Uncharted [open]

Sand shifted over the expanse of the dunes, snaking across the grains in transparent bursts. The cool weather had been enough of an excuse for Shiki to contemplate braving the desert, although there was little in the ways of danger from here to there; a broken down structure with little purpose beside suitable shade. However, Booker considered its usefulness beyond just that: "Could be a useful spot to test out our fighting abilities." With each leap forward across the sand, he flapped his small demonic wings, keeping the granules from clinging to his fur at the same time as he was briefly airborne. "Seems like a treacherous buildin', eh? Filled with possible strong enemies."

"Possible," Shiki said. "But not altogether true." The ruins reached up unevenly to the sky; already Shiki could tell that the structure was a broken remnant of its former self. Whether or not it actually ever had a use beyond being a mere digitally created building. The past of such things wasn't even worth looking into. They were simply props in this world away from home.

"Ugh, this sand is getting all over my beautiful feathers," Elizabeth muttered to herself, brushing her wing talons across her right shoulder and across the top of her head. "This dreadful wind is not helping matters, either. It keeps blowing these blasted grains in my eyes." She blinked rapidly and rubbed at her eyes, as if to emphasize her point.

"It's not too bad," Songbird said. "At least it's nice and cool." A flicker of a small smile stretched across his beak for a moment, but it was quickly removed when Elizabeth shot him a nasty look.

"We're almost there now," Shiki told them, her tone dull. Bickering was something that seemed to happen often when it came to Elizabeth. Mostly it was directed at Songbird, rarely Booker, but she'd had enough of it. They were to explore these ruins, hopefully find something to fight, and be on their way.

Eventually, they had stepped inside the entrance-way, much to the relief of Elizabeth, who promptly began to brush off the sand. Half-way through her preening, however, she noticed a sand trail leading deeper into the ruins. Her eyes narrowed in thought. She wasn't the first to notice. Shiki studied the wavering lines quietly, whilst Booker casually walked ahead. "Someone's been here before us," she announced.

"Doubt that'd be much of a problem, Shi'," Booker said, peering further into the gloom. "These ruins look like they gonna' be twistin' and turnin' enough for us to not stumble 'cross no one."

"Hrm," Elizabeth uttered. As long as there was less of a chance of falling sand, she couldn't care less if there was people around or not.

Shiki fell silent, instead moving past the trio and down a passageway. The others followed her, Songbird's expression reflecting his nervousness as he tagged along behind the group.

The further they headed in, the darker it got until eventually Shiki had to rely on her D-terminal for a source of light.

A shout echoed down the corridor and Songbird shivered, twirling the end of his scarf in worry. "I-is that something we should be worrying about?" he asked shakily.

"I don't think so, kid. And even if it was, we'd pummel it." Booker paused to crack his knuckles, his smirk half-hidden in darkness.

However, as they ventured ever deeper into the ruins, footsteps that weren't their own began to echo back to them. It was soon clear, as they advanced, that another group was exploring the ruins too. But, despite the weak mumbles for them to go back from Songbird, Shiki continued to march on. She didn't really care if they caught up with the strangers or not. On one hand, if they encountered them, they might aid them in a fight, on the other, they might pass them right by.

However, it soon became clear that the former would be more likely as shadowed figures appeared before them. Songbird uttered a muffled squeak and hid half of his face behind his scarf. The other two didn't seem as affected by the sudden visibility of the hidden group. Instead Booker hunkered down, eyes on the shadows. Did Shiki not care if they were seen or not? She was a strange one indeed...

LAIKA OF GS!

Not long after the silhouettes had become more or less visible in the light of the D-terminal, one of the four of the unfamiliar group floated up; coming to rest in close proximity of them. "Uh..." Songbird uttered, the single syllable muffled by his scarf. However, before he was able to stumble on with his sentence the three Digimon winced somewhat at the sudden exposure to light; although Shiki merely narrowed her eyes to protect them from the glare. She took note to the hostility of two of the trio of Digimon before the boy and connected the Keramon's words to possible conflict. This was soon put to rest, however, as their Tamer stepped in front of them and introduced himself.

She nodded. "Aviator." She took his hand and shook it. Her mood was ever changing, and as of right now, she was in that frame of mind to not care if she was in the company of others.

"This place looked like it could hold some strong opponents, so we ended up testin' that theory out," Booker piped up. "Could help us in gettin' stronger ourselves, eh?" He chuckled, the tone gravelly and rough.

"As long as there's not more of that sand to dirty my feathers," Elizabeth added with a sniff. "I already look a frightful mess as it is." She hated how the sand forced her head-feathers to stick up, it caused a tickling sensation that she couldn't quite reach. "A pleasure to meet you all, I'm sure," she continued, looking at each of the opposite group in turn. "I'm Elizabeth. The teddy bear-" "Watch it...!" "-is Booker, and that quiet thing is Songbird." She gestured back to the chocolate-brown Biyomon who waved half-heartedly at the others. "It is nice to meet you all."

A plethora of words were unnecessary for one such as Shiki; she simply let her team of Digimon do the talking. After all, they were capable of introducing themselves in much the same way as humans - they did have the necessary implements for talking.

