Hikari nodded slightly. "Alright..." she said in that same soft voice, trying to keep it from echoing off of the walls. She just tightened her grip on him a little, trying to ignore the pain in her leg. She knew he was doing the best that he could to avoid it, and also knew that his arm probably didn't feel much better. She would make sure that she did what she could to heal it for him or at least bandage it if the others weren't too seriously injured...if there were any others. After hearing the echoing crack she guessed something else must have been down here with them. This place was a little too dark for her and the rock formations were a bit creepy...she hated to think of anything else that could be down here.

Nanashi waited until LaRae had a firm hold on him before digging the claws of his other hand into the wood and starting to haul the both of them up. He move his tail around LaRae, trying to coil it around her the best that he could to keep her in place while he climbed. His ear twitched when he heard Kyran say his name and looked up into his face. He just continued climbing slowly. He was almost out of the opening when his foot slipped and he gasped, latching onto the root even more tightly before he regained his footing. The bottom of his shoes were worn down so much that they were almost too slick for trying to climb anything. "Hold on..." He muttered to LaRae before continuing up. He looked at Kyran as he climbed out of the hole, looking rather beat. "G-get her..." He muttered. He wanted to make sure that LaRae was off of him and to where she wouldn't fall in again before he tried to get off of this root.

Nero didn't say anything else to her while he walked; He preferred the quiet so he could think. Especially by the off chance what they both seemed to have heard was something unfriendly. Luckily for Nero though, he was able to see a little better in the dark then most other types of dragons. He only used the purple flame to expand the radius of his vision. He walked rather quickly even with extra weight on him; It was pretty clear he had done this before. In fact he did it a lot with members of his clan; Everytime they went out on a mission or a training mission and someone was hurt, Nero would be the one chosen to carry the other. He was usually the strongest of the bunch. Perhaps this is even why the whole clan present at the meeting was so happy when Nero was chosen. Nero was always willing to do what was needed for the mission and his comrades. It would just take longer for these new comrades to earn his trust; That is if he didn't kill them all first. He came to a stop, somewhat of a fork in the road. The cavern kept going straight and then it branched off to the right seeming to go on for awhile. He looked up at the crack; seeing the light. It went both ways so something else, or someone was down the right side. He sighed and his ears twitched just before he decided to continue going straight. That was the way he had heard the echoing noise from before. He could aways come back and check the other route if need be.

Kyran's eyes widened slightly seeing Nanashi climbing out of the hole with LaRae in tow. His tail uncurled and flicked slightly when he heard Nanashi tell him to grab LaRae. He stepped closer, slightly and his tail shot over to LaRae and wrapped itself around her waist tightly; Not enough to hurt her of course. He took her away from Nanashi with a little trouble, she wouldn't let go of him right away. It wasn't until she opened her eyes and acknowledged Kyran that she released Nanashi's waist. Kyran had very little trouble holding LaRae up with his tail alone, he rarely uncurled his tail so no one would've known the strength he held in his tail alone. He moved his tail, and LaRae behind him; Holding her out away from the hole as he reached down with his hands and grabbed Nanashi by the back of his coat and pulled him off the root. Nanashi wasn't nearly as lite at LaRae so he had to set him down a good distance from the hole. He then set LaRae down softly a few feet from Nanashi. His tail immediately curled back up as he stepped closer to her, seeing just how badly she'd been injured. He noticed the makeshift tourniquet she made, clearly from her pants leg considering she was now missing a leg to her jeans. Her wings also looked a little mangled. He knelt down and reached out to touch one of her wings but brought his hand back as soon as she cried out in pain. "..."

LaRae winced as she was set down on the ground. She was happy to finally be out of the cavern and was starting to open her eyes again to look around but was cut off by Kyran touching her wing. She cried out in pain just from his touch. It must have been clear at this point that the bones in her wings were shattered in several places. Once Kyran pulled his hand away she started to open her eyes again, her vision was blurred from the tears that swelled in her eyes.

Hikari looked around silently, letting her eyes wander down the other path for a moment and then back ahead of them. She was glad that they hadn't seen any of the others down here, but that also worried her a bit. She still wondered what that noise had been before. "...This place is huge..." she muttered quietly. She looked back over to Nero for a moment and tilted her head. "...Do you know where we're going?" she asked in that same quiet voice. A moment later her ears twitched at the sound of something shifting about and screeching of to the side. She turned her head and looked up to see several sets of gleaming eyes staring back toward her for only a few seconds before a whole swarm of bats decided to take off, flying straight toward them as they headed for a different area of the cave. Hikari's eyes widened and she screamed, latching onto Nero's neck so tightly that she may have been choking him as she tried to bury her head in her arm.

