Sora, Ruby, Aladdin, and their companions walked along for what felt like half an hour at least until they reached the bottom of the stairs. Beyond that was stone tiled floors with high walls, signaling how deep underneath they were. The ceiling wasn't even visible despite lit torches on sconces to give them sight. "Man. This place is huge. Just how deep does it go?" Jaune asked as he began to walk ahead of the group. Suddenly, an odd sound filled the room. A rumbling of some kind, but they weren't sure from where.
Blake's bow twitched as she turned to see a large, perfectly shaped circular hole in the wall lining up with a small trench that turned to another direction. The noise was getting louder...particularly from the direction Jaune was now squinting. Realizing right away what it meant, Blake rushed to Jaune's side, grabbing him by the hood of his jacket and yanking him back. As he let out an almost comical choking gag, Jaune was about to ask what Blake was doing until a massive stone ball came out the hole and rolled along in the direction of the trench, eventually leading to one of the more narrow edges of the walkway and into a deep looking pit. A wide-eyed Jaune realized that if Blake hadn't jumped in, he'd either be crushed by that massive ball of rock or go right down there with it. "Whoa! Thanks Blake."
"No problem." Blake said with a nod before looking ahead. "This place is probably full of traps." An observation Aladdin agreed with, though not without a degree of confusion. "Yeah...It's odd though. These weren't here the last time Abu and I came. The only traps I found were the mountains of gold, jewels and other treasures the tiger head warned us not to touch. In fact, that was the first thing I saw when I came down here. Not this place." A sentiment Abu agreed with as he gave a rapid nod, the memory of the gold in question fresh in his mind.
"So the entire structure of the cave changes on its own?" Pyrrha, amazed. "It must be some sort of measure to test those the cave deems worthy. In this case, us." Ren theorized as he gracefully edged along a precarious ledge.
Yang grinned, shrugging to her friends as she cheekily said, "Gee. I wonder how that happened? Anybody? Anybody~?"
Everyone stopped in their tracks, deadpanned or groaning at Yang's pun. Or in Goofy's case, chuckled, Sora's case, tilted his head, seeming to still not comprehend her puns. And in Nora's case, flicking a pebble at Yang's nose with an audible "Boooooo." To which Yang growled with irritation. She wasn't sure what she preferred more. A pebble or an apple to the face. Both were annoying, but now wasn't the time to focus on it. So she simply just accepted the fact that everyone was a critic...well, except for Goofy. Goofy was cool in her book. At least SOMEONE appreciated her humor.
With Yang's PUNishment dealt with, the group carefully made their way through the cave, taking care to avoid the traps, ranging from rolling boulders, jets of water, and likely even more ahead. Traps which...Jaune nearly ended up falling into on numerous occasions, along with Donald, despite his claims that he was careful. The Heartless they encountered along the way however, were a much simpler thing to deal with. They simply cut a swath through them with the greatest of ease, and of course, massive teamwork. If only such was enough to overcome the more intricate parts of the challenge of the Cave of Wonders.
Then came another bizarre room with platforms elevated over a pitch black pit. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Ruby looked over the edge into the abyss, seeing absolutely nothing. "Whoa. I sure hope that's not bottomless..." Ruby said as she looked down. "Gawrsh..." Goofy said, pushing himself away from the pit, only to come up and bump into Jaune. "Dow!" "Gah!" Both of them ended up comedically tripping over their own feet. Sora, Donald, Ruby, and everyone else blanched with shock and horror as the clumsy pair ended up stumbling toward the ledge, before falling down into the abyss. "JAUNE!" The fellow hunters cried out. "GOOFY!" Followed by Sora and Donald. "WOAAAAAAHHHHH!" "AAAAAAAHOOHOOHOOHOOOOOO!" For a moment, all was silent as they fell, apart from...a splash?
Everyone's horror turned to confusion at the audible splash. They were worried that the cave had some sort of bottomless pits, but...that sounded very much like water. "Jaune!? Goofy!? Are the two of you okay!?" Pyrrha called out.
