That's all for today! Thank you for reading, I'll see you tomorrow :) - BB
I don't own YGO
The third day brought the discovery of Ore in her little burrow. Ore was used to craft things, similar to wood and stone, but ore could be heated and crafted into metal. She could start a trade with the others.
Research into a kiln brought her ingots, which in turn gave her hinges and seals.
By day four she had a rather large stash locked up tight in her burrow. She equipped a small bundle and took off south to the Canadians. Ore could be found in trace amounts in rocks if you farmed enough of them, a steady supply might be enough to urge the Canadians into an alliance. Building upkeep came with wood, stone, and ore reserves that had to be added to your warehouse in order for your building not to degrade.
Since Celine chose to build her base as a burrow and not a physical building, her upkeep was low, giving her plenty of resources to sell.
Ted and Roger were eager for the ore supply, and offered a trade in electrical wire that they had crafted with copper they'd found while farming the land around them. Electrical wire meant Celine could craft lights into her base if she came up with a power source. Ted recommended a water wheel if she was off the river, or see if she could research a solar panel, which was how they had accomplished their ice ring.
Solar panels required glass, which required sand and a kiln. Looks like she'd found her new mission. In the meantime the wood to make a water wheel was easy to come by, and that would allow her to light her burrow tunnels.
That night, she had her first visitor. She assigned a firm path to the door of her small hut that sat above ground, with reflective ore to mark the path. If you stepped away from the path, you could potentially end up in one of the many traps she'd set up.
Celine answered the knock to find their fearless leader standing there, looking much as he had when they'd first arrived, but that was the perks of VR. No shower, no need for bathing. Food was as simple as deciding to eat it, as was water.
"Kaiba… you lost?" She asked with a lift of her brows up at the tall man.
"Not anymore. Is there a reason you're so isolated from the others?" He asked her.
"Other than I wish to be? No."
He studied her a moment before looking behind her to the small hut set up. It was a basic structure. Four walls, a floor, with her research desk and bookshelf for storage, along with a few trunks.
"Is this your base." It was a question, but his tone was flat, showing his lack of enthusiasm over it.
"Maybe." She replied in a tone just as flat.
"May I see it."
"Why?" Her first thought was that perhaps he was a spy.
"I'm touring all the bases to evaluate progress. I will compare it to the final result at the end of the week." He answered aptly.
That made sense, she supposed. She pulled the door open and he stepped inside.
Celine noticed immediately that the walls to her shack weren't quite tall enough for the man to stand fully. She hadn't exactly built this with him in mind.
"Sorry, I'll have to stretch the roof up tomorrow… but the tunnels are taller, you should be okay in there." She offered as she leaned down to find a latch in the wood floor and pull, showing a way down with a ladder.
"I'll go first and get the lights." She said as she slipped down the sturdy rungs to the bottom before lighting a set of lanterns by the ladder.
She waited for him to follow before grabbing one of the lanterns and starting down the arched tunnel.
"Main hall runs down the length of the base, but unless you know where you're going you'll get lost… best stay close."
The halls were built by Grumish, making the archway more than roomy enough for the brunet.
"I had dry food storage up here, but I moved it to kitchen prep, so, empty storage. That hall takes you to the ovens… there's a kiln and a basic stove, bit of storage for resources to feed it. Working on a kitchen. That way is the generator… It's on a mill for now. I'm working on solar panels. Fresh ventilation fed through pipes, but I'm hoping with the solar I'll have enough power to run a fan to pull air out through an exhaust."
He let her talk, and walked with her, poking into rooms or halls. She let him lead, or in the case of her bedroom, took the reins to show the cold storage. One of the purposes of the labyrinth had been to keep her spawn point secret. If they couldn't find your bed, you'd always return to it. She had several escape routes out.
Celine had dug down to the cold base of the island, the ground just cold enough to hold the large ice cavern. She'd added that. With a carefully contained ice storm inside the sealed room from the Druid. The ice held because the ground temperature stayed the same. Here she had several deer she'd collected, along with a wild pony she'd picked off as her Ranger.
"This is primitive…" He told her as they climbed back up to the main hall. "But adequate. You have your needs, however I can't help but feel as if your neighbors aren't a bit more advanced."