Nanashi's started to climb again as soon as LaRae released him, then his eyes widened when he felt himself being lifted out of the hole as well. As soon as he was on the ground he turned around to look at LaRae. "Thank you..." he said to Kyran, though his voice was so quiet that he wasn't even sure Kyran heard him. His ears laid back when LaRae cried out ofter being touched and he moved over to her side, gently placing his hand on her shoulder as he looked back at her wings. "...They're broken..." he said quietly. His eyes wandered back to her face again and he moved his hand to her cheek, gently running his thumb under eye. At least now that he'd gotten to know LaRae a bit, he didn't act so much like a brainless idiot around her. He at least seemed to know more what he was doing, though... he wasn't too sure what he could do about this.

Nero had continued to walk a steady pace trying to follow the ringing in his ears from the sound before. He really thought that might be a way out. He stopped abruptly and gasped for air when he felt Hikari tighten her grip around his neck after she screamed. He released his good hand around her leg and lifted it up to her arms and began to pry them away from his neck; In hopes of loosening her grip. He coughed hard as soon as the air filtered back into his lungs. He replaced his hand under her leg to keep her from falling and stood still for a moment to catch his breath. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the ground "...They were just bats..." He muttered coughing again. "Your a dragon... they are more afraid of you then you should be of them..." He started to walk again, a little more slowly this time. He wasn't exactly sure where they were going, but he was going to try and follow the sound he heard before; Though now his ears were ringing with the scream from Hikari. It'd be impossible for him to remember the other sound now.

Kyran stood up and walked closer to the hole and peered in once more; He was looking to see if anyone else was down there. He couldn't tell and sighed heavily shifting his eyes up to the sky. He hated the fact that something like this happened, he had not planned any course of action for this type of situation. If LaRae was in this bad of shape he could only imagine how the others would be. He half wondered if he should send someone down to go look for them; And if he did who would he send? Himself most likely. He turned and looked over his shoulder at Nanashi and LaRae, then sighed. "Since they're broken we'll have to take her somewhere for some treatment. Her wings will need to be looked at and probably braced and wrapped... depending on the extent of the damage" He paused and glanced down the hole again. "Hikari could probably help her a little, but we don't have how badly she or the others are injured... We'll have to wait and see..."

LaRae shut her eyes and turned her head away from Nanashi. She was glad that he was concerned about her, but at the same time she was upset. She knew she'd eventually hit rock bottom and end up six feet under; So seeing him this concerned at just broken wings and a cut up leg made her feel bad. She sighed hearing everything that Kyran had said, she half wanted to just cut the wings off. It would take way too long for them to heal naturally, not to mention she'd be in pain while they healed. She opened her eyes slowly and happened to see Aamori off in the distance a little, she was hunched over and looked to be asleep. LaRae closed her eyes again taking a deep breath. "..."

Hikari loosened her grip on him once she felt him pulling at her arms. She shuddered and looked over to him, her ears laying back when he started coughing. "...I'm sorry...." she whispered in a tiny voice. She really hated bats... especially in the dark flying right at her. She laid her head down again, trying to keep quiet now after she was pretty sure she'd shattered the poor guy's ear drum with that high pitched shriek of hers.

Nanashi sighed when LaRae turned her head away and sighed softly, lowering his hand. He looked back to Kyran for a moment and then back down to LaRae's leg. "...We don't even know where the others are..." he pointed out, looking back toward the gap. After a moment he sighed and looked back to LaRae again with those worried eyes while she was looking off toward Aamori. "...Does it hurt too bad?" he asked softly. He was about ready to go back down and see if he could find Hikari and the others himself though...he was half afraid that he would find Nero, and then he wouldn't know what to do with him. That guy even half dead would probably scare the begeebus out of him.

Nero continued to walk, staring to speed up again once his breathing regulated. "Don't be" He muttered just as he looked down at the ground and caught glimpse of what looked like a tree root. He stopped and knelt down, moving his tail with the purple flame closer to it so he could see better. Considering the state of disrepair the ground was in he was surprised to see such a healthy looking growth. It was all too clear that the earthen brat had been here. He shifted his glance, his eyes following the root. He couldn't see where it went completely; But based on this branch of the root the base of it must have been huge. He stood back up straight and started to follow the root that was woven into the ground; He suspected that following it would lead to the base of the root and then up to the surface.

Kyran smiled softly looking over at Nanashi "Don't worry, I'll give them another few minutes and then I'll head down myself and look for them" He was the leader in this territory after all, it was the least he could do. Though it was also in his nature to help others in need, and clearly there were others in need. Not to mention the sooner everyone was found, the faster they could all receive some medical treatment. He looked over at LaRae, his smile faded "Nanashi, when I do go after the others; Stay with LaRae and keep an eye on Aamori" He thought this was all self explanatory but something about reiterating the obvious made him feel better.

