The Cave (open)

OOC: Okay, so the story. This is gonna be a cave that SUPPOSEDLY has treasure in it but actually it is guarded by a pirate ghost who wants to kill everyone.

BIC: Viserial Malkog looked down on the cave that had taken him many leads and several dead ends to find from the tree he was perched in. The night before, he had strung up a tiny cot among the branches to sleep in so he was off the ground, not wanting to enter the eerie cave at night. So, with two rounds for his gun and enough gold to by a room and a meal, he tied his small sack of bread and his small sack of water to his belt, behind his sword and gun.

Slowly, he entered the cave and found himself in an immense maze. He sighed and began to hug the left wall, marking his progress with a small piece of chalk. After about five minutes...he came upon his own chalk. But he hadn't passed the exit! Looking around, he saw a black stretch of wall behind him and hundreds of corridors. He thought he heard a laugh, but was sure it was just his imagination. So, in search of the treasure, he pressed on, hoping he'd be able to find his way back.

OOC: Basically, you can go in but can't come out.

OoC: I'll be joining in with Vivi. This should be interesting.

BiC:

It was midday, and the town was bustling with activity. Many, resident and foreigners, wandered the streets in merriment, looking at the wares of the many merchants that had set up shop. And as this went on, Vivi Wilder kept in the shadows, scanning the crowd for her prey. Her eyes kept switching from the small photo in her hand to the crowd, trying to spot the face that occupied the photo. Every person in the crowd was looked upon, the woman not leaving one person hidden.

Suddenly, Vivi saw a slight glimpse of a match. Her body began to move toward the face instinctively, her sword thrust out of its sheath and her legs moving into a run. The woman held out her left arm, pushing all obstacles in her path to the ground. Her prey turned at the sudden commotion to have the woman's blade thrust into his neck. And as soon as the blade escaped the corpse's neck, Vivi fled to the shadows again, hiding from the sights of the dispersing crowd.

The hunter smiled, thinking of her large reward for killing this man. She sheathed her sword, and turned to see a large man blocking her path.

"That was rather entertaining, Miss. Wilder," the man spoke. Vivi immediately drew her sword and focused her full attention on this stranger. The man was tall, and rather overweight. His high status was advertized all over his appearance, from the overpriced suit to the fancy jewelery. He himself was not a threat, but then again he could have bought himself some dangerous toys.

The man looked down at the short woman, "Now, there's no need to violence. I've come to offer you a job." Vivi looked warily at him, her sword not once falling from it's position.

"I believe there is. You know my name. Not many people do. How about you explain yourself?" Vivi bluntly asked, poison dripping from her words.

The man chuckled, "I assume you haven't seen this, then." The man pulled a roll of paper from his suit, unraveling it before showing it's contents in Vivi's direction. On the paper was a picture of a juvinile Vivi, probably from when she was roughly fourteen. Under the picture was a request of her capture, with a hefty sum of capturing her alive. Vivi smirked at the paper.

"If you're planning on taking me alive, I'm afraid I have to kill you," Vivi spoke. The man again chuckled.

"I'm not going to attempt such a think. I told you I was offering you a job, was I not? This was only to explain why I knew of you," the man said, "Now, do you want to hear about it? There is a hefty reward for your cooperation."

Vivi did not lower her sword, "I'm listening. I'd like to hear the job before I agree."

The man frowned, walking around casually, not even caring that a sword was lifted at him. "I want you to find some treasure for me. It's located at a cave to the north of this town. It's a simple task, really. Just find the treasure, and retrieve it. You will recieve a generous pay if you get it."

"If it's such a simple task, why don't you get someone else to get it? A killer is not very suitable for a task like this," Vivi spoke, suspicious begining to grow inside of her head.

"All 10 of my previous hired men have all not returned. I want a killer for that reason," the man spoke with a smile on his face. Vivi suspiciously looked at the man, but lowered her sword anyway.

"Fine, I'll take the job. When I get the treasure I'll meet you in this exact spot," Vivi spoke, quickly walking away in the shadows to the north of town.

The man smirked, "I'll be waiting..."

---

Vivi arrived in the opening of the cave, her sword in her hand and her eyes looking inside of the cave.

