With her sword freed, Kyouka nods at the ronin as thanks. Before running to the downed Chitsukiko, she deals with the approaching spiders, and lets Jian tackle the one pinning down his lover.
Together, Jian and Kyouka are able to free Chitsukiko and slice every other overgrown spider that gets near. Having enough, the spiders withdraw, escaping into the darkness. The sound of their chittering legs reverberates through the room, before finally, there's silence once more. The ronin wipes sweat from her brow. @unisol_gr44 Chitsukiko clings to Jian, hugging him tightly. "Thank you..."
Jian helped Chitsukiko up, 'Are you alright? They didn't bite you?' He turned to the others, 'That was close, never seen spiders that fight in packs. We should best keep our ears sharp, I have a feeling that's not the last we have seen from them.'
"Phew." Letting out a sigh as she flicks her blade clean of blood, Kyouka continues looking around. "Yeah, they're pretty smart, despite their horrible looks." She cooes, as she now reloads her gun to prepare for their next fight. "So, should we proceed, or turn back?" She asked, pointing at the frightened Chitsukiko.
Jian looked to Kyouka, while hugging Chitsukiko, 'I'd say we go on while the spiders are too frightened to attack us again.'
“Good day.” Midori returned the bow. “Yes, I received an invitation...” She showed him the invitation that had been delivered to her. (I'm not sure how this works, exactly, but let's say that if it was necessary to send a reply – she did. If no reply was necessary, then forget I said anything.)
The woman regains her composure, leading them forwards, the light illuminating a heavy stone door left ajar enough for the group to squeeze through. As they move through the next room, another chamber of barren rock, Kyouka eventually spots a stairway leading upwards. At the same time, she sees something glint briefly, off to the side.
He smiles. "I see. You must be a friend of our Yatsebe? This seems like her writing." He pounds on the door, which quickly opens, guards welcoming the pair inside. "If you would like, I can show you to Yatsebe's apartments."
"Hmm? What was that?" Kyouka said out loud, looking at the direction of where the glint came from. She once again prepares to draw her blade, while looking around as she cautiously approaches it.
“Yes, I am,” Midori confirmed. “I'd appreciate that, I have not been here before.” She admitted as she accepted the man's offer.
He leads her through the estate, past what appears to be a barracks, into a beautiful zen garden beyond which the main house sits, idly making conversation as they walk. "I'm glad to see young Yatsebe making friends. She's so focused on her archery normally that she doesn't make the attempt to befriend anyone. All samurai should train their martial skills, but a young person needs to spend time with their peers, wouldn't you agree?" Walking up some steps to the rear of the house, the huge man opens a door, where Yatsebe waits, along with her father, who Midori recognises from the ship, and a pretty boy looking young man. Yatsebe beams. "You came!"
Drawing near, with the ronin's torch providing illumination, Kyouka sees a throne carved into the rock. Looking around, she realises that the beams of rock hold up the ceiling like pillars. Though this is a cistern now, once, impossibly long ago, this place was a throne room, found and used by the people who built the rest of the ruins. Wedged into the top of the throne is a sapphire, and behind it is another opening leading downwards, presumably deeper into the more ancient part of the ruins, while the staircase leading upwards goes towards the more (relatively) modern sections.
@unisol_gr44 "Hey, I found another stairway leading down. It looks old... well, older than those stairs leading up." Kyouka called out to the rest of the group, as she closely examines the sapphire. "Hmm." Cooing, she checks if the precious gem was rigged to a trap, and if it wasn't she'll try to use the tip of her sword to pry it out.
She sees no traps, and after the stone comes loose with a pop, nothing in particular seems to happen. If there's a trap, Kyouka concludes, it doesn't activate immediately. The ronin grunts at the sight, and looks to Jian. @unisol_gr44 "What do you think, kid?"
"Alright." Celebrating as she retrieves the gem, Kyouka places it in their bag, where the golden idol is. "So, down then? Let's go!" She said in an upbeat tone, as she sheathes her sword.
'Very well, we will bring up the rear again, seems to work fine that way,' Jian nodded and followed the group down the stairs.
