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// Honor: Australian Outback 
// Story: Sly Cooper: Family of Thieves 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Once their task in Venice was over, and they were done relaxing as they waited for the tar to disappear and return the water to normal, the gang returned to Paris immediately and returned to their hideout, allowing Murray to settle back into his old role in the gang once more. During that time everyone wanted to make sure that Murray felt like he had never left and that they had known that he would return at some point, and he seemed pretty happy when they had some actual fun around Paris as normal civilians, and he had even more fun when he, Sly, and some of the others played some games together just to unwind from their Venice adventure. Bentley even took some time off from studying the blueprints of Kaine Island and joined them, as he wanted to make sure that Murray knew that he didn't blame him and that everything was fine, which, as it turned out, didn't even ruin the mood at all, though Clockwerk, on the other hand, joined them from time time to, but preferred to continue his tinkering since there was a change that Murray might be upset that it was because of his own body that Bentley had gotten hurt.

Even Jean Bison, the keeper of Murray's van, found out that he was back on the team and used his newly modified trains to personally move the van to Paris, which took some doing and some money that he was more than willing to spend, which pleased Murray when he found that his van was exactly like he remembered it, despite a few upgrades that had been added to make it up to date for their future adventures.

It wasn't long before the gang started to notice that Murray's heart just wasn't into it, as he seemed to be lost in thought at times and seemed conflicted about something, though it was Diz, who worked with him the most back when they were chasing after the Klaww Gang, who got the information that they needed. Without his Guru's permission to give up on his Dreamtime training, or even stop for a period of time, he'd never really feel comfortable returning to the gang and taking up his old position, which told them exactly what they needed to do next. It was clear that what he needed was a conversation with his Guru, so the two of them could come to an understanding and see if Murray was able to be released from his training, or have it be put on hold, and the gang prepared themselves by packing up their gear, whipped up some quick disguises, and headed for the the airport so they could head to the Australian Outback. Of course the airport itself posed a serious threat for Clockwerk, as he couldn't actually get through some of the machines without his internal weapons giving him away, but he was able to use the vents to bypass those security features... though the only thing that he disliked was the fact that he wouldn't be able to talk much and would be pretending to be a normal robotic owl that Bentley had created.

As the airplane made it's way towards their destination, and the gang settled in for the trip, Murray told them story after story about his teacher's amazing abilities and that he was capable of performing fantastic feats, such as using the Dreamtime to blend perfectly into his surroundings and even gain mental control over the weak minded. The gang agreed that they just had to meet the Guru, because Bentley's statement that the gang needed to grow it's ranks for a chance to get inside the Cooper Vault continued to ring in their ears, and this Guru, an outback mystic, was looking like the best recruit they could have ever asked for at the moment. Murray actually seemed delighted about the fact that Sly and the others wanted to see if his Guru would join them for some time, just to help them in getting into the vault and whatever else they might need to add additional members to the gang, and he continued to smile as they got off the airplane and he led them to the area that his Guru called home, while stopping once so they could switch out of their disguises and put on their normal attire once more.

When the gang finally arrived in the part of the Outback that Murray had been leading them to, however, they were in for quite a shock when they discovered that things had changed since Murray was last here and, as they scanned the immediate area, they found that the Guru was nowhere to be seen... though that didn't stop them from taking control of a watchtower that was nearby and setting up their base of operations there, so they could begin their mission and see if they couldn't unravel the mystery of what happened.





"Guys, before we get started there's something that we felt that we should tell you," Gilda spoke up, knowing that time was of the essence at the moment, but at the same time she needed to tell the others what she, Derpy, and Diz had discovered the moment they walked out into this area of the Outback, as all three of them had felt something that caused them to stop using magic for the moment... especially Diz, who was sweating a little at the moment, and not from the heat that was in the air around them.

"And that would be?" Bentley inquired, because his experience with the girls and Diz had told him that he needed to pay attention when one of them mentioned that they had something they needed to say about a specific area, especially a place like the Outback.

