Within The Dark

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"S'course. S'all the miner's get em."

He started to dig through his pocket, though as soon as he moved his hand to try and grab whatever was there he let out a curse followed by a whimper of pain. His eyes grew large and full of tears, and he looked at Ryssa like a broken down puppy dog.

Val watched with interest, having been pushed back by the girl a few feet. He smiled slightly, seeing another opportunity. "You should probably get that for him."

He pointed to the miners pocket.

Half of this situation was really just him screwing with this poor girl now, but he imagined that would be far more enjoyable than whatever they found in that tomb. By all accounts the place could be completely empty, and if it turned out to be that way...well at least he would have these memories for the next few years, that was something. A man his age needed good memories to get him by. No family, no real friends, the memories helped when things turned a bit more dark.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

How a man could appear to be so pitiful at that moment was beyond her. Red-rimmed eyes, a rather large jowl, and a tiny mouth half covered in slimy vomit residue while he whimpered.

"I barely put you into an arm lock," the Clawdite defended herself with a half sigh, as if the pathetic sod was already making her feel bad about it.

"I told you not to touch." came the reminder, crossing her arms over her chest again defensively. She shot a glower at the man beside her, who was clearly amused by the entire situation. He was interested in the mine that was for sure, but just what was his angle. Did he want to claim it all or was he just being nosy? A big lug like that couldn't quite be easily taken down as an inebriated miner. Might take a bit more, but not as easy if things got ugly.

Shoulders rose as Ryssa took a deep breath through her mouth -- she did not want to smell the stench of vomit at this proximity, as she was likely to hurl again -- and blew it right back out with a puff of her cheeks.

"Oh alright." moving forward, she darted with her right hand to start digging through the man's pocket. There she found a small datapad.

"This?"

"Ys'm." the miner said pitifully. Tapping in, she reviewed the display. It required a security code.

Great.

Ryssa twisted her lips. Had to make a choice now.

"I get a copy of this map and you tell us the rest of the information..." she leveled a deadpan stare.

"For one," major emphasis for the oaf," two second grope."

"Ten. "

"Three."

"That' ain't a full cup there 'see!"

Ugh.

"Five."

"Deal!"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

At this point he was finding it increasingly difficult not to burst into outright laughter. The entire situation had gone from comical to downright absurd. He struggled to remember something similar to this happening in his lifetime, though the closest he got was when he had been in the Planetary Defense Forces. Bargaining had been mainstream at the time, though he couldn't recall anyone ever bartering over a handful of ass. He would have to remember to write this down, maybe immortalize it in a plaque or trophy.

He'd think of something.

"Great." Val said, interrupting the two with an almost too gleeful smile. "I suppose you should go on with it then."

He pointed to the girl, then twirled his finger, the smirk on his face not disappearing or even getting smaller. It was pretty clear that he was enjoying this entire situation. There was no sign or even hint of shame in the way he talked or stood. One couldn't really blame him for that, objectively this entire thing was absolutely hilarious. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean that anything they learned from the man would actually be of help, but that was part of the fun, at least for Val anyway.

Even if the tomb was empty, this...this glorious moment was worth a life time.

He only wished he had a camera.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"You are one second away from getting your own arm lock, Manbun." Ryssa quipped out. He was eating it all up he was, just the amusement and humor dancing within his mismatched eyes was enough to tell her that.

"That'll hurt some." offered the drunk minor lamented, as if offering sage advice to the beefy man in the crusader armor.

Well at least we are all on the same page with that! Ryssa even gave a short nod too as if to confirm it. The entire situation had moved on to the absurd. For the greater good Ryssa!

Goodness, is this really what I'm letting myself get talked into? A small curl of unamused distaste curled her upper lip forward as if she'd been served a meal that she knew just wouldn't sit well in her stomach.

Ugggh...

"No, I'm not turning around." one had to set things down firmly in such matters. A finger gestured to the drunk man.

"Tell me half of what I want now and then you can get your grope... and then the other half later."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"Try it." He said with a happy smile.

Val had no doubt that the woman was skilled, but...well he probably had about a century of experience on her, not to mention that he outsized her by about a foot and a half. That alone gave him pretty decent odds, plus...he also wasn't drunk. Being threatened by someone so relatively tiny was a little bit amusing to him, and in truth he couldn't really hide that amusement...not that he tried. Aerith had always said there was a fine line between confidence and smugness, a fine line that he sat on nearly all the time.

Before he could continue on however, the man spoke.

"I work for Syndic Mining. Small company by galaxy standards but they run the entire systems operations. The Mine with the door is just over the rise there."

Val blinked.

