Exploring The Cave (R,A)

Richard met Ava at the east side of the mountain where she’d asked him to come. As he’d approached there was a path up that he could see, a series of steps carved into the stone that looked like they started somewhere on the west side. She had on a set of workout gear that she’d sometimes use when it rained and greeted him as he arrived. “Hey man, glad you made it.”

“Oh course. This is the cave Genet suggested? It seems a bit… edgy for her taste.” The light stone of the cave entrance resembled a gaping skull, complete with lanterns in the eyes. Genet was almost unstoppably peppy. She could be intense, but that intensity was usually just expressed through innuendo and interior decoration. If the cave was going to be shaped like anything, it would’ve made more sense for it to be some sexual joke.

“Yeah, it’s strange. She’d mentioned when she suggested it to me that she based the design off a wedding present she’d given one of her nephews. Maybe he’s kind of emo?

Anyways, are you ready to check it out? I brought a headlamp Genet gave me in case it’s too dark in there.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” He stepped across the threshold of the cave with her. As they walked in, the cave grew darker but not so bad that they actually needed Ava’s light. The lanterns along the ceiling provided a warm glow like they were in one of those movies with the archeologist, Montana Jones. They went further in, and the cave started gently sloping down.

“I’m not entirely sure if it’s alright to ask this, but I have a question about one of your transformations.” Richard asked.

“Energizer or Roid Rage?” She clarified.

“I think I know what Energizer does from Genet’s description. It sounded like some sort of magic stamina buff. Roid Rage was the one that I wanted to ask about. I remember being worried because you had asked about side effects. Did you have a chance to figure out what those were?”

She glanced at him. “The running theory is that it steals a tf from someone around me. Everything got more alert as it was choosing a target, then it grabbed Luna’s Touch Base.”

“I’m sorry about that by the way. I really need to be more careful, whether it’s you or Luna that is getting hit by it.”

“Bud, you don’t need to keep apologizing. We were upset at you for like five minutes that first night, but you’ve got as little control over things as we do. Maybe less, since we got to vote on what transformations Genet actually gave us.”

“But I didn’t have to worry about Genet giving me anything.” Richard pointed out.

“You still don’t need to apologize to me, if you need to apologize to anyone. The backdraft kind of felt nice, and I like all of the paths that the show gave me.”

“The paths?” Richard asked. Luna had told him about Touch Base and all three tfs that she’d almost been given. But she hadn’t brought up anything about paths.

“Yeah, all three seem pretty gentle so far. Gym Bunny, Amazon, and Gamer seem to fit me better than what some of the others got, and I don’t see any of them getting too messy either.” Seeing his confusion, she asked: “Are one of those unexpected for me?”

“Maybe? I just don’t know what you mean by paths.”

“Oh. I’d kind of assumed Luna told you. She said she’d explained how this works. We each have three themes for the transformations we and the audience get to vote on. The most popular gets given to us, the least popular goes to the shop. The runner up theme keeps the same transformation option while the winner and loser refresh.”

Richard remembered the results for her and Luna. “What happens with you and her since there wasn’t a runner-up? Does the third choice rollover?”

“Nope. We both will have all new ones.”

“Do you know what any of the others have for their paths?”

“Felicia was the only other one that’s felt comfortable sharing so far. She got caster, rival, and ushimimi.”

“What was that last one?”

“You know how a lot of fanservicey anime has catgirls?”

Of course he did. Luna and Felicia often suggested that type of anime when it was their turn to choose what to have on during their game nights. It would’ve been half of what they ended up watching if not for Ava’s love of science fiction and superhero movies. She’d put on Wonder Woman 1864 three times in the past year. But that wasn’t relevant to her question.

“Yeah. Is Ushimimi a type of catgirl?”

“No, it’s from the same genre though. Ushimimi is a cowgirl instead of a catgirl.”

Cowgirl? That certainly explained her growth. Then he had a different thought. What else might be on that path? He tried not to fall into temptation by thinking about that. “That does seem strange for her.”

“She didn’t seem to mind it too much. She gave the usual complaints when she was over yesterday, but you know her. I think I hear something.” The sound of running water was getting louder as the incline started to steady. The tunnel down twisted and both of them followed it.

