Uncharted 5: Tripping Angels and Yetis

The one good thing about bringing an angel - they make remarkably good guard dogs. Even worn out as he is, he stays up all night, watching. Nothing comes. In fact, by the next morning he's so dusted over with snow that it's arguable he even -moved- all night. He lets the two that actually need sleep get it, however, and watches the horizon deep in thought.

When morning comes, however, and the other two stir, he's ready to get moving again - hey, sitting still can be wearing on anyone. After forgetting (and being subsequently reminded) that they need breakfast, he heads out for a little bit while they are eating, but comes back shortly thereafter, having done god knows what.

As they venture out, however, he takes the path he went on before, which is a twisty, difficult path. He walks along, occasionally sweeping snow off of mostly exposed rock and examining them, and each one he looks at he ends up frowning at and moving on.

Appearing to be one of those sorts who rejuvenates quickly, Danny is ready to go without much fanfare, and strikes off in his own direction after having informed Rese where she should check as well. As they all might have expected, the shopkeeper chose the direction he thinks is the mostly /likely/ candidate for an entrance into some lost temple or another, and sure enough, he does find something. Or so Isiael can expect when he recieves a summon in the form of a short prayer.

Danny has found what appears to be a prayer wheel, or something like it. A stone monolith with flags dangling from it in all directions like wind-whipped tendrils. As it turns out, however, they aren't prayers so much as warnings. 'Don't go further,' they say, 'for the way is dangerous.' Exactly how or why there is a danger, there's no further explanation. But one need not imagine too hard to figure out what sorts of dangerous things linger in the Himalayas.

It's not instant this time, but Isiael does come. He looks thoughtful as he trudges through the snow towards Danny, still a little slower than normal but recovering well enough. He spots the flagged monolith, and doesn't speak right away as he gets near. "Interesting," he finally comments, though he doesn't reach out and touch the thing.

"It's just a signpost," says Danny, upon hearing the angel speak. He glances over his shoulder, jacket collar tight around his neck. It's higher here, colder. "A warning of dark spirits and creatures. The kind of thing you'd expect to keep undesireables out." Flicking a finger forward, he gestures past the stone and its flags, and begins walking around it. "My guess is the entrance will be right around here. I don't imagine it'll be hidden; there'll probably be some ruins. Maybe some beasts, too." It's hard to say, considering he's never been to the Himalayas. And as if to further set the mood, the sky begins to darken. "I think we found it, Rese," Danny says into his walky. "We're going to explore the area more to be certain, so keep checking."

Lucky bastard, Isiael doesn't really seem concerned about the cold, even up here. He looks up and past the signpost, studying the land ahead of them, which is mostly coated with snow. "Unless it's buried," he replies, voice quiet as though he's conscious of the quiet surroundings. "We should probably step carefully." And, he does move to go around the signpost, still alert.

"Oh, I expect it's half buried under a glacier intentionally," Danny chuckles. Well, that's new. "To keep out those not prepared for enlightenment, or what have you. My understand was always that Shambhala was a state of mind and not actually place, but I wouldn't be too surprised to find out it's both." One hand on the edge of a cliff, the shopkeeper begins to shimmy around a rather small path cut into the ledge. "There are likely trials set up to keep out the unintiated - those that aren't prepared for the mysteries of Nirvana. At least, that's what I'd do if I were hiding something of this magnitude."

Isiael follows Danny up the small path once he is far enough ahead to maneuver. "And you think this stone we--" yes, 'we', "-- were sent to find are in these ruins?" He doesn't seem doubtful, but perhaps a little wary of spending a long time digging for forgotten, half-buried ruins. He's remarkably sure-footed when navigating these steep slopes, anyway. "It makes you wonder, though, why she wants to prevent these people from finding it. And, probably, preventing them from even finding this place."

The path is one that has clearly not been trod in hundreds, if perhaps not thousands, of years. Or at least it hasn't been taken care of. There are holes in the path, mostly easy to hop over, but the stone crumbles and falls in places, snow thumps down, and the increasing worry of ice makes things even more treacherous. "I obviously can't say for sure," says Danny between breaths; he's doing his best not to fall. "She said something about getting it now before it disappeared. Maybe these people find it to hide it away. Or maybe they find it to use it in some way that hasn't had a direct impact on our time yet. Or maybe still they find it, but it's stolen from them... there's countless possible explanations." But of course the angel knew that. And finally, the path widens a little again... revealing nothing but more rock. Increasingly cold rock, as they continue to ascend the mountain.

As they climb even higher, Isiael pauses for a moment and looks down at his hands, and then flexes his fingers once or twice, but it doesn't seem to concern him very much. "My fingers feel odd," he comments offhandedly, though continues forward. "It probably would have been easier for me to go ahead and look, though I worry about ... expending myself too much right now." Hf. Lots more climbing.

"You're probably cold," Danny explains, glancing back. "It's well below freezing by now. " Taking the pause as a moment to consult his map, Danny pulls the thing out of his pack (which he has slung over a shoulder), and glances around. There's much to see: More cliff, a dead drop down into a snowy, craggy valley, amongst other things. But the 'path,' such that it is, continues to go onward. "I think we're almost there," he has, stowing the thing and moving forward again. "Where 'there,' should be a cave of some kind. At least if my estimations are correct enough."

Isiael doesn't seem to be very concerned with the idea of coldness, at least. "Just watch your footing," he warns. "There could be traps. Or, if not traps, this snow is good at hiding things." And, just as he says that, he goes mid-calf into a snow drift, and clambers out and grumbles. "I'll keep an eye out for anything like that."

A soft snicker emits from Danny in spite of himself. But he does reach a hand down to help the angel up. "Physics sneaks up on you sometimes," he says, patting some snow off the other man, and then turning around to gaze up the path. "I have the distinct feeling that where we're going is likely to be very similar. Pitfalls, like you said." But regardless, he steps further along, testing the snow as he goes to make sure it's not 'whooosh! off the cliff'. And as some time goes by, the path does seem to snake into the actual stone of the mountain - a natural cavern open to the sky... until the path begins to go down. Impossibly hidden, the cave is still somehow lit by natural lighting peeking through the clouds and refracting off the ice. But even so, Danny pulls out his flashlight, as the lighting is not so good as to allow perfect vision. And the path has once again to shrunk to shimmying speed. It's a long way down.

Isiael accepts the help, and takes the time to thunk some snow out of his shoes - hey, even without getting too cold, slushy socks suck - and then heads down after Danny. He looks down the path, squinting. "Let me go first," he says, frankly. "If something comes up, it won't hurt me as bad as it would hurt you." Well, it likely wouldn't kill either of them, but, y'know! Facts.

Well the angel certainly has a point. Danny's nigh-indestructibility comes with a certain, annoying little price. "Okay," is all he says, flattening against the wall so Isiael can scoot by. Thankfully the path is straightforward and it just spirals on down for a ways before it abruptly ends at a chasm. It picks up across the abyss, and leans into a proper cave mouth, decorated with stone carvings, some of which have fallen over. They certainly like Tibetan, Buddhist, but there's a lot of tongues and fangs and it's not generally that friendly-looking. "Well that's wonderful," says Danny, glancing behind him. "I have rope, but we should probably wait for Rese."

Isiael stops at the edge of the chasm - he's apparently not wary of heights, as he stands unnervingly close to the edge of the thing. He looks into the depths and then up and across, frowning in thought. "I could bring her here," he says, though the prospect makes him look a little tired. "We could walk back, but it would be a long trip just to go there and come back again."

Danny just rubs his head. "It would probably be best if we work our way inside and find a place to camp. Then you can go and get Rese and after we can rest for the night." Eyeing the chasm, he shifts to the edge and peers down. "I can't tell if there was ever a bridge here before. If not, it might be one of those obtacles, trials, I mentioned before. Otherwise it shows how old the place is." Regardless, Danny sets his pack down and begins to dig through it. "Please make sure there's nothing I'm missing, like a Yeti hiding in the shadows."

"Either way, it would be tricky for most people to be able to cross." The angel frowns a little at some idea or another, and shakes his head. "This place is old. Very old. Any bridges probably wouldn't have any sign of them left, so there's no way to tell." At the request, Isiael merely ...appears, on the other side of the chasm, and begins to check things out - at least if anything beastial is there, it's likely to jump out sooner rather than later.

Whether Danny is annoyed or not becomes a peripheral matter as a shot rings out... though it's Danny who's hold the trigger a rather nice-looking and engraved .357 Magnum. It's aimed at the cieling of the cavern, where a hole has been blown into the side of a stalagtite. "Don't tell Rese," he says, stowing the revolver back in his bag. The rope and grappling hook come out next, the latter which finds easy purchase against the rough hole left by the gun. In a few minutes time, Danny is swinging across, himself. "Saving you some juice," he says, giving the hook a hard tug and yanking it free of its restraints. It is then promptly restored.

Isiael jumps as the shot goes off, and jerks around-- though he relaxes a little as he spots that it was actually just Danny. "Don't tell her what?" he replies while giving Danny an odd look, but then he just steps inside the awaiting cavern, using the flashlight. "How far in do you want to go?"