LaRae opened her eyes slowly when she heard Nanashi ask a question. She didn't bother moving her head, she sighed and replied "...Not too bad" Of course she was lying. Everything hurt. Her wings especially. She was sore all over, and numb in the one leg. The tourniquet she made with a strip of her jeans had not made the bleeding stop completely in her leg. The strip was saturated already, but she wasn't loosing terrible amounts of blood anymore. The cuts were deep, more like gouges and could easily become infected if not already. She sighed and shifted her head so that she could stare up at the sky.

Hikari smiled weakly when Nero told her not to be sorry. Well at least he seemed to be trying to be a little nice. She just closed her eyes again and rested her head down against his shoulder and her arm again. A few moments later she opened her eyes and watched the ground go by beneath them. It took her a moment to notice the root, but she raised her head again when she spotted it. Where they under the forest? No these weren't connected to trees and she kinda thought they were going in the wrong direction for that. LaRae must have been down here as well. She bit her lip silently, looking ahead of them again. She hoped that she was alright. She was already not feeling well. The bandage on her leg was soaked through with blood, and she knew that her leg was torn open pretty badly since the only reason she'd kept falling after she got hunt was that her skin tore away. She was going to have to unbandage this and try to clean all of the dirt and grit from the rocks out of it, too after she got everyone else taken care of.

Nanashi looked up to Kyran when he spoke and nodded when he told him to stay with LaRae, "I planned to." He said softly. He glanced over toward Aamori for a moment and then back to LaRae when she answered his question. He could tell that she was lying, but he stayed quiet. He just gently put his hand on her shoulder again and very gently rubbed his fingers around in tiny circles. He wasn't sure if that would help anything, actually he doubted it, but he was just trying to comfort her a little while they waited.

Nero finally came to a stop at what appeared to be the source of the roots he was following. It was an extremely large intertwined set of roots that looked to shoot up to the sky. At least from where he was standing. By the sheer size of the base he could only imagine how much energy was needed to create such a thing. He just stared at it, partially dumbfounded. His tail flicked about which caught his attention as the flame started to go out. There appeared to be a larger opening at the top which produced a bit more light to see. He paced around the base of the root, stopping and placing his hand on it for a moment, checking it's stability. "Looks like that earthen couldn't wait to get out..." He muttered as he looked up towards the opening debating how he wanted to get out of here.

Kyran chuckled softly "I didn't think you would leave her..." He looked down the hole one last time before he turned, shifting his glance to Nanashi "Now don't go running off anywhere with her while I'm gone" He smirked and stepped off the edge of the hole and fell purposely. He stuck a clawed hand out and grabbed hold of the root to stop him from falling too fast and then started to climb down carefully.

LaRae didn't move her head but her eyes shifted to look at the hand Nanashi had placed on her shoulder. She was surprised she could still feel her own shoulder, let alone his touch. The pain from her wings was starting to spread over her upper back and to her neck. Though the fact that she wasn't moving very much helped her hide the fact she was in excruciating pain. Her golden eyes slowly shifted to look at Nanashi, at least for a moment. Her mind was in the worst possible of places and she wasn't even sure she meant anything she was going to say. "...You shouldn't get too attached to me Nanashi..." She mumbled before turning her head away from him again.

Hikari looked at the roots for a moment and blinked. "...Wow... no kidding... But then...I can't say that I blame her." she said softy. A few moments later her ears twitched at the sound of someone coming down the root. She looked up and smiled when she realized who it was. "Kyran!" She was glad to see him, and at least he seemed unhurt. She guessed he'd never fallen in. "Is LaRae, alright?" That was the first thing that she could think to say since it was more than obvious that she'd fallen down here as well.

Nanashi gave Kyran a look as if to say 'where in the heck could I take her?' Once he was gone he just shook his head and looked back to her again with those worried eyes. His ears twitched when he heard her voice and he looked back to her, his ears laying back slightly. "...Why not?" he asked quietly, "...There are no guarantees...about anything. Even if we did not both know what we do... there is always a possibility of something happened, you never know how or when... I mean look at you now..." he said gently. He sighed and placed his hand against her cheek gently, trying to get her to look at him again. "...I...I want to enjoy it...as much as I can for as long as I can..." he said softly, "...if you will let me."

Nero looked up when he heard Hikari call out to Kyran and rolled his eyes slightly thinking to himself 'Great... here comes the hero'. He knelt down close to the ground and slid Hikari off his back. "This is as far as I carry you" He stated in his usual emotionless tone. "I can't get both of us out of here with a bum arm..." He muttered so Kyran couldn't hear him. It seemed Nero was right back to being his usual moody self and not wanting to help anyone. He stepped away from Hikari, taking a few steps closer to the root. He intended to try and climb out on his own, using his one good arm.

