"Isaac, Thomas!" Lini's voice commanded sharply. "Here, now, kupo!"
Neither moogle hesitated, breaking into an all-out dash towards the mogknight and the giant crack in the wall. The other four warriors, slightly surprised, stood for a moment before breaking out after them. Both Isaac and Thomas, though, knew that their pursuers were too late: they would reach the hole without any trouble.
This was what they thought, up until the point went Eric cut them off.
"Not so easy as that," he said, shaking his head in a displeased manner.
Isaac raised his blade, and Thomas his knives. Each one leapt perfectly in time with the other a few paces from their opponent, assuming that he wouldn't be able to counter both of them at such speeds.
Isaac's blade, in a diagonal slash, was stopped completely by the fighter's right-hand blade. In several movements which Isaac's eyes didn't even register, Eric rung three sharp raps off of the blade's flat. Before his paw knew it had happened, Isaac's blade had flown about ten metres away.
At the same time, Thomas lunged forward with one knife to block Eric's left-hand thrust, and with the other he tried to reach in and cut the fighter's neck. Eric's blade blew right through the block, driving the knife into the solid rock below up to the hilt, and then used the pommel to punch the other knife out of Thomas's paw.
Then, the fighter tossed both blades lightly into the air. Before either moogle could hit him or fly past, his hands shot out and grabbed each one by the front of the shirt, and threw them to the ground at his feet.
Both landed hard, unarmed.
Eric, not even having to change his hands' positions, caught both blades on their downward descents.
Isaac and Thomas stared up at Eric, completely at his mercy, as the two blades swung down at them. Both closed their eyes, and turned away.
Metal rang out incredibly loudly, but neither moogle felt the blades biting into them. They opened their eyes and looked back towards the fighter. Standing before him was Lini, her gauntlet holding both blades easily at bay.
"Get the blade!" Lini yelled at both of the moogles, still laying on the rocks just behind her, and then she swept her blade out in front of her. Metal began ringing out painfully fast, and both Isaac and Thomas took this as their cue to leave.
They hopped up, and ran around the two engaged fighters. Both could hear the pursuers directly behind them, and knew that they'd have to go fast.
"Isaac, kupo," Thomas called over to him. "I'll hold them at the entrance! You go in and get the blade!"
"Are you kidding, kupo?" Isaac demanded. "We'll stand a better chance in there with both of us!"
"Bu—"
"Just follow my lead, kupo!" Isaac yelled, and then reached over, giving Thomas a slight push to accelerate him.
Thomas reached the entrance just before Isaac, and jumped through with a glance over his shoulder at the gunner.
Isaac, however, didn't even see it: he was already twirling around, his bare paws going down to his belts. They drew out the two six-shots, and each paw pulled a trigger twice.
Suddenly, their four pursuers stopped dead in their movements, simply staring ahead at their quarry in mid-stride.
Isaac shoved the two guns back into their holsters, and sighed, turning back to Thomas.
"Let's go, kupo," he said, nodding to the juggler.
The juggler nodded back, and they took a quick look around their surroundings. It appeared to be simply a long hallway, leading off towards some sort of large space which radiated a yellow light. The two moogles slowly approached each other for safety, and began making their ways towards the large room before them.
Neither knew what to expect. Neither had the slightest bit of expectation.
What they found, however, was beyond their imaginations.
The room, which they had assumed would be some kind of giant hall or something else of the sort, had no floor. Instead, a lip jutted out, and wound around and down from the room in a staircase. This staircase appeared to go on forever, as far as their eyes could make out, for miles and miles, simply winding away downwards into the mists far below.
Now this, on its own, would have been incredible enough. However, what enhanced the effect was the fact that the entire structure was carved directly into the amber which made the Siena Gorge famous. There were simply miles upon miles of the translucent yellow substance. Each step was perfectly worked, winding down slowly in even strides; not the work of some amateur.
Neither Isaac or Thomas said anything for a good while. They were both too busy staring down into the abyss below them. Finally, Thomas muttered, "What's that, kupo?"
Isaac glanced over, and saw that the juggler was staring straight ahead. He followed his gaze, and saw that there was an inscription carved into the wall. Isaac found it strange, for it was quite familiar. It took him a few seconds to realize the script was the exact same as that used on the warning outside of jagd Ahli. The inscription read,
Only those who truly exist on nothing more than their wits shall survive this test. Danger you shall face. You must have already faced danger arriving here; the danger here, however, is of a different manner. Be prepared for a great challenge. Your courage and your daring shall serve you better than your sword.