He wasn't surprised that they had gotten the information, he was more surprised...well the man had been so articulate. Seconds ago he sounded like he was on the verge of throwing up a third time, and now...well he had sounded like he was delivering a court order to the highest lady of the land. Val was shocked, but...well at the same time he was impressed. Apparently a nice ass could really motivate someone, go figure. He shrugged inwardly and decided not to question it.

Instead he eagerly awaited the next few moments.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Why I oughta...

A small noise of displeasure resonated from the back of Ryssa's throat. There was something about that swarthy jaw and the way his eyes danced in smug pleasure that tempted her to give him a healthy dose of her mind. Maybe even lock him in a throw. However, that little indulgence had to wait when the inebriated oaf suddenly blasted out half of the information with a bit more sobriety than she expected.

Tawny gold circlets narrowed down upon the seemingly innocent expression the miner displayed, looking quite pleased with himself as he perked up. Oh, he was waiting for his part of the prize. Namely, coping a feel from the petite woman's ass.

Great.

This will go down as the day I sold my ass for a statue with tits.

"This better be legit," she warned him, cocking her hip from right to left. A spare glance was given to the heavily amused Manbun.

"Could you just turn around. We don't need an audience!" she huffed out. If she was doing this then she was not going to have him gawking while the drunkard felt her up.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val made a rueful face. "Can't do that ma'am."

He suddenly sounded very serious.

"Have to make sure that you meet your proper obligation." The man looked somewhat suspiciously at him, narrowing his eyes as if he hadn't quite understood what he'd been talking about. Val looked at him for a moment and then nudged his head towards the woman. "We know she has a propensity for sneaking about."

They didn't actually know that he just made it up. "She could try to trick you. I'm just here to make sure everything goes through as agreed."

The man nodded his head eagerly, pointing towards Val as though he were making the most sense in the world. It took all his self control to keep the smug smile off of his face, all his willpower to keep himself from barreling over in laughter. A part of him wondered just how long he could get away with all of this before catching a knife in the side or a blaster bolt to the stomach, but he was having far too much fun to be concerned over either of those things at the moment.

"I have a terrible memory." He tried to console Ryssa. "I probably won't even remember this tomorrow."

That was a lie.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Yeah, you can." Ryssa stood her ground. She was all of five feet tall, but it appeared that the cerulean-skinned woman was not going to budge.

"Turn around," she told him again, tapping her foot impatiently and giving him a bit of his medicine with a twirl of her finger. If he was looking to get a free peep show while she was getting felt up, he had another thing coming!

Twisting her lips into a half frustrated pout, the woman swiveled her hazel eyes over towards the miner.

"You can reach around, I'm gonna watch everything you do to make sure you don't get any funny thoughts beyond the allotted five seconds and grab." for emphasis, she jutted her finger straight into the hollow of his collar, the man giving a pitiful whimper as he went to rub the spot.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val shrugged, deciding that it was best not to ruin this moment for The Miner.

The Warrior half turned away from the situation, his floating over the dark of the alleyway until he finished a full one eighty. His gaze settled on the street for a moment, then jumped to the wall, then a window opposite the alleyway that they were in. He frowned for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to see into the building.

There was some furniture inside, a holo-station, desk, and what appeared to be a small wooden chair. He frowned for a moment more and saw a man pass by the window, drawing curtains closed. A second later the light went out behind the curtains, and Val found himself staring at his reflection.

He gave an amused chortle, and then took a single step to the side.

It was a smooth and quiet motion, one that would hopefully go unnoticed or ignored. In the reflection he now saw the Miner and Ryssa, the former cowering as he was poked once again. Val wondered for a moment if the man was going to try anything else, wandering digits and all that.

He shrugged, none of his business.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The matter could not go fast enough. It dawned on Ryssa that having to face the inebriated oaf while he went for a reach around left her with the full on visual of the guy's delighted expression.

Ugh.

He even smacked his lips, flexing his fingers in eager anticipation. Some sapients could just be rather disgusting. It wasn't that Ryssa didn't enjoy her own bouts of pleasure, but there was having a bit of fun and then getting groped by throw up drunk guy.

When he went leaning in, Ryssa's hand immediately went snapping out to smack against the miner's head with her palm, preventing him from moving any closer.

"You can reach just fine from there without getting any closer," she warned, swiveling her hips from left to right. That motion immediately had the miner's eyes drop down to the prize.

Gross.

"Alright 'den."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

The actual act was actually far less amusing than the build up had been. In truth, Val actually felt a little bit bad about it. He frowned for a few moments as he watched the man take a closer step, only to be quickly whisked away by the woman. He frowned, and then the Miner spoke up. Val watched as he slowly reached out, and then the Warriors morals finally kicked in.

"There!" Val said, whirling around and grabbing the man before he could properly grasp Ryssa's tush.

"Wasn't that great?" The Miner looked very confused, completely befuddled, but also somewhat sick. "I swear, she has an ass that won't quit. Quite frankly, I'm jealous of you. I mean look at that thing, It's fantastic! Really great. How was it?"