The shopkeeper eyes Isiael, and then just shakes his head. "Nevermind. Yeah, let's go on in," he says, both nodding and stepping towards the rather forboding entrance. There's a rush of air that's not really any less cold, but it's more of a stale, still cold than the whoosh of the Himalayan cliffs. It still feels like they're travelling through a glacier, as the walls are only partly stone, and aren't worked aside from the mouth of cave. But the path leads them down, still - and then comes to an abrupt stop as the descend some makeshift stairs. Again, the path has fallen apart, but the gaps are much closer together, and can be managed by some creative acrobatics. Or angel power, if you're a cheater. What's more notable, however, is that the cieling is entirely ice, and is glowing with refracted light. If from the sun, it's hard to tell.

Isiael refrains from using angel power when he can help it -- it's clear he's on power reserves. As they descend, he doesn't touch anything that he can avoid, though he does look with some level of interest. "That's odd," he finally says, voice quiet as he gestures to the ceiling. "We're far enough underground now that you wouldn't think light could penetrate the ice that far."

Not having much in the way of angel power, Danny is forced to rely on his physical aptitudes - which involves much grunting and jumping and scrambling, and lots of ice and rocky bits falling down into the abyss with a clatter. But at least they can see, and he doesn't need to do so with a flashlight. "Could have been constructed to do that," says Danny with a puff, breath short. "Or there's some power behind it." For once, he doesn't seem all that interested in the immediate details - just pressing forward. And for their work, they do reach another 'gate' like the one before, in much a similar state of disrepair, with one small addition: "There's script here," Danny says, leaning down at the base of one of the statues. "To find enlightenment, one must conquer Earthly suffering. Charming."

Although he doesn't make it obvious, the angel keeps an eye on Danny, prepared to nab him out of the abyss if it becomes necessary. Luckily, it doesn't, and so they reach the gate with much effort and no disaster. Isiael goes to look at the other statue, kneeling and running his fingers over the base. "That was a ...popular concept within many religions," he comments needlessly. "So they suffered so they could pretend they were not suffering." He sounds a little critical of this, but, well.

"I think the idea is to throw off all Earthly raiments and desires to focus on introspection," offers Danny, standing. "That some of them set themselves on fire is less the point," says the phoenix. "I think you should continue leading the way. There's probably a gauntlet of sharp things up ahead." Though even as the angel moves forward, nothing shoots out to spear him... yet. The cave simply tunnels into a large open room with a broken spiral staircase down to a stone walkway, what stands high out of a lake of water down at the far bottom of area. How it's still liquid is anyone's best guess.

Isiael does indeed go first, shoulders loose and gait casual, but there's also a sense of wariness about him. No matter the fact that something can't /kill/ you, getting run through by pointy things is still no laughing matter. "Yes, but I would argue that the physical and the earthly parts are part of what makes humans ...human." And, they reach the walkway. He hesitates for a moment, and then starts slowly across, keeping an eye on the water below. It would be just their luck for Cthulhu to emerge and eat them or something.

No, there's no Cthulhu. In fact, the massive chamber - as it is better called - is rather quite peaceful. Aside from the trickle of water and the occasional brush of air, there are no other sounds. The stone pathway itself leads... to a wall. The chamber is circular, the walls smooth, and there don't seem to be any openings in any direction. "And I think we've hit the first obstacle," says Danny, looking around with a frown. That's when they hear rocks crumble from some distance above them. But there's nothing there, upon looking up. Then there's the sound again behind them. But again, nothing there.

Isiael looks up at the sound of rocks crumbling, and then back behind them, and then he frowns. "I don't like that," he says softly, eyeing the walls. "And yes, it-- seems that way." He sounds unhappy, even though he could likely just zap back out of there if necessary. That isn't the point!

Matthew Holmes: Danny's looking up when he sees the creature - a white-furred beast that blurs with the walls, as if intentionally evolved that way. "Uh, Is--" says Danny, shortening his name for the first time. "Remember when I mentioned we might run into Yeti?" The shopkeeper is backing up now, tapping the angel on the shoulder. "I think one's run into us." And then with a loud grunt, the thing falls to the stone pathway on the farther end. The problem is--the rock-scrambling sound hasn't stopped. There's probably more of the things. Of course, the first one immediately begins to charge towards them once it's regained its legs.

Isiael huffs out a curse that sounds like it came from some forgotten language or another. "We'll come back when we're better prepared," he says, gripping the shopkeeper on the shoulder--and nothing happens. At all. Aside from one angel looking very baffled. "I can't--" Oh balls. And here it comes. He's calm, though, taking a few quick steps back (though keeping himself between Danny and it), hand tucking into his jacket to pull out the silver blade-- hey, when one's low on juice, a pointy is a pointy. "Look for any exits!"

"We'll come ba--..." and then nothing happens. "--...ack. Weren't we supposed to disappear?" Apparently angel juice gets bad reception underground. "My revolver's not going to do any serious damage to those things," says Danny, backing up so Isiael remains between him and yon dashing Yeti. He looks around. "At least two more," he tells the angel, noting movement. "Okay," he mumbles, rubbing his head. "The body is nothing more than emptiness. Emptiness. Empty. Buddhist Sunyata..." And as Danny is meditating on what to do, Is gets a big Yeti in his face, leaping into the air to pin him to the ground for tooth and claw purposes. "... Eveythingi s connected and in flux. Flux. Change. Don't resist change. Flow. Time flows. Water flows. Water time. Clock. Water clock..." He looks around, down, at the stone pathway, then over the edge. "I've got it!" he says, just as a Yeti drops down near him. "Shit."

Isiael is knocked over and pinned by the Yeti, but at least all angel powers haven't been reduced - he's still plenty formidable. He rolls with it, ends up dangerously close to the edge, and yet manages to wrench around and drive that blade deep into the creature's side and yank it free. This buys him enough time to manage to get a hand on the creature's face, and a white fire boils from the Yeti's facial orifaces before it falls over, crackling. The angel hefts himself up from underneath it, panting and bleeding, but it doesn't seem to affect him much. It's arguable how much of the blood is actually his. "What?"

A number of things race through Danny's mind as one of the Yeti race towards him. Make his true nature obvious to the angel? Or risk keeping up with the subterfuge and hoping he won't get mauled too badly. Or knocked over the edge. That wouldn't be fun either. Oh! Better plan. Scrambling, he moves to grab his grappling hook out of his pack with the rope still tied to it. "Catch!" he yells to the angel, tossing the hook towards him. And then with the Yeti nearly upon him, Danny leaps off the side of the path, down - very far down - towards the water. He's got a hold of the other end of the rope, and it's quickly losing slack. As planned, the Yeti tried to skitter to a stop but physics is having a field day today, and it, too, goes over the edge.

There's a hook flying at him, and his first instinct is to catch it, luckily. And, he has enough sense to leap for the other edge of the pathway and hook the thing there. Then, he scrambles to his feet and tries to locate where the third Yeti is, panting a little. He at least seems to trust Danny's instinct and trusts him not to die, but he is keeping close tabs on that rope.

Yay, there's no death! Or at least there's only one splash, and the rope is still taut. Danny seems to have swung himself over the edge of the path - what is actually a bridge, and snagged himself on one of the support columns. "The bridge needs to be rotated!" He calls up to Isiael, his hands - now gloved, pressing at the column in an attempt to find out with the trick is, but the stone seems pretty solid. It's not until Danny looks around, irritated that he finds the cause of the problem: The water. The spouts or pipes had frozen over, and the chamber hadn't filled to its proper level. "Pull me up!" he calls to the angel. Of course, the angel's having his own fun when a third Yeti drops /on/ him, raking with claws and so on. Delightful.

Oh joy. Luckily, Isiael had been watching the progress, so he isn't taken completely be surprise, though he gets a chestful of claws. This one blocks the stabbity, but the angel manages to duck under the next attempted clawity-doom and blasts the thing back, which sends it staggering. "Just a minute," he shouts hoarsely down to Danny, and then curses as he's sprung on again. Finally, though, he manages to get a grip on the creature and kills it, and he pants and half-limps toward the rope to start hauling him up.

With the angel's help, Danny calmbers up the side of the bridge, and then hustles towards his backpack. "You're bleeding," he says to the angel. Astute observation. But the man is busy trying to pull out his revolver, which he then aims towards the wall. Blam. Then he runs to the other side and aims towards the far wall. Blam. Then he lows the gun, slowly. "That should do it," he says. And sure enough, the trickle of water quickly becomes a roar, and the reservoir beneath begins to fill. Turning back to the angel, he frowns. "I know you can take a lot of punishment, but are you going to be alright?"

Isiael is still breathing a little hard, and he only grunts to Danny's observation. "I'll live," he says, again rather hoarsely. He looks as though the majority of last night's resting has been sapped up in that one go, though. He watches the water gush down, and he finally looks down and paws at the claw marks on his now-shredded shirt. Great. The bleeding is already slowing, curtesy of his enhanced healing, but he still frowns when his fingers come away red. "We should--stop, and get Rese, and camp, before this goes further."

