revivalproject | Closed; Chaos wins and I can't get over it

WHO: Thrawn and Eli Vanto
WHERE: The new caves
WHAT: Thrawn and Eli explore and discover (?) stuff
WHEN: Event
WARNINGS: None anticipated

It was hardly even a question of whether or not to follow the trail laid out in the mint. Thrawn was already up with the sun and following the path before anyone else seemed to be awake.

Upon finding the seashore he turned his face into the wind for a moment. He had been able to able to negotiate to the rocky edge as though it was neither difficult nor growing darker inside that cave as he progressed. Seeming to enjoy the warmth of the sun on his face he closed his eyes a second too long for it to be a simple blink. When he did open them he decisively pointed toward the inside the closest of the caves.

"There. The noise coming from deeper inside sounds like a being making a keening wail."

Thrawn said nothing else and simply set off into the cave. It made sense to go quickly since anyone there would be in need of aid. But Thrawn's speed was a byproduct of his curiosity instead of any desire to help.

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Eli hadn't been able to sleep with all the noise and commotion going on over night. He really didn't know much about this planet, but with everything that's been going on there seemed to be no rhyme or reason behind it. Was this some kind of game the Agri were playing with them?

He went alongside Thrawn exploring all the changes going on and checking out the cave. The wailing sound didn't hold Eli's interest as much to what may be inside them.

"It might just be the wind blowing through the caves, Thrawn," Eli stated as they stepped in. "Everything here is so strange. What we know may not hold true here."

"Perhaps."

It may be nothing but Thrawn seriously doubted that. A path and a cave were already connected but there could be more connections to find. As it grew darker inside the cave Thrawn smelled mildew from the damp... but also another scent. A very subtle scent that was difficult to categorize. Possibly metal? He wasn't sure if that's what it was but he intended to find out.

Eli was having a hard time to see and was relying on his communicator to shed a bit of light. He wished he had a better light source, but for now it was fine. He then began to see various pathways. He squinted at them, making sure they were pathways. "Which way do you want to go or do you think we should split up?"

Eli suggested. He really didn't want to split up since it was hard to see, nor did he know was down there. But it made sense to offer the suggestion since it would cover more ground. At home they would have at least had better gear to rely on and other troopers to send.

Thrawn was used to commanding troopers that had a night vision capability already built into their helmets. At Eli's suggestion, he stopped walking. Eli wasn't able to see it but Thrawn did look down for a moment. Just as quickly he came to an apparent conclusion.

"Give me your hand, Vanto."

...."Alright."

Eli could feel his face blushing and tried it. Although, he knew it would do now good since Thrawn could sense it.

He gave him a curious glance as he awkwardly allowed Thrawn to take his hand. He noted how Thrawn had looked away when he made the offer. Meanwhile his own heart was pounding at the mere suggestion.

He believed that Thrawn was simply trying to help him out with the fact he couldn't see well, but the gesture sent a lot of mixed feelings.

Thrawn could just as easily have told Eli to wait at the entrance. He could have stayed as remote and standoffish with the same separation in the Empire he had kept with Eli for many years. But he didn't. In an extremely rare display of attachment, he allowed himself the luxury of staying physically close to Eli despite the growing darkness of the cave around them.

As Eli held out his hand, Thrawn gently took hold of Eli's wrist and immediately felt the heated aspect of Eli's skin. It was heated to the point that it felt like Eli was carrying around a furnace inside of himself; not quite hot enough to burn but not far off either. Thrawn guided the hand to his own wrist and coaxed Eli's hand to hold onto it.

"If you would please hold onto me for the time when it is too dark for you to see, we need not split up."

Eli allowed Thrawn to guide his hand, enjoying the physical contact, despite his own hesitation. It wasn't something Thrawn would do and here he was asking him to simply hold his hand in order to lead him through the cave. He was also relived that they weren't going to split up. It probably would have been disastrous.

It was sometime later he was no longer blushing. He was trusting in Thrawn to guide him, while he take in what ever surroundings he could through his other senses. There was a strong hint of metal somewhere, which surprised him. But the smell seemed to be going in another direction not to where the wailing sound was coming from.

"There's metal somewhere. I wonder if it's a ship or something on a smaller scale?" he voiced.

"Yes, I can smell something metallic. But with the unorthodox means of obtaining the knowledge needed to pilot the ships, it is unlikely that there are any more to be found."

Something like a baleful wail was coming from deeper within the cave system. Thrawn was most intrigued by that over the smell of metal. So that is the way he, and by extension Eli, went.

"...close your eyes. As one sense becomes useless dismiss it in favor of what you hear, feel, and taste."

"Perhaps, it could be something else. I doubt a weapon since these people appear to not approve of them. But the smell is pretty strong so there has to be a lot or something big..."

Feeling more comfortable with the situation, he relaxed a little and trusted Thrawn to guide him as he tried to adjust to using his other senses. It was something he thought he would never have to do, but he found this to be a good lesson.

It was getting lighter inside the cave as they walked. Soon enough it was looking closer to dawn, with the dull grayish purple color to the light. The sound of wailing was a natural occurrence that came from sea spray air when it blew through the cave system. The cave they were in opened onto ocean breakers slamming themselves directly below the rock they were on.

"We would have to backtrack through the cave to find anything metallic."

Thrawn had to raise his voice a bit to be heard over the ocean.

Even though it was starting to get light out, Eli still found himself holding onto Thrawn's hand. He was quite comfortable with the notion and wasn't ready to let go. His theory that it being the wind had been wrong, but it was the ocean's surf causing the strange wailing sound.

"Let's just take a moment and observe. It's a beautiful view from here," Eli replied in a loud tone. "I wish we could capture this some how."

Interestingly, Thrawn had not drawn attention to the fact that Eli was still holding onto his wrist either. It would have been impossible to ignore since to him where Eli held on was like a band of heat all it's own. Not hot enough to burn but not far off either. When his skin had touched Eli's skin the first time, he had to close his eyes for a moment to regain composure. Since Eli couldn't see him, he had taken the single extra heartbeat to look at Eli's expression.

Now Thrawn looked at a different expression with Eli's face in profile. What he said was somewhat lost in the sound of the surf.

"Yes. It is very striking."

Closed; Chaos wins and I can't get over it

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