GravityTale

2: "Battles" in the Ruins

Without even bothering to ask the name of the person she just saved, Wendy began to lead Mabel out of the darkened room, breaking the silence with some much-needed explanations. "Good thing I found you, huh? I walk around every day to check if anyone's fallen down." Here she shot Mabel a grin. "Easiest job ever."

Mabel gave a small laugh as she followed behind the redhead. "Weird, though. You're the first person to fall down here in a long time. But that's okay, I've got Ya."

Now in a new room, Mabel found what looked like a glittering golden triangle settled in a large pile of leaves. She walked over to it and poked it softly with her index finger.

The shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination.

Mabel smiled at this, feeling better about her situation, and ran through a large doorway to catch up with the monster.

While walking to the next room, Mabel got a good look at her new friend. Wendy was tall, at least a foot taller than her, and she had long red hair that fell past her shoulders. She was pale, but her face and arms were dotted with freckles. She wore a loose-fitting purple shirt with a picture of a weird six-fingered hand on it, and wore tight pants with muddy boots. And from the lumberjack hat on her head and the axe hanging from her belt loop, Mabel decided that Wendy was undoubtably very tough. She was glad the ginger was her friend and not her foe.

This next room was smaller, and contained six stones lines up in a pattern, as well as a sign and a golden door. Wendy gestured towards the stones. "So! Welcome to your new home, man! Make yourself comfortable. Not on those rocks, though. See, in the Ruins, there are tons of rooms filled with puzzles. I know the puzzles like the back of my hand, so just stay close and you'll do great!"

Wendy then rushed forward and stepped on four of the stones, then pressed a switch on the far wall. The door opened with a small click. "See? Back of my hand! Now c'mon to the next room; You're gonna love this one!"

The redheaded monster raced through the door, leaving Mabel to look at the sign on the wall.

"Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road."

Mabel nodded seriously and walked through the door, encouraged. She was brave. She could make it home.

"Alright!" Wendy called as Mabel walked up to her. "Now, in this room, you've got to press some switches. It's cool, I've marked them for you. They're the yellow ones." And with that, Wendy walked to the end of the room to wait, leaving Mabel to walk around and press the marked switches. It wasn't hard, which Mabel was grateful for. She was going to need some sleep and nourishment if she was expected to do anything harder than this. She would try, though.

When Mabel had pressed both switches, Wendy cheered. "Woo! You did it! I'm proud of you, kid! All right, now to the next room!"

The human beamed in pride as Wendy led her through some disarmed traps and to the next room. The one contained a wax statue of an old man, wearing a suit and a fez. The statue was giving Mabel a winning smile and a thumbs up. Mabel returned it, and Wendy laughed.

"Okay, but seriously. Since you're a human living here in the UNDERGROUND, monsters are going to want to attack and possibly kill you." Mabel gulped, but tugged on Wendy's sleeve to ask a question.

"How will people know you're human if humans and monsters look alike? Simple. That." Here she pointed at Mabel's chest. To her shock, Mabel realized that the little red heart from earlier was still there. She looked back up at the teenager in amazement. "Yeah, it's pretty neat. You've got a pretty powerful soul, and monsters are going to want to take it from you, and you'll enter a FIGHT. So you're going to have to either SPARE them or just stall for time, and I'll come save Ya." She gestured towards the wax statue. "That's what this is for. For practice! Now, just step up to the statue and start up a nice conversation."