Well that plan kind of goes awry when the bridge begins to move of its own accord. In actuality, the buoyancy of the water seems to have done something to the stabilizing pillars - and the whole thing begins to rotate. Slowly. And as it does, a door begins to open from the sheer rock, about 90 degrees away. Given a few moments, the bridge locks onto position right in front of the door, and the path onwards is open. "Come on," Danny says to the angel. "Maybe there's a place we can camp this way."

The angel wobbles a little as the bridge moves - not so much in weakness but more in surprise. It's like a carnival ride! Still, the thing locks into place and he takes in a slow breath and nods, starting that way. As he goes, he mops the Yeti-blood off that silver blade with his ruined shirt and tucks it away again. "So the yetis were... guarding this place?" he hazards.

"Your guess is as good as mine," says Danny, shaking his head. He takes the lead now, given the bleeding angel is losing steam. As it turns out, the passage is short, and opens up into what must be a very ancient and magnifcently carved temple - dug into the heart of the mountain. It's still very cold, and the place obviously hasn't been touched for years. But the for the most part, the structure is sound, the statues and columns stand likely where they have for thousands of years - and it's a good a place to camp as any. The path continues on, deeper into the structure, but Danny starts in what is likely a kind of audience antechamber, and sets his pack down. "No telling if more of things will show up, but we can make a defensible position up there," he says, pointing to a secondary floor, where there's a few balconies."

Once they reach the antechamber, Isiael gives a look around, and actually seems to appreciate the antiquity of the place. "I'll rest for a bit, and then try to go get Rese," he says, sounding tired but nothing like he was last night. Actually, the bleeding has mostly stopped by now, but he finds a seat all the same and, despite the cold, gets rid of both jacket and shirt. The jacket is laid across his knee, but the shirt is used to mop up the blood on his torso the best he can. "Can you get ahold of her on your--device?"

"I can try," says Danny. And try he does. The walky is pulled out, but shopkeeper doesn't look entirely convinced it'll work through hundreds of feet of rock and ice. Clock. "Rese, come in. Rese, over." Meanwhile, he begins rummaging through his bag for fire-making accoutrements.


 * cackle*scratch*cackle* - Rese, over - *cackle, scree*

Through all the static, a great deal of it is lost, but the Hunter stops at the first bark of sound. She frowns for a moment, unhooking the walky from her hip. She has been tracking all over the mountains, leaving a fine mess of traisl for the other Hunters (big H? Little h?) to worry about. "Danny? This is Rese.  Come again?  You're breaking up something fierce. Over."

Meanwhile, Isiael finishes up getting the worst of the blood off of him - the wounds seem to already be healing, but it'll be a bit yet. He pulls his jacket back on, and gives a glance to the aforementioned "device" and seems satisfied. "Let her know I'll--" he pauses. "Well, I'll try to come pick her up."

"She probably won't get the entire message, so expect her to be surprised," says Danny, glancing back towards the angel as he lifts the walky up again. "Pick up incoming. Isiael is on his way. Over." And shuffing in bag continues.


 * crackle* Incoming. *crackle, static* his way.

Does she NEED to know more than that? Rese stiffens for a moment, her hand seeking out the butt of her gun as she looks about, but wait, that's a good thing, right? It means they found something. Right? "All clear," she returns. "I won't shoot," she vows. "Over." Her hand leaves her gun again. Just in case. [5/24/2011 7:09:58 PM] kimpers: Isiael nods, and closes his eyes, focusing - /this/ time, it works. And, thus, Rese finds herself facing a still kinda-bloody angel with claw marks still visible even under that jacket. "Yetis," he says to forestall any questions, and then reaches out to touch her shoulder to take her with him back to the cave. The ancient cave of Ruins.

Meanwhile, Danny has worked up a small fire. The place is massive enough where a little smoke is unlikely to cause any major ice shifts. And he's already at one of the intricately carved pillars, attempting to decipher the script thereon. He is not bloodied. It looks like the angel decided to the partier.

The angel appears, and Rese can only stare at him. "Wha-?" She starts, but his answer seems to be enough. Mostly. Even as they bamf back to the cave, Rese is still gawking at Isiael. "You really can't die," she breathes, the awe there in her voice. And maybe a good dose of fear. She blinks several times as they appear in the dark cave, her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden darkness as she looks back to Danny to note the complete lack of wounds. "So you had all the fun?" she asks weakly, looking about to check for any signs of more blood or, you know, Yeti.

Isiael looks rather worn thin once they land again, but he takes pause at Rese's...gawking. He's made a bit awkward, but he just gives a tired sort of a barely-there smile, really the first he's shown. "Not easily," he agrees, but he doesn't elaborate. To Danny, he says, "Find anything?" and to Rese he adds, "I don't know if you would call it "fun". They were very large. Besides, Danny killed one, too."

Despite being engaged in his evaluation, Danny shakes his head. "Not anything useful. So far it's just lines from various Buddhist Sutras. I think the inner chambers were a secret place for meditation and that sort of thing." He glances over his shoulder. "Still, it should lead us to where the stone is being housed. Hi Rese."

Going from the dead cold to....less cold is a relief. The darkness is taking a bit more for her eyes to adjust. And Danny killing something? Both brows wing upwards, and Rese sends her gaze towards the shopkeeper. For the moment, she remains quiet, giving a small nod. "Why... are we building a fire here?" she asks, tucking her hands into her pockets. "Do we /want/ to wrestle Yetis again....?"

Isiael takes a seat on a rock that probably is considered sacrilegious to be sitting on. Luckily, there are not any ancient Buddhists here. "I don't think this is a place we can explore in one night," Isiael admits, quietly, giving a glance back the way they came. "We figured building a camp would be useful."

"From what I can tell," there's only one entrance into this place," Danny explains, standing and dusting dust from his jeans. Yes, dust. Not snow. "That's how we came in. Should be easily defensible if any Yeti return, though I get the feeling they won't. At least not until later. If it were me, I'd wait to see if we get killed by traps, first." And he returns back to the script. "Anyways. It seems any information we're looking for is further in. There's definitely mention here of a pure land of enlightenment."

Confused? Yes. Rese hunches her shoulders forward as she takes in the details of the two men, giving a slow nod. "Alright," she says ever so carefully. "Camping here. Check." THey had packed all their gear and broke camp to explore already afterall, right? "Wait, traps? Budhists set /traps/? Doesn't that go against the whole... spiritual... purity... enlightment thing?"

"But, they would also want to guard their secrets," Isiael adds. "This place has been around for a long time, and it looks fairly... undisturbed. There is a reason for that." He looks back again, towards where the bridge was. "The last room had a test to be able to carry on. I would not be surprised if the rest had... similar things... to test both mind and body."

Thumbing towards the angel, Danny nods. "The secrets of enlightenment should only be known by those ready to recieve them. There's that whole 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' saying that comes to mind." Digging around for a flashlight, he clicks the thing on, and then goes to explore a little ways further. "I'm not going far," he promises.

"That's what she said," Rese mutters under her breathe. She gives a sharp nod, shrugging out of her pack. "So... camp it is." She looks to the angel, brows arching as she kneels to unrolling her bedroll. "So why don't you tell me about this last test...?" A glance after Danny to check his location, then back ot Isiael.

"Sometimes," Isiael muses, "The religions that consider themselves the most peaceful can also be the most unforgiving in other ways." He nods to Danny, and then looks back to Rese, hesitating a moment. "There was a bridge," he says, "over water. Danny found a way to turn it to make it point the right way. I didn't see what he did, I had a yeti on top of me."

"It was a water clock," Danny calls over his shoulder, as if that should explain everything. As promised, he doesn't go very far - he's right at the gate what leads deeper into the structure, analyzing some of the script there.

Settling down atop her bedroll, Rese pulls knees to her chest, frowning faintly. "A water clock?" She frowns a bit more before giving a small shake of her head. "And yetis. Oh my." Her attention flits around the room. "Alright, so what's next? Do we know? How did the yetis get down here to begin with? Are we /sure/ things are intact?"

"We should go in deeper." That's the angel's input, anyway, and he pulls his loose jacket a little closer, though it doesn't seem to be out of cold. "And... no, not really. Getting down this far wasn't easy."

"I'm pretty sure this will eventually lead us to a temple topside," explains Danny; his voice echoes around the hall. "Looks like this is a place to cleanse and reflect before making the final journey to Shambhala." He begins to walk towards them again. "How Nyx thought we could go through all of this in the allotted time, I have no idea. Maybe she expected us to go early."

"Or she expected us to be here tomorrow and supposed that would give us enough time," Rese points out. "Or she expected us to fail." A glance is sent towards the angel before shrugging. "There's any number of things. And until we see this chick again, there's really no way we will know." She draws a hand back through her hair. "So your stone, Danny... think this is what it meant?"

"Or," Isiael points out, "We were meant to let -those- guys go get it, and then stop them and get it from them on their way out." However, at Rese's words, the angel looks a bit baffled, and then a bit suspicious. Blue eyes squint over towards Danny. "What stone?"

