There's SAND In My Boots! [Fate, Magius]

[Jun]

Let the Sands Guide You

The desert of Agrabah was known far and wide to be a hostile place. And yet the ocean of sand had claimed many lives over the years, and with good reason. For somewhere within this wasteland lay a place known in legend as the "Cave of Wonders". And as the name implied, a great treasure was said to lay within.

And as expected upon hearing the mention of treasure, the would-be-cat-girl known as Adelle had found herself following the footsteps of past treasure hunters and aiming to claim this treasure for herself. Obviously she would find it, being the masterful hunter she was.

Only a few more minutes now...

...okay, only a few more hours now...

...right, so it took her nearly the entire day, but Adelle had finally the Cave of Wonders. Probably. There was what seemed to be a cave in the not-so-far distance. A few minutes walk, at most. She could feel the power of Viola feeding off her fatigue, but knowing the treasure was so close gave her a boost in energy.

"This treasure better cover the cost of my poor boots..." she muttered to no one in particular, making tracks towards the lion-shaped cave.

[Fate]

Agrabah's hot sun continued to beat down on Akira as she made her way across the desert, her footsteps getting erased as she went. The Heartless battles and the fact she was wearing black did not help her at all, only making her tire more easily. Still, she was determined to get through this desert to the Cave of Wonders, the reason that she was here. After her dealings in the Underworld, a treasure hunt by herself sounded appealing. The desert was the trial she had to get through before she got there.

"At least it's quiet," she thought to herself. Indeed, apart from the occasional fights, the desert was relatively peaceful. She continued walking through the barren land for the entire day, fighting Heartless occasionally when they came around. Only then did the Heartless stop coming for just a moment, the night falling on the rather large Cave of Wonders. There seemed to be faint tracks going toward it leading to another female, which meant they were probably looking for the treasure she had heard about.

[Magius]

Night had fallen on Agrabah and the desert surrounding. The sky was clear showing a beautiful night-time sky full of stars. As opposed to the heat that lay across the desert during the day, it was now cool and crisp, with a slight breeze shifting the sands every one in a while. In the middle of the seemingly endless desert, there was a cave. This cave was said to be filled with treasured and wonderful things. That was why the cave was called the Cave of Wonders.

It was outside this particular cave that Iatros found himself on this night. He had come to Agrabah to visit some old friends of his teacher when he had heard about the Cave of Wonders and the riches inside. Being short on munny, as he normally was, he decided to check this cave out. He noticed the sounds of shifting sand somewhere behind him. he turned around to find young women walking toward him, or more likely the cave. he was surprised to find That one of them was Shinomori , the girl he had met in the underworld. The other he didn't know, but she seemed familiar.

[Jun]

Proceeding...Cautiously

Much to her surprise, Adelle found the cave in question to resemble a tiger in shape. A tiger! I mean, not quite the type of cat she preferred, but this was still a good sign, right? Maybe this treasure was meant for her.

Although in her own eyes, all treasure was meant for her. After all, who was more deserving than a Gifted?

She stood in awe, yellow eyes scanning for an entrance into this cave. It was a tiger's head, yes, but there was nowhere to enter from. Unless...

"I'm not expected to go up its nose now, am I? That's hardly the way to greet a lady." she shuddered, beginning to walk towards the side of the cave. The wind was near non-existent, which made it possible to hear...movement? Yes, there was definitely movements in the near-distance.

"Someone else is trying to steal my treasure? Not smart."

With the movements of...well, a thief, Adelle managed to hide herself off to the side behind a rather large lump of sand, watching her guests arrive. First to come was another gal...a rather plain looking when in comparison to Adelle, of course. Still, the catgirl supposed this new girl wasn't really bad-looking.

And behind her was coming a rather darkly-dressed guy, much more threatening due to his almost inhuman height. Honestly, who grew that tall?

Still, neither had seen her yet...or even each other, it seemed. Which was perfect for Adelle, as that meant she could-

"Who dares approach me in my slumber?" a voice boomed, seeming to emit from the sand itself. Quite obviously this startled Adelle, making her yell out a little and stumble backwards - into view of the others.

Wait a second...

The cave was speaking to them?!

[Fate]

Akira wasn't watching to where the mysterious girl disappeared to, a bit surprised when she looked back to see she had vanished. She glanced around shortly, not really trying to find the girl. Instead, she found a familiar face; Iatros had heard about the treasure as well apparently. Her preference for traveling alone was clearly not going to be fulfilled here.

"Who dares approach me in my slumber?" The boisterous voice got her attention quickly and turned to where it came from; the Cave that had become a large ferocious cat head made of sand. A talking Cave... a rather ominous sounding one at that. It was certainly unexpected, but Akira was startiing to get used to these worlds making no logical sense. She stepped forward in front of the Cave to make it aware of her presence, doing nothing else.

[Magius]

"Who dares approach me in my slumber?"

At that, Iatros slowly turned from the girls, or girl now that one had disappeared, to the giant cave that was staring down at him with huge golden glowing eyes. He stared at in shock for a second, taking it all in. He had seen weirder things on his travels, but the cave had caught him by surprise. He took a minute to compose himself, stepping up to it alongside Shinomori.

