[Old West: Gold Mine!]

[notgoingtorun]

There was a little voice in the back of Neal's head that said that this was an absolutely terrible idea. This wasn't like robbing a palace or an embassy or even stealing from another crook. This place could quite possibly be a death trap, and yet he was willingly going ahead with the plan, anyway.

He tried to rationalize it by saying it was just an adventure, the type of freedom he'd longed for while on the anklet. He didn't even have to steal anything. He just wanted to see, that was all. Besides, he wasn't supposed to be a thief here. He was just a normal guy who'd gotten on an airplane for normal reasons and wound up on the island, which was absolutely not normal. That was all.

But somehow, he found himself assembling a team to do some exploring. It was a half-baked idea, but once the idea got in his head, he just couldn't get it back out. Before he knew it, he'd assembled his group of new friends outside of New Pemberley to take stock of their supplies before heading out to check out the abandoned mine. He'd dressed simply today, eschewing his more customary formal style of dress. A mining adventure was no place to enact his assault on the commonplace.

"Alright, everyone," he said to the assembled group of men. He tried hard to not channel any of his past experiences. Point man, thief, criminal mastermind: none of those had any place here. "So there's an abandoned mine up here that's just begging to be checked out, and I guess we're all going to go for it. I don't have any words of wisdom other than, uh, watch where you're walking? And try not to die. Hopefully one of you has something more motivational."

Comments

[truenamedseeker]

Without the direct light, the 'it could be haunted' factor clicked up several notches. Still, he didn't feel too uneasy, and what little was there was pretty well covered up by the excitement.

"This really is just like old times," he remarked brightly.

[notgoingtorun]

Neal shook his head and turned around briefly to look at Richard. "You must have had far more interesting old times than I could even imagine, Richard," he said. "You'll have to tell me about them some time." It almost made Neal wish that he could be living as himself on the island, so he could sit around and swap real stories with these guys, instead of being someone who had only known the joy of a cubicle but had watched a few too many adventure movies in his life.

[red_ponytail]

"I wouldn't mind swapping stories with you sometime, mate, if you call this like old times," Bill chimed in, glancing back. "Sounds like some pretty interesting stuff."

[reformingfury]

Dave's feeling a little inadequate for this job as he ducks his head from a loop-sided beam. "Damn. You guys get good stories. I get lawn furniture nailed to a roof and zombies at a high school football game. You really don't have anything, Victor?"

[truenamedseeker]

"Well to be fair my old times were a lot less dusty than this," Richard admitted with a sheepish chuckle. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything, since he'd only just gotten used to not having to regale fellow travelers with stories of his grand adventures as the Seeker in every tavern and inn he passed through. Or, well, listening to Zedd tell them, mostly.

Zedd was most definitely a better storyteller.

[notgoingtorun]

"Nah, I've got nothing more interesting than some particularly vicious games of golf with clients," Neal said. "Adventuring wasn't really something that ever came up for a city boy like me."

Lies, lies, and more lies. That was mostly the story of his life.

The walk to the abandoned mine passed quickly, and Neal was glad for the companionship. He knew the importance of working in teams, of having a good partner you could rely on, and he supposed it would be the same for adventuring into dangerous spaces, just like it was for planning a heist.

Soon, they all came to a stop in front of the mine. Neal rested his hands on his hips and stared at the mine, immediately sizing up entry and exit points. "Well, here we are, boys, Gold Central."