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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 15:24:19 GMT -6
While Brazin cleaned and took the blue stone to the cart, Ashe was peering into the hole he was making. He saw something shiny in there and he was hoping it was an ore of some sort. Not that he needed more exactly, but he definitely could use or sell it, it was still valuable. It looked like gold to him, though he had been tricked before by finding "fool's gold" so he didn't want to get excited yet. Sensing what her human was going through, Inyala leaned forward and peered in, making a chirp. She thought it was gold! It was probably gold. It would be safe to do the call.
"GOOOOOOOLD!" Ashe shouted, his voice echoing through the cavern and down the tunnels. He winced a bit at the volume of his echo, then laughed to himself. Inyala squawked indignantly, her hands clamped over her ears. "Sorry, girl, I couldn't resist." It was a habit of his now that had started who knew when, he didn't even remember why or who he'd been talking to. But it was here to stay. So he kept picking at the wall to unearth as much of the surface as he could before he started picking.
Inyala: 1 2/5 Brazin: 3 3/5 Ashe: 0 6/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 15:24:30 GMT -6
Brazin came hurrying back, alarmed by Ashe's shout and wondering what exactly it was about. She saw that neither Ashe nor his pet were harmed, so he must be excited about something. Was it another crystal? No, he didn't appear to be in that trance like state at all. So it had to be something a little more relaxed, but what else could illicit such a response? She got closer and clicked her beak to get his attention. Ashe was just prying the last side of the chunk of metal when she was able to sneak a peek. Gold? All of this over gold? He hadn't gotten this excited over the two chunks of silver or the rare-er pink ore he had found! She clicked her beak at him, not understanding humans and their silliness, and wandered off.
Ashe glanced at Inyala, who glanced at him, and then he laughed and she chirped. Of course the Gargoyle wouldn't understand their inside joke. With the chunk of metal free, Ashe dusted it off as best as he could, then he took it over to the cart and opened it, dropping it inside. He was getting quite the collection of goodies! He still felt like they were in the early chapter three of this story!
Inyala: 1 3/5 Brazin: 3 4/5 Ashe: 0 7/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 15:24:45 GMT -6
Ashe glanced around, wondering where Brazin had gotten to. He wanted to go visit that tunnel now. He saw her a little ways off, just wandering like she was looking for a good rock to start digging in. He called to her, bringing her back to him in a matter of seconds. "Wanna go search that tunnel? See what we can find? It looks like it was made naturally, maybe no one's been down here yet..." He left it open ended, allowing her to stay here if she really wanted to continue on her own. But thankfully she seemed to like his idea - he could really use her good luck and her unmatched skill - and headed down the tunnel herself. Ashe followed with Inyala in tow, leaving the cart sitting where he'd set it up. They'd return periodically, he figured, since they wouldn't get too far. Or if they did... Well, he had his pick axe, his chisel, though he'd opted to leave the heavier shovel behind.
"What do you say, Inyala? Wanna go exploring? Take a break from the digging for a short while?" Inyala gave him a nod. She liked exploring, and found the digging part to actually be quite boring.
Inyala: 1 4/5 Brazin: 4 0/5 Ashe: 0 8/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 15:34:48 GMT -6
Together the three of them set off down the dark tunnel. Ashe had his light taped to his helmet to help guide them but there was no other light down here. The light reflected off of Brazin nicely and he was able to see her ahead of them, and feel Inyala on his shoulder (occasionally feel her wings or her smooth skin brush against his cheek and neck), so he knew they were all still together. There was no sound at all except for the trickle of rock and crunch of stone as their feet moved across the ground. Ashe kept his ears peeled for any scramblings from creatures or the like, but so far there had been nothing. This vast amount of nothing as they walked, slowly and carefully, down the slightly slanted path allowed Ashe's mind to wander. Gold was an important mineral that he needed. He was going to make a ring for someone special, and he had been thinking about this for a long time. His current relationship was the longest he'd ever had in his entire life, especially staying true to that one person, so that meant something. It was also the single thing, outside of training monsters, that he'd worked so hard for.
Inyala: 2 0/5 Brazin: 4 1/5 Ashe: 0 9/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 15:44:45 GMT -6
Thankfully, Ashe had a diamond at home waiting to be cut. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to find one of those again in this place, so he was relieved he wasn't waiting on that discovery. He had the gold, too, but now he had extra gold. When the workshop would open again, he would be the second person in there (probably after Jack, to be honest) ready to make a base. Hell, he didn't even know what kind of ring he wanted to make, something beautiful that would compliment her, but not too gaudy to get in the way. Something fancy, but tastefully so. He sighed, thinking of the work he had ahead of him, work he couldn't even get started on yet, and then there would be the task of proposing. Would she say yes? Would she make him work for that, too? Or would she turn out to be one of the girls that didn't want to get married, just wanted to date forever even if they stayed loyal just to each other? All that new age stuff.
