176 Vol. 3 pt. 46 Patch 8.0: The Temple in the Fores (1/2)
”What's wrong?” Fenrir asks, walking over toward the stairs.
”Don't worry about it,” Cassiel says, stopping in front of him to block him from getting any closer. She knows what sort of thoughts he's going to get if he sees what's down there.
”You're making me really curious now,” he says and takes a step forward.
Neither of them notices the crack in the ground underneath them.
”You're just going to cause trouble if you see it!” Cassiel shouts, stepping closer to him until they're practically butting heads.
”I just want a peek! What, is it going to be like an awesome tentacle monster or something? Or a new decoration for The Shoebill?”
Cassiel looks away.
”It is one of those! But, if you really don't want me to see that that badly, I guess it's alright.”
”G-good, bastard.”
”Anyways, let's…. go!” Fenrir shouts, trying to run past her!
”H-hey! Bastard! Wai—”
Both of them moving at once on fragile ground causes the flooring to give in, dropping both Cassiel and Fenrir into the depths of whatever may lie below.
A thick cloud of dust blows upward from the hole and causes the rest of those aboveground to cover her mouths and cough. Even Rock and Shogun choke on the dust before it settles.
”Fen! Cass! You two alright?!” Oleander shouts, trying to see through the dust. He doesn't want to walk anywhere in case he accidentally falls down as well. Nobody can see just where the hole is nor how large it is.
”Shogun! Bro! You guys alright?!” Rao shouts after Oleander does.
The visibility eventually increases enough to actually look around without getting eyes full of dust.
Shogun and Rock are both standing on the other end of the drop, looking down into it. Shogun rubs up against Rock's side when he hears her whining.
Oleander and Rao walk up to the hole and look down it. It's deep enough that neither of them can see the bottom.
”Shit,” Oleander says in his normal voice, ”my vines wouldn't be able to reach that far, and it's not wide enough for your fox to fly us down.”
”You – you have different voices?” Rao asks Oleander. It's his first time not hearing Oleander talk like a cutesy little girl.
”Come on, there's no way that other voice is my real voice. Only girls from those shows that Fenny likes actually sound like that. But seriously, how are we supposed to get down there?”
”No idea… think we could just drop down? If they survived then we'd probably be able to. Right?”
Oleander tilts his head, thinking about it, and then shouts down the hole, ”Fen! Cass! You still alive down there?!”
No response.
”Bro!” Rao shouts even louder. ”There's still so much I have to learn from you!”
”That was way too dramatic.”
”But I'm serious!”
Oleander sighs and rubs the back of his head. ”Well, this isn't the first time that Fenny has gotten himself into trouble and needed me to save his ass.”
”I think I should just jump down. It's just a game and I'm a big dude, and I've got muscles, so I'll probably be fine.”
Oleander grabs Rao and pulls him back when he sees him step up to the edge of the hole. ”Don't be stupid. There're stairs right there we can go down.”
”Bro, I'm going to be real for a second here. Can you stop calling me stupid and insulting me all the time? I'm sorry that I did something I shouldn't have, but you're really making me feel like shit.”
”That's the point… but alright. Did you learn your lesson?” Oleander asks. Rao may still be annoying to him, but when somebody honestly opens up like that and says how they're feeling, Oleander can't help but respect that.
”I did. I promise. I just thought… since it's a game and all, and – alright, I'm not even going to try to make an excuse for it. It was a shitty thing to do and I'm sorry.”
Oleander sighs. This damn man isn't supposed to be likable. ”I forgive you. Let's figure out how to go help the others now, alright?”
”You've got it, bro! Just tell me what you need me to do and I'll do whatever.”
The two walk over toward the stairs and look down them. A few tentacles start sticking up from the darkness, pointed at Oleander, but then they look to hesitate.
They all look like they're pointing at his crotch.
A couple of seconds later and they retract into the darkness.