Hanging high above the land, the silver moon shone its reflected light down onto the earth, droplets of moisture glistering like tiny diamonds upon all they sat. The smell of fresh rain still pervaded the air, even though the weather had been calm for some time. But despite the calm and quiet of the night, not all were asleep.
Looking over her shoulder while nervously clutching a lit candle, Tasha bit her lip in thought before turning back to her friend.
"I really don't think we should be doing this Vera. What if we're caught? Mother Superior will be furious that we're snooping around like this. Especially after dark."
Glancing at Tasha for only a moment, Vera shook her head, the padlock keeping the doors of the small shed closed falling to the ground with a soft thud. Unlike her friend, Vera seemed neither worried nor bothered to do any bit of skullduggery. If anything, she seemed acquainted with it considering how little time the lock held up against her.
"Relax Tasha. No one will catch us and no monster will get over the nunnery walls. You have nothing to worry about, I swear." Reaching out to rest a reassuring hand on Tasha's shoulder, Vera offered a sly smile. "Besides, even if one did, I'd just show that not all of us nuns are defenseless." Hiking up the side of her habit, Vera revealed the dagger strapped around her plush thigh.
Tasha seemed to relax somewhat with Vera's reassurances, taking a deep breath before nodding her head.
"I suppose you're right. But still, it's best not to tarry. So please, show me what you were talking about."
Smiling at her friend's go-ahead, Vera turned and pulled open the doors of the shed, motioning Tasha inside and taking one last peak outside to check if they'd been seen, before shutting the doors.
Moving to close the shutters on the window, Vera took the candle from Tasha to light the few others scattered around the room, setting it down once the two could comfortably navigate the small space. The shed was mostly used to store the groundskeeper's tools, along with a few dusty books and some herbs hung up to dry. However, Vera ignored all of that, instead kneeling down on the stone floor and trying to wedge her fingers between the tiles, prompting Tasha to raise her brow. Before she could ask what Vera was doing though, the girl in question spoke up.
"I've seen these tiles come loose before and they rattle when you step on them. So just help me get them up, I want to know what's under them."
Pursing her lips slightly, Tasha watched for a moment longer. Her eyes darted between Vera's hands failing to find any grip between the tiles and the various tools littering the wall. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Tasha stepped toward the wall, reminding herself why she hung around the blonde, even when she got up to her nefarious antics. Looking back as Tasha plucked a pry bar from the hook it once hung on, a wide smile crossed Vera's face. Using the tool, the tile soon popped up from its slot with a small grinding noise, however beneath it was just a bit of grout and dirt. Frowning, Vera glanced at the tile itself, feeling her frown lessen and become a smirk. On the underside of the tile, was a large curved line, with some sort of engravings accompanying it. Struck by the discovery, Vera pried up a second tile, discovering more symbols and another line, although the two tiles didn't seem to match perfectly.
"It's... a puzzle?" Tasha asked, getting to her feet as Vera set the two tiles aside.
"Looks like it, help me get the rest of them up. Let's see what it is." Vera didn't give Tasha much of a choice in the matter, as she instantly began to pull up more of the tiles, which in the end got Tasha to help, albeit begrudgingly.
It took them some time to remove the tiles and even more to begin placing them in the right spots. But they'd managed to get down to the last three, leaving the girls slightly winded and sweaty. Grabbing two of the last three, Vera took a moment and slid them into the correct spots, standing up to admire their handiwork as Tasha eased the last one into place. Nestling in with the small scraping of stone on stone, the tiles seemed to click together, the grout that normally joined them beginning to look like liquid. However, that fact went unnoticed by the two women.
"I don't really get what it's supposed to be. A circle with squiggly lines coming out of the center? I was expecting something a smidge more spectacular out of a hidden puzzle." Vera crossed her arms, gaze shifting towards Tasha who still sat in the middle of the floor.
The taller of the two girls had taken the hood of her habit off, revealing long, auburn curls as she wiped her forehead of sweat with a palm.