"Are there any more questions?"

Can I take you out to dinner? Will you go out with me? He wouldn't get to ask any of these questions now because she'd probably be gone before he knew it, on account he wouldn't be sticking around to do any work. So much for her being his boss.

Henri let out a drawn out sigh, hiding his face with his hand so he can mouth (but not say) profanities to himself. He knew they didn't think much of him but he didn't know that they shared that opinion about aaaaall the Mercorans. Was irony the right word? What do you call it when you try hard to be a good example but you're not actually there to work because they actually think you're too dumb to work but hire you to make it look like they don't think you can't work?

He wasn't mad at Bhatt or even the situation (cuz usually NOT having to work is a good thing) but the fact that he got so worked up over absolutely nothing, or the fact that he was even awake right now. The whole pointlessness of it is what got him.

Getting his hand off his face he exhaled any irritated sounding tones he might be mustering in his chest and talked to Bhatt kindly. Roland was good at getting the point across but was a bit too harsh, and Henri flinched too. There was still a bright side to all of this.

" Y-yeah actually, if you don't know it's okay but, we were given weapons? Do you know what for?"

They still got brand new shiney slicey weapons. Even if it was all for nothing they still got to take something home.

Of course, that was not to say neither Henri nor Roland was actually going to do any work. Sure, they were there to tag along, but they would still have their jobs, they would jus not be all that important. If either Henri or Roland thought about it, they would also see that the Esconians really couldn't be blamed, because their own mayor was just trying to get in on the glory of some big expedition to make River's End look good. In reality, the Esconians just wanted to finish their work and go home.

“A-ah,” the girl smiled and looked to be taken aback for a second, “the weapons, u-um, I, I guess you would want to know about them, I probably would, too... In our culture, most children, when they reach a certain age, they get weapons, and learn to use them; they, the weapons, I mean, usually show that you’re an adult, or close to being one.”

Ira grew silent for a moment as she recalled something from her own past.

“Most have to earn their weapons," she continued, "but Colonel Dasari thought it might help the men accept you a bit more easily if you were armed... Um, you should take those weapons seriously. If you disrespect them in front of someone, it, it’ll be a really big offense.”

Unlike every other thing Henri thought would end in his death, treating that knife like it was a toy would have been an insult, and would have probably had some serious repercussions, despite how harmless it seemed.

“That so?” Roland thumbed at the pommel of his sword, feeling the weight of it at his side, and really, he was thankful for having it. For an ice breaker, it was a pretty cool thing to receive as a gift; he was even made a little less angry because of it.

Well that meant he wouldn't be testing his knifearang theory any time soon, it was probably a terrible idea anyway. Henri had grown quite fond of all ten fingers and couldn't imagine him parting with them anytime soon. Earlier on Roland couldn't scream common sense and cultural sensitivity into him no matter how hard he tried, but now that Bhatt was telling this to him it made everything different. Having a vagina was an easy way to sway Henri's opinion. Offending her and her people wouldn't get him anywhere. He'd have to be all Serious Sam about the weapons. They weren't toys anyway, they were symbols of adulthood and a gift.

He always considered himself to be a man, just now he was a man with a giant knife. Hell ya. Didn't Roland's dad also say they were going to get paid? A smile cracked Henri's face while his view on the whole ordeal changed. He was so worried about acting the part and actually getting things done that he forgot the whole point of working anyway. Money And after what Bhatt said, they were getting paid to do not much at all, this was a perfect setup.

He just had to remember, serious sam, serious sam. Weapons are a big deal and you're here to work, or something. What were they doing now anyway?

"That's really nice of him..uh." He didn't know how to lead into this question, he stood there for a bit scratching the back of his head/picking dried blood out of his hair (attractive) before he could speak up. "What should we do now?"

"Um, I, today we'll be going in," Ira frowned and hugged her book closer to her chest. "W-wait, that's right, you two haven't' been told yet, have you?"

No, of course they were not told! They were both still very confused about what the job was and they barely even knew the situation, for that matter. Was she supposed to tell them? Colonel Dasari may have intended that, after all - not that it mattered, she guessed.

