Exploring the Ruins [Week 1 Day 3-5]

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 3 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6 am (Endeavour Time)

---

It was almost pitch black, and judging by the position of the full moon close to midnight, when they finally saw the ruins Owen had talked about. It had been further than he had anticipated, almost a 10 hour drive including a few stops for pee breaks and lunch. At first the three of them had been quite excited and talked constantly about what we might find there and who had left them behind. It must of course be some kind of alien species, or as Abeba corrected Owen and Nate: " We're the alien species on this planet. They're the locals, whoever they are."

Abeba didn't expect to find much in the way of functional technology, no matter how advanced the civilisation that had left the ruins behind. She didn't actually expect them to be all that advanced to begin with. After all as she told her girlfriend's brothers: "I mean look at Earth right. You've all seen images of it from orbit and it's like even if it was all ruins you wouldn't be able to fly over it without spotting ruins just about everywhere, even the deserts had cities in them, or at least large structures. We should at least have seen remnants of paved roads."
They had flown over a large portion of the planet looking for the perfect spot to land and seen nothing else like these ruins from above.
"My guess would be like maybe like Bronze Age, maybe Iron Age," she had concluded before they had even reached the ruins and when she saw them she had nodded to herself.

It seemed quite likely that she had been right in her assumptions. There was no way these ruins had once been populated by a technologically advanced civilisation, and if there were any heirs to whoever built the structures there was no sign as to where they had gone.

That night the three of them slept in the Chariot, the boys sitting in the front seats while they had both offered her the back seat. Whether it was modesty or if they simply wanted to offer her the more comfortable seat she didn't know and didn't care much either. She had put on her jacket because even though the weather suggested it was maybe late spring the nights still got quite cold and we had the Chariot's heat turned off to preserve the battery. Having to walk all the way back home would be a lot less than fun, and probably take a day or two.

 

[captain_bond]

Character: Nate Drake
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Abeba Nyong'o @MsBloom
Day 4 AC
0600 Endeavour Time

Nate would admit he was excited to explore these ruins. Ever since he saw them on the scanner as they flew overhead, he wanted to know more about anyone who might have been there before them. He also hoped to learn more about the people who built them, but that would of course be best left to more scholarly folks. Were any of the survivors versed in archaeology?

Shrugging off his thoughts as he stretched, carefully avoiding hitting any of the Chariot's controls in the process (he'd slept in the driver's seat), he turned to the others and softly said, "Hey, bro, you awake? What about you, Abeba?" Since Caitlin started to date Abeba he'd sort of taken it as his job to protect her, as well. Hopefully, she wouldn't reject that kindness, especially now. He recalled the first time Caitlin had brought her home. Instead of being the stern big brother, he'd walked up to Abeba and said, 'If there's anything you need--anything--just let me know. You're family now, at least to me.' It remained to be seen just how much of that she remembered or that would hold up in these fraught conditions. At the very least, if and when the breeding protocol was initiated, she'd have at least one potential partner who genuinely cared about her.

But poor Caitlin wouldn't even be able to enjoy her 'duties'. He thought of how both Capheus and his grandson kept eyeing everyone, both the men and the women, and shivered slightly. He was glad he left Caitlin his backup pistol, and hoped she remembered her training on how to use it.

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o @captain_bond Nate Drake

Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6AM (Endeavour Time)

They had slept in the Chariot though for Owen he couldn't sleep at all, he probably had a few hours and nothing more. When his brother spoke he stirred and yawned. "Yeah bro. I'm awake." He said as he rubbed his face. He turned back to see if Abeba was awake. To be honest he did think that she was cute, he knew that Nate was looking out for his twin even though he had started seeing her in a different light. He wondered if he would be able to get the chance to take Caitlin's virginity. He would have to wait and see that for himself. He enjoyed the conversation with Abeba and Nate about what they might find. Though he showed of his more nerdy side a lot more. He wanted to see what they might find. His biggest question was where did they go? What happened to them?

Owen opened the door to his side of the chariot and stepped outside. He was eager to get started and wanted nothing more than to explore. It took them longer than he thought. "Should we wake Abeba?" He asked as he didn't know if they should wait or wake her up. His brother was the older sibling and he would let Nate decide. They had taken with them some small rations from the galley as well as some instant coffee. Not the best coffee in the world but still coffee. He was still trying to wake himself up from the sleep.