Kyran looked down when he heard Hikari and let go of the root. Letting himself drop down to the ground below instantly. His knee's bent just as he hit the bottom to absorb the fall. He stood up straight ignoring Nero for the time being and moving over to Hikari. He looked her over once; Seeing she was hurt too. "Are you alright?" He asked ignoring her own question long enough to ask his. He sighed softly and looked back up at the root for a moment. "LaRae... is... Not doing so well" He stated in a quiet tone. "Her wings are broken, and she's got a large slice in her thigh along with some minor cuts in the lower part of her leg" He paused looking back to Hikari. "I'm surprised that she has yet to pass out from the blood loss alone..."

LaRae refused to turn her head back to look at him, she knew she'd cave in if she did. He was just too nice to her; She couldn't continue accepting death if she saw the look in his eyes. Just the fact that he worried about her made her waver. She sighed heavily shutting her eyes. "...It's going to happen one way or the other..." She paused "...I'd rather not feel guilt for leaving you behind worrying over me when that happens..." She mumbled; Half wishing she had not brought herself out of that cavern. She could've just let herself bleed down there until... Why am I thinking like this...

Hikari looked at Nero when he put her down and just stayed where she was sitting. "Alright... thank you." she said again softly before Kyran got down there. She had a feeling Nero didn't want to be caught in the act of being injured or nice. When Kyran asked if she was alright, she nodded and then winced as he went on the tell her what all was wrong with LaRae. "I see...." she said quietly. "I know part of the feeling." She shook her head and started trying to push herself up, using mostly her good leg and just let the other slide up with her. She kept her wight on her good leg and took a hold of Kyran's arm with her good hand, trying to keep her balance as she looked at the root. "I will do what I can as soon as I get up there." She doubted that Kyran could carry her up either, that just looked like it would he tricky to climb while holding onto someone. This is going to be...fun...

Nanashi just sighed quietly and whined softly. It was hard enough for him to speak his mind in the first place, she certainly wasn't making it any easier. "...You're right... but... there are still things that you don't know for certain... I could go before you for all we know... nothing is completely certain... if nothing else I have learned that." He sighed and tried to make her look at him again. "...LaRae... you are the first friend that I have ever had... It's too late..." he said quietly, "...I am attached..." He held one hand to each of her cheeks and looked at her closed eye lids. "...You have nothing to feel guilty for..."

Nero was a bit surprised to hear that the earthen brat was in such a state of disrepair. Ordinarily he would have looked at that as making his job all the easier; But he preferred fighting with someone when they were at their best. So for now, the girl was safe. At least until she was better. He had nearly forgotten about his own arm, he had been more focused on finding an exit then how much it hurt. Though the pain was nothing compared to what some of the others were feeling. He sighed heavily and stepped up to the root, using his good hand he began to climb his way out of the cavern. He wouldn't have too much trouble climbing up, he would just move slowly due to lack of two good hands.

Kyran shifted his glance over his shoulder when he heard Nero start to move. Seeing as he was only heading up he turned back to Hikari who was using him as support at the moment. He smiled softly looking at her "Don't worry about trying to climb up yourself" He paused "I'll help you up, You'll just have to get on my back... That is if you don't mind the help" The climb shouldn't be that difficult even with an extra person; As long as his hands were free he figured that he could make it to the top no problems.

LaRae held her eyes shut tighter when she felt his hands to her cheeks. Even through all the pain she was in her cheeks still managed to turn a light pink color. Why did he have to be so nice to her; Why did she have to be nice to him. If she had just gone straight to the festival grounds like she was ordered, none of these feelings would be present. She was angry at herself for letting someone else in so easily, and now this could easily make her want to fight for her life; Whereas she had finally started to accept that she couldn't change the outcome. She still held her eyes shut tight, clenching her teeth. Nothing to feel guilty for? Yeah right. She felt guilty already for wanting to accept death over him.

Hikari looked over when Nero started to climb and sighed softly. Careful... She didn't say anything out loud though figuring that if she got a response at all it would be fairly hateful. After a moment she looked back over to Kyran and nodded slightly. "That...sounds good. I am not sure I can maneuver my hand well enough to climb, I could barely tie my bandage." She neglected to mention to Kyran that Nero had fixed it for her. She looked up at him almost apologetically and sighed, holding up one hand with her index finger pointing up and she twirled it in a circle, motioning for him to turn around so she could get on. She really hated having to bother the guys with carrying her, but she wasn't going to cause more problems by insisting on doing it herself and hurting herself worse when she fell because she couldn't do it.

