Fable - Ask A Wrong Turn to Get to the Right Place

[Trix]

It was an effort not to round on Sable as he approached and snap at him. She'd had bolts shot at her, had been thrown down a pit, had nearly died more times than she wanted to even think about, and they hadn't even got to the fighting yet. She was not in the mood for any sort of 'companionable' chit chat the likes of which a man like Sable no doubt enjoyed having. But she bit her tongue and found her anger diminishing bit by bit. It hadn't been his fault any of those things had happened. In fact, without him, Trix was not entirely sure she would still be alive to be angry.

She let out a breath.

"Thank you. And I'm... sorry, I know I'm not the easiest. But... It's not you I have a problem with, it's-"

Said problem stopped her from stating the obvious and she turned with a scowl.

"If you've set off another--" she paused yet again at the sight of the door and her lips pressed into a thin line. "An ominous door, what could possibly go wrong with that?" she murmured beneath her breath.

 

[Sable Pembroke]

A sympathetic smile pulled itself across Sable's mien for just a moment as Trix exhaled. For just a moment, she shed that prickly exterior. The sound of stone grinding on stone as Kalix triggered some other foul mechanism within this hole quickly saw that moment of relent quashed, but that was alright. Progress was progress, however little.

Thankfully, progress came in many forms today. Kalix had stumbled upon a hidden passage, rather than a horrible death trap. That was lucky!
"...Huh." Sable managed, minding his volume and blinking thoughtfully at the mysterious corridor. "I feel like we weren't supposed to find this one."

He looked to his companions once more.
"Well...we may have another chance at stealth here. Any thoughts?"

 

[Kalix]

Kalix, despite all his previous mistakes the moment they stepped into the cave, was doing his best to not ruin this as well. Both Trix and Sable seemed hesitant, and to be fair, Kalix felt similarly, albeit much less than they. The hidden door could have been another chance for them, but it also could still be a trap. Kalix couldn’t help but feel that together, the three of them had easily overcame any trap that had been set off.

If they went through this door, would it really be bad?

“I think we head in.” Kalix whispered, but his golden gaze went past Sable to then look at Trix. “But… I’ll leave it up to you.” He mumbled slowly towards Trix. If there was anyone who was the most studious, it would be Trix. He was surprised she didn;t have a book with her on this mission— or maybe she did and he hadn’t noticed.

Perhaps it was his metaphorical olive branch towards the initiate he had pissed off the most, a meager apology. But an apology from Kalix, even one without words, was still something of a rarity for the brazen man who could only ever move forward.

Trix Sable Pembroke

 

[Trix]

It took a lot to stun Trix but Kallix actually deferring a decision to someone else tied her tongue momentarily in a knot. Her first thought was that it was some kind of trick; that the other initiate knew danger lurked beyond and wanted to pin it all on her. But the rational, less paranoid, part of her reasoned he might have finally realised he needed to work as a team and not use bull-headed strength to see him through. She chewed over the decision.

Sable was right and that it would indeed lead to them getting their stealth back and the fact nothing had immediately tried to kill them made her think similarly to the others that they had not been meant to find it. Cautiously she felt through the living things hidden in the earth below their feet for any sense of danger but it all seemed... calm. Abandoned either.

"Let's try it... I think it's an abandoned mining tunnel," at least that was what she suspected from the minerals she could feel further in. "We might need a torch, it feels like it goes on a long way."

 

[Sable Pembroke]

Trix wasn't the only one that had to take a pause. Kalix managed to earn a slow blink, followed by a huge grin from the towering teen. First Trix calming down and opening up, now Kalix letting someone else take the lead? Sable didn't know if the proctors had intended to have this be a major bonding experience and team-building exercise for the three of them, but Sable certainly was feeling the magic at the moment.

"Right, well. Tunnel it is." He said, taking a step into the passage. "My magic puts off a little bit of light if we want to avoid detection as much as possible, but it really isn't much."

The young man projected a small barrier further down the way, then further still. He felt it hit the end of its range and dissipate, watching the dim light flicker into nothing as it did. His brow furrowed. What was this place, anyways?
"Oh...boy...that is a very long way."

 

[Kalix]

Into the creepy tunnel they would go! Kalix made a little fist in victory, pumping it back to his side as he grinned. He was certain that heading into this tunnel, nothing could possibly go wrong. They could most definitely get back that element of surprise, get the special valuables back, and then head on back to Vel Anir, victorious.

Truth be told, Kalix really couldn’t afford trashing this mission, after all, with the events from the Canal, his grades were in the trash. If he didn’t get good marks on this, then…

“Right, let’s get going then. The sooner the better.” Kalix said, and despite letting Trix having a voice a moment ago, the brazen young man began his descent into the tunnel. And downward they went, in the dark. Kalix made sure this time to not be stomping around, one hand out before him just in case.

As the initiates descended the air would get cooler, the stone walls around them would shock them as if they were made of thick sheets of ice. A nautical scent yet earthy scent would drift up to them, although Kalix cared little if something smelled good or not. Soon enough, after walking for many, many minutes, Kalix could feel a breeze caress his bare cheeks.

Finally, he stopped, his hand feeling a slab of wood in front of them, with a hint of light glowing underneath. He turned back to look at Trix and Sable, motioning with his hands that he was going to open this door before grabbing hold of his mace. He couldn’t really hear much noises outside this tunnel but he figured maybe the thieves were away or sleeping or eating— something, right?

Using his magic, the slab of wood’s weight lessened tremendously and he pushed it forward, letting the wood fall a bit before having it float up. Without waiting, he pushed the flat piece of wood out of the way and the initiates entered into what appeared to be a bedroom of sorts, or a study with a bed, Kalix couldn’t tell. All he knew was that his room back at the academy was hardly this lavish.

Trix Sable Pembroke

 

[Trix]

Trix's fingers lingered on the wall beyond the doorway before stepping inside the chamber. Even the roots had not been able to give her an idea of what this place was going to be, only that another tunnel connected it to a bigger series of corridors and rooms. It felt more like a palace than a simple criminal underground lair. Of course, the people who lived here now might not be the people who made it but it would be prudent to assume they were.

Spying an open book next to a bottle of ink open on the desk, Trix made her way over and began to flip through. The script was a local one but common enough it had thankfully been one the Proctors had recommended to learn for missions to this area. Still, it took her a while to dust off the language and decipher it.

"Well... it's definitely more than just a few holed up criminals," she murmured and frowned as she turned the page to a diagram of an object that looked like a sculpted rod. "I think it's some kind of.... city of thieves."

 

[Sable Pembroke]

Wonder and worry made for a potent cocktail. Everything had seemed so straightforward about this mission prior to barging into this place. Now Sable couldn't tell if he was excited to press onwards or if the three of them should rally and call for aid from a proctor.

"A city?!" Sable shot back, trying to mind his volume. "I don't like the sort of numbers disadvantage that implies, Trix."

Sure, the three of them were powerful in their own right. Fully fledged or not, they were Dreadlords, well equipped and complementary ones at that. Yet, a simple pit trap had merely spelled the end for them just prior. Sable couldn't fight the fact that their enemy had an enormous home field advantage, such that the trio was in significant danger if these "bandits" were actually some sort of well organized thieves guild or something.

"...and why the hell haven't we run into any resistance yet? This all feels like some kind of--" Sable was interrupted by the screech of metal sliding against stone, then a terrible *boom* as a heavy object impacted the ground. Sable wheeled to see that their entry into the bedroom had been barred by a slab of steel. "...trap..."