melodiesoflife | Searching for Friends: Eastern Lost Continent

Characters: Duster, Tazendra, Lust, Minato, NPCs
Where: Village of Santa Claus, Mythril Mines
When: Starting March 5th
Summary: The four wake up in the World of Ruins. They catch up on what happened and explore the area they've ended up in

The last thing Duster saw was the ground falling away from his feet - no, he was pulled away. The battlefield blurred, and only the large imposing figure of Chaos remained distinct from the rest of the room. He heard Rialynn and Sparks screaming. Then darkness.

There was nothing.

He was dead, he had to be. This void wasn't caused by being transported to another world. His friends remained behind, finishing what he could not. In time, he could lose consciousness...

"Gather your strength...you must be strong to face Kalki...!"

That voice...he heard it before...

"I'm sorry...I couldn't find a better way to save you...."

Duster closed his eyes. It was cold. Duster opened his eyes. It was white.

No, that was snow. He layed on his back in a snowdrift. The wind howled around his ears, which did not help considering he was only wearing a light coat when he stepped into Pandaemonium. There were three other people in the snow nearby, which was better than waking up alone. Only...

"What happened?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... Summoning Ifrit, probably still a bad idea.

Minato absently looked around for all those... survival show things. You needed rocks to make sparks or something for fire, right? It was easier than the twiggy method, he didn't have the patience for that. At the least, he could try yanking off this burnt out torch that looks like it could still make some use if it could only be lit.

Damn though, it was hard to see. How difficult is it even supposed to be looking for nicely shaped rocks in a mine? He really wished he had his phone right about now.

When he hears their companion's fall, Minato stops from his yanking at a wall-torch too high for his height.

"Duster-san? Are you sure? Where'd you go?"

"Right here! Just..." He grunted as he twisted around and felt for the odd rock he tripped over. It was cold and oblong, though not hard to the touch. Moss, possibly. Duster didn't know if moss grew in such cold climates.

He moved his hand along the length until he felt the rock narrow, then form a sphere. It was almost shaped like--

"Um...." There were few things in the world that tapered off like that naturally, and he hoped it wasn't his first guess. Poking the other end would confirm that suspicion or hopefully tell him something else.

"Guys, I think there's a..." Two thinner soft logs. The finger drew back quickly as if he touched a hot plate. "Shit."

"That does not sound promising," Tazendra said. Certainly it could be that Duster tripped into the midden, but it sounded more like the sort of midden that was not meant to be literally full of waste and refuse. And, while Tazendra liked a fight as much as the next Dzurlord, she also knew she was not allowed to die until she make sure she wouldn't take her world with her, which required her to practice caution.

"We can continue to search for a light..."

Minato shook his head. "I don't like the sudden silence in when he trailed off." He didn't catch that hushed swear.

"I'm going after Duster-san to get him out. You keep looking." And before Tazendra could get another word in, Minato hurried his way through where he heard his friend's voice, still cautious in his steps and hesitant if he should call out to him. Maybe he should keep quiet about it.

"--Ah." There's a... person he just stepped on. Used to be a person. Doesn't look like Duster, at least. Minato hoped this wasn't a fresh kill.

Crouching down, he's picked up a matchbox with few sticks left, and the lantern looks damaged from having dropped, but should still function. "Sorry, but I'm taking this. ... Rest in peace..."

Now he was between Tazendra, looking for a light when he's already found one, and Duster, some ways ahead. Great. Well, deeper in still seemed to be a more dangerous location, so for now he supposes he should trudge onward. He lit the lantern, quietly calling out with spaced repetition.

"Duster-san?"

"Yeah?" Duster had been sitting by the body, knees folded to his chest, waiting for the others to come closer. "Sorry, I...found someone."

As the light of the lantern grew closer, the tattered overalls over a yellow shirt became visible. Something dark was spattered over the worker's back. Blood, probably. It must have been a while since he was killed, but who knows.

"They were probably attacked by monsters," he muttered into his knees. "I don't think we should stay here long."

"... Let's go, then. You're not hurt?"

Minato wastes no time offering a hand to Duster, who probably didn't need it, limp and all; but it was the assurance from one friend to another that they'll make it. They'll be okay. Somehow.

"They look like... miners. We may be in the Mythril Mines. I don't remember any other ones being someplace so cold."

[Trekking through the snow has left Duster tired, especially with the first people they run into dead. He grips Minato's hand and lets go once he feels stable on his two feet.]

So we're not far from the Village of Santa Claus. Do you remember if there's anything deeper? [He turns to the shadows down the tunnel.] If not, we need to find better clothes first.

I would suppose myrith and monsters.

[Tazendra really didn't want to go off and find better clothing. She wanted to find out what killed these miners.]

You do not think the shelter of the caves will be enough?

[She also didn't want to leave Duster, Lust and Minato alone to trek across the wilderness. Sure, they probably would be fine, but one didn't abandon one's comrades, even for the possibility of a fight.]

[He'd rather find clothes than monsters. In the end, the two will get both of their wishes.]

No, but we need food and answers...right? [That felt like taking command, something Duster isn't entirely comfortable with. It sounds like a good idea, so it can be suggested.]

Yes, we do. I had not considered that. While the miners may have the former stored somewhere, they have little of the latter.

Searching for Friends: Eastern Lost Continent

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