Glayp'neir

The group continues down the tunnels based on sharpe's lead. He instinctively rounds a few corners, imagining a rough plan of what he remembers of the city overhead to try and find the most convinient and efficient way to the site. They all end up moving down a rather long corridor with a short bend to the right and then back to the left. As they move up, the place becomes increasingly colder and faint bits of frost line the occasional piece of wall or ground. Sharpe comes to a halt when he looks ahead of himself. Halfway down the hall is a bunch of rubble and debris with some faint light shining in between the ruined corridor. To his surprise, he barely manages to notice bits of ice and water suck up through the cracks and disappear through it.

Sharpe coasted to a stop, looking at the water and ice seeping up through the debris. They must be right under the crater, or around it at least. He smiles a bit, seeing it slip through the cracks. It's the kinda of innately curious smile. He looks back at the group.

"Go search the side tunnels for a way up, we're right under the area of effect." He says, himself beginning to look. He finds himself examining the debris further, and he touches one of the beads of water, pressing into it, but finding it still yearns for whatever location it's supposed to be crawling away to. His eyes trace their path, all the way up to the cracks in the cieling.

"Don't mention it..." Richard says to Jian, hoping the young man isn't forcing himself too much, trying to keep up with two soldiers would be quite a task for any citizen, but he seems to be 'coping' well enough.

He takes note of Jack's absurdly precise calculations once again, but forgoes confronting him on it in favor of apparently reaching the underside of the impact zone.

As RD expected, the glacier's impact with the area above had collapsed part of the tunnel. The only choice was to hope one of the nearby passages led to an opening they could exploit, and so he followed Point-man's advice and began to search the other corridors for a way up.

Jian, slowing down with everyone reaching the collapsed boulder.

"Well, no point in looking for anything here...", he says, shaking his head.

"We have to go back, the corridor here is a direct connection between two districts, which usually never has a way up... And you all seem to be in such an extreme hurry to disregard any formalities or anything at this point, so just give up here and follow me to an alternative exit", he continues, in a voice signalizing his pain a little and a bit disgust towards the majority of present people. He then jogs back for a good while, taking a turn at the first corridor appearing, then going left again at the next intersection. His speed then decreases more and more, with him leaning then against the wall.

"Just follow the path down there, it will be a dead end after a while, it's a fairly long path though. It then will bring you out close to the central.... I can't go on anymore, I need a break, my leg is in deep protest at this point. What are you waiting for? Just go!", he exclaims, then sitting down, inspecting his leg he compensated the fall with in his exhaustion. He was running a lot today already after all.

Jack splits off on to his own path. He keeps note of which directions is North and uses a mental compass to find a way out. The water and ice becomes more prevalent as everything becomes colder and colder. Jack decided to assume it was magic, and more specifically magic involving the incident. If he wasted too much time thinking, it would just upset the voice. Although it was hard to ignore as Jack had to maintain perfect balance to run at his current speed without slipping.

"Damn water everywhere...Whoever is responsible for this is getting a fist straight to the bullocks...GAH!!!...phew, almost slipped again. Running around aimlessly like this is a nightmare. If I run into a dead end, I might just punch my way out."

Sharpe dashes back a bit, then stops next to Jian. He looks down and notices him trying to cope with some leg troubles, wasn't smart of him to just jump down like that. Only if you're sure you'll be fine after should you attempt something.

"You ok man? Tell you what, I'll help you out. I'll carry you if need be, I swear." He says to him, hoping Jian won't just shrug it off.

"Don't ignore my offer neither, man. Help is help." He says. He looks back down the hall for RD and Jack. Jack seems to have gone off somewhere.

"Jack we've got an alternate route! C'mon back!" He yells in hopes the man will hear him. He really doesn't want to hear a random statistic though.

Richard walks over to where Jian sits, and keels down, offering his back to the younger man. He was right in his earlier guess, Jian was indeed pushing himself far too hard, but it was too late to turn back now. He would just have to deal with the pain, but that didn't mean RD couldn't do his part to ease it a bit.