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

Abeba had been awake for some time when she heard Caitlin' brothers stir in the front seat though she had kept her eyes closed thinking about what she had seen the night before. Those ruins. She imagined the feeling of excitement and expectation she had felt must be what the archaeologists back on Earth must have felt when finding signs of stones with clear signs of having been worked by human hands. She had of course never experienced it before but she had seen pictures of magnificent remains of earlier civilisations, Stonehenge, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, the pyramids. Her grandfather had seen the pyramids, the big ones at Giza, he claimed and she had always loved listening to him talk about them though mostly she had wanted him to talk about the lion with a human face, The Sphinx. And now she was imagining finding something that might perhaps be of similar importance to understanding the people, was people the right word, who had once lived here among these marble looking carved stones.

"Yea. I'm awake guys," she said as she tore herself from her daydreaming.
She crawled out through the open door, stretched out her body with a yawn and took a deep breath of the fresh, still slightly chilled air.
"Alright guys I'm gonna go pee behind the Chariot, no peaking now," she said with a chuckle to suggest she wasn't expecting any of them to actually try to perv on their sister's girlfriend.

When she was done she pulled out the bag with food they had gathered from both families' supplies and grabbed a protein bar for breakfast.
"So. Anyone else feeling like real explorers yet?"
She asked and took out a bottle of water to wash down the quite frankly rather dry and tasteless protein bar with.

 

[captain_bond]

Character: Nate Drake
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Abeba Nyong'o @MsBloom
Day 4 AC
0600 Endeavour Time

Even though he had no real designs on Abeba, the moment she teased, "No peeking!", he had a sudden urge to do just that. God, he would have to find someone to pair off with soon. The Mercer twins were too...flirty, although he got the feeling their sister might be more his type. Assuming she liked men, which was a valid question.

When she returned and popped a protein bar in her mouth, asking if they felt like explorers yet, Nate took his assault rifle down from the Chariot, checked the action on it and said, "I'll feel a lot better when I check out those ruins. Stay here. If you hear any signs of trouble, or if I don't check in on comms in three minutes, run. Go back to the colony and tell them what happened." He held his rifle in a ready stance and advanced into the ruins, moving like a soldier, checking corners, sticking to cover, the whole nine yards. After two minutes and thirty seconds of silence, he called the others. "All good so far. Save a ration bar for me."

 

[Jack Stalker]

Who: Cara Weathers
Where: Aboard the Mercer Jupiter, in her quarters
Relevant/Tagging: @captain_bond - Nathan Drake
When: Day 3, Morning
(Special note: If he goes to see her PM me (or use an OOC tag) and I will set up a thread)

To: Nathan Drake..
Really? Your parents were gamers, weren't they?
From: Cara Weathers

Hi, sorry to bother you, but could you please call by my quarters on the Mercer Jupiter, whenever is convenient. It's not urgent, so please finish whatever it is you are doing.

Thank you!

PS if you have a CRZ modulator or a B17 FlangeDoofus, I could swap something for one. But it's not essential to bring one.

Please do not reply to this message

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o @captain_bond Nate Drake

Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6AM (Endeavour Time)

Owen was far more excited to finally be exploring these ruins. He had wanted to explore them the moment that he saw them as their Jupiter flew past them. To him it was exciting to be doing this. When Abeba mentioned going behind the chariot he turned towards his brother before turning towards Abeba when she told him no peeking. Ever since they knew about the breeding protocol Owen had wanted to do so much about it. He was curious if he could pull Abeba away to attempt to breed her sometime in the ruins. "Do you think we might find some sort of intelligent life inside? Or maybe the remains of one. Just imagine what we could find out if we could study one. The implications that we could use for our own technology." Owen said to them both. He realized that he was rambling off. "I feel like we're exploring Egypt for the first time or the Amazon rainforest." He added.

"Come on bro. What's the worst that could happen? Fortune favours the bold remember." He told his brother as he moved towards the ruins. He sighed and rolled his eyes to Abeba when solider boy wanted to play war. "Real smooth Nate." Owen teased as he nudged his shoulder. Owen rushed on ahead quickly as he passed Nate. As he approached the ruins he noticed the entrance. "See those symbols? I'd love some sort of translator to find out what they are. They look like hieroglyphics or the Japanese Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji." Owen told them both.