"We're fine! Don't think we're gonna be able to climb back up here, though!" Jaune said, his voice echoing down the pit, making Pyrrha sigh with relief.
"There's lots of water and some places to stand on! Maybe we can find a way back up?!" Goofy said optimistically. Of course, that just left the group with how to proceed while they were down two people due to sheer clumsiness.
"We've gotta go after them then." Ruby's statement caused Weiss looked to her, gobsmacked by her reckless decision. "You want us to jump down into some dark pit?!" Understandable as her disbelief was, "We can't get separated. It's best if we stick together." Ruby said. Sora walked up beside her with a firm nod of agreement. "Ruby's right. Let's go everyone!" Donald gave a "WAK!" of disbelief, but before he could argue, Sora and Ruby were already jumping down.
Weiss was stunned and tried talking her friends out of it, but one by one, they all took a leap. "I'm worried about Jasmine, but they're right. We can't leave anyone behind in the Cave of Wonders." Aladdin said, earning a grateful smile from Pyrrha. Both of them took the plunge next, followed the rest of Team JNPR with Nora giving a cheerful "CANNONBALL!" all the way down.
"You people are all so... ugh!" She didn't even have the words and jumped in after them along with an equally disbelief stricken Donald.
"There ya go, Weiss!" Yang said cheerfully. Before she could jump, she noticed Blake hanging back nervously. It only took a moment for Yang to realize why. Being a feline faunus, she shared more than a few cat-like tendencies, as well as aversions to more than just dogs. So she walked up beside Blake, gently grasping her shoulder with a smile. "Hey, don't you worry Blake. I'll jump with you. Kay?" Her reassurance made her partner look up at her, unable to deny her nervousness. But with a small sigh, she nodded, silently telling Yang that she was trusting her here. And so, together, they took the plunge.
"That was awesome!" Nora laughed as she surfaced in the water after everyone else. Right as Weiss put her head out of the water and got used to the fact she was soaked, a huge splash fell over her again. The culprits of course being, Blake and Yang.
"Hey guys!" Jaune called out as he and Goofy swam to rejoin the rest of them. As Pyrrha went to make sure Jaune was alright, an annoyed Donald inquired. "Alright, what now?" to Sora and Ruby. The ones who led this endeavor in the first place.
Suddenly, a familiar bark rang out from nearby. Everyone's eyes shifted to Ruby and saw...poking out of a backpack she'd somehow smuggled with her, the head of Zwei. Everyone's eyes were upon Ruby who looked at everyone with the very same face she had when Zwei revealed himself to Oobleck.
Before anyone could question when Ruby was wearing that backpack, or how they didn't notice it until now, the eager corgi perked up and began barking over and over, hopping into the water, doggy paddling his short, stubby, corgi legs. "Huh? What is it, boy?" Ruby asked. Zwei barked to her and inched his snout toward what looked to be a small waterfall nearby. One that they could easily ride down into another pool of water just beneath. "Come on, guys. I think Zwei's got an idea of where to go." Ruby urged, swimming after her dog. Something which Blake was...not enthusiastic about, yet she still followed...firmly behind everyone else.
"How can you be sure?" Donald asked skeptically. Yang smiled and followed after her sister, saying, "Trust me, Donald. Zwei could find anything if he puts his mind to it. Like this the one time Ruby ran away from home and got lost in the woods when we were kids. Zwei managed to find her because she'd been eating cookies every step of the way and left a trail of crumbs and chocolate chips." "YANG!" Ruby protested, her cheeks red as her cape. With a sigh, Weiss shook her head, following after her teammates...her lips curling into an amused smile. "That certainly sounds like something she'd do." A smile which grew wider as she caught up with Zwei. "And such a good boy, bringing back your little bratty master~" Something which Zwei barked cheerfully at and Ruby groaned with humiliation toward.
