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There's a quiet cascading sound of rubble pouring aside and then a pause. Riley's voice filters from wherever the heck it is he is, "I do believe we're all but out of this room. I think we're to those troughs that were in the floor."

Niko follows after a bit of his own rubble-rummaging. "Out is good," he decides. "Though if we can bypass the troughs, that would be good. Are we going to have to go through them?"

Tara pauses to think back to the memory of what they'd seen before getting squished, and nods, resuming digging. "Doing better than expected then. Eeewww, handsome, don't even think that."

"We're going to have to go over," Riley explains, pausing a moment. "But the rubble's been pouring into them, so it shouldn't be too tricky." There's a pause, "Or messy."

Niko mumbles something over his shoulder to Tara, a something that definitely involves the word 'Skippy'. After that, he nods to Riley. "Sounds... well, not good, but acceptable, at least."

Tara grins amiably without looking up from the rubble. "Long as it gets us closer to getting out of here, just about anything would be acceptable."

Riley comes edging back up towards y'all, turning to shift his feet into position to kick a large rock forward. There's more cascading sounds as the rubble pours into the trough. He offers a rather ragged grin back in the pitiful light available. "Maybe once we're clear of the midget's pyramid, things'll be clear still." Hello, wishfull thinking?

Niko is apparently feeling quite optimistic today. "Sure, bet it will be." Of course, he doesn't say -what- he's going to bet. "Once more into the rocks?"

Tara smiles slightly. "That would be an awfully nice reward for all this." One grimy nailbroken hand gestures toward the path already dug before she nods to Niko. "Damn things are starting to look tasty."

There's a skittered thump as Riley tosses back a candy bar, chocolate of course, "That better than a rock Valentine? Nick, want one?"

Niko perks up more than a little. "Chocolate? That'd be great, yeah, Riley. Thanks." (What man among you, when your brother asks for chocolate, gives him a stone?)

Tara blinks as the candy hits the floor and slides up to her. "Addison, you're a lifesaver! I take back half the nasty things I've ever said about you." She pounces on the chocolate, unwrapping it with trembling fingers. The first bite brings on a look of bliss.

Riley tosses back a second one, trust Riley of all people to be carrying chocolate. More thumps and shifting sounds occur. "Half, wow, remind me to give her chocolate more often, Nick."

Niko suggests, as he unwraps his own candy, "Give her another one, maybe you'll get 'em all taken back." He scarfs down a bite or two, then tucks the remainder into a pocket, the better to help with the rock-shifting.

Tara snickers softly, ignoring the grit that goes into her mouth along with the rest of the chocolate. "I'm in a good mood, but not /that/ good a mood." She shifts forward on her knees to continue playing bulldozer.

Riley makes his way over the rubble filled trough, moving carefully. Upon reaching the other side he calls back, "Floor again. And I think we're near one of the doors."

Niko picks his way across the rocks as well, sliding briefly as the rocks shift beneath his feet. "Watch that bit," he calls over his shoulder. "That was an adventure. Floor. Floor is good, stable, doesn't randomly -move-."

Tara follows carefully, scuttling insectlike as she places her weight carefully. "Got it. Ah, don't jinx us, Casymed, eh?" She sounds amused, at least.

You walk towards the Arched Entrance Hall.

Arched Entrance Hall

On the same grand scale of the rest of the pyramid, this entrance hall is riddled with large arches leading off into the depths of the temple. The floor is covered in mosaic glass, each gleaming chip contributing to massive depiction of a dragon curled around a planet as if it were a treasure. The dragon's eyes and claws are set with gold, causing them to shine with menace. Unlike Linnae's dragons, this ones back is covered with scales in every color of the rainbow, rather than hide of a single shade. Text in some language so long dead that it appears to be no more than decoration serves as a border around the room's edge. The ceiling is painted a pitch dark, like a winter night sky, with stars carefully etched in such a way that they shine. The walls are painted with bright frescos, which have deteriorated much with age. It is possible however to pick out a hint of landscape here or there in the darkened peeling mass.

Contents:

Riley

Obvious exits:

Stairs Up Main Temple Outside

You walk here from the Heart of the Dragonlord's Temple.

Tara walks here from the Heart of the Dragonlord's Temple.

Tara has arrived.

"Definately in a different room," Riley calls back quietly, "The floor's different."

Niko scuffs a bit of dust from the floor. "Different," he agrees, bending down to peer at the mosaic. "Wow, this is... intricate, colorful. How in the world did it -get- here?"

Tara pauses, scratching at the floor with a fingernail. "We can ask the archaeologists when we get out. Now the question is... where do we go from here?"

Riley obviously decides to take something of a break, as he slides back to the main group, slumping against a chunk of rubble to regard the mosaic as well, back here where there is light. "Gorgeous stuff, however it got here. And we go the same way we've been going, following the air."