“Okay,” she stepped forwards, looked around for a second, and then realized how odd it was to talk to her ... employees ... while they were a mile apart from one another. That wouldn’t work at all! “C-come closer, please,” she instructed.

Roland glanced at Henri and shrugged before doing as she said.

“W-when those Mercorans, er, s-sorry, I mean the Duncan’s were told that a sinkhole opened on the skirts of their property, they weren’t told the exact truth,” she brought the book from her chest, opened it, and flipped through a few pages; they hadn’t lied to the Duncan’s, but when the Esconians arrived they decided it best to withhold information that was irrelevant to civilians; in fact, Henri and Roland were the first people in River’s End, aside from the local guards and the mayor, to be told anything about the incident.

“The truth is,” she paused and thought for a second. She didn’t know exactly how to describe what it was that opened up on the Duncan’s property. It was like a sinkhole, but it wasn’t all that deep. It was more like a natural cave then anything else... “we found ruins, big ones... River’s End is,” ohgoddon’toffendthemtheymighthateyou, “well kind of far away from central Mercoras and the rest of Sigma - I mean, you guys aren’t, um, taught too much... Education is, well disregarding that...”

“Oh get on with it!” Roland snapped and folded his arms against his chest. Henri would recognize this as the very same tone and gesture he had made just a little while ago, and that meant he was very near his boiling point.

Ira jumped and almost shrieked, but tried her best to calm down and to force her heart to stop beating against her chest. Why did Mercorans have to be so scary?

“R-ruins!” She yelped loudly. “We’ve found them before, that’s... They’re so important that the Emperor prioritized colonization to find more and there’s one right here, right in the middle of your town! That’s why your mayor wants to be involved, because River’s End would instantly become one of the wealthiest cities in the Empire!”

She slinked down to the ground, drained and breathing heavily.

"Hear that, Henri? We could be rich." Roland looked to his friend and smiled wide.

Well no they haven't been told, that was the point of him asking, but Henri was patient with the inexplicably adorable young lady and waited. He'd wait all day if he had to, but still, there were so many things they weren't being told, his curiosity was being peaked. What could they be keeping from them? The way she stepped closer to them to talk in a hushed voice even made it -feel- more like a secret. He was getting excited. In more ways than one.

"Yes?" He leaned in closer, eager to hear what she had to say but hardly prepared for what it was. The more she went on, the wider his eyes got and the more his mouth hit the floor. This was getting good. Until finally-

"ROLAND!" And Roland thought he was being disrespectful! Henri yelled at Roland and offered him the sternest look he could. Boiling point or not you don't just yell at a lady like that, especially one as shy as Bhatt! Especially when -she is your boss!- The comment about their education conveniently went unnoticed because of her nice legs and mocha coloured skin.

And the fact that they were standing on top of ancient ruins. Ancient civilizations built beneath their fucking feet. Henri BEAMED. For the sake of not looking retarded in front of Bhatt he tried to contain his excitement and frantic flailing. He failed though, but at the very least he crunched his girly flittering hands into fists, since fists were more manly and gyrated them in smallwacky little motions in front of himself.

"Wowowowowowowow oh my god oh my god RICH!? Come on we are going to go on an ADVENTURE!" Slinging one arm over his friend's shoulder he stared into the sky, making a waving motion with his hand as if he was mapping out all the imaginary places they could go. "New civilizations new technologies! Magic! Think of all the things we could discover that would change the world forever!"

Finally he let go of Roland only to swing around and grab him by the shoulders, staring him hard in the eye. "Do you think the EMPEROR or SIGMA will give share ANY of the riiiiches with us! NO!" He let go again and strokes his imaginary beard deep in thought. "But I guess we could try..."

Henri basically had been planning for this since he was a kid. They would go in, find magic, treasure, hopefully a harem of women and a dragon that they would make friends with who would fly them to more undiscovered places so they could have more adventures and...his composure was gone.

If Bhatt thought the Mercorans were uneducated, she'd think moreso now.

Ira sat dumbfounded, shocked and confused by Roland and Henri's notion that they were going to be rich. The possibility was there, sure, but that was years from now and only if they had a job that capitalized on the discovery! She was going to correct them on the matter, but then felt it more prudent not to. If they wanted to think they were going to be rich, then... Well, let them. In the end, they still had a job to do and they would be paid for it.

