Wil-tem Adlantis-ag Net Gawid-in Nageb-yoh

[Zephiris]

(( SHUNNY. YOU MAY POST NOW, HONEYCAKE. ))

[Shun]

M I K H A I L R U T H E R F O R D
"WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN... ALL JUST A DREAM IN THE END"

Tlachinolli's Heart

His breathing grew heavier as he continued to sidestep through the crack, finding it harder to proceed the further he went. This newly found "secret passage" was already narrow at the beginning but, after a few moments of wiggling his way through it, Mikhail noticed that its width was rapidly decreasing; good thing he didn't have much fat on his body to talk about or he would have probably ended up stuck between two walls. Fortunately, just as he was about to tell his acquaintance that it wasn't wise to proceed any further, the former knight noticed from the corner of his eye that they were almost out. "Looks like we found our ticket out of that cavern. Come on, just a little further."

A minute later or so, Mikhail finally found himself able to breathe some fresh air, stepping out of the pathway before glancing around. These new surroundings seemed to be as pitch black as the cave they had just escaped but, once he started to illuminate what he could with his flashlight, this place actually looked like it could take them somewhere.

"Alright... so, should we keep going or just go back and let those blockheads know what a bunch of idiots they've been? Your choice." Turning around, Rutherford noticed a third figure among them and, after some closer examination, he concluded that it certainly had to be Saxen. Recalling his "injury" and the conditions that had been affecting his friend, Mikhail was quite tempted to tell him to go back but ultimately dismissed the idea. If he had been able to cross that passageway of doom, the blonde was sure capable of fighting any resistance they could find.

A U D R E Y R A M I R E Z
"Y ANGUSTIAS QUE HUBO EN MI MENTE PARA NO SUFRIR POR COSAS TAN PEQUEÑITAS"

Tlachinolli's Heart

Visibly flustered, the mechanic continued to glance around, desperately turning her head as she continued to look for the linguist. For God's sake, where had he run off to? She was pretty sure that he had been aboard that truck she snagged when the fireflies attacked (he kept mumbling loud and illogical things as she attempted to get away from them) and it wasn't like they had crashed into a rock wall for him to rapidly fly away into oblivion. She let her brow furrow as she kicked the vehicle's door open, jumping off her little "sanctuary" to start her little search.

...And suddenly, everyone and Kairi's grandma started to gather around her, asking the million dollar question that she herself was still unable to answer.

"If I even had the slightest idea of where he could be, I wouldn't be standing here like a retarded idiota." Her plump lips let out a sigh as her hands fell down next to her hips; it unfortunately wasn't a posture of relief. She wrinkled her nose, attempting to get the mix of dirt and sweat of it as she continued to look around. "He was with me when the passage was sealed, so he has to be around here somewhere."

Fixing her trademark navy blue hat, she pondered. Hmm... perhaps he had found an exit? Sure, that probably was wishful thinking from Audrey's mind but still it was a possibility. "What if he found a way out of this maze? Like... no se... a slim pathway instead of the big Arco del Triunfo we're looking for." Actually, now that she thought about it, it was a rather good observation... and Mole's drilling gizmo was still unharmed and ready for use.

[Ellie who has 0%]

"Aye," she hissed after him, but he'd already whisked himself away towards the city. She couldn't be sharp-minded enough to keep tabs of his story, his relation to this world, and so on; it was too much of a pill to swallow when she had a bigger one being kicked down her throat. But there must be some truth to him if he knew his way to the city; if not he would just be another soul claimed by the wilderness. With another hissing tone, she only relinquished ONE scout to follow the boy, but to be sure to keep some paces behind him if he isn't who he claimed to be.

Catching a flick of blue light, her eyes narrowed towards the ground. They had caught someone, and knowing them, they'd subdue any oppurtunities to escape or call for help especially when so many more strangers were snooping about the volcano catacombs and sanctuaries. Not wasting time, she climbed and leaped down with her furs ruffling around her before she halted at the new center of attention.