"Mind ridin' piggyback?" RD says as he looks over his shoulder towards Jian. "We can't go back now 'nd its too dangerous ta stay here, so we're just gonna havetah keep movin'. Unfortunately i dun see anythin' you can use as a crutch so this'll havetah do." He then adds, "Plus yeh got all teh food and i wanna eat soon!" with a smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

From that kneeling position, Richard listens for Jack and can hear him running, a bit of slipping as well, the echoes bouncing off the walls of the tunnels. "He's a bit further up, ahead of us, seems he was listenin' after all." RD couldn't refer to the man's actions as anything but odd, as if he was being driven by some outside force, desperately searching for the other members of the group; more than worried about their safety... More like...

He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but his actions were definitely cause for concern. Jack was definitely someone to keep an eye on, that's all he could be sure of, for now.

Jian disregards Sharpe's sudden concern, accepting RDs offer thereafter.

"Well... I mean, if you insist on doing that... Let's go. I personally would've just taken my time waiting here to not slow down, but your concern is appreciated", he then says, getting up in a bit of a slower pace due to the pain in his leg.

"Once... we reach that dead end... there's a ladder. The ladder should, like said, bring you out close at the central district. That way, we're close without anything blocking out path. Sure, a bit more walking once we're out, but it is not that bad..."

Jian then climbs RDs back, somewhat in shame and embarrassment.

"T-this just... just feels weird", he mutters, scratching his head with one hand shortly, then holding onto RD again with both his hands. "In any case, let's g-go"

Jack turns around to find Richard and Jian.

"How convenient. considering you give more of a shit about getting to central than Jian's safety, he'll be able to guide us through the tunnels faster than all this wandering."

"Ah, so this is what you're pissed about."

"Mom's gone, Dad's gone, Uncles A through Z...considering mortals can't give birth to angels, that probably means we were adopted, but they were our family, and they meant something, but now they're gone, and this is my new family, No matter how freakish they are. I'll get to central to find out whats going on so you'll shut up about it, but I am not going to let anything happen to Jian, dammit, regardless of any bullshit prophecy of yours."

"Richard, Jian, damn good timing. Any chance you guys know your way out?"

A disconcerting rumble shakes the tunnels quite a bit, causing balancing issues for anyone on loose footing. Dust and brittle pieces of stone rain from the ceiling. The miniature quake only lasts for a few seconds, all the while a gentle light pours in to the otherwise dark tunnels, followed by the sound of colliding stones. Looking back down the hall the group can see some of the stones have come loose and part of the blockage has fallen down, though only moments later bigger parts of the roof and walls begin to fall out of place. It doesn't take long for large pieces of rock and paving to collapse in through the roof, whirling up dust and putting a rusty and muddy taste in the air as the force of the collapse pushes the gust of dirt and dusk towards the tunnels, past the group, and eventually dispersing and settling naturally. Once the dust settles, the tunnel's previously blocked passage seems to have collapsed, creating some sort of awkward ramp of rubble to the surface.

Sharpe nods and jogs forward. His own footing is rather stable as the tremor passes. He looks down the tunnel back towards the rubble pile.

"I'd rather just take the later, play it safe rather than risk whatever might be waiting for us there." He says. He turns around and continues toward the ladder, then grips the handles. He looks back again.

"I'll scope out the surface, I'll give the go-ahead when the coast is clear." He says, and ascends the ladder bars. He gets to the maintenance hatch, and he tries to open it, but finds it's been rusted over, so he gives it a few good pushes and hits until it opens up. He carefully lifts it from there, and pans his vision. Immediately he puts his hand down and shushes the party below him, as some heavily-armed men, possibly storm or shock troopers are trying to clear some debris from what appears to be just above halfway down the tunnel. They don't seem to have noticed Sharpe at all. He descends the ladder and looks at the three men there.

"City guard, but heavy infantry, heavily-armed. Rifles, probably semi or full-automatic. We should head to the open ramp over there, I'm not about to walk us into a deathtrap." He says with a cautionary expression, tone of voice to match as well. He starts jogging down towards the tunnel and beckons after the others.

"Keep quiet, don't want to alert those above."

"Like I said, stayin' here is too dangerous." Richard says as he rises. "'nd what's so weird about carryin' ya this way? Or would ya prefer to be carried like ah pretty lil' princess?" RD chuckles a bit, responding to Jian's muttering since he's so close.

