Basti POV

Surprised by the voice down here, the four beasts perk up and look around the dimly lit room; ancient desiccated corpses litter the place, strewn about in ruined armor and dry rotted robes. Signs of a vicious battle are readily apparent, between the cracks and scorch marks that littered the walls, to the ruined stone pillars and murals. This place was indeed the site of a last stand of some kind.

Basti crossed further into the room, stepping over a significant amount of rubble. Before them on the opposite side of the room, was the remains of a massive purple sphere that was cracked down the middle; in comparison, it would easily fill half of Vitmori's chamber all on its own. However, the real thing to pay attention to was the little dogkin boy sitting politely on the lap of an ancient skeleton in robes that was wearing an ornate jeweled amulet that had a glowing purple jewel embedded in its center, the skeleton itself sitting on what was once no doubt a rather ornate throne.

The dogkin seemed happy, if not overly curious about seeing the intruders in this ancient dungeon core chamber, his little tail swishing cheerfully as it watched them with gleaming purple eyes. He wore what looked like a black tattered robe with a small hood, though it was cut to seem more like a poncho than anything; he flashed a little smile under the attention of the other beasts. "My name is Grimm; nice to meet you! Do you wanna play??" He enthused brightly as he waved with one of his hands, his fur looking like a somewhat glossy ash gray, if not a dirty silver.

Motherly instincts aside, Frisby and Basti drew closer to Grimm while Legosi and Oururu explored the chamber itself. Frisby is the first to speak up as she scampered up onto the armrest of the ruined throne. "Are you alone here? Where'd you come from?" She asked curiously, though as she spoke, she looked up to the skeleton with the amulet, something about it stirring forgotten memories.

He cutely tilted his head at her questions, his fluffy, floppy ears swishing slightly as he considered her words. "I'm not alone; I have my friend here." He says as he points behind him at the skeleton. "She told me all sorts of stories and fairy tales and played all kinds of games." He explained enthusiastically. "I think I just woke up here; I dunno how long ago, but my friend gave me clothes and kept me company." He explained as his tail continued to wag happily, though, after a few moments of thinking, his tail came to a stop as his ears drooped. "Well... She did keep me company... I think she was tired after playing with me so much." He said as he looked back up to the skeleton and gently brought up its bony hand to his head, making it pet him for a moment. He whined softly as he gently set the bony hand back on the armrest before looking to Basti and then Frisby. "I was told to go play with whoever comes down here and to say thank you to Mister Green for helping her and her other friends." He explained, now fiddling with the edge of his robes.

Basti couldn't help but feel for the young dogkin, reaching out her heavy paw and gingerly stroking Grimm's back, which caused the dogkin boy's tail to wag again. Though she looked over at the amulet in question, the sensation it gave off was identical to the presence she sensed a few weeks ago when crossing the threshold of the skeleton swarm room. After a moment of thought, she returned to comforting the little dogkin, studying him as she sensed that he was like her, a being in service of a core, however young he may be.

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Meanwhile, Oururu slithered around the chamber, coming across a bisected corpse in what used to be rather ornate black and purple robes. Upon closer inspection, this particular skeleton had the remains of a tail on its lower half, whereas its skull was rather canine in nature. With a flick of his tongue, he rose up a little taller to look back at the dogkin before going back to his slithering.

Frisby offered a kind, ratty little smile as she spoke up again. "Well, Grimm, we can play together if you want after we leave here, but... Um... Was there anything else your friend told you?" She asked gently, doing her best not to upset the young dogkin.

He hummed thoughtfully before remembering something as he looked behind him, reaching out and carefully taking the amulet off the skeleton before holding it out towards Basti and Frisby. "She said that whoever comes down to play with me needs to break it; it's a present for Mister Green." He explained, appearing a little hesitant about fully giving it up, but committed as he held it out to Basti and Frisby again.

Legosi had been sniffing around the chamber as he explored, eventually finding himself climbing the purple sphere, having heard a faint sound humming from up there. Maneuvering over rubble and perfectly placed fallen columns, he hopped about until he was atop the cracked sphere, looking down upon the others from his position before carefully padding about as he listened for more of the faint humming until he finally spotted what looked like a stick poking out from the cracked sphere. As he drew closer, he could feel the humming vibrating the surface of the crystal in his paw pads, eliciting a sensitive shudder from the sensation. Legosi pressed forward, biting down on the stick and pulling it from the crack as the metal of the stick hummed beautifully from rubbing against the crystal. His ears twitched pleasantly as he shook his head around, the stick humming and 'singing' with each swish. Excitedly, he looked over at the others and held up the stick with his mouth. "H-hey! Check out this cool stick I found, and it makes a really nice noise!" He enthused cheerfully.

While everyone turned to look over at Legosi and his new stick, Basti gently swiped the amulet down to the ground, surprising Grimm for a moment as he watched on curiously. Without another moment of hesitation, she struck down with a claw, punching a hole in the glowing jewel as it cracked; a dense mana like Basti had never experienced coursed through her as a purple light flashed out from the cracks of the jewel. The amulet flickers once more before going dark, a shuddering sensation running through Basti as the feeling of the threshold this room was occupied with suddenly vanished.

Grimm didn't say anything at first, just watching the amulet quietly while his ears drooped low again. After a few more moments, he speaks out, his voice cracking with sadness as he sniffles, tears in his eyes without him realizing it. "M-may I keep the amulet?" He asked Basti quietly.

Basti was zoned out momentarily, but she snapped into focus as Grimm spoke to her. Looking between her paw and the amulet, Basti bobbed her head as she scooped up the amulet with her claw and held it out to Grimm, the little dogkin gingerly taking it from her as he went about pulling it on, clutching the amulet itself in both hands as he sniffled a little more.

In the next moment, the room is flooded with a familiar presence, all four of the beasts looking around curiously as Vitmori's bubble enveloped all the way down here. After another few quiet moments, they felt his voice echo within them with a sense of great confusion. 'What just happened?' He asked simply.

Looking at each other, Legosi was the first to speak up as his tail wagged excitedly. "I found this cool stick!"

'I see...' Was his only response.