Nanashi just looked at her silently, holding her face for a few moments longer until it became overly apparent that she wouldn't even look at him. Finally he sighed and let his hands slide away from her face and fall limply back to his lap as he lowered his eyes and then turned his head away to look toward the dirt near the crevice with those downcast eyes. He wasn't going to force her to deal with him if she didn't want to. Maybe he had the wrong impression to begin with. Hell what did he know about people anyway? Sure she was nice to him but how much did that mean to anyone besides him? He just sighed shaking his head, and looked down at his lap, noticing the edge of something red on his coat. He blinked, looking at the slowly wilting rose that LaRae had pinned to him before. he'd completely forgotten about it. He reached up and carefully pulled the pin out of the stem, holding the flower in his hand for a moment before gently laying it down in LaRae's lap. The festival was over, he didn't guess he needed it anymore.

Nero despite his injury made short time of the climbing. He slipped up once or twice while trying to keep his feet planted against the root, while moving his one hand. When he finally did reach the top of the root he climbed out and sat down on the ground a few feet away from the edge of the hole. He was breathing heavy from the climb. He lifted his knees up to his chest and rested against them holding himself up with his good arm. While the injured one lay limp at his side. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before noticing LaRae and Nanashi. He only looked for a few moments before turning his eyes away thinking to himself 'Kyran wasn't kidding when he said she was bad off'

Kyran nodded and turned around, kneeling down too. He'd wait patiently for her to get onto his back before he would start the climb. "I do have one other question Hikari" He started, in a very relaxed manor. "You two didn't happen to run into Celestine down here did you?" He paused climbing very carefully. "He fell down here too..." Kyran had not forgotten about the Wind dragon; He was worried about him considering he wasn't with Nero and Hikari, nor was he with LaRae. It was becoming more obvious that he'd have to come back down and look for the boy.

LaRae relaxed a little when she felt his hands leave her face, she was reluctant to open her eyes. She turned her head over to the side, away from Nanashi and slowly opened them. Her vision was blurred from holding her eyes shut so hard, for so long. She sighed softly and barely felt the rose that Nanashi placed in her lap. Her arm felt heavy, but she slowly moved her hand to pick up the flower. She pinched the stem between her fingers and lifted it up bringing it closer to her face so she could see it better. She stared at it for a moment, it was nearly dead. She brought the rose close to her lips, just barely touching and exhaled a breath as her finger tips glowed faintly. As she exhaled her breath the rose slowly started to come back to life. She hated seeing plants die; So she used what little magic energy was left in her body to bring the rose back to life for at least a short while longer. She then moved her arm again, reaching over to give the flower back to Nanashi; She had given it to him for a reason, and it was still his after all. Nearing closer to him with the rose still in hand her body went limp and her hand smacked against the ground; dropping the rose, she had passed out.

Hikari carefully climbed onto Kyran's back, trying to hand on tightly so that he wouldn't have to hold her up. She blinked at his question and shook her head. "Celestine is down here, too?" That alone was enough to answer the question, "...I have no seen or heard him..." she said softly, "I only saw Nero because he started walking and came over when I called him." She looked back toward the cave again and bit her lower lip. "Maybe...I should try to get up myself... he may be really hurt." she said quietly.

Nanashi's eyes wandered over to Nero when he saw him climbing out of the hole then sighed. Well at least he was alright. His ear twitched when he heard LaRae's hand hit the ground and he looked back to her quickly. "LaRae? LaRae!?" He gently pushed her arm and then looked over to the revived rose. His ears drooped and he shook his head, "That wasn't what I wanted!" he said quietly. He didn't know if using her magic was what made her pass out or if the blood loss finally got to her, but either way, he wasn't sure what he could do. He wished that he knew healing spells like Hikari did or he would be working on it already. He leaned closer to her, reaching down to put his hand to her cheek again, turning her head back to face him again. His eyes quickly darted back toward the hole again and then went to Nero. He swallowed hard and started to ask him where Hikari was, but then just closed his mouth. He couldn't bring himself to talk to Nero with out his voice cracking.

Nero couldn't help but look back over at Nanashi and LaRae when his ears twitched. He quirked a brow realizing rather quickly that she must have finally passed out. From everything that happened, and all the magic she used he was surprised that she lasted this long. He shifted his glance more so to Nanashi for a moment before opening his mouth "You should make sure she's still breathing" He muttered in an emotionless tone. He shifted his eyes over to the hole wondering what was taking Kyran so long. "Kyran's got Hikari..." He added not quite sure why he said that. Perhaps a little of Hikari's 'niceness' rubbed off on him.

Kyran continued to climb even when Hikari said they had not seen Celestine. Had she been in better health he probably would have left her to go find Celestine. He wanted to make sure she got out safely before he turned back for the other. "Don't worry Hikari, as soon as I get you to the surface Nanashi can help you out of here and I'll go right back down after Celestine" He started to slow down a little when he looked up and could see the opening of the crevasse to the surface. He sighed softly relieved to be able to see it already. It wouldn't be too much longer before they reached the top.

