[PP-F4] Recovery of the Broken (Telrenya)

[Telrenya 0]

When the closeness of Spencer and Telrenya's hurried footsteps echoed into the clearing, all three players seemed to be overtaken by the same tension that filled the air. When the duo turned the sharp corner to drop them right at the clearing's entrance, Levande rushed to the other side of the two females, standing between both groups of players. The two-handed spear he had been leaning against minutes before was now in his hands and he brandished it against the two blondes.

Telrenya was left a bit out of breath as she had hurried down the path to investigate. When they turned the corner and were promptly met with the point of a spear, the woman came to a sudden stop. Her hands raised nervously in front of her body, as if to show the strange man glaring at them that she was unarmed. "U-u-uhh," She started out in a stutter, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. "w-we heard someone crying, s-so..." Although the cursors spinning above each of the strangers was a bright green color, the last memory of being on the other end of a player's weapon was still very fresh in her mind.

[Spencer 0]

Spencer was trying to keep up with Telrenya, he was not the most athletic of people so keeping up was actually showing to be kind of a challenge with how fast the girl seemed to be. "Are you a marathon runner or someth-" He broke off and stopped very quickly, gasping softly and his hand going right for his mace. His hand hovered over it and he paused, staring at the three players. Telrenya seemed to be on edge when she said something to them about the two of them were just investigating a noise they heard. He nodded and put his hands out, showing that they were indeed unarmed. "We don't mean any harm. We found a hatch in the ground on this floor and we decided to explore it, we are pretty confused why this place is here, and we were just on our way to make sure who ever made that noise was okay." He tried to calm the three of them when they got there. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw they were all green, but also looked concerned when the girl was trapped in the ice. "Oh no, is she okay?" He asked concerned and pointed at her. They don't seem to be a threat, but there is three of them and two of us, kind of nervous about this whole situation, but just stick with Telrenya and you should be okay.. 

[Gladiolus Alliance 0]

After a few moments of thick tension building in the air of the cavern, Levande's expression suddenly shifted from a protective scowl to sudden discomfort. Sannae had reached for the shorter man's ear, giving it a tug to pull him back away from the other two players. His weapon lowered immediately and he let out a small grunt and as stumbled backwards. "C'mon, let go, what gives?" He began to complain, but was met by a small huff from the woman with dark chestnut hair and sharp golden eyes. "Look, do you really think they're going to give us any trouble?" Sannae gestured to Telrenya and Spencer and she scolded the man. She released him, leaving the green-haired player to rub at his now-freed ear while mumbling something sarcastic about never being appreciated.

"Sorry about that. He's a bit too enthusiastic when we put him on guard duty." Sannae apologized to the duo with a professional demeanor. She offered them a short bow to introduce herself. "My name is Sannae. That's Levande," She gestured to the man with the spear, "and this is our guild leader, Kitt3n." Sannae gently placed a hand on the smaller girl's head, giving it a pet. The teen was no longer crying, but her face showed clear signs of her earlier distress. With Levande obviously backing out of the situation for now and Kitt3n appearing more embarrassed than upset, Sannae continued when Spencer asked about the girl's well-being. "As I keep telling her, she's perfectly fine," The woman started with a small sigh. "She stumbled into a trap, but there's no damage and we haven't seen any monsters down here all day." Sannae motioned towards the far end of the area, where a cluster a crystals stood taller, larger, and more illuminated than any they had passed by before. It gave off a bright blue light that matched the same hue as the pattern on the ground beneath Kitt3n's foot. "Our only clue is that big crystal, but we can't figure out how to get her out of this. We have another guild member backtracking to find a way out. He's going to find an info broker to see if anyone's heard of these things before." Giving her little sister another small pat, Sannae looked down at her with a soft smile. "So, until then, we're guarding her and keeping her company." She explained.

