[Featured characters: Alanis, Fred] Budehuc Castle: Sublevel ??? What's this? A long, winding cavernous tunnel beneath the castle? Boxes and various weapons line the tunnel as it continues on- there being almost no illumination at all. Whatever this place is, it's not been in use for a very long time. Perhaps an old shelter? What could be at the end of this vast tunnel? ===== This counts as a very creepy place, at least in Alanis's book. Huge, dark, with an ominous, moaning draft of air... why did she come down here again? It's nice and cool compared to the rest of the castle, and it definitely looks like a place she might find Melville and Elliot exploring, but so far, they're nowhere to be seen. And climbing down that elevator shaft was easy, but what about climbing back up? Stupid thing, it just had to be broken today, didn't it. And she's wearing a skirt! Melville and Elliot /better/ not be down here! But... Alanis sighs, and holds up her torch to look around. She's not exactly lost - she can remember which turns she took. It's the creepy, twitchy feeling that she's being looked at that makes her pause. Are those footsteps crunching down the tunnel somewhere? It's a good thing she has that fire rune... Che. Where was that Rico?? How she seemed to slack off so, ever since they've been staying here in Budehuc. The young Maximillian knight pauses in the middle of a tunnel, sighing as he folds an arm over his breastplate, glancing left and right. Fred had been a bit over-eager to get down here, whereas Rico hadn't. Go figure. "But I've heard there were monsters down there! The place is a spawning ground of evil! Being that people live above it, we cannot allow it!" ...and so forth... such as how the talk went earlier. Fingers tap lightly against his shoulder... and soon Fred continues onward. Eh? Stop. Was that something ahead? Light? Well there were few other torches about... but still... Gray eyes narrowing, Fred Maximillian slips the torch he bears to his other hand, reaching slowly to grasp the hilt of his sword in his right... Sound! That /is/ something moving! Alanis spins around and peers into the darkness of the tunnel. But that doesn't do any good - it turns only a little way down, and her torch isn't even bright enough to hit the far wall. Could it be...? But no, if it were one of the boys, they'd be making so much noise Master Thomas would probably be able to hear them in his room. They're /so/ noisy... She clenches her right hand, and calls a little energy into her fire rune. She'd heard there were monsters down here... even if she hasn't seen any until now, anything that tries to sneak up on a girl has to be bad, right? This is just not turning out how as planned. But, well... standing here will get her nowhere. She creeps forward, trying not to make any sound. If she wasn't too scared to put out her torch, she'd try. But there's no WAY she's fighting a monster in the dark! ...it's coming closer!! Fred licks his lips as his hand slowly starts to draw Knightheart as quietly as he can, though the faint ring of metal is still there. Firelight dances off the blade, and the knight wonders for a moment if he should set it down- it'd be hard to fight and defend with the thing in the same hand as his shield arm. Fred tenses as he watches as the other light approaches. Okay..... any moment now... Alanis cringes and stops just before the turn, torch-hand shaking just a little bit. That was /definitely/ a hostile sound. She almost looses her nerve standing there, but there's nowhere to run unless she wants to get lost, and then she'd just be in /more/ trouble. Her eyes close for a minute and the fire rune tingles - the energy wants to be released. She isn't good enough to hold it there much longer... it's just a low-level spell, but if she lets it build up, it might be too strong and hit her, too. Aaaaa, whymehwymewhyme? Alanis shakes her head violently and tenses. Okay. If she just races out there, maybe she'll surprise it! Right, well, that's the idea. One, two... she races around the turn and throws the spell out ahead of her with a bright flash. Now! Fred advances, just as a small figure dashes out from around the corner! Eyes widen as that's not the only thing that emerges. The knight chucks his torch to the side wall, raising his shield just in time to catch the bright burst of fire as it comes. Flames disappate along the tempered metal, and Fred lowers it as soon as the worst seems over. "A surprise attack, eh? I'll show you the true might of a Maximillian Kni- huh...?" So much for his nifty speech. As eyes adjust to