He turned to look at Shinomori for a second before he turned back to the cave and said "I guess we do. I'm Iatros and she's Shinomori." He stood there for a second waiting for the cave to say something else. He expected there to be some kind of challenge to gain entrance to the cave, since that’s usually how these things went.

[Jun]

[OOC: The cat means music continues from me last post]

Adelle watched the other two introduce themselves to the cave, surprisingly standing their ground. Huh. Maybe they weren't just some more worthless treasure hunters.

"Iatros and Shinomori? Those are some strange names..."Adelle scoffed as she made her presence known (in a more dignified manner than falling over).

Though the surprise of seeing the cave speak had certainly thrown her off, it was otherwise not so frightening. After all, she had seen much worse. This was nothing compared to that monster that came from the Rift.

Her two blades appeared in her hands, but the thief didn't take a battle stance yet. After all, no point fighting someone who doesn't want a battle.

"That would make me Adelle." she announced to the cave, hesitating for a moment to wonder if she should have used her full name over a nickname. Still, she spoke with full confidence to make the best possible impression on their "Cave of Wonders".

"Why have you come here?" the cave answered, its voice again seeming to erupt from the very sand beneath the three.

"Personally, I just want to take a look around. Just a tourist, you know?" Heard there's some interesting stuff inside. You don't think we came to steal from you or something, do you?

The cave seemed to hesitate with a deep groan, keeping its gaze fixed on Adelle.

"...Proceed. But touch nothing but the lamp."

With that final growl, it opened up it's mouth much wider than any other living being would be able to, revealing a glittering light and somewhat of a path inside.

Adelle took a look back at the others, a smile on her face.

"You heard the man. Don't touch anything else~"

Her blades still in hand (no doubt expecting Heartless), the catgirl proceeded into the cave, wondering just how valuable this lamp would be.

[Magius]

Iatros nodded to the cave and then followed the cat girl inside, assuming the Shinomori was following as well. As the three walked deeper into the cave, Iatros looked around at all the treasure and valuables they passed. He could see why they called it the Cave of Wonders. Out of the corner of his eye he examined the cat girl. He could have sworn he knew her from somewhere, but he couldn’t think of were. It was starting to bug him but he let it go for now.

Iatros almost stumble when he stepped into what he thought was a dent in the ground. He looked down to find a small square indenture in the floor where his foot was. A clicking noise started to come from to come from the wall just before darts started to fly out of barely noticeable holes in the wall at the group of three. "Watch Out!" Iatros yelled as he brought up his sword and deflected some of the darts while dodging others using his blitzball reflexes.

[Fate]

Akira raised an eyebrow at Iatros. Even though her first name was revealed to him in the Underworld, he still used her last name. Was it out of some sort of respect? After all, she made it pretty obvious when she first introduced herself that she did not want strangers knowing her full name. It seemed like he was respecting that, or he forgot... That didn't seem likely. Either way, she wasn't going to ask why.

This Adelle cat-person was an odd one as well, but she spoke for all of them to the Cave. Akira had no problem with that. The Cave seemed satisfied with her answer, so all three of them walked into the Cave down the path. She saw Adelle get her blades out to prepare for possible fights, which seemed like a good idea. She tied her hair back with the black ribbon, her bangs staying in place and a few hairs escaping. Her sword stayed on her back; she wouldn't take it out unless it was absolutely needed.

Things went swimmingly for a couple of minutes until she saw Iatros stumble out of the corner of her eye. She quickly got out both of her swords, holding her katana in her right hand and her rarely seen wakizashi in the other to block some of the darts as she ducked her head. The Cave was not beyond traps... lovely. It was not a very trusting cave, though that wasn't a surprise with all of the treasure it kept inside it. Thieves most likely tried to steal from it for years...

The darts stopped after a minute or two. When they did, Akira put away both of her swords and looked to Iatros. "Watch your step," she told him bluntly, simply starting to walk again and keeping her eyes out for more traps.

[Jun]

[OOC: Here's some more dungeon-ish music]

Truly a Cave of...Wonders

The glittering was revealed as a good deal of gems and gold coins lying around. And these weren't some poorly-kept gems being sold by some homeless Bangaa either. These were quite stunning.

Luckily not as stunning as what Adelle had in her own collection, allowing her to continue on and keep her word not to touch anything. If this was their plain treasure, how amazing must this lamp be?

The other two didn't seem to speak much, but they still followed Adelle in. Typical. More people leeching off her amazing talents. Honestly, they would probably just drag Adelle down getting distracted. She might as well tell them to turn ba-

The man seemed to stumble, causing darts to fly towards the group. Great. They were already getting her in trouble.

Regardless, the other two went into action to block the projectiles, showing better reflexes than the thief would have guessed. The girl especially seemed rather dangerous with her dual blades.

The darts heading towards the catgirl were quite easily dodged with her Chirijaden, her Tiptaptwo only knocking away one or two that got past the initial blade. Pretty pathetic trap, in all honesty. Obviously the cave didn't think much of them.