Danny eyes Rese. Eyes! But as it really was never intended to be a big secret, the shopkeeper fetches said stone from his pocket. It's a simple, rounded mountain stone, upon which is engraved Tibetan script. "It's a mani stone," he explains. "That's a verse from the Heart Sutra. It's essentially a prayer given physical form. You finds these things all over Tibet and Nepal. This one was given to me a long time ago, and I was told to bring it here. Obviously, I never had the opportunity, until now."

Why is she getting all the looks?? Rese frowns at the eyeing from Danny. "If you didn't want me to say something, you should have told me," she points out to him. "Just a coincidence," she adds to Isiael. "Someone gave him a stone to be used in the Himalayas. And lo, we're here." She rolls a shoulder in a negligent shrug. "It would only make sense to me that it would come in some use.

Isiael relaxes, but his brows remain furrowed. "Some coincidence," he says, thinking on it. Whatever he thinks up he doesn't say outright, at least not yet, but he does say, "I would keep an eye on it." Seeing as he can't see it from here, though, he turns his attention back towards Danny: "What -does- it say?"

Danny finds a place a sit and stows the stone, clicking off his flashlight. "The body is empty, emptiness is body, and so on. It's standard Buddhist fare for how to achieve enlightenment through Earthly denial. I think it's essentially a step-by-step walkthrough of the prepartion you'd have to go through if you were taking a spiritual journey like this." He gestures towards the path inward.

"So... maybe we should go line by line and tkae it to heart?" Rese suggests. "It's not like any of us..." she trails of, looking between the two men. Oh right. She wrinkles her nose in distaste. "It's not as if /I've/ ever been on a spiritual journey of any kind," she corrects. "I know a bit about Budhism, but very, /very/ little. Just that 'Don't kill' and 'don't eat beef' bit. That's about it."

"So you were meant to bring this stone here?" Isiael asks, studying Danny with a hint of curiousity. "Did they say what you were meant to do with it once you got it here, or is that something you will have to find out on your own?" He pauses, and adds, "It could be that it was the reason she wanted me to come -here- of all places, because she anticipated I would bring you."

"The line is:... Body is nothing more than emptiness, / emptiness is nothing more than body. / The body is exactly empty,/ and emptiness is exactly body," Danny quotes, shaking his head. "But it's philosophy, I'm not entirely sure how it could be translated into practical instruction. As for the stone, I was just told to bring it back to the Himalayas, should I have the opportunity. That it 'belonged' here. That's all."

"I think we're all reading a little too much into this," Rese admits. "We don't know who Nyx is. We don't know what she wants. We don't know what her 'big plans' are after it's all said and done.  And we're here anyways.  So I figure we'll do what we came here to do." She gives a sharp incline of her head. "There's not really much else we /can/ do. And freaking ourselves out about it is only going to leave us distinctly out of sorts for when it comes to tackling the challenges ahead of us.  So I say? Screw her." She shrugs. "If the rock belongs here, alright - I'm sure something will jump out and, with neon, flashing lights state 'Insert stone here.' If not? Alright, you have it for the /next/ time you take a jaunt to the Himalayas."

Isiael looks at Rese for a long moment or two, and then actually manages to look a little amused. "She makes a good point," he admits to the shopkeeper. "Right now about the only things left to do are either go back or go forwards."

"We could always go diving in yon swimming pool," Danny jokes dryly, thumbing back towards the Yeti-room. But he lets the matter drop. "You should rest. We can head out again in a few hours. I'm going to take what notes I can in the meantime." And, journal in hand, he begins to move around the room to take notes, in his way.

"So glad everyone is in a fine mood," Rese murmurs, laying back, and so doing, stretches out her legs. Arms are folded beneath her head, and she stares up at the ceiling overhead. "I don't really like giving up, Issy," she says matter-of-factly. "We're here already, and it'll take another few days for you to be feeling fuly up to par. I say we see it through." Her vote voiced as if they couldn't already guess what it would be.

"I wasn't suggesting we turn back," the angel replies softly, his vote likewise cast. However, he takes the suggestion, falling into what looks all the world like a sort of meditation. Do angels meditate? God knows. ...probably literally.

A cave provides relative security, especially compared to camping out the night before. And while still cold, somehow a bit warmer even yet. Helps when one has an angel keeping watch - makes things a bit more safer, even with yetis lurking... somewhere. Everything passed relatively uneventfully, and mayhaps with a touch of grumbling silence.

Now it's time to be up and the adventures to begin once more. Everything neatly stowed away, Rese wrinkles her nose a bit as she looks towards the other two. "You were looking over everything last night, Danny.... have anything to tell us about what we're about to step into? Or... are we still going blindly?"

In the midst of packing up all of his stuff and making sure their fire is thoroughly squelched, Danny takes a moment to reply. Of course, he looks to his journal to double-check. "I'm pretty sure this hallway will eventually dead-end at a large prayer chamber. At that point we'll have to figure out exactly how one proves they are 'enlightened' to go any further." Pause. "And watch out for traps." Another pause. "And pitfalls."

Isiael seems much better after the handful of hours spent resting - what's even more creepy is there's no more signs of the claw marks from the Yeti. Oh, if only everyone could heal that quickly.

He gets up from where he was sitting (he hasn't /moved/ since he sat down), and he meanders after the pair, helping to shoulder some of the load. "I'll go first again. That way if something happens..." He lets that dangle, and then starts off further into the ruins.

Share the burden rather than risk falling with everything? Oh yes. Shared indeed! And also not going to be arguing at someone else scouting. Especially when that 'someone' is damn near immortal. She moves along after him, hands left loose at her sides. "Isn't part of 'enlightenment' not having to seek it out anymore? I mean... you don't really question yourself or where you're going." She grins faintly. "Alright, I /really/ have no idea," she admits. "Never was one much for Budhisim. Or... any of it." She gives a shake of her head. "So traps and pitfalls... think someone else put it in after the monks?"

"Modern Buddhism is a bit more forgiving than it was several thousand years ago," says Danny, shaking his head. He's keeping a few paces behind the angel, just to be safe. "But also, Buddhists realize that the wicked would be after their sacred secrets and treasures, so they protected them as much as anyone else would. In theory, the worthy would be prepared, and the wicked would perish."

That's when the floor buckles, and Isiael begins to find himself suddenly descending... towards an abyss of icy nothingness.

"Perhaps, but they often sought different... "levels" of enlightenment," the angel replies, trailing his fingers along the wall and stepping carefully. "The higher you went, the closer to godhood you were. Or sainthood. Or whatever their particular doctrine sta--" And then, well, shit.

Angels may be near-immortal, but a) vessels can be destroyed, and b) falling still sucks. Therefore, as soon as the floor buckles, he's scrambling backwards to try to catch on to anything behind him that may be able to be... well, caught. Ack!

"I'm thinking they were all insane," Rese mutters. And no doubt there WOULD have been more, but the floor is caving, and their angel is falling. She jumps forward, trying to catch ahold of the man's arm. Trying, in any case. With him reaching, it /might/ work. Then again, Danny /is/ between the two of them.

Thankfully for the angel, Danny is /right there/ at the edge of the cave-in, or whatever it was, and has thrown out a hand to grip the angel's forearm even as the latter hasn't completely fallen in. This amounts to Isiael thumping hard against the now-cliff. Thump. With a grunt and Rese's help, Isiael is pulled up easily enough. "Just imagine if Hitler's people had found this place," Danny pants. "That's why the Buddhists hid it so well." And he's already up, feeling one of the walls with a few fingertips. "Emptiness is body," he sighs, pressing a stone inward. Unsurprisingly, a door opens here and on the other side - a secret passage around the hole. "And the body is emptiness. Cute."

Ow. Whump. This amounts to having the breath knocked out of him a bit, but Isiael still manages to haul himself up with help from the pair of him. He rubs his side a little bit, grumbling and taking a moment to get air back into his battered lungs. Oogh. He watches Danny out of one eye, and then looks a bit unsurprised as a hole opens up. After taking a moment, he stands and starts down the passage, being a little more careful now. "I don't think I'm very fond of this place," he says. "It's --something else is going on here, too. When we get close to a place like that, with one of the 'tests'? I can't... I have to move as a human." He sounds a bit grumpy at that. "It blocks some of my powers."

Breathing hard, Resebobs her head at Isiael. "I was going to ask why you didn't just... woosh." She shakes her head with a frown, looking to the new opening. She pulls out a flashlight, flicking the big mac light on to peer with in. "Ever feel like the cards are stacked against us?" she asks faintly. "Would have to have something with some pretty big... umph to keep you from, I don't know, bamfing. Right?" She waits for someone else to lead, carrying up the rear again. "And you know... I bet Hitler - even as we speak - is trying to send people out here to find this place." It's what he does, afterall.

A snort echoes down the hall - It's Danny's. "Actually, he did send an expedition to find Shambhala. And the Ark of the Covenant. And any other artifact that might remotely increase his personal power. My understanding was that there were a number of Hunters - your kind of Hunter - that worked with the Allied powers to keep him from getting the stuff. Rumor has it he was trafficking with demons. Who knows?"