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya blinked in surprise when the spear-wielder was nearly dragged away from them. She held back a chuckle at the woman's motherly attitude, but allowed her hands to lower back down to her sides with a quick look towards Spencer. The anxiety slowly drained from her after Sannae introduced their small group and continued speaking. The blonde suddenly felt a bit out of place, stumbling into a situation where she wanted to help, only to feel like there was nothing that could be done. Her eyes drifted to the large blue crystal when Sannae pointed it out, but she felt as though there wasn't likely to be anything she could contribute if they hadn't found a solution themselves. The woman felt awkward, bringing up a hand to wrap her fingers around her other arm. "Oh, umm..." She started, suddenly unsure of what to do in the situation.

"Oh!" She suddenly perked up. Amidst her uncertainty, she had forgotten that the woman accross from her had given them their names. "Sorry, I'm Telrenya." She forewent her normal bowed introduction, instead glancing towards Spencer as if waiting for the man to give his name as well.

[Spencer 0]

Spencer was confused, but almost pleasantly surprised that these three were very friendly and welcoming to the two of them. The woman pulling the green haired kid back made him internally chuckle and send a look at Telrenya, laughing silently to her at this strange event. "Nice to meet you Sanna, Kitten, and Levande. I'm Spencer." He said this after she explained about the fourth guild member and the girl being trapped in the ice, also about the strange crystals that were jutting from the ground behind them. He stared curiously at them and took a small step forward, not really sure what boundaries he could push or how far he could walk without them becoming suspicious. He looked at Kitt3n with a slight frown, he felt for her, feeling stuck and helpless at the same time. I get how that feels.. His mind tried to make him sad but he tried his best to ignore and be happy, which was kind of a challenge with how he has been feeling for the past few days. He started to think about the fourth person running off to find the way out, and he thought to himself.. How did they get down here? We didn't pass by anyone running by the floor or in the tunnels.. "How exactly did you four get into this tunnels? I had no idea these were even here." His curiosity took over his depressing thoughts, blocking them out for a moment as he looked around the walls and looking curiously at the three of them.

[Gladiolus Alliance 0]

"There's another tunnel back that way." Sannae turned to gesture towards the dimly-lit tunnel on the other side of the room, similar to the one Telrenya and Spencer had arrived through. "We were actually coming down this way, but so far it looks like a large network of caves."

"Yeah, the kitty cat here was in the mood for some treasure hunting, so we asked around in town." Levande took over the explanation, planting the end of his spear against the ground and casually leaning against the tall weapon. "How we got here...?" He echoed the question, giving a tap of his chin.

"There was a door in the mountains!" The younger girl, who had been silent save for her sobbing up until that point, seemed to have calmed down as she exclaimed the answer almost impatiently. Sannae chuckled and lightly ruffled the girl's hair. "She ran off ahead, so she's the one that found the entrance. I only recall a staircase that led down here, and a lot of different paths." She crossed an arm over her torso, resting her other elbow on her hand and shifting her weight as a concerned expression passed over her face. "Tantis--err, our other guild member was making a map as we went. We've found a treasure chest since we got here, so it hasn't been all for naught." The woman's hands raised in a small shrug.

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya gradually felt the anxiety in her chest lessen, and when Spencer took a step forward towards the others she relaxed a bit further herself. Her hands naturally slid down and smoothed the front of her knit dress, and she was suddenly reminded of how non-threatening the pair must look in their casual clothing. Telrenya's head turned curiously towards the large blue crystal on the other side of the room, and she took a few steps closer to it now that everyone seemed to be more or less trusting of each other.

She walked up to the massive formation and peered at it curiously. She brought up a hand, giving its surface a cautious poke. The tip of her finger felt cold for half a second, but otherwise it seemed harmless. "Hmm..." Her brows furrowed as she tried to think of a solution. "Have you...tried breaking it?" She felt a bit silly after the question left her, but turned to look over her shoulder back towards the others.

[Spencer 0]

Spencer was listening to the group explain what was going on with them, being stuck in these tunnels and all. The woman brought up someone's name, but quickly changed to saying 'guild member' instead. He thought it was a little weird but decided not to mention it for now. She said something about there being a door in the mountains that led to this place, and the tunnels being like a maze, going many different directions. "Did you see anything like this when you found some caves on this floor?" He asked Telrenya as he started to walk around. He adjusted the cloak on his body, it keeping his warmth. He smiled and sighed a bit, he was really interested in learning what was going on, which was helping his horrible mood. "How long has your friend been gone?" He asked the group of three as he walked over to Telrenya, touching the crystal as well. "Kind of cold." He muttered and stuck his hand in his pocket. If there are traps down here, there must be something close by, why would there be random traps around a cave with no reason but to protect something He thought for a moment and began to look around the cave area, touching the walls and investigating things.

