Why Exactly?

Sonya fiddled with her helmet for a moment, slipping the sonic she had put in one of the pockets while she changed and buzzed her light, brightening it a bit more and casting the tunnel into a brighter light. "Ah, much better." She murmured to herself, hiding her sonic again and moving on. "There's several tunnels branching off of this one, so shine your light down them to check for anything, then keep moving. I won't let anyone else wander off after what happened to Natalia." She called to the others, turning her head at the moment she said that, checking a tunnel as she passed it then looking forward again. "Keep an eye out for anything your light lands on, but it doesn't shine."

A few murmurs reached her ears as she walked along, faint talking that the group were saying to one another. "Sonya, up ahead is a fork, I remember this. All of the tunnels meet up in another large room ahead, my guide then said all of the paths converge in any large chamber. So it honestly wouldn't matter what tunnel we take to get back." Derric said suddenly, appearing at he side as he strode along. "I would say choosing the easiest path back would be quicker." Sonya nodded in agreement, glancing over her shoulder at the others before up at him. "That is if they aren't caved in too..."

He blinked then frowned down at her in confusion. "Are you suggesting someone might have done this to her? But who would do that, you said all of the natives had died out ages before anyone arrived on Midnight." Sonya stayed silent for a moment, thinking over what she knew before staring straight ahead again. "Because, I doubt she would have taken her helmet off on her own. Something must have forced her to, or at least attacked her to where it flew off. It was sealed on, the only way it could have came off was if she were to unseal it, or a very strong force broke it away from the rest of the suit."

Robin looked over at Sonya as she instructed the group, nodding and starting towards a tunnel opening. Her single dim light wasn't much to go off of, so she stepped inside a few feet, looking around for anything she could call suspicious. Frowning, she realized there wasn't really enough light to tell what was shining and what wasn't. Luckily, a woman walked into the tunnel with her, smiling as she helped her see with her own light. "Thanks." Robin smiled at her before turning to look where the other light was shining. "No problem," the lady replied, craning her neck to look up at the ceiling. "I don't see anything, do you?" Robin shook her head, "No, I don't think so." Shrugging, she walked back out of the tunnel and waited for the other members of the group to finish their inspections.

Sonya planted her hands on her fists and studied the tunnel in front of her. Her light showed her another cave in, and several other people reported seeing the same thing when they walked back over to her in panic. "Robin, the tunnel you checked, was it clear?" She asked suddenly, looking over at the young girl before frowning. "Where's that woman that was with you? I saw her walk into the tunnel." Striding past Robin with the group following behind her in a close-knit bunch, she stood at the entrance of the tunnel, shining her brighter beam down it with a frown before catching sight of something not reflective. Waving a hand at the others, she strode forward and stooped down to pick it up. "It's her suit... No helmet, just a suit."

Robin frowned, "No, that's not possible, I saw her only a second ago..." She trailed off, finally realizing the obvious. "She didn't come all the way out with me..." She mumbled, taking a few steps closer. "Sonya..." She didn't want to say express her fear out loud, lest the rest of the group panic and start acting like headless chickens, so she hoped Sonya got the message from her expression. She crossed her arms behind her back, walking backwards slowly to join the others.

Sonya frowned and studied the suit. No rips, tears, punctures or anything. It was as if she had removed it of her own will and walked away. Still thinking to herself, she folded it up and set it off to the side of the tunnel. "We keep moving, stay in a group and for Rassilon's sake, DON'T WANDER OFF." She snapped, frustration leaking through her voice as she tried to keep her temper in check. Two people in the past twenty minutes, two people she could have helped if she wasn't too late.

Turning to Robin, she nodded at her with a scowl. "You stay in the middle of the group. The last thing I need is for you to strip out of your suit and vanish on me too." She added, not caring if she sounded angry or not. All she wanted to do was get the rest of the group out of there alive and get the hell off of this planet.

Robin nodded, a tad bit afraid of Sonya at the moment. She could clearly see why she didn't want to come now. If this was what happened on the shuttle across the surface, then these people should really get the hint. She promised herself that if she didn't die, she was never coming here again. Moving to stand in the middle of the group as she was told, she could practically feel the worry coming off of the rest of the tourists. "Right then..." She mumbled, waiting for the rest of them to move.

Sonya Turned around to face the tunnel with a low sigh and began walking, the group immediately following behind her. Turning her head, she spotted a tunnel branching off and cast her light down it curiously, catching sight of something. "Wait here." She murmured to them, walking down it and towards whatever was crumbled on the ground.