"There's a strong, primal presence in this area," Derpy replied, as she, Gilda, and Diz could feel the primal power of the Outback all around them, though they weren't sure if they were in danger or if the power was studying them until it figured out what they were doing here, "the three of us have decided that, for the time being, that we'll refrain from using magic, at least until we figure out what's going on with the area. Maybe the Guru could assist us in some manner, once we find and rescue him anyway."

"Then we should get going," Sly said, though at the same time it was only him and Carmelita that walked outside the safe house they had established, as while it would have been beneficial for them to have Gilda, Derpy, and Diz fly around the area, to search for information, there was a helicopter flying around the place and it could easily ruin their operation if it spotted one of them in the air.

"The miners have really torn this place up looking for opals." Bentley commented, speaking to the two of them by their binoucoms for a moment, while at the same time giving the same warning to the rest of the gang, making this operation just like the one in Venice, "Watch your step! They're sure to get rough defending their claim."

Sly and Carmelita looked around the area that they were in, as the guards that were patrolling this mine appeared to be ready for battle, while also noticing that they appeared to be mostly kangaroos and dingoes this time around, before they made their way over to the roof of the nearby building, where they could figure out what Murray knew and where they had to go from here.

"My master spends most of his time up there in that cave, overlooking the valley and contemplating the depths of deepness." Murray told them, as they were looking at the very area that he had pointed out to them, which appeared to be a small cave with some cloth that had been covering the entrance, "I really appreciate you guys breaking the news to him that I wanna break off my training."

"No problem Murray, we're looking forward to meeting him." Carmelita replied, because she and Sly were thinking the same thing, as they had agreed on this back on the airplane and their opinions on the matter hadn't changed since they arrived in the area, "Anybody you call 'Master' must be heck of a guy."

"Oh, he's awesome!" Murray declared, once more showing his earlier excitement when he had been talking about all the strange things that his Guru had done, along with all the things that Murray knew and didn't want to talk about until they were reunited, "He'll get inside your head and freak you out six ways from Sunday."

"Uh, awesome!" Sly said, as he was sure that he didn't want the Guru to do that, otherwise he'd never be able to see what was inside his family vault, before he focused on the mission at hand as both he and Carmelita put away their devices and got moving as they searched for a way to get up tot he cave entrance.

The path to get over to the cave entrance involved the two of the jumping over to a pole that went to a walkway that had been carved into the rock wall, climb up it and a sort of thin tree that was in the process of dying, before using the swinging hooks that were in front of them, and the various points they could land on, to reach their destination without wasting too much time... but, as they arrived at the entrance of the cave, they found that there was no one there, which told them some things about what was going on here.

"Sorry pal, this cave's empty." Sly commented, though as he pulled away from the cave both he and Carmelita looked out at the area that was around them, along with the various other interesting structures that were scattered around the mining camp, including the large truck that was resting nearby, "Got any other ideas where he might be?"

"Well, that's his hut," Murray replied, where Bentley assisted him in moving their binocucoms to where the small structure was located, which would seem like a long walk to most people, but for a Cooper this place was actually not too bad to practice a few skills here and there, "but he doesn't really hang out there on... account of the smell."

"The smell?" Carmelita inquired, though if the smell was the reason that the Guru didn't hang out at his hut she could understand it, especially since they had asked Murray to shower after he reunited with them, which had taken a good amount of time to clear up before he was ready to go.

"It's a long story... I had to apologize up and down for like a month before he'd speak to me again." Murray replied, though at the same time the look on his face told both Sly and Carmelita that it was definitely a long story and, since he was more worried about his Guru, they should focus on the mission at hand.

"Well, that's a story for another time," Sly said, knowing that Murray would do everything in his power to prevent them from hearing what he knew, and neither he and Carmelita actually wanted to hear what sort of story he was keeping from them, which was why they were getting ready to move, "for now, we're headed for the hut."

