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Sojaveña Wilds Twilight Quarry

Reader mode
"No... but I can put up a tailwind for us?" Grace suggested, putting her paws together. "We'd have to stick together for everyone to get the benefits, though..."
 
Nova raised a brow. "Are you suggesting we split up for this?" That dungeon did not strike him as a place where that was a safe decision.
 
"Yeah, no, let's stay the fuck together."

Dave had dug his nose deep into Owen's belongings and let the Pokémon instincts take over as to what the hell he was even looking for in recognizing a specific scent. Was this just what Charmeleon smelled like, or was there something Owen-specific about it? Who knew.

"I brought a selection of berries and seeds from the orchards if we need them," he said. "Escape Orb, obviously. Attuned to Odor Sleuth, et cetera."

His heart was beating uncomfortably fast, something sickening squeezing on his lungs. The quicker they got this over with, the better.
 
Bellatrix had elected to wear a Mach Ribbon to this small excursion today in order to further aid in her mobility if there was any need for a quick retreat. "Owen is one thing, but how can we be so certain that Alexander is not in their either?" she asked. "Seeing that we have little idea how he travels to begin with."
 
"While you were watching, I noticed something, if you can confirm," Mhynt said. "The Dungeon's aura pulsed once from the outside. It was a dark ripple of shadows. And afterward, the Dungeon... became a little brighter. It was like a great power had left it.

"But none of us spotted Alexander leaving. And it was certainly him. And it hasn't gotten darker."

Mhynt closed her eyes, looking contemplative.

"That can only mean one thing, can't it?"
 
Dave furrowed his brow. "That he's teleporting from the dungeon to somewhere else?"

He wasn't totally sure about Mhynt's premises - how was she so sure a ripple of shadows and the dungeon becoming brighter meant Alexander was leaving it? - but she was the one who came from his world and had fought him before, so whatever, they could go with that for now. He sniffed at the ground, trying to notice if anything smelled different.
 
For all Dave's scouting, there was one thing he could be sure of. There were traces of Owen's scent around the Dungeon's known entrances and exits, suggesting that he did occasionally peek outside as part of some kind of guard pattern.

But not once did Dave detect Alexander's scent whatsoever. Even now, the amount of foot traffic he'd expect to find from the Dungeon was... too light. Almost token lingering scents.

While it was not confirmed if Alexander truly left the Dungeon at this very moment, one thing was clear: he didn't leave it on foot very often any longer.
 
"I think it's waypoints," Nova said, eyeing the outer recesses of the dungeon. "He made his own evil shadow counterpart to our waypoint network. He was poking around Blaguarro even before we raided Terminal Two. I'm willing to be he had a waypoint in there already that Cipher didn't know or care about. And he used it to show up and follow the escort group to get the drop on them."
 
Mhynt straightened. "We should do what we can and investigate. If we're all prepared... Let's go inside."

And with one last steady breath, Mhynt ushered the others to start heading for the Twilight Quarry entrance, its odd, rippling sheen reminding them that the other side was not their territory.

But they had to learn more to gain the upper hand. A small risk to avoid a much larger one.

With the last of their preparations done, they passed through.

Twilight Quarry greeted them the same as before, with perpetually muggy red skies and an oppressive atmosphere that ate away at their composure. The Shadowing wasn't pronounced yet, but they knew from experience that it would get stronger soon.

Dave couldn't smell anything in particular yet. They were in the labyrinthine network first, and little more could be discerned.

"Should we go deeper, or circle from the outer perimeter?" Mhynt asked, noting that there seemed to be pathways that'd facilitate either.
 
"If we're on a tight timer, I think we go deeper," Nova muttered. His ESP was active, scanning for auras aside from theirs... and any traces of what could point them toward a waypoint.
 
"Mmmm." The outer perimeter sounded safer, didn't it. But Nova was right that if they wanted to learn as much as they could quickly, probably there would be more to find deeper in the dungeon. "Yeah. Let's go deeper."
 
Grace kept close to Nova, knowing that if action needed to be taken, the two of them could band together to protect the others.

She was also worried that her previous stunts in the Quarry still made her somewhat of a target, or maybe even a threat to Owen.

"So, do we want that Tailwind now, or should I wait?" Grace asked quietly. "It'd help us get further in faster, especially when we're trying to be stealthy at the same time... but would that be something the dungeon could detect? I don't want to accidentally give us away..."
 
"We can't be sure," Mhynt said. "I don't think we're pressed for time on getting deeper yet. You can save it for when you think it's needed... I don't know myself."

But the vote seemed to be to press onward and deeper. Mhynt nodded and asked Dave to lead the way, searching for any further scents as they went into the Dungeon.

About two minutes passed, going deeper until they could recognize some of the pathways. Recognize...

"...This Dungeon... does it not shuffle around?" Mhynt said. "These turns, that--look." She pointed at a wall with a strange slash mark. "I'd left that mark the last time..."

At just then, Dave also caught a familiar scent. Alexander's. It was an old scent, though, and seemed to go down an offshoot hall.
 
Bellatrix had silently elected to follow the whims of the group. With options so limited, there was no place to weigh the risk much. The familiar sights caused Bellatrix to frown, however, and recalling their last visit, Bellatrix listened closely to try and hear if there was any activity from the local inhabitants.

"Notice anything?" she asked, her ears flicking front and back, ready to hide herself under an illusion if anything tried to jump out at her.
 
Dave's hackles rose at the traces of an all-too-familiar smell, jumping out at him from the ground from a background of fresher scents. He pointed down the hall with a low growl. "There. He went down there, or came from there. Smells like a while ago, though."
 
Mhynt identified any passageways and went briefly back and forth with Dave to see if he made any other turns. They quickly determined that Alexander had a path that connected deeper into the labyrinth--near the pit--to an offshoot hall to the side.

"Interesting," Mhynt finally murmured. "Okay. Alexander either could be going to the pit again for something... which wouldn't be surprising, considering how heavily guarded it is, or there's something important if we follow the path in its opposite direction. Which way to go... I don't know if splitting up is wise."
 
"Let's check the offshoot first?" Nova proposed. "If it's an offshoot, it's prrrobably shorter and we can figure out what's in it before potentially creeping toward the pit."

At the same time, though, he was poking his head in that direction, trying to sense anything that could be in there.
 
"Yeah, let's not split up," Dave said. He glanced up and down the path. "Check on the offshoot, then see what we want to do from there."

The Hydreigon's scent was unpleasant in his nose, a constant nasty prickle of Shadow that he valiantly ignored.
 
Mhynt nodded. Nova would see a hint of a simple path ahead, but nothing particularly special.

They walked for a while down this offshoot, not encountering anything in particular... Until, finally, they entered a spot where Dave would report the scent getting much stronger. Still an old scent, but one that was visited a lot more frequently...

And then, his senses were overwhelmed--by the sudden scent of spice. The sort of spice one would use in... cooking? Did they run into the kitchen?

It was still further ahead...
 
Dave looked up. "...Spice? Is he trying to hide his scent? It got stronger just here."
 
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