Previously in NWC-
The party of 4 wakes up and begin their journey after taking roll call. Trying to pass the time, Reno begins asking CeCe questions about herself. They end up learning more about CeCe, but even more about Rosaire, the capital, and CeCe's opinion on how Bambadale can hope to compete with them. They enjoy their mindless conversation and time quickly begins to fly...
Before they know it, their stomachs are begging for food. They take a quick break to eat before resuming the journey. Medusa is looking around with excitement the entire time that they're walking. If it weren't for her well-mannered nature, she would have run off to chase woodland creatures. Reno occasionally glances to make sure she's still following, and he occasionally gives her candy. Luna watches with slight jealousy but doesn't say anything. After hours of walking, Reno begins getting tired. He withholds his complaints for a bit, but he finally gets to a point where he feels it necessary to vocalize his woes.
"How much more do we have before we can stop for the day?" He looks up in the sky to see that the sun was well into its descent, threatening to hide behind the far-off mountains at any moment.
"Getting tired?" CeCe turns and makes a playful remark to Reno. "Come on now! Is that all the Hero of Bambadale's got in him? Should I be worried about whether you can actually protect me?"
Reno sighs and shakes his head. "There's a difference between a do or die situation that lasts for, like, 3 minutes and walking however far we've walked. And I find it hard to believe that you're ENTIRELY incapable of defending yourself. You make two-week trips all by yourself with no issue."
CeCe smiles and leans towards Reno. "Just because I can take care of myself doesn't mean I always have to. A girl likes to be pampered every now and again~!" She playfully winks at Reno which causes him to go stone faced and stare straight forward, no longer complaining. She sees his reaction and begins giggling. "Uh-oh! You're so easy to tease! You're going to have a rough time; I can promise you that!"
Reno stares straight forward, trying to ignore CeCe. "(I should have stayed home. But 1,000 dulls is 1,000 dulls I guess.)" They quickly find a spot to camp out for the night. Once again, CeCe puts her tent up and sets out her sleeping bag in less time than it takes Reno to even think about putting his up. Reno is able to get it done in much less time than before, and it even looks how it's supposed to. The party enjoys a campfire on which they cook their dinner before going to sleep. Luna opts to sleep with CeCe and Reno is left with Medusa. The next morning comes quickly and Reno waits his daily half hour before he's able to move. "One day my body will stay asleep until Medusa wakes up." He groans as he slowly stands up. The party has their breakfast before setting back off on the road.
"We should be getting there some time tonight if we don't run into any distractions. I was thinking we could set up camp a bit off sight then exploring the surrounding area tomorrow morning. Are you guys on board with that?" CeCe details her plan as they walk.
Reno nods his head in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea to me. I can't wait to be done with the constant walking. At least when we get to the ruins there will hopefully be stuff to explore. This walking in a straight line for days is not my cup of tea."
CeCe giggles as she tilts her head. "Aww, not much for exercise? It's good for you, Y'know?"
Reno shakes his head in dismissal of her statement. "Listen, you can enjoy going long walks, that's fine, I, however, am perfectly fine staying home and doing nothing." Reno sighs, trying to ignore the growing exhaustion from their journey. Despite the fact that all they've done is walk with multiple breaks, he still found himself waking up sore. He was quickly realizing how out of shape he was and was beginning to regret being a shut in. Trying to take his mind off of things, his eyes begin to wander. He looks out on the field to their right, watching the wild grass sway with the slight wind. The birds flew over head without a thought in mind. On the earth, a squirrel runs up the tree and shoves its food in its small home. He sighs, turning his attention back to the party. Luna and CeCe enjoyed their idle chatter while Medusa marched next to Reno, her movements exaggerated as she walks. "(I guess it's not that bad after all.)" Reno sighs, smiling. The rest of the trip is exhausting but seems to fly by. Before they know it, they've reached the ruins.
CeCe rushes ahead, standing in the front of the group and looking around in the dimming light. "Let's see. The informant said there would be a broken-down stone wall that the entrance was hidden behind." She scans the area and finally points. "Aha! It must be that one!" She's barely able to make out a stone wall due to a large number of trees and the sun having all but set. "Stay right here, I'm going to go check it out." CeCe rushes over and begins inspecting the immediate area around the wall. After a minute of deeply checking everything, she finds what she's looking for. "I found it! It's hidden behind this tall grass!" CeCe rushes back over, more excited than she has been the entire trip. "This is so exciting! Tomorrow we'll check everything out up here before making our way in. The sources said the inside might have some undesired visitors, so we should camp out a bit away from the entrance, just in case." The party walks roughly 15 minutes to a patch of trees where they set up camp. Exhausted, they decide to eat something that doesn't require cooking then go directly to sleep, excited for the morning. Reno and Medusa, both equally as excited as the other, wake up relatively early. They step outside of their tent to be greeted with the sunrise. Reno looks at Medusa who scans the perimeter, smiling. "You excited, Medusa?"
Medusa waves her arms around and jumps with joy. "Muh!" She looks up at Reno with sparkling eyes, excited for her first adventure and the opportunity to help those she sees as her family.
"Me too, Medusa, me too." He shakes his head and smiles. Uncertain of how long it would take the women to wake up, he starts the fire and begins preparing to cook the food. Medusa wanders over curiously, wondering what he's going to make. Reno holds his arm out, blocking Medusa's path. She looks up at him with confusion, looking at the back of his head. "LET HIM COOK!" He shouts with a sense of desire and passion unseen before. However, after making his joke, he quickly loses interest. He pats Medusa on the head then starts making breakfast. By the time the food is almost done both CeCe and Luna have woken up, stretching and walking over to Reno. "Good morning, you tow. Breakfast is almost done."
CeCe claps her hands together and twists in slow motions. "A girl could get used to this! The only thing that'd make it better is if it was served to me in bed!"
Luna floats over and looks at what Reno's cooking. "Good luck with that. Getting him to do something that requires that much work is impossible." Luna speaks without thinking, not even processing that she was being extremely harsh for no reason.
CeCe looks like she's going to say something but Reno speaks up first. He was going to reply with his own personal jab, but thoughts of two nights prior play in his mind, causing him to take the passive route. "You're right, I do have a tendency to be lazy. (Hopefully that doesn't piss her off. I feel like I can't even blink without her finding something to nag me about.)"
CeCe lets out a sigh of relief after seeing the situation deescalate itself before turning into an argument. "Yeah, I think we can all be a bit lazy at times. Even I like to sit around all day sometimes!" CeCe returns to speaking with her usual energy and positive attitude. "In fact, that's exactly what I'm doing when we get back to Bambadale!" The party eats their breakfast and puts their fire out, walking back to the entrance of the ruins. They stand a rock toss away from the wall and CeCe jumps in the front, turning around to face the other three. "Aright, team! Before we head inside we'll be checking the surrounding area to make sure there's no trap or any unwanted guests. You can tell a lot about what will be inside ruins by what's around them. Like the wall, for example! The wall seems to be hand carved stone, probably using some sort of magic. That means we can expect the inside to look somewhat similar, as older civilizations tended to rely on one method of crafting due to a lack of innovation and variety of resources. Now, are we ready?!" CeCe pumps her fist in the air, cheering. The three respond by giving a small cheer in return. With this, they begin the real adventure.
TO BE CONTINUED...