Month One: A Cave In

---April 29th, 2446---

A month after the events of Quake's Battle with the Arkians, Sky, and Ruby had led the city to a fortunate point of its existence. Alicas was booming with life, both during the night-time and day-time, as a place of cooperative nature and one of forgiving nature. With Sky at the helm of the day life, and Ruby at the helm of the night life, the hybrid formation of the city was moving along nicely.

The holes that were dug up during the fight were used as mines for precious metals like iron and silver, and due to a failure in the process of mining, a mine collapsed underneath the city.

Right before the collapse, Sky was training in a courtyard with Alatus and Fudo, the leaders of the city's defensive guard. The two were wielding an assortment of weapons, while Sky turned a rope-dart around the length of the courtyard.

Masterfully using the rope to guide the blunt edge of the weapon, Sky had struck Fudo in the side of the head, kicking the rope and flicking it over to Alatus. The two created some distance and Sky held the rope dart widely, swinging it around in a large circle while watching their positions.

"That's about enough, I'd say!" Alatus said, clapping her hands in fear of being struck with the dangerous weapon.

"Weigh me in, what am I at now?" Sky asked Alatus, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

Sky's appearance had barely changed at all during the past month, but he had started to show signs of physically maturing. Muscle structures started to solidify, his raw strength had exploded in power, and he had not touched a single strand in the past month as well.

"You are sitting at one-thirty, about twenty percent body fat," Alatus said, throwing Sky's chart over to him while he looked at it intently.

"I need about twenty more pounds for this result," Sky said. Right after he finished his statement, the ground began to rumble loudly and the shaking city of Alicas was disrupted for around twelve seconds.

"Everybody's okay, right? Stay close to the radios," Sky said. Contrary to his philosophy of staying away from Strands, Sky boosted himself up to the nearest rooftop and looked upon the city, covered in buildings from one wall to another. The buildings, made of wood and stone, were untouched by the initial impact. However, the wooden scaffolding on the south end of the city where a ton of craters were had collapsed, leaving a plume of smoke to scrape the sky.

"Alatus, Fudo, send rescue teams to the Southern Mines. I'll head over right now," Sky said. Using strands, Sky reinforced his legs and launched off of the roof, closing the distance to the mines in under ten seconds of air time. He landed softly using more techniques he had been studying, and began to lift falling rocks with his strands while checking on other citizens.

"Sky's here!" They shouted out, gathering around his position to be protected by the damages from the fallen scaffolding.

From the distance across the city, Sky heard two prominent noises that sounded like thunder and guided his eyes further up to see Carl, swinging in with the same weapon he had used against Quake to launch himself over to the sight of the damage. He landed on the ground smoothly, sliding across the dirt while brandishing his blade behind his back.

"How can I help?" Carl asked. He stood by Sky's side, awaiting orders as he cleared the entrance with his strands, sending the rocks away and turning his head to look at the citizens.

"We'll find out what happened here, you go get more help and be on standby. Prepare food, water, shelter, and other important services for those who need them. Carl, let's go," Sky said. Sky led the two into the mine and slid down the rope to the elevator that had already been taken down.

"You couldn't come here with a shirt at the very least?" Carl asked Sky while sliding down. Sky scoffed, taking into consideration how improper he looked to outsiders, and summoned the old strand-clothing he used to fight Quake. It was far too small for him initially, but with slight adjustments, it fit him perfectly.

Sky and Carl both hit the bottom of the mine quickly, attempting to take a look anywhere they could to search for damage. However, upon making it to the bottom, a large boulder darkened the lights set up in the room with its sheer size, causing Sky and Carl to search in the darkness for lanterns.

Sky summoned a ball of strands in his hands, searching through the cavern to find a lantern before dispersing them and deciding to use it instead. He lit it with a lighter in his pocket and called Carl over.

"Why not just give me the lantern and use the strands?" Carl asked him. Sky shook his head.

"The strands are for emergencies, at the moment, nobody is in any more danger than they used to be, so there's no need," Sky explained, moving past metal scaffolding set up within the mine.

"I wonder, is it you becoming humble, or getting even more cocky?" Carl asked with a teasing smile. Sky returned a smile back and shrugged.

"Well, it's probably a little bit of both, or me getting more cocky," Sky confessed. Sky was more than capable of lighting the entire place up, but worried about the logistics of using strands as carefree as he wanted.

Sky and Carl happened upon a hallway that had collapsed from a certain point forward, revealing to the two that two men had been trapped on the opposite side with limited light and limited survival time.

As soon as the ground collapsed, a thick bridge of strands shot out of Sky's hands and caught the two, stopping them from plummeting to their deaths. They were stuck in surprise, looking up at the golden strands that saved their lives as Sky locked his eyes on what he thought to be the oldest one.

"Wait by the elevator, do not go anywhere. How many people were in this mine? Tell me who was on the checklist," Sky said. Carl was shocked, looking back quickly to realize that he didn't' even think to look for a checklist. He chuckled, realizing that Sky was already that prepared for disasters.