2014-06-22 - Library Island Hearts: Fetch Quest No. 20392
| Title: Library Island Hearts: Fetch Quest 20932 | |
|---|---|
| Summary: The Juuban eighth-graders with a specific teacher for a specific subject, they've got this assignment. There are only several copies of the book they need for it because it's not online, and they're already all checked out-- except for a copy or two in the stacks on Library Island. The problem is, the rope bridge over the canyon is out~~ | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Infinity Institute: Library Island | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2 February 2014 - 6/22/2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
It's possible Makoto laughed when Mamoru insisted she wear a hard hat and gave her one of the backpacks with rope and emergency rations and a clawhammer in it, after he looked at the catalogue and saw where the only remaining copy of the necessary book was.
The stacks.
However, since Mamoru put his hard hat on too - no matter how faintly ridiculous it looks with his glasses and sweatervest - it's possible she complied anyway.
By now, considering they've had to climb an almost sheer rock face and crawl through a cave tunnel and muck through a swamp so far and Mamoru's flashlight's batteries have run out and they're relying on smartphone flashlights, the odd equipment's at least proven useful.
"It should be just on the other side of this crevasse," Mamoru tells Makoto cheerfully, turning his phone off once they get to a large echoing cave lit by phosphorescent rocks. A cave which, indeed, has a massive gorge through it, and a warmly inviting glowing door on the other side of it.
They turn a corner and the tall boy stops in his tracks, poleaxed. "Well... the bridge was there last week... um. We might have to jump it..." he says dubiously.
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Seijuro Ginga. Tall, brown haired, handsome in his school uniform. Known for his flute talent. And totally, completly, amazingly lost. "This place goes on forever." he says, groaning a bit. His hand comes up behind his head, scratching as he looks around. How could anyone find anything in this place?! What kind of library is this place?!" he says to no one in particular.
"AND NOW THE BRIDGE IS OUT? WHY IS THERE A BRIDGE IN THE LIBRARY," he shouts. He's just about had it, and gives a due amount of consideration to just transforming and trying to fly out. Or at least give up. It's certainly not even close to being worth the investment of energy he's spending here.
And that's when he feels some sort of presence, out of the corner of his eye, or the back of his mind. He drops his hand from his neck where he was reaching to pull out the pendant and turns, but he doesn't see anyone yet. He just hangs his head in dejection, and looks back at the bridge.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"This *is* supposed to be a library... right?" This is probably not the first time Makoto has asked that question since Mamoru first handed her a hard hat and a backpack of caving gear and made it clear that, no, it wasn't some kind of elaborate joke.
If she'd known it was going to be this complicated, she'd have gone to the library sooner. But no. She'd foolishly assumed, when she first realized her predicament, that she could simply ask Ami; when Ami, always a believer in making sure her friends put the full required effort into their schoolwork, had gently suggested that the Infinity library would surely have a copy and maybe she could ask Mamoru-san for a hand, Makoto had supposed it would simply be kind of awkward. She hadn't expected an *adventure.*
Nor had she really expected that they'd be running into anyone else down here, but standing there with the gorge in front of her she looks around to one side and the other and it isn't long before she catches sight of Seijuro. Immediately her brows draw together in concern and she's stepping away from Mamoru - "Hey," she calls out, "are you okay? You look a little lost."
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
So that's what the echoing was all about! Mamoru trails behind Makoto, thumbs hooked around the straps of his backpack, tie by now loosened and glasses admittedly a little smudged. "You can borrow my hard hat!" he calls helpfully as they approach, reaching up to take it off. "I've heard I'm pretty hardheaded."
The bridge was there. The burnt remains of it still dangle from the edges of the crevasse, and -- those can't be clawmarks, can they? Absurd; this is a library. It's, perhaps in small consolation, at least very pretty here with the glowing rocks and veins. "Are you trying to find a book, or get out of here?"
