The second room was darker, yet much wider than the first, inside were multiple crudely put together stone statues, similar in height to Henry. Studying the statues there were dozens, if not hundreds of deep carvings in them, that must have been physically slammed into them.
'This is… a training room.'
The darkness was to practice working under poorly lit areas, which most of Rakh'el was. The stone statues were made to mimic a person, if not multiple, allowing for intense sparring and practice. Whoever was camping here was not messing around, they were trying to get stronger… they were preparing. Henry shuttered at the idea that on top of the desolate terror that was Rakh'el there was something in the city that warranted this level of dedication. But there were no monsters in Rakh'el? The person who was living here, must have been overly cautious, which gave Henry a rough list of chosen, that could be wandering the ancient city with him, their paths similar yet far, and separated.
'Who are you stranger…'
Henry juggled multiple thoughts, but it had been so long since he had been in the academy that the only people he really remembered were Lumora, Marlon, and some other late students, mainly Arden, and Julian. But he doubted it was any of these people.
Stepping back into the main room, something was off. He couldn't put his finger on it at first, but he realized what It was. Tucked away in the furthest corner from him, were a few improperly placed stones in the floor, ever so slightly higher than the rest.
Though small Henry knew those weren't like that when he had walked in. The ruins were old, but asymmetrical was not a common thing to find, especially in the masterfully made floors of Rakh'el. Studying the stones, they looked perfectly normal, no abnormal energy on them either. Just normal stones, reaching out he tried grabbing one, and found that they weren't fully implanted in the ground.
'Odd.'
Lifting the stone up, he realized that they were covering some sort of cavern. Pulling up more all around created a hole just big enough to crawl inside. Sucking in his stomach he forced his body through falling into a dark claustrophobic hole. 'Ow.'
It was dry, and small, but also had a small peephole that allowed you to see the inside of the camp while remaining hidden. 'So this is your secret tunnel, stranger. Very roomy.' Searching around the area he found a slight bit of vine, fresh, and still wet.
'Wait. If this is still wet, then they must have bitten into it…'
A realization washed over Henry, flushing the color from his face. When he had been walking through the camp, exploring it. He wasn't alone, the inhabitant was watching him, which meant… that they must still be nearby. Immediately Henry crawled back up into the main area, now able to see much more clearly, he felt a bit safer. Stepping into the front area of the camp, he prepared his lungs and screamed.
"Hello!"
His voice echoed, along the entire street.
"I am not a hallucination! I am another chosen, trapped here like you!"
Henry listened closely attempting to hear any sort of shuffling or moving, or even a response, but still, he heard nothing.
"I want to escape this place, and I'm sure you do too! If you can hear this, I am not hostile, and would love to be a friend and aid in finding an escape!"
It was a desperate gamble, the person obviously didn't want Henry to see them, nor find them. But paranoia does things to people, they probably thought Henry was a hallucination or a monster. All the chosen are trained to not trust anything inside the city, only trusting people when you're sure of their motives. And the person hiding from him, knew nothing besides the fact that, they have been trapped in a horrific endless maze of ruins by themselves for the past three months. There was plenty of reason to be wary.
Looking around, Henry sighed and walked back into the camp. Odds are they would return here, and when they did Henry would be friendly, and show his eagerness to escape. He was good at that. Henry thought of his friends, Marlon, and Lumora 'I wonder how they're doing?' The two were strong, Henry knew that, but he couldn't help but be scared for them. He hoped they had completed their trials much quicker than him, and were just relaxing in the academy, Marlon causing trouble, and Lumora being forced to get him out of it. The thought brought a smile to Henry's face. The words Lumora said before they entered their trial's played back in his head, "After this, we will all meetup in the field again!" He giggled at how broken her words were, she must have been under a lot of stress, but the sentiment was there, the three would reunite, and frolic at night once more. Just thinking about it gave Henry an ounce more energy to keep pushing forward.
Walking back into the camp an idea formulated, Henry would prepare a fire, and plenty of cooked vines, as a sign of hospitality to the stranger. Taking a spare blanket out of his bag, Henry laid it upon the stranger's bed.
'Everyone needs a comfortable spot.'
Next up was the fire, which Henry quickly got running, instead of using the stranger's vines, he chose to use his own, he had a large supply regardless, and didn't want to anger whoever it was that lived here.
He then went through the camp tidying everything, even fixing the entrance to the hiding spot. This would earn their trust, surely. Humming a sweet tune to himself, Henry realized that he hadn't been this happy in a month, the effects of the queen's death, and having to recover from an injury. He had taken all of his emotions for a spin, leaving him a shell of whom he once was, but now he was feeling alive, happy, and ready to find a way out. Even if it took months, he could do it as long as he had someone to talk to.