Her halberd instinctively pointed at his neck as the curved pointed lifted his chin up,

What in the lights of this world was he doing here? Actually, how did he get here? For centuries there hadn't been any strangers to Atlantis. For all they knew, they were trapped in wild, untamed, and unforgiving lands with their pasts and lives slowly fading by the second. Who knows what would grab them first complete ignorance or the heartless? Surely they won't bring more problems to their plate than what they already had.

Her head titled like a curious yet aggressive dog as a scout hushed to her that he was injured. The round eyes of her huntress mask crept up closer to his face to inquire, while her weapon was still at threatening distance. Hearing sounds from around the bend, she reached out to tuck her necklace away in the shadows of her attire, then pressed her raw hands over the male's mouth. With a few commanding clicks of her tongue, the rangers and scout split off for a better vantage point in who was coming.

At least now they would be able to handle the distractions for she can properly interrogate the prey they captured. Fully squatting in from of him, she peered down at the wound on his chest; it sounded like she gave him a chastizing snort for foolishly endangering himself. Why was such scrawny and defenseless man out here? She didn't have to poke him to prove his lankiness and overall lack of experience to be a true problem. Removing her hand from his mouth, she held a slim finger towards the curved fangs of her mask's mouth, commanding him to keep quiet.

Lifting up her mask, she final made eye contact with him. Her gaze was in a calculating wonder, but her frown lifted at his state of helplness. Shaking her head, she revealed her crystal and held it towards his pain to clear it away, heal it with light.

[Kuu]

m i l o

Before Milo could heave a sigh of relief as the rather pointy-looking end of the spear moved away picking at his spectacles (uncomfortably close to poking out his eye), the silver-maned mask merely stepped to the side for an even less welcoming face with a somewhat more menacing stare - maybe it was that straight brow of disapproval chiseled into the mask's forehead or the way the mouth was downturned in a rather determinedly unhappy manner, or maybe it was even the fact the eyes were glowing freakishly blue, but in any case, it wasn't doing anything for his nerves, which were already threatening to lose its tentative grasp on his sanity.

It really didn't help when it also shoved its weapon right up to his neck, and as he involuntary moved backwards, he shifted his shoulder and gave another cry of pain as he clutched the wound on his chest, only to have his mouth smothered by a hand. His eyes widened at the unexpected feeling of human-like fingers press against his face, and suddenly, the possibility of these creatures being more than just what he saw struck him. Despite that, he still wasn't prepared for the moment the hand lifted the mask off.

As Milo gazed into the face behind the mask, he vaguely wondered if his glasses had fogged up. It was a young woman, and everything about her was alien and unnatural and utterly exquisite. Her tanned face was framed by a mop of silver hair that did not have the same weary lankness as the aged grey hair of the elderly. Her pillowy lips were open in curiosity, and an angular golden earring hung off her right ear. Her face was unadorned except for a peculiar blue tattoo below her left eye, and perhaps it was the blue light, but her sapphire gaze seemed to pour into his with an agelessness he couldn't quite describe. As he looked at her in shock and amazement, the feeling that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen never quite left the back of his mind.

She reached out with her hand, pulling down his vest to expose his chest, and the social protocol of his upbringing caused reality to snap back at him to be suitably embarrassed. 'H-hey, what - what're you -'

He had a brief moment to register the strange crystal around her neck to be the source of the blue light before she bathed his wound in its glow, a sharp breath leaving him as she pressed her hand against the graze, only for the pain to be relieved instantly in a cool wash as she drew her palm away. As he looked back at her, he got the weirdest feeling that she was looking down on him.

Before he could thank her however, there was a crumbling sound from behind him that expanded in volume within seconds and the woman and her companions scattered in its wake. It didn't take long for him to recognise the sound as that of the drill, and he couldn't help but think despairingly, Darn it, if you weren't gonna come in time, why did you have to turn up in the worst moment possible?!

'Hey! Hey, wait up! Wait a minute!' he called after them, chasing them with his already negligible athleticism. 'Who are you? Where are you going?'

