Devroux hadn't taken a very big liking to the man he'd hired to navigate for him, but that emotion wasn't getting in their way of working together when the situation called for it. Tom continued to watch the map, using the torch to keep it lit, and would relay directions to Devroux, who would use his echolocating abilities to guide them through the tunnels more efficiently and more accurately. With the constant winding and dead ends that the map showed, their system kept an already complicated task from getting even worse.

An increasingly dark tunnel, littered with debris, is hard enough to walk through on its own, let alone a dark tunnel with a heavy, malicious intent wafting through the air. As Tell Tale Tom and Devroux continued to trudge forward, the taint in the air continued to grow more prevalent. It had been triggering Devroux's animal instincts for awhile, but it was starting to apply a physical restriction to the travelers that kept finding it harder to move forward.

Devroux took out the femur he had swiped from the skeleton at the start. Using his kiridashi, the mink began to carve away the tip of the bone haphazardly. In the dark, he wasn't worried about fancy engraving or a straight edge, he only wanted a spike created from the bone. It wasn't much compared to the weapons he'd used to carve it, but the spike allotted him a slight range increase in case the he and Tom were attacked on their journey to the end of the tunnel.

So far, with the exception of the sounds of scurrying rats and the odd crumbling rock in the distance, their walk was uninterrupted.

As a beginner blacksmith, Devroux found the flawless craftsmanship behind the door as something to be in awe of, but his interest in what lay beyond it was far more potent in the heat of the moment. Standing in front of the door, the taint in the air was at its strongest yet, and it was clear that the cause of it was within the sealed room. The mink put his hands on the door and gave a shove befitting a door of that mass, but was met with complete resistance. The mink shoved again, this time putting all of his meek body weight into the effort, but yet again was met with no movement on behalf of the door.

"The fuck," he breathed, growing increasingly frustrated with the door, the labyrinth, and the entire trip as a whole. "Tom, help me."

"Yessir!" Tom shouted. If Devroux had been looking at him, he would have seen the salute that the old man had given him upon replying. Tell Tale Tom stepped forward and the two travelers each took one door.

"Okay, on the counter of three. One... Two..." Both Tom and Devroux tensed up together, getting ready to put their full effort into prying open the door that separated them from the end goal.

"Three!"

The doors swung open, as if pushed on by the force of God himself. The movement was so sudden and the force of the taint that was release so potent that Devroux couldn't stay standing. With the door no longer holding him up, the mink fell to the ground, where he lay for a moment to regather his wits. Tom had managed to stay standing, brushing his hands off before offering one to help the mink back to his feet. Devroux was suspicious at first of whether or not they had given equal effort in opening the door, but decided to take his traveling companion's hand instead of pressing the idea.

Once he was standing, he realized that Tell Tale Tom was exhausted as well, though he knew that it wasn't from opening the door. The source of the taint was within the room and even Devroux, no matter how well he could fake his composure, could feel his consciousness slipping under the weight of the malicious intent.

Devroux turned towards the center of the room, laying eyes on a sword unlike anything he'd seen before. It stood on its point, the blade misshapen and the handle covered in thorns. The sword was very obviously at the center of the malintent, but its position was held firm by the massive bolder that rest on its end. The point was set directly into the stone floor, the handle propping up a bolder that crashed through the ceiling, letting light into the underground room.

Devroux wasn't able to give an accurate measurement, but guessed that it was roughly twenty feet between the ceiling of the room they were currently in and the desert above, yet this boulder was taking up and protruding out either end of the hole. It was a fact that was almost as impressive as how the sword was able to hold up something of such massive weight and size.

The objective was the retrieve the sword, being the treasure that they had come for. Hopefully it would limit or remove the taint that was spreading out over the area, but there were two problems with this plan:

1) The giant boulder looked to be far larger than anything Devroux or Tom, to his knowledge, could lift.

2) They weren't the only living things in the room.

In front of the pedestal on which the sword sat lay three, large bananawani alligators. Each had awoken when the travelers had made their entrance into the room, but they continued to lay, unstirred, entranced. Their eyes were open, the same burning look in their eyes as the animals that Devroux had seen back at the oasis.


The difference between these bananawani and the other wild animals was the fact that these alligators were able to remain so calm, even with Tom and Devroux only a few feet away. The silence was almost more eerie than if the two were being attacked, as bananwani are known in Alabasta as a ferocious, bloodthirsty species.

