i must be looking for something / something sacred i lost

[peacefullywreathed]

Characters: Solomon September catch-all!
Date: Bakura's thread is same day as this post, early September. Otherwise, September catch-all.
Location: Marble and obsidian mines around the edges of the shell, Solomon's suite, other places as needed.
Situation: Solomon needs some materials for his Dreaming experiments. Bakura warned him to be careful. Obviously the solution is to partner. Also, Raine needs to talk to him about heavy shit.
Warnings/Rating: Raine's thread will have MAJOR SPOILERS for Skulduggery Pleasant book six.

BAKURA
Once more, Solomon found himself quite unconcerned to be partnered with possibly the least trusted man in Keeliai--its Emperor notwithstanding. Given how Bakura generally treated people, that alone was impressive. In any case, Solomon and Bakura had a bargain and Solomon felt a desire to be elsewhere, and on the dot of the hour he shadow-walked to Bakura's apartment.

Exploring a mine or not, Solomon was still in a suit; but he'd condescended to wear boots instead of shoes, and had a modified holster over his shoulders, under the coat, to carry his bits and bobs without the need to take too large a knapsack.

And there was a bird on his shoulder. It was a beautiful bird, with glossy feathers and a sharp gaze, but it was also among the most common seen in Keeliai. It was also completely and utterly dead, though that was difficult to tell without prior knowledge or expertise--there were no wounds, nothing untoward to indicate there was anything wrong with it.


RAINE
One of Solomon's least favourite places, currently, was his apartment. He needed to be there in order to follow up on the research once he and Bakura had investigated the mines, but that wasn't much more than a distraction for a much larger problem. Instead he'd spent time out of the apartment, tracking down everyone he could find who was tainted--kedan or Foreigner.

That, also, was something of an excuse to leave the apartment, for no other reason than because Skulduggery's suite was fast becoming a frost-bitten presence invading Solomon's senses.

Unfortunately the lantern still made it necessary for Solomon to return every now and then, and it was during one of this times that he shadow-walked directly into his suite, shuddered at the deathly edges he scraped past just to do that, and immediately decided he'd have to find somewhere else to sleep. Right now, all he could manage was a pot of tea and an attempt to distract himself some other way.

Comments

[denyamenti]

Bakura was still wearing his typical jeans and shirt, keeping to sneakers as he found boots too clunky for what he wanted. The seemingly lazy slouch as he waited differentiated him even more from Ryou, not that Sol would have any trouble telling them apart even if both were present.

"Couldn't find a canary?"

[peacefullywreathed]

"Don't insult your new pet, now," Solomon said with a faint smile that was equal amounts amused, innocent and mischievous. "It might decline to listen to you." He held out his arm and the bird hopped onto his wrist, cocking its head at Bakura with something that was as close to curiosity as a corpse could have.

"This is a revenant," he explained. "It's a superior sort of zombie that won't degrade, is difficult to kill, and possesses all the skills--magical and otherwise--which it possessed in life. Not, admittedly, that this bird possessed much." He shrugged. "Still, it'll make for a long-lasting pet not easily damaged, and it obeys commands instantly."

Not, mind you, that it would obey Bakura until after they returned to the city--half now, half later, after all.

[denyamenti]

"New pet?" Bakura echoed, raising an eyebrow and regarding the avian as Solomon described it's capability. He had asked for something unique, but he certainly hadn't been expecting a living thing, it's literal dead state notwithstanding. It met the requirements he'd set out, however humorously he'd meant them, so he wouldn't turn it down. Though between Emily-Helen and now this, he was turning into a by of a menagerie manager.

"Perhaps this trip of yours will be a chance to showcase its merits," he added. "I still think your little rock hunt has a potentially small payoff for the work."

[peacefullywreathed]

"Only if you already know what's there," Solomon said. He was calm, but he was also rather anticipating a more practical approach to his research than the theory he'd been performing of late, and didn't mind letting that anticipation show. He flicked his wrist and the bird fluttered back up to his shoulder. "Perhaps, but I'd rather not. This particular bird has feathers which change colour when it ingests toxins."