the light again, he sees just who it is that's attacked him. "...you aren't a monster..." o_o It didn't...! Alanis blinks as her eyes adjust to the dimness of the torchlight again, and she stares. It's human. And much taller than she is, and... a knight... "Oh no." She lets her head hang, half in apology, and half in embarassment. It's a good /thing/ she didn't throw anything strong! Maybe she should have /looked/ first, but of course, she hadn't thought of that when it was important... "I'm so sorry! I thought you were a monster..." This just... isn't her day. "Me?? A monster?" Fred repeats, increduously. He chuckles a bit at the very thought! Him, a Maximillian Knight, thought to be a monster! Hahaha....hah. Then again, he had thought the girl was a monster as well. "I thought... well, who cares what I thought- what are you doing down here? I heard it's dangerous!" And children throwing fire at people! Like that's not? "It's in the castle, so it can't be /too/ bad, can it?" Never mind that she'd been scared out of her wits a few minutes ago. That is a fact Alanis will conveniently forget, if no one else minds. She scuffs at the floor with her shoe for a minute. "I was looking for someone. I can take care of myself, I have a fire rune!" Her mouth snaps shut, and she looks down at the ground with a sigh. There's no need to be defensive... she just attacked /him/ after all, not the other way around... "I'm really sorry." She attacked a /knight/. Oh, she's NEVER going to live that down, if the boys find out... and speaking of the boys... this is all their fault. Somehow. Right. Ahem. Fred shakes his head, sliding his sword back into its sheathe. "Still, never know. Monsters shouldn't be in the castle, period!" He walks over to retrieve his torch from where it was discarded- good thing there wasn't anything to catch fire from it. "You're all right, right?" Fred glances back at Alanis. He offers a reassuring smile, hey- he wasn't hurt, she wasn't hurt- no problem, right? "...actually, I was looking for someone too... but I doubt she'd be down here, now that I think about it." The knight steps toward the girl, giving a quick glance about the cavern again to make sure no real monsters were lying in wait. "Yeah, I know..." The more she thinks about it, the more Alanis realizes what a stupid idea it was to come down here by herself. She'd /thought/ she would find Melville and Elliot, but... maybe she should have just waited until dinner. They /never/ miss dinner. "Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry about the fire spell." Actually, now that all of that adrenaline has worn off, she's really glad to have someone else down here with her. Not that she was scared the /entire/ time, mind you, but it wasn't a comfortable journey, even for an adventurer like her. "I haven't seen anyone else, so maybe we're both wrong." Grinning wryly now, Fred gives a nod. "Ah, don't worry about it. Didn't get hurt, so..." He holds the torch up to peer down one end of the tunnels, though little good it did. "I guess there's really no point in staying down here, if you haven't seen anyone else, and I haven't seen anyone else..." Alanis nods with another sigh. Well, that's one problem down, but there's still the matter of getting back up to the castle... "How did you get down here?" she asks after a minute, peering up at him. He looks nice, and he's a knight, so he must be strong. Maybe he'll be able to help if she can't manage on her own. Which... she probably can't. Maybe she should save up for a Blinking rune. "Hm? Oh, getting down here wasn't too much of a problem!" replies the knight, waving a hand. He pauses at that thought, however. Well, they'll figure it out when they get there! "Let's head back then, shall we?" Now, which way was it again....? >_> <_< Alanis looks up at the knight with a slightly... amused, or maybe just incredulous look? Well, it doesn't matter. "What's your name?" She holds her hand out and smiles brightly, as if they'd just met while strolling around the lake. "I'm Alanis." Maybe it's a little silly, but fellow heroes have to be introduced properly, right? And she knows the way back, thank goodness... as it seems he isn't so sure. Oh, how rude of him! Fred looks as if he'd just been smacked in the head. Probably did himself, mentally. "Ah, that's right- we haven't introduced ourselves!" He turns and looks down at Alanis, nodding and giving a slight bow. "A pleasure, Miss Alanis! I am Fred Maximillian, of the Maximillian Knights! My companion and I have come here to Budehuc to assist in vanquishing the growing