Venturing: Underbeats

Upon the single room we
stand, scanning the area around for anything that interest us or at least
caught our eye. We had assigned everyone to their own corners of the larger
room. Kyro and Natty on one corner. Zander on the opposite side. Me and Yang at
the center. We stared interested at the walls surrounding us. Looking upon the
depths where darkness had overtaking our sights and prevented us from even
looking further on. As I heard footsteps walking in the distance, I motioned to
Yang and pointed to the middle of one wall that was ahead of us. A strange
drawing emerged before our eyes. Exposing the entire map before us. Strange
markings were upon that drawing too. Some of which we could not understand. As
me and Yang tilted our heads to one side, our ears flickered upon hearing
Zander calling out towards us. That we turned our attention to them and
blinked, walking over to his line in interest and curiosity of what he had
wanted.

We soon met up with
Zander very quickly that we had saw him upon the wall. He was pointing to
something. We looked to where he was pointing at and was taken back surprise.
Before us stood a huge rectangular shape. Three symbols stands within the
boundaries of the shape. Yet all of them were to one line, descending. “This
must be the key towards that map we saw." I heard Yang muttered, Zander tilted
his head to one side and questioned “What map?" I pointed to the middle of the
wall that was facing us initially. Zander looked and nodded his head, having
seen it. “I get it." He looked towards the key above me, “This must be the
legend for that map. The symbols are all there. Corresponding to here." I
nodded as Yang studied the map. “Yeah." “Where are Kyro and Natty? Have they
found something yet?" I shrugged in response, looking over my shoulder and
staring down onto the abyss darkness that awaits for us on the other side of
the room. We still had not seen them yet and I was a bit worried for them after
all.

With a shrugged, I
exhaled silently as Yang pulled her eyes back and lowered. Facing both me and
Zander as she commented, “Done.""That was fast." Zander responded, I chuckled
silently before Yang motioned us back towards the center. “We should catch up
at least towards the other pair. They might have gotten farther than usual." I
suggested as we walked, Zander seconded that. Yang, on the other claw, sighed
and dropped her wings before nodding back toward us. Her eyes closed then
opened after nodding as we raced towards the opposing side of the room. We
entered into the depths very shortly afterwards. We watched as the darkness
engulfed us quickly. Surprise that we had ventured farther than we needed to
be, Yang stepped back from our line a bit and fished into her pocket for a
miniature flashlight that she always keep with her at all times. As she does,
Zander shifted his vision and glanced around the area a bit. “It is too dark in
here." Zander commented after a brief pause of silence, “Very dark." I
responded to him as his eyes turned to me and questioned, “How did Kyro and
Natty get through here anyway? Neither of them had any torches or flashlights?"
“Kyro is as fire type dragon." I started, Zander nodded before gazing away. It
took a second maybe longer for Yang to finally bring out that flashlight that
she had with her. Both me and Zander were getting a bit impatient with her
however. As she pressed the black button upon it, the light broadcast and
shines a distance away from where we were standing. Me and Zander, turned our
attention to the light as Yang took over leadership and led us through the
depth darkness ahead.

A few distance into the
darkness and we ended up upon hallways that were filled with lightbulbs. Five
in total were in front of us. All of which were adjacent to one another. All
the lightbulbs were turned off. Preventing anyone from seeing what was ahead.
In addition, it was to converse power and electricity. As our attention were to
the sections of lightbulbs, Yang turned her attention towards the left. A wall
appeared before her. But also a white switch was there too. She flicked it on.
Before turning her attention to the sections of lights. Pleased with herself
momentarily before she was a bit surprise that the lights would not turned on
at all. Both me and Zander looked a bit disappointed, our wings shuffled
inching to fly over and see. Yang noticed and shook her head before rejoining
our group once again. I stared out towards the sections of lights once more,
then peeled away and turned towards the opposite wall of the room. Seeing another
switch there, I walked over to turn it on.

