Janus went on ahead, scouting what was up the massive staircase while Robin, Thea and Hilda all stayed behind. All three of them kept a close eye on the massive scolipede just in case in sprung back to life. They didn't need anymore surprises. Within a few minutes, Janus walked back down the staircase with a sigh. "There is nothing up there. It's just a bunch of wrecked beds and dried blood stains. There's also more staircases leading up to the watch towers, but there's nothing up there either. It looks like this place has already been plundered." He told them all, the disappointment in his voice seeping through into his words.
The dwarf did not look happy at all to hear that. "We did not just kill those things just to walk away with nothing! There has to be something here!" She yelled as she looked around the massive hall they were in. It was a big place, she believed there had to be something left. She went to go find another door perhaps. These kinds of places always had some kind of basements, dungeons perhaps. Maybe what they were seeking was locked away somewhere.
Robin began to regret gathering them all to come on this fruitless expedition. He genuinely thought there was something to all those stories, but now, he was beginning to wonder if the gold had already been plundered long ago. "Maybe it was a mistake to come here..." The gallade painfully admitted. He realized that if this really was a bust, then they had wasted money on the supplies they brought with them.
Thea could see that he was disheartened by the news Janus brought him. "Our journey here was not in vein. At least this place is safer for all, now we have disposed of the beasts living here." She told him, trying to look on the bright side of all this.
"Over here!" Hilda yelled to the other three, who now came running over. At the side of the massive staircase was a simple wooden door. When the dwarf opened it, she saw a long narrow passage with a seemingly endless set of stone stairs leading downwards into the cold dark earth.
Thea was the first to arrive, looking down to the passage alone made her feel a little claustrophobic. "Are we going to descend?" She asked the others.
Robin looked down to the dark stairs with a smile on his face. "We have came this far, we might as well push on." He replied to Thea as he took his backpack off, and pulled out a torch. "Can you hold the torch for us Thea?" He asked. She was the only one who wielded a weapon that did not require her to use both hands. Hilda had her sword and shield, he had his halberd, and Janus had his bow.
"I can do that." She simply replied as she watched Robin hold out the torch to Janus, who then lit it simply by sliding his bare hand over it. Robin then handed over the lit torch to Thea.
As usual, Hilda began to push on without the rest of them. She was followed closely by Thea, then Robin and Janus. This narrow passage suited Hilda, having grown up in the mountains where there were many tight passages in dwarves architecture, at least in the poorer parts. Where as many people would feel claustrophobic in a place like this, she felt right at home. She kept her sword and shield raised, just in case. The way ahead was pitch black, anything could come stumbling out of the darkness. She was ready to stab anything that came at her. Quietly, they walked together down the stairs, all moving at roughly the same time. "These stairs seem to go down further than I thought... Just like home." She said with a smile.
"I don't like this place, too cramped... I feel like these walls will collapse in on us at any moment." Thea replied to the dwarf.
"I wouldn't worry about that. It seems solid enough." Hilda replied to the alakazam. The dwarf actually got along well with Thea, even though they had very different beliefs and came from very different places.
Hearing that from a dwarf mad Thea feel a lot better. If anyone knew about subterranean structures, it was the dwarfs. Their homes and even their main source of income was all in the mines they made. They were creative in their ways, not only mining out resources but also clearing out room for more homes to be built. Despite being underground, their homes were very well ventilated using old techniques passed down from one dwarf to another. "What made you leave your home?" Thea inquired.
"The guards started coming after mercenaries, so I had to leave." Hilda mumbled.
Thea guessed by her tone that she didn't want to divulge all the details. Or perhaps she just wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of having to leave her home and her people. She was about to ask if she missed her home, but she decided against it. Thea didn't want to seem nosey. "I never imagined that one day, I would be happy to be near a sellsword." Thea told her.
"You're happy to be around her?" The blaziken chortled. "How happy do you get when you're around her?"
