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 Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 1:23 pm
Belmont landed on his back, on a hard stone surface. He was staring up at the ceiling, but between here and there was the ring of flooring that hadn’t fallen when he did. He was sore, and for a few seconds he really didn’t seem like he had any motivation to get up. The landing hadn’t been that hard, but it was surprising more than anything. The water had broken his fall, maybe. (Not really.)
It was only a few inches deep; even on his back it only just barely covered his ears. It was moving and it smelled clean, so he wasn’t even totally worried about any millennia year old grossness trapped down there. He could see the giant tree root; it had spread to grow across the whole side of the wall. There were stairs to his left–stairs up. Like this room had always been intended to be there.
Like that secret switch he’d hit was meant to open it up.
Someone had sealed this room up but he didn’t know when or why–he just knew that it stretched out underground. Light filtered in from above enough that he could easily see, though he didn’t really understand how. Glass crystals lined the walls and bolts of electricity seemed to flash, almost constantly. It was the strangest light bulb he’d ever seen.
…But the room was decorated. There were chairs. There were tapestries–soaked and stained, probably from the flooding. There were tables, some books along the wall.
Slowly, he sat up and looked around. “Are you okay, Targovishte?”
He rubbed at his head and wobbled as he pushed himself up a bit. He really wasn’t hurt! He was just still surprised.
…It had been a great rush of adrenaline, though.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:04 pm
Was she okay? Was that a joke? Was Belmont actually joking right now? After they had just both fallen to their deaths and now they were here in hell and it hurt and…
Wait a moment. He was talking to her so clearly he wasn’t dead…and she was hearing him…and thinking…so maybe she wasn’t dead either? That…
Was a far better outcome than she had anticipated when the floor swallowed them both.
“No. I’m wet. And we just broke the floor with our fighting. And clearly, I might be dead. And you might be dead too…but I’m afraid to open my eyes.”
She did though, opening one first and squinting at the strange light but…oh. No, this didn’t look like any sort of an afterlife so…
“Are we dead? What is this place? I really…Belmont, please understand when I said that I wanted you to fall, this wasn’t what I meant at all? And if this is my fault, I’m seriously sorry.” She sat up and then moved shakily to her feet, pleased that her legs seemed to hold her, even if she was trembling slightly.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:30 pm
“We’re not dead, we fell down a hole,” he answered, and made a bit of a face as he realized just how much water had soaked into his clothes. “It’s not your fault, don’t worry. We found a whole new room,” he said, looking around. He reached a hand out to her, just to make sure that she was stable on her feet.
Proper footing and all.
“I don’t think we broke anything. Look, there are stairs leading up to the door. I think this room was supposed to be hidden.”
No one had been here for a while; it was covered in dust, but someone had been here. No one had looted this room. “When I hit the wall I heard something click, but I didn’t think anything of it. What if we just pulled a hidden switch?”
Though some of the room was covered in debris, it looked like the room had some strange fixtures built in. Obstacle courses, almost. There were weapons on the wall–all blunted, and not from wear. There were some mannequins, large and humanlike, but limp bodied and hunched just slightly, like the rope holding them together had come slack after all this time. The place felt familiar, but–
“I have to find some way to get the water drained from here. It’s not supposed to be down here. This looks like–what, a practice area? A training field? That looks like a makeshift dummy. How’s your head? I hit mine coming down, I feel a little rattled, but it doesn’t hurt. Do you want to take a break from practicing, or…?”
…His heart was still pounding, he felt like he’d gotten a second wind. He didn’t want to stop, but he didn’t want to push her.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:22 pm
“Fell down a hole…Belmont, do you even hear yourself?” Targovishte looked at him, half amused, and half exasperated. Fully soaked but. Whatever.
He had the nerve to ask if she wanted to keep going…keep going with what? Their battle practice? Honestly? If…if he pulled a hidden switch after she had pushed him…she couldn’t very well blame him for anything but…she kind of did regardless.