In addition to the alligators, four moving crabs moved themselves out of the piles of sand that had built up in the corners of the room. When the giant stone had pushed itself through the ceiling of the tomb, it had let in sand along with the sunlight. Over the years of the sand shifting around the room due to the air coming through the cracks, it had eventually built up along the corners and walls, in large enough piles that even giants, for the most part, would be able to hide within them.

The moving crabs glided out to the center of the room, shoving their backs into the giant boulder and flexing their legs. The combined might of all the moving crabs were able to force the massive boulder off the sword, allowing one of the bananawani to slap it off of its pedestal and into a pile of sand. With the sword removed, the crabs continued to hold the rock lifted, as it was important the rock didn't fall further into the room, or it would roll towards the center and crush everything in its path, including Tell Tale Tom and Devroux.

The pile in which the sword had landed began to shift, the sword sinking into it until it was out of sight, but the weapon had only disappeared for a brief second when it emerged again, the blade pointed towards the sky and the hilt grasped by a white, skeletal hand. The skeletal hand revealed more and more of itself until its connection to an armor, skeletal body was revealed. The skeleton slowly stood up, sword in hand, looking at the two that had made their way into its resting chamber.

Tom and Devroux watched the skeleton rise from the pile of sand. They were both transfixed on the paranormal sight before them, watching in total bewilderment as the undead creature pointed its weapon at its target. Neither of them moved from their position, but when the skeleton got within range of Devroux, the entire room shifted into a new dynamic.

Devroux had been watching in combined horror and interest, but it wasn't until the skeleton moved to strike that the switch flipped and the mink was frozen in fear. It was a mindless killing machine, and totally different from the opponents he had faced earlier in his life. The skeleton raised its weapon to attack, and this sparked Tom into action.

Tell Tale Tom had been watching the whole event in an undistracted interest. He wasn't the target, and was able to keep his composure in spite of the overwhelming animosity in the room. But his partner, Devroux, who he had brought here was now in a state of peril, frozen in spite of the aggression that was being shown to him. The old man reached for the bat mink, but it was his voice that made it there first.

"Boy!"

Tom's voice rattled through Devroux's ears, waking him from his trance a split second before the sword would land, giving him just enough time to dive off to the left side of the skeleton. The blade narrowly missed the mink, but he had managed to make it out without a scratch. It was pure chance and all thanks to Tom, but now that his navigator had helped him, he was able to regain his composure in the face of the opponent before him.

Devroux tucked his wings in tightly to his back. The less extended they were, the lower risk there was that they'd be injured in the fight. He also drew one of the kiridashi that he had on his person, brandishing it in the left hand and the sharpened femur in the right.

But before the mink could aggress, he wanted to give the skeleton one more chance of his own. The trance was broken, so now it was an opportune chance for Devroux to watch his opponent's movements and not make an attack that could put him in a disadvantageous position.

"Yes, Tom, I'm well aware." The idea that the old man could fight was almost laughable, but Tom had already managed to evade a hoard of crazed animals in the desert, use up virtually none of his share of water on the way through, and help open the massive door that Devroux wasn't able to open by himself. There may have been more, but there were more pressing concerns at the current junction.

There wasn't much space between Devroux and the skeleton that was attacking him, but given the mechanical actions of it, it was enough space to give him enough time to call the next action. The horizontal slash of the skeleton knight came towards his rib cage, yet again, with the wide slash and jittery actions, it made it easier for Devroux to dodge evade the attack. However, even as he tumbled safely to the size, the mink could hear the whir of the blade as it sliced air behind him. While the actions weren't fluid by any means, it didn't mean that they lacked speed.

This time, as the skeleton opened up his side with the slash, Devroux moved forward to attack on his own. He wanted to know what would happen if the skeleton started losing parts. He couldn't necessarily tell what was controlling it, as there wasn't anything to hold it together anyway, nor was there flesh to control in the skull. The only way Devroux was going to find a weak point was testing them, and that would start with the rib cage now that it was exposed.

After diving to the side, the mink tumbled over, catching himself and immediately lunging forward towards the skeleton. As its arm swung past its body, Devroux thrust the bone spike he had carved forward towards the open rib cage. The attack pushed the air, sending a penetrating force out the end of the spike towards the skeleton. Even if the weapon couldn't make it, the extra meter of range potentially could. The goal was simple: Break bones, or dislodge them from the rest of the body.

