[PP - F3] The King's Tomb <<Search for the Hoya>> (Lessa)

[Takao 0]

Takao felt her gaze on him and glanced her way after taking the few moments of silence to glance around the fog that seemed to thicken around them with every second. He figured it was only his imagination that made the fog seem so dense, as he did have a rather active imagination. Those creative thoughts running through his head were likely the reason he was so apprehensive with approaching the large stone doors of the tomb. Upon feeling her gaze still set on him his mouth pursed and eyebrows raised, forcing his eyes to look elsewhere. His expression wordlessly telegraphed how uncomfortable the sudden silence made him as he occupied his attention by looking at the tomb, only occasionally flicking a sidelong glance her way. The feeling he had that made him want to look over his shoulder to be sure nothing was standing behind him persisted even with the Minotaurs gone, the urge perhaps growing even more prevalent now that he didn't have something in front of him to occupy his thoughts.

 

He exhaled a breath as she responded and mustered up a smile in place of his previous expression, though it still showed hints of unease. He swallowed hard and nodded with her answer, then turned and approached the large tomb doors. "Well... Here goes nothin'." He muttered under his breath as he placed his hands on the stone and strained himself to push it open. Grunts escaped through clenched teeth as his boots sank into the digital soil, yet they barely budged. Takao huffed out a breath through his nostrils and knitted his eyebrows as he removed his hands from the stone. "Emphasis on nothin'." He turned to glance at Lessa over his shoulder. "I don't think I can open it on my own. Can you give me a hand?"

[Lessa 1]

"Yeah, of course," came her soft reply as she hurried to his side. She reached around him, careful not to press too close to him, or get in his way. Her palms kissed the cool stone before she added, "ready?" Once he nodded, she bent her knees slightly, attempting to steady her base for the big shove. "Alright. Three... two... one!" As the countdown ended, both players pushed with all the force they could muster. At first, nothing happened; Lessa began to worry that even the two of them would not be able to open the tomb. Finally, she felt her body shifting as the great door began to move. Small pebbles rained down atop them, peppering their heads and shoulders, but still, they pushed. Finally, when the space they had made was large enough for them to slip through, they both took a step back.

Lessa took a few deep breaths, slightly winded from the force she had used to open the door. Then, she turned to Takao. "So, are we doing this?"

[Takao 0]

Takao leaned forward and pressed his shoulder against the door while Lessa moved around him, both preparing to push the doors open. He nodded to her when she asked for confirmation, and then waited for her countdown. The soles of his boots dug into the soil beneath him and he grit his teeth as he pushed. The heavy weight of the door finally gave in to their force and slowly slid open, the debris that fell over his head were either unnoticed or he wasn't bothered by them. Both of them took a step back, though Takao's curiousity got the better of him. He approached the small opening they'd made and poked his head through, glancing down into the abysmal wall of darkness. It was then that another scream tore through the silence and forced him to literally jump in response, a violent shiver running through his body. "Okay! Not cool, creepy tomb!"

He steadied his breathing with one deep inhale and shook the urge to tremble from his head. They'd come this far already, so turning back would be a waste. He was sure he still wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't at least check to see what was constantly screaming. He turned to glance over his shoulder to Lessa and nodded slowly. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat once before he continued. "We've already come this far, might as well check it out. I mean, unless you'd rather leave. I won't like... force you to do this if you don't want to."

[Lessa 1]

By that point, she really should have been expecting another scream. But as it spilled from deep within the tomb, a short squeak of shock was torn from Lessa's lips. Immediately, her body convulsed involuntarily, goosebumps running up and down her arms. "Ugh," she groaned softly. "I really hate that. It gives me the chills." As the pair settled into the relative scream-less silence of the woods once more, Lessa drew a deep, steadying breath. "Yeah, no, let's do it," came her response. I'm not about to let you do this alone.

Brushing past the boy, the heavily armored blonde took her first steps into the tomb. "It's dark," came her observation, and she winced as her voice echoed loudly. "Takao, do you have anything that we could use to light this? Maybe a-" Suddenly, a torch flickered to life only inches from her face. Stunned, Lessa watched a line of similar torches catch flame, lighting the tunnel in front of her. There were no steps, but the ground had a dangerous downward slant. As she approached, her boots sent a handful of pebbles skittering deeper into the tunnel. "Whoa, careful," she warned softly. "This is steep."