Niko, seeing that Riley seems of a breakish mood, settles to a seat on the ground. Resting when one can, after all, is very good. "Archaeologists, yeah. Maybe drag Corian down here to say what that says," he adds thoughtfully, with a vague gesture towards the writing.

Tara breathes a soft sigh, rocking back to sit down restlessly. "Gonna have to get the place cleared first. That'll take months."

"Months or more, knowing archeologists." Riley agrees quietly, using the inside length of his flannel shirt to wipe some of the worst of the grime from his face. "Still, as long as we get out of it, they can take all the time they want in my book."

Niko has apparently given up on getting rid of the grime, with the exception of a shake of his head, which sends a cloud of dust from his curly hair--away from the others, he's not that evil. He looks decidedly gray-haired, despite the fleeing dust. "Getting out sounds -very- good. But we're farther out than we were."

Tara yeahs quietly, not even bothering at a clean-up effort. "And the sooner we get back to digging, the sooner we'll get all the way out," she hints.

Riley bites back a sigh at the hint, but shoves himself back up to crawl back to his previous position to resume digging without comment.

Niko doesn't bite back a sigh. He sighs as he gets to his feet, though he doesn't comment either, and doesn't send any nasty looks towards Tara. After a moment, he starts to hum. Maybe it's that hi-ho song from Snow White. In any event, it's monotonous.

Tara's eyebrows rise at the sigh as she scrambles to her feet, but as the humming starts, she doesn't ask. "Oh, Casymed, that's cruel. Distracting, but cruel." It does make digging go easier though.

Shuffle, shift, scruffle... Like a ferret in a flowerpot, Riley continues his determined digging, slowly following the natural shafts in the rubble towards the source of air. "Our midgets had to have been using that door instead, the oak one? So there's a way other than our tube, I'm hoping that's where we're headed."

Niko just smiles at Tara. It's not a pleasant smile. At Riley's words, however, he finally stops. "That'd be nice, yeah. Though if we're following the air, it has to open -somewhere-."

Tara nods, eyes on what she's doing, so she doesn't catch the unpleasant smile. "My luck, we're headed in a circle back to one of the other dragon heads."

"Those were a good, what, fifty feet off floor level? We're on the floor level now." Riley's words are intermittant and halting, interrupted by the effort needed to shift rubble. "Wherever we're headed, it's not likely another head."

Niko muffles a snicker, the sound breaking off as he packs some rocks out of the way. "Heading towards a head," he murmurs. "Sounds like a song with bad lyrics."

Tara appears somewhat comforted as she digs thru a pile of gravel to pull out a chunk of rock. "Better than Disney."

Riley throws his weight against a panel of frescoed wall in the path, attempting to get it aside. It's arguing the issue.

Niko mumbles something about plasma bolters and walls, giving his tangler a briefly tempted look. "Or at least a sledgehammer," he adds, moving to give Riley a hand--er, shoulder.

Tara pauses to watch the men. "Just yell at it, Addison. Always made /me/ crumble."

Thankfully with the additional help, the wall is shoved out of the way. Riley offers Niko a nod of thanks, "Preciate it," he murmurs as he drops back down to edge into the tiny space opened up.

Niko mutters, apparently in response to Tara's comment, "If only that'd happen -now-." He adds a polite nod to Riley, acknowledging his brother's thanks, and waits patiently to follow into the land of tiny spaceness.

Tara rolls her eyes with a snicker, folding her arms as she waits to follow. "So sorry, only one wish granted per crisis."

Niko pauses to inquire, "What was my wish, then?"

Tara's fingers flicker in a vague gesture. "Last night, you wanted us to pretend to be nice to each other."

Niko snorts softly. "It only counts if the wish comes true."

Riley harrumphs softly from the hole he's crawled into, clearing it further and slowly dissapearing. "This isn't Jericho."

Tara snorts right back. "Hey, I'm making an effort here, Casymed. That won't be so in the future if you keep that up." She makes for the hole. "Jericho?"

You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.

"As to yelling at walls." Riley isn't required to make sense, see." He just keeps digging.

Niko casts a rather sourly amused look at Tara, but he doesn't comment, instead turning his attention fully to digging. And humming.

Tara's mouth quirks in only half-annoyed amusement. "Clear as mud, yep, thanks for the explanation." After a moment of digging she can resist no longer, and her whistling matches Niko's humming.

Shuffle, scruffle, dead stop. Riley's voice echoes back, "Be careful of the dead body..." and at that he keeps going. Helpful, isn't he?

Niko's humming stops. So does he, for that matter. "Uh." He clears his throat. "Thanks, Riley. I'll, uh, look out for that." Looking decidedly unthrilled, he follows into the hole.

The whistling stops too, as Tara sits up slightly to peer ahead. Unable to get a look, she resumes digging. "Midget or missing woman?"