The miner blubbered then opened his mouth. "You know what, don't tell me. I can't even imagine you have the words."

The man looked completely and utterly confused, but then a large smile dawned on his face as he nodded at Val. The one thing about being entirely inebriated and drunk...well you were easily manipulated, and when someone like Val got up in your face telling you that you had done something? Who was the Miner to argue with that. Confidence brimmed from the Miner, and a sort of smugness hung on his face as he looked over towards Ryssa.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Wait what? The same expression of disbelief and confusion went rippling across the woman's face. He'd moved so fast for a big guy, snatching the drunkard's hand before it lingered too long on her tush.

Emotions conflicted, and dark brows drew forward. Huh? When the manipulation of the miner was complete, Ryssa could only blink in surprise for a few seconds. It finally hit her what he'd done. A small part of her softened, and she quickly picked up on the notion that she had to seal the deal.

"Yeah! I hope you are happy with that... now tell us the rest of the information!" Ryssa couldn't help but spare a few glances up at manbun. Why had he done that? Not a few seconds ago he was all for watching the entire thing!

"I.. ah.. what was it again?" the miner smiled happily again.

"Well first put in your passcode here so I can have a copy of the map." she instructed, handing him the datapad.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

The man put in the passcode, and then quickly began to rattle off the rest of the information that he had promised to give. The same smug smile stayed on his face of course, his eyes leering towards Ryssa the entire time he spoke. Eventually they had everything they needed, passcode for the map, the location of the mine, and of course the more detailed story of how the door had been found. It was rather unique in it of its own, but apparently not unexpected.

"-They knew that somefin' was there, jus didn' know wat."

Val frowned slightly. They had known?

It seemed odd to him that a Mining company would at all care about something buried within the mountain, something that they would have known wasn't the ores they normally harvested. Scanners would have told them all they needed to know, why waste valuable time and resources digging out a random chamber within the rock? Didn't make much sense unless the Company thought that there was an opportunity to make money. "Good. Good."

Val said simply.

"Well..." He began with a smile. "Goodnight."

The Miner looked up confused at Val for a moment, opening his mouth to say something before the Warriors fist connected with his face.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

THWACK!

"..." another startled blink. The miner slumped back with a heavy thud.

"Well that's one way to knock him out..." the woman said cautiously. He was a big man. A big man with a big fist. And a heck of a right hook. It dawned on the artifact collector that she was in a dark alley with man bun who was also very much interested in the mine and the boob statue.

Gulp.

She ever so slowly tucked the datapad into her pocket. Best to keep that secured now. Her mind was already considering ways to escape if this situation escalated. A mental check of what she had to defend herself ran through her mind. Westar-34 blaster, check. Pepperspray, check. One hydrospanner and multitool kit, check. Then there was also her sensor helm she had tucked behind the scarf that hid the bulk of her blue hair from view. It was by far the most expensive gear she had on her person besides her mobile data terminal. A rather delicate thing with over a dozen portable sensors that remotely connected to small mapping spheres she had in her backpack.

"So..." Ryssa dragged out the word, glancing subtly from left to right. She was short, but she could be pretty fast. The woman didn't spend the bulk of her life spelunking and tomb raiding to not have an altheltic body to handle burst speeds and carry her own weight and that of her pack.

".... you never did say what you wanted in turn..."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"I'm a naturally curious person." Again he was honest.

Oh he'd dropped a few lies over the course of the last few moments, but they had been mostly innocent, and used to further the situation along to what he wanted. Of course, now he had the opportunity to tell the truth while still furthering his goal. It was nice when things worked out that way, he far preferred honesty to lies. Usually when one told the truth things went much more smoothly, usually. It really depended on what kind of person you were talking to.

"I want to know what's behind the door." A shrug rolled over his shoulders.

"I'm not really interested in money, treasure or anything of the sort. I just want to know whats inside." His tone didn't change.

Money had never really been an obstacle for him, he had none, but somehow he managed to get along day by day. When he needed food he hunted, when he needed a bed to stay in he did someone a favor, when he needed equipment he would do the odd job for whoever was selling. It was a simple life, and Val didn't want to go around changing it now just for some shiny jewels or what have you. He was more than content with his lot in life.

"Not every day you stumble upon ancient doors." A smile perked on his lips. "Or a perfect ass."

He was only human...probably.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

How much of it was the truth and how much of it was a lie? That was the clincher. Ryssa played with the edge of her front teeth with the tip of her tongue, sweeping the flat end of it over them as she mulled over --

A perfect ass??

Mild annoyance swept over her expression, replacing the wariness it had before. Right away her right hand went to settle upon her right hip and the petite woman poked one finger right on his chest; well attempted to more like. It was still covered in armor.

