RP:The Hand That Beats (The Drum) Pt 3
This is a Bard's Guild RP.
Part of the I Write Songs Not Tragedies Arc
Summary: Brennia and Alan discover a hidden tomb within the hidden temple under the floating city.
Alan followed Brennia and was just as impressed, but just didn't show it because she still had to fly them both across the floorless room to reach that damn door. He got close to the edge of the ledge and looked down at the darkness shadowing the land below through a light blanket of clouds. “I guess we have to get across now,” he said in a sort of sigh as he felt his stomach doing flips from the thought of flying.
Brennia wasted no time and as soon as Alan finished his complaint she shoved her drum into his hands, “hold this,” and attached her crossbow to her hip once more. She backed up into the opening of the hallway behind them once more in order to get a running start and when she started to pick up her pace toward them her wings started beating with an immense force. Her arms would link around the man’s waist and lift them on up along the path of where the stairs used to stand before they had crumbled long ago. She lands on the upper ledge as gently as she could with a rather muscular man in her arms, but stumbles a bit before righting herself and gently taking her drum back. Once drum was in hand she pointed out the torch on the wall next to Alan, “would you grab that?”
Alan was caught a little off guard with having to hold her drum and was wondering what she was up to while still looking down at the world below. “That is a long way do-” he was cut off and in flight cursing all the way while closing his eyes tight until there was solid ground beneath his feet once more. A stumble into the nearby marble wall and she was already taking her drum back from him while instructing him to do something. Still appearing to be very calm on the outside, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she could literally hear his heart beating fastly, “sure.” It was all he could say while reaching out for the torch and liberating it from it’s stand in order to light the way for them and it would be her lead he follows.
Tomb of Thrum
Brennia wasn’t paying attention to the fear of Alan because he actually looked unphased by it and pressed on. With him lighting the way she was able to see some of what was on the walls of another narrow passageway, but this one was a lot shorter and opened up into a large dark room. Quickly the torches alight, as if by magic, just by Brennia’s presence and another impressed gasp emits from the Avian as she looks around at what looks like a very old burial tomb of what she assumes to be for a very important ancient Avian. Still vigilant for traps while her eyes take in all of the little details of the tomb and making sure to not disturb all of the fancy little trinkets, “make sure not to touch anything, Alan. These things are very old and could very well be cursed.”
Alan was holding what looked like a golden mini sculpture of a hummingbird when Brennia mentioned not to touch anything. Too late I guess and he stuffs the item in the pocket of his slacks all nonchalant while moving along behind her in the lavish burial room. He falls in behind her again torch in hand because you never know when you’ll need it again, but something didn’t feel right and he keeps his mouth shut in the quiet inspection that Brennia was doing.
Brennia can feel something was off as well while she tries to figure out what it was that she was supposed to be doing here and, no, she doesn’t notice when Alan pickpockets from a burial tomb, shame on you. In the distance of this rather large room she can hear that mechanical clicking again which distracts her and causes her to look back at the door they came through, but it wasn’t closing which means something was opening. A low animalistic growling can be heard and quite quickly after that they are attacked by a large mummified looking wolf. Brennia quickly sets her drum down and aims her crossbow at the beast sticking it a few times in his legs, but it was quick and strong while juking out of the way or pursuing with a couple of bolts stuck in him. Black eyes and bared teeth set on Alan in his hunt.
Alan catches sight of the beast and something within his heart pounds faster. An opponent or is it an ally? The bared teeth answer the question, but how does he know that? All he knows is this is a battle now and he curses himself for not bringing weapons like the Avain had. The beast leapt for him and Alan’s instinct took over in leaping for the wolf at the same time in order to catch it in a tackle until they are clamoring to the ground. The wolf gets advantage after a moment of struggling and stands over Alan with drool threatening to drop on his cheek while it looks down at him with the blackest of black eyes.
