Finding Lostpelt

"Finding Lostpelt" is a BOTGD 2 Act III thread started on April 12th, 2024 and finished on April 16th, 2024.
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Sven/Dagny/Kari: "Okay!" Sven shouted back. "Stay right there! We'll be down in a bit!"
With that said, Sven led his sisters and the other rebels down the rope into the pit below.
"Man, who would've thought that Aunt Nala could do this much damage?" Kari said aloud.
"Well, she is a demon," Dagny said from below. "I just hope she'll be okay. She didn't look so good."
"I'm sure she's fine," Sven said. "Come on, this is Aunt Nala we're talking about. She'll bounce back. Right now, we need to focus on finding Uncle Vox."
They continued to scale the wall, but the teenagers widened their eyes at the sight before them. What they saw was like a hidden world under High Central..full of tunnels lining the walls.
"Whoa..." Sven breathed, "this is pretty impressive."
"Too bad it's all run by a fascist government," Dagny said raising an eyebrow.
They continued to scale the wall until they landed on the water line pipe down below.
Indi: Indi had hovered down below them, lighting the way and watching as the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern below. He was startled for a second, but quickly landed on a nearby structure, scanning out through the dark for anything and everything he could catch.
"This place is huge." He murmured, spotting the others climbing in and standing on a pipe above him. He flew up and landed next to them. "It's absolutely massive. There's stuff down there, though. I don't know if there's an easy way to the bottom." He kept scanning, looking around. "Looks like... some pipes. Tons of tunnel holes. And a... a box next to... something? Hope you have a lot more rope."
Sven/Dagny/Kari: Sven studied the massive cavern with widened eyes listening to Indi’s description of what they saw. Then he realized that Indi was right about something else. He then looked up at where they came down…realizing that he was right. It was a long way down, and…they didn’t have any rope left.
“Damn it…” Sven whispered to himself. He then looked at his sisters, and he knew immediately that they were thinking the same thing. “We should’ve brought our dragons after all.”
“What can we do?” Kari asked. “We can’t just wait for them to show up.”
Sven looked around again. Thanks to Indi’s purple light, it was easy to see the tunnels along the walls trying to see if there was any other way to get to them.
Indi: Indi tapped his foot while thinking, scanning the walls and ceiling and floor of the enormous space. "Hmmmm. Well, I can fly, so I could do a quick fly around to start with and see who I can find. We can figure it out from there once I get a mark on them. Maybe once we get everyone somewhere I can make a rope they can climb up to here. A rope would be... less demanding than a staircase... or flying them up here one by one... yeah. Okay. One sec, I'll take a zip around."
His wings lit up once more and he took off, slowly making a loop around the outside. "Helloooo? If anyone's there, call out! Anyone at all? Rescue party here!" He called out, looking into the holes along the wall.
Sven/Dagny/Kari: “Wait, Indi—“ Sven tried to call after him. But it was too late. He was already flying around calling out to anyone who was down there.
“Come on, we’ve got to think of something,” Dagny said. “We can’t just stand here and wait for someone to answer.”
Kari looked at the cavern from top to bottom trying to figure out any other alternatives. They clearly had no way of knowing just how far down this cavern was, but it didn’t make this any easier. Not only would they need to get to one of these tunnels, but they forgot to consider that Tree and Vox could be hurt. They probably wouldn’t be able to climb out with just rope. Dragons would be the best route. She couldn’t help but wish their parents and Shadow were there with them, but they weren’t. She, her brother, and her sister needed to figure this out for themselves. “Dags, how far down do you think we are?” she asked.
Dagny studied it for a moment. “Probably no more than 100 feet,” she said. “We are pretty close to the top. Why?”
“Maybe we can get our dragons after all through the network?” Kari suggested.
Sven widened his eyes realizing that Kari was probably onto something. “Could it work when we’re underground?” he asked.
“We might as well try it,” Kari said. “We don’t really have any other options.”
Sven and Dagny looked at each other and then at Kari smiling.
“Let’s do it,” Sven said confidently.
With that, the three Felman siblings concentrated with all their might mentally calling out to their dragons.
“Pyro!”
“SkySinger!”
“Scoot!”
