Novelux Whisperwind Comb Mystery Dungeon

[Jackie Cat]

Laura clicked her tongue, her pricked ears straining to listen. "No, no, it's a voice, it's someone. Brisa, maybe, or— Or the dungeon spirit, if it's like Sinopa, the pueblos—"

The whispering grew louder, louder, filling the ears like a rush of air, a stage-whispered roar...

...come close enough to help... ​

"There! It's coming from that fork—"

Laura took a step forward.

The orb-light faltered, then faded to subterranean black.

"Wha—? Howlers' shit—!"

...whether to trust... ​

There was a feeling like a plummet in altitude; ears popping, stomach flipping, a rush of wind.

...secrets left in darkness...​

The world-wound changed.

...reveal their self...​

​

Heroic spirits?

Hello?​

...

Can you hear me?

Wayfarers...?​

...

...What is happening in there??
​

<><><><><>​

 

[Jackie Cat]

Koa & Archie
Nova & Mhynt
Odette & Kimiko
Andre & Ridley
Laura & Isidora
Jade & Leaf

<><><><><>​

 

[Jackie Cat]

Deep in Whisperwind Comb, past the liminal threshold that sent adventurers into mindscapes drawn from each other's secrets, traumas, and inner feelings, the dungeon returned to a kind of... normalcy. The honeycomb calcite patterns returned, as did the honeyed false-light, and the susurration of the cave-winds. It almost felt somehow subdued.

Besides that, though, there too were odd traces of surface civilisation. Boardwalks on the cave floors, railings hammered into the walls, oil-rag torches hanging from the rocky ceiling. For those who'd done some research, they looked like Taleska Nation designs – some modern, some very old indeed.

Into this strange melding of nature and architecture, pairs of Wayfarers began to filter their way back together, emerging from their unexpectedly intimate experiences in various states of emotional distress or catharsis...

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova looked around, cheek bolts slowly turning. "This is looking more like the entrance." He clicked his tongue. "But not exactly the same. So, we've gotta be further down, right?" He glanced at Mhynt for affirmation.

 

[Namohysip]

"Seems so," Mhynt commented, standing a little closer to Nova than she had in the past. She looked comfortable. "Which means... whatever trickery the Dungeon did to us, we conquered it. Now the question is, did everyone else... and what happens to those who fail? Hmm." She sighed, tapping her claws on her arm. "I hope their Escape Orbs work..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I guess we... try to find what we came here for?" Nova kept his sonar-like ears open and began sniffing the ground for any traces of a scent.

 

[Tetra]

Koa loped ahead of Archie as he picked up a familiar voice in the distance. A pair of voices. A rush of relief flowed through him as he rounded a corner of the dungeon and saw Mhynt and Nova. At least two of them had made it out okay. Hopefully nobody would go around asking what happened.

"Hey! Mhynt, Nova!" he trotted up, nodding in greeting. Judging by their presence, the dungeon must have paired them together. Whatever they'd gotten through hadn't driven them apart then, and they seemed whole, unharmed. "Good to see you."

One step closer to their goal. They had to be on a deeper floor now, which meant maybe they could find Brisa. Brisa, he had to help her- "No sign of this Brisa?" he asked, glancing around.

 

[Weazel]

“Hey- Koa, wait!”

The Dewott came charging around the bend and into sight shortly after the Electrike, skidding to a halt a few feet away from the others. Well, he had to admit, out of all of them, Nova and Mhynt were probably the two that were most reassuring for them to find. They all worked well together in the past, and were more than capable of covering each others weaknesses. If worse came to worst, Archie could at least be confident that the four of them together could complete this mission.

But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

“It’s good to see some friendly faces,” Archie said with a grin, “Any sign of the others yet?”

He took a quick look around at their surroundings. This place could pass for the entrance, if they didn’t know any better. Were these trappings of society Pokemon-made, or somehow dungeon generated? After what they’d just been through, Archie didn’t want to put anything past this particular dungeon.

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova lifted his head up. His black eyes scrutinized Koa. His approached seemed... rather casual. If he'd gone through anything like what happened to him and Mhynt he should've been a bit more rattled, right? Unless he'd spent a lot of time talking things over.

Archie also appeared. Similarly casual. They were a pair, then. But even still...

Nova moved quickly. He was hesitant to use an actual attack, so he settled for kicking dirt up from the cavern floor at Koa. He had to be... relatively sure this was actually Koa. Not the dungeon spoofing other Wayfarers to screw with him and Mhynt.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura marched on with Isidora, orb-light revealing the way ahead. The tunnel from their reunion cave led to deeper floors, ones with more to their composition than natural rock, wind, and water. Wooden structures...

...and missing friends.

"Koa!" she called. "H-hey!"

Her face lit up in a smile that made her feel just how tense her face had been for the past... hour? Longer?

Not just Koa – Archie, Mhynt, Nova. More to come, no doubt. Hopefully.

"Glad to see you made it through," she said to the group, tactfully sidestepping asking about mindscapes.

Up ahead, it looked like the path became better-defined, with actual aspen-wood buildings, canvas awnings, huts and logpiles and silos...

No pokémon, though. Besides the occasional wildren scuttling out of their path, for now, it was just the Wayfarers...

 

[Tetra]

Nova moved quickly. He was hesitant to use an actual attack, so he settled for kicking dirt up from the cavern floor at Koa. He had to be... relatively sure this was actually Koa. Not the dungeon spoofing other Wayfarers to screw with him and Mhynt.

