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[ OPEN ] ❝ you are a stranger here, why have you come ❞
Who: Prompto (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
punshots) + YOU
What: Questing and helping deserters.
When: January!
Where: Wyver and nearby quest locations
Warning(s): N/A for now!
I. TOMB RAIDER (QUEST: DISTURBING THE DEAD).
II. THE CRYSTAL SHARDS (QUEST: PREACHING IN A MATERIAL WORLD).
III. TOUGH TO BEAR (LATER JANUARY).
IV. WILDCARD.
punshots) + YOUWhat: Questing and helping deserters.
When: January!
Where: Wyver and nearby quest locations
Warning(s): N/A for now!
I. TOMB RAIDER (QUEST: DISTURBING THE DEAD).
[ Don't worry. He's played video games.
...And, you know, has a fair amount of experience spelunking in real life, too, but that somehow seems secondary to everything he's learned about tomb-raiding from video games. Is he bound to booby right into some booby traps? Undoubtedly. But that's why he brought someone along with him! To be a second pair of eyes when he gets a bit too Prompto about things.
At the unassuming entrance to the crypt - unassuming if you use a freakin' ton of human skulls in your decorating, anyway - Prompto turns to his companion, clicking on the flashlight clipped to his vest. He also has a whip, despite not knowing how to really use it, because of course he does. ]
Remember - idols? Don't touch 'em, especially if they're on pedestals. If you see any giant boulders, run. Just - run. Oh - and if you see anything diamond-shaped, for the love of the Six, definitely - I repeat, definitely do not step on it.
[ Boy, he sure sounds like an expert, doesn't he? ]
...After you!
[ Or not. ]
II. THE CRYSTAL SHARDS (QUEST: PREACHING IN A MATERIAL WORLD).
[ Whatever man, this guy likes his shiny pieces of rock, he's not one to judge. Compared to most of the other jobs, this one seems relatively safe and, uh, legal, which makes it an immediate draw for him. He's a decent enough swimmer, too, so it should be a piece of cake!
Unfortunately, he's woefully uneducated about the enchanted pools the crystal drops are found in, so he doesn't give it a second thought as he strips down to his underwear and dives deep down into one of the many lagoons outside of Wyver to scoop up the coveted gems.
If he's down there a little longer than should be normal for a human, don't worry - that's normal (thanks, Volkkran Pact). However, that only gives more time for the enchanted waters to really get to him, and...boy, are they getting to him.
When Prompto resurfaces to dump an armful of crystal shards onto the ground, he pushes his mop of wet hair out of his eyes - and that's when he at last notices he is not alone. ]
How long've you been here?
[ Rather pointedly, nowhere near his usual warm disposition. Huh, weird. ]
III. TOUGH TO BEAR (LATER JANUARY).
[ With citizens on every corner calling for a move against Olympia, the city has gotten juuuuust a bit much to handle lately, and when he catches wind about the deserters from some gossipy guards, Prompto decides it's time to take a little day-trip outside Wyver proper to see what it's like for those neutrally aligned himself. Fuck the popo, those people are in need and if he can do something to help, he's going to.
And he's gonna get there on a bear, because he can.
He spends a good chunk of change cleaning out some vendors in the market one morning before loading up his mount's saddlebags with food and medicinal herbs before traveling to some of the neutral camps east of the city. He may have asked a close friend to come along with him, or maybe he bumps into a fellow refugee once there. Either way, he complains as he dismounts: ]
Man, that was unbearably boring! Nothin' but trees, trees, 'n' more trees...
[ Yes, even on a bear, traveling is still dull. Then, with a nod: ]
You gonna give me a hand with this?
[ Or, perhaps, you encounter him later on in the evening, after he's stayed too long helping the refugees and his mount is now beginning to become unruly. The bear starts to snarl discontentedly while Prompto pats its neck in a futile effort to calm it. ]
Th-there, there, Fuzzby! Just a bit - whoa -
[ Watch as he attempts to hold onto his saddle while the bear tries to buck him. Should be quite the spectacle. Or help him, perhaps, if you are so inclined. ]
IV. WILDCARD.
[ Have something else you'd like to do with Prompto this month? Hit me up atretroscape! I'm happy to set up closed starters for more particular plans as well! ]
no subject
We gotta get you some movies, man. [ A beat. ] Well, first - we gotta get you a TV, and then some movies. After your sky high space robot, natch.
[ He knows Duo's priorities!!
There's the sound of something skittering up ahead. Mice, probably, but a chill runs down his spine nonetheless. ]
The Six're...kind of the gods of my home world. Of Eos. Guess they're not around anymore, buuuuuut still gotta swear by someone, y'know?
no subject
I mean, I'm not opposed when we have a chance.. [ Might as well learn some things, right? Wouldn't hurt him any. He'd seen a few old movies when he'd been on L2, and seen a few on Earth but that was mostly with Quatre which meant.. well, who knows. Probably movies Duo wouldn't choose on his own, but endured for the sake of keeping his friend happy. He's a good person, sometimes.