LaRae was still breathing, barely. It was very shallow and the rise and fall of her chest was was prolonged at each interval. She was eventually going to pass out from the blood loss, but using her magic that one last time sped up the process.

Hikari nodded slightly. "...Alright." she said softly, holding onto him tightly as he climbed, trying to make sure that she didn't slide off. She certainly didn't want to fall and end up at square one again.

Nanashi looked at Nero, his ears perking slightly when he spoke to him. He quickly turned his attention back to LaRae, leaning close to her and putting his ear near her nose. He shook his head slightly when she exhaled into his ear. He was relieved at least. "...She's breathing..." He said quietly before glancing over to Nero again. He was surprised that he spoke to him to civilly and gave him the information that he was looking for without him even gathering the courage to ask. After he told him that he looked at LaRae again before moving over closer to the opening to look down. He waited until they were close enough and then started to reach for Hikari before he was even told to. "She passed out..."

Nero sighed and leaned back letting himself drop down. He laid on his back with his knees bent up. His arm still hurt, but he was ignoring it. He'd done enough helping for today and was prepared to be himself from now on.

Kyran looked up hearing Nanashi and what he said. He was curious to know how long it was going to take considering everything. She must have had a great deal of stamina in order to hold on as long as she did. Kyran climbed up nearly to the top and waited for Hikari to take Nanashi's hand. "Nero isn't being a problem is he?" He asked rather concerned for everyone else's safety. He hated to leave Nanashi to watch over everyone while Nero was around. He sighed softly. As soon as she was off of his back he was going to drop down much like he had done before.

Nanashi shook his head in answer to Kyran's question and reached for Hikari again, getting a little closer for her. As soon as she had a hold of him and let go of Kyran he pulled her over to the side and back away from the edge. He looked back to LaRae for a moment and then over to Hikari's leg. He winced when he saw the blood and then looked away quickly.

"Thank you, Nanashi..." she said softly, looking back to Kyran for a moment. "Be careful..." she said softly before turning to scoot her way over to LaRae. She checked her breathing and pulse and then shifted close to her leg, starting at the cut on her thigh. She placed her hand over it and closed her eyes, letting her hand glow dimly as she tried to heal the wound. She worked on it for a moment before taking off her makeshift bandage and working on it until it was down to a rather ugly looking cut. She knew she was going to have to be selective if she was going to try to heal everyone. She went down to her lower leg and did the same, healing it until it wouldn't bleed anymore, or at lest unless she scratched it, but not mending it all the way. By the time she finished with that she was finished with that she was already breathing a little more heavily. This was harder to do when she was hurt herself. She looked at LaRae's wings for a moment and moved up a little, gently feeling along the bones, trying to find where they were broken.

Celestine was still laying right where he'd fallen not to far from a really pointy rock formation that he was really lucky that he'd missed. He still hadn't moved since the rocks fell and pelted him in the head. His back was covered in small rocks anywhere from pebble sized to roughly the size of a plumb. His head was bleeding just a little from where the sharp rock struck him, and the blood from his scalp showed in his jade hair. It looked worse than it was, just because the scalp tended to bleed a lot from a tiny cut, but even at that it seemed he should have woken up by now.

The problem was not the rock that had hit him now, but something that had happened when he was much younger. Ever since the war between the Wind and Earth clans his head was busted open he had problems like this. It was a surprise to him that he'd even survived that hit considering the scar on his head. Someone had apparently found him and tried to heal him before. It had worked enough to keep him alive, but he still had times were he would space out or faint for no apparently reason, or for a pretty good reason if something hit his head hard enough to rattle anything. His memory was a bit fuzzy as well when it came to long-term things.

He wouldn't be too hard to find in the darkness. His light colored hair and white clothing stood out in stark contrast to the dark rocks around him.

Kyran simply smiled when Hikari told him to be careful. He then started to climb down the root to start looking for Celestine. About half way down the root be let go and dropped to the ground much the same way he had before. He looked down the cavern realising just how dark it was; He sighed heavily and held his hand out in front of him. It glowed for only a moment and then went out with a flash; Suddenly from a cloud above the ground a bolt of lightning shot down the hole all the way to his hand. He took his other hand and rolled the bolt into a ball so he could use it as a lantern. Ordinarily he would have wanted to use more balls of lightning and have them hover around him but considering he was twenty feet underground it was impossible for him to keep more then one going; Let alone get the lightning down to him successfully every orb he would create.