Brazin forged on ahead, and Inyala kept her eyes on the gargoyle. She couldn't see much else at the moment, and Brazin seemed to know where to go.
Inyala: 2 1/5 Brazin: 4 2/5 Ashe: 0 10/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 15:52:01 GMT -6
The tunnel had a slight bend in it, and Brazin was the first to reach it. She went around, disappearing from sight for a few seconds, and Ashe picked up his pace so he wouldn't lose sight of her. He found her quickly in the flashlight beam and relaxed a bit. Inyala made a soft, restless sound, stirring on his shoulder. She was growing bored again. All they were doing was walking!
Ashe didn't mind the boring, it gave him time to think. He wondered how he was going to pop the question. Was he going to take her on an Equillion ride and picnic? Or maybe a ride on Alaska? Skinny dipping at night- no, he threw that one out, that was just a date idea and one he particularly wanted right at this moment. Wishful thinking. The things he would do to her if she was naked with him right now... He cleared his throat, torn - should he keep plotting and planning, or turn his back on those thoughts right then and there before things got painful? It was hard to not think of her... but also hard to think of her. He was basically screwed no matter what he thought about, really, so why not?
Inyala: 2 2/5 Brazin: 4 3/5 Ashe: 0 11/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 16:01:18 GMT -6
He wondered if she would wear a dress, and what kind of dress it would be. He pictured fancy fairy tale style dresses, but thought that might be too flashy for her. She would look totally gorgeous in that, however, no matter what she tried to say in protest. Maybe something with lace, or something sheer with intricate designs.. Ashe was more of an expert at taking dresses off, or really just lifting them up if they were short enough for easy access, than he was with dressing up women. Most of the ladies he'd dated, Vix included, were more tougher or rough and tumble types that didn't usually wear dresses, more tomboy in activities. And where would they honeymoon? It wasn't like there were a lot of options here in the city! They'd lived here for a decade, nothing was new or fancy. He wanted to take her on a tropical island vacation, sipping pina coladas all day and night on the sandy beach.
Inyala could tell she'd lost Ashe to a day dream. It was probably about Vixen, she figured. No one else could make him lose focus so much that he was about to crash into a wall. Should she let him? It would serve him right.
Inyala: 2 3/5 Brazin: 4 4/5 Ashe: 0 12/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 17:12:28 GMT -6
She decided not to save him. He wouldn't hurt himself, and she felt like playing a joke on him. She casually shifted to cling to his back where she might be safer and Ashe walked face first into the wall. It was at a slow speed, so not much damage was done, and he mostly saw the wall at the last second and tried bending his body at all different kinds of angles to get away from it but there was no getting away from it. "Oomph!" Ashe grunted, narrowly avoiding cracking his head. He took the brunt in a shoulder and his chest, trying to turn to avoid it. He stumbled backward and almost went down on his butt, but he caught himself in time.
"Inyala! You could have warned me!" Inyala climbed back up onto his shoulder, laughing with a human like laughter that she had picked up from her time spent with Ashe. Imp didn't normally laugh, though they might cackle, but that was a perk of being a familiar - you picked up some human habits!
Brazin paused and turned, hearing the crash and Ashe spluttering something at Inyala. She turns her back for five minutes and Ashe can't even walk straight?
Inyala: 2 4/5 Brazin: 5 0/5 Ashe: 0 13/20
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Post by Renathan on Jun 2, 2019 17:12:40 GMT -6
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 17:12:47 GMT -6
"That is not funny!" Ashe snapped, but any edge in his voice was still due to being startled out of his day dreams by crashing into a wall, than out of any real anger or pain. He sighed, putting a hand on the wall and leaning into it a bit for balance. Hell, if they had reversed, he might have laughed at Inyala crashing into a wall... He could understand her thinking process and he wasn't mad at her of course. But still! "Okay, maybe just a little funny. I'm a grown ass man and I don't need a babysitter, do I?" He dusted himself off, in case he'd gotten covered in any dirt, and cleared his throat again. "Alright, let's get back to this!"
Ashe started around the second bend in the path and found Brazin. The gargoyle let him catch up then she started walking again. This was a long and boring tunnel and neither of them 'felt' anything calling out to them within their radius, however big their range was. If Ashe could master it, control it, and extend the radius... Man, imagine how many crystals he could find and how fast! That would be incredible!