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"Well, I -was- trying to find a book, but I think I'd be happy now with just finding my way out." he adds, looking a bit exhausted. Then he sees Makoto, and suddenly doesn't look exhausted anymore. At all. He flashes her a smile.
He reaches into his uniform shirt and pulls out a piece of paper. I'm Seijuro Ginga, from Juuban." It doesn't hit him that Makoto is too, since her uniform is different. I'm looking for this book... sorry, my Japanese isn't perfect, I'm not a local." he adds, before he reads off the name of the book. His Japanese sounds pretty good for a nonlocal.
"This place is really quite weird." he says, a statement which may be the biggest understatement since forever.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
--oh no he's cute. If Usagi or any of the other girls were here, they'd know the signs immediately: a hint of a flush of pink rises in Makoto's cheeks, and when Seijuro smiles at her, her eyes go starry in admiration.
And he goes to her school! Any regrets Mako might possibly have entertained about having to make this trip evaporate like dew in the sunlight. It takes a moment for it to occur to her that, given her old uniform and all, he has no reason to recognize her as a classmate, and she laughs a little, bringing a hand self-consciously up to the back of her neck. "I'm Makoto Kino!" she says. "I'm from Juuban, too - it looks like we're here for the same thing, so why don't you join up with us? It's safer for everyone if we stick together."
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
For Mamo, it takes a little longer to put the signs together with Makoto's sudden change in body language and temperment. When he does, he sighs a little bit and smiles ruefully. "And I'm Mamoru Chiba," he introduces himself, "but I go to Ohtori."
Instead of offering his hand, he offers the hard hat. "We're going to have to find another way around. Luckily, even if it takes a while, there's a shortcut to the main floor not too far from our target. You up for that, Ginga-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Seijuro blinks. It takes him a moment to take everything in particularly from Mamoru. Then, he quickly files what he says under 'don't care' as he walks over and gets closer to Makoto. "Oh, you're here for the same book as me! Why don't we look together, Miss Makoto Kino?" he asks.
Yep, he just totally ignored Mamoru.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Makoto is not *quite* so smitten that she fails to notice how completely Seijuro does not respond to Mamoru. Glancing from one to the other, she blinks in confusion before offering Mamoru a helpless shrug. "That sounds like a great idea. Mamoru-san is a member of the library club here, so he's been showing me the way. The more the merrier, right?"
Taking the hard hat from Mamoru's hands, she turns to hold it out to Seijuro herself. "Here, if you want it. There's no telling what we could run into down here, so better safe than sorry." She is of course wearing one herself just as Mamoru had instructed, though she had to rearrange her ponytail in order for it to fit comfortably.
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
One corner of Mamoru's mouth turns up, twitching a little as he tries to suppress a smirk. It's his only response to Makoto's shrug, other than relinquishing the hard hat-- he doesn't seem to be taking it personally, probably because Makoto's not Usagi.
That might be slightly dicier.
"This way," is all he says, his expression turning into a much milder lopsided smile, before he steps around Seijuro and Makoto and continues along the narrowing ledge of the path. He takes his map out of his pocket as he goes, then adjusts his glasses again and turns his smartphone light back on. "Makoto-san, are you planning on coming to the study cabal meet with Usagi-chan on Friday?"
It might not be the most polite thing to do, but if Seijuro's ignoring him...
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Seijuro turns to Mamoru and his eyes widen a little, like he's literally just noticed Mamoru is there. "Ah... Malboro..." he hesitates a bit with the honorific, before deciding upon it "-san. My apologies... I was somewhat distracted. It is not every day I find myself fighting my way through such... odd... surroundings, only to be approached by such incredible beauty." he adds, turning his gaze to Makoto midway through, taking the hardhat from her and using that as an excellent excuse to look into her eyes. "Thank you very much, Miss Makoto Kino." he says, smiling before he puts it on.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
She was going to answer Mamoru, really she was, but then Seijuro says what he says and *smiles* at her and Makoto is left blinking at him in faint surprise and near-incomprehension, like he's suddenly speaking some kind of alien language. Or maybe English. Did he just call her...? "Oh, um," she flusters, blushing a positively rosy pink. "You're welcome!"
