Forgotten Library

Prompt #5-Lost temple (I get a little lost in the story, hope you enjoy it, heh)

        There had been a pull, though, everytime she had come here, to explore the darkest part of the forest, the part that was swallowed up by darkness. Pandora knew that there were potions, however rare they were, that allowed sight in the deepest parts of the darkness. It was something that always intrigued her when she did come to this place. Aridin was not a place they liked, but it's a place that intrigued them.

        It took someone bumping into her accidentally to pull her from her musings. Quickly mumbling 'sorry', she pulled her hood closer to her face, and smartly decided it would be easier to think about things when she got to her friend's place.

        The sun was low down by the time Pandora arrived at her friend's place. The party was already going, and the drinks were being passed around. They pulled them self into a quiet less populated spot and tried to enjoy her drink. There was still too many people here for her liking. Luckily, her friend found her, and got her feeling a bit better. After a small bit of conversation, they were offered a room, as the sun had gone down and it was very dark outside. Pandora lasted 45 mins, with the drink, (she only had one), and the music starting to give her a nasty headache. 

          After getting to her room, she started to ruminate on the dark part of the forest again. Pandora decided that she would ask about it tomorrow and try to get some sleep in the meantime. There was a few times where the noise got that almost too much. Eventually, quiet came and sleep came to her despite her pounding head.

           When Pandora woke up, the house was a mess, a few people must have puked into the trash cans since that smelled to high heaven, and there was broken glass everywhere. They fixed their hair as she got the cleaning supplies begrudgingly. She wished her friend had better people over since this happened almost every time there was a party. The few sleeping people still there were moved to the couches around the living room, as she got to cleaning up as best she could. There were some spots that needed more work, but for the most part, it looked much better. She got herself some breakfast as sleeping folks started to get up and leave. Eventually, her friend came out around mid-morning, groggy and their clothes smelling like Alcohol. "Go'morning," their friend mumbled to her, "Thanks for cleaning up. How much do I owe you?" Pandora chewed her breakfast thoughtfully while making not breaking eye contact for a long uncomfortable silence, until it was broken by her friend, "fine, 20 gold." "35. I need extra for taking out the vomit filled trashes and sweeping up glass." There was no verbal response but the sound of a small bag of gold hitting the table was all she needed to hear. Pandora pushed a plateful of food towards her friend after pocketing the gold. After a few minutes of silence broken by the sounds of chewing, she told her friend, "I need some information about a night vision potion." That caused her companion to jump, as if they weren't expecting her to speak and sighed, "If you give me a few more hours I can give a better answer, but I think I saw the vendor having one. It looked pricey."

          "Thank you.", Pandora had finished her food and put her plate into the sink. She nearly tripped over someone who moved from couch to the floor, sound asleep at the moment. Grumbling a little bit, she went to the room she had slept in and grabbed her jacket and backpack. It wasn't too crowded outside, as she thought it would be. The early morning sun was shining, as they pulled her hood over her head. It took a few minutes to gauge the environment. It seemed that someone selling potions could be in the open market area. Sure enough, as people trickled in within the hour, she was able to find a potion vendor. Taking a deep calming breath, she asked him about the potion she was after. He didn't have any, but that didn't stop him from pointing out everything else in his shop. After awkwardly moving away as he was still prattling about his wares, she was feeling a bit more desperate. It was starting to get full as the markets and someone could recognize her yet. It took a few minutes to find what she was looking for: A night vision potion. It was pricey, more-so than she thought. Still, the money from their friend helped.

          The potion in hand, Pandora made their way to the entrance of the portal, to the darkness that swallows the forest. When they got it, it was miday. There was a very clearly made side path into the darkness. She steeled herself, and drank the potion. It tasted funny, not unpleasant but funny in an indescribable way. They walked into the darkness, now able to see clearly see in it. There was lots of trees, and mushrooms mixed together in a unique way that made them look similar from ground up until you looked up and saw the difference between the two. After sticking to the path for a while, there was a faint noise. It wasn't very loud, but it was there. As they kept going, marking the way they had come from by breaking twigs and placing them behind them every few minutes., the noises kept getting louder. Getting closer to the sounds it was clear now that she was closer, it was a cry for help. Disregarding her path she was trying to make. Pandora made her way carefully to it, making sure to pay attention to her environment. There was a moment where they were almost tripped by a root, and came across hole in the ground, where the voices were a lot louder and clearer. "what do you mean you're stuck?!" "I'm stuck. My coat is unfortunately caught in the crack of some roots.", then a groan followed that statement. "Hello. Are you folks stuck in the hole?", Pandora asked, getting closer to the hole while keeping some distance from it. There was a muffled high pitched shriek, before silence fell again. There were some whispers, but she couldn't pick up what they were saying. "Hey are you okay, and or need help?", they got a little closer to the hole cautiously. More whispers, and then, "Friend or foe? Who are you?" They now looked into the hole, and saw two elven figures, one with a lantern. Both of them slender, one looking like he was taller than her, and the other shorter than her. The taller one was wearing a brown coat that was stuck in between two roots. The shorter one, with his green hair, was holding up a lantern that didn't have give much light. "You want some help with that?", Pandora looked at the taller one who was also squinting to try and see her. "Err, yes please.", and Pandora saw a rope tied to an entertwined tree trunk to climb down. Turned out, these two nitwits thought it would be fine if they brought lanterns into this part of the forest. "Call me Cleo", Pandora shook hands with Ilthran, the shorter one and Victor, the taller one. With Ilthran's help, they were able to help tear Victor's coat from the roots. They asked her for help. They were here to explore this tunnel, as rumors were about a forgotten library.

         That also piqued her interest. They weren't sure how long the potion was going to last, but this was shaping up to be better than a party. It was a no-brainer choice, she accepted their request. Leading them, warning them of potential dangers until they hit a large entrance. Pandora had them stay a little ways away as she explored farther, bracing themself for anything to jump out. It lead to a giant tree filled library filled with books and moonlight from big stained glass. After confirming it was safe, Pandora led the elves into the library. There were ohhs and awws as they both took the scene in. Thankfully she didn't need to act as guide in the library. The moonlight was bright enough for them both to see. They stayed there for hours, and since she still had things to do, they let their companions know that she would need to leave sometime in the next few hours. "Yes," Pandora responded to Victor, as he had asked her if they had anything planned for the day. They wrapped up with what they were doing after two and a half hours and made their way back to the surface. Pandora pulled at the warm winds that turned cold as they hit the dark. The wind guided them out of the dark, and at this point it was starting to getting dark. After they all shook hands, Pandora went back to her friends place, and the elves went their ways.