“We need your help! We’re in the cavern!” 
——-
The Monstrous Nightmare, the Deadly Nadder, and young Night Fury all froze at hearing their human riders’ voices calling out to them.
“I just heard Sven calling me!” Pyro crooned to his fellow dragons.
“Yeah, I just heard Dagny!” SkySinger replied.
“And I just heard Kari!” Scoot said. “They need our help! Come on!”
With that, the dragons wasted no time in sniffing the answer to find their respective riders’ scents. Once they found it, they flew all the way to the hole near what was left of the outer wall and flew down all the way to Sven, Dagny, and Kari.
“IT WORKED!” Kari said jumping up and down in excitement.
“GREAT IDEA, KARI!” Dagny replied giving her youngest sister a side hug.
“WAY TO GO, BABY SIS!” Sven added.
As soon as the dragons were close enough, they each mounted them.
“Much better,” Sven said as the other rebels mounted SkySinger and Scoot with Dagny and Kari. “Let’s go!”
They flew down to join Indi ready to help in the search.
Liam/Nio: From far across the cavern, nearly a mile away, there was a tiny dot of orange, which appeared to disintegrate and then fall prey to gravity, splattering downwards. It happened a few more times, at the same time that they received a panicked but clear mental contact from Liam.
"Hey! Do you see us? You gotta get Mom and Dad and then get the fuck out of here! They're somewhere else in the cavern across from us!"
The network was still holding; it had been an unusually long time since the beacon had fallen below the surface. The connection felt slightly odd and deep and echo-y, but that could be attributed to the distance it was stretching across to deliver the messages resonating through it.
Sven/Dagny/Kari: Kari suddenly pulled on Scoot's reigns causing them both to come to a complete stop in mid-air. The youngest daughter of Chief Grey looked around for any signs of a source for the voice. It was Liam, Tree and Vox's son!
"Sven, Dagny! Did you hear that?" Kari shouted to her brother and sister.
"We did!" Sven replied looking around while riding on Pyro. "But where is it coming from?"
"Liam, is that you?" Sven thought in the network hoping the half-breed could hear him. "We hear you! We're trying to find you all!"
Dagny looked around trying to find something that could direct us to where Liam is. She scanned the walls...until she saw it...a tiny dot of orange that flickered in and out. She gasped at the sight. That must've been Liam! "Sven, Kari! I see something orange! I think it's Liam! He's got to be here somewhere!" She pointing to where she saw the orange light.
"See if you can get him out, Dagny!" Sven shouted heading to across the cavern where Liam directed them. "Kari, stick with me. We'll get Aunt Tree and Uncle Vox! Indi, help Dagny!"
"Got it!" Kari said following Sven.
"Liam, if you can hear me," Dagny added mentally, "it's me, Dagny! I think I know where you are. We'll get you all out, just hang on."
Indi: Indi heard voices and flew closer, noting that the kids had found one of the underground groups. "Ah, so there's some of them! You work on rescuing them, I'll keep looking for the other ones!" He told them. He turned and continued his search along the wall, slowly looking around and scanning for the others trapped underground.
He got a small blip through his suit of life signs and flew down towards it, peeking into every hole. "Helllooo? Lost people, come on out! Looking for guys and a magic rock! Anyone there?"
Liam/Nio: A decent-sized stone flew past his head. "Back here, you missed us!"
Liam and Nio were crouching on the edge of their tunnel, and they waved Dagny and Indi closer. "Did you guys bring your beacon down here!?" Liam whispered furiously. "I can hear everyone again! There's someone looking for beacons down here, you have to take it out of here if you have it!"
The rescuers could indeed hear the stirrings of...something down at the bottom of the cavern, but the height made it impossible to see and difficult to hear what it could be.
Sven/Dagny/Kari: Dagny wasted no time in flying over with Indi behind her to Liam. Before she could even respond, Liam was whispering to her about the beacon, and her eyes widened when Liam explained that there was someone looking for beacons in this cavern. Before she could even respond, she heard something coming from down below. She looked down only to find that it was complete darkness. She couldn't see anything.
"We don't have it," Dagny whispered to Liam. "It's still up on the surface. Hop on SkySinger, we'll get you guys out of here."
