Once again being a grunt was proving to be more and more tiresome. Dwayne had narrowly returned to the Rocket base camp after traversing through hell and back, and what was his reward? More work, this time in the mysterious ruins that spawned this entire conflict. Dwayne was just supposed to survey them, map out the layout and whatnot. It seemed like an easy task, but then again so did his previous assignment. Hopefully this one won't spiral out of control as well.

The ruins were lonely and vast. Dwayne spent multiple long stretches of time walking down seemingly endless hallways, with not even a trap to break up the monotony. Dwayne was starting to think that these expansive hallways were the main defensive structures of the ruins, most treasure hunters or tomb raiders probably died of boredom before they could reach anything interesting.

Finally he reached something worthwhile though, a large room with a glowing rock in its center--with a human figure already standing before it. Dwayne froze, it would seem as if he was not the only one sent to map out the ruins. Were they a Rocket grunt sent through another opening--or were they an explorer aligned with the League? Dwayne scanned the room, noting that it had multiple entrances. There was no need to find an answer to his inquiries, all he had to do was sneak to another entrance and continue his journey. This stranger did not even need to know Dwayne was there.

Dwayne took one very careful step to the left while keeping his eyes on the stranger. He took another when he felt ready and---click.

Dwayne froze as something mechanical shifted behind him. The entrances were suddenly blocked off by massive slabs of stone, and a earthy smelling fog began pouring out of unseen spouts in the ceiling. Dwayne gulped as he looked to the now aware stranger, only thinking to shrug.

"Whoops, my bad."

Nikita Sokolov

MP TRACKER

--50MP for Participating
--10MP for post

The mystery man was predictably not-too pleased about Dwayne's blunder, and would vocally reprimand the already nervous boy. Dwayne's face turned red behind his mask, luckily hiding his embarrassment. Dwayne would take the man's insults up until his hopscotch statement, the young man's eyebrows furrowing with intoleration.

"Your vitriol won't help. Let's get out of here, then you can insult me all you like."

That was a lie, Dwayne would probably snap if this blowhard insisted upon adding even more insult to injury. Dwayne made his way to the gem, examining the pillar alongside the stranger. His mask helped filter the air up until now, but it could only do so much. His throat was starting to burn, he needed to find a way out fast.

The hieroglyphics seemed familiar, Dwayne could have sworn he had learned about a language like this in school but the memory was foggy. "Damn, if I could remember the name of this language I could probably translate it..."

Nikita Sokolov

"Dracovid? Dracovid!" Dwayne continued to stare at the symbols even as his unwilling partner looked elsewhere. Dwayne's hand began to race across the symbols as familiarity filled in the blanks of what his companions had said earlier. As he inched around the pillar, he would begin chuckling to himself as a full picture began to form.

Of course chuckling proved to be a bit of a mistake, as the excess gas would send Dwayne into a fit of coughing. Once he was able to overcome the burning in his throat, Dwayne would share his discovery. "It's not a riddle as much as instructions. The gist is that we should use the 'might of a dragon's claw' as an offering of power to the gem, thus proving ourselves worthy of taking the path into the 'dragon's heart' or--'center'. I cut out a lot of flowery filler, someone was definitely struggling to fill out the space on this pillar."

Dwayne stood up and folded his arms, feeling rather cocky about having filled a very niche hole of usefulness. If only he had learned a language that could be useful outside of ancient temples. Dwayne looked to his companion, "So do you happen to have a dragon on you?"

Nikita Sokolov

The stranger went out of his way to put Dwayne down, so the young criminal suddenly felt very cold. Of course he would get stuck with the mean explorer, what did Dwayne do to end up with such ill-treatment? You know, besides being a member of a terrorist organization and accidentally triggering a death trap? Maybe those were bigger screw ups than he thought, he should really reconsider his life choices once he is out of here. If he gets out of here.

Luckily the stranger's dragon of choice was able to strike the crystal with enough force to satisfy the room's mechanisms. While the gas continued to flow, Dwayne would also hear something from below: stone scraping against stone. He squinted, briefly searching the floor before finding what seemed to be an opening. He pointed it out, "Right there, the way out!"

Dwayne ran for the opening, running down the stairs that awaited him past the threshold. He kept running until he made it to even ground, breathing hoarsely as he tried to take in as much clean air as possible. "Holy shit we're alive." Dwayne seemed more than a little relived, having no intention of dying randomly while exploring an old ruin he did not even want to be within.

Unfortunately his adventure was not finished yet, the staircase had lead out into a rather large room--a pitch black one to be precise. The only light came from the chamber he had just left, and it was not even close to being enough to make anything within this room visible. Dwayne instantly became distressed, having no way to lighten the room. So he just sat down, holding his knees as he became painfully aware of how over his head he was.

Nikita Sokolov

The stranger caught up eventually, and to his credit he did share thanks for Dwayne's assistance (as minimal as it was). Dwayne looked away, still holding his legs. "Yeah no problem." His response had a tinge of something similar to sarcasm, a self-deprecating tone that implied guilt. He knew it was his fault that they were in this mess to begin with, and Dwayne could not help but give in to self loathing as the pit of his mistake deepened.

The stranger provided some light, and Dwayne almost wish that he had not. The room that the duo had discovered was a tomb, or something similar. Bones were scattered across the ground, and the sudden sight of them would cause Dwayne to jump to his feet. "What the hell?" He mused, at a volume just above his normal placid tone of voice. Dwayne did not know how to rationalize what this room was supposed to be, nor what could possibly be within the locked door at the room's far end.

What he could rationalize though was the hole in the leftmost wall. It looked just low enough to bend down and walk through, perhaps it was the last prisoner's personal getaway tunnel--if that was truly what this room was meant to be. Dwayne did not care to solve that mystery, instead choosing to walk toward the hole in the wall.

He kept his eyes down, carefully watching for any signs of traps. Luckily this room seemed clear, and Dwayne made it to the wall without issue. He turned to address the stranger one last time. "I think this is where we part ways. Sorry for my part in this mess. I hope you find what you're looking for." With a half-hearted wave, Dwayne would bend down and begin his trek through the tunnel.

Nikita Sokolov