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

"Intelligent life for sure. It's not like a primate of let's say chimp intelligence could build this, but whoever did are probably long gone," Abeba said as she watched Nate do his military thing and Owen rushing after him with much less care for whatever he might run into.
They really were quite different the two brothers, not that she really knew Nate that well but most of the time Owen and Cait was something of a package deal, hang out with the one and the other will hang out with you. Even taking a romantic stroll through the park in the upper dome alone with Cait took some effort. Luckily the two twins didn't share a cabin so there was some level of privacy for making out ... and more behind the closed door to Cait's cabin.

She followed them and coming up behind Owen she nodded. The symbols he was pointing at had an uncanny resemblance to a written language, primitive perhaps some kind of cuneiform, almost certainly some kind of syllabic script.
"Very interesting indeed," she said.
"Now if only we could decipher it. It probably just says something simple like welcome to our city, or the city's name and population or something like that."
She then looked up and gave a shriek of excitement before taking out the binoculars she had found in the Jupiter, held them up to her eyes and pointed.
"See that over there?" she said and gave the binoculars to Owen.
"Just beyond that collapsed archway."

Standing close behind him to look over his shoulder, unaware that her breasts were pressing against his back, she adjusted his line of sight until she was sure he saw what she had seen, a sculpture of some kind of humanoid squatting down with one hand raised up as if calling for attention, or maybe blessing whomever stood before it.

 

[captain_bond]

Character: Nate Drake
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Abeba Nyong'o @MsBloom
Day 4 AC, Morning

"Yes, definitely intelligent, and if they were still here," Nate said, raising his voice slightly in an admonishing tone to Owen, "they might not have taken kindly to trespassers, and attacked. This is completely uncharted* territory, we have no idea what, or even who might be waiting around the next corner. We don't know what anything here is capable of until we learn about it, and we certainly shouldn't take any chances." He did have to admit, though, that the whole experience was fascinating, and satisfied a wanderlust that, ever since he started watching the old Earth sci-fi series Star Trek, he felt was in every human and should be nurtured, not our tendency to hoard wealth and power, which just led to destruction.

"I actually set up a program before we left, or rather I just told the computer what was needed and it sort of built one based on those parameters. Not as good as if a human put it together, but I suppose I could ask Cara to refine it when we got back." In a 'speak of the devil' moment, his communicator chirped (he'd programmed it to make the sound from Star Trek) and sure enough there was a text from her. Closing the message, he held up the camera to the markings and said, "Anyway, this will get us started on an analysis," he said, taking photos of the ruins, focusing on what they thought was writing, then sending it to the program to start the analysis.

When Abeba pointed out the statue, he saw both it and how she was, probably unintentionally, pressing her breasts against Owen's back. If she'd been wearing an armored excursion suit, like he was, that would have been rather uncomfortable, but obviously that wasn't the case. Yeah, definitely need to try to find someone who isn't taken and who isn't the Mercer twins...although Riley would certainly be a lot of fun, for a night or three. He'd not failed to notice her checking him out, and if nothing else, him acting on this knowledge would give him his first sexual encounter on this planet. Of that he was almost certain. Using his rifle scope, he looked at the statue more closely. "Yeah, it's hard to make out details, but they definitely look humanoid. Upright, two arms, two legs, but of course that one's kneeling so we can't tell how tall they are, or were. Shall we move in closer?" He was holding his rifle one-handed, and his communicator was switched to scan mode as he got ready to get going. "Oh, Abeba, don't forget, I still wanna bum a ration bar."

*=teeheehee

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o @captain_bond Nate Drake

Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6AM (Endeavour Time)

Owen was just excited to be exploring something like this. Back on the Endeavour he wouldn't dream of doing something like this at all. People thought that he was a little strange, erratic at times. He means well though but something like this interested him to no end and he knew that Abeba would share his interest as well which was why he asked her to come with him. His brother Nate was good to have around as well. Even though they were two different people completely. "You might be right Nate. Still if we could get a dialog with them if they are alive they might even be able to help us. We could learn a lot from them. Stuff that we might not even know. We might have the advanced technology here but there's other things they might have that they don't know about at all." He told them both. By now they'd see that he was really into this sort of stuff.