"Pitch black..." Vivi observed, walking away from the mouth to break off a thick branch of a tree. The woman took two stones from the ground, striking them together until a spark fell upon the branch, lighting it on fire. She walked back toward the cave with the torch in hand, and walked in, using the fire as her light.

The cave looked like an intricate maze the second she walked in.

"Must be why they went missing...they must've gotten lost..." Vivi muttered to herself. All of a sudden, the outside light that shined behind her went out. The woman turned around, seeing that the mouth that had been behind her was replaced by another wall. The woman gave a frustrated look, but turned again to the cave.

"That might be why, too."

OoC: Sorry if this is long! Vivi just needed a reason to actually come.

OoC: Okay slither, now that my Minish friend Pixae is approved, I'll be joining this cave expedition.

BiC: *whirrrrr*
Augh, so hungry....
I was lost, scared and hungry. It'd been about three days since I'd wound up lost on my way to the Capital, and I had now somehow ended up in some kind of Market Town.

I approached a small bakery, and stared longingly at all the delicious food on display. I wished had enough money to buy at least something.... But alas, I had naught.

I considered stealing, but all of the merchants had their wares either contained in a glass display, or behind the counter. So there was no way I could have stolen anything without raising alarm, especially since I had no experience in thievery, among other skills.

I then noticed a small boy staring at me with intense interest, like so many children do when they see me. He was holding a large lollipop that he hadn't even opened from it's wrapping yet.
Gee, that lollipop sure looks nice... and it's within reach aswell. The kid's so fascinated by me, he probably wouldn't evn notice if I were to just take it from him....
"N-no! Stealing from a child?! That's crossing the line!" I said aloud. Several people looked at me judgementally. The mother of the boy was alarmed by what I had said, and quickly moved herself and her child away from me.
That's not something I would normally do, speaking aloud like that. But the lack of food was getting to me.

"I wish I had enough money to buy at least some bread or something...."
I could always pick-pocket...
"Hm, yeah... that's an idea...."
I looked around for someone who looked like they had some money. A middle-class man walked by me, so I slowly moved my hand towards his pocket. He noticed me, and smacked my hand away.
"Ouch!" I yelled.
"Oi! Watch it, shrimp!".

Clutching my now sore right hand, I moved away from the man as fast as I could. I then noticed a strange woman standing in the shadows, her eyes darting back and forth between the crowd, and a picture in her hand. Her eyes moved towards me, if only for a second, before moving back to the picture.
The pockets on the side of her pants were old and ripped, making her a (seemingly) easy target for pick-pocketing.

I slowly moved towards her, hoping this rather poor looking girl had at least some money. Before I could even get close to her, her eyes flared and she sprinted into the crowd.
Huh, so much for that.

------

After many, many failed attempts to steal some money, I began to feel hopeless, and considered just giving up. I sat down on a bench, slumped down and let out a huge sigh.
*whirrrrr*
There goes my stomach again....

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an incredibly rich, overweight man sat down next to me. His pants were inredibly large, so his pockets were aswell, and in his pockets, I saw a wallet simply stuffed with money.
I was so small compared to him, he didn't realise I was sitting next to him! So I doubt he would notice me slipping my tiny hand into his ginormous pocket. Besides, even if he did notice me, he was too busy stuffing his face with donuts to even care. So, I did it. I stole his wallet.

I ran to the small bakery from earlier as fast as I could, and bought more food than I could ever hope to afford with my own money. When suddenly...
"M-m-m-my wallet! My money! It's.... it's.... It's gone!".
Everything went silent from the sound of the fat man's thunderous voice. I almost choked on my 12th cream bun.
"You.... You!" the fat man said, pointing his finger at me.
"W.... what?" I said, trying to play innocent. I then noticed that I was still holding his wallet in my left hand.
Dah! How could I be so stupid!?
"Oi! That's the guy what tried to steal my wallet!" A man cried.
"He tried to steal mine aswell!" Said another man.
"And mine!"
"Mine too!"
"He tried to steal my Tommy's lollipop!"
"He almost stole all the money I 'ad!"
" I caught him stealing my purse!"
"He tried to steal my wedding ring!"
"GET HIM!" bellowed the fat man.
At least a dozen guards and several angry villagers began to run at me, intent on capturing me.