In a very literal sense, it was a canary--but improved upon, one might say. It wouldn't die if it was poisoned, but its feathers would still change; if there was anything wrong with the air in the mines, they'd at least know about it ... though Solomon would much rather not have to run into that sort of trouble.

Solomon held out his hand for Bakura's and then shadow-walked them both to one of the locations near the head, where the shell was thickest and might provide the most possibility for a find.

[denyamenti]

"You have to wonder what sort of environment we've been living in, when the native species have toxin-sensing plumage," the thief said dryly.

When they emerged out near the mines in a small mountain range near the turtle's head, which Bakura hoped might have been less over-extracted due to its likely lesser yield, the first thing he did was extend the Ring's senses to make sure there weren't any others in the vicinity. Nothing registered, but it never hurt to be careful.

"Exactly how large of samples are we looking for?" he asked as they located the entrance, still framed up with old timbers and hard packed earth.

[peacefullywreathed]

"Here I was under the impression it was a post-death paradise," Solomon murmured after they'd arrived, in the time it took for him to look around and extend his own senses. There were spots of death around, but they were the sort that were too old to indicate much in the way of present danger.

"Optimally, large enough to construct a doorway-sized portal," said Solomon as he approached the doorway, "but I rather doubt we'll find anywhere near enough to make one out of nothing but marble and obsidian--at least, not unless we happen to make landfall again. At minimum I'd need forty ounces of each in five or more pieces."

He needed at least eight ounces per point of stability; five points of stability in an archway, and that meant he needed the pieces to be separate so they could be equally distributed.

Fly to the first bend and then return, Solomon ordered the bird, and it took off from his shoulder, flying low into the mine, its wings brushing the floor.

[denyamenti]

"If we don't find that much," Bakura said thoughtfully as he watched the bird take off. "You could always grind up what we do turn up into powder and make the border that way. Works with natron, at least."

[peacefullywreathed]

"That may work," Solomon acknowledged, "but the important part is that the materials are contrasting black and white, and retain similar consistencies. I'd be concerned that whatever strength brought to bear on the obsidian would cause significant colour change." Perhaps if he used shadow to break the stone it would retain its colour despite being dust, but even still, he'd much prefer the pieces be kept in some definable shape.

There came a rustle of feathers and the bird exited the mine with a swoop, landing on Solomon's shoulder. Its feathers hadn't changed at all. "It's safe to breathe," he said, "and theoretically is safe to pass up until the first intersection."

Flashlights weren't exactly readily available in Keeliai, but Solomon drew shadows around him to act as a kind of radar so he didn't at least trip, and could sense the open space around him, narrow though it was. Bakura's light, if the thief had one--he would, of course--would throw them into stark relief, but shouldn't banish them entirely.

[denyamenti]

Normally Bakura would have been satisfied to move in the dark, but with Solomon shuffling around the shadows like that, he thought better of it. He could summon something to cast light (and as a backup, carried matches and wicks) but for the moment he merely lifted the Ring from its habitual place beneath his shirt to atop it, fingers curling around the outer gold rim lightly. There was no spell or spoken command; it responded to his will and lit with whitish glow.

"Who else knows you're doing this, anyway? Building these doors."

[peacefullywreathed]

"Raine Sage," said Solomon, shifting a few of his shadows so they blended with the light, letting them be dictated by the Ring's movements. "The healer. You've met, I believe--she mentioned some terms she learned from you. She seemed interested in the research, and it seemed prudent to have a healer about when I performed my first experiment."

It had occurred to him that having a healer around the next time they were able to enter the Dreaming and summon some of Bakura's kin might also be of benefit, but he wasn't about to propose it to either of them when he didn't know how well they knew each other. Not with Bakura's justified sensitivity on the topic.

The tunnel curved down slightly as they walked, but the path, though a touch pitted, had obviously been smoothed to make way for carts. The light from the entrance faded soon enough, until they were left in shadows and the light of the Ring. "We'll likely have to go as deep as the tunnels extend before we find much, correct?"

Solomon didn't actually know much about mining; all he had to go on was logic.

[denyamenti]

"We've met," Bakura echoed, fishing a piece of chalk from his pocket and absently making a mark on the stone wall. "The seba-rekhet... that explains why she had questions for me about the six parts," he added. Interesting his choice of title for her wasn't healer, even though that was a significant aspect of her. "She said she wanted to hear the explanations from 'the source'."