"We should get going," Isaac whispered after several seconds of silence. "My stopshots won't hold them forever, kupo."
"Right, kupo," Thomas replied. Both of them turned to the steps, and began the long descent downwards.
They had barely gone more than a few metres when both stopped abruptly, staring ahead. Before them, lying broken on the stairs, was a clearly nu mou skull. It was cracked and broken from extreme age, and absolutely dry; it had been there an incredibly long time.
"Didn't Lini say that we would be the first people to ever enter this place, kupo?" Thomas asked, a slight tremor in his voice.
"Well, to be fair, kupo," Isaac replied, staring at the ancient skull before them, "she can only account for her own blade, kupo. She said herself that it had a twin. Not to mention, she's only had the blade for at most twenty or so years. Before then, anything could have happened. Like maybe—"
"Right," Thomas interrupted, all business again, "while this is all fascinating, I'm still concerned with why there's a skull there."
"Good call, kupo," Isaac admitted, and the two slowly advanced on the thing.
When they reached it, Isaac bent over slowly to look it over. He reached forward and picked it gingerly up, feeling it, and staring at the shape. Odd. The nu mou skull—
"DOWN!" Thomas roared, and Isaac felt a paw roughly shoving him forward onto his stomach.
Isaac instantly rolled over to see what was going on, just in time to catch Thomas, throwing himself sideways and backwards, reaching out to grab one of his own throwing knives from the air, as an arrow whizzed by him. His paw closed around the hilt, and he held the weapon out in front of himself to block the next arrow. Then, seeing the source of the attacks, he tossed the knife back up into the air for a moment. Just long enough for it to go upside down.
Then, he caught it by the blade, and whipped it at a small crevice in the wall.
There was a terrible, scratching mechanical noise. Then, black smoke began leaking from the crack. Thomas heaved a sigh of relief, and sagged his shoulders forward.
Isaac, however, who had worked around machines far more than the juggler, quickly grabbed his leg and pulled him down onto the ground as well. The gunner had just enough time to cover his ears, before the trap machine, or whatever it had been, exploded in a brilliant show of flames and shrapnel.
They were quiet for a moment as both moogles lay there, chests heaving on the ground. The shear amounts of adrenaline roaring through them had each one frozen, aside from their occasional shudders.
At last, Isaac cleared his throat, and then managed to croak out, "Thanks for that."
"You too, kupo," Thomas replied, slowly pushing himself back up. As Isaac did the same, the juggler glanced over his shoulder, shaking his head. "That's maybe ten metres, kupo. And how far down does this thing go?"
"Infinitely, kupo," Isaac muttered, brushing himself off. He glanced over to his partner, and suddenly broke out laughing.
"Kupopo?" Thomas demanded, confused.
"I cannot think of anybody else who I'd hate being here with more, kupo," Isaac laughed, bending over slightly.
Grinning back, Thomas told him, "Same here, kupo. Same here."
The two of them began moving forward again, more cautiously this time. Their steps were measured and in time with each other, neither wanting to be caught alone in the next trap. They went on, not meeting anything for quite a while.
Suddenly, Thomas stopped moving. Isaac went on for another two steps before he realised it, and turned back to the juggler.
"What's wrong, kupo?"
"Get back," he whispered.
"Kupopo?"
"Back up, and get your flipping gun ready, kupo!" he snapped urgently.
Isaac nodded, and took several steps back from the juggler's position. After a moment, he asked, "Far enough, kupo?"
"Yes," Thomas exhaled, and then whispered, barely loud enough for even Isaac to hear, "Famfrit give me strength."
With that, the muscles in his legs all snapped all of their tension, and he lifted up into the air. As soon as his foot left the ground, there was a clicking noise, and dozens of spikes shot up out of the ground several feet. Isaac's heart caught in his throat as he watched the juggler rising above the metal teeth. He flew in one perfect arc, a backflip with well practised trajectory. He landed lightly on his toes, pin wheeling his arms violently to keep from falling forward onto the metal forest.