Not even a few seconds later the two of them jumped down from where the cave was located and used the Spire Jump technique to land on top of the lone drills that were resting in the area below them, which they would be targeting at some point in time, before they jumped across the poles that were in front of them and headed back towards the safe house. It wasn't long before they found some wall hooks that happened to be attached to the rock walls that were near the Guru's hut, to which Sly let Carmelita go first and followed after her when she cleared the first wall hook, to which the two of them made their way over the few obstacles that were in front of them and continued on their way towards the second location that Murray wanted them to investigate. When they arrived at their destination a few seconds later they found that, while there was a fire going some distance from the entrance of the hut, there was no one in the immediate area and both of them nodded when they glanced at each other for a moment, as they were coming to the same conclusion about what was going on.

"Sorry Murray, nobody's home," Sly said, letting Murray know what was going on at the moment, along with the rest of the gang for that matter, while at the same time he and Carmelita continued to look at the area to be sure that they weren't missing anything before they left the area, "and by the looks of it, I'd say the Guru was fighting someone or something off here. I'm starting to think the miners might've got to him."

"You may be right." Murry said, showing that he was concerned for his Guru and that he knew exactly what the miners would say if they came and fought his Guru, especially if they surprised him, "They'd come in and be all angry and yelling, and he'd be all peaceful, and they'd just get ticked. Then he'd try to find a middle way, and they'd just go crazy and smash everything up, and then haul him off!"

"Where do you think they might've taken him?" Carmelita asked, as she was sure that there had to be a few areas around the camp that the miners could have converted into a makeshift prison of sorts, the challenge was finding where those areas were located and checking them out.

"They got him! My master's a goner!" Murry exclaimed, revealing that he was letting his concern for his Guru get the better of him at the moment, even though the gang knew that he meant well and was genuinely worried for the person that had been his teacher since he left to find his inner peace.

"Hmm, maybe we should get Bentley on the line." Sly said, to which Carmelita nodded her agreement, as she didn't mean to upset Murry in such a way, but at the same time they were relieved to see Bentley take over for Murray, who appeared to be walking out of the view of the binocucom so they could spend a few seconds speaking with Bentley.

"It's tough to say where they would have taken him, but..." Bentley replied, shifting their gaze to across the camp that was in front of them once more, where they found a fenced in area that might hold some positive results for them, "given the layout of the miners camp, I'd venture a guess that they use that area with a high fence as a makeshift stockade." 

"Looks like there might be a way up using that cliff below." Carmelita said, pointing to the path that she had spotted while Bentley was talking, where it was Sly's turn to nod his understanding, as he could see what she was talking about rather easily, "Shouldn't be a problem for the two of us."

"Just keep an eye out for that gyrocopter." Bentley added, though this time around both Sly and Carmelita glanced at the helicopter once more as it flew around the area that was the miners camp, no doubt looking out for enemies that might endanger the miners attempts to gather opals, "I'm positive it's what gave away the Guru's position."

The moment they were done talking to Bentley, and they had put away their binocucoms, both Sly and Carmelita jumped down into the area below them, making sure to safely land as they did so, before they started sneaking their way through the camp that was in front of them. As they did that Bentley continued to talk in their ears, saying that the miners had no respect for the Aboriginal sacred sights, though that was because they were currently drilling into everything that was around them; Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, and Wave Rock to name a few, and he said that the cultural insensitivity was sickening. Fortunately, as the two of them soon discovered, Carmelita's guess that this place wouldn't be much of a challenge for them proved to be accurate, as they were able to get over the various machines that were tearing into the landscape, used the hooks to their advantage, and used some wall hooks to get up to the roof that was able the stockade that the miners had built after their arrival. From there Sly and Carmelita dropped down into the area below them, where they found a small purple koala, who was wearing a red bandanna and brown loincloth, with a  purple beard that had two braids wrapped in blue strips of cloth, along with some yellow face paint across his nose and under his eyes... though both of them knew that this had to be Murray's Guru.

"You must be the Guru." Sly said, though as they approached the stockade they found that the Guru was standing near the front gate and seemed to be studying them, as if he was judging them before saying anything, "We're good friends of Murray's. He's come asking to be released from his training."