I dropped everything (except the wallet, which I slipped into one of the many pockets in my cloak) and ran for the nearest exit, the Northern exit.
They chased me into the forest, and the pursuit lasted at least half an hour, with them always hot on my heels.

Eventually I came to the a large cave entrance and, exhausted after running for so long, I stumbled inside to hide.


The guards and the villagers stopped in their tracks the moment they saw the cave.
"Oh no.... He hasn't gone into the cave has he?" Said one of the villagers.
"Seems so..." said another.
"Good luck kid. You'll need it in there..." said a guard.

OoC: GEEZUS this is long!
I wanted Pixae to have a proper reason to enter the cave, not just "Oh look here's a cave I'm gonna go in it."

Viserial stumbled through the many pathways, at times tripping over an unseen rock and cutting his arms or scraping his fingers as he caught himself on the rough wall, though they weren't deep enough to impede him. Even if they did hurt like hell.

Eventually, he found the first skeleton. He blinked and groaned with annoyance. "Crap! I'm gonna die in here!" Luckily, the skeleton had a torch which Vis took and found two rocks, snapping them together until he had set the end of the torch alight with a spark.

He held the torch high, making it easier to avoid the rocks as he proceeded along the paths. Eventually he heard footsteps and raised the light higher, pressing forward. Vis ran into a young woman on accident, the torch flying away and getting put out, but when he reached out another wall had closed about it. He cursed furiously, but he was glad he had found a new person.

"I'm Viserial. Call me Vis. Are you trapped here too?" he asked the woman, not unkindly but he was not exactly generating benevolence.

OOC: Mine feels short now... XD I'm surprised I actually read both posts entirely. You guys are good.

Vivi hated caves. She had trouble seeing, her senses were all messed up, and it messed with gravitational perception. And now since she was trapped inside of the cave, the woman didn't know how long it would take before she went mad. Vivi needed her senses, she needed to stay upright. If she couldn't at least keep in control of her own body, there's no way the job could be completed. And the job needed to completed.

Vivi smirked a little in the darkness as she wandered through the cave with her torch. While the woman had ditched the organization that she had been raised in, she still thought about things as if she was still in it. Hell, the organization obviously still kept her in mind. Even though logic whispered that the bounty placed on her could have been made by anyone, maybe a relative of her targets or just someone else trying to capture her for selfish reasons, her instinct told her it was them.

Suddenly, Vivi heard the echos of footsteps surrounding her. They were coming from every direction, the original sound bouncing off the cave walls and crippling her ability to even hear which direction they came from. She waved her torch around wildly, struggling to spot the source and any possible threat. Vivi immediately used her free hand to pull out her sword, being prepared for the moment she saw movement.

Vivi felt someone slam into her back, sending her forward to the ground. Her sword and torch fell to her sides, and her body laid belly-down. Vivi quickly scrambled up to standing position, her sword in hand and her torch, dim but not out, in her other.

"I'm Viserial. Call me Vis. Are you trapped here, too?" Vivi heard from behind her. The voice was male, and rather deep. She turned around to see a man standing behind her. The man, Viserial, was around 9 inches taller than her. He was rather lean, but she could tell from looking at him that he could still be threatening. Looking up to his face, Vivi saw that he had a mop of black hair on his head, with odd red eyes and a scar to the side of his face.

Vivi instinctively lifted her sword upward in Viserial's direction. Despite his kind words, he definitely didn't seem like a harmless person. Vivi silently looked at the man, ready to strike at any sign of danger.

Lost. Completely lost. I had entered the cave thinking it to be a small little room for me to hide. Never in a thousand years did I think it would be the huge, complex labyrinth of death that I was now damned to wander, completely alone. Or so I thought.

Off in the distance, I could hear footsteps, people talking, and the sound of something clattering to the ground. And I swear I could see the faintest flickering of torchlight bouncing off the walls.

"He-hello? Is anyone.... is anyone there?" I cried, though I got no response.
Then, out of nowhere, I felt the presence of something standing behind me, and my entire body suddenly turned as cold as.... as cold as death.
I froze, not daring to move. Something drew close to my right ear, something evil, something sinister.

