Welp, I'm a Tour Guide[Cerci, Rebecca. PM to join]

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik appreciated the smile that Rebecca had after finishing the ice cream. It was sad that Cerci couldn’t have enjoyed it, but not everyone has the same tastes. Erik had been taking his time finishing his ice cream and had only finished half of it. It was a delicious treat for him and he would only eat it fast enough so that it wouldn’t melt before he got the chance to finish it.

After having another chunk melt in his mouth he listened to Cerci ask about the tunnels which Erik had vaguely pointed to earlier. “Those lead to the underground of Twilight Town,” Erik replied, “it mostly just a bunch of tunnels, though it is a good hang out spot.”

Upon Cerci motioning for the other two to follow her, Erik stepped forward. He began to speed up a little bit so that he could be in the lead again but quickly stopped and questioned, “Would you like to lead our little expedition into the underground?” It seemed like somewhat of a good idea since Erik already knew where he was going and it was somewhat more fun to discover a new area on your own.

“It’s unlikely we’ll get lost down there and even if we do I will be able to get us not lost pretty quickly. You seem more like the leader type anyway; don’t you want to be the expedition leader?” It would possibly be fun to be lead around his town by someone who didn’t know the area.

[Deleted]

Rebecca followed the older two around, she didn't really feel any reason to object, being the youngest, and never having been in a place like this. It sounded like they were going into the tunnels, she didn't much know what to expect, having experienced only a crumb of what life offers.

"What's a 'tunnold?'" She asked, curiously as she skipped ahead of them and then realized this and skipped behind. "I don't know if I've ever been in one." She seemed unsure of what to think as she spoke, it could be a magical land of ice cream and rainbows and ponies, or it could be just as bad as that lab.

[Deleted]

Cerci was excited. She did want to lead and had been wanting to lead for a while now, she held back, however, to give Erik the chance to show them around. Fortunately, he had passed the reigns off to the two of them which Cerci graciously and eagerly accepted.

"Well, if you don't mind me taking charge," Cerci grinned, fully intending to lead them into the underground whether he offered to let her lead or not. She stepped in front of the two of them and practically dove into the tunnels as they entered. For a moment, Cerci was afraid that Rebecca was going to go darting off in front of them again but she skipped back and walked along with the two of them.

"A tunnel? A tunnel is a long corridor or- uh, a hallway that usually connects one place to another. Sometimes it has dead ends and sometimes there can be one tunnel connecting to another tunnel and it can turn into a maze, so you have to be careful and always know which way you've come and which way you're going," Cerci nodded after her explanation and stared down at Rebecca, hoping that she understood if only a little. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the smallest of movements ahead of them and happened to glance up in time to see what looked to be a tail of some sort vanish around the corner of a nearing crossroads in the tunnel system. It didn't exactly startle her, but it made her pause for a moment to consider the thought that there may be some sort of vermin down here. She stopped the group as the came to the crossroads and stared down in the direction she had seen the tail slide off towards. Without a word, she lead them down that corridor and to a more open space that looked like a storage area with all the small crates that were littered about.

"Hmm, I guess it was nothing," she muttered this mostly to herself as she stopped to scratch the bottom of her chin and look around, "Say Erik, what's this place? Storage?"

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik followed Cerci as she took charge and began leading the tour group around the tunnels. A few turns and a possible animal sighting later they ended up in an open area with crates scattered about. Erik had been there many times before, but he never really knew who used the crates. It was probably a storage area, but it wasn’t blocked off to the public.

Cerci posed a question about what the area was used for and Erik answered, “I’m not sure, you’re supposed to be the tour guide right now, why don’t you start telling us about the area you’ve landed us into?” Erik raised his eyebrows with the question he posed at the end of his response.

