Basalt Halls f1 - Team Arlion

Zar’roc slowly opened the door to his room and slowly shook the yellow resting figure. “Morning kid. You slept in.”

“Mmmph…” The small abra slowly roused from him sleep and looked around confused. “H-huh?”

“You stayed up a little too late last night and fell asleep in the kitchen.” Zar’roc chuckled. “Found you when I went to get some water, curled up on the counter...so I picked ya up and carried you back. You must have stayed up pretty late. You usually don’t sleep this much.” Zar’roc explained. “How long did you stay up?”

“Uhhh….I don’t...remember.” Kaza said with a small, cute yawn as he rubbed his eyes. “Mmmm...okay...okay, I’m up.”

“Good, cause we have a mission to do.” Zar’roc said.

“A mission?” Kaza asked, his ears perking up. “From the guild?”

“Of course. We’ll be exploring a dungeon today.” Zar’roc said with a nod. “We’ll be the first to go through. Our duty is to clear a path so the other guilds have an easier time. You know, disarming traps, making bridges, unlocking doors, that such.”

“Oh...so are you going with Fay?” Kaza asked.

Zar’roc stared at Kaza, confused by the question. “Ahhh...no, the researcher’s guild has a different objective. We will be taking some builders with us though.”

“Oh...well, I dunno how much good I’ll be.” Kaza said.

“Awww, don’t be like that.” Zar’roc said softly and hopped onto the bed and softly nuzzled his cheek. “You’ll be just fine….we’ve been through worse, and I’m not going without my partner.”

Kaza smiled a bit at this and nuzzled back. “Ohhh...sorry, I dunno what got into me. Yeah, let’s go!”

“Atta boy.” Zar’roc said and hopped off the bed. Kaza hopped off as well and onto Zar’roc’s back. As soon as Kaza was perched on him, Zar’roc took off, bounding out of the room and down the hallway much to Kaza’s surprise, but the small yellow pokemon managed to grab onto Zar’roc fur and keep his balance. Zar’roc was out the front door as quickly as he could manage, pausing to close the door behind him.

“So...where are we going?” Kaza asked as Zar’roc chose to instead simply walk as a brisk pace now that they were outside and in public.

“We’re going to the tunnel network below Andalusst.” Zar’roc said. “Remember? We found an entrance to the Subseed forest Dungeon down there.”

“Oh yeah...I remember.” Kaza said with a nod. “Does that door open?”

“Of course. The Guild saw to that. They built an outpost there, so the first thing they’d do is door maintenance.” Zar’roc explained. “We’ll also be meeting with someone.”

“Who?” Kaza asked with a small amount of alarm. He never did well with strangers. “I-I mean...who will we be meeting?” He asked in a quieter tone.

“A couple of builders.” Zar’roc said. “They’ll be helping us if we find a pitfall, or building bridges if we find a gap. Kaza’s ears folded against his head and he looked a little...reserved. “Don’t worry, you can leave the talking to me.” Zar’roc chuckled and reached back to softly pat his partner.

“Y-yeah.” Kaza said with a small sigh. There wasn’t much he could do if he was hiding behind Zar’roc the entire time...but Zar’roc didn’t want to leave him behind, so this just seemed to be how it was going to be. Why couldn’t it have been people he knew though, like Mytew or Arma...or miss Pandora...or Slasher...it would be so nice if these builders were any of his various friends.Tthen again, he wasn’t sure of any of them knew how to make bridges, but it would be a very pleasant surprise. Sadly, there was no such luck. Making their way to the underground outpost, they saw two Machops with a toolbox and a cart full of wooden planks.

“Ahh, it’s good to meet you. You’re the builders?” Zar’roc asked more as a formality. Of course they were.

“Ahhh...yeah, about that…” One of the Machops began.

“We’re apprentices.” The other said frankly. “Shouldn’t be a problem though, we’ll probably not make anything major.”

“Ah….well, good to know.” Zar’roc said with a small nod. Apprentices...but still perfectly capable. This was fine. “Well, my name is Zar’roc, it’ll be a pleasure to work with you.”

“You...don’t have a problem with this?” The second Machop asked, looking suspicious.

“I have no reason to have problems with this. You both seem perfectly capable.” Zar’roc said simply. “I’ll be counting on the both of you in there.”

“Well! Thats about damn fucking time!” The Machop said, both looking happy and angry at the same time. “You would not BELIEVE how many explorer’s blew us off because we aren’t ‘fully trained’!”

The first machop looked suddenly quite worried. “Hey! Calm down, we’re not taken yet!”

