Go

 55555's:

Go, go, go. These were the urges of my unbalanced mind. The mine was collapsing, but I couldn't leave her down here. We're both going to die, might as well die together. I've heard it's best as a group activity.

I have to find her. I slap my torch, the electrical connections have been getting gradually worse. The beam flickered on, yellow light shining on the floating particles of dust. I couldn't see far with this thing, but it was far, far better than nothing. Is that a quote from Sidney Carton? I suppose I should be thinking of other things.

Right. She's out there in the dark somewhere, the mine is collapsing, we're either going to die quickly or slowly. But then again that's kind of standard I suppose.

I sprinted through the darkness, my torch making a cone of light, and shining on the rough walls I knew so well. Something large and heavy hit the ground and crumbled into dust behind me, the wave of particles making beathing even more difficult. More and more rumbling fills my ears, I feel the vibrations of impacting earth.  I slipped my green bandanna (black with the dust) over my mouth, not pausing in my run. A support ahead of me shifted dangerously, I increased my speed, trying to make it through before the ceiling gave way.

I got to a steep slope and threw myself into a controlled slide, churning up the dust, from behind me came the largest rumble yet. My flashlight went out but I kept my hold of it.

I hit the bottom and rolled into a side passage, rocks bombarding where I had just been. I waited, panting until the sound died away. I was still alive.

Then I heard a sound. A cry in the darkness! I fumbled with my torch, slapping it, trying to make it shine once more. Nothing.

But it was her! She's still alive! A companion might make all the difference down here. Theoretically we could still survive.

I stumbled blindly through the tunnels, yelling as loud as I could. We would find eachother, then everything would be alright.

Kakaru's:

 http://supergoggles.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/walking/

Evan's:

http://ashardofdream.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/diners/

Lloyd's:

The Mission's Go

The Chantry Adepts did not approach Akkad head-on. They did not know whether the city would welcome them or put them to the torch, and as far as they knew, its guard complement was still well-manned. The Adepts were trained to work in groups, whether as a formation on a field or in small groups like the one they found themselves in now. The ability of small teams of Adepts to devastate large numbers of enemies was legendary, and most feared to face them. But the most important part of any small unit maneuver is the plan.

“We need to get in undetected.” Kent stated the premise of the mission first. “To do that, we’ll need access to the gates. We will need to sneak two men in during the day, disguised as peasants.”

“Sir, why don’t we all just go in like that?” Ephraim asked.

“Five men will gather attention. Two will not.” Kent replied. “We will also need to bring our horses in to stable them, and horses attract attention. We will need to bring them in during the night. I’ll need two volunteers to go in during the day. Their job will be to neutralize the guards, preferably without leaving any traces.”

“I can do that,” another one of the Adepts said, “A good drink, that late at night, and they’ll be asleep like rocks.”

“Good.” Kent said. “Anyone else?” Ephraim was silent for a moment, then nervously nodded.

“I’ll go.” He said.

“Good.” Kent affirmed. “Once you’ve taken out the guards, open the needle.” He was referring to the small door used to let in travelers who arrived late at night. It was small, but the frequency of wealthy men arriving in the city had necessitated it be capable of letting in at least something the size of a horse. “Signal us with a sprite and wait until we’re in.” The sprite was an easy cantrip used to convey small messages to another person, typically over short distances. “If something goes south, send the sprite immediately and tell us what’s happened. We will arrive as soon as we can.”

Ephraim and the other Adept nodded, memorizing their orders.

“Everyone not going in during the day will wait just down the road, where the caravans usually camp. Everyone understand the plan?” Nods all around. “Alright. Go.”

Velox's:

 http://midnightvoltage.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/go/

Grants: (Note: He started just about when we finished and kept the fifteen minute limit)

Don’t Rush

I have about fifteen minutes to conjure up some idea to present to the entire team. We’re working heavily on our project and I can’t begin to describe the trials and errors we’ve gone through to get it done. The designing has been endless and customization of what we’re planning I just can seem grasp half the time. Really, it’s everyone efforts that have made this a reality.

And we’ve all worked incredibly hard on it.

The problem though, is that we’re about to present it, and I’ve found a fatal flaw. There’s a bug, a glitch, and knot in our rope. I can see it, crystal clear as though it’s been waving a sign at me for hours and I’ve finally decided to look at it. Was it the excitement? Was it because we were so nervous or naïve to believe this could work out?

I’m looking at this schematic - if that’s what you want to call it, I refer to it differently - up and down, left and right, sideways and all.

This won’t work, my thoughts scream again. Why couldn’t we have foreseen this?

My companions are right in the next room, they’ll be coming with our superior soon and they’ll present him this wonderfully looking plan that contains this unseen and small yet unmistakable flaw. I had decided to look over it, once more, to feel filled with the achievement of pride from what we have built here.

But now I feel disillusionment.

Raising a hand to my hair and pulling it back in frustration, only seven minutes left… or is it even that? I probably have less.

I could add in this feature here… carry that over. But no, that would ruin the entire structure! Agh! Why was this so hard? We should have seen this, should have looked this over more than we did. What are we supposed to do, what should I tell them?

Taking a deep breath, and turn away from our creation and just stop looking at it.

I can’t undo this, and my time is nearly up. I hadn’t had enough of an opportunity to get my thinking straight. I have no more ideas, and when they come in and see my sad pitiful state, I wonder what they’ll see in me.

I guess I’ll know by what I see in them. After all, they worked so hard, why couldn’t they have seen that all you needed to repair the problem was…

I feel like the lights in my mind turn on. The solution…

I laugh at how simple it is. The stress having left me, I turn and rethink a few things, studying it once more. Chuckling, I add in another variable to this formula and it all becomes clear.

Sighing in relief, I realize I’ve made it right on the mark. Time almost got away from me, but the adjustment has been made, and my work is now done. I can hear the door opening, and I turn with the cup of joe in my hand.

No sweat.