“To be honest, I don’t really know who uses this place, so you might as well slap some silly name onto it and found it as a new country ruled under the monarch Cerci,” Erik mocked, “may you be ever kind and merciful to your people who have nowhere else to live except in the tunnels.” He did his best to let it be known that he was being playful rather than rude. He was somewhat more hyper after finishing off his ice cream and that caused him to try and make jokes more often, whether they were funny or not.

[Deleted]

Cerci stopped gazing around the open area to give Erik a surprised look. He had just openly sassed her about being their 'tour guide' and had suggested that she 'name the room' herself. Laughing airily she shook her head at him, smiled then turned back to the room. It did look like storage, but it wasn't really her place to go around naming things, now was it? And ruler? She laughed again and put her head in her hand, wiping her face with it as looked back up at the room.

"I'd be queen of the homeless then, wouldn't I?" she couldn't help but laugh at what Erik had said, as ridiculous as it was, and for a moment, with her eyes sweeping over the small area, she almost missed the cat sitting in the center of it all. She let her eyes focus on the lone animal and recognized the dark tail that she had seen earlier. Tapping the front of Erik's shirt with the back of her hand she nodded in the direction of the oddly placed cat, "Got a bit of a stray problem down here?"

She walked to the edge of the ledge they were standing on and hopped down the large steps to the main floor were the cat was seated. Stooping slightly she moved to approach the animal, but froze. Something seemed off about the way the cat looked. It was dark in color, not unlike normal cats that she had seen, but with a different sort of shade. It also seemed to be twitching, like it had something in it's ear and it was desperate for a good scratch. The thought crossed Cerci's mind that the poor thing had the mange or something, but the idea soon vanished when she could have sworn it glitched out of existence.

"What is-" a sudden chill spread throughout her body as she stood there, watching the ground where the cat had once been. Seconds later, what could only be explained as a dark hole in reality opened up in the ground; out of which a small, black creature emerged. The thing rose to it's feet and stared up at her with glowing yellow eyes, it's body twitching just as the cat's had before its appearance. Cerci contemplated whether or not the thing hadn't actually been the cat and slowly moved to grab her pistol. Keeping her eyes on the twitching creature, she attempted to un-holster her weapon while trying to back away from the situation.

"E-Erik? Please tell me this is what cats look like in this town," her voice was a little uneasy, but she tried to remain calm, knowing that if she got too worked up it'd only make matters worse.

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik waited attentively for the new name that the area he was in would get, but was disappointed when Cerci decided that she wasn’t quite up to the task of ruling over the homeless population of Twilight Town. “Of course you’d be queen of the homeless; they’re the most fun to rule over!” The laughs that Cerci let loose reassured Erik that his joke was taken in good taste.

A cat was soon visible in the center of the room which seemed to cause Cerci to want to approach it. Erik followed jumping down the ledge to the lower area of the room. “There aren’t too many strays around here, but most of them are friendly so there isn’t too much to worry about.” He approached, wanting to pet the cat but was caught off guard by a seeming glitch in reality.

A hole ripped open and a creature sauntered out as the cat disappeared. Erik’s eyes widened in disbelief as he recognized the creature as something he had once fought before. He quickly unclipped his struggle bats from his sides. “Cerci, I’m afraid I need to tell you that this is indeed not what cats normally look like in Twilight Town. Now either prepare for a fight or back up because one is about to go down!”

Erik wasn’t prepared for another meeting with this strange creature so soon after his previous battle. His wounds were still healing from his previous bout with several of them. Unfortunately Erik’s bats were not the best weapons for an actual battle. “I sure hope that you have better weapons than I do because these things can be dangerous.”

[Deleted]

For the love of- Cerci's mind was racing as she tried to process the situation. Ghosts, was it ghosts? She frowned knowing full well that she didn't believe in ghosts or anything like that; those were just horror stories and night terrors, this was real. This was tangible and according to Erik it was dangerous. Grasping at the grip of her pistol, she managed to unlatch the clasp with a flick of her thumb and pull the hefty thing from it's holster.

"Don't you worry about me, lad," she gripped the pistol and aimed it square at the creature in front of the two of them, "If this things as bad as you say it is I've got something for it."

