HOPE YOU ENJOY
PLEASE VOTE
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Shiro helped her to slow down once they reached the entrance of Hamunaptra. She was able to pull the camel to a stop by herself afterwards and Shiro followed her lead. Both stopping before Shiro was the first to hop down and finally walked over, helping her down from her own.
Instead of getting the camel to lay down like before, he simply held his hands out to her and she shakily placed her hands on his shoulder's before slipping into his hold. She had her feet firmly on the ground and their hands removed from each other time the rest starting reaching the top of the small hill.
"Think you can hold back the rest for a few minutes to give me an head start on searching for Matt?" Katie asked with a small smile, her eyes a little hopeful but she'd also accept if he couldn't.
"I'll speak with them. After all, thanks to you, I won the bet and I'm sure they'd be happy to do me a favour instead of paying the money" Shiro grinned back, watching as Pidge brighten up before running off.
"Pidgey! Wait for me, I've got longer legs and I run faster. I can cover more grounds" Lance cried out, just jumping off his camel without fully stopping it before chasing after her to help search for their missing member of the family.
Shiro shaking his head amused before heading to where Antok and Regris was pulling to a stop with James not far behind. Knowing it'd be easier to speak with the three of them than the rest and all he was asking for at least an hour. Just a single hour to let the two search before any campsites are made up and digging sites are chosen.
Thankfully, the three agreed over giving him that favour instead of paying them the full amount of money. After all, most of them still lost their personal belongings to the boat and well, they were all human. The three were willing to leave the rest of the day off and help search for any missing person or clues over another group being here before them.
Shiro shaking his head, knowing it'd be best to leave it to the other two in looking for Matt or clues. But, he did accept an half day off instead. Knowing a full day was asking too much over the group but half an day, they could do a lot of an basic search along the outside with that before using the rest of the day to search inside once they've chosen their own digging site.
Walking off to pass on the plan to Varkon before heading out to search for either Katie or Lance or even both. He'd hope they won't be too mad over him rejecting the full day and extra help, he just thought it was best to be kept as a private matter for them.
The half day came and the Americans moved towards their own digging site. Their camp already set up and Shiro moved to find his missing partners. Leaving Varkon to stand and guard their own makeshift camp, mostly to just keep him out of the way.
Everyone didn't have much concerns over stealing from each other, after all they were all stuck in Hamunaptra together and the desert was too dangerous for a mere theif to run away in. They all had an unspoken code, a silent deal made over keeping to their own camps and without stealing like mad men but share if something was needed.
Slowing down as he found the two, raising an eyebrow as they squatted in the sand. Neither speaking or moving, they were just squatted there and staring at an leather briefcase style shoulder bag.
Shiro made sure to slow down, carefully walking the rest of the way towards them in hopes to not spook them or interrupt anything if they were in the middle of grieving for Matt. He wasn't sure if they found anything or not and didn't want to push them over the edge if they did learn some bad news.
"Did he at least make it this far?" Shiro quietly asked as he stood behind them, their backs left facing his knees so he won't see them if they were crying.
"This is his bag, I brought it for him and he uses it to carry all his writing tools and written chapters inside. He never leaves without it" Pidge admitted as she held the bag, leaving the bottom to rest on her thighs and kept her gaze to the bag itself.
"And the notepad inside was from me, I've always brought a new notepad for him to travel with when the other's get full. I've always left a sweet note or a love poem on the final page of the notepad for him to read whenever he misses me. Never on his first page since I don't want just anyone see my notes for him .. this notepad is the latest one I've gotten him" Lance perked up as he moved to his knees, digging into the bag and pulling out one of the notepads inside, flipping to the final page and finding his last message.
"That means he at least made it this far alive and unharmed. He might still be close by or his party had-" Shiro replied with a small smile, trying to give them some hope of him being alive this far into his journey before being spoke over by Pidge.
"We've already been thinking over why his bag is left here. More so will his bunny, Chip, still inside" Pidge explained over what she and Lance was doing while he headed over to them, pulling out the tiny grey knitted/crochet bunny that was left inside.
"Bunny?" Shiro repeated in confusion and kneeling down beside her, glancing over the bunny while Lance mostly stayed kneeling in front of her now, looking through the bag himself.