In surprise, the
lightbulbs were warm except for one. We all turned our attention towards it,
seeing a row of broken lightbulbs settled in our eyes. Yang smiled faintly. Me
and Zander frowned in response as we all walked forth towards the broken
lightbulbs ahead of us and entered in. We heard a click and another. The
lightbulbs turned off afterwards in response as we walked through the broken
shards underneath our feet. It felt crunchy suddenly. No pain. No nothing
underneath. We were a bit surprise at this point too however. Walking through
the broken glass, My attention was turned to the walls surrounding us. Two rows
of broken lightbulbs were attached to the walls on either side of us. The first
of the many had something in it. But it was already gone by now. Guessing that
Kyro and Natty had already taken it and brought it with them towards the goal,
I felt pleased and settled with them. But at the same time, felt nervous and
wondering with thoughts as to what they were doing. Though glancing over to
Zander, he does not seem too worried about his friend. For a fainted smile
drifted from his face. It was all I got when we reached the end of the halls
where a brown opened door stood before our wake. Immediately, Zander and Yang
walked through the door. I followed right behind them.

The door closed behind us
as we were lead into another hallway. A staircase settled before our eyes,
descending to the darkness right below us. A set of railings were to our right.
Yang and Zander walked towards the staircase, starting to descend into the
darkness below us. As I watched them in silence, my ears flickered upon hearing
a foreign sound. I turned to the brown door behind me. Walked closely towards
it and grabbed onto its knob. A low growl entered my mists after opening the
door. Peering out onto the darkness distance. I saw nothing but an island ahead
of me. A palm tree was adjacent to the fire place where smoke rises from it
towards the ceiling above. I blinked, a bit surprise. Remembering before that
the previous room was suppose to be sections of lights instead of… this. I did
not know what else to say about what I was seeing right now. I was tempted to
head back through the brown door. Pondering slightly if it was indeed the right
path instead of the set of stairs that were now behind me. With my eyes closing
and a brief exhale escaped my mouth, I grabbed onto my pistol and dive straight
through the door with it closing right behind me.

I walked straight through
the short hallway. Towards the small room where the island was once held. I
drew closer towards it, then reached out with my claw towards the island. It
just phased through. A shock of amazement exposed upon my face as I waved
through the island before me, watching it flicker every time it does. I paused
and stepped back, allowing my claw to drift back onto my side. My pistol was
aim towards the horizon again. Yet I found myself staring at what I was seeing
around me. Colorful controls were settled upon a series of boards. All
organized into squads or segments. Black thin lines emerged between these
segments as I watched the lights flickered upon the buttons before me. I
pondered in silent and stared in response. Gazing down onto all of the buttons
and things that were there. A thought entered my mind. But it was gone when the
door was opened and shout emersed from the depths of silence. Already driving
it away as I stepped back and looked towards the brown door ahead of me,
noticing quickly Zander and Yang. They were huffing deeply, their pants was
already noticeable however. As I waved to them, their heads already hung and
eyes closed as if they had gone through a marathon or something along that
line. My concern was exposed. Yet I never said anything straight towards them.
Instead, I walked to them. Grabbed onto their claws or arm and dragged them
across the short hallway towards the small room. They were surprise. Maybe
shocked.

Yet no words were
exchanged as their eyes shifted towards the important parts of the room. Their
attention were elsewhere. But I was curious as to what they were running from.
For my attention was to the brown door again behind me. I stared onto it. I
stand in place. But my thoughts urge me to go and find out. So with a pounding
heart against my chest, I stepped forward to the brown door ahead of me.
Grabbed onto the knob and tilted to the side, already opening the door. A creak
emerged from the doorway as I peered through the cracks and gaze on the
opposing side. Empty. The stairway, railings were the same and in their place.
The light flickering above the flooring at a distance from me. Everything else
was the same. I closed the door immediately and locked it. A brief sigh escaped
from my mouth while I lifted my head towards the ceiling above me. My eyes
closed. But that short silence I had to myself was broken afterwards when I
heard Yang spoke out something that caught my attention. To my surprise, Zander
grew interested as well and we found ourself drifting towards the dragoness as she
shifted her attention towards whatever was interesting towards her eye.