evil that threatens this world!" "Great to meet you!" Hugo knows so many interesting people. Alanis is almost jealous, but then - she's here now, so she gets to meet them too! "Maybe we'll find your friend when we get back upstairs. I'd love to meet them." She inclines her torch in the direction she remembers walking in from, pointing the way. "I know the way back to the elevator, if that's where you came from, but... I didn't have enough time to find anything else." And she had been afraid. But that's a different story entirely. At least she has a good sense of direction! "And, it's... probably still broken..." Fred shrugs. "...most likely she'd be around that ship...thing..." He shakes his head. That Rico... "Anyway, yes! To the elevator!" He looks the direction Alanis points out. "Bah! There's always a way! Broken or not! Don't worry about it!" You have a Maximillian Knight by your side! Foes are easily vanquished, so what trouble could an elevator possibly hold? "Right!" Alanis raises her torch like a banner, and starts off. The elevator only stopped one floor up from here, so it's just a little climbing, is all - unless they fixed it, which would be great! But anyway, at least now she has help - a Maximillian Knight! Wait until Melville and Elliot hear about /this/! The elevator, fixed or not, was still a ways off. How deep -had- they gone into this cavern, anyway? Fred couldn't remember, there were quite a few twists and turns... Fred stops a moment in their walk back. "...did you hear something..?" Maybe it was just his imagination. Then again, there -were- supposed to be monsters or something down here... Alanis hadn't been paying as much attention, to be honest, because finding Fred had bolstered her confidence somewhat. The caverns weren't /as/ scary with him around. "Hmmm..." She looks back, holding her torch out in the direction they'd come, then toward a nearby turn. Only the howl of the draft - which was starting to get a bit chilly - and the crackle of their torches comes to her ears. "No.... but..." Well, there /are/ monsters down here. "What did you hear?" Fred shakes his head, uncertain, really. "...for a second there, I thought there was an extra set of footsteps walking with us..." He motions for Alanis to continue onward then. Perhaps it was just his imagination. He -had- been a little anxious to find monsters down here, after all. "Okay." She nods and starts off again, but this time she's making an effort to walk quietly and keep her ears open for odd sounds. The problem with this place is that it has an echo - but only sort of an echo, and then there's the constant sound of the air rushing by. Fred's armor clinks, but she hasn't ever seen a monster that sounds like /that/. Hmm. It's too bad she'd had to leave her staff in the elevator. It's more difficult to focus her rune without it. Clinky or not, Fred doesn't make -that- much noise. Not half as much as Zexens. As they continue on their way, the knight glances left and right, and as far back as he can manage without being too obvious. He hated having that feeling. The feeling of being followed. And then he stops again, hearing something again that's all too audible to be misjudged as mere imagination. Eyes glance back at the darkness, just in time to see a pulsating dot of red start to glow brighter and brighter.... He had a bad feeling about this. "Alanis- duck!" Fred shouts, lunging forward to loop an arm around the girl and pull her towards him as they go down, just as a bright burning beam of light goes shooting past. Alanis screams, shrill and echoing in the tunnel, although she is more startled than afraid - until that beam of light impacts on the wall near them and showers them with dust and rock. /Now/ she feels more than justified in feeling a little fear. Her knees are scraped by the her fall, and her torch went flying... now it's sputtering in the middle of the tunnel, where they were standing. "What /is/ that?" She can't see it anymore, but she remembered that little glimpse.... Should she stand up, stay down...? Fred tried to angle their landing so he'd take more of it, but the ground all the same was pretty rocky. He pushes himself up with his shield arm, somehow or another managing to keep the torch's flame from either of them. "Not sure- but my guess is it's one of those monsters that're supposed to be down here!" You think? If Alanis is having problems trying to decide what to do, Fred will help that decision, as he moves to stand up, pulling her up in the process. "You okay there, Alanis? Stay behind me-" he says, handing off his torch