They leapt over the rocky faces with practised ease, while he attempted to follow with his practised gracelessness. He finally squeezed himself out of a crevice, shouting out, 'Come back! Who are you?!'

His breath caught just as the rock exploded from behind him, but he barely noticed. He had caught sight of something truly incredible, and at that moment, breathing didn't matter. After being in those tunnels for so long, seeing something like this was like opening his eyes after being blind for his entire life - and from the sheer size of what he was gazing on right now, he might as well have been walking around with a blindfold on until that moment.

A plateau of water, with colossal waterfalls pouring from every side. Pearly clouds of spume and foam rising up from the bottomless chasm below while towering rock faces inlaid with greenery surrounded it. And at the centre of it all, an island nestled in the mist visible from where he stood on the cliff.

Atlantis.

---

k u u

Kuu recalled one of the best vantage points there were outside the borders of the city was probably the cliff face to the right of the bridge that bridged the chasm. Most likely that Princess Kida's rangers would emerge from the crevice just below, so all he had to do was to keep watch and wait. He didn't have to wait long.

The rangers erupted out of the narrow entryway with a speed that was far too hurried to be normal - there was a certain alarm he detected about them as they seemed to try to get as much distance between them and the tunnel entrance as possible. He dropped down slightly in order to try to make contact with one of them to ask what had happened when he heard shouts in a non-Atlantean language rising from the crevice as a figure struggled out of it. Spectacles, no tattoos, brown hair. A member of the expedition. How in the world did they manage to get here so quickly?

From what he could gather from his physique, it seemed that it was most likely that he had been the linguist he had heard about - the expert in gibberish. Figured the scholar would be the one dragged out into the open on his own by his curiosity. Nevertheless, he had to hand it to him for being able to decipher the ramblings of madman in a language more or less lost to the other worlds into something that he could successfully follow as a path to a lost civilisation.

His thoughts were disturbed by a sudden shift in the rock as part of the wall shattered in face of a huge drill gouging its way into the open air, and Kuu felt a brief moment of outrage at their lack of respect for the ancient geology of the world - ignorance was never an excuse for causing such irreparable damage to a place they did not know. He joined the rest of the rangers, looking to Kida for instruction as to what they should do next.

'I follow you, Princess.'


((Limited powerplay advocated in order to help push things along - if there's anything which you feel is overstepping the boundaries too far then, staff please feel to comment/correct as you see fit.))

[Zephiris]

Commander Lyle T. Rourke

Tlachinolli's Heart

"A slim passageway, hm?" Rourke repeated, mulling over the thought. Plausible. A definite plausibility, in fact. He still wasn't convinced that Milo Thatch had taken the initiative and strayed from the group, but a thought had occurred to him with the latina's words that he decidedly favored. They could either retrace their steps for another two hours in search of a path like she described, rather than the end to this massive cave network, or. . . they could make their own.

The Commander nodded to mechanic. "Right, Ramirez. Help hold the congregation. It's about time we busted our way out of here."

He turned and strode away. As he searched, he redirected the orders to whatever officers he came across, and the group came to a slow halt just as he found his target.

"Mole!" Rourke shouted upwards, where a round figure squatted atop a massive drill machine. The equipment protested loudly as its driver coaxed it to a slow, screeching, spluttering halt. The creature then proceeded to babble soothing remarks to the giant hunk of metal, oblivious to his superior below.

"Mole!"

"Eeh?" The squat man glanced down. The metal eyepieces flipped over his forehead and popped outward like a telescope, forcing upon Rourke the impression of eyes bugging out of an insect. The device blinked, and its owner promptly wriggled in excitement. "Oooh, our turn? Yes! She's ready! So muchly ready! And there's a lovely soft spot right up here!"

However strange he may be, Gaëtan Molière was certainly astute.

- - -

Nyra Rei Kaze

Tlachinolli's Heart

Nyra breathed happily as they finally reached the end of the cramped passage, and fresher air flooded her lungs. They strode along the new, broader path they had stumbled upon, and Nyra felt the fog that the monotony had smothered her brain with begin to fade. Then her new male companion spoke. She turned to him with a pained expression.