“Yeah, okay. We can go for a few more minutes…but then we have to go for real, these boots, like I said before I don’t think they have any traction and now my feet are soaked because of this water…”
Her eyes flickered around the room, and while she was interested…she was more uncomfortable, and since that was the case…
Targovishte summoned her windsock and ripped off the fabric part, stuffing it into her subspace pocket that she was utterly thrilled with, and then with a yell, gave a splashing run towards Belmont, weapon pulled back over her head.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:34 pm
“--What?” Belmont was too surprised to respond because they hadn’t even talked about what kind of battle this was supposed to be. He thought they were supposed to be pushing each other, or doing footwork, or–
Oh, but he couldn't help it, she was already coming at him. He didn’t even know where his weapon was, and the sheer enthusiasm she had mustered–just to get out of wet boots?–was so comical that he couldn’t even help but laugh. He tried to duck and avoid her freshly MacGyvered weapon, but this time he sacrificed his footing to kick up some water at her while he tried to dart away.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:41 pm
Targovishte didn’t actually want to hurt her friend, and she made a very indigent noise when he splashed more water at her, but ran after him now, laughing in return as she swung the stick back, managing to swat him right on the bottom. “There. Hurry Belmont. Up the stairs now. That’s a good boy. If I’m going to look like someone who herds animals, better start herding animals, giddyup.”
It was…stupid. She felt stupid, but at the same time, it was almost funny. They weren’t dead. They were very wet and this room needed to be cleaned almost as badly as the one they had fallen through but…it seemed like a good practice ground at any rate and…that idea was kind of fun.
“We can come back here again, and I’ll bring a pair of water shoes, I’ll get you one too, but for now. Out. If we’re going to actually work down here, we need to make sure it’s not flooded. Now, my prized cow, up the stairs.”
The stick was swung again, more gently this time, and Targovishte wore a large grin.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:06 pm
Belmont sputtered indignantly at the ridiculousness of it all and hastened a few steps in front of her. “Is that how you’re going to fight the Negaverse? Call them cattle and abuse their rear ends?”
He splashed through the water to the stairs, taking long strides to get there. A few steps up and he looked over his shoulder contemplatively. “I oughta kick you down the stairs.”
He placed one hand on the side of the wall to keep himself balanced and stretched his foot out like he was going to knock her a step or two back into the water. They were already soaked, he suspected they weren’t going to stay for much longer. Not with the chill already in the air, and not with how sore his back already was. And backside, what the ********. Maybe she should just thwack them on the behind and chase them all away.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:10 pm
Laughing, Targovishte followed him and held her stick in front of her. “You wouldn’t dare! What if I died this time, then you’d have the guilt of my blood on your hands and you’ll have literally killed your best friend, the good part is that nobody would literally ever find the body but the answer is yes, I would just hit them all on the butt and call them cows…it might surprise them into running away from the crazy Page with the stick.”
She had a face splitting grin on her face, and though she was uncomfortable and tired…this was fun.
“Come on, Belmont. Let’s just go home. We can come back again and do more cleaning and more training later after we’re dried off. I’m tried, and sore and even though calling you a cow is fun…let’s go home?”
Holding out her hand, Targovishte looked hopefully at him, wanting to make sure that he wasn’t upset that she had hit him, but…really wanting to get out of these wet things.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:24 pm
Belmont laughed and nodded. “Yeah, come on.” He took her hand and continued to pull her up the stairs. “I need to get my bag but we can head home. It’s cold down here, and I don’t think it’s going to get any warmer. I kind of already want some coffee.”
He glanced into the pit they’d fallen in, and if he hadn’t already been soaked and tired from today and training, he really would have wanted to investigate, but…
He had a sinking suspicion that what he didn’t feel right now, he was going to be feeling tomorrow.
“We really need to practice some more. But next time we are bringing boots, no excuses. I want to get this place cleaned up.”
He wanted to get some serious training in.
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