Anyways, onward they go. Thankfully there's no more traps - or they just luckily avoid them. The hallway spills into an enormous ampitheatre-like area. Walkways spiral along the sides of the place up towards the cieling, where's a platform of some kind. There's also an identical platform on the floor beneath the former. Various small shrines dot the interior, and up against the walls. Nothing immediately screams 'I'm incalcuably valuable!'

"Or something very old, that understood how our powers worked," Isiael replies, with a small frown. "There are ways to prevent us from doing things, but it isn't well known. The last time we were on earth in any real capacity was... a long time ago." And, he nods to Danny. "He was. At that time, we were prevented from interfering."

As they enter the large room, Isiael eyes the platforms with some sense of dubiety. "What do you think we do here?"

"Hunters like me," Rese echoes. How to take that one? So she shakes it off, listening to the others as they head to the end-room.

And stopping there to look around. Her brows come together as the details sink in, and she swings her light about to try to reveal as much of the place as able to. "The Macarena?" she suggests as she moves slowly to the center of the room.

Stepping right in without any fanfare - no time for a dramatic symphonic swell, here - Danny's voice echoes around the chamber. Great acoustics. "There'll be a passage of some kind we need to open. Likely there's a puzzle to solve, or something like that. Glancing around, the man pull sout his journal again as he walks to the center of the room. "The other four aspects of human existence -- / feeling, thought, will, and consciousness -- / are likewise nothing more than emptiness, / and emptiness nothing more than they." He glances over his shoulder to clarify. "Emptiness - Sunyata - is a Buddhist term. It means that nothing is permament nor is anything totally independent from any other thing. All things are connected and in flux. Thus, our egos, attachments, resistance change and loss, and so on affect us in powerful and important ways." His journal thud shut. "I think there are four shrines in here that we need to alter in some way to reflect the idea of this 'Perfection of Wisdom.' That's what the Buddhists call it."

Isiael ponders this idea, and then looks around the room. "Well," he muses. "Let's take a look at each of these shrines, then, and see if they have anything written on them." With that, he starts over towards one, though it may be noted that the angel is watching his step a bit more cautiously now - nothing like nearly plummeting into nothingness to make one aware of the ground beneath their feet.

"Agreed," Rese says with a nod to the angel, turning to go the opposite away around the room as she looks over the statues. "Get an idea of what is here and see what they mean... then use our local Budha expert to figure out what order they go in... in order to obtain enlightenment..."

Glancing around the room, Danny takes a deep breath. "I fairly certain it works like this: You see there are four larger shrines amongst the others? They represent feeling, thought, will, and consciousness... but not in that order. It should be intuitive which one is which." He quickly jogs over to one and looks it up and down. "You see here this symbol, and the meditating Buddha beneath the clouds? This means 'tulpa,' and is all about thought. So this one's 'thought'." Fingering the thing, he nods. "There are three wheels, here. All you have to do is match up the right symbols. So the symbol for thought is this one..." He rips out a page from his journal and tears it in half, writing the symbols down for the other three shrines. They are then handed to Hunter and angel. "... and once we have this done for all of them, the way should open up."

Isiael takes the page and looks it over, and then looks them all over until he finds the appropriate one. His, it turns out, is "feeling", ironically enough. It takes a moment of tinkering, but he turns the wheel in the manner that is dictated, and so the symbols line up properly. It takes him a few minutes to do, as he's being a bit more cautious than is probably needed (hey, he doesn't want some giant spiky thing falling on him for failing any more than the next person), but eventually he steps back. "This one is done."

And consciousness for Rese. Huh. She looks over the page before turning to go find the appropriate statue to wheel (gingerly) over to its mark. "Feeling just a little Fifth Elementy," she admits, though more to herself than to the two men. "So the last one goes into place, and a passage opens up?" she asks. "Probably at the center. What with 'emptiness' and all." A pause. "This one's done," she adds as it cliks neatly into place.

And Danny is already working on the last one, 'will'. Once done, the circular stage platform near them rumbles, and a small trapdoor opens up, from which a pedastal slowly rises. It has a circular impression thereon, as if something should be placed therein. It doesn't take long for Danny to make a deduction, and he swiftly brings the stone out of his pocket and jogs over to yon pedastal. The rock is placed therein. A bell chimes from somewhere in the temple area, and then at the very top of the room... a door opens, the same size as the platform where the spiralling stairs lead to. Obvious an ancient elevator of sorts. "There we go," he says.

Isiael watches Danny, and looks /intrigued/. "Huh," he muses, watching the door open. He doesn't voice his thoughts, but by the thoughtful way he looks at Danny, it's not really that difficult to tell what he's thinking: that all this /was/ orchestrated by Nyx. "Well," he says, pondering. "Time to go up..."

"And the big, flashing thing with neon lights that says 'insert here,'" Rese murmurs as the pedestal rises and the stone is put in place. "Looks like we're really supposed to be here afterall." She moves forward. "Or you are, Danny. I think we may just be bystanders." Pause. "Okay, /I'm/ the bystander. Maybe Nyx did the time-travel thingy afterall and went back to give it to you?" she suggests as she approaches the 'elevator.'

The man shrugs. "It wasn't her who gave it to me. But it's possible that we were always here, at this time, and we're the reason it disappeared in the first place. Paradox. Who knows for sure?" And then once they're all on the elevator, there's a bell with a hanging rope, which Danny pulls. Gong. And the elevator lifts. Slowly. The journey upward is surprisingly long, but they find themselves back topside, in a little rocky alcove, filled with snow. There are steps leading down... into a ruined temple complex. There are buildings everywhere, some intact, some not. There's a dusting of snow here and there, but the buildings are mostly visible. It seems they're in a sheltered area where the worst of the weather passes them by.

Isiael steps off the elevator into the snow. "She could have influenced whoever to give it to you... or perhaps she just knew you had it. It's hard to know for sure. I don't even know what are motives are." He slowly walks toward the buildings, seeming actually a little appreciative of the sights. "I suppose we should probably start by looking in the buildings."

"Or she was in a different body. Like a demon," Rese points out as she, too, steps off the elevator. "She may not have even gone back in time for this. She might see us or hear us somewhere /here/, and know in the future that you ned to be given the stone. And that we need to be here to get... whatever this is." Another stone. She zips up her coat, stuffing hands into her pockets. "Maybe start with the temple? The main building, that is? It's where they would keep holy relics, right?"

"The stone she wants won't be here," says Danny, hurrying down the stairs. "This is the gateway temple. The way in. Whatever's here will likely open the door to Shambhala or whatever. That's where the stone will--" BOOM. A small quake. A plume of smoke from somewhere off to the side of the complex. Voices echo. "Dynamite," the shopkeeper grunts. "Looks like our hunter friends finally caught up with us."

Isiael ducks back reflexively, eyes snapping to the plume. "They're trying to blow their way in," the angel comments, and despite all he's been through and his general disapproval of the Buddhist methods, he doesn't seem particularly happy about this turn of events for reasons beyond putting them at risk. "We should hurry."

"That's.... one way to get in," Rese breathes, eyes going wide as she stares at that rising plume. "At least they're being subtle. Though, I'll point out... if we arrived when she said, we would've known precisely where to go. Just not what we woudl be coming across." She shakes her head, moving forward and after the angel. "Where should we start looking?" asked of Danny.

"Something that has to do with enlightement," Danny wagers, feet working fast as they descend the stairs into the temple complex. "At ths point I'm not sure. This place was probably built to keep the entrance protected and hidden. If I had to guess... the door would be in plain sight, but the key wouldn't. Although plain sight doesn't mean 'obvious'." And then... a roar. "... It seems they woke up the Yeti."

Isiael turns toward the sound of the roar, but... instead of suggesting they rush to go help, the angel merely frowns. "Maybe that will keep them busy for a bit," he murmers, and then starts down the stairs. "All the rest was meant to keep intruders out, though. So maybe this won't be... too difficult." He does not, however, sound very optimistic about that.

Also looking towards the roar, waiting for the tat-tat-tat of tommy gun fire, Rese can only frown. "It' not really mant to keep people /out/, though," she says, shaking herself to start searching once more. "It's more to only admit those who have reached the appropriate level of enlightenment... enlighten... ness?" She wrinkles her nose in distaste. "Enlightening? Maybe..." she pauses looking at the others. "An arch," she suggests. "Represents emptiness but is still a doorway...."

"It's a good place to start," Danny nods towards Rese, and breaks off to go and investigate one of the larger temple buildings. "Keep your radio on and yell if you find anything. The best advice I have is to look for water. It's a powerful symbol. And any water that's not frozen is probably very important." And he's off!

Isiael nods, and wanders off to start exploring buildings. He's pretty meticulous about this sort of thing (or perhaps just partly fascinated by the markings and inscriptions), and at one point even calls them over to come check out something that turns out not to be anything special (and, his struggle with the radio is almost comical, given that it takes him some direction before he figures out that you have to hold down the button /the whole time/ you're talking).

And then there was one. Rese stops, staring off after the men as they go in two different directions. She draws a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and gives hereslf a shake. Right. Riiiiiiight. She mutters something beneath her breath, starting forward at a jog. Take the last 'direction' afterall.