"Just, please tell the Colonel or me if you find something interesting," she managed mutter before standing up. "What matters is that the country gains," she added, "not the individual."

It was a philosophy that Roland could get behind, too, actually. Sure, it would be nice to strike it filthy rich and to leave River’s End as he had always wanted, but he also believed Ira when she said that this was how Sigma thrived. This wasn’t about Mercoras or Escona - no, this was about their country as a whole.

“If there are no more questions...?" She asked, almost hesitantly. "We can go ahead to where everyone else is."

Of course it was about how the country gained, Henri agreed with the idea to a point, but wasn't as crazy about it as Roland was, Bhatt's little speech about sharing was actually a huge let down. Sure sharing was caring, it was about how the country benefited, but not being allowed to own what you discover? To say everything you've gained belongs to the country? Pay aside you'd be completely removing the idea of owning anything, and who said they'd be seeing any of the benefits?

Don't trust them Henri, even if they look like it they aren't your friends. None of them, do you hear me? They, they'll eat you alive, do you understand?

"Of course Bhatt, let's go."

Him and Roland could talk about this later.

As they were ready to continue onwards, Ira would lead the two men the rest of the way to the expedition site. The further they traveled, the more that the path became erratic, cutting a swathe through wooded areas and other untouched, unsettled spots that hadn't quite been needed for cultivation yet. The majority of the Duncan's land had already been setup as farmstead, of course, but there yet remained spots that weren't necessary and were just overflow that was included in their deed.

Arriving at a small clearing would reveal where the rest of the soldiers had made their way: several tents were setup and were similar to the ones at the base camp, but these were much, much smaller in comparison; there were also more soldiers here then had been seen leaving the camp, they congregated in small groups here and there; and finally, there was a mass of building materials, wood, ropes, and other such items set up in large piles on the outskirts of the site.

"We're here," Ira announced, relieved. "Come," she walked ahead expecting her entourage to follow along. She would take them through the site, around tents and people, and come to a stop a dozen or so feet away from a decline in the land which lead into an opening in the earth. Just before this decline was a recognizable figure: Colonel Dasari.

"Look, you can see it..." She told them softly. "We've actually only been here for a short time, but we've already made so much progress! See," she pointed at the cave, "that scaffolding leads all the way down to the ruins," and sure enough Henri and Roland would be able to see a mass of jumbled, twisted wood and rope. The scaffolding looked nowhere near safe enough for a descent into the cave... Actually, it looked to be not unlike suicide!

"Um, anyways... This is our first real trip into the ruins. So please be careful and listen to everything Colonel Dasari or I tell you!"

Ira would wait a moment to let Henri and Roland take in the sight before taking the two to Colonel Dasari.

For the duration of the walk, Henri remained silent, sorting through mixtures of turmoil and excitement that troubled his thoughts. Ruins were amazing, but he wasn't allowed anything he found, they were going on an adventure, but they had to be careful about this, so basically it held the potential to be the greatest and worst thing that happened to them all at once? It made his head hurt just thinking about it.

He wouldn't come up with an answer while they traveled up the winding path, or ever really. He concluded that he would just have to wait and see, and naturally when they arrived what he saw was the camp.

It wasn't as well put together as the entrance or the gates, probably for security measures since nobody was supposed to find out.The tents were smaller and the entire area was littered with ropes, planks and other generic ruin exploring equipment.

But where were the ruins? He wanted to see the ruins! Eagerly he followed behind Bhatt hoping to get a glimpse of what they dug up, staring at all the tents, soldiers and mayhem bustling around him. In front of him stood Colonel Dasari in front of an opening in the earth.

In there, were the ruins. Somewhere in that jumbled wooden death trap there were ruins. A sense of fear mixed into his extreme excitement, causing very faint tremors in his hands. He was excited to throw himself in there, but thrilled and terrified by what might happen, and he couldn't wait.

Nudging Roland softly in the side with his elbow, he leaned in slightly and whispered. "Roland, Roland! We're going in!" He said, just to express his enthusiasm for lack of anything intelligent to say.