Without hesitation, Isaac grabbed the back of the juggler's shirt, and pulled. Thomas fell back with a slight yelp, and they hit the ground, chests heaving again.
"Dammit…" Thomas hissed, pushing himself back up.
"What was that, kupo?"
"Pressure plate," he explained, watching the spikes slowly pulling back into the ground. "I figured that seeing as it hadn't killed me instantly when I stepped on it, that it would trigger after I took my foot off. So…" He shrugged.
"Oh Famfrit," Isaac muttered, then sighed in annoyance. "We might as well get going then, seeing as we know where not to step, kupo."
They continued going, now paying more attention to the ground around their feet. Their steps were slow, and well placed to avoid any suspicious areas. The constant glow of amber helped them to see the floor, basking everything in a deep yellow.
At one point, Isaac thought he felt a gust, and glanced up. Abruptly, he reached over to grab Thomas and stop him.
"What, kupo?"
Isaac pointed up ahead, and it was all the answer that Thom needed.
Before them was what could only be described as a gauntlet. Dozens of blades hung on long, iron poles from the ceiling, and each of these poles was swinging back and forth like a pendulum. The section blocked off in such a way lasted about ten metres, with each pole situated no more than ten centimetres away from each other.
Isaac and Thomas stared, completely dumbfounded by the task before them. After a while, Isaac ventured, "Do you think you're agile…"
"No, kupo. Could you stopshot…"
"No, kupo."
Each continued staring for a moment, before both muttered, "Crap."
"This isn't possible," Thomas said, shaking his head and turning away. "This isn't fricking possible!"
"But we need to keep going soon, kupo," Isaac argued, looking up towards the entrance of the cavern. They hadn't gone more than forty metres down. He didn't even bother looking down. Even if they could already see the bottom, it would still be an incredibly long distance. "Those other four are probably after us by now, kupo."
"And seeing as we've left pretty obvious signs of the other traps, they won't take as long, kupo," Thomas added. "If only there were some way we could just skip all of this! Some way to go straight to the bottom, without dealing with all the bloody traps…"
Thomas's voice died slowly, for he and Isaac had suddenly looked at each other, and seen the same expression in the other's face.
"We couldn't possibly…" Isaac whispered.
"We don't have a choice…" Thomas countered, though his voice was just as unsure.
Without even agreeing, both slowly walked over to the edge of the lip, looking down at the impossibly long drop.
"Whatever we're looking for, kupo, it's down there," Isaac said, deciding it was best to start with the obvious.
"There's no way we'll make it there without dying, kupo."
"And we are in an engagement…"
"Which means we could each die…"
"And the rules are 'reach the target'…"
"Not reach the target alive…"
Both of them glanced over at the other, noting identical grins of disbelief at what they were about to do.
"We're doing it, aren't we, kupo?" Isaac asked.
"We certainly are, kupo," Thomas responded.
With that, each one stepped off of the edge.
For the one instant before gravity took effect, a moment of absolute vertigo invaded Isaac's body. His thoughts raced as he stared in horror at the drop below him. Why did I do that? What if that thing's bottomless? What if we're stuck falling for all of eternity without stop? What if…?
Then gravity hit them.
The breath left Isaac's lungs as he plummeted.
Well, if you could call less than a metre a 'plummet'. For, as suddenly as he had begun falling, his feet found themselves upon solid ground once again, his legs bent to absorb shock.
Isaac's eyes were clamped shut, and it took him a good thirty seconds before he opened them. When he did, he took quick stock of himself. He noted none of his body parts laying around splattered across the floor, nor any of the clouds or brimstone which would have suggested the afterlife. Carefully, he fluttered his wings, and felt that they were also still attached.
Finally, he looked around him, to find Thomas also gazing around in shock and amazement. They were in a near carbon copy of the room they had been in before, minus the massive, never-ending staircase coiling down the bottomless pit below them. Instead, there was a simple stone floor, and the entrance was completely level with them. Collapsed on the ground by this entrance were the four opponents whom Isaac had stopshot at the cavern entrance.
It took a good while before either of them managed to vocalize their feelings. However, when Thomas finally did break the silence, he managed to sum it up pretty well:
"What the kupo hell?"
"Kupokupokupo!" Isaac yelled, jumping up suddenly and laughing.
"What?"