Jack dashes back towards the pair and inquires about another route out, just as Richard is about to answer; the ground begins to quake and RD backs instinctively closer to the other members of the group. If there was a collapse, it would be better to be closer to them, they could cover each other from debris; or a bad fall due to the tremors. Luckily though the quake lasts only a few seconds and apparently opens a route to the surface where some debris had blocked progress down the tunnels earlier.

"Huh." Richard remarks, a  bit shocked that a way up would so conveniently appear before the group. Sharpe opted to check out the ladder they had just discovered instead of going immediately for the passage that had recently opened up, and RD couldn't agree more, the sheer sudden appearance of the ramp had a somewhat ominous feel to it, as if it was just too coincidental.

As Point-man surveyed the upper area, Richard kept his eyes locked on the ramp, keeping himself low so he'd be a bit more difficult to see, and it would be easier to place Jian down should any threat appear.

Sharpe then jogs past him notifying the group of the situation near that exit. "Hm. Heavy infantry eh? Yea runnin' inta them right now would be pretty bad." RD states, jogging a fair distance behind Sharpe, pacing himself not only for his passenger, but also allowing himself a fair amount of space and time to adjust into a battle stance if need be.

Jack can hear marching off in the distance. He lowers his voice as a response.

"Heavy infantry?...Armed?...DEATHTRAP?! These are the authorities. I have no idea what war has done to your brains, but by your word choice, it sounds like your addressing them as enemy combatants! Finding the doctor and Air along with find out what happened to the sky are tied for first priority, but avoiding all unnecessary conflict ought to be second"

Jack took out his flask and took a swig. Pretending there was booze in it was the only thing he could do to calm his nerves right now.

Airgetlam swiftly makes her way down the debris ramp and rubble, and into the tunnel, going in backwards to make sure the others following her are alright, and actually following. In this she doesn't notice the remaining people behind her and checks her crossbow to make sure she still has sufficient ammunition. Lox meanwhile readies his little project as the city guard and parts of the killteam try to break through the rubble to survey the area and take out any possible dangers. Doc sees a pair of two mages on each barrier, getting ready to breach it with a small controlled explosion as the guards are heaving rubble out of the way. It won't be long untill they break through.

Sharpe is startled as suddenly the radar emits several rather loud beeps and chimes. Upon checking on them, he notices several red dots all over the place, moving about hastily and then vanishing one after another, leaving only the yellow dot, as well as the yellow skull. The blue one has disappeared by now. Though the radar indicates the yellow icons are at the ramp made of debris they had earlier passed off.

Sharpe keeps looking at the radar, wary of any other dots, but so far no others have surfaced. still, the yellow dot and yellow skull reassure him, however the disappearance of the blue dot is puzzling. He looks up as he runs and sees some dust on the debris ramp be startled, and winces to try and figure out what the disturbance could be. He sees a shadow, so he readies himself, putting up a fist and kneeling, unsheathing his sword and reaching into his coat with his right hand to pull out his pistol. He flips the safety to the off position.

"Ahead, shadows, proceed with caution." He whispers. He approaches the ramp a bit further and to his surprise sees that it is Airgetlam descending into the maintenance tunnel.

"AIRGETLAM!" He yells, and he runs forth to meet her face-to-face. He looks up and notices the doctor and the mage girl, who seems to be unconscious.

"Were you caught in that... whatever it was the happened over central? Whole's city's at a standstill, only just started to mobilize. Feth me, I have questions but they can wait until we're out of this frying pan.

He points his pistol down the hallway to indicate the direction they had originally came from.

"That way lies the Southern district. We should make for it as fast as possible."

Richard glances at Jack and raises an eyebrow at him, watching him take a swig of whatever happened to be in his flask. "... and yet yer whisperin', same as us." he grins at the man, then says "We're in the quarantine area 'nd from what I've heard, not many civilians leave this area once they enter it unauthorized. Didn't the group have ta save someone who was brought in here 'nd held against their will at some point? I'll admit i'm a bit surprised ya STILL trust 'em that much... Look, I'm not sayin' we should take 'em out, but they definitely aren't here to help us, 'nd if they see us nearby they'll think of us as suspects 'r at the very least suspicious 'nd we could be very possibly detained... or -."

