Dungeon in Dran (Part 4)
It takes some time for Donna to return to her natural self. She knows the moment that her breathing becomes labored underwater and then - suddenly she can't breathe. Then, she exits the water and lands breathlessly on the floor.
"That... was... awful," Donna gasps, sprawled out of the floor and coughing up the last of the water between words.
Finally, when she feels like she may have all sense and motor control back to herself, she flops onto her back, then levers herself up. "...Well that was a waste of some damn time." "Donna!"
Delilah knew full well that Donna was going to be fine, but that doesn't mean that she wasn't worried about it the whole time she was stuck underwater, and naturally she's been waiting by the pool to help her sister out of it. "Are you alright? Feel alright? You look okay, if that helps. How's your throat? Voice? You can breath air?"
"Sucks, scratchy, yeah," Donna grumbles, hauling herself upright. "In that order. *Ugh,* that was almost as bad as that sewer crawl we did... But we've wasted enough time. C'mon... let's get going, got a lotta time to make up for."
While talking, the brawler is wringing her hair out, then raking her fingers through it. Not a great way to minimize tangles, but, a hairbrush is usually one of those things one doesn't expect to need on a job like this.
Delilah follows her sister, lifting a hand behind her and working a quick prestidigitation to make Donna's clothes and armor not be sopping wet anymore. "I don't think we need to hurry," she points out. "We're paid to finish the job, not by the hour. We move at our own pace and if they don't like that, well, they should'a hired different adventurers, right?"
"I mean, that ain't wrong," Donna says, shaking her head once the spell settles on her. "But wastin time's wastin' time. Probably coulda been through an' done, all the time I spent underwater. Couldn't even read a damn book while I waited..."
Donna's irritation may be genuine, but her grumbling is quite clearly pro forma, and after a couple hops on the balls of her feet, she looks ready to go again. "Thanks for the cleanin', D. Let's get on with it."
Delilah grins. "Any time," she replies. "You get covered in blood all the time, getting water off is pretty easy." She takes up a position walking beside her sister, but a little bit behind, owing to the fact that Donna is the one wearing, y'know, armor. "I'm just glad you're out of there. Let's go find something else dangerous that might try to eat us or drown us or, I dunno, whatever. I guess I'm ready for a surprise.
As you move down the hallway, you find another set of doors, this one a double set of doors like some have been. They appear no different than any other doors that you have seen thus far.
GAME: Donna rolls perception: (10)+13: 23 GAME: Delilah rolls perception: (14)+5: 19
"Hold up." Delilah points towards the handles, probably right about the same moment that Donna noticed them, but hey. "Ox handles? So..." She pauses, cupping her chin with one hand and tapping her chin. "Could mean there's some sort of beefy monster inside. Who knows. Or, it could just be a false clue to steer us in the wrong direction. Either way, I think we should be prepared to hoof it, just in case." The golden-haired twin's eyes and brands illuminate, as she readies herself to chuck some spells. "Alright, ready when you are."
"We-e-ell," Donna says, peering at the handles for a moment, "This ain't enough of a maze for it to be, like, a proper minotaur... But not trustin' this place for less than a second, may as well be ready anyway. Or some kinda test of strength." Pulling in a long breath, Donna sighs, stretching her neck to one side, then the other.
"Ready."
The doors open silently to any effort to open them, and inside you find a massive room. Easily larger than any other in this place, and a pair of minotaur statues standing on either side of it. They are remarkably lifelike. Almost as though the basilisk had gotten them.
-TBC