Koa gave a yelp and jumped back. "Hey what gives?" he said irritably, shaking off his pelt and shooting Nova an annoyed look. He pawed some dirt from his face and brushed off his jacket.

Before he could question Nova's bizarre behaviour, another familiar voice met his ears.

"Laura! Good to see you guys," he said, unable to hide the relief in his voice. He gave Isidora an awkward nod before looking away, fairly sure she hated him still. At least they were both okay. If Laura and Isidora was here that left... Odette, Leaf, Ridley, Jade, Kimiko and Andre. If anyone didn't make it, they'd just be ejected, right? They'd be fine. He had to trust that.

"I guess we're techncially deeper but I wonder how deep we have to go to find Brisa..." How long could she be down here for? "Who'd she even come here with?" he murmured, half to himself. She'd have to have someone else, right?

Betel, can you hear us?

 

[Ambyssin]

"I had to make sure you were real," Nova mumbled, turning around. "I don't know what happened to you guys, but dark-typing couldn't protect me from the dungeon pulling out my worst memory and making Mhynt go through it."

And vice versa.

 

[Namohysip]

"I imagine something similar happened to you all," Mhynt added, unconsciously stepping closer to Nova. She was practically leaning on him at this point. "...I don't understand what purpose this all serves. But here we are. We made it through."

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova relaxed a bit from Mhynt's contact, his fur and crest softening. "Couldn't hear another 'mon." He licked the tip of his beak with his tongue. "Didn't smell anyone else, either."

 

[Weazel]

It wasn't long before Laura and Isadora arrived, bringing their number to six. Even better for their odds, though the Dewott couldn't help but notice the slightest hint of tension in the air. Nova throwing dirt to make sure Koa was real, the way Laura seeming to skirt around the topic of what'd they'd all been through. Even the way Koa avoided looking Isidora in the eye. And meanwhile Mhynt was practically hanging off of Nova, and the Graydian only seemed to relax at her touch. Had something... Specific, happened between between the two of them?

"It was... An experience," Archie said, trying and failing to find a more diplomatic way to put it. Then he glanced at Nova again. "If you haven't heard or smelled anything else, probably safe to say we're the first ones to make it down here."

So, what was the plan? Did they wait for the others or try and scout ahead? Maybe if they split into two groups, but that would be groups of three, and who knew if the Dungeon had more pair based shenanigans in store...

Still, it was worth suggesting, at least.

"I can scout the area, if anyone wants to wait here for the others?" Archie asked.

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova picked his head up and looked around. "Considering the situation... someone should have been the first one to make it down here. Either she went further down or... she's rightfully hiding from us." He glanced at his backside. "I don't exactly make us a safely approachable group."

 

[Tetra]

Koa nodded in response to Mhynt, doing his best to put the thoughts out of his mind. "We made it through." Keep it simple. Based on who made it, the dungeon had broken them into pairs... At least it was Archie, not Mhynt. What would a legendary think of him? What kinds of groups had the others ended up in? Hopefully Odette would be okay.

"Either she went further down or... she's rightfully hiding from us."

"She and whoever she came with," Koa pointed out, glad to focus his mind on other topics. The Litten, Starr maybe? Hadn't they been traveling together? I hope Brisa is okay.... he sniffed the air, trying to catch a trace of anything resembling what could have been Brisa's scent.

"We could try calling out, maybe its just us down here."

He hesitated for a moment, then as loud as he dared, spoke up, his voice halting. "Brisa? If you're there, we're here to help, we don't mean any harm." Not too loud, but maybe if she was nearby she'd hear. Luxio had good hearing... Besides if something attacked, there was enough of a group to handle them.

 

[Jackie Cat]

At first, nothing changed. The cave-winds whispered, as they always did—

...rescue...​

Another light flickered to life at the far end of the 'settlement' cavern.

Laura began to hesitantly stalk forwards, eyes dilated, ears alert. No reason to assume anything just yet...

"You guys hear that...? See that?"

As she stepped into the bounds of the 'village', her gaze fell on familiar-looking mosaic tiles set into the cave wall. Her eyes narrowed. That looked like... the Circhester hot spring baths. Home. Her eyes flicked elsewhere and caught a glimpse of camping tent fabric. Like tiny elements from her memories had been randomly rolled into this place...

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova's eyes narrowed. He thought he saw black shadows and a pulsating light out of the corner of his eye. "Oh for fuck's sake not this again..."

Well, he had a loud screechy bird voice. Surely, it could carry much farther than his smaller teammates' cries. "HEEEEEEY! Anybody down here? We're here to help!"

 

[Tetra]

Nothing. At least, nothing that sounded like a person. He felt sure he'd know when he heard her Was Brisa even on this floor? He moved forward, but slower, not wanting to leave the group. It was like some kind of strange patchwork of a village, or a town. Remnants of something that used to be here?

"Nova, you ok-" the words petered off as he spotted something ahead. A part of a bookcase. Two parts of wooden bookcases forming an angle, with a old beanbag chair between. A patch of stone tiles and a broken pillar, like an old temple. Koa froze. Keep walking. It's not real. Forcing himself to look away, he studied the area for any signs of habitation. Not like he had time to stop and read anyway.

"I saw... something," Koa said to Laura.

He shook his head. "Maybe its just the dungeon trying to lure us away."

"Brisa?" he called again, a little louder. Surely if there was a pokemon living down here there'd be traces?