Raptor took the cloak off of his helmet, grateful that Nikolai and the old man had no way of telling just how embarrassed he was. He had been so scared of being discovered, too, but he wasn't stupid. He knew how weird he looked with the cloak on top of his armor.
He carefully folded the cloak and slipped it back into his bag.
He got to his feet, feeling like his cheeks were burning out of habit. He straightened his helmet out one last time to make sure it really was secure. Then he turned to Nikolai to give him a searching look underneath his helmet.
"Do you have any food in your bag?" he asked. "I have...something to buy food in my bag, but I don't have any actual food."
Elias went silent at that. He grimly waded back through the water, fixing his eyes on the shore where Ainsley and Mel waited. He had endured far worse insults in his time...butcher, coward, blasphemer....but he knew at that moment that whatever happened, if they got out of here, he would take Aumrauth and make him suffer beyond anything that blasted elf could ever imagine. He would make that creature know what true hell was.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
When Raptor had fallen, Nikolai had turned around almost immediately. His first instinct was to reach out to catch him, of all things. It was a bit of a foolish instinct, although caring-- Raptor was much taller and heavier than him, especially with the added weight of his armor. If Nikolai had caught him, he would have been dragged down with him. But it wasn't that realization that made him pull his arm back.
It was what Raptor had shouted desperately.
Don't look.
Nikolai had blinked just before he looked away, causing him to miss the sight. He did know why Raptor had shouted it, though. His helmet had come loose in the fall, and it seemed like a bit of his face was visible as a result. He hadn't seen a glimpse of what his companion looked like, though. The panicked, urgent tone that Raptor's voice had made him think he really didn't want them to see what was underneath.
All this time, he'd thought the helmet was part of the outfit, or only worn for protection. He'd never guessed Raptor was so against taking it off. Afraid of it, even.
What was he hiding?
Don't look. Please.
Nikolai had his back turned to Raptor now, so he could be sure he wasn't looking. He waited until he knew he was standing again before facing him again. He'd seriously thought about offering him a hand, but... he wasn't sure how Raptor would take that. Maybe he'd have been offended or embarrassed to be treated as though he was vulnerable. Or maybe he had needed that little gesture of support. Looking back on that now, Nikolai wasn't sure what he should have done.
Slowly looking back up at Raptor, he sighed quietly. I'm not going to judge you, his face promised. There was a look in his eyes too, and it wasn't suspicious or confused-- it was a look of worry. Worry that Raptor wasn't alright.
He wished he could tell him it would all be okay.
"I don't know what's in here," Nikolai admitted softly, taking the leather bag off from where it was hanging on his belt. He lifted it up so everyone could get a better view. "Maybe... maybe we should open it together?"
Democracy dies in darkness. Also at 4:30PM in Pacific Standard Time, apparently.
Raptor went to take a step towards Nikolai, but faltered when he saw the look on his face. It was a look he didn't entirely recognize. It seemed familiar, to some extent. It wasn't the first time he had seen someone's expression grow so soft. But he couldn't remember the last time someone besides May had given him that look - the last time someone had been...worried for him.
There was another look, too. Raptor couldn't read that look. It was just as gentle as the one that he could read, but he couldn't figure it out no matter how long he looked at Nikolai.
Raptor peered down at the bag.
"Opening it together seems like a good idea," he agreed. What did Nikolai think was in there? It was just a bag. Raptor couldn't imagine anything dangerous.
After a moment of hesitation, he awkwardly reached a hand out for the opening of the bag - ready to open it when Nikolai was.
Aumrauth made it back to the shore in silence, letting Elias take his sweet, crippled time. When he finally made it back, he was soaking wet. Some of the blood had washed off in the swim, but he still could feel the blood splatter on his face and in his hair.
"We got a grappling hook and a map or something," Aumrauth announced nonchalantly. "Elias has it. You're welcome for killing the beast and getting the stuff, by the way."
He flopped his wet, robed arms against his side and looked down at himself.
Now he smelled like the dank lake.
"Maybe in the next chest we'll find another change of clothes," he joked, but it was a weak joke, and even he knew that.
Elias trudged up onto the shore, tossing the satchel at Aunraith's feet and picking up his cane. That and his shoes were the only things untouched by that blasted water.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Nikolai swallowed, nodding shakily as his gaze fell to the pouch in his hand. There was a metal clasp keeping it shut. That was it. That was all that was in the way of opening a gateway to his past. It would hold items he'd had before he came here, items he'd wanted to carry close to him. Close enough that he still had it now. And yet he couldn't remember anything that was inside.