He nodded to Abeba when she spoke. "You're probably right. By the looks of things here they are long gone. I'd like to know if we could find any trace of where they were going." Owen replied. When Abeba handed him the binoculars he felt her breasts against him. He really wanted to move his hand down to her thigh. Though he wanted to do a lot more than to her. He saw what she was pointing to and took a moment to really get a good look at the image. "Yeah. I see it. Could be either way depending on you're take on it." He said. Owen nodded to Nate when he mentioned the program. "Good thinking. Once we get a better understanding of it we can learn more. I wonder if there are more ruins like this on this planet." Owen asked as he was really interested in exploring everything he could.

He liked Nate's idea. "I'd like to go further in to see what we can find. Maybe get a closer look at the statue." He said. Owen was eager to explore more. "I wonder what their civilisation was like. Before whatever happened caused them to vanish. What their rituals were. How they hunted, their society." He rambled off as he approached what looked to be the entrance to the ruins.

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

"I'd be surprised if there weren't," Abeba said and tossed a protein bar to Nate.
"I mean what are the chances that something like this just happens once in one place. I mean remember your early Earth history classes, how civilisations rose parallel to each other in different parts of Earth, and how some of them fell and became lost while other's evolved into ... I suppose the beginning of a more continuous civilisation, eventually leading up to ... well a dying Earth and us ending up right here."
Abeba, suddenly realising just how close she was standing to Owen took a step back, slightly embarrassed as Cait had mentioned in passing on one of the rare occasions they had been alone without Owen that he had something of a crush on her.

Then again. Perhaps under the circumstances that was a good thing. He wasn't bad looking after all. It might be weird though since he was also Cait's twin brother. She bit her lower lip a while and looked away from him.
"Sure let's go have a look at that statue shall we," she said an without looking back at him began to make her way towards the statue making mental notes of how the collapsed structures might once had been constructed. At one point she squatted down and picked up a piece of rock that had fallen from a column.
"Looks like marble doesn't it," she said after having examined it for a while and handed it over to Owen.
"Not that I would know what marble looks of feels like up close, but the colour and marbling sure suggest as much."

As they reached the statue, a few minutes later it was much larger than she had first thought it would be. It was at least twice her size but then again statues didn't necessarily reflect the subjects actual size. The face was eroded by weather, most likely by rain, but what little remained suggested it might have had a snout like that of a baboon, or possibly a trunk like an elephant, just a lot smaller. The raised hand had six fingers instead of five but other than that it was definitely very human-like.

She took a tablet from her bag and took several photos of the statue from different angles, and of the markings below it that looked like the same kind of symbols the had seen on the arch at the entrance.

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6AM (Endeavour Time)

He turned towards Abeba when she spoke and nodded. "Yeah. We have no idea what was the catalyst for evolution on this planet. As well as others. Ours seemed like a freak accident and by chance. We have no idea that the same rules even applied here. I completely agree with you there. There could be countless of things that could have happened to them." He told Abeba. He had no issues with Abeba being so close to him at all. She was his sister's girlfriend and suddenly his eyes was open. Lately he would often see if he could get a peek with them in their cabin only to have the door close.

He nodded when Abeba agreed to go further inside. He approached the statue as he wondered what the true purpose of the whole thing was. "I've only ever read about marble. Did you know in Ancient Greek marble derives from crystalline rock or shining stone from the Greek language. I remember my history teacher making us look into rocks." He told Abeba as he gave her some random fact.

"This is very interesting." He spoke to Abeba as he looked at the statue. "I wonder what this means. Was this some sort of gathering point? Locals gathered for some of of symbolic ritual." Owen was far more interested in all of this. He wanted to see if there were other ruins much like this found. He wondered if the planet had other continents, much like Earth did. "Do you think this was their home? Or just somewhere that had a significant value to them?" He asked Abeba. He was full of questions at the moment and his head was spinning with all the possibilities. This place was nothing like they've seen before.

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

"It could certainly be a place of worship. Like maybe the ones who lived here came here to pray, or something similar. It could also be in memory of a great leader to commemorate his life after death. It is impossible to know without deciphering these symbols. For all we know they could be his name, or her name for that matter."
She first looked down at her own chest and then up at the statue before turning her head to Owen.
"I mean just because it doesn't have breasts the way we are used to doesn't automatically mean it's male, right?"