"THIS IS WHERE YOU DIE."

I panicked, and bolted towards the torch light and the sound of people talking, hoping, praying someone was there to help me, and I wasn't just going insane.

"Help! Help me please! Something's here! Something- GAH!", my screams of help were interrupted by a swift blow to the back of my head. I was out cold.

OoC: So basically, Pixae is being a complete idiot and leading the Ghost Pirate straight to Vivi and Viserial. Well, he was, until the Ghost Pirate KO'ed him.


EDIT:
Something I just realised, Pixae is actually older than Vivi and Viserial!

OOC: Sweet. For the record I think he's gonna be more of a poltergeist cut and dry pirate. See through and all.

BIC: Viserial raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, amusement clear upon his scarred face. He chuckled.

"Look, I was just making polite conversation. Only thing we can do down here. Unless you're cannibalistic. Then I would run," he said with his own quirky sense of humor. This girl struck him as the more...serious type. Though he hadn't been around more than a thousand passerby, and knew very few people, so he couldn't really tell. He looked down at the sword point judgmentally, calculating. "You hold your blade quite well. Could I get your name? I'll end up calling you girl other-"

At that moment, he heard footsteps and screams for help. With an immediate flick, his sword was out and raised, though he couldn't tell which way the sounds were coming from. Then he realized with a jolt that one sound preceded the other. Almost like...a chase. Then suddenly there was only one set of footsteps at a massive scream. Then those stopped as well to be replaced by a mad cackle when an unearthly glow filled the corridor of stone. The girl's light was blown out like a candle on a birthday cake, but that did little to affect the new light penetrating the darkness.

This light came from a silvery figure about ten feet from Viserial. It was around seven feet tall, male, see through and broad-shouldered. A black hat with a skull and cross bones symbol adorned his head, with an open-chest black vest took up his torso. A pair of simple sack pants were upon his legs, also black. His feet, however, were too pale to see clearly. The rest of him was see through and his skin... The skin stretched over a see-through set of bones. A saber was attached to the ghost's left side, making him obviously right-handed.

It was a pirate.

"I am Captain Kalkak, the ghost's voice boomed. It echoed through the cave.

"Well, I'm Viserial. Now, if you will kindly step aside, ghosty, I'd like to find some treasure and get out of-"

NO ONE TAKES MY TREASURE! the ghost boomed even louder, throwing Vis against a wall. At that moment he noticed the small form at the pirate's feet.

Who was that? his thoughts asked, trying not to think in the past-tense.

OoC: Hm, not really sure what to do here, since Pixae is unconscious and all. And I don't really want him to wake up so soon. :/
'Spose I could say what's going on in his head. Oh, wait! Idea!

BiC: Rule 14 of being a Ghost: Never touch a mortal's head.
Why did I know that? Because of rule 14. Never touch a mortal's head, or else beware that a part of you may seep into their mind. Since ghosts are basically big lumps of spiritual energy.

As I lay there at Captain Kalkak's feet, lord knows what happening around me, I watched. Watched Bartholomew James Kalkak's mortal life. I watched him go fishing with his Father, I watched him sink an entire ship full of innocent men, women and children. I watched as he cried at his Mother's funeral, as he played with his friend Tim, as he destroyed an entire village, as he murdered his brother, as he learned to tie his shoes, as he fell in love, as he slaughtered thousands, and.... as he died.

OoC: Sorry for just giving Kalkak a full name out of nowhere, you can change it if you want.

Vivi eyed the ghost with a wary look. Multiple battle strategies ran though her brain in an instant, yet all were questionable in if they would actual succeed. A full frontal attack was out of the question, as Viserial was merely tossed to the wall like a rag doll. And she didn't even know what other tricks this ghost had up its sleeve, not to mention that this definitely a magical or spiritual figure. Vivi didn't even want to think about being up against another magical being, at least not head on. The woman didn't even want to think of the failures she experienced while fighting those with magical abilities.

The only possible winning options were to either surprise the being or not even fight the pirate ghost and get the treasure. In order to complete her job, she didn't have to win against this ghost, and she didn't have any obligation to Viserial. All she needed was to collect the treasure. Nothing else was required of her. So she decided to do the only logical option she could think of.

