[Uncouth T-Rex]

As the pair moved further and further into the tunnels, the scratching suddenly stopped. For a good while there was nothing but the silence and their breathing. Even their footsteps were muffled in the hush and closeness of the underground. The pictographs were so bright now that everything was tinged with green, bathed in the arcane light of the stones the lettering was inlaid with.

Everything, that is, except for the mass of red eyes that blinked to life in the shadowy nooks and holes surrounding them on every side.

The scratching was replaced by a deafening chitter as hundreds upon hundreds of badger-sized Deathstalkers poured into the tunnel, pinching and stinging as they came. It was worst from behind, where the creatures swelled into a living wall and surged forward onto their prey.

Those above ground fared better, and soon found themselves standing in almost enclosed chamber entirely awash with the emerald light emanating from its central dais. There, held aloft by a circle of pedestals atop a ring of stairs, sat objects of carved jade, confounding in shape and purpose. Some appeared to have already been taken.

[Walter]

It took Janna about a second to realize exactly how fucked their situation was. It was still a painful, confusion-filled second nonetheless. They had to act fast. Which, as far as she could figure, was not her partner's specialty, nor was it her's.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" She quickly shouted out, stepping up the pace by a lot herself and whacking around with her shields. Her armor at least worked against the smaller things, to an extent. She did not want to experience being engulfed by the wall, though.

The shield maiden pointed Honor towards said wall, and fired twice, hopefully disrupting the flow at least a little bit. The range wasn't quite close enough to do massive damage yet. She wasn't sure she wanted to get in that range.

[nathan67003]

Brock took a tiny, tiny while to register the eyes in the darkness. Then, the damned things started screeching like so many plates of metal and rushed them.

He immediately started running forwards, shouting "WHADDAYA THINK I'M UP TO??" Swinging Uloe haphazardly at his feet to try and smash most of the buggers in the way, he used his sheer weight to barrel through what he missed. Not looking back, he headed for the first set of stairs going up that he spotted.

[Flooberoid]

Hagane eased up a bit, not because he saw the jade relics, but because he saw the empty pedestals. "Hey Drab, take a look. If there was a trap or anything to worry about here, it looks like someone else already dealt with it."

[Uncouth T-Rex]

Spoiler: ShowHide

I'm going to go ahead and post for the characters involved with the action so they aren't stuck waiting.

The deathstalkers came on, the sound of their advance deafening as they surged forward. The living wall shurnk back at the blasts from the armored female's weapons, many of the creatures dying instantly, only to be replaced by equally fearless and bloodhungry bretheren. For every arachnid that was splattered into fragments by hammer, limb, or shield, four seemed to take its place, springing from as yet unseen quarters. The humans ran hard, only barely keeping ahead of the roiling swarm behind them, taking stings and snips no matter how hard they tried to protect themselves, their aura wearing down rapidly under the onslaught, until finally they started to outpace the monsters when a winding spiral staircase lead them upwards. Some of the creatures even tried to cling on and keep stinging, but were either unable to find purchase on the female's armor or could not maintain a solid grip on the huge male as he barreled along.

With their innumerable pursuers only moments behind them, the two burst into the light of day, or rather, the light of the jade relics that also shone on the faces of their fellow Initiates, who stood across from them.

[Flooberoid]

((Last active November 15... are we gonna lose our D again? >.<))

[nathan67003]

(Pls nuh, but I guess we can always hope :s)

[Uncouth T-Rex]

Spoiler: ShowHide

If worse comes to worse I'll knock Drab unconscious and have Siegfried get her to safety so you can just replace her mid-initiation and not have to redo things yet again. PROBLEM SOLVING. YASSS.

[Flooberoid]

Hagane and Drab moved silently along the western wall of the ruins, occasionally checking to see that the other was unharmed but otherwise keeping eyes forward. This was until the silence was broken by two colossi bursting through a cave entrance on the eastern side. Hagane quickly noticed their battered and bitten states as the frazzled duo rushed into view. "Oh my, what happened to you?" he asked, apparently oblivious to the herd of creatures pursuing them.

Immediately following Brock and Janna, a flood of miniature Deathstalkers plunged into the room, seemingly driven by a common purpose. Every single one charged directly at Drab, covering her, lifting her up, and carrying her away all in the course of a mere couple seconds. This was followed by another silence as the danger to the others had seemingly subsided.