Inyala: 3 0/5 Brazin: 5 1/5 Ashe: 0 14/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 17:13:41 GMT -6
Unfortunately, he was only human, and he couldn't do that just yet. Maybe when he had more crystals, more nodes, maybe then he would be able to focus better. He'd have to ask Jack what her technique was, since she had gotten so many more than he had, to the point where she had made many nodes. Or maybe she was just lucky and he should only mine with her. But no, she was too powerful, and she would easily be able to overpower him if she wanted to steal a crystal from him. Or if he tried to steal crystals from her. Mining with a partner was too messy, Ashe enjoyed doing it alone.
Brazin continued on, and Inyala was busy playing with Ashe's hair. How far had they walked now, Ashe wondered? They had been traveling for probably at least fifteen minutes and there had been nothing of interest. Suddenly he paused, thinking he heard something. He stopped and listened, straining his ears. Brazin hesitated, too, and he hoped she had heard it as well but it seemed she was just waiting for him to keep going; her eyes were on him, her head and gaze on him and not looking around to try and find the source of a noise.
Inyala: 3 1/5 Brazin: 5 2/5 Ashe: 0 15/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 17:13:54 GMT -6
Ashe gave up looking for the noise and instead decided to keep going. He'd pay a little better attention from now on, but he hadn't heard anything for a full minute so it was probably the scuff of his shoes or his mind playing tricks on him. He walked on, with Inyala peering out at the darkness from under his hair, and Brazin, shining in the helmet light up ahead, prowled on. Her tail was held up and out, swaying slightly as she walked, her wings tucked along her sides.
They had been walking for what felt like forever, and suddenly they came to a fork in the road. Twin prongs spread out in front of them and at first, Ashe balked at the idea of picking one and risking being unable to find their way back, but he figured if he went into one of two holes on the south side, and when they came out they saw one hole in the north side, they could safely figure that the one directly across from them was the one they needed.
But just in case.... Maybe if they mined chunks of the wall, sort of like how a bear might mark trees in a forest to make a trail?
Inyala: 3 2/5 Brazin: 5 3/5 Ashe: 0 16/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 17:14:06 GMT -6
Ashe liked that idea enough to go with it. He called to Brazin and quickly filled her in on his plan. She looked at him with an intelligence to her face, though her empty (if shiny) eye sockets looked like they were dazed and not following. He knew she understood when she turned immediately and started to pick at the wall by the entrance they just came from. Ashe didn't have any ideas for shape, so just maybe... somehow try their best to make an arrow pointing toward this hole? He started picking with his axe, and Brazin started to dig with her claws, and they started generally shaping some sort of marker.
In hindsight, which is always twenty twenty, he thought maybe he should have brought some paint. A different color for each trip, and maybe something reflective? Maybe he could just hang reflective orbs or discs... Ah-ha, discs! Like CD-ROMS or something. He liked that idea and stored it, hoping he would remember it later.
"keep an eye out for anything interesting, Y'la," Ashe cautioned her, hoping she might find something they missed. She peered over his shoulder expectantly, ready to raise the alarm if she saw a shiny. So far, nothing.
Inyala: 3 3/5 Brazin: 5 4/5 Ashe: 0 17/20
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Post by Ashe on Jun 2, 2019 17:14:16 GMT -6
Together, with occasional guidance and explanation from Ashe, the man and his gargoyle quickly dug a makeshift arrow into the wall. It wasn't perfect, the lines weren't crisp, but it served its purpose as a marker. To make sure it looked good enough, Ashe stepped back toward the pair of entrances and looked it over with his light. It definitely stood out, and there was a rounded tip that was aiming for the inky darkness of the passage. He was satisfied. His inner artist was not, but there wasn't much he could do for crisp lines. You chisel away, carefully, but dislodge one bigger rock and suddenly the line isn't so straight anymore. Oh well.
"What do you think, Y'la?" Ashe asked her. She chirped approvingly in his ear, and he took that as a good sign. "Thanks, Braz. Let's get this show back on the road." He clicked his tongue for attention and focus, and headed back to the pair. "Which way should we go?" He waited, believing that Brazin would pick one. But she didn't. He frowned and stepped forward, closing his eyes to try and focus. If he could feel a crystal coming from one side or the other....
Inyala: 3 4/5 Brazin: 6 0/5 Ashe: 0 18/20
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Post by Renathan on Jun 2, 2019 17:34:04 GMT -6
Oh, what is that shiny blue-white stone? And is that a Geode?
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