She ran.

Vivi ran to the nearest opening in the cave walls and rushed out of the area, completely abandoning the only person she encountered to fight with the ghostly figure. She ran into total darkness, and straight into a wall. Vivi fell to the ground, but quickly got back on her feet with her sword in hand. She laid her free hand on the cold cave wall and stayed still for a moment.

"Now how am I to even find the treasure?" she thought to herself.

OoC: Oh Vivi. Isn't she just the sweetest?

OoC: Lol, she didn't even noticed the small injured person on the ground, and just ditched someone who seemed to want to help her. She's so friendly.
I think I'll let Viserial do his thang before Pixae will wake up, whatever the heck he plans his thang to be

Viserial slowly stood up, sword heavy in his hand as he observed the ghost with hatred. "God dammit little girl!" he shouted after Vivi. "Fine. Always had to do things by myself anyway...stupid little..." Rushing forward, he dodged another spiritual blast and grabbed the small figure, running through the tunnel as the ghost split into two, one running after Vivi and the other after Viserial and the smaller figure. Then they were at a cliff in the tunnel. He couldn't see the bottom and had only seen the drop because of the ghost's light. So he did the only thing he could.

He jumped.

Now, Viserial wasn't average. He could create stairs and slides and a slide is just what they needed. Sliding down the magical chute was draining his energy, and after around twenty feet he was ready to pass out. Fighting exhaustion, he managed to go another ten feet to the bottom where they landed in a pool of water.

The ghost, seeming to think he had died, gave up and went to go after Vivi in its entirety. Climbing up from the pool, he set the small figure down on the ground and passed out next to him.

BiC: I opened my eyes. I was cold, I was wet, and had forgotten most of the things I had seen while I was unconcious. Except for one thing. I then turned my head to see...

"Ah! W-w-w-w-who are y-you?!" I said, leaping up away from the man that was lying next to me, my nervous stutter tripled by the biting cold. I drew my small blade, my hands shaking, and rolled him onto his back with my foot. He had long, shoulder-lenght black hair and a scar on the left side of his face. He was out cold, so I thought it safe to sheath my blade.

I saw a long blade strapped to his waist in a silver scabbard. I drew the sword from it's sheath to inspect it. It's blade was blue, and it was larger than my entire body. I swung it around in the air, fascinated by this curious weapon. Suddenly, it emitted a bright, white light, illuminating the entire room. We were in a large almost circular room, the roof miles and miles above. I began to search for an exit, still holding the strange man's blade.

Vivi breathed slowly as she tried to feel around in the darkness. Her head whipped around multiple times, trying to see if there was any sort of light around, or if that ghost had followed her. There was nothing but pure, disorienting darkness that surrounded. Vivi couldn't help but chuckle at her situation. She could have just gotten a nice hotel in some town somewhere with the money she already got from her last job. Instead, she was trapped in this cave because of another job given by an already untrustworthy pig.

Vivi then saw a faint light reflected onto the wall she faced. Her sword immediately threw itself in the direction of the light source, an instinctive reaction of hers. She knew this light, it was the light that had appeared before when she had encountered Viserial. Vivi could try and run away, but her instinct told her not to. The ghost had found her quickly. That meant that both Viserial was defeated and that the ghost probably could track her presence. It would simply be a waste of time to keep running from this foe instead of finding the treasure. It would be much quicker to defeat the ghost and then go on looking.

But before Vivi could even see the ghostly figure, she was knocked to the ground by an unnatural force. She quickly got up, only to be face to face with the ghost pirate himself.

Vivi's right hand automatically swung towards the figure in retaliation. It slashed right through the pirate's torso, maybe even deep enough to sever the form into two. But as the sword exited the flesh of the presence, the bones and skin simply reconnected to themselves as if she had never swung the blade.

"What?" Vivi exclaimed before being knocked back to the ground with the same force as before. She heard the opponent's sword being unsheathed. Vivi turned and held her sword in front of her head just as his sword attempted to decapitate her. Their swords did not move, struggling towards eachother in a power duel.