A red big button. Words
were drifted above it. Whatever it said, we would never know. As our attention
was towards the button, I quickly turned to the island behind us and stepped towards
it in silence. With a signal from my claw tips, I urged Yang to hit the button
which she does immediately and in response. Zander was shocked. But he kept
that to himself as curiosity took over his face instead. He and Yang turned
their attention towards the island. We watched. Curiosity and in interest of
what would happened. As the entire room was showered with the bright red color,
sirens wailing out from the sides of the room. The walls and floor rumbling and
vibrating violently. The island started flickering. Pieces of it started
falling. Disappearing into the abyss below. We watched it all in action until
nothing was left. Yet in the place of the island, a scroll up map stands. We
stared onto it in silence. Yang was the first to react and grabbed onto the map
immediately and quickly. As she snatched the map, something clicked. Me and
Zander turned our heads towards the right side of the room where the door
opened before our eyes. We ran through it and shut the door behind us. Yang
opened the scroll and peered onto the contents hidden inside.

The contents were blank.
Nothing was written onto the scroll itself. We were surprise. But never
expressed it however as our ears turned towards the sounds in the coming
distance ahead of us. We looked to the horizon, staring up ahead. Where we
spotted Kyro and Natty already waving at us, I and Yang waved in turn. Zander
grumbled and said nothing while his arms were crossed. We gathered up upon one
another, finally reuniting at last. Yet before we could leave, Yang tilted her
head to one side and spoke wondering what had happened to them. Kyro was the
first to respond to us, explaining everything since our separation. Thus as he
does, the walls started crumbling again. The flooring below us vibrated as
rocks fell from the ceiling, creating holes where the sunlight exposes itself
from the skies above it. Zander started yelling, we all immediately ran with
the intentions of not getting hurt, lost or dying through the death that was
surrounding us. We started running. Through the halls that we had entered
through. Finding light on the opposing side of us which was shouted by Zander
who pointing up ahead. We ignored him and kept pushing. Finally through the
tunnel we exited from as we turned our attention towards the sealed cavern
behind us.

We all had escaped. But
there was something missing. I motioned to Yang, Zander and Kyro to bring their
stuff onto the floor for everyone to see. They nodded in response, saying
nothing in response as they brought their stuff. Dropping it onto the flooring
below, unwrapped and exposed. We all form a circle. “Interesting." I muttered,
fixing my gaze towards Kyro's and Natty's. Already having noticed about the
small miniature map that unwrapped itself upon the ground. I stepped forth into
the circle and snatched the map from the ground. Raising it into the air, I
twisted the map so the legend at the top of the map was pointing downward. I
looked onto the map while Kyro spoke “So with all of these clues settled before
us. Do we have any understanding as to what was happening?" “Little." Responded
Zander, shaking his head as his eyes shifted back towards the flooring. A brief
silence loomed over our heads while i dropped the map onto the ground again and
spoke towards the rest of them “There is something however." “Do tell."
responded Natty, crossing her arms as she smirked staring at me. I explained to
them about the map, the legend and the island that I had saw before my
coworkers. All in sequence order of events it seems. As I explained, Yang and
Zander also input their own thoughts onto it. Answering any questions that Kyro
or Natty had anything about the topic at hand. This conversation went on for so
long that our stomachs started growling.

Yang was the first to
break into a laugh. Followed by the others in counter clockwise motion. Till we
all died down was when Yang urged us to escaped from the caverns and headed
home to eat something at the headquarters. With Zander and Kyro shouting out
their respectives foods, glaring at one another and arguing maybe bickering. We
reached the end of the tunnel. Much to most of our surprises however. Thus when
we exited, our eyes widened and we had a looked of shock upon our faces.
Because, standing before us was Vastertown. But it is a little different than
the normality of our precious town. The buildings that we had once knew were a
combination of skyscrapers and regular buildings. The streets were exchanging
dirtiness and cleanliness. Most of the dragon citizens were gone from the
streets, having nothing to do with the dirty streets. In the mists of the
dragons came canines such as foxes, wolves etc. The citizens of Vaster were a
bit surprise into seeing species other than their own. Even us were surprise by
it too when we saw it. Yet Yang was angered. I could see steam coming from her
ears; her face pure red. Zander and Kyro worked to calm her down while me and
Natty went around town to see what had changed.