to her and pulling out his sword. "Right..." Alanis takes the torch and steps back a few paces, enough that she won't set him on fire, yet close enough that he should still be able to see, and just a little to the side. Her legs are shaking, her hand is shaking... well, despite her adventuring spirit, she /is/ still a merchant's daughter. That doesn't leave much room for anything more dangerous than a Holly weed. "I can hit it with magic, if you tell me when..." She actually has a pretty good aim, when she's not flinging herself around corners like a maniac. "Magic...." Fred seems to consider that option. Eyes ahead and fixed on the evil that dares oppose them, he nods as if figuring out some sort of strategy. The one eyed creature draws nearer, the firelight making it more distinguishable in the darkness now, a lanky thing. Ugly too. Still out of range to use its claws, its one eye begins to pulsate again with its sickening glow. "It's gonna fire again," Fred mutters. "But get ready to throw what you've got at it as soon as it does so!" The knight in the meantime takes a step back, as if bracing himself. He sure hopes his shield will hold enough for a blast like that. The fire rune immediately begins to emit its own crimson glow as Alanis draws upon its energy again. It won't be such an innocent spell /this/ time... She shifts from one foot to the other and tries to stay behind Fred, feeling a little guilty that she has to use him as a shield. But she just isn't /strong/ enough... "You'll have to wait a second before you run up to it," she cautions him quickly, tensing. Almost -! Fred nods. Just what he had planned to do- and he'll wait as Alanis suggested. He just hoped that the girl pulled off her spell soon, that eye thing looks about ready to- That red light flashes brightly before another beam is shot their way. Fred grits his teeth as he prepares to stand his guard. Upon impact, the knight falters a step back, having underestimated the beam's strength. Keeping from falling, Fred also tries to keep the beam from doing any damage. That shield starts to heat up- here's hoping it doesn't penetrate! There! Alanis jumps out from behind him and thrusts her hand forward. The rune flashes and a wave of crimson energy impacts the thing and ignites in churning flames, bright enough and hot enough that Alanis has to sqeeze her eyes shut and dance back a few steps. She trusts that Fred is far enough away, because she can't stop it now. That's the thing about fire runes - they're not very particular. He hadn't rushed out yet, so not within range of the monster nor the flames rushing towards it. The monster screeches (though how with no mouth is beyond me), flailing at the flames. Fred has jumped to the opposite side after Alanis has let loose with the flames, and progressively follows after, his sword Knightheart flickering with the light of the flames that engulf the creature, swung down in a clean arc from its top to bottom. Alanis has to squint against the heat, even though the flames are dying down. How can he /stand/ to run in there and hit it? The torch is held out toward the creature to replace the light of her spell, but... it seems to be taken care of. No need for /another/ spell, thank goodness, because that one took a lot out of her. She slumps forward a little and braces her self against her knee, trying to catch her breath. The creature itself seems to be defeated. Its smoldering form dwindles into nothingness. The Maximillian Knight steps back from the dying flames, panting. Okay, so he hadn't actually -counted- on running into anything down here. He straightens his left arm, letting shield slide off and land on the ground with a resounding *dong* as he shakes out that arm. "Woo... that was a little too hot for my tastes..." he mutters. Managing a weary grin, Fred looks back at Alanis. "Nice job, Miss Alanis. You going to be okay...?" He turns to see to her as he notices her fatigue. "I'm... okay..." Alanis's voice is a little breathless, as she's still panting for breath and trying to stop shaking. That was more excitement than she expected to get out of this trip. And that's the fastest Blazing Wall she's ever cast - she would be happy, if she didn't feel so ready to, oh, sleep... "Just give me a minute..." Deep breaths. They help, a little bit. Fred stands there, looking down at the girl for a good moment or two before he goes back to pick up his shield. It seems to have cooled down, anyway. He slips it back over his arm, and then walks back to Alanis, sheathing his sword. And after another moment of consideration, turns