Little lost dragon and I

[Ryujin13]

Avira shrugged amiably and smiled a little, trying to put Fren at ease.

"I've taken worse." She said, and truth be told, she wasn't lying. She had taken worse, much worse...

"Bor's one of the powers fighting for control?" She clarified, putting that information aside for another time. "Fine, what's this shriek she's on about?" She listened to the information carefully, also archiving it before looking back at Fren. "Ok, so it's acting like an infection then." She said, going over to Fren carefully. "We need to get it out before it kills you or does permanent brain damage. It's probably attacking the glands in your brain that produce chemicals, making your sense of fear, panic and the like overload. Alex could explain it better, but what we need to do is extract whatever it is."

She turned to Varren and looked at him seriously. "I don't know anything about whatever's happening to her. I wouldn't know how to even begin treating her even if we got her to medical facilities. We need someone who can save her, so if you can get ahold of this Bor guy it would probably be a good idea." She turned back to Fren, trying to keep the woman from going over the edge again but unsure of how to do so.

 

Alina meanwhile was sobbing as Fren bared her teeth and hissed at Varren, she knew that her mother was big and strong, but now she was just scary. There wasn't any of the care that she showed Alina in her eyes, just terror and by extension anger.

When Fren came around again Alina was still remembering Fren's face, the terror it had invoked, but she also remembered that Fren had been there for her every time she had been scared.

Without asking she jumped out of Varren's grasp and into Fren's bed, carefully going to her and crawling up and into the crook of Fren's arm. She was still crying hard, but she tried to sound brave for mommy, tried to ignore how scary mommy had been.

"Mommy, please be better." She whispered. "Kara's gone, fuzzy's gone, please don't go, I don't want you to!" She cried harder, pushing herself against Fren, almost trying to make herself apart of Fren so that she wouldn't ever have to leave her.

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and seemed to just deflate a little and when Alina came over she gently hugged the crying hatchling, gently picking her up and gently touching cheek's "Mommy's.... mommy's not going anywhere Alina. She's just....... having panic attacks..." she said quietly and softly.

 

Varren looked at Avira a little confused. "How would a shriek have such a effect on someone who's normally so controlled? Like infect her? Its sound the most it could do is create a memory...." he said but his voice trailed off "Then again that was a mythical creature.... anything seems possible with one of those in the equation. Guess this is as much of an emergency as it gets right now. He likes to show up in a bulky hunter male like form. Just a heads up." he said before grabbing the horn "Hardly a day after and already have no other choice." he muttered before taking a deep breath and blowing air through it.

[Ryujin13]

As air passed through the horn the noise it made seemed to reverberate on the air itself, making it sound as though it echoed.

Bor appeared within seconds of the horn blast, a look of annoyance on his face as he looked at Varren.

"It's been less then six hours-" He started before his eyes fell on Fren and understanding crossed his face.

Instantly he was beside Fren, his expression concerned as he looked down at her.

"Fren, I am going to attempt to assess the damage." He explained carefully. "That means I am going to touch you, and I am going to be very close to you." He explained carefully before beginning.

His hands began to quickly press against her, mostly around her stomach and head, a faint green light encircling them.

After a minute or so he turned back to Varren and the group so he could talk to them all.

"The long and short of it is, she's pregnant." He said, raising his hand before questions started pouring in. "Ghouls use the screech of theirs to incapacitate their prey so that they can secure the victim and begin to feed. Once a ghoul reaches a certain... Let's call it a mass, a certain level of life force, it has to vent some. This is how they reproduce. They use the shriek to attack their prey, then, while the prey is down, a tiny sliver of shadow pours into the victim and begins to feed. It makes the host fear and panic responses trigger and begins to feed like its parent. The life force it feeds off of is used to create a new ghoul, and the cycle begins anew. The host however is at best dead, at worst reduced to a spent husk, their mind broken and their fears playing over and over again until starvation and thirst kills them."

He looked at Fren, then at Varren, his voice serious.

"I can remove it." He said, his voice serious. "But it will be Fren's favor. More importantly it is extremely dangerous to separate the ghoul from her life force, meaning she could die. A better option then what she will experience over the next few days, but you need to know the truth. She will need rest for a day or so, and she will be weak for awhile."

He turned to Fren, his eyes serious, but still conveying their concern.

"Fren, I need you to say yes. Varren can't do it, you had to." He explained, waiting until he got the word.

"Alina, I need you to move." Bor said, picking up the dragon and placing her on a nearby bed. "Cover your ears and look away." He said gently Alina, trying to spare the hatchling more anguish. "Vita, Varren, hold her." Bor said before turning back to Fren. "Take a breath." He said, before holding up his hand. Green light pulsed around it, before he suddenly plunged it into Fren's stomach. It wasn't like he opened a wound or anything, it was just like the skin enveloped his hand as he pushed it in.

Ignoring Fren's screams Bor closed his eyes and began to move his hand slowly and carefully. Suddenly he pulled his hand out and thrust it in again higher on her body. This time he as definitely moving his hand around, as though attempting to grab something.