It was so vulnerable, so easy to discover. There might be something inside that would tell him about who he'd been before he arrived at the caves, some hint of a past identity. It scared him that his part of his life was so unprotected.
The tingling feeling had started again, returning to his fingers as he worked on opening the bag's clasp. It took a few more seconds than it should have, because his hands were trembling so much, but Raptor was there to help him open it. Nikolai was glad he didn't have to do it alone.
And then they had a view of what was inside.
Still shaky, Nikolai reached in to pull out each item, one by one. The first things that came out were a few money bills. Not much, maybe enough for a day's expenses or so. He didn't spend long thinking about those, because he was soon distracted by something else. He'd just pulled out a small blue glass ball, a little larger than a marble. It seemed to be... glowing? There were about a dozen of them in the bag.
Don't drop them, a voice in the back of his head warned him. Nikolai assumed that voice knew better than him about these things and carefully passed a couple of them over to Raptor for him to inspect.
All that was intriguing enough, but it was the notebook and pencil that came with it which really captured Nikolai's attention.
When he took them out, he got a strange feeling of familiarity, like he knew he'd seen them before. Then the look on his face brightened suddenly, like he'd just been reunited with an old friend of his. He lifted the small pad up, grinning at Raptor-- though he wasn't even sure why he was grinning.
Democracy dies in darkness. Also at 4:30PM in Pacific Standard Time, apparently.
The old man watched all this with cautious curiosity, seeming to brighten a little at the prospect of food. When he saw there was none so far, he occupied himself with observing what Nikolai pulled out of the bag. When he saw the notebook and pencil, his eyebrows shot up and a hesitant grin crossed his face. "Hu'knu!" He pointed to the book. "Tris mo k'na hu'knu dachti."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Mel let the light drop and let go of Ainsley's hand as the lights returned around their wrists. It was nice to be around someone in the dark, even though Ainsley was scarily silent. Aumrauth appeared to have obliterated the serpent, which made Mel wonder how he was the same man who almost died from bats.
"Seems like a lot of work just for some tools," she mumbled as Aumrauth then shoved the items in her arms. She then looked up at Ainsley.
"Why don't you hold this?" she asked.
Because clearly they all had roles: Aumrauth was the destroyer of things, Elias was a doctor who only bickered and caused trouble, she was a walking flashlight, and Ainsley was... well...
He could be a walking backpack?
She shoved the items in his arms instead and then looked back at Aumrauth, noting his terrible smell and gooey blood all over him.
"Do you need another robe..?" she asked with a grimace.
Raptor carefully held the strange, glowing orbs. They almost reminded him of the eyes of ender and ender pearls that he had left in his house what felt like an eternity ago. They felt like something sacred - maybe it was because they were glowing, or maybe it was because they were just unknown.
Then Nikolai pulled out a notebook.
The old man started to get excited. Raptor was, too, though it was likely for an entirely different reason.
"There might be something in there that jogs your memory," Raptor realized, eyes widening. He looked between the notebook and Nikolai. Maybe something Nikolai remembered would help them find a way out. Even if it didn't, Nikolai would finally know who he was. "We should open it-"
He suddenly remembered the existence of the old man.
He glanced back over at him, trying to decipher whatever he had been going off about.
He glanced back at the notebook.
"...He might want to write in it," Raptor guessed.
Mel sifted through her bag and pulled out another crumpled-up robe that she stuffed in there.
She grabbed all of them in that first room, and she had already used three: one for herself, one for Aumrauth after getting burned, and another for Aumrauth because the one she just gave him was now disgusting. She didn't think this would be the utility of the robes, but it was a good thing she found them, because at this rate, she was going to have to replace his robe every time he opened a chest.
"Here you go," she said, tossing him the robe. It was bright orange, which comically contrasted against his skin and overall demeanor.
"Wonderful," he said dryly, catching it. He didn't give any warning as he set down the clean robe on a spot of dry ground, emptied his pockets next to it, and stripped the robe clean off. He stood for a moment in his wet underpants before he tossed them on top of the soiled robe.
Who needed underwear anyway. They were scorched and wet and bloody. Disgusting.
He then picked up the orange robe and slipped it over his head. He wanted to complain, but Elias and everyone else already had that job covered, so instead, he just picked his dagger and poison up off the ground and shoved them into his pockets.
"I suppose we should now go around the lake then, hm? Perhaps there's an exit on the other side."
And now they didn't have to worry about the pesky serpent.