They found a paved path next to a stream. A wooden dock stood where the water met the stone. The lanterns down here at the bottom were just a little bit brighter. “When Genet suggested that I bring you down here to explore a cave, I was expecting something a bit more wild.”

“She doesn’t seem the most outdoorsy, but this is still pretty interesting.” He started to take the lead along the new paved walkway. “Since you said you liked your paths, is there something you’re hoping for from them?” He wasn’t sure exactly what to talk about. Usually when it was just the two of them either she’d be talking about the newest expansion of Wonders, or they’d both be focused and out of breath at the gym.

“I don’t really know what to expect from the other two, but I’m kind of hoping for something like a fun costume or flight from the Amazon path. I remember Genet mentioned that costume and clothing stuff was pretty common.”

“You’re not worried about not being able to wear your workout gear?”

“As long as I can still flex and stretch in it, I’m good.”

As they talked, he turned the corner again. The opposite wall was displaying a beautiful, but indistinct mural. It showed two figures, together in a grove. The taller one was dark and black, a painted shadow that almost danced in the torchlight. He was holding hands with a woman in the painting, as green as fresh grass in the spring. It looked like she was looking somewhere behind her in the distance, while the shadow man was turned towards her.

He turned towards Ava. “Do you think this is why Genet suggested we come down here?”

“Probably. It’s just a painting, but it’s still the most interesting thing we’ve seen down here so far. I was kind of hoping there’d be some sort of puzzle, or a rolling boulder trap or a tiger.”

“Do you think we can fight a tiger?”

“Maybe not. But we could probably take a kangaroo or something.”

“I don’t think Genet’s going to do anything that’ll actually put us in danger.”

“Yeah. Hopefully there’ll still be something interesting.”

They kept moving down the path of the cave for a while, until they came to another mural on a wall blocking their path. The shadow man in the painting was offering the green woman some kind of food she was reaching out to accept, it looked like a clump of red seeds or nuts. Below them were three statues of dogs with open mouths and a bowl with three colored leather balls.

“The red one obviously goes with the angry dog.” Ava pointed at the statue of the snarling doberman. “Then the green one goes to the labrador and the yellow to that shaky chihuahua.”

“The yellow obviously goes with the lab.” Richard argued “Labs are the happiest dogs, so they should get the yellow.”

“Why would yellow be the happy color?”

“That’s how it worked in that one movie with the emotions Aubrey took me to. Yellow was given to the happy character played by the comedian, green was given to that scared guy.”

Ava stared at him. “That doesn’t sound right.”

“No, I remember it from the movie.”

“Did it get changed from the trailers? I remember the fear guy being purple.”

“Let’s just try it.” He bent down and stuck the leather balls into the mouths of the statues. As he inserted the last of them, all three reacted. The snarling dog closed its mouth to hold the red ball, while the labrador and the chihuahua shot out the balls several feet. On the side wall next to the mural, a hatch opened to offer two pills. A little cursive sign above it read Swallow to Skip the Puzzle.

“We definitely don’t need those. Let’s just flip those two and we can solve this.” Ava put the remaining two in like she’d originally said and the wall opened up. Ava quickly pocketed the pills before her friend noticed. “Let’s keep moving.”

“So you were right.” Dick said. “How did you know the yellow went in the middle?”

“It looked like a stoplight.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah” She shrugged. “I always give my parties I’m GMing a puzzle with a smart way to solve it and a silly way that they usually find first. When my idea looked like a sideways stoplight, I knew it was right.”

“Nice job then. By the way, do you know what the characters in these paintings are supposed to be?” He asked.

“That’s been bugging me too. Whoever they are, I don’t think they’re modern. It’s a pity that your ex isn’t here to help.”

“Yeah, between the three of us someone should recognize them.” They fell back into silence for a while as they moved on from the puzzle with the three dogs. The water bubbled next to them as they kept going in the opposite direction of the stream’s flow.

