OverDrawn/RH Part 1

This is the Relic Hunter section of OverDrawn.
The Initium Novum section can be found at IN Part 1.
==Story==
===Base Camp===
In a dense jungle, several tents were set up amongst large amounts of vines, giving a 'roof' from the beating sun. These tents belonged to the Relic Hunters, a group of society's oddballs who searched the globe looking for artifacts, and only every once in while fighting an angry spirit. Led by Flyby Mythos, they run to the trouble like lunatics.
Lee Mythos awoke with a jolt, sitting up and hitting his head on the center bar of his tent. "Ow," was all he said, crouching under it this time. He found Amber outside his bundle of wire, metal and canvas; just sitting there like always. The robotic dog perked up as Lee passed by her, but whined when he dove back into his tent. The Fox poked back out, wearing a pair of oversized goggles. "OK, Amber, let's go wake these people up," he said, starting to run from tent to tent and whacking the 'doors'.
Fay Corona sat up in her tent just as abruptly as Lee did. Rather than hitting her head, her reflexes kicked in, causing her to grab the top bar of the tent and flip over it, launching herself out the door of her tent and barely not colliding with Lee. She then landed on one hand, then did a breakdance spin and whirled into an upright position facing Lee. "Hi, Lee!" she said. "And hi, Amber," she continued, reaching down to pat Amber on the head. "What are we going to do today?"
Lee motioned to the other tents. "I'm just waking everyone up, my da-" His words were interrupted when Flyby slid into view, a coil of rope looped over his shoulder and extending upwards.
"Fay, good morning!" Flyby said cheerfully, and probably a few decibels too loud. "The natives nearby say there's a cluster of tunnels a few miles that way! So, Lee, please rally the troops, gear up and grab something to fill your gut!" He then reascended the rope, vanishing into the bundles of vines.
Fay gave Flyby a thumbs-up, folded up her tent, tried to scoop up Amber under one arm, and took off after Flyby.
Amber squirmed, giving up after a bit as she couldn't get loose. The robot dog huffed as she was carried away.
Lee went back to waking the others up and grabbing some food.
A dark-gray Mobian spider crawled down from a tree. She had four arms, four legs, six small eyes around her two main ones, two large pedipalps on either side of her mouth, a bulbous abdomen upon her rear, and brown hair. She wore a small, white top beneath a light-brown, sleeveless jacket and blue shorts. "Morning Lee!" She called enthusiastically as she reached the ground, "Where's everyone else?"
"Oh, hey, Cassandra," Lee said, uncomfortable with shortening her name. "Uhh, Flyby and Fay left already... So, umm... Grab your stuff?" He informed her, grabbing his tent and walking towards the others.
"Oh, okay!" the spider girl replied, scurrying back up the tree. A moment later she dropped back down to the ground with a brown backpack secured to her back and quickly followed Lee.
----
Flyby swung from tree to tree like he was born to use his hook. He wore a brown jacket, tan pants and hiking boots to help him in various climates. His leadership skills were something he'd picked up along the way, so he looked back to make sure he hadn't lost any of his crew. "You guys OK back there?!" he called out.
Fay, who had put down Amber by this point, ran after Flyby, flying when necessary. "I'm fine," she said cheerfully. "Are you?" When Amber was set down, she rubbed against Fay's leg, thanking her.
Flyby grinned. "Good as always!"
Lee soon appeared, running on the ground. Schnee, a white-furred hedgehog with multiple quills spiking sideways, ran behind him. She was wearing her favorite outfit, a strange jacket with three pockets, each holding a pistol, along with casual jean shorts and red/pink-colored shoes.
"So...where are we going again?" questioned Fay.
"Tunnels! I told you! And... Here we are!" Flyby declared, landing near a large cavern.
Cassandra was already there by the time Flyby and the others showed up, sitting on a large rock and taking a bite out of an apple. Swallowing, she looked to the group leader. "What took you so long?" she asked in a playful tone.
Fay glanced at Flyby. "We...um...walked," she said. "Or ran, or flew, or swung from trees. How'd you get here so fast?" This last comment was directed at Cassandra.
Lee blinked, turning around to where Cassandra had been. "She is... Slippery..." he thought, kicking the dirt a bit. He had put himself in charge of making sure she was somewhat out of trouble, but she had a knack for getting away from him. Pushing the thought aside, he waited for the Spode's answer.
Cassandra giggled. "I just know my way around, I guess," she said, taking another bite from the apple and sliding down from the rock and landing in front of the mouth of the cave.
"O...K..." said Fay. "So, Flyby, I guess we go in now, right?"
"What? Oh, yeah... heh, lost for a second there. You all got flashlights or something?" he said, pulling a small one from his jacket.
His son fingered the 'tube' on the side of his goggles, which lit up.
"I think so," said Fay, grinning oddly and placing one hand on her hip. "You'll see when we get in."
"Lemme check, guys. BRB!" Schnee shouted before running back. About twenty seconds later, she came dashing back, carrying a cyan-blue suitcase. She popped it open before looking at the contents. "Screwdriver... laptop... memory chip... wrench... Ah, here it is!' Schnee grabbed a red flashlight out of the case before shutting it. She pressed a button on it, causing it to turn into a backpack. "I'm all set! This is gonna be fun!"
