Valley of Shadows

As the fierce sand tears across the surface of the Holy Empire Westelande's territory, Mikage and Cyrus have managed to take up shelter in an alcove. The cart has been placed in front of the black cavern to hold the sand at bay, so that they can more easily get out after the storm blows over. There's a series of blue glowing potions that have been laid against the dark cavern walls, creating a light.

There isn't a fire running, because they can't risk running out of oxygen if the sand blocks up the cavern entrance entirely. Instead, Cyrus is taking his time going deeper into the cave with Mikage. He's prepared a light-flask for both of them to wear on their chests around their neck, so that they have an easier time exploring the place.

"Here." He hands her a canteen of water as they come to a split in the cave. It's clearly natural, the split to the right doesn't even look traversible. It's just too tight and jagged. "Figure we may as well check out this cave for any monsters, in case we have to sleep here over night."

The sandstorm had come up quickly, as they were prone to do in the deep desert of the Holy Empire. Luckily, Mikage and Cyrus were used to traveling through distant locales and knew how to take care of themselves even in the worst of conditions.

The glowing lights from Cyrus' alchemical flasks give everything an eerie appearance as they take the opportunity to explore the cave system. It highlights her pale hair. Rama doesn't seem to need one, able to see just by the light the two Adventurers offer up. She had just gotten off the chimlink with Prophylaxis, so Cyrus' offer of the canteen has her seemingly returning to focus on their current situation.

Taking a long drink, she caps the canteen before offering it back, wiping her mouth slightly with the edge of one sleeve. "It's a shame the storm came up so quickly. From what I could tell, we should have been pretty close, but we probably don't have the supplies to keep looking much longer." She looks down the passageway before them. "Still, we're getting to see something new, right?"

"What was that call about?" He asks Mikage, having been trying his best not to listen in. That, and he only heard her comments, so he only have the vaguest of contexts. "Something about your gem?" He asks.

Taking the canteen back, he takes his own swig, then steps a bit deeper into the cave, tucking his head in. "Someething new indeed." He mumbles, his tail poofing a bit as there's a gust of cold air that comes up from within. It doesn't smell great. "Hugh." Nothing awful though.

"Alright, let's head down there and make sure we keep an eye out for monsters." He begins to slip down, and holds up one hand in case any of them slip. It's not a very moist cavern, but one never knows what kind of stone is within.

Drawing in deeper, they start coming across a winding series of paths that branch out many directions. "I think we'll want to start marking and mapping this place."

"Yeah." Mikage's response seems almost hesitant. "Apparently the Palace Landers let something similar to our Machina friend loose in the tower somewhere." She rubs at the back of her neck, looking distinctly uncomfortable about the whole situation. "Apparently, it has some kind of gem slot that is similar to what I use for my Elemental Machine weapons. And... I mean, from what you told me, this thing comes from some ancient Machina, right?" She taps her finger on the gem that is currently slotted into her sword.

As the smell comes up, Mikage makes a strange sound in the back of her throat. "Oh come on. I told you not to eat that jerky." It sounds as if she's accusing him of being the source of the smell, though if he were to look back, he'd spot the teasing look in her expression.

With more comfort transforming around him, she takes off her boots and shifts into her monster form, which allows her to have a bit more grip as they start to make their way down. She settles atop a rock at one point, Rama coming up to perch next to her. "Wish we had a bit more light, that'd make mapping easier, but... I should be able to manage." She flexes her claws and neatly makes a mark in the stone beneath her before joining Cyrus once more.

"Great..." Cyrus mumbles, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, that thing comes from what I think is some kind of important Machina. One of the 'Four Original Machina', whatever that means. I believe it had something to do with the Crystal Tower Rebellion." He notes before giving her a bit of a /look/ at the comment on the jerky. "You little brat." He answers her with a bemused look, pointing at her dramatically, as he slides down a bit of smooth rock.

From time to time, he has to hold onto her as she joins him, making sure he doesn't fall. "I can do more light." He answers her, and takes out a few more potions. He shakes them and they begin to glow on their own. Almost like glowsticks - except he doesn't have to 'snap' them to make them work.

"Anyhow. I say, let them deal with the problem. What's your orb going to do to help them anyhow? Slot it in and it'll probably just get stronger. You've seen what that thing is capable of." He points to the Pale Blue. "They should be lucky it /doesn't/ still have that inside of it."

