01 - Just in case that something drastic does happen || Open

[stillshinigami]

He found his room. Door opened right up for him in that large green stoned chamber, but he couldn't say he slept particularly well by any means. He was still tired by the time he woke up, unsure of the correct time. Exploring the main chamber he discovered a bit of food laid out, and needless to say it was probably the worst slop he's had since he was stuck on MREs in that field mission a year back. He ate half and left it, heading back to look into the fountain. He leaned over and reached a finger in. Feels like normal water. He took a hand full and washed his hands, pulling them out and putting his wet hands to his face. That was better.

He sat at the edge, leaning his arms against his knees as he looked at the ground. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, his mind running a complete blank. So what? Explore? Figure out these damn maze like puzzles? Maybe it's just a game or something. Or maybe it's a clever death trap. He didn't have anything close to a reasonable answer, but he was hoping someone else did.

Pulling out his phone, he checked for a response to the text he had sent out to the contact labeled 'Quatre' in hopes that it was his comrade. Nothing yet. Hopefully something soon though.

"Wish I knew what the hell I'm getting into with this place."

Comments

[last_lombax]

"From my experience, it's probably someone's sick twisted idea of a game." Ratchet spoke as he walked towards the fountain. He moved over and stood beside Duo, staring into the water and watching his reflection.

"I've been looking at the sarcophagi and I couldn't find any sort of teleportation technology or anything. Meaning something else brought us here and put us in those things."

[stillshinigami]

He turns his head and waved to greet the Lombax. He followed Ratchet's gaze into the water. He wasn't completely gotten comfortable with the fact he was an alien, or that now he had to deal with magic or super advanced technology but he was forcing himself to accept it. Slow going though.

"Heh. That's an interesting theory." He said, then allowing Ratchet to continue speaking.

"Ratchet, you think it's possible that if technology and time travel is involved here, then the technology could be completely undetectable at the location we're at now?"

[last_lombax]

"It is. Time Travel is possible. I've done it..." His eyes narrowed at the water.

"But it's possible. But there should be some sort of tech we can find. I still think we didn't arrive in those things. We were put in them...by someone or something."

[stillshinigami]

Who could argue with that? He couldn't. So many things he thought was impossible now forced upon him. Seriously, time travel? Magic? Super advanced technology? At this point all of those theories were reasonable.

"Even so, it might just end up being inaccessible." Looking down at Ratchet, he sighed, closing his eyes.

"Man, don't look so glum. Don't you think if there's a way out of here we're gonna find it eventually?" Don't bring him down, kid! He's already got plenty to think about.

[last_lombax]

"Maybe for the rest of you..." Ratchet sighed and knelt down to the water and dipped his hands down into it. He brought it up to his face, running wet hands through his fur.

[stillshinigami]

He watched him and then heaved a sigh. So much for encouraging. Well, wait. Ratchet just needed some time. And so did he.

He just didn't think he could handle this if every one around him started losing hope.

[last_lombax]

"But we'll be fine. We'll find the one responsible and kick their butts. Then we'll find a way home for everyone. That's how these things work back home."

He smirked and turned to Duo. "You've got a hero Lombax on your side, after all."

[stillshinigami]

"Oh good. The first lombax I ever meet happens to be a great hero." He returned the smirk, tipping his head down a bit.

"You're in good company."

[last_lombax]

"Oh? And what about you? What were you back home?"

[stillshinigami]

How to describe what he was?

"I don't know if I'd use the word hero, but always I did what I thought was the right thing." That would work to his satisfaction he hoped.

[last_lombax]

"That's about all you can do."

[stillshinigami]

"Like I said before. You're in good company." It was a good thing Ratchet was easy to talk to. Made it easier to accept everything else about him too.

"I think we should get to exploring this place sommore. I'm not one to sit around idle too long."

[last_lombax]

"Why not? I've got nothing better to do. So, how far have you gotten into this place?" Ratchet was interested to see what laid deeper into the castle. He hadn't fully explored outside the main room yet, too preoccupied with his search for tech earlier.

[stillshinigami]

"Only up to here. I haven't bothered venturing out any farther. Seems like you need someone else with you anyway." Duo nodded with a smile. And with luck, they might actually find some answers.

He gestured for Ratchet to follow him as he headed for one of the exits. "On our way to the great unknown."

[last_lombax]

"Let's go." Ratchet materialized his Omni-wrench and followed behind Duo. Who knew what kind of things lurked in this castle. Couldn't be too cautious now.