Several minutes pass, and there's a sqwack over the walkies. "So.... liquid water is a give away, huh?" comes Rese's voice, somewhat shaken. "Small building, two buildings to the right of the big temple-thing, boys. I think I found something.... Over."

The radio crackles. And then it's Danny's voice. "... Water at this temperature would freeze. If it's liquid, it means something is keeping it fluid. Something was built to help it retain enough heat to stay liquid." Pause. Crackle. "I'm on my way." Indeed, some moments later he's just a few paces behind Rese. And... there's the yelling. And tommy gun fire.

Isiael still hasn't figured out the thing entirely, for the thing just says, "I'm--" and the cuts out again. Sigh.

At any rate, the angel arrives a moment or two later behind Danny, and, though he's watching over his shoulder in the direction of the Yeti-fight, he peels his attention back over toward Rese. "What did you find?"

There, through an arch, it leads to a type of inner-courtyard. The walls of a building, but the very center of the roof is left open to the sky. There's archways on each of the four walls, in fact. And at the very center? A pool of water. No bubbles or anything of the like to indicate a hot water spring, but it moves a if with a current, licking the edges of the earth around it.

"I think this is something," Rese murmurs. One of her guns has managed to find its way to her hand, though its nose is pointed down at the ground. "That fire is getting cloesr," she warns.

Running towards the water, Danny falls to his knees beside it, dipping a bare finger into the liquid. A nod, and then he glances over his shoulder. "There are canals buried under here. It wouldn't surprise me if they go through each of the arches. We need to find the switch that'll open them up. Then the water flow should reveal the entrance we're looking for."

The angel glances to Danny, and then exhales a breath and goes off to start wandering again. He starts off in a direction, but after three or four steps the floor starts giving way again - he hops back warily, but that tile in the courtyard just raises again. A brow lifts, and he cautiously puts a foot back down on it. It sinks about half a foot and stops, but nothing happens. "I think this could be something. Maybe there's more of them."

".... we seriously have the damndest luck," Rese breathes, looking back in the direction of gun-fire and forward again. "Clearly, some people present are prepared for enlightenment. Though, being an angel might be considered /cheating/ in this regard..."

"... I think we'll need a fourth," Danny says, hopping over towards one of the other arches and finding another tile that sinks when he steps upon it. "Luck or serendipity," he adds. "Got something heavy?" Rata-tat-tat. It's got to be only a few buildings away now. "How do you stand up to tommy guns, Is?" Cough.[Wednesday, May 25, 2011 11:59 PM] kimpers:

"If my vessel is destroyed, then I have to find a new one," Isiael says simply, looking back in the direction of the gunfire. To that question, he fidgets and looks around, pacing quickly over toward a chunk of rock - not a huge one, but one that may weigh fifty pounds or so. It looks to have fallen off one of the buildings. "This--might do," he says, and then takes to hauling it over to thunk down on one of the switches. "Get on the others."[Thursday, May 26, 2011 12:09 AM] Elena Ervin:

Her attention has snapped around, and Rese stares out the archway towards the gunfire. "Or you bring another Hunter with you," she points out. She shakes herself, moving over towards one of the switches, her gun still in hand. "We can put our pack on that one, too," she adds, lifting her handgun to aim out towards the opening. If anyone comes into sight, they're getting shot. It's really that simple. "If I tell you two to take cover, you move." She pauses glancing towards Isiael. "And if you get killed, you can possess me until we find you another host." See? Simple. She looks back out the archway, body tensed.

Eventually, all of the switches are depressed, and there's something of a rumbling as the floor in the middle of said switches slides down and then to the side, revealing a staircase. Eureka! However, that's when a few men appear 'round the bend and start shooting. "Stop them!" One of them yells... as he's promptly tackled by a yeti. It's hard to say if he was talking about the beast or our intrepid heroes - but most likely the latter, given he was looking right at Rese. Since she's the most equipped. "Let's go," Danny says quickly, hopping down the staircase iwth a few short leaps. Bullets are bad.

Isiael blinks at Rese, looking a mixture between grateful and a little -surprised-, but before he can say anything the men round the corner and bullets are a'flyin'. "Go on," he urges, herding the woman ahead of him as he goes last. Bullet shield! After all, Danny's already taking the risky first-person-down-the-steps route, so, y'know. Priorities.

That first man comes around the corner, and gets tackled by a Yeti. Excellent. Her hand doesn't waiver, and the next one to appear gets two shots aimed at his/her chest. /Then/ Rese is turning to run after Danny down the stairs. Gun is still in hand as she looks about herself, trying to get a quick idea of what they're going down /into/, at the same time as pulling a flashlight free with her left hand to shine about the staircase (in case there isn't any light down here). "So the yetis are temporarily on /our/ side....?"

Tap tap tap, goes Danny's boots as the rush down the stone steps. "I think they're just attacking anything that moves," the man surmises, glancing over his shoulder and almost stumbling as the stairs suddenly stop, leading to a long bridge over a watery abyss. A door on the far side looks very ominous. As it's very large. "Uh," the man pauses. "I'm... not entirely sure how that opens."

The angel nearly walks right into the rear of the procession at the sudden stop, but fortunately manages to stop in time. He places a hand on the edge of the wall leading to the walkway, leaning over to look over the shoulders of the two in front of him. "Well. We should do something. They'll be catching up ...very soon."

That's alright - Rese almost walks right into Danny, so it's fitting that Isiael does nearly the same! She wrinkles her nose, glancing back over her shoulder at the angel then forward again. "God, I feel like a comedy routine," she mutters as she cranes her neck around Danny to peer at the door. "We need to at least..." What? She cranes her head to the side, looking around the angel then forward again. "Okay! Giant door." She tries to scoot around Danny, careful of the bridge, so she can get a closer look at the thing. "Hardy Boys. What would the Hardy Boys do. C'mon, gents. There's going to be /some/ kind of lever here." She tucks her gun into the holster, freeing one hand so she can begin patting the door down and the walls around it. "We did the water thing. The four directions.  We're /ready/.  Think enlightenment, damnit! Think..." a pause... and she peeks over the edge of the bridge. "What if we're supposed to, you know... jump? And /that's/ the real door? Leap of faith, all that...."

Danny peers over the side of the bridge, jaw working. "It would be very unfortunate if you're wrong," he chuckles dourly. A few steps backwards, and then he sits in the middle of the bridge - much as if he's about to meditate. "The Heart Sutra is all about emptiness. So you continue to look, and I'll try... to become empty." Well, it's no more ridiculous than having an angel follow them around. "Please don't let me get shot." Closing his eyes, the big man begins to breathe slowly. Adrenaline bad.

Isiael looks over the edge, and the angel looks very worried. "I don't think I want to jump," he says in the sort of way one might say 'I don't think I want to cuddle a rabid badger'. And then there's a gunshot, and he looks up and crinkles his brows a little, and then heads over to start assisting Rese, grumbling some curse in some long-forgotten language. Still, while running his fingers down the edges of the door, first looking for any engravings and then just giving one side of the thing an experimental push. Never hurts, right? >.>

"Why not? Jumping could be fun," Rese grumbles as she continues patting down the door and the wall. She glances back at the gunshot, bdy stilling except for a hand which snakes towards her gun. Anything....? She kills the flashlight and tucks it away - afterall, light from above will tell them when someone starts down this way (or rather, the light being blocked out will tell them). "Empty faster, Danny Boy..."

"I'm not a luxury sedan," Danny grumbles, shifting a bit and then exhaling again. In a low tone, he recites the sutra that he's been quoting on and off again. He repeats it over and over... to no effect just yet. And then, tommyguns! And the light above becomes shadowed. "Down here!" Someone yells. Oh, lovely.

Isiael frowns and abandons the door, looking back behind them. "I'm going to go stall them," he says, and then with a touch of dread goes off to do just that, though exactly what that trepidation is caused by is unclear. "Keep looking for a way through."

The voices, the darkening light, Rese turns fully, her gun coming out, lifting again.... but wait, what? She looks towards the angel, both brows arching high. "I thought you brought me along for this sort of thing," she points out. Her lips purse as he heads off, though, and rolls her eyes heavenwards. A silent prayer is sent, a glance towards Danny's meditating form, and she turns to continue the pat-down of the wall.

It's a shame Danny can't see Rese's face when her hand goes /through/ the door with some force. It doesn't go through all the way, though. It's like the door is slowly becoming porous - and may or may not have anything to do with Danny's meditation. Men are now rushing down the stairs with guns pointed forward. And Isiael can do what he will with them.

Instead of outright harming them, however, Isiael walks forward, calmly. A hand goes up, however, in a forceful motion- the men in the front will be forced backward with a large amount of force, likely disorienting them at least a little and creating a little bit of havoc. And, unfortunately, letting them know that the party has something supernatural with them - and, given the general lack of knowledge of angels in the current age, well. That pretty much leaves only a couple choices for creatures with those sorts of powers, and given it's daylight, 'demon' is likely one of the top choices. Oh, irony.