Without preamble Bor's arm tensed as he grasped something and he began to pull, first with one hand, then with both. His arms were definitely pulling something out, but even he was having difficult with it. Finally his hands were free, and he was pulling what looked like a string of shadow which was putting up a hell of a fight. Suddenly it snapped out, causing Bor to stagger back, and began to writhe and worm around, reaching for the others like an animal seeming sanctuary.

Bor grasped the shadows other end so that only it's middle was free. In all it was almost a foot long and the only reason it wasn't going anywhere was because of Bor's strong and glowing green hands.

With a jerk pulled the shadow apart and let to, watching as it whithered and faded to nothing.

Finally he turned back to Fren who had collapsed after the shadow had been removed and checked on her, first touching her throat, then listening to her head and heart.

"Her soul is intact." He said to the group. "She'll need to rest, drink water, eat food, that sort of thing. She should be back on her feet again within a day." Carefully Bor picked up Alina and placed her back in the crook of Fren's arm, then looked back at the group before frowning.

"Where's Jak and Kara?" He asked, honestly confused. When he heard though his eyes hardened and he seemed to harden and grow, his eyes glowing green as his skin distended and turned grey. It was like watching a monster being born and within seconds he had dwarfed Vita, his form now rocky with Vince's growing from it. Suddenly he disappeared once more and was gone , his presence vanishing as quickly as it had come.

[little lost dragon]

Varren jerked his head to Fren when Bor arrived ignoring the look of annoyance from the being. He knew Bor would be somewhat confused at least and annoyed for sure after all, he just spent 2 days or just under letting the group gather its strength again. He watched as Bor inspected Fren before the new showed up. He looked at Avira then back to Bor then to Fren and back. The ghoul had made Fren a host? He'd rather end up dead then helping such things reproduce..... but seemed Fren had no choice in the matter.

He nodded to Fren when it was explained she had to allow the help and that it would be the favor she had with Bor. She told him to rid the thing. Sooner the better. Varren gently grabbed Alina and coiled up around her to hide the sight from the young hatchlings eye's as well as at least lower the sounds of Fren's screams.

He watched as Bor first felt around in her stomach zone before removing his hand quickly and entering her upper body. From the looks of it, he found something and was not letting it escape, then Fren gave her own shriek as Bor finally removed it from her body before going limp. Though Varren was more worried about what Bor had in his hands now. Like a thick shadow worm thing. And it was not happy to be removed from its host it even got one end free from Bor's hands and tried to get to the closest being in the room besides Bor. He relaxed when the thing was killed though and slowly uncoiled and handed Alina to Bor who placed the distraught hatchling in the crook of her mothers arm.

When it came time to explain what happened to Kara and Jak Bor got real mad real fast... then just like that, was gone. No further questions no anything. Not even any time to ask how to help Fren not get infected again if they come across another Ghoul.

 

He looked at the fox lady "Like I said.... mythical things. Your not in your own universe." he said before looking at Fren's passed out form and shook his head "At least Alina has her mother back now.... at least she won't degrade more now. I'm... unsure how to help one recover from something like that.... a fear inducing parasite? That's a new one." he admitted with a shake of his head. Now Kara looked like she got it better. At least she died protecting her friends, Fren nearly became a mangled mess as she was used as a host for one of those creatures young.

 

"Scan shows life signs no longer being disrupted but activity showing signs of trauma. Her body is low on-" Vita started and Varren shook his head "Vita, we know." he said as he opened Frens pack to grab one of the containers Bor had given them. "Avira, careful of her teeth, I'll need help opening her mouth to feed her." he said as he watched Fren's eye's open but only a little. She was awake again, but barely.

 

((If ya want there could be a time skip to when there on the move again, of course with her weak with the group taking turns helping her along ect.))

[Ryujin13]

Avira went to help Varren, gently opening Fren's mouth a little.

"Food isn't a good idea. There's to much of a chance of choking." She said to Varren. "We can do water but we have to be careful." She reached under Fren and helped the Shatong sit up a little, the amount of strength surprising for her small size.

They succesfully got Fren to drink some water which Avira put a few vitamins in, then let her sleep a bit more. Avira refused to talk any more about her experiences, or really much of anything else with Alina and Vita awake, but inside she was still thinking about the conversation she had with Varren. She hated that he knew, that she had broken down and told him even when her brain had said no and immediately wondered if someone was playing with her implant again.

No, she was awake, and the others hadn't even known about her implant before she had explained it to them. So she sat and brooded about what had happened, trying to disperse the suspicion in her mind, the fear that she was being changed again without her even knowing.

That was the worst part, the part that she feared most about the whole experience. She knew she was made in a factory, they had a template for more like her, but it had never hit home until now. She had a personality, she thought for herself, she had hopes and dreams. But if people could reprogram you at will, just shut you down and flip a few switches to make you different, then did she even exist? Was she even a person? How would she know? For all she knew she could have been completely different before ICON bought her. She didn't begrudge the fact that she was a free chimera, she was very lucky to be where she was, but if someone had decided that they needed a new leader with a different style, then how many times had they changed her? How many times had they wiped her memory? And if they could do that, then how was she even a person? Were the slave owners right? Was she just a complicated toy?