After some time they reached another puzzle and another painting. The painting was of a different character, a stout woman marked in the brown of autumn’s leaves raging at the world. The puzzle was even simpler than the last one. The pathway stopped at the cliff about fifteen feet up, where it looked like it would pick back up at the top. A bundled rope was attached to the ceiling, and a cord ran from the bundle to a large lever at the top of the drop. “I’ve got nothing. What’s the play here Dick?” Ava said after looking around at the puzzle’s setup.

“I’ve got an idea, but there’s a downside I need you to consider. If you have me above your head and you give me a little toss, you’d only need to give me two or three feet before I could pull myself up.” He offered.

“And you’re worried about what happens if you fall?” She asked.

“No, Genet’s probably going to make sure nothing too dangerous happens.” He said. “As strong as you are, throwing a hundred and fifty pounds straight up is probably going to trigger Roid Rage.”

“Nah, I’m not worried about that. No one with a transformation for me to leech is nearby.” She made a handhold out of her hands and bent at knee height. “Climb on.” He gingerly stepped onto her bridged arms and she lifted him above her head. She tightened her muscles as she prepared to throw him up and pushed-

And she found herself somewhere else. She was in a darker space, a new cave where the form and shapes of the room were nebulous and cloudy. She could see herself fine, but the ground was grey and she could only actually see it when she concentrated carefully. The only color or definition came from seven colored figures like she and Richard had seen in the paintings. They were arranged in three groups, and she walked among them as she tried to figure out what was going on.

The first group was a gold figure positioned against a smaller red. She didn’t notice the third figure at first, but then she moved to turn towards what Ava somehow knew was a door and the silvery-white silhouette at once felt familiar to the tall woman observing the scene. It felt like she could hear their thoughts

He’s finally going to listen to me.

I’m going to keep him safe, no matter what.

She’s all I have

There was something nice about the red figure she couldn’t place. She moved on from them and went to the farthest group. They had formed a triangle and it felt like the white and brown figures were at an uneasy peace

We need you

I can’t be left behind again

A spotted figure sat at the point of the triangle.

I’m glad this worked. Hopefully she can open up more soon.

Ava kept moving, to the last pink figure that stood by herself.

I hope they like this.

Something was telling her that she couldn’t leave until she picked one to come with her. The only ones that seemed like a good idea were the pink and the spotted ones, the others were too emotional. She looked between the two of them. They both seemed happy, but the spotted one seemed more distracted. She remembered yesterday, when she’d gotten caught up in the swarm of vigilance before Stella and Felicia helped her calm it. She pointed towards the pink figure and pointed-

And she was back in the tunnel with Richard standing in her arms. She smiled as she heaved. He needed to go two or three feet, but she sent him four and he was able to use it to easily catch himself at the top. He swung his legs over and called down. “There’s another painting up here.”

He lowered the rope and she climbed up, grinning the whole time. It felt like she’d gotten a runner’s high just from throwing him. Once she was up, she saw what he’d been looking at. A golden figure was standing in between the raging brown woman and the couple they’d seen in the first two paintings. “It looks like the two of them were why she was so angry in the last picture”

“Yeah. I still have no idea who any of them are supposed to be. Hopefully either it’s explained by the end or Aubrey can explain it tomorrow.”

“Hopefully. I don’t know how much more is down here, but I’m starting to get hungry.”

They moved on again and started to hear music. The sound of strings filled the air as they neared what turned out to be the end of their exploration. As they came into the room, there were two final murals. On the left the green woman was embracing the brown, on the right the green woman was embracing the shadowy man. A little rowboat was tied up at the start of the stream, as both the pathway and the stream stopped at a small room.

Genet stood at a small white table lit up by a beam of moonlight from the skylight above it, waiting for them. Two steaming plates were at the table next to her. “Did the two of you have a good time?” She asked as Richard and Ava came out of the tunnel.

Ava was smiling like she’d just won a Wonders tournament at their local game store. “That was fantastic. We were walking for a while, but that second test at the end felt great. Can I ask about what happened during my wind-up though?”