[Gladiolus Alliance 0]

"Levi here has tried giving the thing a jab of his spear, but the blade practically slides right off." Sannae explained with a mildly annoyed sigh. "It didn't display the Immortal Object message though, so we've no idea." The woman shifted her weight once again, offering the dark-haired girl in front of her another short pet.

"Hmmm..." Levande hummed lightly after Spencer asked them about their absent guild member. The man's eyes glanced downward and to the side, as he referenced the clock in his visual display and then took a moment to calculate the difference in time. "Over twenty minutes now. Didn't think it'd take the guy so long." He gave an impatient sigh of his own and tapped a finger against the handle of his spear. 

A couple more minutes passed while the players engaged in minor small talk, mainly discussing the floor itself and the various areas they'd each traversed. During their conversation, the youngest player perked up when a system notification appeared in front of her. "Ah!" She exclaimed, eagerly opening the message. Her eyes skimmed over it and Sannae discreetly glanced down to the dialogue window before Kitt3n would announce the contents of the message. "Tantis is one his way back." She reported simply, meeting Sannae's gaze. The older woman smiled in relief at the news. "Good. Why don't you asked him if he found anything out?" She prompted.

[Telrenya 0]

"Hmm..." Telrenya still seemed to be fixated on the crystal in front of them for a few moments, her thumb and first knuckle rising up to her chin as she studied the glowing object. She couldn't think of any reason why that would not be the key to freeing Kitt3n from the icy trap, but she felt a bit awkward at the thought of trying to mess with the structure further.

The teen's messages between their absent guild member seemed to move surprisingly fast, as she got another notification less than a minute after sending off her reply. The brunette's expression grew concerned before she opened her mouth to relay the information sent to her. "He says the only thing he could find was that somebody said they broke it with a warhammer." Her frown deepened as she continued reading, a hint of dismay in her voice. "He says we need proficiency with blunt weapons to break the crystal..."

[Spencer 0]

Spencer heard the man's name, Tantis, be said and he sighed just a little bit. He was afraid that for some reason that this guild might be hiding some things from them, that's why they said 'guild member' the first time  he was brought up. He was a little more relaxed now and looked around the group. "hmmmm..." He hummed to himself and bent down to look at the wall some more, he was expecting some sort of secret room or other passage away to be nearby, the trap was in a very peculiar spot, so he was still thinking that something had to have been around where they are. Spencer was busy looking at the walls, but Telrenya saying something about a warhammer made him look over confused. "O- oh I use a warhammer, that's what my mace is registered as anyways. I can try.." He trailed off and looked at them, unsheathing his mace and walking close to the crystal. He gripped it and spun it in his hands, looking for the best place to hit the crystal to shatter it. Spencer sighed a tiny bit and swung back and smashed into the crystal. He honestly didn't expect it to break, but a large chunk fell off and hit the ground, dissipating as it broke apart. He sighed and swung back and went harder, gritting his teeth and the crystal splintered and cracked all up on it. "One more should do it." He said and swung at it one more time, it breaking like shards of glass. Thank god, I thought I was going to have to like break the girls leg

Edited October 20, 2017 by Spencer

[Gladiolus Alliance 0]

A short air of silence hung over the room while Spencer pulled his mace from the sheathe at his hip. The three guild members stared at the man as if they couldn't believe what he had said. They watched on as the sandy-haired player's weapon collided with the large crystal structure, breaking off bits that subsequently shattered into pixels as they hit the ground. With one final swing, the crystal was shattered completely. The blue square illuminated on the ground beneath it faded at the same time as the one lining the ground beneath Kitt3n's foot. As with the blue crystal, the ice encasing the girl's leg shattered into pixels as it was destroyed, freeing the teen.