She could feel her hands shaking slightly, but she took a deep breath and steadied them. Her finger eased off the safety and a low hum echoed around the now claustrophobic chamber. She was about ready to fire off a shot when she felt another chill beside her; it almost felt like she had just walked into the shade after being out in the sun for a while. The cold was instant and gone about as quickly as it had arrived, leaving her with more of an uneasy feeling than anything. Giving a quick glance to her side she saw another one of those dark creatures pulling itself out of another hole that had surfaced on the wall.

"Erik..." her voice trailed off as she gave the room a quick once over. They had been joined by three more of those twitching critters, including the one she had seen on the wall, making the room's occupancy an uncomfortable seven when she decided, as ruler, that it should only be a three. Backing up, she positioned herself so that she had at least two of those creatures in sight while her back was practically pressed to her companions. "Erik, I've got a pistol and a sword, but my baby's only got so much kick in her and Midas isn't one for tight quarters. I'm thinking a hasty retreat might be in order...like now- right now, would be good!"

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik slowly readied himself into a battle stance only looking over at Cerci once to make sure that she had done the same. He was ready to defend himself and his companions from one of the strange creatures, but then more showed up. Worried that enemy numbers would keep increasing Erik switched his stance slightly to one more open to retreat if that was the optimal option.

They seemed to stop showing up after the fourth one and Erik figured that with that they might be able to win the battle. He lost to three of the creatures before when he was on his own, vanquishing two before succumbing to defeat, but he had backup this time. Cerci seemed to prefer running and Erik wasn’t in a position to put up much of a fight, he did have other people to worry about after all, and he couldn’t force them to fight.

“Alright, if you think running is for the best, I’m right behind ‘ya.” Erik motioned with his hand for Cerci to go first and sneaked a quick look at the exit so that he would know which way to go. The closeness of the exit comforted him, but he wondered how far they would have to run before the creatures would stop pursuing them.

“Run!” Erik commanded as he followed Cerci. He hoped that they wouldn’t have to go far to reach safety.

[Deleted]

Cerci saw his hand signal and nodded in silent agreement. If they were going to get out of this corner they had backed themselves into they needed to work quickly. Keeping her eyes on the skulking creatures she took a step towards the ledges and mentally took note of how far away the two she had in her sights were. By what she could tell they would be able to reach her in two long strides, but seeing as how small they were she figured it'd be double that; that's when the one nearest the wall jumped. It leaped into the air and came sailing towards Cerci so quickly she almost didn't have time to react. Fortunately, instinct took over and she was able to raise and fire off the charge that was waiting in her pistol before the creature had a chance to use it's claw like hands on her face.

The shot was spot on and paralyzing; as the beam sailed through the air, she had feared it might accidentally hit Erik because of how close they were to each other, but it managed to stay steady and hit it's mark. When it hit, much to Cerci's surprise, the creature didn't drop out of the air. It didn't survive the shot, that much was for sure, but it didn't make it back to the ground either; it just wasn't there anymore. It's body had literally disintegrated in a cloud of black swirling mist leaving Cerci in wide eyed confusion.

With her ears still ringing from the shot, she almost didn't hear Erik's exclamation, but when her mind refocused she registered the command and sprinted back towards the ledges that led up to the exit. When she reached them, she bounded up them as quickly as she could, stopping only when she reached the top to make sure Erik had followed her.

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik had started running ready to follow Cerci out of the room when he saw one of the creatures leap at her, but before he could do anything she had shot it out of the air with her pistol and it had dissipated into darkness. It seemed that the pistol was a powerful weapon to take one of those things out so easily, but Erik was still going to run not wanting to force a fight.

Following quickly behind Cerci, Erik began climbing up the ledge. While preoccupied with getting up one of the creatures leaped at him from behind and sunk its claws down his calf. Erik let out a scream of pain as he pulled himself up. The blood began to trickle out of his wounds and onto to the floor.