She took a few more photos of the area around the statue. There were all manner of fascinating collapsed structures that she so wished she could have known what they looked like before they collapsed and what their purpose had been. She took out a measuring instrument from her bag and measured the height of what must have been a door of some sort and from the results she concluded that whoever built this city would probably have stood at an average height of at least 200 cm, which meant that they would have been generally taller than a human. She showed Owen the results.
"So ... Not Hobbits then?"

It was then she noticed there was some kind of room behind the statue. She pointed it out to Owen.
"I wonder if perhaps there are more clues in there to what this statue is."

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6AM (Endeavour Time)

"We won't know what this place is unless we do more tests or had a time machine." He joked a little about the last part. However for Owen what they were finding out here was very interesting and he wanted to learn more and more about what this place was. "I agree. The possibilities of this place is endless. Could also be a monastery as well." He added as he looked at the statue. "Exactly right. This alien could be female for all we know. Or gender neutral. Perhaps they don't even consider their species to have genders at all. We could go on thinking about what they could be like. It's fascinating to me. To think there is alien species out there in our own galaxy. What else is there yet to find that we don't know about?"

He smiled when Abeba looked at her own chest, he realised that he might be starring at her for too long but he couldn't help it. He nodded when she mentioned more rooms. "Yeah you're right. I wonder if this place extends more? Perhaps underground?" He asked as he stepped forward towards the statue. He wasn't looking where he was going however and felt the ground crumble from below. Suddenly he fell in the hole and vanished from sight. "Shit." He yelled a little as he felt like he had bruised his ankle or most likely sprained it. He felt himself fall on it as he wondered where he had ended.

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

"A tomb perhaps?" Abeba said pensively, half to herself and half to Owen.
"Now that would be amazing. What if there is an actual alien buried in there, that one," she added quite excitedly pointing to the statue and cleared away some of the shrubbery that covered most of the opening to the room behind the statue.
Inside the room which at least structurally appeared to be intact it was almost pitch black. Abeba took out a small torch from he bag and shone the light into the room.

The walls were as black as before she illuminated them and the floor was covered in moss and a kind of thick vine with pale leaves, probably from lack of direct sun, or water. The room was quite small but at the far end there was another opening that seemed to lead to some stairs that, just as Owen had suggested, seemed to lead into an underground chamber.

"Where's your brother and his precious rifle when you might need him," she said.
"There might be some kind of animal lurking down there, like I dunno, bats? Spiders? Snakes?"
Each suggested animal was of course not likely to be found here in the same forms they were back on Earth, but chances were high, at least from what she had learned from Caitlin when she talked about exobiology, that similar creatures would exist on other planets capable of supporting life.
"I would feel a bit safer sending him down there first to make there isn't something dangerous lurking in the dark, something we can't see but it can see us."

 

[captain_bond]

Character: Nate Drake
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Abeba Nyong'o @MsBloom
Day 4 AC, Morning

Nate was aimlessly wandering around the ruins, eating his protein bar and only half-listening to the others talk. He didn't even think he was going that far until he could no longer hear them. "Ah, shit," he muttered as he pocketed the empty wrapper and started to make his way back towards Owen and Abeba. But the disadvantage to not paying attention to where he was going meant that he had no idea how to retrace his steps. There was no way he'd shout for the others, and besides, he'd trained for this sort of thing. So he put away his handheld and started to attempt to make his way back.

But he was distracted by something. The sound of running water filled his ears, very faint but it was there nonetheless. It seemed to be echoing off the ruins, and he followed it to a fissure in the ground. "Huh," he muttered. "This might be a good water source. If something happens and we need to evacuate the colony, this might be a good spot to hunker dOOOOOOWN!" As he stood on what turned out to be the thin ceiling of the underground cavern, it collapsed under his weight and he felt the rush of falling for a split second before he felt an impact on the back of his head, then he felt nothing more.

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6AM (Endeavour Time)

Owen had fallen into something. It was his own damned fault that he was down here, but if he hadn't fallen in he wouldn't have found the next thing. He stood up knowing that the pain from his ankle was going to be severe. "Not sure but this does look like an underground chamber of some sorts." He told Abeba. As he listened to both Owen was looking a little further into the chamber, his light on the torch was on as he was hoping he would find something, anything. He was more curious in finding out what this place was used for as he wanted answers to everything. He wondered what was going on with the others as he fell into something.