Though he probably shouldn't have, Sora couldn't help chuckling at Yang's little story. Which only served to heighten Ruby's humiliation. "Not you too, Sora!" she bemoaned. While this hilarity was going on, Team JNPR swam behind them, with Jaune smiling fondly. Seeing Ruby and Yang interact like this, he couldn't help but think of his own sisters. Of course, in his case, HE was the one often subjected to their embarrassing antics so perhaps he shouldn't laugh. So he knew Ruby's pain on a deep and personal level. Regardless, they followed the rest of the group down the fall, into another pool of water, following where a barking Zwei led them.
Abu remained atop Aladdin's head the whole time they swam, clinging to his hair a little more tightly than Aladdin would have liked. Both Aladdin and Abu were both worried about potentially running into trouble since they wouldn't be able to fight well while swimming. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any Heartless nearby, which was a refreshing change of pace. Eventually they came to a small platform with a slanted ledge for everyone to easily climb up and walk onto. Once they were all on solid ground again, everyone went about wringing out and drying their clothes. "Glad that's over." Weiss said irritably as she squeezed out every last drip of water as possible from her side ponytail.
Aladdin removed his phez to fix the curly black locks of his hair once Abu hopped off, relieved to not be in the water anymore. The little monkey perked up when something suddenly caught his eye: a bronze statue of a large, grinning simian holding a large red egg shaped jewel. The radiance alone was enough to nearly mesmerize Abu as he let out an eager, greedy "Ooooh~" and leaped for it. Aladdin, hearing his companion's noise, turned toward him before turning pale with horror. "Abu! NO!"
Just as Abu was about to touch the gem, Ren grabbed him by the back of his vest, leaving him dangling as he came out of his greedy reverie "Bad monkey." he said softly but sternly as he brought Abu back to a relieved Aladdin. Everyone else let out a collective sigh of relief, though Aladdin was understandably very VERY angry at the little monkey.
Everyone got back on track when Zwei barked again, looking at a wall at the other end of where they stood. He gently scratched at it then sniffed it again before barking again. "Something beyond that wall, boy?" Yang asked him when kneeling to his side and inspecting it.
In that moment, Sora's Keyblade materialized but not because he wanted it to. Curiously, it seemed to be pointing at the statue against his will, too. As if an instinct came over him, he tapped the gem. Moments later, the ground shifted and the wall Zwei barked at began slowly falling into the ground.
Immediately, the group turned to the wall and were astounded to see the pathway open up. Sora and Zwei received a myriad of praise for Zwei's guidance and Sora's thinking. "Way to go, Sora!" Goofy said, patting him on the back. "Guess you have a brain after all." Donald...praised, such as it was. Sora gave a humph in response, but didn't lash out at Donald this time.
Zwei of course, got an absolute myriad of praise and kisses from the huntresses of Team RWBY. "Daww, Zwei, you're such a smart boy~" From Yang, "Aww, yesh you are. Yesh you are~" From Weiss, "Who's a good boy? Who helps us find our way?"And of course from Ruby. Jaune couldn't help but pout enviously of the dog, mumbling "I'd be a good boy too if it got me kissies..." A rather ironic sentiment, given his previous comment about sisterly embarrassment. Pyrrha looked as if she was about to say something, but stopped herself, red in the face simply from whatever thought process slipped into her mind. Whatever it was, Ren and Nora noticed instantly and looked at each other knowingly.
Before anyone ascended the stairs, Zwei barked again, sniffing at something. As everyone looked at where he was barking, a small piece of paper from the looks of it, Goofy picked it up and realized with deligh, "Hey. I think this is one of those torn pages from that book at Merlin's place."
"Who?" Aladdin asked curiously, Ren and Nora equally curious since they were the only ones among the group from Remnant that had yet to meet that person.
"Oh, just somebody we're friends with," Pyrrha said nonchalantly to Aladdin before whispering to her teammates, "Somebody from another world. We can't go around talking about that stuff." Fortunately, they understood the need for secrecy as they silently nodded in understanding.
