Darkness, a musty earthy smell with a faint odour of apples, silence broken by a soft sigh, a flash of blue as a pair of eyes flicker once, twice then stay open.
Hokinon moans as all the pain returns with a crash, moving carefully he notices a faint glow and when he raises his hand, the glow intensifies as his sleeve drops exposing his wrist band as it glows with a strange pulsing internal light, feeling stronger with each pulse he turns to continue his crawl up the dark damp musty tunnel.
Pausing to rest every 2 or three enki lengths, the pain that had wracked his body strangely fading each time he stops.
Suddenly his progress stops dead he struggles but seems to have reached the end and sags back into a heap and as his befuddled brain tries to assess his situation he reaches for his pack to find it entwined in some roots stopping his forward progress. Once he is free Hokinon stops to eat his last apple a dried and stale thing that surprises him since he only picked it yesterday, before continuing his steady progress upwards.
After an indeterminate time and many battles with root and roof falls the quality of light changes and the air smells fresher, realising that he was close Hokinon puts on an extra burst of energy and breaks through the final barrier between himself and freedom, laying flat out in the late afternoon crystal light.
Laying there looking up through the branches of the bushes surrounding the exit the smell of apple blossom returns to haunt him again "ST.. Sa... Sh..." he mutters as a pretty fenki's name and image dances along the edge of his memory. then shaking his head clear of such weak thoughts he gathers together enough wood to give him warmth till morning.