“Oh, if he backs out not, I’m gonna kick him in the nuts so hard he’ll turn into a female!” The second machop growled.

Zar’roc was rather surprised, but held his composure. “I’m not going to withdraw simply because of a bit of pent up frustration.” He said calmly. “Like I said, you both seem capable, which is why we’re going to the dungeon together. Can you handle the repairs and building?”

“Of course!” The second machop said. Was he testing them?

“Then thats all that matters.” Zar’roc said. “What are your names?”

“My name is Marcos.” The first Machop introduced himself.

“Yeah, and my name is Ferid.” The second Machop declared, slamming his fist into his chest proudly. “Got it?”

“Yes, I’ve got it.” Zar’roc said. “Shall we get going?”

“...He’s alright.” Ferid said, turning to Marcos, and then grabbing the handle of the cart. “Come, hurry...wait, who’s that?”

“Who’s who?” Zar’roc asked.

“On your back. I barely noticed ‘em.” Ferid said and pointed an accusing finger. “YOU DIDN’T INTRODUCE YOURSELF!”

Kaza squeaked and gripped Zar’roc fur tightly and trembled. He didn’t like anyone shouting at him, but a stranger as well. He attempted to mumble an apology, but no words were able to come out. Zar’roc raised a paw and placing on top of Ferid’s accusing finger, lowered it. “Enough. His name is Kaza, he’s a child, and he’s a quiet boy. Leave him be, or I’ll leave you.”

Ferid looked shocked and glared at him. “You said you wouldn’t back out you fu-!”

Zar’roc cut him off, returning the glare. “Upsetting my partner is something I will not tolerate from anyone, is that clear Ferid?”

The two seemed locked in an unseen combat of wills, glaring at each other...and it lasted for a good five minutes, neither of them moving or speaking a word, until finally Ferid flinched. “Tch...yeah, fine, alright.”

“I’m glad.” Zar’roc said without much warmth in his voice now. He walked past the two Machops and to the door, giving it a push. Surprisingly, it swung open easily enough, and the four of them entered the dungeon. The first room seemed simple enough. It was fairly sizeable, with two doors on opposite sides of the wall, one locked and the other unlocked. The only things in the room were a fleshcap and a strange...goopy thing bubbling in the corner. Kaza looked over and started at it, confused. An angry grimer? No...it didn’t smell and the color was wrong...Zar’roc plucked the flesh mushroom while Kaza’s attention was elsewhere, and proceeded through the unlocked door with the Machops following behind him silently, Ferid still looking angry. Zar’roc pushed the door open and took a step inside. Suddenly, the Barboach hiding in the corner used Water Gun, aiming at Kaza. With a sharp turn, Zar’roc intercepted it with his head sickle, and without a pause, brought his paw down on top of the Barboach with a spoon in it’s mouth and slammed it into the ground with all his might, leaving an indent on the stone floor. The rest of the group looked quite alarmed and Kaza squeezed Zar’roc’s fur. He almost got hit with that sneak attack...but...would that Barboach be okay…? Zar’roc walked past it and paid it no mind, where as the Machops paled a bit and Ferid swallowed hard.

“Wow...he looks...dead or something.” Ferid muttered, trying not to look at the unmoving fish.

“Don’t hit my kid.” Zar’roc muttered darkly. Marcos stayed by the fish to try and check for any vital signs...but laying him on his side, he looked pretty broken. Heart was beating, but he might be in a coma. Hopefully the others would...find him and pick him up or something. Onto the room however, there were a series posts bearing banners there, makeshift banners claiming this land as ‘King Wussy’s property’ by birthright. Zar’roc tore down the banners. “Think you can do anything with these posts?” Zar’roc asked.

“Yeah, they seem to be sturdy enough.” Ferid said and pushed against one. “Good foundation. Dunno what I’d do, but we should leave ‘em.”

“Very well.” Zar’roc and tossed the banners aside into a corner...only to vanish into a hole as the ground under then seems to vanish. It was a pitfall! “Ah! Well...might want to cover that up you two.”

The two Machops wheel their cart and toolbox over to the pit and give it a once-over. “What do you think?” Ferid asked Marcos.

“Hmmm...I don’t see a bottom, but I think a double layer should do it.” Marcos said. “Assuming the hole doesn’t widen.”

“I don’t think it will, the pit walls are solid rock, and I don’t see any cracks.” Ferid said, peering into the hole. “No significant cracks anyway. Double layer it is.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it then.” Zar’roc said with a small bow, and looked around the room. Behind one of the posts was another fleshcap, which he picked and handed to his yellow partner, now clutching two of them.

