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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 5:36:02 GMT
Holly startles awake when Rei says something. In her haste to get up, she trips over a rock. The rock flips over with her, which is surprising for such a large rock. Looking back where it was just sitting...there is now a hole in the ground. Wide enough for a full-grown man to get through.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 5:58:06 GMT
"Holly are you alright?"
Rei runs over to her side and helps her up. She then peers into the hole.
"No wonder we couldn't find it."
She looks up to Kopi.
"Stay here and keep a lookout, would you?"
She recalls Krasc and Cien (for now) and peers down the hole again.
"Alright, I'll take the plunge, and you can follow me down, ok Holly?"
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 6:03:44 GMT
Holly nods as Rei begins her descent down the ladder into the hole. At the bottom, there are two dust-covered lanterns sitting on a table.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 6:08:07 GMT
Rei motions for Holly to come down and once she's safe down there with her, she blows the dust off of one of them and lights it.
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 6:09:49 GMT
Holly blinks at the sudden light once she's down, but follows behind Rei. The tunnel is just wide enough for two people to walk abreast. It goes on for quite some time.
"How far do you think this goes, Rei?" She asks quietly.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 6:26:27 GMT
"It might go some ways. The Zangoose did inform us that there was a whole group of them here. Supposedly they'd need a whole base of operations. This might be it. I would say it's excessive but... then again there are many pokemon that can burrow quickly. Like Onix and the like."
Rei holds out her lantern to peer into the darkness.
"Ok. We will have to be careful. This tunnel looks rather untouched, so maybe the knights didn't find it. Chances are there could be some hiding out in here. We'll have to deal with that if it happens."
Rei gives off vibes of almost... anticipation at the thought. Not anxious though. Hmmm. Rei continues, letting the much more sneaky Krasc back out, as Umbreon can see well in the dark and can act as an early warning for them. With Holly next to her, Rei ventures into the tunnel.
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 6:32:51 GMT
The tunnel goes on for ages. Krasc the sneaky Umbreon darts ahead, but never too far. Just enough to keep Rei and Holly in sight. Eventually, the pair reaches a fork in the tunnel. The straight path ends, splitting into two separate ones.
"Which way now?" Holly queries.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 6:37:15 GMT
Rei looks at both tunnels. This is uncharted territory for her, as her knowledge of the poachers really ended up on the surface. Rei guestures to the right.
"Lets start with this."
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 6:58:14 GMT
Krasc dashes ahead again, playing the role of scout. Honedge was in hand as Holly kept pace with Rei. This tunnel too, stretched on seemingly for ages. After what seems like an eternity, Rei reaches a door.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 7:15:25 GMT
Rei approaches carefully, and looks back to Holly and makes sure she's ready, as well as Krasc. She then carefully and as quietly as possible opens the door.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 7:35:31 GMT
When the door won't open (Thanks to a bar or something), Rei looks to Holly.
"Ummm, do you think you or one of your team could phase through?"
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 7:42:35 GMT
Holly nods. "I'll see what I can do. I don't think they'd make it thick enough to prevent easy passage through, but you never know." She 'activates' her 'ghost form' and gingerly places a hand on the door, likely checking for cleanse tags that could bar her passage. When her hand passes through with no resistance, she walks on through. After a moment, Rei hears sounds on the other side of the door, followed by a dull thunk of something heavy being tossed aside. Seconds later, Holly opens the door inward. There is a sturdy-looking door bar off to one side. Likely the culprit for the door not opening. Holly looks a bit winded. "Door wasn't so bad, but that bar was really heavy."
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 7:48:32 GMT
"Thank you for that."
She leans over and gives Holly a kiss on the cheek.
"If I could have phased I would have been the strong one and lifted it for you."
She moves past the door and holds the light into the room to illuminate the new area.
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 8:14:34 GMT
Holly blushes, but dismisses Rei's comment. "It's fine. I could easily have asked one of my Pokemon for help, but didn't think I'd need it until I was already lifting it." The room has a few dusty tables, but nothing of interest out in the open.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 8:24:05 GMT
Rei nods, and walks into the room. She lets Cien out as well, so they can search the room as thouroughly as possible (And avoid potential traps).
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 8:38:02 GMT
A thorough search of the room reveals that it is actually a mess hall. No food seems to be left here, but there's evidence of small pokemon having burrowed in through cracks in the wall/floor of the connected pantry area that likely any food was absconded with long ago by them.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 8:50:03 GMT
"They must have been routed out of this place."
Good. I may need use of this base.
Rei looks around. If there was any food, it had to be bad by this point save for preserved things. Ah well. She notes the door on the other end and puts down the lantern and hefts the bar off and puts it off to the side, and then opens the door and peers through.
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 8:54:05 GMT
On the other side is... another long hallway. This one, unlike the previous one, splits off multiple times in either direction as one keeps walking. As far as the lantern's light goes, Rei can see one, possibly two sets of branching halls.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 8, 2018 14:26:40 GMT
As Rei looks out, she seems to think they must have found the place, as all of these have to be more rooms. She keeps heading right, so it's easier to undo if they get lost.
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Post by Raven on Jul 8, 2018 17:49:28 GMT
The halls seem to almost blur together in one's mind, though Holly gets the idea to mark the passages they took somehow, just in case they manage to get lost. The first right turn leads down a nearly identical hallway to the one that was just left. Seems like it was made to be deliberately maze-like, probably to confuse and confound any unwelcome visitors. After turning right a second, and then third time, Rei and Holly find a room with the door slightly ajar. The Umbreon siblings seem to indicate an 'all-clear' to Rei, suggesting that the room is empty of living beings.
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