"You two are pretty quick on your feet. When you're not tripping over them, of course." she commented, lowering her weapons.

"Let's get some things straight. I assume you both came for the treasure? The lamp I suppose? Since I was the one who convinced our cave here to let us in, I should get the lamp. But I'll be a good sport; we'll split the earnings from it. Amongst however many of us survive."

[Magius]

Iatros gave Shinomori a sheepish smile and said “Sorry...” He normally wasn't caught of guard by traps so easily, but the treasures around him had been distracted him, along with trying to figure out were he knew the cat girl from. When the cat girl said that the lamp was hers, he was going to protest. He decided against it though when he heard her say she would share the earnings with him and Shinomori. He really didn't care who got this mysterious lamp, as long as he got some munny out of it, something he was lacking in and need badly.

He shrugged his shoulders and said to the Adelle "Sure I'm fine with that." He turned to Shinomori and asked "You ok with that Shinomori?" He didn't know why she was down here. She didn't seem like the type to be in need of money. 'Whatever' Iatros thought to himself. 'Her reasons are her own, and I'm not about to snoop around for them' He did decide one thing though. If Shinomori need his help he'd offer it to her, just like he did in the Underworld.

[Fate]

(I love the music you pick for this Jun-- it sets the mood up so nicely ^_^)

This cat-girl character was making her slightly wary. She wanted the lamp all to herself, which wasn't too much of an issue for Akira. She came to the Cave of Wonders to explore and see the treasure, not particularly wanting it for herself. Sure, she could do with the extra money, but it wasn't an absolute necessity at the moment.

"Fine," she answered Iatros, looking to Adelle when she said that. The girl was clearly a treasure hunter by how she asked for the lamp and Akira was going to guess Iatros was down here for the same reason. "Let's keep going then."

She continued to walk with both of them through the Cave of Wonders, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that could be a trap. Though, she soon learned that traps weren't the only thing they had to keep a look-out for. Heartless sprang in front of the travelers. A few Bandits alongside a large Fat Bandit appeared, and they looked ready to fight. Akira quickly brandished her katana, glancing to Iatros and Adelle.

"I'm guessing we're getting closer," she surmised out loud to them. Without another warning, she ran at a Bandit and started slashing it with her sword.

(I hope having the Heartless come in is okay. If not I can change my post)

[Dante]

Arabian Dream

The trap had been sprung as suddenly as hoped and, just like that, the enemies appeared! To be exact, there were three Bandits and a single Fat Bandit, a group that would prove to be slightly problematic. Still, the adventurers seemed prepared for such an occasion as this, the sudden slashes catching the first Bandit off guard. A number of slashes hit their mark and sent the Heartless skidding towards a wall, damaged but still efficent for battle. The other two Bandits gathered quite sporadically around Itaros and Adelle, slashing the air around them as they did so.

The Fat Bandit, on the other hand, kept his post, looking around for a target out of the three fighters. The problem was easily solved as Akira slashed through its partner. Embers grew around the small face as it charged for a Fireball.

x2 Bandits
x1 Bandit
x1 Fat Bandit

[Jun]

Again the two strangers backed each other up, beginning to give Adelle the feeling they had come here as a team to out-loot her. Ha! Like anybody could trick her!

Regardless, they were no longer in her "total losers" list, which was a fairly big accomplishment, if only they knew. They agreed to her plan. Not that she really planned to share in the long run, but a few lies here and there could help make a smoother trip. No point fighting each other when they would probably be fighting-

"Heartless..." Adelle sighed, the shadows appearing with impeccable timing. Outside of one grotesquely fat one, they seemed to be standard fair monsters. Swords flashed in their hands though, so she would need to be careful.

"Closer, most certainly." Adelle answered, watching the gal - Shinomori - use her blades to send one of the Bandits reeling back. Certainly impressive.

There were two more of these Bandits, one of which targeted Adelle herself. Meanwhile the big guy was...shooting fireballs? Really? She had pegged him as more of a "brute strength" type. Ah well.

Both slashed their swords quite randomly, but Adelle decided to only bother with the closer one. He had a quick hand, but she had two swords.

Dancing through the fireballs and closing in on a Bandit, Adelle thrust her longsword forward in an attempt to block the bandit's attack. If she succeeded, he would be wide open to eat the stab she continued with from her Tiptaptwo knife.

[Magius]

Iatros' head hung low and he sighed. Why did heartless seem to appear everywhere he went? They always seemed to be getting in the way of whatever he was doing. He watched as Shinomori sent one of the bandits flying, though he wasn't really surprised by her skill. He had fought with and against her in the Underdrome after all. As the bandits started to circle Adelle and him, he summoned his large sword to his hand.

Using one hand he stabbed his sword toward the bandit that Adelle hadn't attack with his arcane strength giving more power to the thrust. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Fat Bandit charging a fireball. Thinking quickly he lifted his empty and up and fired a head-size blue bolt of magic, his magic missile, at the fat bandits head. If he was lucky his attack would distract the large shadow from its own.