"It was a teddy bought by our parents when he was a baby, he's carried it with him all his life. It was knitted by someone our parents helped during their first adventure after Matt was born and they gave it to him as his first adventure souvenirs. He's always kept it tucked in his travel bag, always kept it in his bag I gave him. Wouldn't leave anywhere without Chip since the teddy has been through everything in life with him" Pidge explained the story behind Chip since it was one of the most precious objects owned by Matt as he's had it since forever and always took great care over it since.
"So?" Shiro asked puzzled over why the bunny was so important in their findings.
"So, it gives us two reasons why it's been left behind" Lance answered completely serious, gently taking the teddy from Pidge and returning it into the shoulder bag to keep it safe.
"Forcefully kidnapped by someone or something or forcefully ran from something or someone without any warning. He left in an hurry or was taken without consent" Pidge shared the two reasons they've came up with, lifting a finger for the first one before adding another during the second bit.
"Okay, that might make things more difficult for us. The desert is huge, we'd never be able to search all of it for anyone who might have taken him. Plus, they might be long gone with him already. And, if he was chased away by something than he'd still be left in the desert somewhere without much chances of survival" Shiro sighed with an troubled frown, running an hand through his hair as their search for Matt has now got a lot harder than just reaching Hamunaptra for him.
"Or he was smart enough to hide inside the ruins" Pidge smirked back, an cheeky shine in her eyes while Shiro just raised an eyebrow over her sudden confidence.
"Matt never slept inside them, he knew how dangerous they could be. Pidge always warned us over Hamunaptra traps and curses making him know better than to ever sleep inside or walk around without caution. But if he was chased, inside would be his best bet. He might have found somewhere to hide to was able to leave a clue before escaping" Lance causally explained Pidge way of thinking and how Matt would have acted if he knew something bad was coming his way. He'd always leave a clue even if he laid dying as he did so but Matt always kept an clam and able mind when things went wrong, knowing what was needed to be done as he ran for his life.
"You want to search inside? That place is a maze itself" Shiro muttered back in disbelief.
"Matt is smart enough to leave clues, ones that the cops or just anybody could work out. He's always done so, leaving clues that only I or Lance might figure out in secret. It was to stop any bad men chasing him for something he was looking into for his books or to stop poor clueless cops being sent to their death" Pidge calmly replied back knowing Shiro was learning over Matt and his ways as the days go on making him a little behind on their way of thinking on how to find him. So, why it might be a bit frustrating to have to explain, she didn't mind slowing down to tell Shiro everything he didn't know since the guy was willing to help find Matt with them and they needed as much as help as they could. More by people they could trust.
"And Matt knew the sand would burry or hide any clues outside meaning he'd have to head inside if he did leave something for you" Shiro guessed the rest, rather impressed over it all and Pidge gave an happy nod to show he was right.
"Yeah. He knew all the points that caught my attention over Hamunaptra. Meaning, we've just got to act like this was my own ordinal adventure all along. Search the places I would go for if I came to Hamunaptra as an explorer" Pidge grinned back, glad that her brother listened to her during all her Hamunaptra rants when she was younger and was willing to do a book on Hamunaptra otherwise she'd be clueless on where to search for his clues next.
"That's easy enough. You're in charge again Pidgey, act like we're not here to find your brother but we're here to prove you've got what it takes to be an explorer. Show the world that Hamunaptra is real and all those years on loving it was worth it" Lance spoke up completely serious over letting Pidge take the lead again since this was her home turf. She knew everything there was about Hamunaptra and she was their best bet in finding Matt left behind clue if it were here.
"Okay, let's do this" Pidge grinned back, feeling a bit brave once more as Shiro gave an encouraging nod.
"Hang on! His diary, it's not inside" Lance blurted out in an panic, horror filling his eyes as he stayed shuffling through Matt bag, coming empty handed over the missing item that he was ordinal searching for.
"Diary? Doesn't he have a notepad already" Shiro replied back in confusion over why matt needed both notepads and an diary.
"He's got two. One in use and an spare in case he uses the other one up mid travel" Pidge corrected him over the amount of notepads that Matt had and carried around with him.
"Okay, so why has he got an diary too?" Shiro asked Lance instead knowing that Pidge wouldn't be helpful over this bit.
