Lucc was halfway there now, to his left and miles away he saw a huge thunderstorm. He could only faintly hear the thunder that came from it, this era was probably one of Lucc's favorites and one of the most intriguing. Another one being a snowy plain in the year 2043 he visited that was surrounded by snow-capped mountains, a very cold experience but it was beautiful to look at at the same time.

Lucc was nearly at his destination so he sped up to a quick trot instead of walking and arrived in about another five minutes, then entering the building and approaching Aura's bunker entrance. If she was in there she'd see him on her monitor, he only had to wait a few seconds before he heard the click which was the sound of her entrance unlocking. It slowly opened afterwards and Lucc walked down into the bunker, Aura was sitting at the bottom of the steps while giving off a grin.

"Hey there." Lucc said and met her once he made his way down the steps, he received an affectionate nuzzle against his cheek.

"I missed you Lucc, how've you been?" Aura looked up at him with her glacier colored eyes, as if she were an ice type. Odd looking and beautiful at the same time, either way it was better than the black eyes she had in his recent dream.

"Dealing with things back home currently but I'll survive, you?" Lucc had sat down next to her now.

"Avoiding the poachers and exploring...collecting, the usual." She sighed and eyed the pouch over Lucc's shoulder. "Here to collect more yourself huh?"

"Yep, same rubies at the same place."

"I went there a few more times while you were gone...in that forest, I saw people." Aura remembered once he brought the oasis up.

"People?"

"Mhm, they were wearing these full white suits and helmets. Armed too." She tried her best to recall anything else that she saw but nothing came to mind.

"I still have to go, this mission is worth a lot of money. I can carry myself just fine too." Lucc was just a bit more nervous about going up there now.

"You can't go up there alone without an escort, you'll get lost. Plus there are traps set everywhere now. As much as I don't want to go back there, I'll go with you Lucc. Just once more." Aura had found out about the traps the hard way by almost getting her tail cut off by one of them last time she was up there.

"Thank you Aura, you can always change your mind at anytime." Lucc slightly leaned down to give her neck a nudge with his head.

"And let you go off alone?" Aura momentarily leaned her cheek against his shoulder before standing up. "We should probably head out before it gets dark though, things get a lot harder to see there at night and we can't have that." She trotted up the steps, Lucc following after as the bunker top closed behind them. "We should get there a few hours before the sun begins to set which is good enough," Aura said as she padded through the sand.

"Do you ever want a partner Aura? A companion? Anything to keep you company." Lucc asked while walking by her right side.

"Of course, it gets painfully lonely sometimes. I fight through it but...it only leads to more loneliness, so I can either dwell on it or keep myself busy by exploring."

"Which one do you do?"

"Both." She looked over at him and grinned. "I was pretty sad before you arrived in fact." Aura figured she may as well be honest with him on some things.

"I wish I could have stayed longer last time, I just have no control over that." Lucc looked down for a moment, he did feel pretty bad for leaving so abruptly before.

"It's alright Lucc, I understand. I'm just glad you're back." They walked across the vast desert plain and its mounds for about two hours on end, focused on each other and their conversations more than how long they'd be walking, though they did drink water from a pond near the entrance of the oasis once they got there.

"The entrance to that cave we went through last time is blocked off now, but I found another way in. Just follow behind me and don't stray off of my path. I haven't memorized every trap placement yet." Lucc nodded in response, he was scared for sure but he trusted Aura and needed to get those rubies for Ryan. Aura started off by walking around some bushes and passing by certain trees either to the left or right of them as she advanced. It was already pretty dark in this forest but some sunlight shone through.

"So this is all in effort to avoid traps?" Lucc looked around out of paranoia while following after Aura's every step and turn she took.

"Yep, and as you can see, it's working." She glanced back at him and smirked a bit.

"M-Maybe you should...keep your eyes on the path ahead." Lucc suggested and sped up to more accurately mimic her.

"Relax will ya? Just trust me, I won't let you die as long you listen to me."

"I do trust you! It's just kind of scary knowing that death could be inches away from taking you at any moment."

"You're cute Lucc." Aura giggled and kept on her twisted path until they reached a clearing, only a few bushes littered the area. Other than that it was mainly moss, grass and uneven ground. "No traps around these parts, now we just have to get to the other side and you'll see the other entrance I was talking about. C'mon." Aura swiftly made her way across the large opening with Lucc behind her. She slowed down once they saw a hole in the ground, one that led to the cave underground.

"There, now we jus- hide!" Aura whispered harshly and hopped into a large bush that was to the left of the entrance and far enough from it so they could be hidden, Lucc fit inside next to her. "There they are, some of those people I saw. They weren't guarding this entrance before though." Aura quietly explained, Lucc heard her explanation but was busy studying their attire and the rifles that they were currently holding. Nothing that he recognized, until he caught a glimpse of the logo on the back of one's outfit. An upside down e that was plastered in black, now that looked familiar. Lucc had to have seen that somewhere before.

"The logo...the letter on the back of his outfit, the e." He watched them closely, now curious as to what else he may see about them that he could possibly know.

"What about it?" Aura had seen that letter a few times herself since she'd been here a few times.

"I think I know what it is, it just seems so...familiar." Lucc tried to think of where he recognized it from but couldn't come up with anything, he'd do some searching when he was back home. For now, they had to get through those two guys and into that cave. "Are we doing this quietly?" He asked and watched the guards talk amongst each other.

"Depends, I'm pretty sure we could knock them out pretty quickly since we have the element of surprise but waiting for an advantage to sneak past may work too."

"I can't afford to possibly wait for hours."

"Then I guess we aren't doing this quietly."