Zar’roc strolled out of the room with Kaza, now back to the Dungeon’s first room and closing the door behind him. It might take them a bit to do the double layer, or whatever they were talking about. “How you holding up?” Zar’roc asked.

“Mmmph...I-I’m alright.” Kaza said, letting out a small sigh as he relaxed a bit. He knew the Machops weren’t bad people, but he just didn’t...know them. “What’ll we do?”

“For now, keep them safe.” Zar’roc said. “We’ll make sure they can build and fix thing up without problems.”

“Should we...scout ahead?” Kaza asked.

“I don’t see why not. Might take them a bit to patch up the hole.” Zar’roc agreed. “Still, the other door is locked..so unless you know where a key might be, I don’t see how we’ll get past.”

“Well….we’ll have to look for one.” Kaza said. “Shouldn’t be too hard, there’s not much in here other than that….bubbling...goop.”

“Mmmm….darn, we could have probably gotten it up with one of those banners.” Zar’roc sighed. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright...I don’t think a key would be in there.” Kaza said. “That looks potentially corrosive...plus, it might eat through the banners anyway.”

“Fair enough...should we look in the banner…” Zar’roc thought trailed off as he slowly gazed upwards. He hadn’t noticed, but in this room, the ceiling was exceptionally high. “...Think the key might be up there somewhere?”

“Well, I can check.” Kaza said and summoned a series of small, thin stair-like platforms. He climbed off of Zar’roc’s back, and as he walked up them, the ones he’s stepped off of moved up to be the next highest step. Zar’roc simply watched from below. Even though he’d seen it many many times, and even walked with Kaza, it was always interesting how he used Protect. Kaza soon made his way to the ceiling, and found a key hanging from what seemed like a thin strong, or maybe a spider’s silk thread. Regardless, he reaches forward and grasped the key, and with a small yank, pulled it free. “Found it!” Kaza called down to Zar’roc.

“Great, come on back down then!” Zar’roc called back. Kaza walked down with his protect plates with his new key in hand until he was at the floor and shows it to Zar’roc. “Check if it’s the right one.”

It hadn’t dawned on Kaza that this key might not go to the lock. He trotted over and sliding the key into the lock, tried turning it. The lock opened and Kaza sighed with relief. “It’s the right key. We can go throu-” As he was saying this, the door swung forward to the next room, and scraped against the bottom of the floor...causing it crumble and fall, revealing another pitfall. “Ah!”

“What an inconvenient place for one of those…” Zar’roc muttered as he trotted over and looked at the pitfall. He could see the bottom of this one though. “They will be busy…”

“Busy how?” Ferid asked stepping out of the second room.

“Cover’s done.” Marcos announced. “Whats the problem?”

“Another pit.” Zar’roc said. “And you might have a harder time building over this one. It’s right past this door, and I mean directly.”

He stepped out of the way so they could take a look for themselves. “...Yeah, that’d be a hard one to get around.” Ferid nodded.

“Think you could get us around it?” Jacob asked. “If we could get across it, we’d be in a better position to cover it up properly...but you’d have to somehow take a cart full of wood across also...you might be strong, but that seems unlikely.”

“Oh, I think I know how to handle this.” Zar’roc chuckled. “Kaza, if you would.”

Kaza nodded and summoned a thicker protect plate over the pit, since it would have to take a heavier load, namely the cart. “Ohhh….hey would you look at that.” Ferid said, his eyes widening a bit. “Thats handly.”

Zar’roc walked across and into the room. “Well, bring your wood and tools, this thing won’t be here forever.”

“Oh...yeah. Right.” Marcos said and crossed with his toolbox as Ferid tugged the cart across the plate.

Kaza lightly tugged on Zar’roc’s fur to get his attention. “What?” Zar’roc asked and looked at what Kaza way pointing to on the other side of the room. A….very rounded Barboach that did not seem to be happy in the least that they were there. “Ahhh...can we help you?” Zar’roc asked politely.

“Yeah, you can remove yourself from our domain!” The barboach practically spat at them. “This is property of King Wussy and he his followers!”

“Now now, we’re just a repair crew.” Zar’roc said. “This place seems to be...falling apart, what with all these pitfalls. The king really should be taking better care of his property.”

“Are you insulting king wussy?!” The Barboach practically howled indignantly.

“No, just saying that the king shouldn’t-” Zar’roc tried to reason with him but the Barboach was clearly done with words as he fired a Water Pulse as them. Another quick Protect took the blow, and vanished as quickly as it came. Zar’roc was done with diplomacy at that point as well. With a Quick Attack, he closed the distance between him and the Barboach in an instant, and raising a paw once more, and this time grabbed the Barboach and slammed him into a wall.The Barboach gagged and it’s eyes bugged out before slumping. Zar’roc dropped him and gave him a distasteful look. “Soo...can you patch that up also?” The Machops seemed rather distracted, frantically looking around the room. Zar’roc frowned a bit and looked around, but the room seemed barren except for them, an unconscious barboach, and a meatroot. “What is it?”