Just as RD was about to finish a loud beeping and chiming in the direction of Sharpe pulled his attention. He immediately rushes forward somewhat, still retaining that same distance behind point man that he had before, enough space to adjust into a battle stance if necessary. He sees Point-man's signal to stop and watches as he unsheathes his blade and pull his gun from it's holster; "Not good, contacts." Richards quickly whispers, then moves to a corner he can take cover around and hide Jian from sight. He lets the man down slowly, careful not to agitate his apparent injury and prepares himself for combat.

Point-man yells his 'sister's' name. "What?" Richard takes a step out from behind his cover and sees the group members they had been searching for, along with two new people, a fairly tall man of average build in shaggy clothing, and the 'Good Doctor' seems to be carrying a rather slender girl with tan skin and white hair underneath what he could only assume is a mage's cap... glancing down somewhat, she has... a tail!

Richard narrows his vision somewhat, quickly confirming what he's seeing, and wondering if she had similar features somewhere else on her person, but snaps back to attention as he sees Sharpe gesture back down the hall.

He was probably telling the reformed group that they needed to move to a safer location and he was right. RD moves back towards Jian, "Looks like we've found the others, c'mon we need to move, i'll ask if the doc can help you when we get to somewhere a bit safer." He picks Jian back up, ready to move through the tunnels once more.

Jian, being lifted again before being able to say something then decides to remain silent. RD is certainly right after all, maybe the doc has a quick-fix for his leg. He then spots another unfamiliar face, carried by the doc. He wipes one of his eyes, due to thinking that he might be dreaming this, or imagining things but... he doesn't seem to see things, the girl actually has a tail.

"Well that... makes things even more interesting now. There's a first time for seeing everything I guess but.. Out of all things, that's the last thing I would've expected to see", he then says, moreso to himself than anyone else. He is then shaking his head in quite a confusion, there's no other way to react, really.

Thinking about that a bit longer, he gives up on figuring out where that girl might come from. But then just sighs in relief, knowing that they are all alive and mostly in an okay state. So their search kind of didn't turn out as bad as some predicted, which gives the day a good turn for him after all.

"Yeah... let's get out of here fast, I don't like to be stuck in Central if things seem to turn bad so fast, weather and all, who knows what is up next to strike us sudden or odd. So let's take run for it, fast!"

"What, no hug? Fine I'll get it once we get home." She pouts at Sharpe. She looks back at Doc and the mage being carried and also notices the tail for the first time. Her eyes go wide, her eyebrows reaching the apexes of their arches, but she thinks nothing of it. Priority is to get the hell out of there.

"Y-yeah I guess there is." She says. She looks back up the hole.

"Lox, let's get a move on!" She yells, and starts taking off down the tunnel, shifting her crossbow into a more secured position so it wouldn't flap about. She slows down and pretty much stops, looking back.

"Just straight ahead then?" She asks plainly.

After taking a few moments to perfect the rune Lox placed his hand on it and as usual activated the rune after a short moment of concentration. He smiled happily to himself as he had effectively covered a large portion of the area in steam before placing the brush back into his bag and frowning at the now empty inkwell. He shrugged a bit his concern very minimal due to his having a backup, he figured he would hold onto the empty inkwell and simply refill it at some point, at least that was the original plan...

"I heard this crash over this way!"

Lox heard a man yell. Undoubtedly one of the soldiers patrolling the quarantine. Luckily with all the steam they hadn't seemed to have spotted him just yet. Lox quickly threw his backpack over his shoulder, and in a panicked state decided to hurl the empty inkwell as far as he could in the opposite direction. He hoped the shattering noise would lead the soldiers away from the tunnel, but he had no time to confirm it for himself before he hopped down only to be greeted by a slew of strangers. Lox simply stood in silence, he could practically feel the piercing gazes of very new face in the tunnel, though thankfully their gazes shifted to the unconscious woman and her tail. He exhaled a sigh of relief before opening his mouth for a moment as if to ask a question, though he decides to let the question go since the woman had given him quite a stern talk when they were on the boat. Still he was curious how none of the people seemed to know her, yet she was so close with the doc, who in turn was close to the group. Chalk it up to skeletons in the closet.