Erik stood up and immediately felt the pain shoot through his leg. It was clear that he wouldn’t be able to walk quickly on his injured leg so Erik reached out to Cerci for some support. Hopefully he wouldn’t hinder her so much that they wouldn’t be able to escape.

[Deleted]

Cerci heard his cry of pain before she saw him reaching for her which sent a shock of panic through her system and threw her body towards him in an instinctive urge to help. Taking aim with her pistol again she readied the charge and let out another spine tingling shot that tore through the air and nailed the creature that had injured Erik right in it's shoulder. The reaction was almost the same as before, the only difference being that the thing's arm went up in a cloud of dark smoke instead of the rest of it. Cerci watched in almost horror as the thing tottered backwards for a moment before regrowing the appendage it had lost; although she hadn't destroyed it in one shot like she had last time, the thing still looked pretty out of it which gave Cerci enough time to leap to Erik's aid.

Holstering her now useless weapon, she gripped him tightly around the middle, threw one of his arms over her shoulder and half dragged, half carried him up onto the final ledge and to the exit that lead out into the first set of tunnels. She glanced back in her half panicked state to see that the creatures were slowly making their way up the ledges and towards the exit, giving her a small amount of time to make a decision on whether or not they- no, she should make a stand or try to escape into the tunnels and get the both of them out of there. Cursing under her breath she pulled Erik along with her as she decided to make her way through the tunnels. With her pistol charging for the next two shots and her hands currently occupied she knew that they wouldn't stand a chance against those dark things; especially when she saw that they could grow back limbs like that. For all she knew, the one that she had disintegrated that first shot had grown back it's entire body and was still chasing them.

"Come on, Erik, you need to keep up with me now more than ever, yeah?" Cerci looked down as they half jogged, half limped through the tunnels at her injured companion and for the first time noticed that he was bleeding, "Cripes, you've got a bit of a scratch, but don't worry...I'll get you out of here in a jiffy. Okay? We're gonna be alright."

Breathing hard, she looked over Erik's arm and behind them to see that their pursuers were beginning to dwindle, what once was four now looked to be only two. After making another quick turn down a nearby tunnel and jogging for a few more feet, she stopped. Her chest throbbed dully from the exertion of carrying half of Erik's weight while they ran, but she ignored it and leaned him against the wall before forcing him into a sitting position on the ground. Looking back towards were they had come she gratefully saw nothing and hoped that those things had given up the chase and vanished back into their little holes.

"Ok...we're- huff...we're gonna take a little breather," her voice sounded a little airy as she tried to catch her breath, "I think we've lost 'em for now...which is good because- huff...you're bleeding."

Closing her eyes for a moment and breathing deeply, she crouched down beside him and reached back into her pack. After a moment of rummaging, she pulled out a bandage and a small silver flask that she shook to make sure it still had something in it. Looking up at Erik she examined where he had been dug into with her eyes before taking a deep breath again and setting to work.

"Rum," she unscrewed the top of the flask and dabbed a bit of whatever was inside on one of the bandages and stared up at him with all the seriousness of a Doctor about to give someone a shot, "It's alcohol and it's gonna sting like no other, but it'll clean your wound and numb it enough for me to wrap it up. Brace yourself, lad."

Reaching out slowly, she dabbed the 'rum' soaked bandage onto the wound and made a face like she could feel the sting herself, after a moment she chuckled softly to herself and shook her head.

"I'm only messing...it's not Rum," she continued to dab the liquid onto his wound, clearing up the blood around the gashes the best that she could before looking back up at him, "It is salt water though so you're probably gonna wanna brace yourself anyways."

[Deleted]

Rebecca looked around oddly, she didn't know what had happened, she just knew she was missing. "G-guys?" She said quietly as she tried to remember what had happened. Everything was dark around her, but she soon realized she got separated, somehow.