He sighed softly and tossed the orb out in front of him. It floated a few feet off the ground just a few feet in front of him. He started walking forward and as he did, the orb moved with him. The light emanating from the one ball lit up everything around him in a five foot radius. He walked, mostly looking at the ground for awhile making sure not to trip and fall over the root below him. He finally came to the fork that Nero had been at earlier and stopped, looking down the road that Nero didn't take and the one where Hikari had come from. He had not asked them earlier which area's they had checked he'd end up checking everywhere. He stood debating which area to go down first and though to try calling out to him. Sound carried down here, so maybe he'd say something back? Kyran sighed softly "Hey Celestine!" He paused "Can you hear me?"

LaRae didn't move even when Hikari started to heal her wounds some. Her breathing did improve slightly which was a good sign. Though, at this point with the blood she lost her body was cold to the touch. To her, it felt like she was laying in a pool of ice water with no way to warm herself up. When Hikari had moved to her wings and began to touch them LaRae had become conscious enough to feel the pain and her body flinched.

Celestine's ear twitched slightly when Kyran called out, but otherwise he wasn't able to really respond. He was still too out of it to do anything other than make his lips part a little and then close again.

Above ground, Lani was still hovering around the area where Celestine had fallen though. She had landed on the ground and was perched near the edge of the hole. Every now and then she let out one of her shrill tries which echoed down the crevice. She knew Celestine was down there, but she didn't seem to understand why he wasn't answering her like he usually did.

Hikari's ears laid back slightly when LaRae flinched. "Sorry..." she whispered quietly though she knew that she couldn't hear her. She went back to her wings again, finding one of the breaks. She could tell by feeling that some of the bones were completely shattered; she was afraid to even try to mess with those, that needed to be handled by someone who knew better what they were doing. She did manage to find all of the breaks and carefully snapped ones that were not completely shattered back into place before concentrating hard on the bones and trying to make them mend. She could at least get them to hold themselves together so long as she was careful and didn't jar them too badly; the bones would be fragile for a while still. She was barely able to finish healing the last simply broken bone before she ran out of energy. She pulled herself back and fell over sideways gasping. She really hoped that Celestine didn't need any aid because she was completely beat.

Nanashi looked on from a slightly distance though when Hikari fell over he hurried over to her side, looking down at her with worried eyes. She gave him a small sign that she was alright before he turned his attention over to LaRae again. He gently touched her arm, quickly realizing how cold she was. He looked at her for a moment and then struggled out of his nearly thread bare coat so he could cover her with it. He knew it wouldn't do much, but it had been on him for...a while...so it was pretty warm already.

Kyran's ears twitched several times when he heard what sounded like that eagle that was following Celestine around. Since Celestine had not answered him, he thought he'd just follow the sound of the eagle and hope that lead him to the boy. He started walking again, the little orb of electricity floating just ahead of him. He started to walk faster once the shrills from the eagle started to get louder. Not too much longer and he had stumbled upon the wind dragon laid out on the ground. Kyran hurried over and knelt down beside him; the orb lowered too. He reached out and touched Celestine's shoulder and pushed on it slightly "Celestine?" He wondered if the boy had been out cold this whole time. He would continue to shake him softly trying to get a response out of him.

LaRae flinched every time Hikari snapped the bones in her wings back into place. On the last one she managed to hiss lightly at the pain just before opening her eyes a crack. She focused her vision just in time to see Nanashi covering her up. Then her head tilted to the side and she fell asleep. At least now she was conscious, she'd probably stay asleep for a while regaining her strength unless someone woke her up.

Aamori had woken up herself, not too long ago. She was awake long enough to watch from a distance the work that Hikari had done on LaRae. She climbed to her feet and slowly made her way over to everyone else. She knelt down next to Hikari with a soft smile on her face. "I wish I could heal people like that..." She paused glancing over at LaRae who appeared to be in a little less pain now. "Are you alright Hikari? You don't look too well either" She had seen Hikari's leg and worried about it, seeing as someone who could heal had not healed themselves. "...Can you heal yourself?" She questioned as she moved closer to Hikari's leg and looked at it more closely.

Celestine didn't move when Kyran started to shake him, though his ear did twitch twice. He could apparently hear him at least. At best, Kyran got a muddled, barely understandable response that almost sounded like he'd said 'dad' but at the same time sounded like nonsense. He groaned again after a moment and tried to open his eyes but only managed the make his eyelids move without actually opening. He was coming around, but slowly.

Nanashi sat still by LaRae's side and sighed softly, gently pushing her hair out of her face. He didn't try to wake her since he knew that she needed to sleep. After a moment he sighed and picked the rose up again, absently twirling the stem in his fingers. ...Silly flower... Stop wilting so she will stop trying to fix you.

Hikari looked up at Aamori, still breathing heavily. She gave her a weak smile, "I'll...be alright..." he said quietly. When she asked if she could heal herself she shook her head slightly. "...N-not...really..." she said quietly, "Not...like that..." She closed her eyes again and sighed, "J-just...give me a few...minutes..." she said tiredly. She was half ready to ask Aamori to clean the cut out for her but after seeing the way she was with her water powers, she was half afraid to ask.

