The first thing I noticed upon waking was the pain. The pain was both relieving and disappointing. Relieving because I survived the fall; disappointing because I survived the damn fall. I sighed, wincing as the action caused pain to shoot up my ribs and to my left shoulder, where I could feel my arm was bent at an awkward angle. I whimpered softly from the pain, tears sliding down my face and flooding my ears as I laid on my back. I concentrated on taking deep, slow breaths, calming myself so can access my external damage. As I inhaled, I smelled something familiarly sweet and warm, like sunshine in springtime coated in sugar. The scent surrounding me was so strong and pleasing, it helped with calming me down.

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking the world around me into focus. The first thing I see as I regain my vision is the pinpoint of the day's fading sunlight through the hole I fell through, a few hundred feet up. I can see the walls of the cavern, jagged in places but also smooth, as if it had been a part of a wall. Moss and vines coated the walls thickly in places, as well as the jagged cliff I fell down. I turned my head slowly, feeling the muscles near my injured shoulder pull painfully. I shut my eyes and hissed in pain. I carefully flexed my fingers, with some difficulty. It wasn't broken, but most definitely dislocated.

As I opened my eyes again, my vision was filled with a brilliant golden yellow color. I blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. With a painful grunt, I sat up, finding myself surrounded by beautiful and large golden flowers. I watched as some loose petals fluttered from my short hair, and instantly felt bad for ruining such lovely flowers.

"I'm sorry, flowers! I didn't mean to crush you" I murmured in a small voice. I observed my surroundings; large and old looking marble pillars were lined up in rows, some cracked and still standing, some completely destroyed and laying in rubble. They were all worn and covered in vines and moss. I stood up and walked up to one of the standing pillars. I wanted to explore, but I couldn't do so with a displaced shoulder. Pulling a wad of tissues from the pocket of my shorts, I grimaced knowing that what I'm about to do is going to be very painful. I shoved the wad of tissues into my mouth and, taking a deep breath and biting down hard, rammed my injured shoulder into the pillar hard. I groaned in pain loudly, muffled my the tissues, and without stopping, rammed my shoulder a few more times, harder each time. On the fourth time, fighting back tears and gagging on the now soggy tissues, I rammed my shoulder, hearing the painful pop as my shoulder shifted back into its socket.

I screamed in pain, barely muffled by the wad of mushy tissues that I immediately spat out. I slid to my knees, sobbing and nearly blinded by the pain as I lean against the large stone pillar, its coolness feeling nice against my tear stained cheek. Sobbing and panting, shifted to a more comfortable position, leaning my back against the pillar and stretching out my legs in front of me. They were battered and bruised; large, angry black and purple splotches, swollen knees smeared with dried and drying blood, large cuts and gashes opening and dribbling blood from my movements. I suspected my body was just as battered, though I didn't see any blood staining my blue sweater; though a large hole was present along the front, tearing through the large lavender stripe that ran vertically across my chest. I fingered the frayed edge of the tear sadly. My grandmother had made this sweater for me many years ago before she passed, though it's still very much oversized since I hadn't really grown too much from when I was a kid. But then again, being force to live malnourished in an orphanage for a long time was bound to affect my rate of growth as I aged.

I leaned my head back into the marble and looked up at the pinpoint of setting sun. The men who chased me up here... they must've seen me fall. Must think I'm dead. That's good, though I'm just as surprised I survived that fall. I exhale and took in my surroundings again. The moss covered walls of the cavern were visibly smooth, as if they had been carved. A large open doorway seemed to lead off further into the cave, making it look more like the start of a ruin. Perhaps that's what it is; some old ruins from a long time ago. I slowly and carefully got to my feet, brushing the dirt and leaves from my shorts, picked up my small blue messenger bag from the flower bed, apologizing again to the beautiful golden flowers for landing on them, and started to make my way to the entrance to the Ruins.