from her shoulders. She still felt worried and panicky, but the fear was lessened. You're such a coward, she told herself sternly. She surged through the water to catch up with Laurel, and they made their way onto the land together.
"I agree," she said, shivering slightly. "Do you think this is where the weapon is?" With a panic, she realized that she had forgotten about her daggers, and checked her jacket. The knives were still there, which was lucky, but at least they came to her when she called, if she lost them.

"I don't know. Sure looks like it." Laurel frowned and wrapped her arms around herself. All thoughts except for the weapon were totally gone from her mind. She carefully approached the column, half-expecting something to jump out at her. But nothing did. As Laurel got closer, it became clear that the column was made of some sort of glowing white stone. She reached out to touch the column, which in hindsight was obviously not a good idea. The moment her fingers connected with the stone– it was freezing cold, almost like ice– a burst of power shot through the column, flinging Laurel back like a doll. She tumbled onto the smooth stones, flat on her back, feeling rather faint. The energy– or power or whatever it was– had coursed through her, leaving behind a slightly tingly feeling. "Um…" Laurel struggled into a sitting position and stared at the stone, still glowing brightly and looking annoyingly innocent. "So, don't touch that." She coughed and shook her head. Nothing hurt too much, but as she stood, her legs felt a little wobbly.

Ana was opening her mouth to say something about how strange it was down here, when there was a burst of light, and Laurel was flung back onto the ground. Forgetting anything she was about to say, Ana rushed over, concerned. "Are you okay?" She asked. She maded sure Laurel wasn't injured before letting her get to her feet. "What was that?" She asked, looking at the column suspisciously.

"Heh, yeah. I think so." Laurel shook out her hands and glared at the stone. "I have no idea. Maybe we should look for something else. I don't think this is what we're looking for." Laurel made to start walking away from the stone, but a shout made her turn right back around.
"Wait, don't go!" A figure suddenly stepped from the stone. It was barely there at first but soon grew to be almost completely solid. Laurel frowned, then gasped.
"Alina?" She exclaimed, staring at the so-called queen. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, you two managed to find the first weapon." Alina smiled brightly. "I'm very proud."
"What about the– did you have to zap me?" Laurel asked, crossing her arms angrily.
"Sorry about that," Alina said, not really looking that remorseful. "But the stone had to make sure you were the correct person. And you are, which was why I was able to appear. Look!" Alina waved at the stone behind her. Laurel looked at it and found that the white of the stone had turned almost completely translucent. Floating in the center of it was something that looked a bit like a staff.

When Alina appeared, Ana stiffened. She hadn't trusted the woman then, and she sure wasn't gonna trust her now. She almost pulled out one of the knives from Endor, and then realized that it would probably do no good against her. She chose to scowl at the woman instead.
"Oh, the stone had to make sure she was the correct person? Then why are you here?" She snapped, not even glancing at the staff that seemed to be floating in the now clear column.

"Well, yes. It was protecting me. I got… summoned, I guess." Alina shrugged. "Only the right person would be able to do that, and Laurel was the right person." She smiled widely at Laurel.
"Right. So are you going to give us some wisdom and tell us a cool fact, or are you just going to float there?" Laurel asked, not very impressed with Alina at the moment. "And is that the weapon we're looking for?" She nodded towards the floating thing.
"I'll give you some wisdom, not to worry. And yes." Alina turned towards the stone and rested a hand on it. Her gaze was almost longing as she stared at the staff. "This is one half of the weapon. Come. Grab it!" She turned back to the pair, eyes eager. Laurel wasn't very excited to touch the stone again. And Alina being so excited for her to grab it made her even more hesitent. She glanced over at Ana to see what she would do.

Ana didn't want to see Alina, but she didn't really have a choice. One of the woman's words made her consider something, though. Alina had said that "only the right person would be able to do that, and Laurel was the right person." Did that mean Laurel was the "chosen one" or some other bullshit like that? If so, Ana was relieved. She didn't want to be anyone special, and Laurel need something powerful to protect her.
At Laurel's look, she smiled slightly. "Do you want me to grab it?" She asked.

"I…" Laurel looked back at Alina, whose expression had turned from excited to slightly nervous. "I think it'll be fine. Since Alina is already here, it probably won't hurt me anymore." She smiled at her friend and stepped up to the stone. With how Alina's expression changed, she guessed something bad might happen to Ana if she tried to grab it. She didn't want to be the reason Ana got hurt. Laurel slowly reached towards the staff, taking a quick breath before letting her fingers brush against the stone. Except they didn't. Instead, they went right through like the stone was simply an illusion. Laurel gasped in surprise, her fingers wrapping around what must be some sort of metal. Alina let out a little sigh.
"Finally. Finally," She breathed. Laurel glanced over at her, then tugged the weapon out of the stone.
"What is this supposed to do? Are we just going to have to whack the monsters on the head with it?" The staff was surprisingly light, but didn't appear to be anything other than pretty.