The Guru replied in what Sly and Carmelita guessed was his native dialect, as he was talking fast at the same time, but one thing they discovered was that, through some unknown means, the Guru was projecting the meaning of his words directly into their heads and they both got the sense that he couldn't come to a decision regarding Murray's request without having a face-to-face meeting with him.

"Sure, that's no problem at all," Carmelita replied, as that was the whole reason they had come to the Outback in the first place, to make sure that Murray and his Guru had a talk with each other in regards to his training, "We'll just bust you out of here and we'll go talk to..."

It was in that moment that the Guru spoke to them again, though this time they were shown images of two very important artifacts, a staff and a moonstone, along with his instance that he would remain here until he had them returned to him, revealing that they were, in the terms that Carmelita had recently learned, his 'gear'.

"You... seriously won't leave without your gear?" Sly asked, though he remembered back when they were first chasing after Clockwerk and he had lost his own cane because of a robotic falcon he had hit, only for Carmelita to assist him in retrieving it by blasting anything that moved as he ran for his family cane.

What the Guru revealed to them next slightly caught them off guard, as he gave them a warning of the damage and corruption of the land, the danger that such things posed to the gang if they were caught off guard, and a need for someone, as it could be him or someone else, to purify it before anything else happened. All this was accompanied by an image of himself purifying the corrupted land with Gilda, Derpy, and Diz by his side, though oddly enough Diz happened to be a girl in the image that the Guru showed them, despite the fact that he was in his male form when they left the safe house to find where the miners had taken him.

"You already knew about the others?" Carmelita asked, though at this point she was starting to wonder if the Guru had seen their coming long before the miners had arrived and simply did what his visions had shown him, but at the same time she decided that she was better off not knowing the truth.

The Guru revealed that he had used his own teachings, the ones that allowed him to see what was happening in the world to send Murry on his spirit quests, on himself from time to time, to check and see if something was going to change and how he could prepare for such change. Despite the fact that he had seen their coming some time ago, and had all this time to prepare himself, he still got captured by the miners, to which he insisted that the miners be cleared out of the area, so that way he could use his powers again, while also warning them of something called the Mask of Dark Earth, which seemed to be some sort of powerful magical mask that he and those that had come before him had been watching for a really long time. The image and warning came with a sense of evil, suggesting that the Mask needed to be destroyed, and they also felt a sense that the Mask embodied the aspects of Destruction, Death, and Darkness, though at the same time both Sly and Carmelita sensed that the artifact that was supposed to balance the land, and embodied the aspects of Creation, Life, and Light, was missing.

"Yeah, that's something that we'll have to take care of." Sly said, though he didn't have much to say on that statement, as hearing that there was a powerful Mask running around the area, or floating or whatever happened when a mask traveled, explained why his siblings had said that they weren't going to use their magic for some time, but he wondered if they knew about the Mask, "As for your walking staff and moonstone, don't worry about them, as the two of us and the rest of our gang will make sure that we get them back and return them to you as swiftly as possible."

As the two of them made their way out of the area that they were in, however, both Sly and Carmelita got one last message of sorts from the Guru, as he wanted to meet with both Bentley and Murray at some point in time as well, though assured them that he'd meet Gilda, Derpy, and Diz when he made his escape. When they returned to the safe house they discovered that Bentley, having listened to what they said in response to what the Guru had showed them and made reminded them of his earlier observations, informed them that the first thing they needed to do was have Murray visit his mentor first, as he was sure that Murray would find a way to allow him to reach the stockade. While that happened Bentley said that Sly and Carmelita would find the staff and the moonstone, while Gilda and Derpy went out to purify Ayers Rock by using the nearby big truck, where, when they were done with that task, he would collect the artifacts and free the Guru from his prison... and then they could begin their planning for dealing with the Mask of Dark Earth, as he was sure that their new friend had information on it to give them once he was free.

Murray, upon hearing that, immediately set out for the cave that would allow him to meet up with his Guru, though at the same time Gilda, Derpy, and Diz decided to head out for the big truck that was nearby, so they could deal with the miners that were at Ayers Rock.