Natalia.... She sighed and crouched next to the form, staring at it with a frown. Her suit was intact. But her body was drained, turned into a mummified husk of what the woman once was. Whatever had happened, it was quick, and it was painful, judging from the expression her face was twisted in. Hanging her head for a moment, Sonya got up and walked back to the group without a word to them about what she found. "We keep moving, don't keep looking, just keep walking forward. We are not making anymore stops."

Robin stayed mostly silent through the whole trip. Angry Sonya was scary, and not a person she wanted to confront. For that reason, she planned on following the directions she was given. Knowing she was told not to look around, she couldn't help but see the body of Natalia. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned her head to face straight forward. She left her arms crossed in front of her as she marched along, really regretting picking this planet.

Turning on the path up ahead, Sonya led them through the tunnel without another word. Her own thoughts swirling around her head as they trudged along. Before long, they reached another climbing wall, it wasn't as high as the first, only about two stories this time, but as she started to lead them up the rungs a sudden clatter echoed from the other side of the cavern. Dropping off of the rung quickly, she motioned for the others to go first. "Go! Don't get to far ahead of whoever is behind you. The one at the top, you stay in sight of the others at all time. Now move!" She snapped, directing the first four onto the separate sets of rungs.

Her eyes shot over to the side she heard the noise from, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck lift up at a soft ticking noise that seemed to be growing louder. "Go! don't wait for them to get up there halfway, once there's room, you get going!" She snapped, pulling out a pair of gloves and slipping them on over her suit's, she waited until the last person was climbing up, then started climbing the wall itself. Silently thanking whoever made these suits for adding stick-grip gloves, she slowly followed them up to the top.

Robin looked up, waiting for her turn on the wall. Everything was going to be fine, they'd get out of here. That... thing wouldn't catch up with them, right? As soon as she was on the wall, she felt like she was climbing for her life. Well... she was. Compared to the rest of the group, she was pretty calm. The woman with the annoying voice was at it again, screaming that they were all gonna die. "Calm down, Sonya can get us out of here if you just calm down!" She yelled down at her, accidentally pausing in her climb. The man behind her didn't seem to appreciate that very much, and decided he was just going to plow through her. "Outta my way, I ain't dying here today because you're slow!" Robin yelped, falling down and landing on her back. Boy was she lucky she was only a few feet in the air. Scrambling to her feet, she ran back to the wall to join in at the end of the line. She ducked her head down, knowing Sonya wasn't going to just let that go.

Sonya reached the top and helped the others pull the last ones up onto the top. Once she was certain everyone was there, she grabbed the man that had pulled Robin from the rungs by the front of his suit and hoisted him off of the ground a few inches. "If I ever, see you do that again to anyone else, much less Robin. I will take you to the edge of the wall and toss you off to whatever waits below. I will not tolerate actions like that." She hissed between her teeth, glaring up at the man as he stared down at her in shock and fear. "Do I make myself clear, sir?"

"Y-yes, clear!" He stammered, starting to sweat inside his helmet as she lowered him down onto the ground. "Now, apologize to my sister. And mean it, or so help me." She snarled, planting her hands on her hips and spacing her feet apart as he slumped over and stumbled up to Robin. "I apologize..."

Robin frowned, "It's okay... It was my fault, I stopped when I shouldn't have, and to be honest, I'm surprised she isn't yelling at me too..." She bit her lip, looking over to Sonya, her face reddening. God, she was so stupid - she was the whole reason this poor man was just threatened. "So... we just keep going then..." She mumbled, turning away and joining the middle of the group once more, deciding to stay as quiet as she could for the rest of the trip. No wonder why adults don't include kids in anything, they always mess it all up.

Sonya cast a narrow glare at the man as he joined the group, his shoulders slumped forward as he tried to hide behind several people. Quite a feat considering he was the tallest in the room. "Now stay quiet for a moment... I want to see whatever it was." She said in a quieter tone, inching over to the ledge and laying on her stomach to shine her light below. Squinting her eyes slightly, she twisted her lips to the side and studied the ground. There was nothing she could see, the way the light was shining off of some of the diamonds caused an odd effect that made her eyes hurt to look at it.

Rubbing at them, she tilted her head and sucked in a sharp breath at what she saw. For a split second, everything made sense to her. A beast made entirely from diamonds, making it blend in with it's surroundings flawlessly. The only reason she finally noticed it was when her light shifted to the side, it moved the opposite direction and cast a barely discernible shadow on the ground. "Right.. We keep moving." She said quickly, getting back to her feet and making her way through the group of people and taking the lead again. "Move out!"