--OH RIGHT Mamoru was asking her something, wasn't he? At this point Mako only half remembers the question, let alone whether she was actually planning on attending the study session or not, but she looks distractedly his way. "...Friday, right? I was planning on it, if it wouldn't be a problem for anybody..."
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Mamoru, not Malboro," the upperclassman corrects automatically, paused on the ledge again and squinting at the map in the light of his phone. "And it's fine, just try to focus, please." He waits, increasingly impatiently, for Makoto to register his question, and he totally ignores the fact that Seijuro is thanking Makoto for Mamoru's hard hat because-- that was-- the plan anyway. Right? Right.
THE IMPORTANT PART HERE IS THAT THE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS GET THEIR BOOKS AND GET OUT SAFELY. That is the-- that is-- it--
Thankfully, Mako answers, sparing Mamoru the awkward of trying to break up the flirtathon without looking like the cranky old man he feels like right now, or like he's getting annoyed. "Good, yes. If you want to bring anything, go sweet, someone else has savory covered. Usagi-chan has the address.
Finally, the task at hand: "There's a platform about a storey down where there are ropes we can swing across the gorge with. Also, this staircase is very narrow, so we'll have to go single file, and please make sure you use the handholds."
Pause. He jams the map and the phone in his pocket. "That does not mean holding hands." And down he starts.
<Pose Tracker> Lucy Iwai [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
Meanwhile!
Huddled up inside a book cavern with a gas lamp and a pile of manga, Lucy Iwai has fallen asleep. Luckily she's not snoring as loudly as she usually does, or otherwise the intrepid adventurers might think there's about to be an earthquake. In fact, the bubble coming out of her nose bursts as she hears voices outside. She blinks, blinks, yaaaawns, and crawls out to see what the source of the noise might be.
And so, a fourth student appears (hopefully no one trips over her), hair messy (only marginally more than usual) and eyes still squinting. She yawns again, covering her mouth with a manga volume while her other hand is still holding the gas lamp. She blinks a few times at the sight of two somewhat familiar faces, and a new one. "Ah! Good morning, senpai, Makoto-chan, and..." She trails off, blushing faintly.
Darn it, not her too!!
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Seijuro has just enough time to afix the helmet before a new arrival hits the scene... and he's... totally not listening to Mamoru again. He turns towards Lucy. "And now two beautiful laides - maybe I shall have to go to libraries more often. Even if they are... wierd... like this one." he adds. He smiles at Lucy, as well, messy hair and all.
"My apologies, Mamoru." No honorific at all this time. "But I... I did not hear a word you just said." he adds. "And I suppose we do actually /need/ this book." Right now he couldn't care less about the book, though. Unconsciously, his eyes stop looking at Lucy to scan the skies for a certain pink-haired demon that tends to show up when he falls into being near this many beautiful girls...
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Makoto, at least, has the grace to look a little abashed as she starts to follow Mamoru downwards. "Okay," she says, "I can do that... ah, Lucy-chan!" Never mind, derailed again, this time to smile brightly in recognition and welcome. "It's good to meet you again. Mamoru-san was just helping us find a book - I'm sorry if we disturbed you..."
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Iwai-san! Sor--"
That look. Mamoru has never particularly been a fan of that look, even when it's directed at him. When it's directed at someone who's returning it and he's trying to get stuff done in the meantime?
Annoyed upperclassman is annoyed. Even more-so when Seijuro's just informal with him all over the place, once he finally gets his name right, even in the middle of apologizing for not listening, again--
No. Zen. Calm blue ocean. If Mai were here, she wouldn't--
Mamoru scowls. Yes she would. "It's fine," he says. He steps with icy ire ever downwards, gratified that at least Makoto is following him.