But only sometimes.
Duo freezes for a moment at the sound of the skittering ahead, listening closely before continuing on. Mice weren't a problem. It was bigger things that would send him running for cover. ]
Oh, good. So you're not gonna start bible quoting me.. [ There's a little laugh at that, his own annoyance at all things religious honestly kind of his own problem. This coming from a kid who still wears a cross, but that's more sentimental than any actual religious affiliations. Still, he can't help but ask - ]
What do you mean, though, when you say they're 'not around anymore'?
no subject
Good thing he has the conversation to distract him from thinking too much about mice - or worse - running amok down here. What's a bible, anyway? ]
Well, I mean...they got destroyed along with the storm, probably. At least...I haven't seen anything vaguely Astral-like in stasis...can't imagine a pod big enough to hold someone like the Archaean, anyway.
[ A light shrug. ]
Maybe they survived somehow, but...
[ It didn't seem likely, if their worlds really were gone. ]
no subject
Ah.. right.. I always forget about that.. [ Blocking things out is how he typically dealt with things, after all. It's how Duo Maxwell and the God of Death could co-exist so well, and all of that lot. Blotting out the fact that Earth and L2 and.. pretty much everything didn't exist anymore just made living a little easier. ]
Makes it easier to just carry on like normal around here if you kinda.. block out the whole.. nothing exists anymore thing..
[ Duo once again jumps to attention as something moves, shoulders stiffening up and eyes alert as he scans the darkness ahead of them. He's thankful he'd brought along a few weapons just in case, and reaches in to his shoe just in case.
.. Who knew if rodents here were the same as he'd always seen them or not, right? Could be meat eaters here. ]
I hate shit like this on a new planet.. don't know what the hell the animals are capable of here.. [ Totally trying to justify drawing what's.. probably a switchblade out of his shoe, here. ]
Well, I guess for you they were more tangible. I just got an orphanage that liked to lecture me on a book supposedly written by some guy who claimed to be God's son.
Not convincing, you know?
no subject
Another thing to bottle away. For now, he continues to creep forward. ]
Yeah, doesn't sound like it. [ Then again, he was more than willing to believe his best friend a prophesied king of legend, so maybe he's a little more of a believer than he might think himself. ] There's -
[ A stone shifts under his foot, and Prompto jumps back abruptly before the floor he'd been about to stop on gives way to a dark abyss below them. ]
....Okay, so we're not going that way, I guess.
no subject
Shit. [ Duo breathes that out as he backs up, eyes darting around the cave as he tries to think of a plan to figure out where to go next. The first inkling he has is to find something to poke at the floor with that's long - that way they know how far ahead they can step, etcetera. In an instant that pen light is flicking this way and that, Duo treading silently and lightly as he tries to find something. ]
We need to find something that we can poke ahead of ourselves with. So that we're not playing roulette with the floor, you know?
You seen anything like that on the way here? I wasn't really paying attention for that particular item when we were walking down here..
I just don't want to fall in to some pit and die before I figure out what the hell's going on in my stretch of universe, yeah?
no subject
[ Let's not fall into any death pits. A solid plan. Prompto glances back towards the direction they came from. He did notice something they could use, but...he's not keen on the idea of going back for it. ]
Hang on, I think I...saw somethin'.
[ He jogs back into the darkness, returning a moment later with a well-worn spear. It's decrepit and rusted, and he might've....pulled it off a skeleton. Yuck. But it might be their best option. ]
Think this'll work?
no subject
Don't fall in to anything.. I'm not the fastest runner in the world. [ He's pretty fleet footed, but there's no use in false hopes here. On this floor he isn't sure he'd be able to reach anyone in time. Thankfully what's behind them didn't seem to be trapped at all, though... the floor falling away could just as easily be age. Duo hasn't seen enough Indiana Jones or anything even like it to possibly make the connections and understand it in any other sense.
Still, he's prodding forward with a foot as Prompto returns, turning to look at what he's got with his head slightly tilted up so that he doesn't blind him with the light - he's a good deal shorter after all. ]
Ah hell, it should. Provided it doesn't like.. fall apart in my hands. [ Listen, he's just a teenage terrorist - this thing could be a precious antique and he'd still use it to prod around with. He offers a hand to take it, turning back to look. ]
Now I just gotta.. figure out a plan of attack here that's methodical enough. Moments ya miss a guy like Heero..
no subject
What if we got at it single file, and you just tap every one of the tiles as we go to see where the real path is? It'll be slow going, buuut I'd take that over dyin'.
[ ... ]
Was your friend's name seriously "Hero"?
[ Because that's what he just heard. ]
no subject
Yeah, that's about the best we've got. Might even kinda poke ahead a little bit but I'm gonna bet that where you almost fell in is probably gonna be a no all the way across. [ Duo quickly makes a mental note that from now on when he takes little assignments like these he needs to come prepared like he's going on a mission. Of course, who would've thought this might be actual Tomb Raider in the end, but he supposes he can't discount anything anymore from this planet.