[stillshinigami]

Whoa. Did he just see what- Yeah. He did. He wasn't sure how Ratchet did that, but he was pretty sure by the way the lombax spoke it wasn't magic or anything.

"Pretty advanced tech you've got there." Duo remarks as he moves forward. He wonders silently just what exactly they're going to need that for, but then he smiles.

"A wrench as a weapon? Huh. Kinda suits ya."

[last_lombax]

Ratchet motioned to his belt. "It's called a Materializer. Usually lets me store all my weapons but all of them are gone except my Omni-wrench and hoverboots."

He couldn't help but smirk at the comment about it suiting him. "It's been my melee weapon of choice for as long as I can remember."

[guiltapalooza]

Willow had found herself aimlessly wandering around the living area, going through a similar process as Duo in her familiarizing. Sleep, wake up more uncertain than ever, eat some crappy food... decide to go look at the spring again, which she'd found last night.

She peeks in and sees him there. "Oh, hi," she says, coming more fully into the room and reflexively glancing around at everything. The slight glow of the water casts a strange blue-tinged light on the uncut stone walls, shining with condensation. It still feels strange and mysterious here, as if she were caught in a fairy tale that just hadn't started yet. "I think we all wish we had answers, but so far, no dice."

[stillshinigami]

"Hey." He turned his head back to look at the girl, standing away from the fountain, his hands sliding into his coat pockets. He gives the girl a once over as she approaches, the corners of his lips tightening as he considers what she has to say.

"Good observation. I kinda got that impression talking to a couple of people here. Everyone's got their own idea of what's what." He takes a casual glance around the small chamber, not really all too concerned about safety just then, but of course he was pretty much ignorant to the possibilities. Everything he'd learned in the past few days were only just sinking in. Bringing his attention back to the redhead, he offers a friendly smile.

"The name's Duo. How 'bout yerself?"

[guiltapalooza]

She smiles back, happy to be friendly even given the circumstances, and comes more fully into the room. "I'm Willow. Hopefully now that the shock has passed, we can get down to the real work. You know, finding out where the bad guy is, and our answers."

Short pause. "This just has bad guy written all over it."

[stillshinigami]

He chuckles mirthlessly, nodding at the sentiment of getting some investigating done. Real work? Right. They had limited resources, so he didn't foresee much besides exploring actually happening anytime soon. He mulled over that, the whole badguy thing. He shrugged, looking helplessly at Willow.

"Don't know what to tell ya. In my experience the bad guys don't exactly advertise their evil ways." Instead they hid behind a disguise of leadership and handed down orders from the top to kill anyone in their way.

[guiltapalooza]

"Your bad guys must be mighty different from mine, because they're usually pretty open. To be honest, this is all... odd."

She hadn't had a chance to really look at this room before; last night she'd been too overwhelmed still, emotionally drained from losing her magic and getting it back within the same few hours. It was probably a bad sign that she was still dependent enough on it to be so strongly affected, but Willow couldn't worry about that right now. They had bigger things.

Trailing her fingers on the rock face just to feel the sensation, Willow walks to the edge of the pool and glances in, as if expecting to see something on the bottom.

[stillshinigami]

Duo leaned against a pillar, his arms crossed. "My badguys are totalitarians who rule over the people with fear and their military power. It's all pretty straight forward history repeating sort of thing. Just another dictator in fancy clothes. In this case it's an old man with a child as a figure head.

His words were laced with bitterness, but he found himself smiling even so, though it was a joyless smile. He found Willows company to be pleasant enough. "I don't know if I'd call subtlety odd."

[guiltapalooza]

"See, but that sounds..." Willow hesitates, because although weird stuff is happening here and she's been pretty open about herself so far, the adrenaline of arrival has worn off. She's back to being unsure about telling other people about the supernatural, as her older instincts dictate.

"It sounds normal. Not that it isn't horrible," she rushes to amend, "because it is! I hate dictators as much as the next free American, but it's just not-- well, mystical. Something like this is more what I'd expect from, I don't know, a really castle-obsessed vampire."

[stillshinigami]

Normal? Duo snorted, bunching his shoulders against the pillar. Maybe it was normal, but he'd give anything for that right now. And a decent meal. His lips flat lined as he listened to what she was saying, then raised a brow at the mention of mysticism and vampires.

"Magic seems to be what everyone is blaming this on. I don't wanna believe it." And vampires were just a little bit over the top.

"I dunno, Will'. Seems like Dracula might have greeted us at the door." He pauses, tilting his head ever so slightly at the girl. "Or are you serious about that?"