“You didn’t feel that?” Marcos asked.

“Feel what?” Zar’roc asked.

“What do you mean you didn’t feel it?!” Ferid demanded. “What about him!?”

Zar’roc looked back and Kaza who gave a quick shake. “Nope, not him either. What did you feel?”

“I-I dunno...it was like a jerk, but nothing grabbed me…” Marcos muttered. “Hey...think you can stay here while we cover this up?”

“I don’t see why not.” Zar’roc said and took a seat and then bending his front legs, laid on his stomach. Kaza stayed on his back, but looked a little unnerved and gazed around the room. “Don’t worry Kaza, at worst it’s just a ghost that thinks this is funny.”

“Sure…” Ferid grumbled and set to covering the pit with Jacob. It took a few minutes with their pace slowed down a bit from when they thought they could see something, but Kaza who had been looking in the same direction had seen nothing. “Alright, done.”

“Ah, good. We can move on then.” Zar’roc said, standing back up. “Any preference to direction?”

“Two doors, both unlocked…” Marcos mused. “Well...I mean...it’s a fifty-”

“Top door.” Ferid said and pulled the cart along behind him, though now it had significantly less wood. Nobody had any objections, so they followed him through the northern door. The last thing they expected when Ferid opened the door was a pile of snow to pour out on top of Ferid. He looked notably angered by this development. “...And how do I get a cart through FUCKING GOD DAMN SNOW!?”

“Heym this is King Wussy’s personal winter playroom!” A Barboach yelled, though he was shivering and he was looking even bluer than usual.

“...I have an offer.” Zar’roc said. “You unlock this door and we can take this dispute into the next room. You can even get your friends.”

The Barboach considered the offer and slowly nodded. He slithered through the snow and unlocked the door and quickly hopped into the much warmed room, followed by Zar’roc while Ferid and Marcos tried to push the cart through the snow. There was another Barboach in this surprisingly wet room, this one also had a spoon in it’s mouth. Soon a third Barboach came over with a spoon in it’s mouth as well. The first one smirked and shook a bit of snow off of himself. “So….we’ll talk now! Our demands are that you leave or we resort to force!”

“And my demands are you let us pass and clean up all the holes in this Dungeon.” Zar’roc said passively. “We’ve covered two pitfalls already.”

“Then negotiations are over. Prepare-!” The Barboach began until Zar’roc cut him off.

“Kaza, if you would?” Zar’roc asked. Kaza had the same idea.”

“What the hell are you-” The Barboach was cut off once again as Zar’roc closed his eyes and Kaza reached forward and used a blinding Flash. They all screamed as they were blinded, closing their eyes and flopping on the ground. Zar’roc wasn’t even sure if he even needed to take them out...but they wouldn’t be blinded forever. Raising a paw, he gave them each a whack and they ceased flopping.

“That should do it.” Zar’roc said. The three were fine...just out of it. Kaza hopped off Zar’roc’s back and picked up one of the spoons. “Hm? What’s up?” Zar’roc asked.

“It’s a key.” Kaza said and held up the oddly shaped flat end. Sure enough, it was a key, and when pushed into the lock on the door, unlocked it handily. Kaza placed the key-spoon beside the Barboach it belong to and pushed the door open. A wave of sweltering heat practically punched him in the face and he quickly closed the door. “Gah! H-hooo...hot!”

“Wow...yeah, I felt that.” Zar’roc said, his eyes wide with surprise. “A snow room and a hot room...no surprise this room is wet.”

“What’ll we do?” Kaza asked.

“HOW ABOUT HELP US PULL THIS DAMN CART!?” Ferid bellowed from the snow room. “THE WHEEL’S STUCK!”

“Ah...yes.” Zar’roc said and trotted back to the snow room, and saw the two Machops pushing hard at the cart from behind. He grabbed it from the front and tugged hard, and with the combined effort, unstuck the cart and sent it sailing into the wet room, almost running Zar’roc and Kaza over in the process. “Ahhh...well...I hope it’s alright.” Zar’roc muttered after he heard it crash into a wall.

“You better fucking hope it is, thats a rental.” Ferid growled and ran into the room.

“W-we know you were just helping.” Marcos said and quickly ran after his partner. Zar’roc trotted back inside the room...and luckily the cart was intact, if a little banged up. Both of the Machops looked relieved.