Marking the stone, they begin to spread out from there. Slowly creating a pattern. Having to backtrack many times, until suddenly...

An arrow gets stuck right where Mikage had her head a moment ago. A visciously precise shot from the shadows beyond. Yet... her instincts tell her that was a warning shot! Cyrus hasn't even noticed it!

"Right. But... most of our relics have some kind of ties to something important or another." Mikage explains, "I mean, that weirdo had an interest in it at some point, I think." The 'weirdo' in question would be Bondrewd. Unlike Cyrus, the greater lore of the world has always kind of gone over her head. Mikage is always too interested in the here and now to usually focus much on the past.

As they descend, she loops her tail around him at points, making sure the spikes are pointed away, giving him a second safety net incase things were to go badly. Her claws, however, are more than able to keep her well attached to the stone.

She squints a bit as a bit more light is offered, her pupils narrowing a bit in response. "Or, it could be going haywire because it's missing it." Mikage offers as a counter-argument. "Then again, maybe I'm selfish here but... I'm not sure I'd want to just give it up." She lets one hand reach down to rub over the relic orb. "I've had it since my old guild. It's... kind of a keepsake, you know?"

Eventually, as they continue exploring, she manages to pull out her cartography tools and start mapping their way. That is, until an arrow comes dangerously close to her head. It's a quick switch of her form that follows as she transforms back into a human, who is now standing barefoot and looking out into the darkness.

"Who's there?" She calls out, knowing that they've already seen the two. Rama darts behind Mikage's legs, while one of her hand reaches out to keep Cyrus from going much further.

"I don't think you should give it up." Cyrus remarks before that arrow-hit. "It's Scale Emblem." He notes, right before... THUD.

As she turns to human, that tail releases him, and the Snow Leopard turns to look as Rama gets behind Mikage's leg. With her hand out grabbing Cyrus, the youth halts as well and looks on.

Before them, two creatures release from the shadows. The clothing they wear is gray and black with various elements to them that are specially matted, making it so that their lights barely catches them. Black scales across their faces suggest some kind of lizardmen. Yet...

"We are Thosssse-Who-Move-In-Ssssshadow. Why have you entered our teritoriesssss?" The one holding a bow at attention inquires, her red eyes set on the duo of Adventurers and their companion. There's a hiss to their voice, but they're clearly speaking a language they can understand.

Mikage seems to fall silent in regards to her relic gemstone, at least for now. While she might not agree with everything that Scale Emblem does, if things are as bad as Prophylaxis suggests, and the jewel might be able to help... there might not be any other alternative but to offer that sort of sacrifice.

It isn't something she has time to deal with, especially with that arrow sticking out of the wall where her head had nearly been. Turning her attention towards the two figures, there is a sense of wonder at watching them seemingly merge out of the shadows. It's not far from her own studies of utilizing the elements to move unseen.

She looks to Cyrus, gives him a nod and then releases his arm, stepping forward on her bare feet. "I am Mikage Yurei. Sage of Shadows. I was instructed to seek out a place few had gone before while studying the art of subterfuge and stealth. My investigations lead me here in search of the Valley of Shadows."

Cyrus nods back to Mikage, and stays back. The name - he recognizes he thinks. Those who move in shadows. The Valley of shadows. That can't be a coincidence, when they've been looking for them. The youth leans down with Rama and stops the cat from acting out at the moment.

When Mikage speaks of herself and claims herself a Sage of Shadows, there's a bit of an uproar between the two. They speak to eachother in whispers, hisses. She can understand them, but they're so quiet that in her human form, she can't quite pick up most of it. But she knows she hears; 'sssssaaage'.

They then turn towards her. "You can come. But the others must remain." The lanky and taller of the two shadows remark to her.

There is a slight tilt of Mikage's head as her ears pick up on the strange, almost hissing whispers between the two. Yet, she remains quiet, even as Rama seems to watch the two with uncertainty, not quite calmed by Cyrus' presense as much as one might suspect.

When they speak again, there is a hesitation from Mikage as she looks at Cyrus and at Rama. Part of her wants to argue that Rama is a part of her, and that Cyrus is her partner but... They had come all this way and it seemed silly to argue over technicalities.

"Will you be okay if I go with them?" She asks, raising her brows and seeming to genuinely be worried about leaving the two behind.

Cyrus nods his head. "Yeah, I've got this. Just be safe, okay?" The Snow Leopard Cait Sith answers Mikage, and sits down on the slope. "I've got food. And I'll keep an eye on the party window. But if your HP drops even an inch, I'm coming in there." He tells her.