“Sure.” The host replied. “After I present tonight’s dinner, I may be able to answer some questions on my way out. Stella prepared you both a set of three olive wagyu medallions. For the side, she cooked a mushroom risotto that she informed me both of you have had before. As a garnish, she approved of me adding eight pomegranate seeds to the middle of your plates. To drink…” She pulled out a bottle of wine from behind her back. “I was originally planning to bring you a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from my collection, but Stella was rather insistent that I instead bring-”

“The Malbec.” Ava finished.

Genet twisted the label of the bottle towards them. “Yes. That’s everything Stella asked me to say, did you want to ask your questions?”

“I kind of thought Roid Rage wouldn’t do anything weird today, since I was so far away from everyone else. I must have misunderstood. Is there any limit on what allows it to steal transformations from people?”

“It’s not stealing, it’s copying. And no, it doesn’t care about distance. It’ll just pick up whoever’s turn it is.”

“Why did it show me that dark space earlier? And What do you mean by who's turn it is?”

“On days when someone else is with the master, they would be the target of Road Rage. I thought it’d be fun to give you some more control over it on the more important days in the round, in a more visual way the audience can enjoy. ”

“They could see me in there?”

Genet put the bottle of red wine down. “You both should assume they can see everything interesting you two do. Is there anything else you wanted to ask before I gave you some space?”

Ava shook her head. Richard asked “Do we need to go through that long tunnel again to get back? It took us almost five hours to walk through the first time.”

She smiled gently down at him. “I borrowed the boat over there from a friend. It’ll take you back to the start of the tunnel in about twenty minutes. I just ask that you tie it back down once you’re done with it.” And with that, she left down the tunnel. There was a brief puff of red smoke, and then it was just them.

Once again, things grew quiet. They dug into their food, and it was good. It was better than good. The meat was incredibly tender, and Stella knew the risotto was one of her favorites. But she didn’t know what to say to Richard. He tried to initiate conversation, about the food, about how she knew what the wine would be, what she meant about the dark space. But she couldn't commit much of her emotional space to the answers. She was distracted by the wrongness of the scene. They were having dinner together by moonlight, and it felt suddenly real that she was being set up to date and sleep with someone. It was better that it was Dick than a stranger, but it still felt so foreign to her. Yesterday felt nice, but is that what I want? She could barely concentrate on the conversation. It wasn’t until he started to repeat himself that she tuned back in.

“Are you ready to go?” He was asking.

She looked down at her plate and it was clear. “Yeah, I guess so.” They left for the boat and let it float them down the stream to the entrance. They passed the murals that had lined the pathway. The ones where the green woman chose both the other characters. The one where the brown woman raged at the world, and was stopped by the gold man. The two before when the shadow man and the green woman ran away together. Then Richard had tied up the boat where they first saw the stream and he was leading her up the slope of the cave. As they got outside, he started talking again.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

She looked at him. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” He pressed. “I’m worried I might have upset you.”

“No, you’re fine. I just was caught off guard by Genet’s dinner plans.”

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know what you would want us to do? I’m comfortable with us just staying friends, but I don’t want to ignore anything you might want.”

“I honestly don’t know what I want. I want us to stay friends, but yesterday was nice and new. I honestly don’t know what I want. I think it might be good to talk to Luna about this before I try to discuss it with you.”

“Alright then.” He accepted. “Do you just want to think about something else right now?”

“If that's alright. Have I had a chance to tell you about the new Foundations set Wonders is doing in a few months?” He shook his head. “So they’re doing this new sphinx legendary summon, all about letting the opponents make choices. They can choose which bad thing happens to them, or they can choose which good thing happens to you. I’m hoping to build a deck with her once we get back home, I can’t wait to see how Felicia reacts to it.” And so she kept talking about the new set coming up. Talking about all the sea monsters in the core set took long enough for them to get back to the master’s cottage. Her remembering the World’s Beyond crossover with Alice in Wonderland was enough to get them ready for bed. She had remembered a few new equipment cards that might be good for his Heracles deck, and by that point they were in bed, and both getting drowsy.

He liked Wonders of course, but he couldn’t just talk about it for hours like he knew Ava could. But if it’d distracted her from whatever was bothering her and gotten her talking again, then he could listen for as long as she needed.