Hagane blinked. "Huh. And I was just getting to like having her as my partner, too. Hopefully someone else comes along soon."

((VISION THAT'S YOUR CUE! xD From here on out I'll post, then Vision, then Walter and finally Nathan.))

[Vision]

So far Diana had managed to avoid the more dangerous grim in the forest. The beowulves she could usually take down before they got close so physically she was mostly fine, apart from a slight limp after messing up her landing. Psychologically however the stress of fighting alone was starting to take its toll causing her internal monologue to be more frantic. We've been here less than a day and they just throw us right into this mess, I thought Vale was supposed to be more relaxed than back home. Lying on top of a broken pillar she scoured the area, desperately looking for other students. And where is everyone?! These have to be the ruins we were told to find, right? What happens if I don't find a partner, would that mean I failed?. Seeing some movement deeper in the ruins she slid down the pillar and silently made her way towards it. Even if that doesn't fail me I won't last alone, I suppose that Rosenrot fellow will have to collect me. Will they just kick me out then?.

As she moved towards the centre she could hear several unclear sounds, movement, grim, voices, honestly it was hard to tell. Nervously she pulled the bolt of her heavy barrel back checking what round she had loaded. Ice. It was always ice, slightly annoyed at herself for rechecking something she should have known. She took a deep breath trying to clear her mind. She rounded the corner ready to shoot and was greeted with three figures standing there.

"Oh... Nice to see I'm not alone out her after all"

[nathan67003]

(Pssst, Walter. Your turn.)

[Walter]

Janna rushed out from the cave, planting her shields into the ground and turning to face the grimm threat, hoping to set up a defense against the deathstalkers while her allies did their work...

Just to find them apparently ignoring her, running straight to someone else and taking them off.

The shield maiden looked confused. She turned to the others. "...Uh, what just happened?" the large lady asked to nobody in particular, before looking over the group, then the area where they were now.

"More importantly, what's supposed to happen now?" She pulled on her shields, eventually popping them out of the ground. Man, those things left some massive dents in the dirt there.

[nathan67003]

Brock came out of the stairwell and turned around, preparing to collapse the floor, ceiling and everything else to stop - or at least hold back a bit - the nightmarish tide, only to see it recede.

"...Oh. Well that turned out easier than expected."

Briefly checking out Janna - mostly to make sure she was okay - before turning around, he noticed that they weren't alone. He also noticed that there was a bunch of pedestals with jade... thingies on them, so he vaguely motioned in their direction after nodding a hello to the other two. "Guess we're here for this?", he said while still breathing a bit more heavily than usual.

[Flooberoid]

Hagane nodded to Brock. "I would suspect you're right. There can be no telling when those creatures may come back, so let's all grab one and make tracks together." Realizing this was his chance to make friends, he added, "We can handle introductions on the move."

Hagane cautiously approached one of the pedestals. As if disarming a trap, he moved his hand from Ichimonji's hilt to a hefty stone and swiftly swapped the stone for the jade artifact... only to realize that none of the perceived danger was actually present. He brushed the stone off the pedestal with an embarrassed look on his face as he motioned the others to follow suit.

Seemingly forgetting his own advice, Hagane stopped and carefully inspected the tablet. Its jagged edges implied some connection to a larger piece, but the smoothness of its surface even along these edges seemed to show intent. Numerous scratches could be seen under proper lighting, hidden under the clear glossy coating. An odd item to be sure, and one which would require further inspection. Later inspection, Hagane realized as he looked around and remembered where he was.

[Vision]

Diana carefully made her way into the chamber, she didn't want to risk surprising the other so before she got too close she spoke up to declare her presence. "Excuse me. I was just, wondering if you were all in pairs?"

As they turned towards her she thought that their expressions seemed somewhat confused. As she had seen neither the deathstalkers or the jade figures she could only assume that it was due to what she had said. "Well not that the three of you can all be in the same pairs of two.." she tried to explain "What I meant was are any of you still looking for a partner? I've been alone so far." Her speech started to trail off as her attention was drawn towards the jade figures in the room and the one held by the grey haired man, was this the prize they were seeking?