Indeed, the streets
buildings and citizens were changed. Or rather intertwine some how. We ended up
with taller buildings, dirty streets and canines all around the square. Me and
Natty decided to walk a bit faster, with false hope of wondering if the Chaos'
R7 had anything to do with this. Thus as we speed walked across the sidewalks
and exchanging them for streets. Ignoring the other dragons rumoring about the
canines that walked amongst us and their dirtiness that carrying along with
them. We ended up upon the street where our headquarters were at. I was a bit
relieved that the street was still here. However, shifting over to Natty. She
was stumbling over her words. Her form started vibrating as she shakingly
raised her claw into the air and pointed towards the only building missing. My
head was tilted to the side, unsure of what she was pointing at. But at the
same time, becoming pure innocent at her words and phases. As such, I just
laughed and chuckled alongside of her. My wings started spreading, I urged
Natty to come along with me. She nodded, but just slightly enough for the
acknowledgement before we ran through the street again. Flapping our wings as
we takes to the skies once again. Thus gliding a short distance away where we
landed in front of…

“What happened to our
building?" I started with shock. My eyes bugged out. Mouth hanging from the
side as I heard Natty whispering quietly towards me, yet she was pointing
towards some wolves that were hanging about. They were dropping sticks upon the
grounds. Molten was hanging in the air, I smelled it. Groaning at the
displeasure that hovered underneath my nose, I grunted yet walked towards the
group of wolves. Growling at them. As the wolves turned their attention to me,
the rest of the unit gathered up with Yang. Only Zander and Kyro were the first
to notice the molten smell hovering as Yang went to comfort Natty.

“DId you guys do this?
Who are you guys and are you in any way affirmed to the Chaos' R7?" I grumbled
at the wolves. Yet a few of them whimpered and stepped back, away from our
burned headquarters. One of the wolves stepped forward and cheerfully respond
to me, “Howdy! We did not burn your headquarters. We are merely setting a
boundary to help the construction workers fixed up your building. At the same
time we kinda ran out of…" He went on and on about the burned stick, building
and the construction that it was already starting to hurt my brain a bit. I
roared in his face, he shut up immediately as I spoke calmly at him. Yet raging
at the same time, perhaps frustrated at all. “Shut up about the rambling and
other details. All I want is your name, your pack and your reason." “Name, pack
reason. Got it." He started, a small grin formed across his face. Hopping onto
his feet, he explained who he was, his pack and reason. “My name is Hunter. We
formed a pack called the 'Hunter's pack'. Our reason? Well we just got here.
Good enough reason? Good. We are do-" “Not quiet yet." Yang sternly responded
as I held his shoulder.

“Where are you guys
from?" “Oh… er… Emerald Forest." He answered, our eyes widened at that moment
before looking down onto him in response. Silence loomed over our heads then I
started growling, “Leave." “Got it got it. We are going…" Hunter remarked,
nudging his head towards the other wolves as they departed from our sights. For
once they are gone, I exhaled a stern breath and shook my head. My thoughts
infiltrated my head, wondering why would the R7 hire them. “Man… are they that
dense?" I heard Zander loudly rudely remarked, crossing his arms with a smirk
from his face as his wings shuffled in the following silence. “Perhaps. But I
like to think that the R7 of Chaos had hired them." I answered him, he turned
his attention to me blinking. “Why would the famous group hire them?" “Perhaps
to annoy the others into submission?" Kyro suggested, we all bursted laughing at
that point.