Lox watched Air hustle on with the man he assumed was the one she had been so fond of reuniting with, the one she called Sharpe. Lox further investigated the group, noticing the rather intimidating man with the enormous sword carrying someone who seemed to be injured, though not to an alarming extent, maybe a broken leg? He couldn't b too sure in the dark tunnel. Before long the group is on the move, and Lox shifts into a quick jog to catch up to them, his examining and shy demeanor getting him quickly left behind.

When Doctor Atrium jumps down the hole, he lands on his feet but the extra weight of Mitsuki makes him drop to his knee. He slowly gets up and sees that Airgetlam talking to Sharpe. He smiles. It is good to be back with everyone. His eyes then turn and he sees RD with them and he sighs. He walks over to RD and puts his hand on his shoulder and having him slow down so they are in the back of the group.

"What happened to Jian?" He asks him as they are moving. "Well I can heal him when we get back to the house. Any way, I need your help." He starts to whisper. "I found where to get Clarent's Soultrap fixed plus get another made to get the soul out of it and put into a new Soultrap that I will wear. The problem is that I don't the money to cover the bill...I am about 20 gold short...Can you help me?"

When he is done talking RD can see his eyes flicker a bit, changing from his normal brown to silver. When it does change silver, it doesn't take long before they change back.

Jack listened in on what the doctor and Richard were discussing. He had quite the nagging feeling that the two were hiding something but calmed down when he found it was simply a financial issue.

"20 gold for a soul trap..well I guess we could just pool together the amount, but then...GAH, I'm far to easily distracted, damn damn damn. What have you been up to this entire time? Come to think about it, you were the one who told me to stay out of central, and yet here you are, care to explain, and who's that"

Jack lifts the head of the girl the doctor has resting on his shoulder to reveal her face. He almost leaps back when he realizes who it is.

"H-her?!...The stalker?!...ya know what? I'm just gonna close my eyes because the more I look in your general direction, the more stuff I see that requires explanation. Next thing you know, there's going to be a woman completely comprised of water standing right in front of me."

The group mobilizes and begins to move back down the tunnels at a relatively fast pace. Not running, but being hasty and wary of possible pursuers. As they move further away from the entrance, a small controlled explosion followed by another further away explosion can barely be head up above. The ground shakes a little, but not enough to throw anyone off balance, and dust and dirt rains down from the rounded out ceiling. By now, the mages trying to clear the debris will have broken through and be on the lookout for anyone inside of the steam.

Without any signs of immediate confrontation the group continues through the dust-filled tunnels until they reach a bend. From here, they can either go straight back the way they came from, towards the south, or continue on through central and eventually hit the northern district.
Mitsuki shuffles a little in doc's grip and opens her eyes. She looks at the tunnel entrance above, frowning as some of the dust falls into her face. She then turns to look up at doc who is holding her and raises her eyebrows. A crack in the sky. A sudden sense of panic. An explosion. She gives a subtle nod to herself remembering what got her into this situation and lightly pats her hand against docs chest to get his attention. "Thank you, you can let me down now." she says, keeping a low but friendly tone.

Sharpe lets out a small laugh at Air's expectation. He moves along with the group down the corridor, and looks back at Jack's out-loud mention of something that should be kept secret. He says nothing however and goes back to what he was focusing on. He looks at the walls, they seem to be quite old, perhaps almost as old as the city itself. However, the city does not seem the type that would have been planned out, rather it likely grew out of a village or port. Thus what they see is probably what could be called "Controlled Sprawl" where the city just starts to grow rapidly, but there's still a semblance of organization so that areas don't run into utility problems and bottlenecks.

He refocuses and comes back from his inward thoughts to find themselves at a crossroads, and the scholarly woman has awoken from her bought of unconsciousness. He turns to greet her.

"Seems you took a blow, feeling a bit better? I hope so, since you were in what would be the epicenter of the tear's area of effect." He says, feeling that mentioning they know of her tail might embarrass her, or even shock her back into unconsciousness.

He looks both ways and then turns back to the group.

"South would be that way." He says, pointing. He thinks for a moment, thinking of why they would even go north, and he turns to Jian, while the others are deliberating, and whispers.

"Where did you guys lose Clarent? North?"