The stairs are a little crumbly, and more than once, the eleventh-grader's weight causes part of a step to crumble, but the handholds are, in fact, carved into the wall in lieu of a railing, and there are, it's proven, ropes tied to the wall and disappearing into the cavernous darkness of wherever the ceiling is. There's also a matching ledge on the other side, hurray! "Makoto-san, he seems to be able to hear you well enough: can you make sure he won't fall? I trust you and Iwai-san."
Unceremoniously, the black-haired boy unties a rope and hikes his hands up it as far as he can, then jumps off the cliff into the darkness.
<Pose Tracker> Lucy Iwai [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
"What are you looking for? Perhaps I can help," Lucy proposes as she puts out the lamp and leaves it by her hideout's entrance, along with the manga book. (Something about bizarre vampires and posing adventurers, surely research material for Juuban's school play?) She takes out a matching miner's helmet and puts it on, apparently intending to follow the crew.
She smiles at being called a beautiful lady, and doesn't even comment on the library being weird-- To her, regular libraries are just boring. "No problem, no problem!" she comments on having been disturbed. "I sometimes lose track of time when I'm here."
The starry eyes seem to dissipate quickly as her head clears, too, perhaps to the relief of most involved. She does notice that Mamoru seems to be in a bad mood, but she can't quite tell why. She's used to basic Library Island survival by now, and the crumbly steps come as no surprise. If anyone threatens to slip, her hand is there to catch them. Then comes the ledge. She doesn't always climb with ropes, but hey, they're pretty fun. "Ah, this shouldn't be too hard. Just do it like this!" Without paying much mind to enigmatic words about who can hear who, she grabs one, and gleefully throws herself into a Tarzan swing!
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Seijruo seems to fall in line, being busy complimenting the girls or not. After the first book falls out from under him, he takes a little bit more of a care. But at no point does he fall. As exasperating as this 'library' is, he's had to put up with much worse places in his will to survive... and plus, there are two beautiful girls here, and a human who seems to think far too highly of himself, whenever Seijuro pays him any mind.
And so, by the time that he's reached the ropes, he's found his adventurer vibe - just like being on a strange planet with An next to him. He grasps the rope tightly, and smiles at Lucy as she swings across. "Well then, shall we?" he asks, making a point to smile at Makoto as well. He grasps it tightly, pushes off, and makes his own swing across, looking confident for all the world - after all, if things really go sour, he'll just transform and fly out of the hole.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Makoto nods in answer to Mamoru's request, a little sheepishly, and as they make their way down she makes sure to keep an eye on Seijuro... not that he seems to need it. Really, it's hard to tell how much she's watching to make sure he's doing okay and how much she's just lost in shiny-eyed admiration.
Either way, it more or less works out the same.
She does wait, however, until she's sure Seijuro's got the right idea about the rope-swing across the gap before she takes hold of another rope herself, smiling back brightly if a little self-consciously. A surreptitious lean on the rope to make sure it'll hold fast - Mamoru made it across fine, but you never know - and then there's nothing for it but to kick off the ledge and swing across after the others.
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
The quick recoveries of Lucy and Mako relieve the upperclassman, and by the time everyone's over on the opposite side too, he's already doublechecking the map again. "Iwai-san, if you want to take over finding it, I'd be very grateful. I've got the destination marked-- I didn't count on the bridge being out, and I need to get a book from the other side of the lake before I go home."
Just as he's holding the map out, there's an explosion of rapidly flapping wings from below them in the crevasse, and something like three hundred bats go winging upwards past them, filling the air with flickering black and echoing flutters. Mamoru flinches back from the sudden sound and movement, then deliberately straightens and adjusts his glasses, not realizing there is a bat on his head. He re-offers the map.
It doesn't look, from the picture, like the room in question is very far at all: it really is just a few turns down a twisty passage from the ledge they landed on. Unfortunately, it's also a level up from this one, and the bridge being out, god knows what else has changed in a week.