The lights went on, and Rebecca was indeed alone. There was four paths leading up to huge room she was in. She was lying on the ground. "H-hello...?" The girl said, afraid. "'Seercee?' 'Airik?'" She attempted to call their names.

Suddenly a black shadow emerged from the wall. "Guys!" She shouted, hoping someone might hear. The little girl swept the hammer off of her back and jumped at the little shadow, as she attempted to maul it. "Die you thing!!!"

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik surrendered himself up to Cerci as she began dragging him along in hopes of escape. He watched as she had fired off here pistol a second time, but this time didn’t manage to destroy the creature. As they ran he put most of his weight onto his uninjured leg. Occasionally he would make the mistake of readjusting the weight and another shot of pain would be felt before he corrected his weight distribution.

He didn’t listen much to what Cerci was saying as they were rushing through the tunnels, he was preoccupied with the pain in his leg and worried about the things following them. Soon enough they had lost the followers momentarily and Cerci had sat Erik down in a position against the wall. His calf was feeling a bit numb and Erik could see that it was still bleeding. It was quite the deep gash, but it didn’t look deep enough to need stitches.

Finally tuning in to what Cerci was saying Erik responded, “God I hope we lost them. Though I don’t think that’ll be for long, they seem to find what they are going after.” He slowly let his breathing go back to normal hoping that it would slow down the bleeding. He watched as Cerci pulled out a bandage and some kind of container out of her pack. He realized quickly that it would be for treating his wound.

“God I hope that’s just water,” Erik said before Cerci spoke and Erik knew that it wasn’t. That stuff would burn when it came down on his leg. Once he felt it on the wound he began grinding his teeth so that he wouldn’t scream, it was the last thing they needed to let the things know where they were.

The liquid wasn’t rum, but saltwater as Erik soon found out from Cerci speaking again. He silently cursed to himself in his head because he felt rum would have been better. All the salt water would do is clean the wound, but the rum would have at least had a minor pain alleviating effect.

He didn’t pay much more attention to the rest of the treatment process but began to speak, “I think it might be best that we get out of these tunnels. There should be a few people outside that will be able to help us out if we can make it out into the open. The exit should be that way,” he said pointing away from the creatures and to the path that would lead to the closest exit.

A moment later he looked around and said, “Wait… shit, aren’t we missing someone?”

[Deleted]

Cerci watched him grit his teeth against the stinging feel of the saltwater against his wound; Working quickly, she wrapped the other bandage that she had on hand around his thigh, making sure to tighten it up enough to stop it from bleeding anymore.

"Now, you're gonna feel lightheaded from the blood loss and you're definitely gonna be hurting for a while, but-" she stopped mid-sentence and looked back up at Erik's face, her hand resting on his knee as she took in what he was saying, "Rebecca..."

Jumping to her feet, she unlatched the pistol from it's holster once again and threw it into Erik's lap, "Stay here!" she ordered, "The charge should be back any minute now, if you see one of those things, fire. You have two shots, don't waste 'em." Red faced and eyes blazing she pulled Midas from his sheath and raced back down the tunnel to where they had escaped from before, cursing to herself as she ran. How could she have forgotten about Rebecca? The poor girl was only a baby for Jones' sake, how could she have managed to leave her behind? Was it fear of the situation? Had she been focusing so much on getting the injured Erik out of there that her adrenaline had altered her judgment and she had somehow forgotten to grab the child as well? Shaking her head she readied her blade and charged down the tunneled hall, hoping to find who she had so foolishly left behind. She received an answer when she heard the cry of another voice further down the tunnel.

"Die you thing!"

Cerci almost didn't recognize the voice, but felt she had no time to hesitate. Panting loudly, she turned the corner to find Rebecca dive bombing one of those dark things that had attacked them.

"Rebecca!" she held Midas in front of her as a means of some sort of defense, knowing full well that if more of those things showed up she'd have to fight their way out, "Rebecca, no time to tussle, Erik's hurt and we seriously need to get out of here!"