Duo seems confused by the question for a moment, eyes squinting slightly as his mind processes what he'd half heard in all of his thinking - ]
Oh. Yeah, it's Heero, but it's not spelled how you think. Two e's. He's the one that was here before but went back in to Popsicle mode not too long ago. [ Their names all literally count from one to five, but Duo's not about to reveal that mess. How the hell the doctors had even worked that out he doesn't want to know. ]
Just wait if Quatre wakes up - he'll be down here in these damn caves all the time and drag me along to fit in the small spaces.
[ Though, back to business - ]
You leading or me?
no subject
Right, though. Much as he might prefer shooting the breeze, the sooner they get on with this, the better. He's quickly learning the more he thinks of this like a video game, the more confident he feels as they move ahead.
In that vein: ]
Uh - I can lead. Just, uh...don't elbow me, or anything.
[ He takes the spear in hand again, tiptoes forward, and prods a few of the tiles. Some of them start to crumple away, but once he finds one that's solid, he starts moving. ]
no subject
[ Had Duo paid a little closer attention to the Latin while he was in a Catholic orphanage he might be able to have a laugh about it with him - however... too busy being a little shit at the time. So instead here he is, still ignorant to the whole pretentious naming thing, though..
There's one of those sly, 'no promises' smiles as Prompto says not to elbow him. ]
I'll see what I can do on that one.
[ Of course he's not going to, but that doesn't mean he's going to tell Prompto that. Carefully he follows behind at a respectable distance, not too far for pushing but enough that he's not breathing down his neck. ]
Even in the war we never did stuff like this cave diving mess. I'd almost rather go back to sneaking through places I shouldn't be.
no subject
So. Pressing forward, ever careful as he prods the stones and continues to suss out the safest path. Hopefully they're not on a timer, here... ]
Not my first time in a creepo cave, buuuut the ones we went into usually weren't so...booby-trapped. [ Somewhat, but not to this extent. He ain't from no action-adventure game! ]
Maybe your sneaking will come in handy, if we gotta get past a sleeping temple guard, or something.
no subject
I mean.. I'm kinda used to navigating through traps and stuff but it's not been uh... shit like this. Like laser movement sensors, hacking through computer networks... not quite literally a booby trapped old tomb or whatever this is in the end... [ Duo tries not to think about how much he'd probably actually knock out whoever might be a temple guard faster than sneak past him. If the guy knew all about this place, who knew what they might be capable of, right? Sure, he knows the exact angle and amount of rotation needed to snap a human neck, but he wasn't really in the mood to demonstrate that in front of Prompto.
Those kinda things had a way with changing the way people looked at you, he'd found out. Even Hilde had given him a bit of side eye the first time she'd ever watched him take down a soldier, and she wasn't all that better about it. ]
Let's hope he's the typ'a guy I can sneak by and not someone we have to take on.
Considering the rest of this place.. I kinda wouldn't be surprised if the guy was more murdery than we were hoping for.
no subject
Speaking of which - they reach the far side of the room at last, and once they reach fully solid floor again Prompto sighs, his shoulders dropping. ]
Man...and if that was one of the first ones, I hate to see what the other traps are gonna be like!
[ Good thing he has experience solving dungeon puzzles...something tells him that's going to come in handy here. ]
...Where to now?
[ Looks like they've got two paths to choose from. ]
no subject
Now that they know what's up in this place, there's no ignoring it or laughing on, is there? ]
Makes me worry there's gonna be trip wires or something. Last thing I wanna do is get stabbed by projectiles out of no where.
[ Though, when it comes to the tunnels... ]
Let's each take one - like stand in the doorway, you know?
If you feel air or hear anything, let me know and I'll do the same. Might mean there's an exit or something.. someone.. else waiting for us.
no subject
[ So, still gripping that spear, Prompto steps towards the left passage, casting a glance at the walls in case there's a sign of any trip wire or other trap. They've done pretty well so far of not boobying into a booby trap, but if one of them is going to set one off, he knows he has a tendency to...kind of get himself in that kind of trouble.
So, being extra cautious. He stands and assesses for a moment, before glancing back at Duo. ]
Nope, no breeze here, far as I can tell. You?
no subject
[ Duo trails right, leaning close to the wall just in case anything comes flinging his way or something. Since he floor was trying to fall out from under them he's definitely being a bit more cautious, creeping closer and listening down the tunnel. He doesn't hear anything, but -
There's a faint glimmer down the passage way, almost like a very thin string or.. maybe his eyes playing tricks on him. The light is low enough that it could possibly go either way, and he's squinting trying to make sure, either way, what is going on over there. A more reckless part of him wants to approach, maybe find something to throw that could break the little thread. It could also just be a spider, but some part of him just... wants to be sure.
At least until Prompto speaks, snapping him out of it, turning to him to curiously listen to what he has to say, nodding in confirmation that he's heard him, but then points down his own tunnel. ]
Take a look at this, will ya? Not sure if it's just a spider thread or .. like an actual trip wire or just my head.