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Between the bat, and Lucy, Seijuro suddenly starts laughing. At first it's just a little laugh, but it quickly escalates into a full on fit. During when he stumbles back and promptly almost falls off the cliff. He's actually -still laughing- as he rights himself and stumbles forward, barely escaping the fall. Once he calms down from his laughter, he leans in. "I have no problem helping you with your book, Mamoru. But you should ask your new friend if he would also like to help, maybe?" he adds, pointing to the new arrival.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Makoto tries, but she can't help giggling at Mamoru's new friend and his apparent obliviousness to its presence - at least until Lucy falls off the pile of books. Then Mako's amusement turns quickly to dismay, and from dismay to outright alarm when she sees how close Seijuro is getting to that much longer drop. "Careful--!" she cries out, and starts to move to catch him, only to check herself when it becomes clear that he's recovered his balance. "...Geez. Maybe we should get somewhere a little safer. Um, Mamoru-san..."
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
From bafflement to alarm-- and then further alarm-- and then bafflement again (the kind, it's obvious, that involves the distinct impression that the baffled party is wondering when he missed a page), Mamoru just stares. With a bat on his head.
It's honestly an adorable bat, fuzzy and tiny and brown and clinging to the high-schooler's black hair, beady little black eyes wide and round. "New friend...?" Mamoru asks blankly, trailing off and looking upwards at where Seijuro's pointing. Of course the bat moves with him, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't actually see the top of his head. "What new friend? I'm all right getting my book, I know where it is. Besides, you have to get your own book--"
And then the boy decides he'll be kind, too. He adds magnanimously, as the tiny bat lifts one wing to resettle in its precarious perch, "--and since there's only the one copy, you and Makoto-san will have to share it anyway, so you'd better stick together. Iwai-san is a very experienced and capable member of the Library Island Exploration Club, and she'll probably get you out of here once you've got it faster than I could, so to save time for all of us, I'll leave you three to this quest and..."
He adjusts his glasses, then squints at the three of them with growing suspicion. "Wait. What are you all looking at? I didn't see anything--"
<Pose Tracker> Lucy Iwai [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
"Owww..." Lucy rubs her behind for a moment until she sees Seijuro almost falling off! Luckily, the crisis is quickly averted, but that was a close call. You never know in this place.
She has to stifle a giggle as she gets back up, as Mamoru remains oblivious to the bat on his head and the reason for the looks he's being given-- which aren't starry-eyed admiration, at least. Then he praises her, ending the gigglefit and causing her to blush once more. "A-Ah, I'm still not that experienced, but... I'll do my best!" She /is/ in her element in a strange, dangerous place like this, though.
Then he finally starts to suspect something, and Lucy's wide smile returns. "You've made a new friend! What should we call it? Is it a boy or a girl?" She climbs up onto another book pile so she can lean in to get a closer look.
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
It's Seijuro who finally breaks the news. Because this couldn't get any worse. Or better. "Mamoru-san. You have a bat. On your head." he says pointedly. And then he starts laughing again as the bat turns to look at the source of the noise, and this time when he tumbles back he doesn't catch himself, and suddenly the amazingly gorgeous boy is about to tumble out of Lucy and Makoto's sight... forever!
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
This time, at least, Makoto was still on alert for any more accidents, and despite the beginnings of a smile at the antics of the little bat on Mamoru's head she hasn't begun to relax just yet.
Which means that when Seijuro starts to go over the edge, this time there's not even a split second of a delay in her reaction. Before he can fall out of reach, Mako is already there to catch him - and by catch him we mean lift him effortlessly off his feet princess-style, taking absolutely no chances of missing the grab or anything like that. "Please be a little more careful, Seijuro-san!" she says, stepping back a somewhat safer distance from that perilous drop. "It's a long way down if you fall!"