Kitt3n's eyes widened as she stared down at her freed limb before a huge grin spread across her face. "Yaaay!" She called out with excitement, giving a couple of hops as if to make sure her leg was still functioning. "I'm freeeeee!!" She ran around the room in a quick circle before hopping up on Levande's back. The man lurched forward with the sudden weight, gripping onto his spear to keep his balance.

"Oh my goodness, thank you!" Sannae offered the two acquaintances a warm smile. "As silly as it sounds, none of us have a skill like that, so..." She looked a bit embarrassed to admit.

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya had taken a hesitant step back as Spencer readied his weapon against the crystal. It didn't take long for his strikes to wear the formation down and then destroy it completely. She looked over towards the other players, a breath of relief leaving her chest as the trap around the girl's leg vanished. She chuckled when the bubbly girl rejoiced, her excitement filling the air.

"Same goes for me..." Telrenya admitted with a weak smile, thinking to her own rapier skill. "I guess that means we're really lucky Spencer was around to take care of it." Her smile widened as she turned towards her guildmate. Letting out another sigh, this time looking around the cavern, back to the tunnel they'd come from, and then to the one across the room. "Well... I wonder what we should do now?" Once again, she turned to Spencer to see if the man had any ideas. It wasn't like they could go back to the entrance they had used, but it sounded like there was plenty more territory to explore, and hopefully this guild knew of a way back that wouldn't need them to expend any teleport crystals.

[Spencer 0]

Spencer was blushing lightly. The girl who was recently trapped in the ice was now free, and the guild, and Telrenya were celebrating him for a job well done. "Anyone could have had that skill, I just had it at the time so I luckily was able to be here. It's nothing really." He smiled a bit and shurgged, a little embarrassed but a little happy that he was needed even though he was a low level. His depression was starting to crack a bit and he could feel it letting you, but the constant pressure of it all was still there, and he was hoping that it would leave soon. 

He looked over at Telrenya who asked him what to do and he shrugged, not sure exactly what to do for now. The two were already in the tunnels, he was tempted to start exploring more, but also stay with this guild that he met, but also leave. His adventurous side that was coming out since joining the guild was telling him to stay, so he decided to stay. "Why don't we stay?" He looked over at Telrenya. "We could explore the dungeons with them? Or even by ourselves if you want. I just don't want to sit around all day, already have been doing that." He muttered with a soft frown. 

[Gladiolus Alliance 0]

"Still, I appreciate it." Sannae wouldn't have the man brushing off her thanks. "If not for you, it would've taken ages to find someone from town to come all the way down here to help us out." The woman lifted a hand to tuck her dark, short hair behind her left ear. Levande had taken a moment to properly hoist the girl up on his back so he could hold her properly, passing off his spear to Kitt3n to hold so that he could loop his arms around the teen's legs.

"Welp, safety in numbers if you're along for the ride!" The man with lavender eyes called casually over his shoulder as he began to carry Kitt3n along down the tunnel opposite where Telrenya and Spencer had arrived from. Sanne offered the pair a polite and inviting smile before following along after her guildmates.

Only a couple of minutes had passed before a new pair of hurried footsteps echoed along the tunnel walls. "Ai! Tan-Tan, is that you?" Kitt3n called out over Levande's head, squishing her cheek against his forest-green hair afterwards. Sure enough, a man with pale blonde hair in a dark, almost militaristic-looking uniform came into view. The small guild seemed to be reuniting with their missing member, and a short introduction was given between Tantis, Spencer, and Telrenya. The man simply bowed towards them in greeting, seemingly either shy or just socially awkward.

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya looked back up at Spencer and gave an encouraging nod when he had suggested they stay and travel with the other group. It was a bit more reassuring with a larger group of them, and the caves and tunnels seemed to provide a decent distraction from their lingering thoughts, something Telrenya was rather desperate for as of late.