"Go back? I don't know about you, but I'd rather face that monster again than have to watch the butt of the driller for another hour. I'm sure the doctor or the other guy can run back." She turned to look over her shoulder. "Oi! You two doing okay?"

It occured to Nyra then that Doctor Sweet was a broad man. She opened her mouth, but moments away from mentioning out loud the possibility of the doctor getting stuck along the passageway, a low groan began to reverberate in her bones. Nyra's eyes were wide as they exchanged a glance with the dark-haired man at her side, their pupils shrinking to dots among gold in the painful flare of his flashlight.

Clunk. A chunk of rock dropped and rolled her boot. Nyra eyed it, then warily shoved it away with her toe. A moment later she hissed; a bit of ledge crumbled above her, and she sidestepped to avoid grazing her shoulder.

"What. . ." Her heart skipped a beat as she tried to make sense of the situation. Was it an earthquake? A cave in? She felt sickened by the thought of being buried under a thousand tons of stone, above which an ocean of water would pitch in the weight to crush her.

But suddenly something clicked in her brain. With a sharp pang of dread, Nyra reached to clutch the shoulder of the man beside her. The growing rumble of the stone attempted to drown out her words, and she had to raise her voice to a near shout.

"They're trying to drill through - we need to get out!"

- - -

(( Omitting Karod until everyone gets a tad bit closer to Atlantis ))

[Shun]

A U D R E Y R A M I R E Z
"DEJAR DE SER NIÑA... PARA SER MUJER!"

Tlachinolli's Heart

"Aye aye, commander." Ramirez nodded, immediately understanding what he was going to do. She turned around, raising her hands so the rest of the expedition could notice her and stop their annoying chit-chat and complaining. "Alright people, we're busting out of here! Everyone, step away from the wall and go back! I repeat, everyone step away from the wall.

She tapped her foot, expecting a nice and ordered relocation... but getting what could have been a riot in other circumstances. The hispanic girl shook her head; they wouldn't make any progress at this pace. Turning on her flashlight, Audrey began pointing its beam of light at those who were either too slow in the move or that simply hadn't heard her announcement. In less than two or three minutes, the chief mechanic had finally managed "evacuated" the area and left it all nice and ready for Mole and the drill to work their magic. "All ready and waiting for orders, Rourke!"

M I K H A I L R U T H E R F O R D
"SO MANY FEARS WERE SWIMMING AROUND AND AROUND IN MY MIND"

Tlachinolli's Heart

Mikhail nodded, understanding and wholeheartedly agreeing with the girl's reasoning. Monotony could perhaps be one of the things he had always disliked and after the past couple of hours... well, you would say it was already border-lining hate, if not basking itself in it. He raised his free hand and wiped the sweat off his forehead. At this point, the pyromancer was frankly regretting signing up for the expedition or even letting any of his Guardians join in; it all was turning out to be nothing more than pure and utter disaster. But there was no turning back until they had gotten... whatever there was to get in the Lost City. He would finish this mission himself if needed; that was the least he could do for Max, Jack and all of those lost in the previous attack.

As the girl spoke once again, he turned around to check on the rest of their little "scouting" group. Apparently they weren't four but just three instead' the doctor probably stayed behind for whatever reasons he had. It was of no consequence; the three of them could watch each other's backs quite well... right? "Alright, let's get moving. This path ought to t-"

Clunk. At first it was just a piece of rock or two; a strange and certainly artificial growl could be heard from the other side of the wall and it was becoming louder as time passed by. Suddenly larger and larger pieces of the cave's ceiling spontaneously begun to fall. What in the world? Mikhail's mind suddenly went to Saxen, whose leg or whatever was currently injured; the main problem was that he wouldn't be able to run for his life. Not even thinking twice, the pyromancer reached the other man's arm, pulling him away from the wall and narrowly saving him from another falling chunk of ceiling.

He turned his head, barely hearing the girl's warning.