"Look buster, I don't know what you were on about with offering my butt to be felt up -- only to put an end to it at the last second -- but I'm a professional and I don't like wise guys!"

Okay that was a lie too, he was just confusing her. The fact he'd stopped the guy from going any longer made her grateful. She scrunched her face and added with slight puffing out of her cheeks.

"But fine -- you did help to get some of the info for the site... so I guess you can come along." she took a sidestep to walk around him, intending to head off towards the direction of the mine. Only to then suddenly pause and shoot a pointed look at manbun and a wag of her finger.

"You can see what's in there but no funny business!"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"I wouldn't worry about it." Val said as he began to walk past her, large strides carrying him ahead of her in no time at all. "I'm not a very funny guy."

With that, Val wandered forward.

The Mine of course was just outside of town, only a mile or so down the road and up in the mountains. The village itself had been built mostly to sustain the companies workers, a majority of the people living here either working down within the shafts or in some other way for the corporation. These types of occurrences weren't all that uncommon, and in truth it was little better than slavery. His own homeworld had thankfully been spared of this kind of treatment, but as he wandered through the soot covered town he couldn't help but feel a sort of displeasure.

He heard the pitter patter of tiny feet quickly following after him, likely the girl trying to catch up.

A small smile played on his lips. Their size difference was somewhat comical, but he expected that being funsized likely helped in whatever business she had chosen for herself. He still suspected a bounty hunter, but he couldn't be sure, he would have to dig more later. The village quickly began to thin out as they wandered down the road, trees rising around them as the street turned into little more than pressed gravel. His boots crunched with every step, loud, and perhaps a bit obnoxious.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

He had a very large stride. It made it difficult for Ryssa to catch up, quickening her step as if to assert her presence. The guy was huge, well over a good half meter by her estimates. Great. Definitely a smartass.

"Funny." she managed to quip out, legs working like small pistons as she purposefully strode along the road. This time of day it was late afternoon, meaning that dusk would soon approach. With the sounds of the village fading in the distance, it meant that she'd have to dig into her own bag for a halolight once they were inside. Her helm was powered by a small isotope 5 battery, allowing it to continuously power in an energy efficient manner. It had a regular halo light as well as several other sensors.

"So, what am I supposed to call you?" might as well go out and do the introductions. "I can't quite call you Big Guy in ..." she gave a frown, pausing as she studied him further. It seemed familiar. Some sort of Crusader armor. Once she spotted a particularly deity symbol it clicked.

"-- Moross Crusader armor."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"Val." He said simply, his full name was unpronounceable to most people, he'd stopped trying to get people to say it about ten decades ago. Even Aerith had never used his full name, in the bedroom in particular she'd been rather unable to spill out the myriad of vowels and syllables that made up his moniker. No, it was easier just to go by Val. Plus, this way he didn't get asked how he got such a unique and noble sounding name while being little more than a simple farmer.

That was always annoying.

They drew closer to the entrance of the mine. Up ahead he could see a fence rising into the air, fourteen feet high and strung with barbed wire. There were no lights on the inside, though his eyes pierced through the darkness well enough. Construction equipment and a few shacks littered the inside of the fenced off area, though he couldn't quite tell what any of the signs said on them. A frown pulled at his lips for a moment, his hand extending to stop her.

He caught a brief glimpse of movement beyond the fence.

"Someones there." Val said quietly. "Beyond the buildings, near the entrance of the mine."

Val would have missed them if it hadn't been for the brief flash of reflected moonlight. Likely whomever was there was wearing some sort of armor. He frowned slightly, wondering who the hell was sneaking around a mine at this time of night.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Huh?" Ryssa swiveled her head. Someone there? Reflexively, the Clawdite brought her gloved hand up to push back the scarf from her head. An odd, helm of sorts lay almost like a crown on top of her head. It was black, with several small circular ocular lenses. A quick snap brought it forward, activating the visor so that the sensors all would glow red.

Activating the life sensor detector, Ryssa scanned the area. It had ultraviolet, x-ray vision, night vision, and other sensors that allowed her to interface with the holonet and several of her databases. It had a proprietary scanning algorithm that would aid in identification of a plethora of species, artifacts, and tomes. It allowed her to find similar styles and common pictographs, allowing her the option to take holopictures to file for later.

Across the way beyond the fence, she did see a small thermographic image. The thing about lifesensors is that they could still detect beings even if cloaked. Well, stealth cloaking that is. Those religious magic users had a tendency to do things through other means. This one also allowed her to heighten sounds and use filters that could pick up minute differences around her.

"Yeah...." she motioned with a hand for him to duck down. He was after all, a rather big lug. Beyond the fence she caught the figure moving into the mine. They hadn't spotted Val or Ryssa yet.

"He went into the mine"