[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[tex]

The three of them kept running for quite some time, until they finally reached a wider tunnel, that opened bigger and bigger until they were in a giant underground cavern. They stood on the rim of a large bowl-like area, where houses and towers stretched from the top to the bottom of the huge spherical room. The path they stood on circled the entire cavern, and had many tunnels leading to random locations, with signs over all of them. In the distance, Jenso could even see a sign labeled 'Orobo'!

"Welcome to Diver's paradise Jenso!" A gruff voice called out from below. Suddenly, a huge man jumped up and landed in front of Jenso with a light thud, before stumbling forwards and smiling. He wore a pair of green pants, and a large red tank-top.

"Hello Master Luke!"
"Hello Master Luke!"

[Jensoman]

Jenso stared at Luke as he landed before him. "Luke..? Are you...my father..?" Jenso muttered, overlooking the man closely. He was unable how to respond. Jenso had been an orphan since he was young, and never knew who his father was. Was this a simple trap, or was this man truly his father?

[tex]

Luke chuckled and shrugged, walking towards Jenso lazily. "You get pulled underground by a couple'ah strangers, and that's your first question? C'mon boy!" He blurted with another round of laughter.

[Jensoman]

Jenso glared at Luke as he spoke so casually to him and looked around. "Where do all those tunnels lead, and who made them?" Jenso asked.

[tex]

"Oh come on!" Luke bellowed, lurching towards Jenso and pulling him in close. Luke had a large weapon attached to his back, and one of his eyes was covered with a patch, but he didn't seem the least bit affected by the prospect of violence or his own missing eye. "I was kiddin', kiddo! Haha.. I'm uh.." Luke paused and looked away, "I'm not so good at talkin', people say. 'Specially not with introductions. Haha, when my spies sent me your picture, I didn't really believe it at first... So I haven't had much time to uh.. Prepare anything like a speech or.. Y'know."

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as the man grabbed him. Anger overcame him. "Is that all you have to say?! I was an orphan, and you weren't around for all those years! You left me behind! Where did you go?! And how do I know that you're even my father?!" Jenso spat at Luke, trying to break free from his grasp.

[tex]

Jenso broke free with ease, pushing Luke aside. The old man frowned for a moment, but shook his head. "I don't blame you for being angry ki- Er, Jens. I'm not exactly a shining example for anyone! Haha.. Ah..." Luke sighed and waved Fay and her friend off. The two of them nodded and ran off.

"Listen, Jenso. I didn't call you here for some big family reunion or nothin', I'm uh.. A little past that. I don't even think I'm in any position to call myself your real father. I called you here because I need your help."

[Jensoman]

Jenso clenched his fists and took a deep breath. He sighed deeply and began to calm down. A part of him wanted to turn around and leave the tunnels immediately, to try to backtrack and leave the tunnel. But he wouldn't turn his back towards a call for help, even if it was from his father who left him behind for so long. Or just to a man who was lying about being his father. "...Fine. I'll help you. But after I'm done, I'll be leaving." Jenso stated.

[tex]

"Ahaha.. A hero through and through. Maybe, you'd like to uh.. See the Paradise, first?" Luke asked, "Learn about the Divers, about me, and uh.." Luke paused and rubbed his neck nervously.

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned at Luke. "Right, I guess that's a start.." Jenso muttered, smiling slightly at the man. "I think...I think I'll explore around a bit.." Jenso said, feeling a tad uneasy on the whole situation. "I'll talk to you later." He stated, and began to look around.

[tex]

Luke followed Jenso with his eyes and sighed. "Wait!" Luke called out, "If anything you should have a tour guide- I'm a little busy with recent events, but I'll have Bruce give you the grand tour!" Luke looked over the edge of the cavern's outer rim and and narrowed his eyes.

"EY! BRUCE! I GOT A JOB FOR YA!" He shouted, with an exceptionally booming voice. A single swordsman was targeted in the crowds, there was only one man with that name. Luke turned back to Jenso and motioned his hands for him to wait. "I'll talk to you later, about.. Uh, the stuff and junk I intially-" Luke paused and shook his head, "Y'know.. Cya!" And with that, he was off, diving into the bowl of the paradise in a rush for the tower at its centre.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce leaned against a countertop, sipping on a mixed drink of his own devising. The sword
sheath he carried around lay empty on a stool next to him, and, of course, there was no sword for said sheath in sight. He hid a rare smile behind the lip of his glass, enjoying the combination of fiery alcohol and sweet cola. The smile quickly vanished once he opened his eyes again and took stock once more of the people milling around in the so-called “Diver’s Paradise.”
These people, most of them, walked with stunted confidence and fake smiles that didn’t reach their eyes. The forced levity failed to mask the heavy feeling of dread in the chamber’s atmosphere.
“Bruce!”
Before he could think for too long about anything that might make him regret having ready access to booze, he heard his name being called by a familiar voice. Luke was one of the people Bruce considered a friend, and he didn’t have many of those. He could more or less tell, without really listening to what Luke was shouting at him, his request. Bruce took his time, swirling his drink and sizing up the new face that Luke was apparently so excited about- did they have the same jawline? He shrugged and downed the remainder of his drink and slamming it onto the counter. Whatever happened in anyone’s past, it wasn’t his place to judge.
Bruce picked up his empty sheath and strapped it to his waist before walking over to acquaint himself with the man in yellow.
“Welcome.” he said simply.