“Quick warning, the next room is super hot, so we didn’t have much time to look around in there.” Zar’roc said.

“Come on, you’re supposed to check for traps.” Ferid said. “Don’t chicken out on us!”

“Eh? Well...alright, fine.” Zar’roc said and slowly opened the door again. Heat poured into the room, and forcing himself to look inside...it was...rather small honestly, and there was a Spoolstone at the far end. If the Machops were ready to deal with it, he would as well. He marched into the room, eager to take the Spoolstone...until the floor fell out from under him. There was a third pitfall. His eyes widened as he fell, and Kaza slammed his hands together, and teleported the both of them back into the wet room, wincing a bit.

“Holy shit, you okay?” Ferid asked and quickly forced the door shut.

“Uhh...yes. Yes I’m fine.” Zar’roc said with a small sigh of relief and smiled. “My partner is completely capable of getting me out of any bad situation.”

“Well...good and bad then.” Ferid said. “Good for you two...bad that we have to work in...THAT. You know, cause of the PITFALL we have to cover now.”

“Ahhh...sorry.” Zar’roc said. “We can leave that be.”

“No, we can’t.” Marcos said. “It might be bad for the wood, but we have to cover it cause it might save someone. You two clear out the rest of the dungeon, we’ll...manage this.”

“I am not looking forward to this…” Ferid groaned.

“Just think of it as a sauna.” Marcos suggested. “You like those, right?”

Zar’roc smiled bit to himself and walked back into the snow room, and went through the doorless doorway, driven mostly by curiosity. This room was mostly empty...but it smelled quite nice. It was earthy...like a cave, maybe freshly dug. Other than that, there...didn’t seem to be anything for either of them there. Perhaps this was where the third Barboach came from. Kaza however hopped off his back and walked over to the other side of the room and kneeled down. “Whatcha looking at there?” Zar’roc asked, stepping closer.

“Wait!” Kaza said and raised a hand to stop Zar’roc. His hands slowly slid across the floor until they came in contact with a slightly raised panel, and grasping it with his fingertips, slowly pulled it out of the floor and dropped the panel beside him, reaching down to tinker with what was under it. Zar’roc watched curiously. He’d never seen Kaza disarm a trap before...was that also in a library book? Well, there were a lot of subjects...his thoughts were interrupted when a small slicing sound. “There we go.” Kaza said, sounding satisfied and sliding the stone plate back into place, and this time it wasn’t slightly raised, it was even with the floor. “Shall we continue?”

“Of course.” Zar’roc said. Kaza climbed back onto his back and went back to the room where they had encountered the second pitfall and paused to pick the Meatroot with some effort. “Hoo...wow, that one was really stuck in there!” Zar’roc chuckled. “So, two Fleshcaps and a Meatroot. Three items.”

“We were advised against clearing out dungeons.” Kaza said. “They have their reasons I suppose.”

“Of course.” Zar’roc said and pushed the last remaining door open. The dungeon’s last room was...impressively overgrown, strong vines grow up and down the walls and across the floor. He stepped forward slowly, looking around for anything that would be considered ‘out of place’ but noticed a little too late that his foot sank a bit as he stepped on one of the vines...luckily the bubbles popped on the vines before reaching him...but it was still a small start. “Well...thats every room, and I think thats the exit.” Zar’roc said. “Should we wait here for ‘em?”

“I think that’d best...some of these vines would be comfortable if you laid on them correctly.” Kaza said. Kaza climbed off Zar’roc’s back and started rearranging some of the vines on the floor. After a bit Zar’roc laid down on them...and Kaza moved a few until he was more comfortable. “Is that better?” Kaza asked.

“Well..yes actually.” Zar’roc said and ‘rested his eyes’ as Kaza sat beside him to keep and eye on things. About ten minutes passed until the Machops showed up with  pretty much empty cart noa. Kaza shook Zar’roc’s and he sleepily raised his head. “Mmmm…? O-oh…” Zar’roc yawned and stretched a bit. “Ahhh...good to see you.”

“Hey.” Ferid said flatly. “Lazy bastard…”

“Well, we all did our jobs.” Zar’roc said, stretching a bit. “Shall we be off?”

“Yeah fine.” Ferid said. He didn’t seem very happy...but he didn’t want to linger. Kaza got onto his back and the Machops opened the door this time. This was somewhat harder than the entrance, but it was no match for the two of them.  They had it open in a matter of moments, and were through and out of the dungeon. Zar’roc followed after them, looking back at where he’d been napping a moment ago. All in all, not a bad dungeon.