Brennia watches the conflict happen and is once again impressed by Alan, but not surprised at his quick acting as she’s sort of witnessed him in action before as the lycan side of him; whether he remembers those times or not. She seen the beast getting the advantage and acts quickly by pulling her Sai daggers free from their hidden sheath between her wings. With a quick step and a jump she’s atop the wolf while one dagger slides easily through the decaying flesh of the animal to it’s heart, but the other dagger slides through it’s skull, just to be certain to kill it’s function. The beast falls off to the side of Alan with Brennia atop of it which causes her leg to be trapped under the mass and in this moment she pulls her daggers free, inserts both of them to one side of the beast’s neck and pulls the daggers in opposite directions in order to effectively decapitate it. “Can you get this thing off me?” She asks Alan while panting with the adrenaline rush she got.
Alan was certain the beast was about to devour him for dinner as the maw of the creature opened wide, but he saw the tip of the second dagger poke through to the mouth of it due to Brennia. A relieved sigh once the beast fell away from him and cringed at Brennia’s actions, but was impressed as well with her thoroughness. She’s trapped, that much is obvious and he stands up in order to move the massive beast off her leg before offering a hand down to her in order to help her up, maybe check to make sure her leg isn’t injured.
Brennia accepted his help up and also checks the condition of her leg by putting pressure on it, “merde!” She cursed in French as pain shoots up her leg, but she doesn’t stop there, “it’s just a sprain.” With a sigh she limps her way to the drum before picking it up and something in the pattern catches her eye causing her to look back up at similar symbols in the pattern on the wall. “Oh… I see!” Excitement rose up in her and she plays the drum to the beat that is suggested on the wall and in turn she heart a second beat coming from a locked chest. “Over there!” She hurriedly limps toward it in order to play the beat in completion, but before she does she looks back at Alan, “careful… I don’t know what will come out of this thing.” She continues the beat on the drum for the locked chest until she heard another sort of mechanical click.
Alan offered support for Brennia and her bum leg, but she was moving on to the drum already. He also looked at the wall and the drum’s patterns in noticing the similarities have a function he offered a quiet, “neat.” She is moving on to the chest and he follows a little closer in case her leg doesn’t actually turn out to be a sprain, “when we get out of here… You should get that checked out.” She warns him to stand back and he takes another torch off the wall and holds it ready with a nod. Whatever is coming out of there will be burned, dammit.
Brennia quickly opened the chest right before covering herself with her wing in case something came pouring out, but nothing happens… She peers in and it’s dark, but she can see a scroll so she reaches in a pulls it free. Unrolling it she reads that it is sheet music, but only for a part for a drum accompaniment. What she didn’t notice were a hoard of spiders scrambling out of the chest, at least not a first, and she scrambles up to her feet with a look to Alan, “get to the entrance!” She calls out while running past him and toward the entrance.
Alan watches her acquire the scroll with a scoff, “that’s it? We didn’t even get an award tune.” A short chuckle at this before he can see the plethora of creepy crawlies coming from the chest and he does as instructed by Brennia. Running behind her and holding off the spiders chasing them with the fire from his torch because he doesn’t know if these are normal spiders or some crazy poisonous ones.
Brennia is quickly reaching the small hallway as she spots a small saucer of oil for the torches and grabs it. She’s thinking the same as Alan, we don’t know what kind of spiders these are and she doesn’t want some sort of outbreak to happen from these things… They must stay in this room or die, “I need you to throw that torch as soon as we enter that hallway and then you have to jump!” Remembering how the first room bottoms out to the land below she knows she will be able to catch him long before he hits the ground. She reaches the hallway entrance before him and douses the floor, walls and ceiling of it with the oil before running to the end of the hallway and swan diving out of it.
Alan really doesn’t like the sound of that, but does as she said. He got into the narrow corridor and dropped the torch which caused him to stumble backward at the sight of a wall of fire engulfing the entirely of the opening. Hissing a high pitched screams of the spiders could be heard while he scrambled to his feet to run out of the rest of the hall and hesitate at the ledge. “She better catch me, dammit.” With that he leaps off the edge and falls down through the opening of the floor in the first room they were in.