[Takao 0]

Takao could only nod in response as the ear-piercing shriek ran through him, eliciting a slight shiver to run up and down his spine. He shook his head to fight back the urge and refocused on the darkness, trying and failing to make out any recognizable shapes or movement. It wasn't until he moved aside and she brushed past him that he decided to follow behind her, his sword held out to the side with the tip pointed away, eyes trying their best to adjust to the low light as quickly as they could. Her voice bounced off the walls which forced a slight flinch out of him, and the torches lighting themselves after she spoke the second time made him recoil.

He huffed out a breath and shook his head again, this time letting the shiver run through his spine just to get the urges out of his system. "This place really puts me on edge." He muttered to test his tone of voice before he spoke at length, in an effort to prevent his voice from echoing too loudly. "Huh, there's lucky. I was gettin' kinda worried about walking around in the darkness." He stopped just in front of the slope and glanced down, then other at her. "Thanks for the heads up." Takao said before beginning to carefully descend the slope, his left hand steadying himself on the wall as he worked his way down.

[Lessa 1]

Confident that Takao was close by, the blonde slowly eased her way over the lip of the steep drop-off. The soles of her boots slipped and slid across the fine layer of grime, but with her arms outstretched, she was able to maintain her balance. "Doesn't look like anyone has come through her before us," she mused aloud, her voice uncomfortably loud in the small space. "That's another thing that makes me think that this is all a big quest." Lessa frowned in the dim light, but she did not dare turn around to face her companion; one misstep would send her tumbling. "I don't remember picking this quest up though. But, to be honest, I have loads of quests sitting in my queue. I've gathered so many, and I can't remember half of them. I probably have it somewhere." Then, "what do you think? Maybe you picked this up too?"

A moment passed, and suddenly the warrior felt the ground level out beneath her feet. Just when she was preparing to celebrate the turn of events, she recognized what it was that lay directly ahead of them. "Seriously?" the Guardian muttered, shaking her head. "Well, I guess they couldn't go easy on us. Looks like the beginning of a maze. And in the usual maze fashion, we can go left or right." Now that she was a bit more stable, she felt confident turning to Takao. "Your pick."

[Takao 0]

Each step he took was slow, careful, and calculated to keep himself from sliding or stumbling further down the slope. Whatever treads his boots had seemed to do very little with providing grip, which made his descent a very uncomfortable experience. "A quest would make sense-" He said as he sucked in a sudden breath of air upon nearly slipping. "The mist would be a good cover for an instance dungeon, and this all does seem really dungeon-like. It even had the classic Minotaurs guarding the entrance, plus it would explain this place looking untouched." His shoulders rose and fell in a shrug as he stepped onto the leveled out ground, then glanced over his shoulder at the slope they'd just descended. It'd be difficult to go back out the way they came, which he hoped they wouldn't have to do in a hurry. "I don't remember getting any prompts... I guess it's possible the quest was automatically assigned to us when we entered the mist?" Another shrug fell over his shoulders as they approached the maze's beginning.

The brunet couldn't hold back a low chuckle at her comment, and silently mused at how the creators of a death game weren't likely to be the most benevolent dungeon creators. "Well, the left hand rule hasn't failed me yet! ...That's assuming this comes out on the other side and doesn't end in the middle, anyway." He placed his left hand on the cold surface of the maze's wall and glanced back at Lessa for a moment, then turned and began to walk along the left wall. "Hey, are you getting any map data on this place?"

[Lessa 1]

"Map data?" she echoed, her voice sounding eerie in the small tunnel. She shook her head. "No, I don't. This place is totally foreign to me. My guess is that it is meant to be that way. This has to be a quest." The blonde followed closely behind her companion as he inched further into the darkness. She would have sworn that they spent hours underground, hesitantly moving forward, one hand on the wall, one hand on the hilts of their weapons. There was no telling what might lurk in the inky blackness that surrounded them.

But in reality, it took only twenty minutes for them to reach their destination. The narrow path opened into a much larger room. In the middle, perched atop a podium, was an amulet. The pair trotted up to it. After a short back-and-forth about whether or not the item was booby-trapped, Lessa scooped it up. Suddenly, a congratulatory pop-up filled her vision.

"Guess we were right about the quest bit," she announced, grinning.

[Lessa 1]

Thread Completed!

Lessa receives 3 SP, the <<The Hoya of Minos>>, 1 material and 115 col (from mob kill), and 200 col.

Takao receives 3 SP, the <<The Hoya of Minos>>, 1 material and 115 col (from mob kill), and 200 col.

(Takao, as you rolled a LD 17 when you killed the mob, I gave you the health x 5 col option. Let me know if you would rather take the good item!)