"Cost of working solo." Said Celine.
"So why do you?"
"Because I don't trust anybody here. Everyone's out to prove themselves and show what they've got. I'd rather see what they've got then move. I have enough fire power hidden in this base to blow up any one of theirs. But I don't. Why do they need to know I can do that?"
"You'd rather they think you are a foolish woman?" He asked with a narrowed gaze.
"Let them underestimate me. It'll be their loss." She said firmly. "Countless other cockstrong men have tried to step on my toes on the way here and I won't let them now. Not my fault if they didn't see it coming." Celine smirked. "Although if they didn't have a hint the first day, there's probably no teaching them now."
A loud rumble shook the ground around them and they both looked up to the tunnel ceiling as dust floated down.
Another quickly followed, but thankfully no dust this time.
"And here we have the perks of a bunker… Sounds like someone's getting raided." Said Celine.
"Probably the Canadians. I thought their base was a bit large, easy to draw attention to your resources." Said Kaiba.
And that's why Celine had a hidden shack.
"Well… c'mon, let's go. Can't let the mounties get hurt." She muttered, starting back for the entrance.
[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]
Celine shifted into Grumish almost as easy as breathing now. She looked to the growing white dragon starting to shift upwards.
"Catch a lift?" She roared and a second later a claw scooped her up.
Whooo!
Pure adrenaline rushed as she was carried up and dropped between a set of large heavy wings. Grumish might be proficient in mounts, but this one might be a bit above her class level. Looks like it was a 'hold on' sort of ride. That suited her just fine. She wanted a plan.
Celine would quickly see the smoke pouring from the once whole ice ring, a large robot was tearing into the side. Kaiba wasn't kidding. Looks like the Chinese had been busy. That would be a construct. What did she have against constructs? Nothing. They weren't undead, fae or fiend. Banishment. She could banish it. She'd have to get right up to it though.
Or onto it. The white dragon was almost close enough. She could make it if she jumped.
A coil of her body drew a growl from the dragon, but she only needed a half second and she yeeted herself off the side with a roar of approval from her chest.
Dimension Door.
Instantly she was teleported 500 feet, and right on top of the robot. She landed with a smite, knocking it to it's knees in a flash of bright Radiant light.
Banishment.
The robot vanished and Celine tumbled down into a roll into the remains of the ice ring.
"I have universal healthcare!" She called.
"Oh good, us too, eh?" Called a voice back. It was Ted. Bunkered behind a half wall.
"We need to be fast, we only have a minute." She said firmly. "Where's Roger?"
"He ran for help. That Yugi kid was really good to us, eh? Offered us a hand if we needed it. He's not back yet."
"Then you need to come up with your best. We're running out of time."
"My best what, man?" Asked Ted.
"Character! Game! What's your favorite game, dude?" Celine asked hurriedly.
"Halo. All time." He said firmly.
"Alright! Right! Well! We need the Chief!" She said.
"Master Chief?"
"Yes! I need you to be Master Chief! We need him!"
"How do I…"
A portal opened and the large robot dropped down with a heavy slam, shaking the earth.
"BELIEVE YOU ARE." Snarled Celine, giving him a firm clap on the shoulder and casting her best support spell.
Heroism. One willing creature you touch imbued with bravery.
"KNOW YOU ARE."
Ted's head gave a firm nod as a face of focus flashed across his features.
Then it was gone. Replaced by the helmet of Master Chief.
She slammed her shield and it flashed blue.
Shield of Faith.
A white gauntlet flashed at it's center.
"I AM GRUMISH THE ALMIGHTY!" She roared, the sound echoing and amplifying, causing the metal of the creature to ring. Dragonborn feature. She used the second of stunned stillness to charge, and Ted was right behind her, his laser shooting in a double handed back and forth. Tank and ranged. Focus on health and keeping it busy.
A dive for a joint found it bending easily under her mace. Whatever they had made it of to make it light, had made it weak to force damage.
Aluminum.
They must have found it somewhere.
She needed something big.
Something that made even DND nerds like her shudder.
She needed a Tarrasque.