The two before her - Those-Who-Move-In-Shadow - motion for Mikage to follow. At which point, she soon sinks into the shadows with them. There's barely any light below, but her Pale Blue is just enough to cast subtle reflections. The ones before her keep blending into the shadows though. Almost as if their path isn't decided by a goal, but simply, the route most suited to be hidden. Winding caves, dark chasms, and eventually, she loses the two of them for a bit...

With a nod of her head, Mikage turns to follow the two figures, leaving behind her beloved, her companion, and everything she knows to delve into the darkness and the unknown. She would never have been this brave in the real world. In the real world, or... perhaps this one has simply given her the chance to be brave.

Even when she seems to lose the two guides in that moment, leaving her only with the shadows around her and the ever-present darkness. She only halts for a moment, taking in her surroundings. She is connected to many of the elements, though some stronger than others, so she feeds off of what she can hear, what she can feel in the air around her.

"While I've learned a lot, there is still a lot I have to learn. That is why I'm here." She speaks into the darkness. Even saying this, she continues forward, trusting her senses and the elements around her to keep her safe in the darkness. "The shadows and I are not as one, as they are with you. Still..."

She tucks the Pale Blue into her shirt, finally allowing darkness to envelop her, giving herself over to it in that moment, utilizing what she has learned and her own elusive techniques to give her own demonstration of skill.

Within the Dark, the shadows enshroud her and start to wrap around her. Instead of relying on the Light, she begins to give in to it all. The darkness, the subtle glistens. The echoes around her. Nature has so often been her friend.

Now, the Shadows too become her friend. Sight is taken from her, and instead she starts to pick up the subtle movements of lizards' pads hitting the ground ahead of her. And there... a subtle airflow that seems to blow along her path.

Following it, she hides in the shadows. Ducks into little caverns. Smaller ones. She sticks to the shadows. Ducks into smaller cave spaces...

Until finally, she finds light. The subtle green of something else.

When she comes out, she steps into a civilization all on its own. She sees Salamanders moving, wheeling in a cart of some kind of enormous monsterous beetle, roped down. The cart dragged along by a glowing slug.

There are mushrooms on the walls which spread further light on the area. Dark scaled Salamanders roam the area. A child playing out and about, stabbing a tiny beetle - supervised by an older woman.

The two Salamanders she had followed stand there, looking at her as she steps out into it all. "Ssssage of Ssssshadows. Welcome to the birthplace of the Hero of Sssshadows."

Even though she had given herself over to those shadows fully in the moment, there is a measure of relief when her senses return to her, even in that strange way that places like these have. They glow with bioluminescence rather than with the natural light of the world above. In a place like this, it is no wonder that the people would become accustomed to the shadows.

Mikage lets out a breath as she takes in what is around her, a small smile coming onto her face at the fact that she may be one of the first Adventurers to see this place, at least... perhaps not in a very long time. "This... is amazing." She looks towards the two, bowing forward in a manner that is distinctly Japanese and very different than the Landers they might be more used to.

"I... would like to study with you. Learn the ways of your people. Learn to be one with the shadows as you are. Learn the story of your Hero and all it has to offer." It is a big request, especially as a stranger to this place.

There's various people she can see, whose skin have 'splatters' of glow on them. Clearly using the bioluminescence from the mushrooms to help light their way. Though most of those are either younglings, or old ones. None of the middle-aged or teenage looking Salamanders wear such things. A handicap, most certainly.

The two Salamanders consider Mikage as she inquires about learning the ways of their people, and they glance between one-another. There's this unspoken communication between them that she can't quite pick up on. Not truly 'saying anything', but just... almost reading eachother's mind.

There's a nod.

"Follow us." The two demand, and begin to lead her to one of the clay huts that have been built into the caves here, and she is led into a small hut with a lot of pink looking smoke within. An older Salamander seated at the back of it all. Heavily elderly, who looks a bit like Rizadoman's type of Salamander, but with her skin and scales sagging in many places. Only the barest bit of cloth making her look remotely decent.

"Ahhh... is this the girl?" She asks, he voice croaking.

It is a little unsettling when people do that silent communication thing, as it leaves the person on the other side uncertain as to what exactly the other party is thinking. Even so, they didn't immediately say 'no', which is something, perhaps.