Then he spotted it. "Hey! Found something." He yelled out. In the middle of the chamber was what looked like an ancient sarcophagus. Though to him it looked more like a coffin. "So we're in a tomb like you suggested Abeba." He told her. He was now intrigued on what they were going to find inside. He wondered how they were going to get outside as well, though they'd find a way out for now his interest with to see if they were going to find some alien remains.

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

It was indeed a tomb, Abeba, concluded after having climbed down into the underground space much more carefully than Owen had discovered it. The small room they now found themselves in was some kind of sublevel to the larger chamber the stairs had led to. The sarcophagus was large enough to suggest that her earlier conclusion regarding the size of the people who had once lived here was correct.
"We probably shouldn't open it though. As curious as we probably both are about what is inside."
She was almost curious enough to ignore her own advice about what may lie inside. At that moment though a slithering noise came from inside the sarcophagus which convinced her that it was perhaps best to leave it sealed. She may also have moved closer to Owen and grabbed his arm pressing herself up against him.

"Ok," she said moments later as she realised she was being ridiculous and shone her torch up towards the hole they had come down through. It had collapsed completely and even a skilled climber might struggle to get back out that way.
"Ancient Earth history," she said as she shone the torch around the small burial chamber.
"The pyramids had all sorts of hidden burial chambers like this one and there was always a way in and out."
She looked at the walls for any signs of a door or a sealed passage.
"There," she said and shone the light directly at a small opening in a corner behind the sarcophagus. That might be our way out."

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: 6AM (Endeavour Time)

What they had found was incredible to Owen. An actual alien tomb. He wanted to study this place and find out it's secrets, though he had watched enough movies to know that was a bad idea. He noticed that Abeba had climbed down carefully whereas he fell down it completely. He did wonder if his brother was alright. "You're right. We don't want to unleash some curse onto the colony. We just got here and don't want to kill everyone." He told her. As much as he did want to open it he figured that could at least do some scans from the outside and leave whatever was inside alone. "For all we know this place was the aliens summer home." He added as he looked around the room.

He heard the noise coming from the sarcophagus and felt Abeba grabbed his arm. He took the moment to wrap his own arm around her and held her close. "Alright. Let's not disturb the zombies." He told her. When she spoke about ancient Earth history his mind went to so many different places. "Right they often had hidden chambers. Secret rooms. God I would have loved to visit Egypt." Like most of the children they were born on the Endeavour and had no idea apart from history books and videos of what Earth actually looked like. Some of the older ones such as Abeba's grandfather might actually remember.

"Excellent." He told her. He was impressed with Abeba. He hadn't been around her much before, though he could see himself working with her more and more. He walked as fast as he good with the sprained ankle that he got. When he got to the small opening he shone his torch into it. "Yeah there's a way out here." He told her. He told her as he could see light coming from the end. "See the light." He told her as he pointed out.

 

[captain_bond]

Character: Nate Drake
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Abeba Nyong'o @MsBloom
Day 4 AC, Morning

Nate had no idea how long he lay there, unconscious, but his eyes suddenly flew open and he gasped. He had had another nightmare, where he was experiencing his friends' deaths from a too-close perspective, but the pain on the back of his head brought him fully to the present when he tried to sit up. "Gah!", he shouted, his head spinning, which forced him back to a fully-prone position. Without moving this time, he checked the rest of his body for injuries, and he saw a rock with his blood on it, near where his arm had been, which was bleeding. The same was the case with his leg, but both wounds only stung slightly. "Hmm, maybe these rocks have something in or on them that's a natural painkiller," he muttered to himself. "Theo will want to know. Too bad I didn't bring any sample containers."

He raised himself to a sitting position more carefully this time, making sure he didn't pass out first before trying to get to his feet. This he accomplished with the help of his rifle, but it wasn't long enough to serve as a crutch, and he knew it was best to stay off his injured leg as much as possible. So he cast about for a suitable stalagmite or stalactite, and once he found one, he took aim with his weapon, and fired, breaking it off mostly the way he wanted. When he tested his weight on it, he found that it held up fairly well. The properties of the rocks that dulled his pain also acted as a coagulant, as his cuts weren't bleeding all that badly. Of course, they weren't that deep, but even so.