But it's SUCH a great face!! Eyes wide, a look of utter "OH SHIT!!' right there. It's like she stops breathing entirely for a moment there as she stumbles through. There's a bit of muttering, and she shakes herself.  "This way!" she calls sharply. "It's open!" Well, for certain definitions of 'open.' "C'mon boys, play-time is over." And she steps forward /through/ the door.\

The crunching sound of certain bodies hitting the stairs with a thud knocks Danny out of his pseudo-trance. This is a problem, as when he goes to run through the door, it is solid again, and he sort of thuds against it. How embarassing. With a curse, he pulls out his radio and shouts into it. "Rese! It's only open so long as I'm meditating. The way is shut again. You need to find a way to open it from the inside!" Which presents a problem, as the other side looks very much like the previous side Rese was just on. Except there's a hallway leading further into the mountain.

Thus stalled, the angel begins backing down the bridge, really having a remarkable sense of where the edges are, as he keeps an eye on the approaching men - though he seems relunctant to kill them. "And quickly!" he adds, though it's not likely she can hear him. Inches of wall, and all.

Thud! Well.... that may have been worth seeing. Rese blinks as she hears Danny's shout, and she tries pressing on her side. "... damnit!" She strikes the wall in frustration before she starts looking about on her side. Another prayer as she tries desperately to find something - anything - to open up her side of the wall.

She's really NOT the meditating type or she'd try that.

"The door is there, but it's not," Danny tries to explain, running a hand through his hair desperately. "The moment you start thinking about it as a door, it /becomes/ a door. You have to dispel the idea of a door as a physical thing. Think of it as an empty thing. A door/way/. A portal." Of course, trying to relate Buddhist philosophy in twenty seconds is unlikely to end with immediate enlightenment. So he glances over his shoulder at the angel. "A quick jaunt?" He thumbs at the door.

"I don't know what's on the other side so you'd better hope we don't end up /inside/ the wall," the angel replies, so quickly that the words run together a bit and he's a bit hard to understand. Still, he turns and strides toward Danny, grabbing him by the shoulder - it's just in time for a spray of gunfire to rip through where they were -just- standing. To the men coming down, the two just...disappear. Luckily, they have a wall to figure out...

On the other side, the two luckily do not end up stuck in a wall. They end up behind Rese, and at least Iz winds up on the bridge. Danny, however, ends up with one foot on and one foot off, which of course winds up with both of them being yanked down with the shopkeeper's weight. Fortunately, Iz has a good grip, though he lets out a rather un-angelic curse as he hits the ground on the bridge, starting to haul Danny up after a moment. Ow.

Pat-pat-pat.... Bamf!

Rese turns her head sharply about as the two men appear... and as Danny goes over. There's a startled squeak, and she lunges forward to try 1) make sure Iz doesn't go tumbling over himself and 2) try to help drag Danny back up fully onto the bridge as well.

"I'm surprised you were able to get through," she grunts at the angel. "Weren't there things keeping you from doing that trick...?"

Hooooly shit. Danny says that too, in the language of the adrenaline-infused omigodimgonnadie. "This area," he tries to say, upon being dragged up and onto the bridge. Grunt, and so on. "Is empty. It has to be, so people can go through the door." He keeps saying that word like Rese is suddenly going to understand what it means. "As for what happens when we keep going, I can't say." He takes a moment to catch his breath, and then nods. "We should be here, now. This tunnel should empty into the Shambhala valley. Should."

Even the angel is panting a little, and he sits for a moment before slowly crawling to his feet. "Or," he says, quietly, "Once it was solved once and one person got through, whatever was holding me back was gone. I don't know, this place is strange." There's muffled noises on the other side of the door. "We'd better move. They do have dynamite. Though they would have to be stupid to use it /inside/..."

"I'm not wagering they are the brightest bulbs," Rese grunts, settling back to sit (for the moment) on the bridge as well. She shakes her head, closing her eyes as she tilts her head back. Guuuuuh. "Remind me when we get back to, uh, work on that... meditation.... thing." Seems like it might help, right? Certainly can't /hurt/.

Danny is already moving. Without even so much as a limp. He recovers quickly! "Let's worry about getting this done before something terrible happens," he says, "then we can make plans over tea or something when we get back." And as promised, the tunnel ends in a bright light - a cliff overlooking the jungle valley of Shambhala. Temples dot the valley, though one huge structure dominates the landscape, centered in the middle of the valley. "I think it's safe to say that whatever we need is there."

Isiael is lagging behind a little, likely just a bit tired. However, he remains close enough to not cause worry. He pauses for a moment as they enter the valley, giving the place a look over and seeming appreciative. "Let's get down there. They can't be far be--" And just then, an explosion rocks the very ground they stand on, originating from the cave. Tiny rocks tinkle down from overhead. Remember the dynamite? Yeeeeah.

Following fast on Danny's heels, Rese keeps her gun firmly gripped in one hand, though finger OFF the trigger - it sucks to get spooked and accidentally firing off a round. Richochette and all that.

But going from the snow and artic to.. a jungle? "Already, you two are taking me to the best of places," she murmurs, craning her neck about. "Just said I didn't bring my Lara Croft outfit." She nods and starts down in the direction that Danny was indicating. of course, there's an EXPLOSION about now, and she looks back in that direction. "Oh good god," she hisses. "These guys are persistant. We better hurry." /She's/ all ready to go rushing in the direction of the indicated temple.

Running, running. They've been doing a lot of that. And the temple is no small distance away, either. It's a big valley. Getting there involves slogging through overgrown jungle, forgotten temples, overflowing streams, and the like. Not to mention that the other hunters eventually find their way into the valley and start firing rounds after them. Why they're doing so is anyone's best guess. "I'm half hoping the yeti have followed them," Danny breathes.

Flee, bunnies, flee! The angel bounds after them, taking turns between being in front and heading off the rear. The dudes behind them are a bit slower, but they do have guns. And, sometimes, either are frighteningly lucky or have frighteningly good aim, as a bullet pings off a tree now and then that's awfully near someone's head. "Or /another/ one will get them busy," the angel pants, and it's no sooner than the words exit his mouth that their luck takes another terrible turn. Danny's words come true!

There's a blur of motion to their right, and then something crashes into the angel, batting him away and sending him sprawling like it was nothing. And then the yeti whirls to face Rese, letting out a spittly roar. Will nothing ever go their way? ... Luckily, though, the gunfire is no longer aimed -at- them. It seems like yeti here has yeti-friends, and those yeti-friends are trying to make friends with the hunters. And by "make friends", we all know that generally means "bloody doom".

Running, scrambling, jumping, ducking, and generally crashing along. "Second date, I want flowers," Rese growls. No telling which one she's talking to. Or maybe that's just herself? Every time a shot rings out and splinters fly, she bobs to the side, hissing and saying rather low, rather RUDE things beneath her breath.

Yes, she kisses her 'grandmother' with that mouth. Who do you think taught her to swear like a sailor??

As Issy gets tackled, she spins about, gun coming up fast. Thre shots are fired in quick succession into the Yeti's chest as she digs in and braces herself. Fight? HELL YES! "Will you two STOP saying what bad thing is going to happen next?!" it comes out more a 'bellow' than a ladylike request.

Of course, bullets to a huge creature like a yeti? Well, it probably slows down. Maybe. For what it's worth, Danny's gun comes out of his pack as well - though he doesn't seem immediately inclined to use it. Instead, he's rushing over to where the angel was tossed to make sure he's not ragdolling.

Indeed, the creature reels back a few steps, but then it's coming on and -charging- towards Rese, taking a swipe at her that she only barely manages to avoid. The claws chip wood out of the tree next to her.

The angel is alive, though apparently even God's servants can be knocked silly by giant snowbeasts, as he's only barely regaining consciousness as Danny comes over, and he looks pretty addled, though he's slowly pushing himself up. Oww

Hooooooooooly shi-!!! Rese ducks and rolls to the side (away from the Angel and Shopkeeper), coming up in a crouch and firing another couple of shots at the barrel chest of the Yeti. It's called distraction, at least when you take a Glock vs. Giant Snowman. Another two shots fired, and she's already diving out of the way of another swipe (premptive).

Danny doesn't wait for the angel to rouse. "Come on," he says, stowing the gun in his waistband and then lifting Isiael up bodily. Time to flee. He doesn't say anything else, so the Yeti isn't distracted by /him/. He simply shoots a look to Rese, and then makes a beeline for the primary temple. Fleeeee.

Luckily, Iz isn't very heavy - he's pretty skinny under that jacket he's wearing. "...uh?" he mumbles to Danny, blearily, but then he's being hauled along. To his credit, he tries gamely to stay on his feet.

The bullets make a solid 'thukthuk' sound as they hit the yeti, and blood flows pretty freely, staining the white fur red. The creature is enraged, but clearly having second thoughts about attacking again with all the retaliation - it's this hesitation that allows Rese to dodge the next blow and 'escape', though the creature thunders after them a moment later.

Oh, she waits until Danny and Issy have a solid head start, but stand toe-to-toe with a yeti? Not only no, but HELL NO. Not when you can do the smart thing.

You know. Run your skinny ass off.

Another shot fired, another roll amidst the foliage, and Rese turns tail to follow after her two compatriots (what better thing t ocall the chaps?). The gun is still out, mind, just no finger on the trigger as she rips through the underbrush, catching up easily with the other two. But now it's HER turn to bring up the rear.

