{Good place. Kat likes it here.} She was talking about the room they had just found. It was a small natural cave on the side of a channel where the tunnel wall had caved in. It was filthy, damp because of the small amount of water seeping out of a crack in the wall, and cramped even for the minions, but it was unique compared to all the artificial corridors they'd seen so far.
"Herenow makewe?" Rocky seemed eager about something. {No! Kat's shrine, minions too ugly. Find own place to live!} The miners were dispatched, presumably to search for another room nearby. Arc wondered if it was okay to slit up again after they had spent so much effort to gather.
There wasn't much to do while waiting. Scrooge counted the coins, the Pantaloons bickered, Pantimus reluctantly returned Kat to Arc's care, but only Rocky looked like he was actually working. He was painting crude pictograms on the walls of the tunnel just outside with leftover rat blood mixed with some dirt from the floor and his own spit. The severed head he was wearing like a cap just made the scene even more surreal.
Arc was beginning to develop a macabre fascination about the minions' odd behaviours, and it wouldn't hurt to study the customs of his soon-to-be neighbors, so he asked Kat: "What in the world is he doing?" {Claiming territory. Aids in establishment of dungeon domain.} "Does he have to use blood?" {No. Any mark acceptable, intent most important.}
If that was the case, then Arc finally had a way to make himself useful as more than a just a pack mule. He cautiously approached the minion. "Um, help you me will?" Arc was pretty sure he'd just messed up. Rocked paused his work and looked Arc up and down. Arc was just thankful that the appraisal wasn't affecting him the same as Pantimus' threats.
Rocky pulled out one of the carving stones tucked into the tail tied around his waist and offered it to Arc. "Masterof roomin favorkin carvedo." He pointed towards the cave. "Rockmine bringback timedone at, else!" he warned.
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The meaning got across. Rocky seemed to understand that Arc was an exception among the minions, and would be allowed to make marks inside Kat's room. Arc nodded and took the stone, his mind now buzzing with activity.
What sort of mark should he make? He had only two obvious features to base a design off of: Kat's medallion, and the crack on the wall from which water seeped. A woman holding something, water pouring... An idea cemented quickly, and he got to work.
He started with a circle around the crack, then more curves behind it... A graceful figure behind it... Arc lost track of time as he worked. At some point he received a a second rock to pound the first with, but he didn't pay attention to the source. When he finally finished, the miners had returned and were watching him work.
Arc had carved a woman pouring from a vase, with the crack seeping water disguised inside the vessel's open mouth. Rocky nodded in approval as he retrieves his stones, while Pantimus gave exaggerated disdain. But as for the opinion Arc cared the most about...
{Kat likes it!} "Really? I thought I messed up the perspective." {Arky, natural artist.} "But still, it's only my first work. I shouldn't be that good, should I?" {Actually... Kat helped a bit.} "What? How?" Arc may not have been paying attention to the world around him, but he should have noticed if Kat did something to the carving. {Probability collapse. Explanation difficult. Kat made sure Ark's first work was the best it could be.}
Arc wasn't sure what she meant, but he knew everything in life had to have a price. "Well, whatever you did, you shouldn't waste it on something trivial like this! Didn't I tell you to conserve power?" {Kat forgot...} Well, at least this time she didn't sound like she almost killed herself. "Hrmph, I can't improve if I don't get to see my shortcomings. Let me work for myself unless I ask for help."