"Finally, finally." That woman unnerved Ana. Somehow, she didn't think that Alina was just helping them out with pure motives.
There was something in her look that Ana didn't like.
She gazed at the staff. It didn't appear to be much, although she knew that sometimes, the most deadly weapons - or people - looked pure and innocent. But this staff… she couldn't feel any power coming from it, and so she wasn't sure what it would do. "No, since it's a magical weapon, there's sure to be some really useful thing it does." She said this in a dry voice, sending Alina a mocking look. "Maybe it's a boomerang?"

"It is not a boomerang," Alina grumbled, looking very annoyed that Ana had come up with that idea. "It's missing a part. The part that makes it powerful."
"So we really are going to be hitting the monsters with this?" Laurel twirled the staff around a few times, feeling rather let down. After everything that they'd had to go through to get here, the staff wasn't even complete?
"The stone– the thing that makes that staff dangerous– isn't far from here," Alina said, nodding into the darkness around them. "Just go that way and you'll find a way out. From there, your map should be able to tell you where to go."
"Wonderful. Another treasure hunt." Laurel looked over at Ana. "I guess we should go get that." She shot Alina a rather annoyed look. "Thanks for all your help, by the way. It's been really awesome." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Of course. Because it would be too easy to just let us have the whole weapon, wouldn't it?" Ana asked, rolling her eyes. From the look that Laurel sent her, it was clear that the other girl felt the same way she did about the over-complicatedness of the quest.
As they started off to look for the other part of the weapon, Ana spoke. "Do you think that there will be more than two parts that we'll have to find?" She asked. Her voice was filled with annoyance. "Why do you think that they're making us do all of these complicated searchings when they could just give the weapons to us, like Endor did with the knives? It would be so much easier, and waste so much less time."

"Hmm. Based on how this has been going so far, the weapon probably has about seven thousand more parts we'll have to find. We'll probably have to spend the rest of our lives looking for all the parts." Laural squinted into the darkness Alina had pointed her towards. "Honestly, I don't know. You'd think, if they wanted us to do something and help them, they would make it slightly easier for us." Laurel reached the end of the light and stopped. "Um… should we hold hands or something to make sure we don't get lost in the darkness?" She glanced over at Ana. Laurel was getting tired of all the uncertainty and sketchy places they had to walk into. Ana was right. Why couldn't it be easier?

"Hah. Imagine things being easy." Ana laughed shortly. It had barely been a day since they had found out about the Shadow King, and yet the quest for finding the weapons were already incredibly difficult and overly complicated. She was not happy about this. She needed a nap.
She felt a strange twinge at Laurel's question, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure, why not. I don't want to lose sight of you again." She sent the girl beside her a crooked half smile.

"I wish I could," Laurel grumbled, throwing an annoyed glance back towards where Alina was. "Oh, good. Me neither." Laurel returned Ana's smile and reached out to grab Ana's hand. It was nice, holding her hand. Very comfortable, and very– she shook her head slightly. Focus was needed for this quest, and focus on where she was going. Not on Ana's hand. The darkness closed in around them, making Laurel feel very uncomfortable. She couldn't see anything. There might have been one of those shadow monsters right next to her and she wouldn't be able to see. Laurel unconsciously squeezed Ana's hand to reassure herself that she wasn't alone. The more they walked, the more nervous she got. Would the darkness ever end, or had Alina tricked them? Finally, she saw a sliver of light ahead of them. "Oh, thank everything." Laurel let out a breath and quickened her pace.

"It would have to be somewhere in the middle of the dark," Analaya observed dryly. While she wasn't afraid of the dark, this darkness was thick and unfriendly… not the kind she'd prefer to walk in during a nightly stroll. She returned Laurel's squeeze, and hurried faster towards the light.
"And of course, we wouldn't have anyone to help us, and no tools except for a few daggers," she said, a sneer evident in her voice. When she was freaked out, it came out in sarcasm and mocking words.

Laurel nodded in agreement, then realized that Ana wouldn't be able to see her and hummed as well. As they got closer to the light, Laurel saw that it wasn't a doorway or an exit, but a strange rectangle of white. "This is not an exit. How are we supposed to leave?" She stopped in front of it, let out a sigh of annoyance, and kicked the thing. It felt like stone, which probably meant Alina had lied to them. Laurel didn't get the chance to complain to Ana, however, because the next second they both appeared on the shore of the lake, right where they'd entered. Laurel blinked in confusion and glanced around, but it really seemed like they were out. "That… that was a weird way to get out."

"And we don't even have the other part of the staff," Ana said, voice tinged with annoyance. She let Laurel's hand go, not letting herself think about how cold she felt without the contact, and looked around, scanning the area. "Nothing seems to be the matter," she said doubtfully. She pulled out a knife just the same, feeling the heavy weight in her palm, how welcome it was, how much more secure she felt because of a piece of metal. And because of Laurel, her brain said, before she shoved the thought away.

"Yeah, unfortunately." Laurel kicked at the ground, giving the staff in her hand an accusing glare. "Yeah… whoever made that thing needs to put a better explanation about how to get out. I'm uncomfortable now." She glanced over at Ana when the other let go of her hand, slightly disappointed. But she understood. Fighting things would be hard if they were holding hands. "Um… how are we supposed to know where the other part of the staff is? Will it be on the map like this place was?"