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Elio took the answer at face value.

Pokemon wasn't a game he played, but it was popular, and even he knew of it and how it worked. For a tiny device like a 3DS to have sent a signal meant at the time it had wi-fi and power so in theory? In theory it would have been a fairly accurate way of tracking the other hunter down with relative reliability.

Mark and Dwight had perhaps the most unsuspecting method of communication across the globe and in a twisted way that probably no one sane would have used but there you had it.

Holding up the one charger in hand, the Italian sighed a little. It hardly bode well.

"If he was using a 3DS I have located a charger." It was sandy, (like everything else), and possibly left behind.
"When did you last get signal?"

Walking in the sand was hellish up a dune, and he almost yelled when he felt something touch his leg.

Either way he face planted into sand for a good day's worth of sodium content.

"What does the charger look like?" There was the sound of shuffling on the headset, and then the sound of Mark's voice much closer to the microphone. "Does it have a name written on it - wait, do you see another 3DS lying around?"

Elio riffled through a pocket trying to find the sandy charger.

"It is 3DS charger in dessert when Man Dwight last been. Is gray and sandy." He scoffed. "Who else has would have pokemon in middle of desert? Scorpions?"

As he crossed over thye dune, he saw a line of shadow- and as he slide down the edge-
"I do not see game, I see cave. Not same, but, maybe close."

He'd given up on English, reverting to Italian.

"<This is where we die because zubats isn't it>?"

"Wait, if it's Famine, then why the heck did Dwight leave me a ditto." Why Mark was trying to make everything into a Pokemon analogy was a little confusing out of context, especially since he meant it quite literally. There was a pause. "Um, if you find Dwight, can you ask him what his favourite uh, RP character is, you know, just in case, you know like, preferably before you rescue him."

Elio didn't answer Mark at first, finding it as pointless as he found things from the death division to often be. But when one walks into a cave after deal with sand blowing in his face because of goddamn wind and how air worked and they saw a metric ******** ton of insects?

"Bugs. Too many. I regret trusting you."

His headset thankfully fell slightly to the side which was probably for everyone's benefit as Elio screamed loudly when he realize that it could rain bugs on him and said bugs would be all over him.

Why bugs? Why sand? Why this?

Being Life was suffering.

Humming softly under her breath, Gretchen got herself a headset before heading through the portal, only to get blasted by hot wind and a whole lot of sand. The differences in temperature were jarring, and it took a long moment for the Death trainee to even begin to acclimate to the heat that closed in around them all like a glove. She coughed, yanking her scarf away, before a blast of sandy wind to the face had her reconsidering that course.It was better left up, as protection, regardless of the heat.

And boy, was it hot.

It was also not the easiest to move around on with only one good leg. The sand shifted around under her feet, and her balance just wasn't where it should have been. It took a bit, and a lot of staggering, to get even remotely used to it, and in the end she'd let out a startled yelp as she slipped on the edge of a dune as they were exploring, and wound up rolling right into a half hidden cave.

Dragging her scarf down again as she pushed her hair out of her face, Gretchen got back to her feet, then moved to hit the com on her headset. "Mark, I fond a cave, at the bottom of a steep dune to the west of the camp."

----------


Liam was equally unprepared for the level of heat that met him on the other side of the portal. He'd thought the island was bad, humid and hot, but this? This was like being dry roasted.

He pulled his googles down as he wandered a slow circle around the abandoned looking camp, tested his headset to make sure it was working, and then headed out to search with the others.

Though he did pause once, grinning brightly as he waved at Caroline and Mimsy as they passed him.

It was maybe half an hour later when he finally spoke up, voice a little uncertain over the headsets. "I've also got a cave."




----------

Having been around the block a few times, Zeke was prepared as he left the cold of the island for the heat of the Sahara, and gave only the barest grimace as he eyed his barren and all too familiar surroundings. Lagertha whined at the back of his mind, retreating back as far as their link would allow her, and the Mist couldn't blame her. This was where she'd been broken, where he and the rest of his team had almost died.

It won't be the same as last time, Laggy. There were a lot more of them this time around, for one thing.

{There is no guaranteeing that, boil.}

She had a point, of course, but Zeke wasn't sure what else he could say to try to comfort her. Lips stretched in a thin line, he moved with the rest of the group, spreading out to search.

After a few moments, the toe of his boot hit something as he trudged through the sand. When he bent to dig it up, he gave a curious hum. "Got a laptop here, it looks like it's still running."

"Good to know," Lin said. "Thanks." It was unclear as to whether or not this comment was sarcastic. She started searching in and around the ruins of the camp, occasionally taking sips from the water bottle clipped to her backpack.

She found nothing in the camp itself, but outside the perimeter there was something that seemed like it might be significant. "I've also found a cave," she reported over the headset. The mouth of the cave was low, nearly buried in sand, but she felt a cool draft from within. That suggested that there was space within.

"Is there anything in the cave other than bugs?" Mark had a slight affinity with certain insects and didn't see why there was such an issue usually (unless it included spiders). "Like oh, I dunno, like maybe a hidden staircase, a corridor, Dwight maybe."

The swarm of insects at the entrance of the cave were oddly stationary, shifting time to time against each other but not stationed for any offensive attack. If any of the four around the cave moved further in, they could easily tell it was a lot larger than it seemed, but also impossible to see without any form of heavy light. The cave was also very damp, and there was a strange hissing noise that could barely, very faintly, be picked up from time to time, and then the sound of very rapid footsteps.








"Can you boot up the laptop, guy with laptop?" Mark had no clue who Zeke was. "Check if it's still working and who it belongs to."

The laptop did boot, but it unfortunately just lead to a password locked screen.