Richard glances somewhat towards his back as he listens to Jian. "Yea Jian's right, we need ta move... quickly if possible." He doesn't particularly feel one way or another about the girl having a tail, it merely surprised him a bit, he hadn't seen anyone like that before. He was more concerned about whether or not she could be trusted. Doc was always a bit too trusting for him, RD preferred to be safe rather than sorry, a result of being turned on a bit too often. At the same time his own situation was the exact reason the tail didn't bother him, being different made it easy for people to distrust based merely on looks or how things sound, that and Doc was an alright judge of character...

Speaking of... He hears Air call to the taller newcomer in the shabby clothing. "Hm. Name's Lox eh?" he mumbles more to himself than anyone else, as he looks past Jian at the tall man. He then feels a rather heavy hand on his other shoulder and turns only to be looking the man who had irritated him earlier, right in the eyes. He slows down, as it seems the man wants to speak privately if possible.

He lowers his tone to match his old friend's: "Jian took a bit of ah tumble on the way 'ere, pretty sure its merely sprained, but i can't see it down 'ere well enuff ta tell whether or not its discolored. So yea i'd appreciate it if ya could take a look at it when ya have a chance." He then looks forward, off into the distance, but not particularly at anything, pausing with the knowledge that Jack had been listening in on them again. He gave the man another deadpan/quizzical look, yet again not surprised or amused at his presence and sighs, "I'm pretty sure the good Doc 'ere wanted ta keep it a bit private mate."

He then turns back to the Doc, and states "... So i'm just supposed ta take yer word for it eh? Ya can't even trust me enough ta tell me where ya were really headed after i specifically told ya not ta go it alone, count on me; i had yer back... ya knew all that and still left, worse yet ya gave me another one of those B.S. excuses just like ya used ta when we ran together. Yer a terrible liar, yanno that?"

He stares rather harshly at the man, not saying anything for a moment, letting the fact that he was angry at him set in, his irises glowing a bright crimson, but fading quickly before he continues with another sigh, looking back down the tunnels again "... Ya found someone who can fix the trap eh? Can ya actually trust em? Knowin' you its probly' some shady joint and ya offered yer services as compensation or somethin..." He shot another glance at the Doc, knowing for a fact he was probably spot on. "...I'll admit i was interested in finding someone who knew a bit more 'bout soul traps anyway, so if ya don't mind me rollin' wit ya, i'd like to come as well. Of course i'll pay for the Traps ya've asked them to help ya wit, I've got more than enuff ta cover what yer askin' me for; and this'll help the girl you were taking care of. Which reminds me... appears' she's taken off. Most likely lookin' for the trap ya took from 'er. I'm guessing ya haven't seen 'er, but if she's got some kinda attachment to it like i thought, she's probably on 'er way to get it, may even know exactly where it is. Priority one though, is gettin' back to base, helpin' the injured recover. We can head back ta whomever's workin' on the traps after that all...right...?" He pauses for a moment as he catches a glimmer of silver from the Doctor's eyes. Not a good sign. Last time he had noticed that shine, it was a whole heap of trouble.

As he gets ready to bring it up, he notices the tailed lady in the strange clothing has awoken, and the entirety of the group had stopped at a crossroads of some sort. He freezes for a moment as he composes himself, not only to stop discussing their private matter, but to greet her as well. "H-Hello there. Good ta see yer back in the world of the livin'. Tis' nice ta meetcha, ya can call me RD..." He says nothing more, not wanting to reveal too much to the newcomers and unable to offer a hand to shake or any other kind welcoming gestures due to the passenger he carries.

"You know that I can hear you, regardless of you both whispering... right?", he whispers to RD and the doc as they seem to talk in a way that feels like they want to keep something secret.
"I'll be fine, trust me... Don't worry about that too much, let's just focus on getting back first. In any case..."

His speaking is cut off by everyone seemingly stopping to notice the girl on the back of the doc being up and at it now, looking fairly well and healthy. He waits for everyone to introduce themselves before also doing the same.

"Hey... good to see you're alright, I am also glad to see that you are capable of walking, compared to me. Name's Jian Manchu... Jian is enough. Pleased to meet you.", he says, trying to light up the mood with his little joke.

"You seem like you're not from here either, just like me, good to see that you made it this far.", he then adds, smiling.

He is not sure where she is from, but he's curious to know. Maybe she is from his home-country aswell, which would make things very interesting for him aswell.