#caving gone wrong

[littlepawz]

Wow, how tragic!

[jtownraindancer]

Tessa x Reader: No Exit

*

You paced, gesticulating passionately as you tried to reason your way through the situation, adrenaline still coursing through your veins.

One misstep had sent you careening out of control, tumbling down the canyon and getting stuck in one of the many caves at its base.

It was miraculous enough that you hadn't broken anything, your fall having taken you down at least 50 feet or so. It was doubly miraculous that you had landed in shallow running water, potentially a lifesaver in the long run.

You searched the small cavern for any hidden chambers, tried to climb back out through the hole you had nearly gotten stuck in, all to no avail.

"Dammit!"

There was no exit- no tunnel wide enough for you to crawl through, no footfalls for you to utilize, no water deep enough that was possibly hiding another passage.

You were trapped, gear lost somewhere in the sunlit world above you, phone shattered in your pocket during the fall.

You held out hope, however, certain that when you missed your check-in, your team would come looking for you.

You just had to be patient.

The first day passed with not a sound, nothing save the steady trickling of the river, the distant dripping from a stalactite. You had entertained yourself with music, drowsing off and on as the energy crash came over you, startling every few moments in fear you would miss footsteps.

The second day passed much the same, hunger prompting you to eat another two bites of your remaining energy bar. You continued to take small sips of water, dreading the potential diseases that may be brewing in your surroundings.

The third day, you started to go stir crazy. Repeatedly, you tried again to find any way out, and sort of escape you could pull off. Desperation had you attempting to resuscitate your phone, shards of the broken screen embedding into your already cracked fingertips.

You dropped your head to the wall with a silent groan, eyes closing as you slowly counted to ten.

The fourth day, you ran out of clean water and slept through most of the daylight hours.

The fifth day, the shadow that had looked vaguely like a person for the past two nights seemed to have moved closer, taking a more distinctive shape. You were keeping your movements to a minimum however, trying to preserve what little energy remained in your system.

The sixth day, the shadow resembled the distinctive figure of a woman, and you swore you could make out different features- from brown hair to a dark leather jacket to near form-fitting jeans. But the still rational part of your mind reminded you that it could easily be a hallucination, and to continue to ignore it.

The seventh day, you and your shadow- it had called itself "Tessa"- were having a heated debate over just accepting your fate. It had been a week, and despite the people you had heard pass by, no one had found you.

You were going to die here.

Something forced your obstinence, your arguments clinging to memories of your loved ones, your pets, the TV shows you hadn't finished yet. She was patient, had gentle reasoning behind each rebuttal, voice gentle as she stood near you.

Dehydration made you itch to drink the water at your feet, damning the consequences of any parasites or bacterium. It was desperation that finally made you cave, pacing yourself to small sips from cupped hands at a time.

The sha- Tessa- solidified even more.

Now you could clearly make out the lace detailing of her top, the slight highlight in her hair, the exact shade of her jeans.

After a night of being violently ill, you felt the urge to accept her stretched hand, just about ready to give up.

Why hold on any longer?

Your name fell down around you like a light drizzle, filling every inch of space with the spark of hope, the shine of flashlights reflecting off of the disgusting waters around you. It wasn't much, but you were able to summon all your strength, the last flicker of determination, the breath of resilence, yours and Tessa's voices weaving together to announce your location, rasped screams somehow reaching the seekers' ears.

Safely above ground once more, you sought out your companion in the depths below.

Warm, smiling eyes turned away from you, figure dispersing before you could even call her name.

Details were already slipping from your mind; you could no longer remember her height, the colour of her hair, what she was wearing.

But you did know she helped you out of that cave, would have freed you in one way or another.

Thank you.

*