When instructed to follow, Mikage does so, though her eyes keep taking in everything about her surroundings. Everything is a wonder, including that strange splotchy paint, the beetles, the way that the Salamanders interact with one another, all of it seems to drive that feeling of wonder for her.

Now, the one thing no one would claim Mikage was good at, was knowing proper social etiquette for the situation. Oh, she can try to be respectful, but it always comes off as otherworldly and weird, as she has never quite grasped Lander customs. Even more so for these people who are likely separated from the regular Landers who call the Holy Empire their home.

As she is brought before the older Salamander female, Miki does another of those distinctly Japanese bows. Then, uncertain what she is meant to say to the situation, she murmurs, "Um. It's nice to meet you?" She sounds a little uncertain at that. "I've... come after studying the ways of the shadows. It bid me to go where few have gone before."

Luckily, it is expected that an Outsider knows nothing of their Customs. Still, she is getting a lot of looks. It is very clear that these people are not used to there being outsiders. It's not even to the point where outsiders have a bad name. No, they're staring because after decades, this may very well be the first time someone has come here!

As she sits down in front of the older Salamander female, she lets out a bemused cry of a sound, showing that most of the old Salamander's teeth are missing.

"She claims to be a Sage of Shadows, ma'am." The female of the Salamanders remarks. "She wishes to train with us, following the path of the Hero of Shadows."

This makes the old woman cry out with even more amusement, before her voice cracks a bit and she declares; "After all these centuries, a Sage of the Shadows comes here... one of our children has found its way back to us." This seems to amuse her to no end, as she goes into a little amused coughing fit. The kind you expect from an old person, not from a sick one.

"Hmmm... very well. I think we would be fools not to let her. Yes, I will allow this. Train her in our ways. I am sure that, if anything, she will at least entertain the children. Hmm?" The old woman asks the others, kind of talking around Mikage - before turning towards the girl.

"A Were Fang hmm? To think that the Sage of Shadows would be a Were Fang... Hah... how delightful. Please. Go on. Head into the caves with my children. They will teach you."

Mikage lifts her head as she looks over at the old woman, perhaps reminded by that coughing fit of the same woman who had offered her the map of the way here. "There was... a nomad woman who remembered your stories. She aided me in finding this place." Drawing out her copied map, the Ranger offers it, should the Salamanders wish to inspect it.

She attempts not to interrupt or comment, though her eyes flick from person to person, as if trying to guage how they all related to one another. It is only when addressed directly that her attention snaps back to the old woman. "Gargoyles are creatures of the night, so perhaps it makes more sense than it seems on the surface." She offers.

At the quick invitation, however, Mikage gives an appologetic look. "While I am excited to begin training, there are... complications." She lets out a breath. "There is a war going on top side. Invaders from another land trying to harm my friends and allies. If... you would allow. I would like to come back here when dire circumstances aren't quite so pressing. Return to train and learn when there aren't so many lives on the line."

Mikage's expression suggests that she knows this might be a one-time opportunity, but in the end, sacrifice is something she is all too familiar with. "In the mean time, I will keep your secret. That much I can promise."

The old woman nods her head. "Very well. I will allow for this. Come back when it is time." She seemed to show this little upturned bemusement when Mikage spoke of being a Gargoyle. But nothing else was added to the matter. Instead, the woman motions for Mikage to depart. "Ah, and try to keep your voice down. Within the Shadows, we communicate less by words, and more by... understanding one-another." She points out. "For there are many monsters who are sensitive to sound within these depths. And many we would rather avoid coming upon our village."

She accepts the map given, and instead of giving it back, she stows it away. "For safe keeping." She remarks, patting the piece of paper.

Mikage opens her mouth as if to say something in response, but then she seems to realize that that is part of the lesson here. So, instead, she simply offers a nod and another of those characteristic bows.

With the map having been taken, it will be harder to find this place again. Even so, Mikage has spent months training her navigation skills, so it's possible that she'll still be able to find many of the signs the map had showen her, simply from memory. Then again, if she were to not find this place again, then it would be a sign that she wasn't meant to, perhaps.

So, respectfully and quietly, she retreats from the presence of the old woman. Unable to help herself, she does spend at least a few more minutes in the strange place, taking it all in and trying to remember everything she can. Then, after a time, she'll make her way back into the darkness, back to Cyrus, and begin a new map... as they make their way catch a boat to their meeting with the 'good' doctor of Scale Emblem.