When the fourth guild member arrived, introduced to them as the name they had earlier referred to him as, Tantis, Telrenya gave the same small bow in return along with her own name. She hadn't seen many guilds besides their own, and so her curiosity caused her to speak up. "Are there other players in your guild?" Her head tilted to the side. It was intriguing to see another guild as small as theirs--one that seemed quite friendly as if they'd all known each other for a long time. Sannae was the one who answered, as it seemed she always took charge despite naming the smaller girl as their leader.

"No, it's just us." A soft, reminiscent smile crawled over her lips as they continued walking along the path. "We all ran into each other in one way or another. Now we just kind of take things one day at a time."

"We look out for each other." Levande didn't look back at them when he chimed in, but he wore a small grin when he spoke up.

[Spencer 0]

Spencer smiled a bit, nodding his thanks for the praising the woman was giving him. He didn't expect to be thanked so much, but it felt nice to be wanted and even needed in a situation. This is what it feels like huh.  He shook the thoughts away and went with the other three players and Telrenya, running to find their fourth, missing member. Kitten called out for him down the tunnels while riding on Levande's back down the tunnels. She called out, and in return a blonde player slowly came forward through the tunnels, greeting his missing guild members and offering a greeting to Telrenya and Spencer as well. Spencer smiled and nodded back to him, not sure if the man was socially adept to having a conversation with strangers, he knew at some point he was right there with him.

Spencer heard the guild talk about how they met each other and formed their guild, and it kind of reminded him of his guild.. if the guild was even together well enough that is. "That's kind of how our guild joined together. Three of them knew each other already, but met me when they were talking about making a guild, we got chased by a monster, burnt a building down, fun times." He laughed and shrugged, thinking of how they met each other made him laugh a bit, it was pretty interesting and kind of fun how they met each other. 

[Gladiolus Alliance 0]

The group of six continued to walk throughout the winding network of cave tunnels, idly chatting and sharing their experiences along the way. Every so often, Tantis would pull up a menu to keep track of the map data he was gathering for the area, checking their route or adding on new details. After a bit of walking, Levande had let the teen down from his back and stashed his spear back into his inventory so that he could walk with his hands free.

After a while, the players would begin to feel the bite of the cold temperatures like those in the snowfall of the floor above. As the air around them grew colder, the air from their lungs would condense and form puffs of fog in front of their mouths. The floor seemed to have remained level during their expedition, and so there was plenty of unease as the group questioned the cause of the drop in temperature.

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya brought her hands up to either of her arms, feeling how much the cold had clung to her skin as their trek continued. "It feels like one of the blizzards outside..." She thought aloud, recalling the last time she had fought through the freezing winds of the fourth floor's icy storms. Their curiosity kept them moving forward despite the discomfort, and soon their exploration was rewarded with the view of a cave room in the distance.

The area lay at the epicenter of the harsh temperatures, though the group wouldn't know that the mechanism giving off such frigid conditions was hidden away there. From the distance, the floor leading to the cave and inside had patches of frostbite. Massive icicles hung over the entryway, though they were hardly different in shape or size from the stalagtites hanging from the tunnel ceilings above them. As they grew a bit closer, a single chest could be spotted in the back-center of the room. The blonde shot a glance towards the others around her, ending on the face of her guildmate. "Think we should investigate?"

[Spencer 0]

Spencer started to shiver madly. He was confused, but the confusion was being overwhelmed with just unbearable coldness. "W-what i-s-is going on-n." He chattered out, his breath almost like a fog, staying in the air for a while before eventually drifting away. He curled up into his cloak a bit more, his scarf being pulled a bit tighter. "It's like there is a blizzard." He repeated Telrenya's thoughts, concerned and a tad bit uncomfortable with the weird temperature change. He looked over as Telrenya spotted it, a chest in the back of the room. But it seemed that every step the group took, they were getting colder and colder. "D-do you think we c-c-could mak-ke it?" He chattered out again, looking at the chest, It looked like it was frozen solid, but he had a feeling if they got to it, it would open for them. He took one step after another, slowly making his way towards the chest. The temperature was getting more intense for some reason, like it was the chest that was making everyone cold, but that didn't make any sense.. how could a chest do that. "Should we keep going." He said to them, getting a bit closer to the object in the back of the cave area.