"Dirty tricks, eh?" Vivi remarked, glaring at the ghost as they struggled with eachother's strenght. The ghost was silent, looking down at the woman with a poisonous glare. Vivi broke the struggle, jumping backwards to stand a good distance away from the spirit.

All of a sudden, there were two of them, identical in every single way. And as soon as the duplicate appeared, he ran into the other, merging together.

"Was that other one fighting Viserial?" Vivi thought to herself. The ghost simply stared at her, his sword in hand. Vivi stood at the ready, her sword pointed directly in the spirit's direction, ready to draw blood. But in one instant, the figure had disapiered from her sight. The area was still well lit with the ominous light, but the ghost was not there at all. Vivi suddenly heard something behind her, turning to see the ghost in mid-swing.

The sword cut through her tattered shirt, grazing some of her back. The blade didn't make any deep wound, but it was deep enough to start drawing blood. Vivi glared at her opponent as she felt the warm liquid begin to run down her back. She cursed, trying to think of something she could do to win against this spirit that stood before her.

OoC: Again, I'm gonna wait for Viserial to do somethin' before I post.

Viserial awoke with a pounding headache as he rolled over, hand to his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Then he realized that he had never drank alcohol in his life, so why did he feel like he had just gotten...thrown over a cliff...

"Ghost!" he said, leaping up and spinning around, increasing the pain so he had to brace himself on a large rock, his other hand jumping to his belt, but his sword was nowhere to be found. It was at this time that he saw a small figure-the one he had saved-holding the sword.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Gimme my sword!"

"Hey! Gimme my sword!" said a deep, male voice.

"Sweet infant Nayru!" I swore, the sword clattering to the floor. I turned around to see that the strange man had woken up.
"I-I'm sorry! I was just using it for light!" I said, picking the sword up off the ground and passing it to him. I slowly moved towards him, cautious of what he might do. He didn't seem to be in the best of moods.

"You... you saved me, right? From that Ghost? I'm... I'm Pixae. Pixae Kleineen. Pleased to meet you." I said gingerly, holding my hand out to shake his.

Vivi panted desperately as she glared at her opponent poisonously. She was exhausted, reduced to having to use a wall to even stand. Her left arm wrapped around herself as if she were trying to hold her cut body together. Her sword still pointed right in the direction of the spirit, daring him to try and kill her again. The ghost stood a distance away from her, his eyes fixated on her, almost in confusion.

"I'm surprised you're still even trying to fight," the pirate bluntly said. Vivi didn't answer, her breaths all focused on keeping her conscious. But her eyes were brightly lit with a fire inside, and that alone could give him the answer he needed. He began walking slowly in her direction, knowing that she had no chance of running.

"Dammit," Vivi thought as the pirate began his approach. She thought of fleeing for now, although she didn't know how far she would get. The woman was all sliced up from the battle, and she was beginning to feel a little dizzy from the fatigue and blood loss. Vivi could only think of the possible death that awaited her if she didn't make a quick getaway.

All of a sudden, Vivi felt a faint breeze come from behind her. She looked behind her to spot a hole in the ground. As soon as she spotted the hole, Vivi's body began to move instinctively towards it. It was as if her mind went blurry, and her body went into autopilot from the disconnection. She stumbled towards the hole slowly, the ghost still tailing her the whole way.

"I can't be sure how far the drop is, or if I'll even survive..." Vivi thought, "But it's better than being chopped up by a damn pirate spirit." And the second her feet reached the hole, Vivi looked down the hole. One foot went over the edge, and then she completely fell through the hole, leaving the ghost behind in the hall.

OoC: Ugh. This is pretty bad. I wanted to write out an epic battle, but writer's block is killing me. Ah well.

OoC: Wait, does that hole go to the ditch-thingy Viserial and Pixae are in?

OoC: yes it does.

Two hours. That was how long it had been. Two hours. Felt like two weeks.
Lance kept on walking trough the deep cave, the only thing accompanying him was the darkness. "My client better pay me good for the treasure I'm supposed to find." Lance thought to himself. He had his standards. In, fulfill mission, out.
Lance walked on, each of his footsteps echoing deep into the maze around him. He had his standards indeed. No matter what, he would finish this mission with flying colors.

OoC: This is still open, right? If not, I'm sorry