Aamori smiled softly "You must be in a lot of pain..." Knowing now that the healing powers didn't work the way one might want them to she thought she might help Hikari out a little as a thanks for helping LaRae. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to clean up your wound" She paused but quickly added "Oh! Don't worry, I'll be gentle" When she said that she had thrown her hands up in front of her palms out waving them back and forth defensively as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. She could only imagine what one must think of her control of the element considering every other time she's used it. She gently dropped her hands down to Hikari's thigh, touching her gently. Her hands were almost always cold and her fingertips felt like ice; A side effect of using her magic without any actual water around her. She eyed the tightly wrapped bandage around her thigh and paused long enough to whisper a chant quietly. This one was much shorter then her usual ones, her index finger tip had a blue aura around it for a moment until a single line of water appeared at the end of her finger. Oddly enough it was so fine-tipped that it looked much like a scalpul. The water at her finger tip ran around in a circle so fast making it able to slice through some things. She slid her finger quickly over the bandage causing it to slice through to her wound; As soon as she finished cutting the bandage the water at the end of her finger broke it's form and splashed onto Hikari's leg.

"...Sorry... I can't keep the water from splashing like that.." She paused and started to gently pull the bandage from her thigh. As soon as the bandage was removed she'd prepare to clean the wound out. "Do you have anymore of these bandages Hikari?" She asked softly looking back to Hikari's face.

LaRae's ears twitched slightly when she felt her hair pushed from her face. She shifted in her sleep, rolling over onto her side facing Nanashi. She was always more comfortable on her side and half of the time she absently ended up on her side when she was sleeping. She curled her body slightly, shivering when his coat fell off of her. "Unghhnn..." She wanted to wake up, but she was way too worn out to open her eyes at the moment.

Kyran sighed hearing nothing but gibberish from Celestine. He looked the boy over once more seeing the blood at the back of his head. He reached his hand out and touched where the cut was, checking to see how bad it was. It was pretty clear that Celestine would need to have it cleaned properly and from there the cut should heal fine on it's own. At least that was what he could gather from looking at it, he wasn't a doctor so it could have been worse then he thought. "If you don't mind Celestine, I don't have time to wait for you to wake up completely" He paused and smiled softly. "I'm going to have to carry you, so don't freak out when you do wake up..." The last part he added as he imagined Celestine waking up in a sour mood to find he was being carried. Kyran gently slid his hands under the wind dragon, rolled him onto his back and then lifted him up. Kyran got to his feet and looked down at the boy in his arms and sighed softly. 'So many of them got hurt...' He thought to himself before he started to walk. He was going to head back to the root LaRae had created; Though he was going to walk a little slower on his way back. The orb he had created lifted up and moved ahead of him much as it did before. Now, while he carried Celestine he had to be more careful with the orb. If the boy awoke in a panic and touched the electric orb he'd be shocked instantly and the ball would explode.

Hikari cracked her eyes open again and smiled weakly at Aamori. "...Alright...thank you..." she said in that same tired voice. A shiver ran through her body when she felt Aamori's cold fingers on her bare skin and she closed her eyes again, letting out a quiet gasp as the bandage was cut away. The gash on her leg was full of dirt and tiny rocks where the rock had graded through her skin. As soon as the bandage was pulled away it began bleeding a little more since the pressure was taken away. It was red all around it already since the skin that hadn't actually been cut had been pretty badly scraped up.

Her ears twitched slightly when Aamori apologized for splashing her. It was cold, but she didn't mind. "It's alright..." She slowly raised her hand with a bit of effort to the pack on her belt and pulled out a roll of bandages before letting her hand drop again with the roll resting in her slightly curled fingers. "...You can...look for anything else..." she said softly giving her permission to rummage through the bag. It was full of herbs, ointments, bandages, and several other medical supplies. She'd obviously anticipated on a rough trip.

Nanashi looked at LaRae for a moment, reaching down to pull the coat over her again. He gently placed his warm hand to her cheek gently. He thought about just laying down beside her, but he wasn't so sure that would be a really good idea.

Celestine groaned quietly again when Kyran lifted him, but he only hung limply in his arms with his hair nearly dusting the ground. He apparently didn't mind, or realize, that he was being carried at the moment. He'd only gasped quietly in pain when Kyran had rolled him over since his entire side was sore from where he'd slammed into the ledge before falling the rest of the way to the ground.

Nearly halfway to the root he groaned again and his eyes slid open slowly, but he only stared blankly straight ahead with a completely empty expression. Even though his eyes were open it still didn't really look like anyone was home. He was still in a daze and barely able to even piece together that he was being held by something. For once, he didn't seem to mind.