Roland looked over the only entrance into the cave and suddenly he was not quite sure how ready the Esconains really were. Maybe they were on a strict time frame, he wondered silently to himself.

“She said as much,” he shrugged Henri off. He still hadn’t forgiven Henri completely yet, not just the comment from earlier, but also because Henri defended Bhatt when she insulted their intelligence. All he did was make her quit digressing and finish the explanation!

While Henri and Roland admired the cave, Ira took the moment to sneak off and talk to Colonel Dasari alongside a few other soldiers. The conversation was around a minute before it ended and she returned to lead the two men over to Dasari, who greeted them both with a smile.

“I hope everything has been filled in now?” He asked, not really caring for the answer. “We’ll be descending as soon,” he said, “so if you two want to quit then now is the time.”

"Yeah but!...Fine." Henri was taken back by Roland's sudden lack of enthusiasm. Just a moment ago he was just as thrilled as he was and now he wasn't? Whatever, Henri rolled his eyes, shrugging him off right back. Maybe Roland wasn't impressed for some reason (he had no idea it had anything to do with what he said since he saw nothing wrong with it) but it didn't mean Henri wouldn't have a good time in there, unless Roland had a problem with that too.

They were ready now, and Henri was just waiting for Roland to speak since he was still uncomfortable talking to the Colonel. He might speak up if Roland said something that he felt needed correcting but as far as he knew, they were both going in. At most, Henri nodded his head, agreeing that they had at least been filled in.

"Right, we know most of what's goin' on now," Roland said. "We won't quit," he shrugged and smiled, "a job is a job, right? So long as we get paid, I guess it doesn't what we do, huh?"

It was still something of a bother to be used like they were, but in life, this was how things were, he guessed; when did anyone really get to choose their lot, anyways? He needed money and they were willing to pay. What was the point fretting over how things turned out?

Roland sighed to himself.

“That’s good,” Dasari replied, laughing. “I was afraid you‘d be ready to throw in the towel,” he said,” but I am glad things turned out this way. Come,” he gestured for Roland, Henri and Ira to follow him before walking off.

Colonel Dasari would lead them through the small camp, instructing soldiers and workers as he passed, sending them rushing off to complete their tasks, and after a while, he would come to a stop just before a wagon full of equipment, exploration goods and the like; he would grab a few pieces here and there, always taking two of each type of item, tossing them into separate piles, and continuing on. Altogether, there was rope, a torch, a small first aid kit, a large pack and a few other things.

“Most of this probably won’t be necessary, the ruins actually seem to be pretty clear, some debris is in the way, but it’s in amazing shape, like usual; it is good to be prepared, however.”

Roland bent down and claimed the pile closest to him. He stuffed everything into the pack and slipped it on easily enough, and it didn’t seem to be too heavy, either.

“The ruins are deceptively bigger than you might think,” Dasari went on to inform the two, “and we’ve seen some cases where they’ve stretched for miles underneath the ground. In case of this, you two will be split between two teams of three and you’ll also be carrying the supplies I just tossed down. There are food rations in there, too, just in case, so try not to get it wet or something like that. It’s dried meat, mostly, and some seeds.”

Right you are Roland, they are still ready and willing to work. Well said, Henri would go in those ruins pay or no pay, he wanted to be payed at first since he thought he would be toiling over a giant hole but nobody needed to PAY him to go exploring.

Nobody was completely honest about their task and so far it's caused him nothing but headaches but he was being payed to go on an adventure. Henri nodded and agreed with what Roland had to say. Throw in the towel? Not now, Henri followed the crew into the cave full of workers scrambling to their assignments, carefully sidestepping wood and ropes and gravel in the way before stopping at a wagon full of the tools Roland and him would need for their adventure together.

It was standard equipment, rope, light a first aid kit in case of emergency and other knicknacks. Henri filled his pack and slid it on with some difficulty, taking a moment to tighten the straps so that the bag didn't hang down to his butt. Now he was ready, or not.