Now that he had determined his medical situation was as under control as it was gonna get, it was time to find a way out of here. Looking up at the hole he'd fallen through, he didn't see anything he could have grappled onto, that is if he'd even thought to bring the full suite of attachments to his expedition suit. As it happened, he just had some extra ammo storage and a torch mounted on the shoulder of his chest piece. He wouldn't leave the colony unprepared again. Shining said flashlight onto the walls and ceiling, he looked around, even checking the underground stream (from which he refilled his canteen after checking it for contaminants). Following it along the route it flowed, he noticed it disappeared into a narrow fissure in the cavern wall, and when he turned off his torch, he noticed there was a light at the end, a very small one though. Even if he had enough ordinance to blast the channel wide enough for him to crawl through (he didn't), it would undoubtedly dam the stream, if it didn't bring the cavern down on him first. So either he'd be crushed to death, or he'd alter the planet's ecosystem in an unknowable way. Neither outcome was acceptable.

So he looked for other ways out, starting with the direction the stream came from. The erosion was more extensive on this end, and he was able to crouch until he came to a bend in the channel. He saw light at the end and it looked big enough to crawl through. Excited, he started to hurry until he heard a growl ahead of him, from just outside the channel. Stopping dead, he saw a decidedly wolf-like creature, except it was scaly and had gleaming, red eyes, begin to crawl into the tunnel.

"Fuck."

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

Abeba certainly saw the light, dim as it was, coming through what was a rather sizeable crack in what she assumed had been some kind of door. It was large enough for them to squeeze through one by one and as much as she hated not knowing what might be on the other side she decided to first and then help Owen by pulling him through.

On the other side was a tunnel made from the same marble-looking material as the arches and buildings on the surface. It was damp though and covered in a green and red slime like algae of some sort. The tunnel did lead upwards though and was almost certainly their way out.
"Don't ask me why but something tells me we should avoid touching that," she said as she helped Owen to his feet.
"You good to walk on your own?"

Slowly the two of them made their way upward towards the light that grew ever brighter the further they went and soon they found themselves outside again, on the surface a few hundred yards further into the city.
"That was awesome," she said excitedly now that they were once more safe.
"I can't wait to tell everyone back at the colony and have a proper expedition to explore these ruins."

---

Back at the Chariot there was still no sign of Nathan though. He was probably just lost in his own exploration of the ruins and there was no real cause to worry about him just yet.
"Y'know what," She said as she sat down against once of the Chariot's wheels and opened another bottle of water.
"Before all this, the crash and us being the the only survivors, Cait and I kind of had a plan for when we were ready to start having kids. I'd have yours and she'd have Jaali's. That was of course while we still had, y'know ... the option of IVF. We figured it would be the second best thing to having kids that shared both of our DNA."
She took a long drink from the bottle and then handed it to Owen.
"Now though," she said and shrugged with a sense of resignation.
"It's not like we talked about it but in away I suppose that is still the plan. Just ... well now it will have to be done the old-fashioned way."

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

As much as he wanted to explore the ruins he believed leaving now was a good idea. He noticed the light dim and mentioned it to Abeba before walking towards it. When they reached the crack he managed to squeeze through. As they entered a tunnel made from the same marble like material he looked around still fascinated with everything. He hoped that Nate was having a better time, though he knew his brother was trained for this. "Yeah. We shouldn't touch it. I'm ok to walk back on my own. It's not as damaged as I thought it was. It just stings a lot." He told her as he could still walk. "Same here. Everyone is going to be shocked. I don't think we should open that sarcophagus until we know exactly what's inside and it won't come back to life and try and kill us." He told her.

He followed Abeba back to the Chariot as he noticed that Nate wasn't back yet. Knowing his brother he was probably doing something on his own, he didn't mind as he now had some time alone with Abeba. When she spoke he looked up at her. When she talked about the plan of having kids he smiled at her. "You know I would love to have your kid. I would have done that for you. You both are my family and I'd do anything for family." He told her. He nodded as he drank from the water bottle. He leaned forward as his hand reached towards the back of her head as he kissed her without saying anything further.

 

[captain_bond]

Character: Nate Drake
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Abeba Nyong'o @MsBloom
Day 4 AC, Morning

Nate was well and truly trapped, but he had weapons and plenty of ammo. But he wasn't about to fight the beast in this narrow tunnel, and its ability to pounce on him was similarly restricted. So he backed away, down the tunnel along the stream and emerged back in the main chamber, straightening up and drawing his pistol. But when the creature emerged, it seemed less hostile somehow, and it sniffed the air and took hesitant, almost timid steps towards him.

