PMDU Dungeon 1: Temporal Travelers - Prologue

There it was. Large, imposing, looming. The arcing doorway carved through solid rock that led into the Basalt Halls. The doorway was dark, shrouding the dungeon within from the two explorers.
“What are you waiting for, Sarah Jane? Continental drift to bring the doorway to you?” the furret known as the Doctor said teasingly to his feline companion. “You’ll be waiting a long time; that sort of things takes thousands of years. I should know…I watched! It was all a very boring process. Now the meteor strike at the end of the Cretaceous-”

Sarah absentmindedly tuned out her partner’s excited chatter as she gazed into the yawning darkness of the dungeon before them. She had a lot on her mind, namely the argument she had with the Doctor this morning. It was what had brought them to where they stood now. It wasn’t that she wasn’t excited by the prospect of getting to explore a dungeon for the first time or traveling to another city. No, there were other reasons she stood now uncertain when she should have been just as lively as her partner. Staring long into the imposing doorway, she could see the whole thing play out again in her mind’s eye.

*****

“What are you doing just sitting around, Sarah Jane?” the Doctor asked as exited from his room. He was particularly energetic this morning, and even now was fidgeting where he stood.

Sarah looked up from her seat on the sofa where she had been proofreading an article she wrote. “What are you talking about?” she asked confused. The Doctor sighed, rather dramatically she might add, before suddenly and without warning grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. Sarah let out an “eep!” of surprise at the bold move.

“There’s no time to sit around! We have places to be, things to see! An adventure won’t start itself, after all. You can finish your mundane editorial later,” he said nearly all in one breath, a childish light in his eyes. Deciding she had had enough of being pushed around, Sarah pulled her hand out of the Doctor’s grip with a bit more force than necessary and folded her arms across her chest.

“Enough! Slow down and tell me what it is that’s so important,” she said locking the older mon with a steely-eyed gaze. The Doctor huffed impatiently before folding his arms across his chest to mimic Sarah’s defiant posture.

“I know not all the primitives in this world have outstanding capacity for memory, but I was sure you would remember, Sarah Jane. Today the new dungeon is open for exploration!” he said slowly and deliberately as though he feared Sarah would miss the importance of his words, “All teams are now allowed to traverse through this new area. It’s a marvelous opportunity and we’re missing it right now!”

The purrloin pinched the bridge of her nose (recoiling back a bit as she forgot about the still healing bruise there) and sighed in exasperation. Of course, how could she have forgotten? She knew about the new mission to explore the dungeon, and she knew that there was no way in Arceus’s name that the Doctor would just forget about or ignore such a mission…even if she wished he had.

“Doctor, we talked about this!” she said lowering her hand and gazing at him once more, “I have too much work to do. Besides, we’ve both been doing a lot lately, and I think something like trailblazing a dungeon would just be too much right now. I promise we’ll go once they’ve secured a safe route to Geoda.”

“There’s no fun in that! Waiting for someone else to do the dirty work for you? That-that’s like getting a coloring book with all the pictures already filled in,” the furret remarked a bit shocked and clearly appalled by her answer, “Excuses! Nothing but excuses! I know you love a mystery, a chance for adventure, Sarah Jane. This doesn’t sound like you at all.” He fixed the girl with a piercing cobalt stare, but Sarah didn’t back down and retained his gaze silently.

Truthfully, the furret was right. She normally loved to go on adventures with him, and had herself been excited by the chance to explore a mystery dungeon. Truthfully, most of her reasons for staying were just lies or exaggerations.

However, her feelings had changed after what happened about a week ago, when she had gone to Lustless and the nidoran, Tyr, had kept the Doctor company. She would likely never know exactly what had happened with those two considering how tight-lipped the Doctor was about the whole affair. She had only been clued in through a reluctant Tyr that their little excursion had left the Doctor with some bad injuries, injuries which he refused to admit he had. In the days following that event, Sarah was sure to keep an eye on her partner. She saw when his mask would slip or he would falter in his charade, revealing the pain he was enduring. Times like when he laughed too hard at one of his jokes and broke down coughing or when he bent over and ground his teeth together to avoid crying out after being forcefully shoved in the back by a thoughtless civilian who was in too much of a rush. He unfailingly pushed off any concerns she may voice when these slip-ups happened, and assured her he was fine. If he was putting himself through all this torment just to keep her from worrying, he was doing a lousy job as she only worried even more.

When will he swallow his stupid pride and realize that having mons who worry about you is not a bad thing? Concern is a sign of kindness and friendship for another. What do I have to do to drill that into his thick skull? Sarah fumed silently, outwardly appearing calm and composed.

“I just have a bad feeling about this, and a journalist’s first instinct is to trust your gut. I wish you would trust me on this!” she said at last, frustration starting to come through in her voice. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her, not quite angry but very clearly unhappy.

“Sometimes you need to ignore voices like that, and just do it anyway. I certainly have no time to get bogged down by second-guesses. Don’t you trust me, Sarah Jane?” he asked indignantly, “I never lead you astray,” Sarah wanted to laugh at that, “and I always know what I’m doing…most of the time.” He shifted his hat back before shifting it again back to its normal position in agitation.

Sarah only gazed up at the taller mon. Did she trust him? She wanted to say the answer was an unwavering yes as it should be between partners…however, after recent events and his constant deception as of late, she wasn’t entirely sure that she did anymore. It hurts to even think about that…but I can’t deny that I feel that way all the same.

The Doctor sighed before turning away from her, breaking eye contact. “I really do enjoy your company, Sarah Jane,” he said, his voice much softer than before, “I want you to be with me, but I can’t stand to make you do something you feel so wrongly about. However, I’m going whether you’re coming or not.” With that, he made for the front door. Sarah was taken off-guard when his childish tantrum suddenly became very serious.

“Wait! Doctor!” she called out just as he was reaching for the door handle. The furret turned to look at her, a hopeful glint in his eyes. Sarah ran a hand through her hair with a sigh before speaking again, “I’ll come with you. Let me get my bag. Who knows what we might find?” She rushed back to her office space and searched through some drawers for her bag, her thoughts spinning all the while. I don’t want him going at all, not while he’s hurt, but the alternative of him going alone is even worse. What would happen if he got into trouble-and inevitably he would-and there was no one there to go for help? At least if I go with him, I can try to keep him out of harm’s way.

Finding her bag, she slung it across her shoulders before quickly returning to the Doctor. He looked far more pleased now, though there was still a lingering…something in his eyes. Whatever it was, he hid it before she could study him any further.

“Let’s get going then, shall we?” he said light-heartedly, showcasing his signature grin.

Sarah only nodded, forcing down her concerns and plastering a small smile on her face as well.

*****

Sarah blinked as the Doctor waved a hand in front of her face, pulling her from the memory.

“Did you hear what I said, Sarah Jane? Normally, I’m the one lost in thought!” he mused with a half-smirk. Sarah shook her head, lightly tossing her hair back and forth.

“No, I’m sorry,” she said as she gazed up at her partner, “I was just thinking about what we may encounter in there,” she waved a hand in the direction of the stone doorway, “This is bigger than anything we’ve done before, exploring a mystery dungeon. More dangerous too.” The Doctor gave her a kind smile.

“Well, it certainly is the biggest thing we’ve done since I arrived on this planet. I’ve done bigger things in the past, I’m certain. But, don’t worry too much about that. A little thrill always makes these sort of things more fun! Come along then!” he said as he began walking through the dungeon’s entrance. Sarah shifted the bag at her shoulder before following along, never straying too far from her partner’s side…for his sake at least.