Blake of course, simply said, "Can we go now?" keeping as far away from Zwei as usual. Which Zwei tried to rectify, only for Blake to look downright panicked before practically leaping away from the chipper corgi. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at the sight with utter befuddlement. They noticed it somewhat in Traverse Town when they first met Zwei, but seeing it once again, Sora couldn't help asking. "Is it just me, or does Blake act kinda weird around Zwei?" It was a question her teammates expected, so Ruby answered, "I think it has something to do with her being a cat faunus?" It took a moment, but it eventually clicked in Sora's mind as his eyes lit up. "Oh! That makes sense. Heheh. That's funny."
His realization was met with a piercing glare from Blake that stated, 'You laugh, you die.' A look that silenced his laugh immediately. "U-Uh, I mean. Come on, guys. Let's go." To which Donald and Goofy, equally frightened, nodded in agreement with as they led the way with Aladdin, Teams RWBY and JNPR following along.
As they continued on, the room they then found themselves in was...much brighter. The reasonbecause of the hilss and mountains of treasure glistening everywhere they could see. "This is it. This is where I was once before." Aladdin said, amazed as the first time he came here.
Everyone was in awe. "There's so much here." Ruby said in amazement.
Weiss sounded genuinely impressed. "Even my family isn't wealthy as this."
From the corner of her eye, Nora saw a golden tiara which made her smile. "Look at that, on top of that pile of gold! I could REALLY be queen of the castle with that!" she said before dashing toward it with a happy laugh...though not getting closer to it The hyperactive young woman suddenly realized however that she was running in place because Ren held her by the collar and gave a stern expression.
"Nora?" he said seriously. "Don't. Touch. Anything."
Like a child being caught and scolded by her parents, Nora relaxed and shuffled her foot. "Sorry Ren..." She even spoke as such, earning a simple nod from Ren as they looked around the room for some sign of where to go. Which Jaune seemed to as he called out, "Hey, I think there's a passage behind this totem pole thingy!" Sure enough, there was a smooth, rounded, golden idol blocking a distinct doorway further into the cave. "Good find Jaune. There's just one problem. The massive obstacle in the way." Weiss said, probably the most complimentary thing she'd said to the blonde dork. But Jaune definitely took it as more of a compliment and ignored the derisive part of her praise.
Yang and Nora attempted to brute force it out of the way, but it didn't so much as budge. "Pyrrha, do you think your semblance can move this?" Blake asked as the two more aggressive women of their group tried to push, shove, hammer, and punch it out of the way, only for it to not budge in the slightest. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can move something this large by myself. And honestly...I get the feeling that the cave has some other method for us to get past this." Pyrrha's theory drew a curious look and inquiry of, "Like what?" From Goofy. "Well...I don't know." she said, tapping a finger along her chin.
Thinking back to the dark water filled room they fell into, Sora suddenly remembered something. Something he could have sworn they saw when they were down there, before Zwei guided them to the way out. "Wait a second. I think there was another place we didn't go to in that room down below." Sora said to Ruby. Tapping her chin for a moment, Ruby's eyes lit up with realization. There WAS something down there they didn't explore. "Oh yeah, that's right. Uh, hey guys? I'll be right back." Before anyone could ask why, Ruby suddenly zoomed out of the room with the aid of her Semblance. "Wha-Hey! Ruby!" Weiss yelled out, before letting out an indignant, "Ugh! I hate it when she does this."
In the underground area Ruby managed to find before, she explored the spot that wasn't explored. A pillar of stone that looked thinner and more broken down than the one above the main level of the cave. Near the roof of it though, or what part of the roof could be seen, there were the sections of the much larger pillar above. Ruby's thoughts were right. This was what was blocking the way past the treasury. Taking a leap with her weapon in melee form, she swiped the lowest portion of the stone. The more dilapidated parts broke away, making the stronger portion fall until it stood in place of where its old parts were. With that done, she rushed back to her friends though looked a little out of breath. "Ruby. The entire pillar fell right down!" Sora said to her in amazement.
"Whew. I knew it." Ruby said, winded from continuous use of her semblance with such a long distance. Once she caught her breath, she looked to the now open area, only for Aladdin to run ahead, gesturing for everyone else to follow. "Come on, everyone! We have to find Jasmine and stop Jafar!" He found no argument there as everyone ran after him.
They could only hope they weren't too late.