"Sven...can you hear me?" Dagny said through the mental network. 
"What is it, Dags?" she heard him mentally. 
"I found Liam and Nio, but Liam says we need to get out of here. There's something down below looking for beacons...and it doesn't sound very friendly."
"Kari and I are still looking for Aunt Tree and Uncle Vox. Grab them and meet up with us. We'll leave as soon as we get them." 
"Okay..."
Liam/Nio: "Fuck," Nio swore, pulling ice from their coat to hover around them again. "They dropped a different one then!?"
"We have to go get it." Liam was nauseous at the idea of staying underground but now he was slowly realizing what was happening and he still refused to run. "I still don't know who's looking for it but they can't have it. We can't leave until we get it."
Indi: Indi just seemed so very confused. "So do we look for the magic thing or the other people. Aren't there other people also trapped down here? I figured you bunch could figure that part out while I locate the others. The ones we don't know the location of yet." He floated in place, sighing.
"Or did I misunderstand and its just you bunch here and the magic thing. The beacon. How many people are trapped in this massive cave."
Liam/Nio: "Just the two groups, no other people--look, if we could get a dragon down here, we'll search for the beacon and get it back to the surface." Nio doubted the single man flying by himself would let them explore the cavern in any timely fashion.
While they spoke, Liam quietly looked back down into the cavern. His ears flicked back and forth, as though he could hear something. Then they all saw him start to lean his weight over the edge with intent.
Sven/Dagny/Kari: Dagny immediately saw Liam leaning over the edge...and her eyes widened in fear. She wasted no time in pulling on SkySinger's reigns making her move so that she was directly in front of Liam.
"What are you doing, you idiot?!" she whispered through clenched teeth. "You just said there was something down there!"
He seemed completely befuddled at first, and then his eyes hardened. "Look. I'm getting down there with or without help."
"Holy shit, we need to make up our minds." Nio grabbed Liam by the arm. "I'm going with suicidal dimwit. You guys with the dragons have to go find scout-guy and the people he fell down here with. And then maybe try to contact Lila about what's going on if you can. I can't get through to her for some reason. Sav, you coming or going?"
Savarthan: He looks down into the pit, thinking deeply for a moment. 'I'm going to regret this aren't I?' He thinks. "Fuck it, we ball."
Sven/Dagny/Kari: "Oh my gods...there are three idiots..." Dagny whispered to herself. She sighed clearly seeing that there was no way to convince them otherwise. Besides, the other beacon was down there somewhere. They needed to grab it before it fell into the wrong hands. She sighed and angled Sky Singer so that the three of them could hop on. "Hop on, I'll take you down there. My brother and sister are looking for Liam's parents and their group."
Liam/Nio: Nio looked doubtfully at the hovering Deadly Nadder but leaped on, holding Liam's arm to steady him as he did the same and reached out for Sav when he jumped as well.
The dragon dove, and a gentle mist followed them as water continued to pour into the cavern. As they descended, Liam tried reaching out for Tezz again, but he seemed to have vanished from mental sight.
The other group were also flagging down the pair of dragons that seemed to be searching for them, but tensions were rising--the two Central soldiers were outnumbered by rebels, and weapons were being drawn in order to keep the pair back. There was a heated argument happening about whether or not to let them be rescued alongside the rebels.
Vox/Blair/Ellis: "I already thought it was a bad idea to come down here in the first place!"
"A lot of good that does us now, huh? I didn't see you offering up any big ideas."
"Maybe not, but at least I'm not actively trying to make things worse!" Ellis pinched the sides of his forehead with a paw, struggling to keep enough composure to not lash out at Vox further. His sword remained readied towards the two soldiers, against his better judgement. "I get that you have some sort of history with this place... with these people. Don't let your personal grief get in the way of your humanity."
The scout noticed his fist fully clenched around his bow to his side; the fox had a point, but emotions were too high for him to look at the situation rationally. It didn't help that the two Central soldiers stood by with weapons drawn, attempting to interject at times, only to be cut off by one of the passionate Rebellion members.
"Ellis, it's- it's more complicated than that, I can assure you."