Cassandra finished her apple threw it behind herself. She then crossed two of her arms and placed the other two on her hips, tapping her right feet as she waited. She had half a mind to just dive into the cave right then and there, but decided it would be best to at least know what they're looking for first.
"I'll take that as everyone being ready, then." Flyby said, shining his light into the cave. "Ok, there's supposed to be a gemstone, dating back a few hundred years, resting somewhere in that cave. Belonged to the deceased enemy tribe of our hosts. Legends say it has the power of the storm or something... Just find it, and we'll skedaddle to the next spot!"
The cave was fairly generic, having loose rocks, spiked stones and more at the entrance. Looking in, you could see several branching paths.
"Okey dokey! We're splitting up! So... Pick a buddy, everyone."
Fay looked around at the group. "...Amber?" she said, reaching down to pat Amber. Amber looked at Lee, who shrugged. The Robot Dog stepped to Fay's side, having received permission.
"Whelp, that's all the info I need. See you guys in a bit!" Cassandra said, then scurried off into the cave.
"Wait! Cassandra!" Lee shouted, then facepalmed. "I'm going with her, I guess." he said, running after the spider.
"Well then, partner, I guess I'm with you!" Schnee said, sliding over to Flyby with energy in her movement. "So, heard any rumors about this thing? Carved from a fire god's skull? Cursed with devilish water? Absorbs natural resources?" Schnee quietly squealed. "Omigosh, this never stops getting exciting!"
"I actually just told you.... everything I know about it..." Flyby muttered, and with that, walked into the cave.
Amber took a few steps, then stopped, waiting for Fay. Fay followed after Amber, waiting for it to get dark—and for her to be alone with the dog—before activating her light source.
===The Tunnels===
====Cassandra and Lee====
The tunnel that Cassandra ran into ended in a steep fall of unknown height. There was a small plateau on the far side of the cavern but the roof above was layered with stalactites.
Despite the low light, the spider was able to "sense" the drop before her and came to a stop. "Woah..."
Lee came up behind her, his flashlight enabling him to see the hole. "Well... That's ...a big hole... Uh, should we double back?"
"You can if you want," Cassandra said coyly, walking over to the cave wall and placing her hands against the rock to feel the texture. "Hmm, not too smooth... this should work."
"Hmm.... If I had a rope, I might be able to make a makeshift grappling hook." Lee said, thinking out loud.
"Maybe you should learn to obey your father and bring an actual grappling hook next time? "​​​​ An unheard voice said in Lee's head.
"Be quiet, Onyx." The Hybrid growled.
Cassandra thought for a moment, then turned back to Lee. "If you want, I could make you some silk. That should work," she said with a smile, revealing her fangs. The one on the left was oddly larger than the one on the right. "I'll need a few minutes, though."
Lee blinked at the girl, a small smile creeping across his face. "S-sure... that'll work... I'll go.... do something." He began feeling the walls.
====Fay and Amber====
After Fay ascertained that she was alone with Amber, the eyes in Fay's midriff lit up, revealing a placid cavern extending far into the ground.
"Why did I agree to this?" Amber thought to herself, which came out as a small whimper.
Fay mentally scanned the area, then turned to Amber and said, "All right, I'm going to fly down for maximum control and to avoid slipping. If you start to slip, bark and I'll grab you. Got it?" The dog nodded, sniffing the ground.
Fay took off, slowly flying downwards while rotating herself to reflect the light emitted from her abdomen off as many surfaces as possible to avoid traps. She scanned the area around her as she did so, looking for anything suspicious or interesting. Nothing would stick out much aside from some simple cave drawings.
Amber walked below Fay, videotaping the entire area.
"This is sooo boring..." said Fay, continuing her previous pattern of slowly flying downwards while rotating. "When is something actually interesting going to happen?"
A bit ahead of her, the tunnel split again, with one path going further down and the other going up.
Fay took a moment to assess the situation, then stopped and turned to Amber. "All right, Amber," she said, "I'll take the lower route and you can take the higher route. That way, if something bad comes at one of us, I can fly up to where we are now and you can sit down to slide back to where we are now. Does that sound good?"
The dog blinked like usual, then nodded. Amber then went down her designated path, barking at the shadows.
Meanwhile, Fay flew down her path, going feet-first to allow herself to easily fly out while craning her head downwards to see where she was going. "This is so boring...again..." she said, even though there was no one in the area to hear her. She then began whistling and knocking her left boot against the wall rhythmically to pass the time as she flew down. As if the cave was listening, a wave of water rushed into the cavern, knocking small pebbles and debris around. Within minutes, the space would be filled.
Fay looked interested, then promptly flew back out of the path that she was going down. Upon reaching the top a few seconds later, she called up into Amber's path, "Is everything going okay up there? Bark if it is, get back here if it isn't."
A distant bark echoed back.