Robin looked at the tall man as he trudged along with the rest of the group, feeling a bit sorry for him. At the moment, that wasn't what she was worried about. Whatever got Natalia and the other woman was still out there, and they weren't safe until the rest of them where all back at the Leisure Palace and she and Sonya were in the TARDIS, flying away from this planet. Realizing she was calming down a bit, she tried to keep thinking of other things. Not about the creature that was probably right behind them and going to kill them all. Not helping! She grimaced, focusing on the person in front of her as best as she could without thinking back to the monster.

Pausing at a fork in the tunnels, Sonya frowned, studying both of them in turn. "Derric, over here." She called over her shoulder, motioning with her hand over to the man. "Can you tell what one would be the fastest route? We need to get out as soon as possible as you've probably figured for yourself." She said in an undertone, her light blinking off the front of his visor as she turned to face him.

"I can't be sure honestly, but I do remember from my last visit, all of the paths we took to the left were rather simple and quick." He said back, nodding over at the left tunnel as he spoke. "Alright, left tunnel it is. Keep moving folks." Sonya called to the others, leading them down the one Derric indicated. As they walked, she squinted her eyes with a frown, not realizing what was wrong until it hit her. "Who turned out their light? We need every last one of them seeing as we're missing two already!"

Robin turned around to look and see who's light was out when she stopped dead in her tracks. "Sonya..." The tall man who had shoved her before wasn't there anymore. But of course, there was something in his place. His suit. "Keep moving. Just keep going." She turned to Sonya, a pleading look in her eyes. He was just there, and now he's isn't. This wasn't the time to investigate, this was the time to RUN. 

((short post is short))

(I'd start a war on short posts, but I hate not giving detail xD)

Sonya sucked in a breath and turned back to the group again. "Run. Now just start running, Derric, take the lead, I'll bring up the rear, now MOVE!" She barked at the others, causing several to jump and take off sprinting after Derric as he led them down the tunnels. Sonya caught up in the back, casting a quick look backwards in time to see the suit to shift to the side as if something pushed it. "Run! Keep running and DO. NOT. LOOK. BACK!" She shouted, looking forward again, placing her flat hand on someone's back ahead of her, giving them encouragement to keep going.

Robin yelped, chasing after the others of the group. This was not good, not good at all. There was a monster, most likely chasing them,  inside a slippery cavern on a diamond planet. Her breath began to fog up the glass of her helmet, so she had to try harder to regulate her breathing. Heart beating in her ears, she silently made a vow not to ever EVER come to this planet again. Knowing she was told not to look back, she did so anyway, slipping on the smooth ground and falling onto her stomach. "Ow!" She struggled to her feet, picking up her pace to try and keep up with the others. "We're all going to die!" The shrill voiced woman yelled, not really helping the situation. "Be quiet and keep running!" Robin shouted back, her worried expression turning to a frown.

Sonya pushed the group ahead of her and stopped to spin around and face whatever it was behind them. Pulling her sonic out, she fiddled with the settings frantically, trying to find the right one then pointed it directly into the center of the tunnel and turned it on. A sudden screech echoed around them, bouncing around off of the diamond walls and causing Sonya to wince at the sound even with her helmet muffling it.

A crash sounded right after, followed by a tumble of Diamond dust as the creature flailed in the hallway. Turning up the setting a notch, Sonya felt her Sonic vibrating in her hand from the force of it's setting. The creature reared up in front of her, allowing her to finally see what it looked like. A unicorn? She gaped at the image, momentarily distracted by the beauty. It was indeed a horse-like shape with a point of Diamond glinting off of it's head. Before it could pierce her with it, however, it suddenly stumbled backwards, a crack appearing in it's flawless body, splitting it into half and silencing it.

Letting out a low breath, Sonya slid to the floor, staring at the scattered bits of diamond chunks littering the ground in front of her in shock. It must have been what was living here before anyone found this place. They thought they had left because you can't see them! Feeling a shudder work through her body, she wrapped her arms around herself tightly and rocked for a moment. I killed it, all it was doing was protecting it's home...