Tromp tromp. Danny thud through the underbrush with more speed and less care. By the time they actually make it to the steps of the great temple, his bleeding a bit from several small cuts across his exposed flesh. But nothing that's slowing him down. The stairs are ascended with great speed, and yelling can be heard from further up the valley. Apparently, he's been spotted. Which wouldn't be hard, considering the temple sticks out like a sore thumb.

Humans are smaller than yetis. Thus, all the foliage slows the creature down (not to mention profuse bleeding). By the time they reach the steps, it's a good distance behind them, but still coming.

Iz has mostly regained his feet by the time they get to the temple steps, though his motions are mostly mechanical as he's hauled up by Danny. Behind them, foliage crashes as the yeti gives chase...

"Not out of the jungle yet," Rese breathes as she finally catches up about the time everyone reaches the temple. A pause, a glance over her shoulder. "So to speak." She moves to the angel's other side to try to help him along (hey, how is SHE supposed to know Danny can cover it all by himself?). "You alright, Issy? Nothing too bad?" Another glance back, but it's up the temple side they go. Just as fast as their little legs can carry them.

Well, Danny's not an endless source of energy, despite being a /near/-endless source, so the help is appreciated. More shots ring out, embedding in the stairs around them, but they get to the inner sanctum of the place without much more trouble. And then there it is. The stone. Or rather, a jewel, perfectly sphereoid in nature, resting upon a pedestal. It's rather oddly colored, being a deep grey-blue with its surface dusted with flecks of gold. And it's not enormous either - one could just barely wrap their entire fist around it.

That stone, whatever it is, captures the angel's attention. "I'll be fine," he mutters to Rese, though it comes out a good deal more muddled than that. He looks to the stone, though, and he gets his feet under him enough to stagger forward and reach out one hand for it, aiming to take it unless halted.

By the time they reach the top and the inner sanctum, Rese's lungs feel as if they're about to explode. Ah, cardio... She slips away from the angel, gasping desperately for breath, but her hand is still steady as she goes back to the door, gun up and aimed out. Nope. Not going to let some yeti sneak up on them and have a snack. No thank you!!

Though the shuffling steps towards the gem at the center has her attention snapping back over her shouler. "Wait!" it comes out more a croak than a cry of urgency. "Didn't you watch Indiana??" Not that such will make ANY sense to the angel.

"Wait--" Danny also cries - but it's too late. It isn't so much that the stone is booby trapped, and more that tactile contact intiates a sudden explosion of universal information a human mind would never be able to handle. Unless properly emptied in the Buddhist fashion, of course. Endless possibilities, power, perception. Much of which the angel already has, so the effect is rather like Angel LSD as opposed to a 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' scenario.

The stone is grabbed, and the angel visibly wobbles -- and it's like time slows down. He looks to both of them in turn in a -fascinated- fashion - it's like every movement they make is shadowed by hundreds of possibilities, the ghosts of all the choices that -might- be made. And, of course, colors pop out vividly, every stone showing every pore, dent, crack, and ripple as though under a magnifying glass. Somewhere distant, there is a long, drawn out roar coupled with a series of bangs. Finally, the angel just says, "--wow, this is... amazing..."

Of course, in what felt like three minutes to the one holding the rock, about twenty seconds passes, and a garbled, slobbery roar can be heard along with a pattering of tommy guns. THey're getting close ogod!

".... when we get back, we're having a week long marathon of 80s flicks," Rese growls at the angel. Maybe Danny, too - hard to say right now. And yes, growling, howling, and tommy gun patter outside. She stares at Iz for several long moments then out the door as she takes a couple of steps back. A fresh magazine is loosened from her belt, held ready in her left hand, right still lifted. "Alright, Danny. I think Issy's brain is fried by the stone. Think /that/ is what Nyx wanted?  How do we get /out/ of here?"

Peering at the angel with only the barest hints of understanding, Danny 'hrms'. "Either Iz gets us back or Nyx could do this herself all along and didn't for whatever reason. If she wants it, she'll find a way to bring it back, at least. I'd just give it a few minutes," he adds, checking his watch. Which is apparently still working. "The deadline is almost here. We just have to hold on for a bit longer. I suggest running."

Meanwhile, Isiael gives a goofy grin and puts a hand up in front of his face, fingers slowly closing on something. And then, his fingers open again, hand splaying wide as he examines his fingers with an expression akin to fascination. "--running," he echoes, as though that's the last word he caught. Probably it is. "We can follow the--" And then, off he goes, half stumbling once or twice, trailing fingers down the wall and going deeper into the temple. He either knows where he's going or mister LSD here needs a babysitter, one of the two.

Buh.... blink. Rese turns back towards Danny, both brows arching. "The plan is... it's /run/? That's the plan?" Note how incredulous she sounds. "We've /been/ running!" Apparently it's Plan A, B and now C! But the angel is running off. Sort of leaves further arguement at the wayside. "I may cry," she mutters darkly, gesturing for Danny to go next that way she can carry up the rear. But yeah. Running. And further INTO the temple.

.... why are they trusting the stoned angel??

Danny momentarily ignores Rese's pleads, guiding the angel down some stairs so he doesn't tumble. "All we have to do is buy some time," he says, glancing around. "I think Nyx was so specific for a reason. As much as I hate to say it: We're going to have to trust she's going to get us out of this. Otherwise, Iz might teleport us into the side of the Empire State Building or something."

"I feel---" Isiael grins again and leans heavily against Danny, though he's still trailing fingers against the wall. He doesn't finish that statement, or perhaps that -is- his statement. Who knows?

To his view, there are vibrant lines of color shooting down the walls, leading further down. He leads them straight to the back wall, where it's just... a wall. However, calm as can be, he frees himself from the pair and places one splayed palm against the wall and then the side of his other hand against the other, the stone touching the wall. An incantation is murmered - one that even he doesn't know how he knew - and the wall shifts, grinding and groaning as ancient stones pull aside to reveal a narrow path. Still in a daze, he continues down this path. The walls close behind them, the shouts and roars dulling to a distant rumble as it does. The inside is pitch black to them, but every detail stands out vividly for the stoned angel, and he steps confidently (though a little woozily still).

"... Yeah, I'm good with waiting on the teleporting," Rese sighs, trailing after the pair. THey can only go as fast as the trippig(est) angel, right? She keeps looking back over her shoulder, however, to see if(when) the others are following. There IS a rather pissed off Yeti still out there, afterall, as well as... guns.

She looks forward again as the wall slides back and away. ".... how?" Wait, no. Don't ask. She shakes her head, ready to follow through the wall.

And there's a figure waiting for them at the end of the dark hallway. It's clearly a woman, face robed in silk scarves, and the rest of her draped in a similar fashion. The material is dark, with the glimmer of silver. Her eyes a brilliant, unforgottable blue. And just then, Danny's watch beeps. It's time.

"You did well," the woman says, voice musical. "I will take that," she adds, holding her hand out to the angel. For whatever reason, this area seems to be completely dampened - which means no angelic power. Which probably means Nyx intended this, to protect herself.

Isiael pulls up short at the sight of the woman - if he realizes his powers are dampened, he doesn't show it, at least not right away. "Nyx," he breathes, just -staring- at her for a long moment, seemingly briefly entranced by that musical sound of her voice. Everything right now apparently feels like -more-.

He hesitates, though, giving a look over to Rese, every motion still seeming to take forever. What feels like normal time for him passes by with long, pregnant silences for everyone else. "I--" He doesn't finish it, but his hesitation to give up the stone is clear.

Surprise! Another bad guy! Rese has the gun up and pointed in a two-handed hold at the newcomer before the name even filters into her consciousness. She hesitates a moment, arching one fine brow as the woman - being? - speaks, and sends a glance towards the angel, meeting his gaze. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. She circles slowly to the side - just enough that she's not directly behind the two boys - the gun still trained on the woman.

"Hi, we haven't met yet." Don't smite me. "I think you need to answer a few questions before we just give that up." Don't smite me. "Like who the hell are you?" Don't smite me. "And if you could come back here the whole time, why the bloody hell didn't you get this damn thing yourself?" Don't smite me.

Alas, there are no answers today. "I'm afraid questions are currently above your pay grade," the woman answers in stride, flicking her wrist - wherein the sphere suddenly appears, out of Izzy's hand. She seems unaffected. "For now. You should begin your search at the lighthouse. In time, you will have your answers." And then, a snap of her fingers, and the three of them are suddenly standing inside of Danny's shop - in the retail area. Staring at the tea. There's a pot boiling. Nyx is clearly very accomodating.

Isiael is apparently still somewhat affected by the stone, as he lands on the proper side still staring at his hands, and the expression on the angel's face is downright /mournful/. He doesn't seem to even register the fact that they are back, yet.

".... I really don't like that person," Rese says on a sigh as she realizes just /where/ they are at. The gun remains in hand, but her arms bend, nose pointing at the ceiling rather than accidentally point at any individual. She lets her gaze sweep over the interior of the shop, making sure there are no monsters about before she lets lose a rather frustrated growl. "God /damnit/!"