"Oookay," said Fay, then flew up into Amber's path, trying to catch up with Amber.
The cybernetic canine watched Fay. "What's she doing here?" she thought, releasing a questioning bark.
As if to answer Amber's unspoken question, Fay said casually, "The path down there's being flooded, so I decided to join you up here."
Amber nodded...somewhat, and kept walking. Behind them, the lower cave continued to fill.
"So, anything interesting happened up here?" asked Fay, trying to make conversation.
Amber gave a denying bark. "Not really, it's kinda boring." The cave didn't seem to hold much, just stretching on for a while.
After a while of flying, Fay let out a frustrated groan. "This has been at least thirty seconds and nothing's happened!" she said.
"Miss, you have an incredibly short attention span." The canine barked, sniffing the ground. She barked again. "I smell something!" Amber dashed off.
Fay flew after Amber. While doing so, Fay said, "Look, I'm sorry for being so easily bored. It's just...well, boredom is boring, and also, if nothing's happening, it's kind of suspicious. You know the 'it's too quiet' trope?"
Amber kept sniffing, leading Fay into a larger cavern.
"Oh wow, this is cool!" said Fay, starting to fly around the cavern, spinning to reflect the light off as many surfaces as possible. "I wonder if the storm gemstone thingy is anywhere here!"
There was a strange stone at the far end of the cavern, resembling a sort of diamond/amber fusion. Fay's light reflected off it, hitting her in the face and momentarily blinding her.
"Argh..." Fay muttered, blinking as she directed her light to shine on a nearby wall instead. "Amber, can you use some sort of fairly dim light over here so we can see what this thing is?" The dog slid near the shining rock, cranking her glowing eyes to full power (which was still fairly dim).
Switching off her light, Fay bent down to look at the rock. "Wow, this is a pretty impressive rock!" said Fay. She reached for the rock, then quickly pulled her hand back. "...Do you think this thing is booby-trapped?" she asked tentatively.
The dog whimpered, trying to speak. After a few tries, it sorta shrugged.
"OK," said Fay, "well, YOLO, I guess. Just prepare to run for your life," Fay concluded, grabbing the rock.
====Schnee and Flyby====
"Hey, wait up!" Schnee yelled following Flyby. "A power of a storm is still cool! What're we gonna do with this one? Study it? Oh, that'd be fun. What if it literally blew up in our faces, though? Can it do that? Probably. Anyway, this is gonna be one coolio expedition. I hope that we can learn more about this thing!" Schnee smirked before saying, "If there's any trouble, I'll shoot it down no problem!"
"Normally, we put them in a museum; but I want to see what this thing can do first." Flyby answered.
Their cavern formed a 'V' shape: going downwards like Fay and Amber's, but once they got to the lowest point, it'd go upwards.
"As much as I really hate to say this... are you sure that you want to witness its power? What if we accidentally destroyed a town or something? If we test it out, we'd have to pretty much be in a deserted area. Then again, I guess you're the type of person to know a thing or two about deserted areas... whatever. Do you know what it looks like? If I find out, we'd have an easier time finding it," Schnee said.
"No one from the village I learned about it from has any clue what it looks like. They just know it for its power." Flyby said, shining his light around the cave. "Apparently it's the only thing that kept them from just crushing their enemies. It vanished along with the tribe that had it, our hosts took the place over afterwards, not knowing what happened."
"Oh, cool," Schnee said, kind of confused. "So, wait - you're saying that it was stopping them from killing everyone? How? I mean, if it only has the power of a storm, it can't be that bad, right?"
"A storm can range from a light rain, to a devastating hurricane." Flyby replied. "Of course, to be fair, I'm assuming the worst."
Schnee shuddered and shook her head before sighing. "I certainly don't want to be Katrina-ed in the face. I'm just going to play it safe..." Schnee walked and whistled for a few seconds before saying "Ooh! Wait! If we don't know what it looks like, once we find something, how do we knows it's what we've been looking for?"
"Ohgosh...." Flyby said, putting a hand on his face. "I forgot my son's the one who does that.... Uh. ....I'm.... I don't know." He admitted , exasperated.
"....dude." Schnee said, annoyed by Flyby's lack of knowledge. "How are we supposed to know when we find it?! We're looking for a needle in a haystack, here!"
Flyby ruffled his hair. "I kno--"
Then a flood of water rushed at them.
"Oh, cra-" Schnee wasn't able to finish. The water blasted her in her face, but luckily, she was able to swim to the top and float with medium-high difficulty.
Flyby followed, throwing his hook towards the exit. "Well... If it's in there, we'll have to come back." He then handed the hook to Schnee. "Ladies first, let's get out of this hole?"
Schnee grabbed it. "How kind of you! Now, let's get outta here," she said, trying to use it to escape. The climb would be rather difficult, seeing they were climbing at an odd angle. Schnee struggled, but she was able to get out before looking at Flyby.
"You out?" He shouted, grabbing the hook's rope.
Schnee nodded while grunting and smiling. "Yeppers. Thank you, kind sir."
Flyby climbed out after her. "So... you wait here, and I'll go check on our other teams?"
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