"It's more like an report book. Every day, he notes down events that happen. If they're exciting or boring, he'd write down what's happened. He'd add names of people he met or spoke with and those he's hanging around with in his group. He'd note down names of shoes or places he's visit or heading towards. And, he's always noticed down the time at the end of each bitten he's written in unless he's written it all down at once than he'd only put down the final time. It's a report for us to use and show the cops. To show the last known time frame he was alive in by his diary entry and it gives names and places he was last with or seen at. He always did the dairy to let us know or the cops know over his life during his travel if he did go missing or ended up dead one day. It was his finally safety strap since we all know how dangerous travelling can be" Pidge answered before Lance could, a small smile on her lips as she explained it all and showed the reasoning over her brother diary. Shiro nodding along, looking rather interested over it and impressed.
"Matt was rather smart to keep that about. Sure, a random guy could have killed him or taken him but the diary would at least give the cops some footing in their search or investigation" Shiro replied with an actually impressed smile, making an mental note down to shake Matt hand whenever he meets the guy.
"Yeah. Matt isn't just sexy, he's got a big brain too. Isn't he just so dreamy?" Lance happily muttered out in an love-sick daze over his boyfriend.
"Lance focus! Matt always kept his diary in his shoulder bag since he'd always at least have that bag with him. It would have his teddy, his notepads and even the hand written pages of his book that he might have started writing on the move. He's never left without the bag and he's always kept everything inside, safely tucked away until needed. He wouldn't just leave his diary without out" Pidge huffed back as she slapped her brother to be hands, pulling him back to reality and reminding them over the matter at hand over Matt dairy being gone.
"Maybe he was writing it when he had to quickly leave or was taken. Hang on, maybe that's the clue he left behind. He hid it up for you to find since it'd had who took him or what happened to him noted down. What does it look like? I'll help search for it and even ask Antok and Regris to keep an eye out for the book if they find it during their dig" Shiro started to say his thoughts out before perking up as the idea hit him. Looking towards Pidge who lit up in familiar thinking over Matt using his dairy as the clue if he did leave it somewhere inside for them. Knowing that only she and Lance would know over it and know to search for it.
"It's a simple dark brown leather diary for men. Nothing fancy, no patens or decorations. It was just basic, he didn't want it to stand out too much in hopes thief's would leave it be if he did go missing or died. Plus, he never told anyone about it being his dairy for worse case senior meaning everyone around him would only see it as another notepad" Lance happily chipped in with the description over the diary since he was with Matt when he bought it and it took forever for Matt to chose that once since he wanted to make he got a rather simple looking one.
"All right, might be a bit tricky to find among the sand but inside it'd be easier to spot .. hopefully" Shiro admitted with an awkward smile as there was no way they'd easily find the diary if it purposely didn't stand out.
"But it's strange" Pidge sighed, a troubled look on her face as she stared at the sand by her feet.
"What is?" Lance asked with an raised eyebrow, closing up Matt bag and standing up as he was starting to ache, the sand wasn't the best thing to kneel in sometimes.
"Matt takes three bags with him on all his traveling. His shoulder bag, his suitcase full of clothing and basics he'd need during his travel. Than his third bag, it's be full of supplies needed for the travel or to explore wherever his book was based and it'd be full of his notes that held information over the place he'd be visiting. Meaning, the copied notes that Matt took from all my years on studying Hamunaptra should be somewhere close by still. We've found his shoulder bag but his other bits would be at the camp they made" Pidge rambled out her thoughts without thinking. Sitting down on her butt as her legs ached from squatting so much and she held her chin a little while the two males near her shared a look.
"Give up on looking for his other bags. You've admitted it's been just over an month since he was due to return. We don't know when he had first disappeared meaning the desert could have already swallowed the camp site up and everything in it" Shiro advised instead, giving an small apologetic look as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"He's right, Pidgey. We'd have to give up on the campsite itself for now. Just focus on exploring Hamunaptra yourself and lead us to any clues that Matt left" Lance smiled, giving an reassuring look as she nodded back.
"You're both right, sorry I just got lost in my thoughts. Let's start our search, I've got a pretty good idea where to start" Pidge smiled back, nodding back to her brother to be before placing a hand over Shiro own one to show she'd be okay.
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This is the bunny that's been crochet/knitted for Matt when he was a new-born baby.
I'd like to think that they called him Chip.
His knitted scarf would be brown not pink since I'd like to think that Matt mostly owns the brown colour and his bunny would match him in spirit.