"It's a guy, assuming it's one of our midgets. Not really a midget though." Riley's reply doesn't come out all in one nice string though, but in halting segments as he digs.

Niko seems just a bit relieved by this news. "Not a midget," he agrees as he nears the body, absently shoring up rock.

Tara pauses to poke at the body once she gets close enough. "Ugly bastard." Of course, getting squished doesn't have the best effect on one's appearance. "Wonder how many are left alive we might run into."

"Burn that bridge when we get to it," Riley offers in between the moving of debris. "Air's clearing a bit, little less dust."

Niko nods his agreement to Riley's words. "Tangle that bridge," he mumbles, with a soft grunt for a particularly obnoxious rock. Yes, he's a manly man, despite being played by a woman.

Tara pats her side, checking, then nods and leans forward to dig some more. "Sounds like a plan. Any theories as to what caused all this? Theories not involving the Chairman?"

Riley continues shuffling and shifting rubble, although more slowly now than the night before. "Nit Lexington's fault this time, I'd bet."

Niko nods his agreement. "He's not a deity, just a guy with too many cans shoved up his--" Why do rocks always choose to fall when he wants to end a sentance with that word?

Tara nods slightly, her words rather absent. "Okay, excluding deityhood of the Chairman, any theories?"

Niko suggests, "Well, there were dragons right before all the boom and all..."

"This place wasn't built for, or by, humans." Okay, maybe that wasn't much help, but Riley's been less than helpful for a while now.

Tara looks up to blink. "You're not suggesting /dragons/ built this place, are you?"

"No, little orange gnomes did." Riley shifts another rock, once again dissapearing from view.

Niko takes his own time to space words because of rock-moving. "Pre-space-travel building. Humans colonized this place -after- space travel. Though I like the little orange gnome theory."

Tara looks a tad rattled, tossing chunks of rock over her shoulder. "Sorry, it's a rather startling revelation."

"Urf." Oh now that's an inventive noise. Riley scrabbles around some more, "Somebody pass me a wideish flat rock, please?"

Niko fumbles for a rock that fits the aforementioned description, offering it to Riley. "It's right behind you, and to your left."

Riley reaches back to take the offered rock, "Thanks Nick." There's some rattling and a couple of solid thumps, and Riley resumes his progress. "Careful of that dip in the ceiling there."

Tara goes back to digging after Niko fulfills the request. "Dips, bloody depressions, and corpses. Well, one corpse. Things have got to get better from here on in."

Niko doesn't voice his own thoughts, as they're definitely not as positive as Tara's. "No problem, Riley. Stones we've got a'plenty." He ducks under the dip in question, another puff of dust escaping his hair as it is poofled by said dip.

Riley whistles softly, the scruffling sounds stopping. "Opens up a bit here...pattern on the floor's wild. Maybe a bit of a stopping place for a few minutes, breath catching..."

Tara grimaces at the thought of a break, but nods agreeably. "You, uh, don't happen to have more of that chocolate, do you?"

Niko makes his way into the open area, settling to a seat on the ground with a quiet sigh of relief. "Break sounds good." He fumbles with his pocket in preparation for removing his stashed chocolate. Yay self-rationing.

Riley shakes his head at that, leaning against the remains of a pipe. "Sorry, Valentine. I don't. A pocketknife, my keys, some datacards and my tangler comprises the rest of my personal inventory."

Tara settles down tailor fashion on the floor. "I'll take the datacards..." she offers with a grin.

Niko takes out his own chocolate and breaks it into three bits, tossing one (still-wrapped) section towards Tara and offering another to Riley. Yes, he was a Boy Scout, why? He doesn't say anything, just seeming happy for the break.

Riley shakes his head at Niko, and harrumphs at Tara, "Over my dead body. Not that they're anything sensitive, mind. But still, the principle of the thing."

Tara chuckles. "I wasn't serious, Addison. Well, not much at any rate." She beams a grateful smile at Niko, unwrapping her share of the chocolate to eat a bit more slowly this time. "Eat, Addison," she advises. "You're not going to do any of us any good by denying yourself."

Niko's chocolate-bearing hand is still extended quite patiently towards Riley. "What she said." He pauses for a moment, then swears under his breath. "I have to go back--my comm-unit. Must be where we slept, or something."

"Exceedingly not hungry, promise." Riley nods, "We'll be here, or ahead a bit one."

Tara nods to Niko, munching. "Hey, be careful, okay?" Thoughtful eyes turn to Riley.

Niko tosses the extra chocolate to Tara, then, with a murmur about lack of hunger and a brief look of concern for Riley. He doesn't say anything other than that, though, instead turning to go back the way he came. "Right, I'll catch up. And careful doesn't matter. Luck does." Lifting a hand, he pads into the opening.

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