"Take your snide insinuations else where, fiend!" Thea scowled.
"Just because you use big words, it doesn't mean you're smarter than me." The blaziken replied as they continued to move on. He smirked, knowing that he was pissing her off more and more with every word that slipped out of his mouth.
Thea had to hold her tongue once more, deciding against fighting his horrid words with more hateful words. Eventually, they came to the end of the stairs. A wooden door stood in their way, but it was unlocked. Thea watched as Hilda pushed the door open, and walked in. As Thea walked in, the room was suddenly illuminated by the flickering flames of her torch. The room was ten feet in width, and twenty feet in length. Pressed against the walls were many crates and barrels. The stone roof hung so low, Janus' head almost touched it. "Be careful, we do not know what may reside in these barrels." Thea warned everyone.
Janus smiled a little as he walked over to one barrel. "It says ale. Might be worth the risk." The blaziken brought his face close to the barrel, sniffing at it. He was trying to guess if there was still ale in there.
Hilda's eyes shot wide open as she saw Janus looking as if he wanted to open up the barrel. "If you dare open that barrel, I will open up your skull! The last time I opened up a fucking crate, a fucking mangy mutt tried chewing my face off. So pull your ugly mug away from there and let's move on."
Janus pulled away from the barrel with a sigh. He wanted to know if there really was ale in there. "I want to know what is in there." The blaziken told them all firmly.
"So do I." Robin chimed in, thinking about how they could sell a full barrel for a good amount of coin. If they don't find some left over gold, then this could pay for the expedition. At least then they wouldn't be taking a loss on this venture. "Let's find out what's in that barrel."
"You cannot be serious! You're both going to open that after what happened back there?!" Anger flowed through her as she watched the two men about to open the barrel. Hilda felt a hand on her shoulder, Thea's hand.
Thea was concerned that Hilda was about to lash out at the two of them, so she tried her best to calm her. "Let them open it. It will be on their heads if something goes wrong."
"Those bastards will get us killed if they keep taking stupid risks like this." Hilda replied, loud enough for the two men to hear. They were already taking a massive risk just coming to this place.
Janus recovered a metal cup from Robin's backpack before then holding it underneath the corked hole. "Come on, let's see if we've got ale!" He eagerly awaited the gallade to uncork the barrel. Quickly, the cork was pulled free, causing a stream of brownish liquid to flow into the cup. The gallade then corked the barrel as Janus sniffed at the liquid in his cup. "Hm, smells about right." Janus then proceeded to down the liquid, but almost as soon as he did, he dropped the metal cup to the ground, grabbing his throat.
"Shit! Spit it out Janus!" Robin yelled as he saw the blaziken dropping to his knees, sounding as if he was choking.
Thea rushed over to his side, kneeling down next to him. Before resting the torch on the cold hard stone floor. She then proceeded to take off her backpack, looking for the yellow potion that helped the flesh heal, or perhaps he needed an antidote. She tried searching for both in a rush, hardly noticing Hilda who walked towards the blaziken. The alakazam quickly turned her head once she heard a loud slapping sound. "Hilda! What are you doing?!" She exclaimed once she realized that the dwarf just slapped Janus across his face.
"Shit, you look like a woman but you hit like a man!" Janus stopped holding his neck and instead started to rub his cheek. He thought it was a little harsh to be slapped like that over a joke.
"He was fooling you both." Hilda simply replied as she rested her back against the wall.
Thea shook her head as she stood up. "Why would you do that at a time like this?" She asked, wanting to know what was going through his head when he did that.
"To lighten up the mood! Everyone is so gloomy and serious. Why can't you all look on the bright side? We are all alive, and you all still have me!" Janus happily smiled, causing Hilda to groan. His smile then turned into a gleeful grin.
"Let's stop here for a while, maybe have a little drink before we move on." Robin felt like they had earned the right to rest for a few moments. This seemed like the perfect place to do just that.