Gawking at it in surprise, he hesitated to pull the trigger. Perhaps it could sense his fear, his uncertainty, but instead of taking advantage, it just slowly walked towards him. What he wouldn't recall, as he didn't really pay much attention except to send an image of it to the central database on the Jupiters, was that some of the carvings depicted this creature alongside the former inhabitants of these ruins. So this animal was descended from domesticated beasts.

It finally reached Nate, and it poked its tongue through its lips, tentatively licking his bare hand on the grip of his gun. "Wow, you're actually pretty cool," he said softly, putting his weapon away and patting it on the head. It seemed that scratching dog-like creatures behind the ears being the path to their hearts was a universal constant, as the animal sat down on its haunches and let out a decidedly pleasant sound. "How about we find my friends, huh? I'll think of a name for you in the meantime, yeah?" It didn't seem to disagree, so after grabbing several rock samples and stuffing them in his pockets, Nate crouched through the tunnel again, his new friend emerging behind him.

Suddenly it let out a noise that sounded like a screech, but it was more melodic. Several others answered, but the one near Nate didn't seem to be agitated. Were they letting their fellow...wolf-things know that the people here are friendly?, Nate wondered as he tried to figure out how to get back to the ruins, as the area around him was completely untouched by artificial things. Pulling out his handheld, he sent a ping to the chariot's locator beacon, and he figured it was about three-quarters of a mile away, but the terrain was rough and he was injured. Sighing, he started in that direction, doing the best he can to keep his cuts from getting worse.

 

[MsBloom]

Character: Abeba Nyong'o
Tagging: Owen Drake @apollo247 Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

---

The kiss was unexpected, even if Abeba of course had brought up the plan she and Caitlin had made as a way to suggest they should do exactly what she had said, breed the old-fashioned way. It was not at all unpleasant, quite the opposite in fact and Abeba leaned into it, reciprocated it and soon her right hand found itself groping his crotch.
"My, you're eager," she said with a giggle as she noticed that he was already hard.
"Let's just hope that your brother is elsewhere occupied for a little while longer."
She then took his right hand and placed it on her left breast under the shirt she was wearing.

She let out a soft moan. The hand felt different. It had been more than a year of Endeavour time since a boy had touched her breasts, or since she had touched a penis for that matter. It almost felt new all over again. Almost as if she was about to lose her virginity again. And who better than Owen.
"Maybe we should do this cowgirl style," she suggested.
"To avoid you putting unnecessary pressure on your ankle."

She then gently pushed him onto his back and pulled her shirt off exposing the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath it. Tossing it aside she began to undo his pants and soon had his erection in the palm of her hand where she could feel it throbbing with excitement. Next she stood up and took of her own pants, revealing a pair of pale green cotton panties that suggested the outline of a thick bush of pubes underneath the fabric.

 

[apollo247]

Character: Owen Drake
Tagging: @MsBloom Abeba Nyong'o Nathan Drake @captain_bond
Day 4 AC (After the Crash)
Time: Morning

He had no idea how Abeba was going to react to the kiss, for all he knew she could have slapped him. Which would have been in her right to do so. Owen didn't believe in rape, he thought it to be wrong. He did enjoy a little roughness from time to time. As Owen felt her groping his crotch he grinned as he pulled away as she spoke. "I figured it was fitting. I'm sorry if that was awkward for you." He knew that his sister was a lesbian but he wasn't sure if Abeba was fully one as well. They were now in a strange situation with this breeding protocol and Owen was figuring it all out. "I'm sure he's out there exploring his own way. Though I'm happy to do a little more exploring." He told her.

As Abeba took his right hand he felt her breast, god he enjoyed the feeling of it. He could get used to this. He grinned when she mentioned the cowgirl position, it would help his ankle a lot. He would have to see Theo when he got back to check if his ankle was alright but he felt that in a day or two it would be much better. His fingers circled her nipple as he nodded. "Yeah cowgirl it is." He told her as she pushed him onto his back. He then watched as she took her own shirt of revealing that she wasn't wearing a bra. "I see why Caitlin likes you." He teased. When she took out his cock he moaned in pleasure. He enjoyed the sight of her green cotton panties. "We'll have to do this again. You know. To ensure you get pregnant." He liked everything that he saw in front of him. He attempted to pull her closer to him so that he could push his cock into her pussy.