The image of the entire tunnel collapsing on him caused his heart to beat much faster and his next few breaths came in ragged gasps, but he was able to calm himself after no further debris fell on him. “Pthoo…” he spat, trying to get the earthen specks out of his mouth.
He lay still for a few seconds more, not daring to move in case he made the situation worse. Reassurance washed over him when he heard Kitalia’s voice calling up to him from outside, “You may come out now.”
Hearing those words and accomplishing the task, however, were two very different things altogether. He marveled at his companion’s ability to maneuver so effortlessly in this confined space, especially when he was taking up more than half the space. He shifted his shoulders a bit and tried to wiggle his way back down until he found the narrow opening with his feet.
“So, I just…” he muttered to himself. He tried pushing his toes into each side of the crevice and pulling himself down with his feet, but he only managed to make the opening a bit wider without moving his body at all.
“Hells,” he swore.
“Did you fall back asleep?” came the call from outside. It was a hushed sort of yell, but Kre could still sense the annoyance in her voice. He figured that it was probably in his best interest to hurry things along as best he could.
He wondered if he could bend over and turn around in such a way as to face the opening, but he wasn’t certain he could recover from such a move if he got stuck. He certainly did not want Kitalia to have to come and rescue him from such a ridiculous feat either.
Now resolved, he pushed out with his arms and set himself up as tightly as he could against the dirt walls. He shifted his legs and twisted a bit before shoving himself downward as much as he could. He felt his legs squish together as the opening narrowed, but he persevered and forced his way through.
It must have been a sight for Kitalia’s eyes, he figured, to see his feet and legs slowly emerge from the hole, wiggling and kicking as he worked the momentum to make his way out. He also figured that maybe, just maybe, when he worked himself free, she might actually offer a nod of respect for gaining just a bit of skill in surviving outdoors.
What he didn’t figure though, is how not to fall once the majority of his body weight was clear of the little den. Once his waist was free, he could feel the momentum of his movement shift rapidly from a slow crawl to a fast fall. His fingers tried to grab onto anything that they could touch, but the dirt was now so tightly compacted that they found no purchase.
The drop to the ground was a good thirty feet but luckily there were bits of outcroppings and rocks that slowed his fall considerably, at the cost of some bruises and pains.
When he hit the ground, he opened his eyes and looked around the beach quickly, unconcerned at the moment with the fall itself and more concerned with where Kitalia was and if she saw.
“Yes,” came the hushed call from high above him, “I saw.
“And yes,” she continued in an exasperated voice, “you are a complete klutz.”
“As soon as I can feel my legs again,” he called back up, trying to use the same whispering yell as she had and trying not to let the pain show through in his voice, “we’re going to find a new hiding place.”