The darkness of these ruins were somewhat unexpected. Shiki hadn't come exactly prepared for it, despite the D-terminal she possessed. Secretly, she was glad that she had the device. It was useful in more ways than one, which was something of a surprise in itself in some ways. One of the first things she had noticed about the group opposite was the Keramon, she had seen one before and knew of their usual unpredictable nature. The other two, however, she had not seen before. Finding herself more and more intrigued in the ways of this Digital World and the species that it exhibited. She found herself jotting down a mental note to question their type on her D-terminal at a later date or time.

LAIKA OF GS!

The separate groups, as a whole, visibly relaxed. Even Shiki, who often anticipated a fight in some form of another, felt calm. Booker flashed something that could have been a smile at the approaching Hagurumon. "Definitely," he agreed, pleased he wasn't the only one who thought in such a way. "The more powerful we get, the more advantages we can have over an opponent." He clapped his paws in appreciation of his thoughts pertaining to digivolution. He had no idea what the metamorphosis would make him look like once it finally came around, but he had a feeling it would show his strength outright.

Elizabeth was truly surprised when the colourful mechanized Digimon floated over to meet and talk to her at eye-level. Somehow, it made her feel special to have someone agree with her in such a polite manner about the terrible sand that lingered outside. "Truly horrendous," she agreed. "I am hoping that such weather will have abated by the time we have to risk going out in it again. At least then only my feet will have to suffer the annoyance of the sand, or in your case, you will be much luckier. I have to say, I envy you somewhat for your ability to float. It's not so easy for me, unfortunately." She smiled, as the trio thought to give their names in turn. Such polite company they had fallen into... Even if the Keramon was a tad on the childish side.

The chocolate-coloured Biyomon had been lost in his own world for a moment, trying to blank out the darkness that hovered behind. He had never been one for the dark... However, he jumped as Abraxas twirled on over. "Oh... Oh no, it's fine," Songbird reassured Mint. "I'm free to talk, if that is what you meant... Abraxas, was it? I'm just... Being this close to the dark is not my favourite type of scenario, that is all." He shivered a little, drawing the ends of his scarf closer to his chest.

"It would make sense for there to be one," Shiki agreed, nodding once. "Possibly, we'll come across some form of light as we head further in." As for the direction in which they should take, she couldn't care less. When Mint finally made his choice, she followed, glancing back only once to ensure that her own team of Digimon were following. Noting that they were, she continued on, her hands in her hoodie's pockets. The markings that lined the walls to either side of them were certainly interesting. Maybe at some point later she would come back to explore these ruins further. Even though this structure was little more than data in a game, there did seem to be a hint of some kind of history. Even if it wasn't fully obvious as to what it was.

LAIKA OF GS!

Usually, the prospect of being in the company of another Tamer was rather unappealing to Shiki. Yet, on this particular evening, to be in the presence of another human being wasn't too bad. The fact that he was evading a conversation much like the ones her trio and his own had commenced in, was different. Usually talk was an inevitable thing when it came to other Tamers, but on this occasion she was lucky. Despite the slight annoyance of the only source of light coming from her D-terminal and Mint's, it was a rather comfortable walk through the dark.

"Hmm, you bring up a true point there," Booker responded, nodding his head thoughtfully. He'd never really considered that possibility. Even if that was going to be a fair time from now, it was still a possibility nonetheless - definitely not one he'd be looking forward to, either. "Well, hopefully that'll be a long while from now," Booker went on cheerfully. "Hopefully there'll be other challenges that we'd have to face, if we ever found ourselves lacking in tough enemies."

"I am hoping that we will not have to return here for the future," Elizabeth said. "It is more than I can take, when it comes to such weather as that outside." She shook her head. "I would much prefer the cold and snow to the hot temperature and annoying sand, any-day." Which is a very truthful statement, once already she had found herself picturing the pure white slopes of the Access Glacier... Very often visited by the group of four. It was a haven, in some ways. Despite the occasional negativity of the biting cold from Songbird. Well, he oftentimes wore a jumper there, so she had no idea what he was complaining about!

The thought of the darkness hiding away the evil things that may lurk behind drew forth mixed emotions from Songbird. On one wing, it was good to know that you couldn't see anything that could be potentially dangerous, on the other wing, however, it was bad. How would you be able to tell if something lethal was already hovering behind you, waiting to take you down with teeth or claws? "I suppose there is that," Songbird replied hesitantly. He was going to bring up how it wouldn't be possible to prepare themselves for the possible danger behind, if that was true, but the words caught in his throat. He swallowed them back down and shook his head. "These ruins sure seem to go far down," Songbird said, trying to veer the conversation away from the gloom.

Shiki looked down, tilting her D-terminal downward. She examined the wires for a moment and then stepped over them. "Seeing as this is the first thing we've found that stands out in these ruins, that's a high possibility," she replied. It would be nice if this led on to light, in some form or another. The darkness was calming enough, yet Songbird seemed to be taking it badly.

LAIKA OF GS!