"Does it 'ave to be?" Blair spoke softer than the pair, speaking up from beside the now somewhat lucid Treepelt. "I think our lot has seen enough strife fer te' rest of time. Won't do us any good te' make fights fer ourselves, 'specially in te' condition we're in."
Vox unclenched his hand - the ferret had a point. Their focus shouldn't be on what happens to these soldiers. Liam was still down here, and they needed to find him and get out.
Liam, we're okay. Vox took a breath, hoping the beacon was still able to transmit. We see the dragons. We're a ways down from where they're at now, opposite their location.
Sven/Dagny/Kari: Kari was flying around the cavern on Scoot close behind Sven and Pyro. Sven had told her that they needed to make this quick because Liam said that something...or someone unfriendly was down there and that they were coming after the beacons. Thankfully, they left one with Indigo, but there was still one more that was missing...which made them want to speed things up.
It wasn't long before the oldest and the youngest Felman siblings heard voices coming from below in one of the many tunnels.
"Sven, did you hear that?" she asked as she perked up.
"I sure did!" Sven said excitedly. "Follow me!"
The Monstrous Nightmare and Night Fury dove downward toward the tunnels. When they got close enough, it was easy to see two High Central soldiers standing there with weapons raised.
"Central soldiers!" Sven shouted alerting his sister. "Kari, you think you can take them out?"
"You bet!" Kari said reaching for her bow and arrows. Before anyone could react, she pulled the two arrows back and let them loose watching them hit the soldiers.
Rebels/Liam/Treepelt: The High Central guard was struck in the flesh of his neck and shoulder at the right angle to pierce his diaphragm, and he went down almost immediately, struggling to breathe through arrow shaft and blood. The Conclave man's hands shot up to the fletching now sticking out from under his arm, where blood began to gush like an overzealous fountain. The rebels were briefly terrified, then confused, then relieved to see the dragons hovering at the tunnel entrance; though a few of them protested the sudden killing blows, most of them looked relieved at not having to try to rescue their enemies as well.
"Dad, I'm gonna get the beacon and bring it back up now that we can hear everyone. You guys can send backup if you want but we can't just let it sit down there."
Tree huffed and tugged Vox down to put his ear to her face from where she was sitting on the mossy floor, back against the stone, still woozy from her brief bout of unconsciousness. "Is our idiot going back down there!?" she hissed.
Vox: Vox smirked at Tree's remark. Their idiot.
"If he is, he's not going alone." The scout helped Treepelt to her feet before turning to face the Felman duo. "I think it may be best to take these three back to the surface. I need to go down to Liam, and that isn't a request. Can we do that with just two dragons?"
Sven/Dagny/Kari: Sven and Kari looked at each other and then back at their mother’s former comrade smiling.
“Not a problem, Uncle Vox,” Sven said crossing his arms.
“I think our sister is down there with Liam and her dragon,” Kari added.
“Kari, maybe you and Scoot can take Uncle Vox down to Liam and Dagny,” Sven suggested placing a hand on his youngest sister’s shoulder. “Aunt Tree and the others can come with me and Pyro, and I’ll get them back up to the surface.”
Vox: Vox nodded, grateful for the sibling's willingness to help. At the same time, Blair and Ellis approached Sven and the dragon, ready to abandon this place as quickly as possible.
"Tree." Vox took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. "He'll come back. I promise. I'll see you soon."
Treepelt: She pulled him in for a hug, forearms gripping his back and neck tightly. "Tell him not to take too long. I feel like we're going to need his help with whatever's happening to Nala up there." The rebels approached to keep an eye on her, discussing amongst themselves the order in which they should all get to the surface, since the Monstrous Nightmare couldn't carry everyone. "You'd better answer me every time I reach out. Don't leave me and Kendra hanging." Her claws dug slightly into the back of his cloak--not a threat, but pure desperation.
Vox: "I wouldn't dream of it."
Vox stepped back, winking and flashing a grin at Tree. Every second was a precious resource; without hesitation, he moved to where Kari and Scoot were waiting. The idea of a third dragon ride in one day nauseated the scout, but his options were limited. Once he was settled on Scoot, Vox shook his head a bit to expel the excess nerves.
"Let's try to make it quick."