The attack managed to land on the skeleton, sending some of its ribs flying off to the side. However, the missing bones didn't seem to physically damage the skeleton in any way, only serving to anger it. When the bones dropped off, the undead creature released a shriek so loud and blood-curdling that it sent chills up Devroux's spine. The mink's neck hair stood on end, but this wasn't a good time to let fear take root.

The skeleton reacted quickly after the scream, throwing a clenched, armored fist towards the mink in a haphazard manner. It seemed like more of an exaggerated action than an intelligent maneuver, but that didn't mean it lacked power. The fist swung by, and Devroux ducked beneath it, using the bone to chip away at the skeleton's forearm as it passed by him. To his surprise though, what shattered wasn't the skeleton's arm, but the bone spike Devroux had used to fend off the attack. The creature wielded enough physical strength to shatter the bone with its hand, which meant that it was not something that Devroux wanted to hit him directly.

Immediately upon it bursting in to splinters, Devroux released his grip on the weapon, dropping what little weight it gave and freeing up his hand to defend against the skeleton's next attack. The mink had seen the creature swing its arm, but had only seen the follow through with the sword in the other hand with his peripheral vision, so the reaction to receive the attack was made out of gut-wrenching panic rather than a calculated move from his side. The mink threw up his hand, shoving the skeleton's arm only slightly off center so that his attack wasn't accurate, letting the weapon pass harmlessly to his side. The whirring air, however, was able to send another chill down his chest.

Even though the skeleton wasn't particularly strong, the disjointed actions and sporadic speed variations made it hard to predict, thus giving it more control over the fight than would be preferred. The skeleton attacks irritated Devroux. He liked to be able to plan out his actions and the fact that it had destroyed the makeshift weapon he had crafted were both taking points away from what otherwise could have been an interesting adventure. But in a life or death situation, Devroux was well aware of how little time he could spend dwelling on the mistakes he'd made, and instead opted to draw his second kiridashi to at least put another weapon in his hand. It was short and didn't offer very many tactical advantages, but it still might be useful if he could get in close for longer than a brief moment.

But even in a situation where the enemy has a majority of an advantage, there's still thinks to learn by watching the people better crews beat. This skeleton had pieces of his rib cage very obviously torn off, yet they didn't get reattached after the wound was given a minute to rest. To Devroux, this meant that stacking whatever damage he could would inevitably lead to a win. This also meant that he should target the more important limbs; primarily the arms, legs, or spine would be useful parts to take out to help facilitate a win, and that was the concept he was going for.

With both of his kiridashi in hand, the mink strode forward, leaping back into a lifestyle that was familiar.He attacked the skeleton, choosing to slash at his forearms first, but to see if he could manage to force the creature to release its weapon. Consecutive slashes as he moved forward, each being granted an extra half a meter on the range, but the small knives that Devroux was using to do it still meant that he had to be mostly within range of its attacks to have any chance of landing attacks at all.

Neither fighter present held a large amount of fine-tuned skill. At his current station in his adventure, Devroux was not as powerful as he could become. There were a lot of things to learn about actual combat that he would have to discover in a trial by fire. The skeleton as well didn't have the reactions of someone that was battle hardened; representing little more than a situationally fashioned golem. However, even in spite of the lack of skill, the clash was an interesting view, as Tom could attest to.

Tell Tale Tom took a spot off to the side with a clear view of battle, yet also distancing himself away from the animals in the room, just in case they chose to attack. But even with that looming threat, the old navigator's eyes were locked on a supernatural battle. A humanoid bat tumbling around a walking skeleton. It was a sight that anyone would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world, and that made it interesting even with the gaps in actual combat experience.

Devroux, however, couldn't take joy from the situation. He was the one doing the fighting. But even then, a flurry of slashes had made their way through and ripped off one of the skeleton's arms. Even if it wasn't the one he was targeting, it was a small victory that was granted another disorienting scream. Being so close to the skeleton, the high pitched noise was even harder to stand than it was the last time, grating at the mink's heightened sense of hearing. He closed his eyes for a split second and was met with the blunt force of the skeleton's shoulder smashing into his chest. Devroux eyes flipped open in an instant, but it was much too late to react before taking damage. The movement wasn't full of momentum, yet still managed to hurt and void the wind in his chest. The only thing Devroux could do now was grasp at anything he could to prevent being thrown to the ground.

