Tempe took a deep breath when they exited the forest, looking up and scrunching her nose at the faint smell of rotting meat. "Gee, this can't get any better, huh? Let me guess, there are friendly, meat-eating worms too? Or is that wishful thinking?" She asked sarcastically, following close behind him. Her eyebrows scrunched together as they got closer, and she let out a small breath.

"Lots of friendly meat eating worms. And parasites. And titans that hate us. And DECAYING MEAT. We'll have a blast." Zephyr grinned in a way that indicated he was being sarcastic, but when he did actually smile, wry, sly, sarcastic, or not, it made him even more handsome. He didn't even want to breathe any more- the stench of decaying meat was disgusting to him as well. It seemed like the hole itself was breathing- he could feel it trying to suck him in, then it would blow out. He nervously thumbed a thin, silver chain around his neck as the dune started sloping down into Tartarus.

"I should be clicking my heels." She scoffed, a faint smile tugging at her lips when she turned to observe the smile on his face. She paused and let out a small breath before turning her gaze straight ahead again. He was so clsoe to her type, she almost wanted to like him. Irritated at both herself, and him, she kept walking in relative silence. Her smile slipped away somewhat quickly. She tensed as the breathing not only got stronger, but louder as well. She let out a soft breath, trying to keep herself relaxed as they descended toward Tartarus.

"Don't worry, I'm overjoyed as well." Zephyr snorted back. Hey, progress! She responded in a way that only was 78 percent sarcasm! And it wasn't an insult! He considered that a win. Honestly, deep deep down, he really just was kind of like a 3 year old that just wanted to be liked, but then again he was like that 3 year old that played with knives and accidentally blew the house up with a grenade then laughed ssooooooo... nobody liked him. They were scared, or disgusted, or just thought they were better than him in general. He let out a small sigh at this thought, knowing this was just because Temperence was nervous. She probably still hated him just as much. He lowered his head a little and focused on the rolling sand below him. Having those thoughts going through his head really distracted him, and he let out a yelp as his leg shot down into the sand. Before he knew it was he sliding down the hill in a cascade of black sand, very, very quickly towards the giant hole. "Jumping jackals why was that sand there!" He cursed, whipping over and grabbing a rock. This stopped his downward slide very quickly, but his shoulder screamed in pain- his momentum had actually been rather strong, and he grabbed the rock in a weird way. He prayed he didn't just strain his shoulder.

Temperance kept walking in silence, her mind on things other than the present. She jumped when Zephyr got sucked up by the sand, letting out a curse and running after him. She was just short of grabbing him when he hooked onto a rock, and she let out a slightl breath of relief, offering her hand down. "Pretty sure the goal was to not get sucked into the pit." She joked, glancing at the abyss in front of them warily.

Zephyr chucked away hise pride for a second and grabbed her hand, pushing himself to his fee ton the unsteady sand before letting go with a grimace. "I know I know... I'm bad at meeting goals." He snorted, brushing off his jeans and glancing at the pit. "That might've been just the push I needed to actually go in..." He commented with a slight shiver, starting down even closer again. The air now whipped around them, cold and stale, rotting, disgusting. "Skeletons don't smell like this. Blech." Zephyr wrinkled his nose slightly, reaching the edge of the pit and looking down into the darkness.

"Apparently so." Tempe nodded, letting go of his hand quickly and frowning as they continued toward the abyss. "So... what's the plan now?" She asked softly, as if she didn't want to be overheard by the being within the Abyss. She made her way with him to the very edge, looking down and taking a brave swallow to keep herself planted where she was.

Zephyr winced at the question. He didn't really have a plan... he barely had a plan for the rest of it. "You said you wanted to get more envolved." he snorted. "I can shadow teleport down there- I need to think up a better anem for that- but it'll tire me for a minute or so. Plus, since I've never been to tartarus, I don't know where we'd end up." He said quietly, letting out a low breath as he stared into the pit of doom. "I think that's the best way. If you don't mind grabbing hold, I'll try not to lose ya." he offered a weak smile, but he was too anxious to do much else.

,"I meant action wise. Not plan wise. You did that pretty well up until now." She shrugged, nodding at him. "Alright. That's a good point." She sighed, glancing up and giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She tightly took the cuff of his sleeve in her hand, closing her eyes.

Zephyr waited before taking in a deep breath. They quickly shot away into darkness. Again the feeling of cold crept over him. He could fel Temperence try to slip away- or rather, the shadows trying to tug her away- but he held on tighter and concentrated. A second later they were in the pit of Tartarus. He landed a little wrong and staggered forward, catching himself on a rock, breathing heavily. It took much more exertion going down like that, especially to a place he had never been before.