"Run! We'll catch up in a minute!" Rutherford yelled back, not even sure if she had managed to hear him. However, he wasn't going to waste any more time. Wrapping one of Saxen's arms around him, Rutherford started to walk away from the danger as quickly as he could while serving as support for the other boy. 'Dwayna, that drill better break down or something!'

Mikhail wasn't really looking forward to being buried alive thanks to those blockheads.

[Ellie who has 0%]

One would presume once being out of the caves and away from those people would release the tension. Honestly Kida hadn't been so wound up in her life. She passed on the balls of her feet, while her fingers flexed and wiggles to alleviate the stiffness in her bones as she held her halberd. Unfortunately her wrath was being bottle up, while the steam from the hot brew was spewing before it targeted towards the stranger with an Atlantean crystal and tongue.

"Who are you?"She demanded harshly, Where did you come from? I know faces of Atlantis, but not yours.

Her halberd pointed at him. The pointed tip curled away from his throat, while the gems reflected light off his person, "DID YOU BRING THOSE PEOPLE TO US AFTER WHAT THIS WORLD IS GOING THROUGH NOW!"

She stiffened once turning her head towards the caves. She could feel it in the soles of her feet. They were coming with feet large enough to shake the earth and crack the air with its loud noises. Pacing for a moment, she looked up above the entrance they'd escaped from. They would have to scale the mountain side to be out of sight to not lead them towards the city by fleeing to it. Barking an order with her strong accent, she nodded up and began climbing. Once they clear and count their numbers, then she'll decided in whether they should attack or stalk them through their travels before plucking them out one by one like a Bahod-mok.

(I may try to expand)

[Kuu]

Kuu restrained himself from swallowing as the tip of the spearhead came dangerously close to grazing his throat. He'd forgotten how hostile Atlanteans could potentially be to outsiders - obviously the rough outline of the story he'd passed by the princess in the short time they had encountered each other had been enough to maintain his short-term life span, but wasn't quite enough to convince her that he wasn't a threat. The huge drill carving its way through the rock wasn't particularly helping things either.

He carefully moved the edge of the spear away from his throat with a slow movement of his fingers as he spoke, 'More than ten years ago, there was a bright light that descended upon the shores of Atlantis, discovered by a hunter of the city. Within that light the hunter found a child, who he took to place before the King for his decree as to what to do with it. Your esteemed father deemed it right to allow the child to stay in the city until the time was right for the infant's departure. The child was known as Kio, and lived beside the pools of Atlantis for two years, before mysteriously vanishing.'

He held up his crystal for her to see. 'That child, Princess, was me.'

'As difficult as it may be to believe, I was a citizen of Atlantis for at least a brief while,' he went on quickly before she pointed the spear at him again. 'I have kept my knowledge of the city safe with me to this day. I have not once in my life betrayed its secrets. This is the truth.'

Glancing down at the now gathering expedition crew, a frown flickered across his features. 'However, these are men of resources. They have searched and scavenged for whispers of the city's whereabouts and have gathered together enough information to guide them through the path to Atlantis and armed themselves with the tools to ensure they travel unhindered.'

'I came to warn you of them,' he continued. 'There is word of darkness threatening the city of Atlantis, and I believe that there is little doubt that this group of outsiders is somehow connected to this. I do not think them to be evil - but as ever, this would be a situation that calls for utmost caution. But come what may, as long as I stand within Atlantis, I am ever your loyal servant, Princess Kida.'

[Deleted]

((Sorry for the crappy post))

Dr. Sweet moved away from the wall as Mole began doing what he does best, and that was digging.The Doc figured he would stand back, and let Mole work his magic, and then maybe soon would they be able to find Atlantis.

Dr. Sweet looked around. This truly was an amazing place true, and soon the team would find the greatest find. Atlantis. So he sat back, and waited for Mole to finish drilling, through for now, and if a rock fell on anyone because of the drilling he would be there to fix them up.

Looking around though the team was still missing Milo, who knows where that boy ran off too. He probably has already discovered the city for all the Doctor knew.