It wouldn't be noticeable to anyone other than those who knew him well, but there was a lack of the normal scorn when Bakura spoke about others when referencing Raine; the same lack there was when he spoke of Solomon to someone else.

Shaking his head, Bakura stopped in front of a tunnel juncture. "To find any substantial quantity, maybe. But assuming there were multiple things mined out of this location, we'll find traces without having to go too far down. Saves time that way." He scuffed at the dirt with his shoe, turning over some of the small chunks of rock that were scattered along the passage until he found what he was looking for. Stooping to retrieve it, he held the piece out for Solomon to see by the Ring's light: the top was coarse stone but the underside was smoother and had marks where it'd been shorn away with tools.

"This way," he said.

[peacefullywreathed]

"She's thorough," was Solomon's only answer, and though it was a simple one there was an edge of matter-of-fact approval in his tone. Too many scholars Solomon knew were interested only in the facts that supported what they believed, and nothing else.

"I need a little more than traces," Solomon pointed out, but he commanded the bird to fly down the passage and clear it. "You should give him a name," he added with idle innocence while they waited for it to return.

[denyamenti]

"I didn't say we were only after traces," Bakura reprimanded mildly. "Only that there's no point in traipsing down tunnels at random and hoping we discover what you need. Isnt that why you brought me along?" He smiled, edged in the Ring's harsh light. "Who else to find a treasure buried where it's not supposed to be found?"

He rolled the chunk of stone between his fingers while the waited for the bird to return. "It is not yet mine," he pointed out. "And I don't go around giving named lightly. Thankfully I didn't have to explain to my turtle what sheneyat means, she just pulls it right out of my thoughts."

The bird returns, signifying that the path is secure and Bakura marks the wall with the chalk before they continue down the tunnel. There's a gentle curve to one side and he keeps track of it, and after they've gone a ways he stops and makes another mark, this one a different glyph. "We started east and now we've turned north," he explained.

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon laughed. "Touche. And of course, not lightly; but a name would bind him more tightly to you, whether anyone else knows it or not." Turtles were both convenient and frustrating in that fashion. Solomon had to wonder how Emily-Helen had reacted to the title.

He followed Bakura down the path, deferring to the thief's knowledge and experience. The Temple was underground, so Solomon was used to the dim light and narrow halls and stone overhead; but it had been a long time since he'd memorised the Temple's labyrinth. This one was new, but Solomon still retained his sense of direction even underground.

"Wise," he agreed in spite of that. No use being careless, after all. "The last time you were out hereabouts--what was it for?" He seemed to recall Bakura mentioning it in passing, but he didn't remember getting details.

[denyamenti]

"Don't I have to deliver on my promise of finding you something before I get a reward?" he countered, probably joking though it wasn't absolutely clear.

"As for why, Just to see what was out here," Bakura answered. "You learn a lot about a people and a place by what they abandon, willingly or not. I didn't explore this particular mountain, but there were plenty of others to choose from."

[peacefullywreathed]

"I'm giving you the chance to think it over in the interim," Solomon answered with a smile. "But I am serious about naming him, nonetheless; otherwise he would only obey you because I have ordered him to do so. A name would prevent anyone else from superseding your orders, and make it difficult for me to do so against your will."

Which was the point, really; Bakura had control issues, and a name would assure him as much control over the revenant as could be gotten. A blood-bond would seal that power, but Solomon wasn't going to suggest that. Bakura already knew, besides.

As they walked on, casting the bird out before them as a scout, Solomon grew slowly aware of a deathspring in the tunnels ahead. It was at a distance, and deeper than they currently were--but not so deep as the mines went; if anything it was off to the side. Deathsprings weren't unusual in a mine, but this one was powerful and indicated a number of a deaths. He paused to cast his senses out, to divine what had caused it and whether it would be useful for them.

"There was a cave-in not too far from here," he said. "A big one. It's possible they didn't extend the tunnels beyond it; we may be able to find substantial deposits past there." In a tunnel, with a light-source, and in the middle of a deathspring--he'd easily be able to summon the shadows for a structure to keep the tunnel from falling down around their heads.