Robin kept running with the group, not turning around again in fear that she'd slip and the creature would kill her. Then she heard the screech of Sonya's sonic and spun around on the spot, her eyes widening. The creature, whatever it was, was about to murder her. "Sonya!" She winced as the sound grew louder, the emptiness of the mines not helping. She looked up to see a vague shape - "No, those aren't real..." She mumbled as the shape split, falling to the ground. "Sonya..." Walking up to her slowly, her mouth turned down. "Sonya?" She crouched down, trying to get the Timelady to respond.

Sonya looked up at Robin with a blank expression, still softly rocking back and forth. After a few moments, she fell still and her eyes cleared sharpened once more. "Your supposed to be with the rest of the group, Robin." She mumbled, her eyes shifting away as she got back to her feet. "I don't know how many more there are down here. Get moving." Turning away from the creature's remains, she started walking once more, her steps slow and measured. "Get moving Robin. Now." Sonya looked over her shoulder at the young girl, a pained expression flashing across her face when she spotted the litter of diamonds on the floor once more.

Robin stood up slowly, not moving. She had no words. One of these days, she's just gonna snap, isn't she... With a sigh, she began to walk with the rest of the group, not sure how to feel about there being more. That's great and all, yay unicorns... but... they were killing people... She just hoped Sonya wasn't blaming herself for that. She didn't know, how was she supposed to? She snapped out of her train as she looked over to see the shrill voiced woman breaking down in tears. Well yeah, because she totally has a reason to be crying right now... Speeding up a bit, she walked next to her, squeezing her hand. "We're gonna get out of this, alright? There's no need to cry." The woman nodded, squeezing back.

Walking up to Derric, Sonya fell into step beside him without a glance. "How much farther?" Dimly she realized her voice sounded empty, void of any emotion that should have been put behind the words. "No... Not far now... What happened back there. We all heard screeching then this high pitched humming noise..." He asked quietly, trying to get her to look over at him by placing a hand on her shoulder.

Sonya shrugged off the unwelcome contact and sped up a few more paces to put space between them. "Whatever was behind us is gone. But I don't know how many more there might be. Get us out of here Derric." Her tone coming out sharp as she strode along, wanting to get out of there and back into the TARDIS so she could hide herself. Fix up a couple of things and just let the memory of what happened fade away like everything else did eventually.

Several more tunnels and one more wall later, they arrived at the final tunnel. Motioning everyone close, she directed them to shine all their lights down the path to throw it into relief. Studying it closely for a moment, she nodded to herself and motioned for Derric to take the lead once more, only with her trailing behind from the start. Anything that sneaks up wouldn't have much time to attack with her there. As they trudged along the final leg of the tour, several people murmured to each other, each glancing back at Sonya for seconds then turning back forward when they thought she noticed.

Robin looked around her, frowning as the rest of the tourists were all looking at Sonya and whispering. She couldn't help her though, she was kind of acting like a Cyberman at the moment. Well without the DELETE DELETE and metal... She sighed, continuing to go through the tunnel, hoping this was the last one they had to take until they were out. She had planned on telling the Leisure Palace to shut down this tour, but she mentally shook her head, knowing they wouldn't listen to her. They'd probably listen to Sonya, but in the state she was in? Not likely she'd even try.

"There it is!" Derric suddenly called from the front, catching Sonya's attention and making her look up. Just ahead of them was another tunnel exit where the elevator was clearly seen. "Good, get moving people, run if you have to. Let's get the hell out of here." She snapped sharply, causing one of the women next to her jump at her tone and start jogging forward, her shoes slipping on the slick floor slightly. Casting a weary glance over her shoulder, she picked up her own pace and met everyone inside the small compartment. Once the doors were shut, she reached over and flicked the switch, sending the box rising upwards.

Closing her eyes tightly, Sonya leaned her head against the wall next to her and breathed softly, trying to settle herself into a more peaceful state before they reached the top. As the doors opened to reveal a crowd of people and officials, she stumbled out and over to the side as each of the others filed out after her. Sliding down the wall, she reached up and unclasped the helmet from her head and tossed it onto the ground next to her.

A blanket was draped over her shoulders as she sat there, she didn't even bother to thank whoever it was before they walked away to help the others, continuing to glare at the floor in front of her. A sudden voice next to her made Sonya slowly turn her head and stare at the man next to her. He had an official suit on, apparently someone that turned up to clean the mess and straighten the stories. Dimly, she realized he was asking her what had happened.

"A creature of diamond killed the guide then one of the other tourists." She mumbled quietly, trying to focus as she stared at his face with an unblinking stare. "You need to shut the tour down. They live there. They were only protecting their home..."