Reaching out with his right arm, he managed to get his fingers dug into a space between the skeleton's armor. He didn't have a good grip, but before he lost it completely he had managed to stay within striking distance of the skeleton, putting him in a perfect position to take the gauntlet-covered punch from the skeleton. The mink had managed to stay close enough that the only thing to make contact was the skeleton's hand, missing the bladed portion of its undead rotation, but receiving some broken ribs for his efforts. However, even as he could feel the ribs crunching, it was enough to bring him back to his sense, even if momentarily. It hurt, but the situation was dire and required action regardless of his state of health.

Devroux used his left hand to grab the skeleton's arm, riding out the full 360 degree rotation, but using the moment to attack with the kiridashi in his right hand. He was close enough to strike virtually any important spot on the skeleton's being, but two were priority above all others considering the creature's lack of internal organs; those spots being the skull and the arm holding the sword. He chose the latter, spinning the kiridashi in his hand to stab downwards with it, attempting to shove the pocket knife-sized blade into the elbow joint of the skeleton and pop the entire forearm off in one quick motion.

The mink was unaware of what made the skeleton work, but his primary concern was not potentially killing the skeleton, but disarming it so that the kill would be made easier and less of a risk to himself.

With the rotation ended, Devroux dropped to his knees. His mid-section hurt beyond belief, preventing him from lunging towards the skeleton, but luckily, he didn't have to. In tandem, Devroux thrust both kiridashi at the spot just below the skeleton's rib cage, targeting the bare spine between the hip bone and the rib cage. The wind wouldn't carry nearly the same impact as the actual blades would, but together they might just get the job done and knock the spine out completely, immobilizing the skeleton if it still decided not to abide by the rules of death.

And it was after this that Devroux used his time to roll to the side, putting as much space between him and the skeleton as he could. Anything would work. He needed to catch his breath and come to grips with the pain before he could continue the fight, otherwise it'd be an uphill battle from here.

Devroux was able to jam the kiridashi into the skeleton's elbow joint. Applying as much force as he could muster into moving the now embedded blade, the mink was slowly able to pry apart the arm and send the blade to the floor with a loud clang. The plan had worked, but the result was not to expectations. The only intent that Devroux had was to disarm the opponent and attack while he had nothing to guard himself with, but what ended up happening was the complete destruction of the foe before him. However, rather than crumbling to the floor as would have been expected, the skeleton that Devroux was still clinging too burst apart, sending pieces of it and the mink flying.

The skeletal explosion was powerful, but the effect of it was not the same as a traditional explosion. Instead of being a destructive force, it merely accompanied the destruction of the skeleton, sending out a pulse of force that washed over the room, tossing Devroux aside and shaking sand loose from the ceiling. The force itself was dramatic, but not painful for Devroux beyond the impact of slamming against the floor when it was done with him. But even though the force itself wasn't an issue it still managed to cause injury and mayhem within the room. What the mink noticed first was the piece of the skeleton's rib that was sticking out of his side and another piece that was protruding out his shoulder.

Both injuries were painful and with the addition of the injuries that he had accrued during the fight with the skeleton, he wasn't in a very positive position. However, while he was in a lot of pain, his legs weren't affected by any of it. He'd still be able to walk, which meant he could get to help and get healed before any of it managed to take his life. Death would not come to him today.

Or so he thought.

The sound of stone slabs snapping under increased weight made its way into Devroux's ears, causing him to turn his head and witness the sight of the giant boulder coming crashing to the floor. The force of the skeleton's explosion must have shaken it loose from the grip of the crabs, causing it to finally be able to hit the floor, mercilessly crushing the bananawani and the moving crab beneath its massive weight. It pulled down sand and ceiling with it, enveloping the room in a thin film of dust before the boulder itself began to roll forward towards both Devroux and Tell Tale Tom. The stone flooring began to snap and turn up behind it as the boulder began to roll forward against the natural tilt of the building. The only hope for Devroux was to reach the doorway he and Tom had come through, which lead to a smaller path that would keep the stone from following. Luckily, in all the wounds the Devroux had received, the tuck of his wings had kept them intact. Although he couldn't use them when he reached the smaller pathway, he could use them to reach it.