his back to her and kneels. "Here. Climb on. You'll at least get some rest till we reach the elevator." And hopefully nothing else decides to come and play. "A-are you... sure...?" Alanis manages to straighten up, still a bit unsteady. Well, now she knows why the books always talk about proper preparation. It all sounded stupid until now. "Okay..." She steps up to Fred and wraps an arm over his shoulder - the other is still holding the torch, so she has to be more careful with that one, but she manages. Her skirt is just short enough that this is possible. "I hope I'm not too heavy..." So tired. No, she has to hold that torch. And she will - for the pride of Saint Loa, if nothing else. Right? Right. Fred shakes his head. "No, this shouldn't be a problem," he assures, upon Alanis' hesitancy. "Ready? One, two, three..!" he says, standing up. It was a knight's responsibility to aid those in need! And getting out of this place didn't sound like bad idea right now... "Right! This way, was it?" Alanis nods, and then when she remembers he's not looking at her, says, "Down this way, and then back to the right again. This should be the last tunnel." They can hope, anyway. The less time here, the less chance there is for another attack. She isn't sure she'll be much help, if it comes to that. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to be a burden... need to learn more..." It really is about time she find a teacher. "No, no- there's no need to apologize! Just doing what a knight would do!" Fred grins to himself at that. He walks the way directed by Alanis, eventually coming to the more lighted area of the caverns where the elevator sat. "Hmm.... it still looks to be out of service...." he muses. "If you look inside..." Alanis breaks off for a yawn, and her eyes to water a bit. "See if it's still close, near the ceiling, or if it got pulled up..." The people in the basement said it was out of order, but you never know. And if it has gone up to one of the higher floors, they can always hit the switch on the wall - even if it doesn't come all the way down, it should still be close enough. Fred nods. "Here, mind if I put you down for a moment, then?" It'd be easier to check the elevator with one person. "It's okay." Alanis reaches over and deposits her torch in one of the empty sconces on the wall, and grabs onto his shoulder so she won't fall back. That would be just the perfect end to this part of the day. Waiting patiently for the girl to disembark, Fred then walks over to the elevator, studying the doors before setting his hands on each side of it and trying to pry it open. "...I guess someone's toyed with it one way or another. It was caught between this and the other floor earlier...." Fred steps back, looking to the side and hitting the call button on the wall. Here's hoping. Alanis shuffles over to his side, staring at the doors as if she might be able to see /through/ them, to the lift. She can hear the cables creaking, so that's a good sign, at least. The doors had been half open when she arrived, so if they're closed now, surely that means someone has fixed it. Please? She doesn't feel up to climbing right now. And then- *PING* Oh, how wonderful that sound was. Hey, it seemed like they'd been down here a pretty long time. Fred quirks a brow at the noise, and the elevator car settles down, the doors opening fully on their own. "We're in luck, Miss Alanis!" What a relief. It's almost enough to floor Alanis - she has to stiffen her knees to keep on her feet. "Thank goodness." She stumbles a little over the threshold, but doesn't seem to be in any danger of falling. She's just tired, so /very/ tired... and hungry. "I hope they haven't finished dinner already. "Dinner! That's right! I completely lost track of time down here!" Fred holds out a hand to Alanis- his knightly duties are not yet done! "Come, we'll find out soon enough. I'm sure they'll still have something for us!" Alanis takes his hand gratefully, with a smile way too tired for someone her age. "You're probably right. Mamie is nice, that way." Wow, wait until the chef hears about /this/ little adventure. Maybe it'll make her day behind that counter a little more interesting, sometime. "Thank you." Fred grins. "Tis the duty of a Maximillian Knight! You have some potential though, Miss Alanis." Recruit! Recruit! Ahem. Fred assists Alanis into the elevator, and the doors close after them on their way up. It was an interesting little adventure there, yes. Monsters were confirmed! You can bet Fred'll be back. He'll drag Rico down by the knapsack if he has to!