A second or two later, it finally catches up to Makoto what she just *did.* Turning suddenly bright red in the face, she hurries to set Seijuro back down on his feet and scoot a bit away, clasping both hands together in embarrassment and contrition. "--ah, that is--!" Fluster, fluster.
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
A-- a bat on his head--? Lucy's leaning toward his head from the top of a book pile and Seijuro's explaining and Mamoru freezes with his hands halfway to his hair as Makoto flashes past him like the bullet train.
He's not at all unused to Makoto doing this sort of thing, so he's not /surprised/ -- as he finishes reaching up to gingerly touch the bat, which shifts again and tries not to be touched, the upperclassman smiles warmly at Mako. "Good save," he tells her. "Uh-- Lucy-san, can you, ah--" He points at the bat. "I don't want to hurt it."
Maybe Mamoru just has no sense of priority. 'Maybe', ha ha ha.
<Pose Tracker> Lucy Iwai [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
From the top of her book pile, Lucy isn't able to reach for Seijuro in time, so it falls to Makoto to save the day, and save the day she does! In a rather spectacular fashion, too.
Lucy's attention is successfully diverted away from the bat, and a second later she's hopped off the books and closer to the embarassed girl as she sets the boy down. "That... was... so... cool!" There she is again, going starry-eyed! This is not going to help Makoto's blush, is it?
Then Mamoru brings her back to reality. "Ah? Ah! Yes, of course." She returns to the taller boy, and delicately tries to pry the bat of his hair. "There, girl, you shouldn't stay here..." Apparently it's a girl?? Did Lucy actually check, or is she just assuming?
<Pose Tracker> Seijuro Ginga [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Seijuro is suddenly not falling. He's flying! It takes him a moment for the situation to actually be a little wierd, and that's when he looks down and sees that he's aloft due to the strength of one Miss Makoto. And then she puts him down, and looks quite embarrassed.
"No, no... it's allright!" he says, trying to reach a hand out to her, that smile on his face. "You were certainly right to scold me, after the first time I nearly fell." Yep. Seijuro doesn't even seem to understand why she's embarassed, and her strength doesn't seem to have put him off of his antics even the tiniest bit.
"Thank you for grabbing me!" he says, eyes still bright. "We're almost there, are we not?"
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Makoto was so expecting Seijuro to be put off by being hoisted so casually by a girl - what guy wants a girl who can tote him around like a sack of potatoes? - that his nonchalant response fairly blows her away and she's right back into blushing, starry-eyed admiration again. If tempered this time by a certain lingering embarrassment. Lucy's honest compliment doesn't help either.
"You're welcome," she manages, reaching up to rub awkwardly at the back of her neck. "I'm just glad I was able to help... but you're right, we really should get a move on." Even if that's not precisely what he said. "We still need to find that book, after all. Lucy-chan? Mamoru-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Mamoru Chiba [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mamoru holds still; the bat deigns to be removed from his head by Lucy, and then wobbles around until it can get itself airborne again and flap away. The upperclassman eyes it warily, half expecting it to basically magnet back to his head, but-- "Thank you," he breathes a sigh of relief to Lucy.
Oh right, there was death-defying going on a second ago, and people are talking and Makoto's still blushtastic and-- "Yes! Right. You've got the x-marks-the-spot on the map; have fun, you guys. I'll see you all later."
The high-schooler gives a cheerful wave, figuring the transfer student will be well taken care of by Makoto and Lucy, then heads off down the stacks toward, presumably, a shortcut in the direction of the lake.
It's only a simple passage, a flight of stairs, and a room before they get to their destination, after all! There can't possibly be any more adventure jammed in so small a space, can there?
Deep within the passageway ahead of them, something laughs chillingly; as the brave eighth-graders sally forth, another book from the slippery cliff-stack falls off the edge, and there's no sound of it hitting the bottom.
A dim red light goes on and there's a click as the last of the three disappears into the tunnel, and somewhere, rusty gears start turning and chains clank.
No adventure at all.