Devroux extended his wings, beating them once to pull himself off the ground and into a standing position. Grabbing his wings, he thrust his arms downward to create some thrust and help give him a running start, creating a shared process of making both running and flight easier until he was in the air in just a few quick steps. He darted forward through the room, grabbing the sword the skeleton had dropped on his way towards Tom, but was met with a greater pain than he had felt in a long while.

His foot wrapped around the hilt of the blade, sending a static charge of pain through his body and into his brain. He could feel the sword. He could feel its rage, its anguish towards the loss, and more than anything, its bloodlust. It was the final confirmation that the sword was the root of all the problems Devroux had witnessed in this journey. The sword, Yoru as it called itself, was rife with a lust for battle that tainted the local island. It had infected the wildlife with the same lust for battle and if he wasn't careful, Devroux would lose his sanity to the weapon as well. The pain was overwhelming, but it was still beat out b Devroux's consciousness being aware of the dire peril he was in.

He gripped the sword tightly and thrust his arms faster, working through the mental pain he was feeling and flying towards Tom. With the other leg, he grabbed the old man by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him through the air. The mink folded his wings just before they hit the doorway, launching himself, Tom, and Yoru into the safety of the pathway. Tom and Devroux scooted away from the doorway as the boulder rolled towards them, the mink grabbing Yoru and grinding his teeth against the mental pain once more. The travelers were lucky they began to move away, as they were forced to make a run for it when the boulder pushed its way through the doorway, crumbling the surrounding walls and revealing the extra space for it to roll.

"It's a trap," Tell Tale Tom shouted, darting off ahead of the mink after noticing first. "This entire thing was designed to kill us. We have to get to the end of the tunnel!"

Understanding the emergency state they were in, Devroux followed his partner as quickly as he could. He was a great deal slower than Tom on foot, as his legs weren't built for running. His only way of keeping up was small leaps, relying on the minimum amount he could open his wings to quickly, yet safely, glide down the stairway. Yet even then, the only thing keeping the two travelers alive was the fact that this boulder had to flatten the entire length of the wall before it got to them. Any mishaps for either of them and they'd be squashed beneath its weight.

The opening to the next room at the bottom of the tunnel grew ever closer with each step the travelers took. The journey up was a lot harder and a lot slower, but was also a lot less stressful than the trip down. Tom was ahead of Devroux, with the mink only managing to keep up with his pseudo-gliding trick, but at their maximum speed the boulder was still managing to close the distance over time. Each step brought it closer and closer, making them run harder and harder to reach the destination that would save their lives.

With a couple of long strides, the two of them leaped through the hole into what they thought was safety. Devroux could feel the boulder tap his butt as he made it out, ensuring that he knew how dire the situation they were in really was. The room they had burst into had the wall slightly concaved by the massive boulder slamming into it, putting more fear into the travelers who half expected it to continue to pursue them. The saving grace for them, though, was the wall that it had to crush over the length of the tunnel, keeping it from getting up to speed so that it could burst through.

"WEE HOO!" The shouting of Tell Tale Tom filled the dark room they now stood. The life-threatening situation was over and he deserved his celebration.

Devroux, on the other hand, could only stare at the hilt of the blade that sat in his hands. The saber was built unlike anything he had seen before. The hilt was relatively normal until it came to the guard, which were formed by an elaborate array of steel thorns. The blade itself was soft, yet hard to the touch, almost as if it were made of flesh and bone. Eyes and mouths lines the blade, none of which interfering with the fine edge that ran on both sides of it. But above any visual aesthetic it gave was the weight. The blade itself didn't seem to weight anything at all, with all of that weight being store in the hilt. The center of all the weight was directly on his hand, and it felt so smooth to wield. The feeling was incomprehensible to the mink, realizing how amazing the treasure Tom had lead him to actually was.

But the feelings that the sword shoved into his head were another story. This desire to kill that Devroux was only barely able to stave off. It was as if the pain, anguish, and rage of hundreds of people were stored within the blade, honed into a fine edge of bloodlust. The sword, Yoru, was a fright to hold, but the power was also awe-inspiring to the mink that now wielded it.

"Thank you, Tom. You've helped greatly." Devroux stood up, swinging the sword down to feel the weight during an actual swing, the floor beneath the point splitting effortlessly apart.

"Let's go. I'll buy you a drink as an extra thanks."

"Wee hoo!" Tell Tale Tom took the lead once again, beginning the journey back to Alabasta with the treasure now in hand.

[EXIT]