" 'Your courage and your daring shall serve you better than your sword'!" Isaac cited, still laughing. "It must have all been an illusion to test our courage and our daring, kupo! Only somebody crazy or incredibly brave would jump off the ledge!"
"Let's go with the second option, kupo," Thomas replied, laughing back.
"So, then, where's the blade, kupo?"
The two of them looked around, combing the circular room. Finally, Thomas called out, "Over here!"
Isaac rushed over, and saw that the juggler had discovered a lip in the wall. Together, they managed to jam their fingers into the cracks, and pull the loose bit out. Once they had, both stuck their paws into the small hole, and closed their fingers around a piece of paper.
Slowly, they pulled the parchment out together, and stared at it. Pictures and writing were covering it, and as their eyes perused it, they each quickly realised one thing:
Recovering even the first Avuir was going to be a much bigger task than they'd imagined.
Suddenly, they heard a piercing whistle, which rung directly through the stones to their ears. Each one quickly recognized it as the official whistle of a judge of the palace.
The two ran outside, Isaac folding the paper and placing it in a pouch on his belt. They blinked slightly at the sudden brightness of the sunlight, before looking for their commander.
She stood, her chest heaving, sweat dripping from her bow, and her blade held perfectly ready in case her opponent tried to attack again. She appeared unhurt, but her clothing was quite untidy, and soaked through in many places with the sweat.
Eric was in a similar state, exhausted, holding one blade ready. The other was stuck into the rock of the canyon wall, right up to the hilt.
"Isaac," Lini panted, nodding to him. "Thomas. Please tell me you two have the target?"
Before either could reply, the judge's voice rang out, proclaiming, "The team of Lini the Mogknight has reached the target first! Thus, victory goes to said organisation! The team lead by the Hero Eric cannot attack them for twenty four hours! This is the palace's decree!"
"What?" Eric demanded. "Impossible! It is impossible that my four warriors couldn't take on those two…" he searched for a word.
"Moogles, kupo?" Thomas suggested helpfully.
"Yes," Eric said darkly.
"Well, while your fighters are good, kupo," Isaac replied, grinning at him.
"They aren't the smartest bunch," Thomas finished, the exact same grin on his face.
"Take after their leader, wouldn't you say so, Thomas?"
"Definitely, kupo."
Eric lunged at them, his blade coming down in an incredibly fast chop. Neither Isaac or Thomas had a weapon with them, and they could only watch as the fighter's blade came in to crush them.
From out of nowhere, another sword intercepted the fighter's blade. He glared over in surprised outrage at the wielder of the weapon, only to meet the impassive helm of a judge.
"Rules state that losers cannot engage the winners in combat for twenty-four hours afterwards," the voice said coolly, and even Eric had to quake before it. The blade slipped from his sweaty palms as the judge reached a gauntleted hand into the sash at his side. "All violators will be sent directly to prison."
The hand came out, pulling with it a card of deep crimson. The judge tossed this card into the air, and Eric disappeared in a flash of light.
The judge glanced over at Lini, and nodded. Then, he disappeared, his chocobo letting out one last warble.
Lini was still panting, shaking her head and rubbing sweat from her brow. It was at this moment that Isaac realised just how incredible a fighter Eric must be. The gunner had never seen his teacher looking like that after a fight, aside from after Caesar.
"Well," she said, looking over at them. "I guess the two of you managed to get it, kupo?"
"Oh yeah," Thomas said, nodding smugly.
"Right," she sighed. "And, uh, what exactly is it, kupo?"
Isaac pulled out the paper, and passed it over to her. She unfolded it, and her eyes scanned over it quickly. "Oh," she said finally. "This shall be a challenge…"
She turned her back suddenly, and began walking away. Isaac and Thomas, after a moment of surprise, followed quickly after her.
"We should try to be quick, kupo," she announced. "There are rumours that a tribe of tonberries lives somewhere in this canyon. Oh, and by the way, kupo," she glanced over her shoulder at them, a certain glint her eyes, "it's nice to see the two of you getting along."
Both of the moogles stopped, Isaac actually stumbling a bit.
They stared at each other, a mixture of shock and horror on their faces. Neither could speak, and neither could even keep walking for several seconds.
"Please realise that I won't defend you two if a swarm of tonberries comes at you, kupo," Lini called back to them.
The two of them began walking again, pointedly not looking at each other and keeping their distances.