[Jensoman]

Jenso stared at Bruce as he walked over to him, and could smell alcohol on the man. "Uhh...hi. I was told that you'd show me around.." Jenso muttered. He was unsure what to think of him. Was he just a simple drunk, or was there more to him then that? He took note of the sheath at his waist as he waited for a reply.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce took note of the uncertainty on the newcomer’s face. He had grown jaded to the fact that he elicited that reaction from most people. Bruce could tell he also didn’t know what to make of Diver’s Paradise. Instead of making any other small talk, he turned on his heel and started walking, pointing things out as he began a lap around the circumference of the dome.
“The people down here have worked hard to create something resembling decent lives,” he said, indicating the balcony that overlooked the first floor of the massive chamber where complexes of houses had been carved out of the earth. “Some of them strive to do more than just survive.”
Bruce paused in front of a single-story, simple structure with thick bars crossed over the layered windows. Despite the heavy metal material of the only visible door, sounds of metal-making and the grunts of labor still trickled through out into the relatively calm plaza.

[Jensoman]

Jenso looked up at the many earth structures as Bruce spoke. All of this reminded him of Bobba and his men, and how they used Orobo's earth magic to their convenience. As they stopped at the small structure and he heard the noises, he turned to Bruce. "Are they making weapons here, then? And...did the people here use earth magic to make these tunnels, or was it actually dug out by hand?" He asked. Jenso seemed more interested in the whole matter now.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce nodded.
“This is the closest to a weapon’s store and manufacturing plant as they have access to.”
A brief explosion cut short all other noise from inside, followed immediately by an outcry of pain. Bruce cringed.
“They don’t have the resources that Tech-mo does, and as a result, despite the brilliance a few of them show for crafting, accidents are more frequent.” he said, scratching his chin and wandering onward at a pace that would let the newcomer hear him and take in everything. He looked overhead- the crystal that reflected the light of the moon and sun which served as a clock and the main source of light for the chamber in the center of the ceiling was nearing its peak shine.
“There aren’t as many users of earth magic here as you might think,” he said, pointing out a sector of the first floor that had been blocked off. Various workers, men and women, were attacking the walls with picks and hauling away large rocks, carefully replacing crucial supporting boulders with metal rods. ”And the ones that do live here are too few to help much with the construction since they have their own assignments.”
Bruce bowed his head slightly when one of the workers waved at him. Anyone who contributed to the cause of improving the lives of others, no matter how small their contribution might be, deserved respect.

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as the explosion occured, somewhat concerned. He followed after Bruce. He looked at everything around him as he moved beside Bruce, listening well to Bruce's words as he looked around with amazement. He noticed the workers and nodded respectfully at them, albeit not as gracefully as Bruce had done. "They're actually doing it without magic? And dug all these tunnels? That's...that's impressive!" Jenso shouted, simply dumbfounded of what he was seeing. He respected what these people were doing.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce felt the corner of his lip turn upward, if only for a moment. That the newcomer appreciated hard work and seemed genuinely excited by what spirit he saw earned him a bit more standing in Bruce’s eyes.
”Yes,” he said, though his face fell for a moment once the worker had returned to his labor. ”They have to keep working almost constantly to expand the dimensions of this place because more people seek refuge here daily.”
Bruce walked on, his pace a bit faster than it had been, subtly expressing the aggravation he felt by gripping the sheath of his sword with one hand. He kept his face neutral.
”Accommodating all of them is difficult.”
He didn’t make any other comments about it, instead drawing the man in yellow’s attention to what, at first glance, appeared to be a drop-off looking down the edge of a cliff. The light from the ceiling crystal didn’t reach the bottom of the massive hole, though occasionally faint flashes of beams of light could be seen from below. Bruce held out an arm to signal that the newcomer not approach too quickly.
”Living in the mountains the way they do, scrambling and climbing are essential. You can’t climb, you die out there. This is where the difference between those who fight and those who survive is determined.”
Bruce pointed at a screen that showed the bottom of the pit through the filter of a grainy feed. The screen on its own might have been among the most advanced piece of technology Diver’s Paradise had. On it, it showed another massive expanse of underground terrain, though it wasn’t polished and smooth the way the ground on the first floor was. Dozens of people could be seen running and combatting hazards, both natural and man-made, among them being falling boulders, batsnakes, and other creatures. While Bruce had his eye on the screen, he heard the belabored breathing of someone hauling themselves up over the edge of the cliff and halfway collapsing, her legs still hanging over the edge. Bruce knelt down in front of her and held out his hand. He pulled her onto her feet in one motion, clasping his hand in a solid grip around hers.
”Good fight. You made it.”
She huffed out a breath of laughter and Bruce clapped her on the shoulder before she jogged away.

[tex]

As Jenso and Bruce spoke, a squad of men and women began assembling outside of the Orobo tunnel exit. It was obscured from below, but a few of the divers were sitting on the edge of the cavern's rim, looking down into the depths of the paradise.

[Jensoman]

Jenso didn't know which words to choose as he looked at the screen. His heart told him to jump down there and help those people, but his brain told him not too. He was visibly shaken by what he had seen, and was doing his best to stop himself from jumping down. He listened to every single word Bruce spoke, watching as the woman walked off. He appreciated that Bruce helped the woman, and really started to enjoy being around him. "Looks like Luke really is running an incredible place here after all." He stated, satisfied with all that he had seen.

He was very impressed and fascinated by it all. He still wanted to jump down, but he knew that it was hardly the time now. Those people had to be able to fend for themselves after all, despite how horrible it all looked. "I think I've seen enough...I'd like to go back to Luke. One more thing though..." Jenso muttered, and paused for a moment. "What kind of person is Luke? How do you feel about him?" He asked. He did not notice the people near the Orobo tunnel exit yet.