The hidden carvings under Nameless’s palm match the old sect work exactly, the same angled joins he has seen before. He says nothing. He moves anyway, crossing the mossy footholds with quiet, practiced balance while the black water gulps below.
The Young Prodigy follows, carrying the unconscious Hidden Prince as close as he can, eyes flicking once to the wall, then back to Nameless. Suspicion sharpens in his face, but he keeps climbing.
One by one, they clear the chasm. The last foothold holds, then the far ledge answers under Nameless’s weight with a hard, dry scrape.
Nameless finds the concealed press in the wall. His fingers know the stone before his eyes do. He pushes.
Deep inside the grotto, a heavy mechanism groans. Behind them, the mossy footholds sink back into the rock, sealing the route cleanly. The path is gone.
The Young Prodigy
That mechanism... that is sect craft.
The Young Prodigy stares at Nameless now, not with relief, but with a new, measured caution. Ahead, the grotto darkens into another narrow passage, and the silence after the grinding stone feels watched.
“i turn before we continue i say not to ask questions i may be helping you may that doesn't mean we are close enough to revel each others secrets to one another”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Nameless turns from the sealed wall and lets the silence settle first. The grotto water keeps hissing somewhere below, but he does not hurry to fill the air.
nameless
Do not ask questions. I may be helping you, but that does not make us close enough to trade secrets.
The Young Prodigy
So that is your line. Fine.
The Young Prodigy
He knows these stones too well.
The Young Prodigy shifts his grip on the unconscious Hidden Prince, keeping the body steady while he studies Nameless with fresh caution.
The Young Prodigy
You move like a man who has walked sect ground before. Yet you wear no sect colors.
The old tracker powder glints faintly near the far passage, a pale smear in the dark that neither of them steps on.
The Young Prodigy
If you are tied to the people hunting us, say it now. I would rather hear an ugly truth than trust a pretty lie.
“why should i even a person such as i do not wish to hurt those young especially if they are a prince only bad comes from that instead helping one such prince is a good way to earn a favor in the future”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -2)
nameless
Why should I? Men like me do not want to hurt the young, especially a prince. Helping one is a good way to earn a favor later.
The Young Prodigy
He speaks like someone weighing debts, not lies.
The Young Prodigy’s shoulders ease by a fraction, though his eyes stay sharp. He readjusts the Hidden Prince against his chest and answers without looking away from Nameless.
The Young Prodigy
That is the first honest thing you have said since we met.
The Young Prodigy
A favor later is still a favor. Fine. You want me to believe you, then keep proving you do not mean us harm.
The tracker powder glitters faintly near the passage while the black water below keeps rushing out of sight. The Young Prodigy gives Nameless a shallow nod, guarded but less brittle than before.
The Young Prodigy
If you know these stones, tell me one more thing before we move. What else in this grotto should I be afraid of?
“nothing the formations are merely camouflage formations otherwise this wouldn't be a very good hidden escape tunnel”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -3)
nameless
The formations are camouflage, not a proper tunnel. Someone dressed them up to look like a way out.
The Young Prodigy
Camouflage for what, then... bait, or a screen for whoever built this place?
The Young Prodigy stops shifting the Hidden Prince and stares at the dark stone ahead. The safe answer vanishes with the word camouflage, leaving only doubt and the wet rush of water below.
The Young Prodigy
So these stones are a lie on purpose.
He follows the seams with his eyes, then glances back at Nameless with fresh suspicion. The hidden route feels less like shelter now, more like a hand reaching from the dark.
nameless
The cut marks are old. The powder is not.
The Young Prodigy
You know too much for a man who claims he only found this place.
The Young Prodigy tightens his grip on the unconscious prince. A few grains of metallic powder glitter on his sleeve, carried there when he shifted his footing, and his guarded trust hardens into a narrow, wary stare.
“I'm taking you to a safe exit away from all this shit are you going to keep up with asking questions? (i ask as we get close to the exit”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -1)
nameless
I'm taking you to a safe exit away from all this. Are you going to keep up with the questions?
The Young Prodigy
Only if you keep proving you are not one of them.
He shifts the Hidden Prince higher against his chest and starts forward at once, because the answer matters less than the motion. The tracker powder still glitters at their feet, left behind as a warning and a trail.
The Young Prodigy
He knows the old cuts. He knows the seals. That is not luck.
Nameless leads them along the narrow edge of the grotto, away from the marked floor. The water below hammers on in the dark, loud enough to hide the scrape of their steps.
The Young Prodigy
If you are tied to the sect, say so now. I would rather hate you plainly than guess wrong later.
The question lands as they reach the mouth of the exit, and the youth's grip on the prince tightens. The path opens ahead, but his trust does not follow without a price.