Since he didn't have the balls to say much he couldn't protest when Colonel put him and Roland in separate groups. It made perfect sense, if they were in groups of three, may as well have only one person not know what the hell they were doing instead of two. Besides, Roland and Henri could use some time apart from each other to cool off, but Henri didn't see it this way.

He gave Roland a surprised look, staring between him and Dasari over and over. Say something! his eyes seemed to plead. If Bhatt was in his group though it might not be too bad.

If Roland was aware of Henri's unease towards the possibility of being split up, he didn't show or remark on it; honestly, what was the point? Did he seriously think that Colonel Dasari was going to go back on what he said just because it made one of his temporary workers uncomfortable? He had already went out of his way to accommodate the boys enough, anyways; anybody else and Henri would have probably already fled for the hills, terrified and traumatized for the rest of his natural life.

“I-I’ll go and gather the rest of the men,” Ira said, bowing and excusing herself.

While they waited, Dasari and Roland started chatting, conversing in common for practice; it was a pretty good way to pass the time, Roland thought, and even noted that Dasari seemed to enjoy it a bit, too.

Once a few minutes passed, Ira returned with the rest of the team, all tall, fit, but not as imposingly built as the men Henri and Roland had met before. Like the others from Escona, they were armed, but their weapons were smaller, less traditional; indeed, their blades were more akin to Henri’s in terms of shape and design. They were lightly dressed, obviously preferring easy-to-move-in clothing over stiff, but protective ones. All things considered, it was probably a smart move; after all, were they not going into an underground ruin?

“Alright,” Dasari clapped his hands together, walked away from Henri and Roland, through the group of newly arrived men, and gathered attention onto himself, speaking first in his native tongue, for his men, and then in Mercoran:

“One man down at a time, five minute intervals between one another,” his voice was booming, commanding. “No rushing, no accidents. You go down slow, steady and focused. You’ll be down there for fifteen-hours, twenty-four if the judgment call is made by Kum-Bhatt Rajat,” he nodded to the girl, who looked away, “ after the allotted time, we’ll send one search team, but that’s it, if they don’t return I will enact the Officer's Right.”

Roland quirked a brow, but neither the men nor Ira seemed phased by the Colonel’s speech, like they had heard it a thousand times before. He wasn’t sure what this ‘right’ was, either, but it didn’t sound good at all.

Henri felt separated before anyone even left. Ira left to go gather the rest of the team and Roland started having a conversation with the Colonel in common, which Henri couldn't keep up with.While he waited he fiddled with his bandana uncomfortably, keeping his eyes to the ground. This was how Henri got to pass the time, alone and fussing. Once the adventure started everything would be okay, they wouldn't be separated for long and it would be fun.

The fact that Bhatt wasn't joining them was a crying shame. He wouldn't mind some alone time to go explore the ruins in her cave. Sex in ancient ruins was definitely on his to do list now, just not with any of the people he had assigned to him, all of them men armed the way Henri was and dressed lightly, lithe and lean and well equipped for the job.

A real cave was just as good as a metaphorical one, he'd been in one of those. This was a brand new one, a new ADVENTURE! They wouldn't be separated long.

"Alright!"

Colonel Dasari's voice snapped him out of his cave sex scenario and he gathered with the group of men to listened carefully to his instructions, for safety purposes, first time in a cave and all. He didn't want to enact the Officer's Right at all, it could be anything, but after everything today he knew he was hanging with a tough crowd. He didn't want to know.

Henri nodded in agreement during the speech, everything seemed pretty standard but his face suddenly lit up, like a lightbulb went off in his head. Everyone remained uninterested but in the crowd the look on Henri's face stuck out like a sore thumb. For the first time ever, Henri would initiate conversation with Colonel Dasari, he was itching to.

He should have noticed the signs, the fact that they packed food meant that they were going to be gone for a long time. Weaving through the crowd he approached Dasari nervously, still fiddling with his bandana. He was panicking clearly, but kept the conversation respectful. Now how the Hell did he approach this?"

" E-Excuse me Colonel? Um..." Henri took a deep breath before saying his piece." Everything is perfect, but I was just wondering about the lighthouse?" He didn't say much else since he hoped to god Colonel Dasari could put two and two together. He didn't want to have to explain that he'd have to leave early to take care of the thing.