She had run through these thoughts before, and every time she could never come to a conclusion. All she did was end up crying, wondering why she existed and what if any purpose she had. She was bought for 400,000$ was that really all she was worth? She didn't think so, she thought she was worth something, but wasn't she just a computer programmed to act human? This elicited a sob from her as her fur began to darken as tears fell. She buried her head into her knees, trying to think of something, anything that made her different from a sufficiently advanced AI, and all she could come up with was that humans had bothered to give her skin and bones. Everything about her was optional, just a simple electrical current making her a tiny bit different from the chimera grown next to her in a factory.

 

When they left the room they managed to at least get Fren on her feet and moving, although they had to support her. Vita took the majority of the duty since he didn't get tired, but since he was also the most qualified to defend the group the rest had to take turns so he could defend them.

"Where are we going?" Avira asked as she helped Fren limp along. It was hard work but for the moment she was doing ok and Fren was slowly regaining her feet. "Or rather do you have any way to find this door thing?

Edited June 18, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

Varren nodded and helped her carefully drip feed Fren the water. The large female not resisting at all. Afterwards they let her rest for a bit. Though Avira seemed to get lost in her own thoughts afterwards. Then a sob eventually came from her. He tilted his head little confused though considering her story, such thoughts where hard to deal with. He slithered over and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze to try and help her. Let her know she would be alright.

 

Varren shrugged "THe most we got is what the writer said in his journal, however the last data cube was.... a bit more correct, this one is.... well unless nothing happened for a bit and he just did not mention it, the castle decided to change things up a little. We can't truly find anything in this place due to the fact it more or less choses what we find and don't find." he explained looking around a corner.

 

Fren was hating all this, she felt humiliated and weak. She had only been in this state once before when she was just a child. As the others helped her she focuson on putting one foot in front of the other. Her body felt odd, had been since they hand fed her the water. Avira did soemthing with it she knew that much, most likely her body rejecting all the chemicals humans put in stuff. Another thing was..... while she knew the second magor event was needed, she felt violated by the whole thing. Becoming pregnet and then someone hands in her body. Left a sour feeling.

Edited June 19, 2014 by little lost dragon

[little lost dragon]

((Righto, edited, will delete this post once you've replied))

[Ryujin13]

Avira appreciated the contact that Varren gave her as a friend, but drew away shortly after it began. She hoped he wouldn't take it personal, but she didn't like being touched anymore, not unless... Not unless she allowed it.

 

Avira wanted to punch the wall again, she wanted to vent her frustration somehow, but she couldn't. She had no intel, no team, no tools beyond her pistol, knife and what tools she kept on her belt. She had friends in arms who she could trust at least for the moment because it was benifical for all of them.

Varren she felt like she could trust, he seemed the type to be on the straight and narrow, and he was kind which, while possible to fake, was difficult to fake well. It always showed in the eyes Rachel had told her once. It was extremely difficult to fake a warm smile that was in the eyes.

Remembering Rachel's words hurt and only helped to remind her that she was cut off from her friends. She didn't like being out of contact, she didn't like not being able to talk to her friends at any moment, at not knowing if they were hurt, or worse... She shuddered slightly at the thought but surprised it as best she could, didn't want Fren think she was repulsed by her, although truth be told the slime from Fren was kind of gross, and it was getting everywhere.

"There has to be a sense to it, there has to be." She said, trying to convince herself but failing. It was kind of hard to argue anymore when you saw a man appear out of midair, make his hands glow, push them into a non-human without leaving a mark, remove them, dissolve a black worm thing, then turn into a monster and disappear.

As they found a corner though a large and perfectly round door came into sight, just like the one described in the journal. Writing covered it and the floor around it, although it didn't do anything when approached. Even when Avira dared to step up to the door it remained unmoving.

Avira looked over the door carefully, not touching the handle while gesturing for the others to stay still and silent. She pressed one ear to the door gently and listened before finally taking a single fingernail and tapping it against the metal. Another tap followed in a different location, then a third. Finally she stood back and looked at the others with a shrug. "No explosives that I can find, no locks, just the lever." She said before turning to the lever and pushing down.

Inside gears and pistons began to turn, their movements and locks sounding like a thousand stop watches running at the same time. With a clunk the door opened, exposing a passage about five feet long which ended at another door. Electricity danced across the door, seeming to bounce off its center and ground itself at random leaving scorch marks across the floor.

At this Avira stopped and looked at the others, curious as to what they would say. "I don't have any equipment on me that can deal with this." She said, glancing at the door. "And even if I am wearing boots, the electricity would probably just jump to the ground through another body part. So I'm welcome to suggestions."

She didn't trust the book, at least not completely. Sure it had given them decent intel so far, but she wasn't willing to take a leap of faith based on some writing on a holographic page.

[little lost dragon]

Varren took Fren next so that Avira could go check out the door. But when it started to spark up a storm he frowned a bit and wondered how they would get past it. Then Vita stepped up and reached and caught one of the arching electricity jumps. "Large amount of power, however easily diverted." he said before seemingly vanishing into thin air. Then the arching eletricity started striking something and dancing across Vita's shape. "Using the power provided by the door I can use enough of it to keep it a safe amount by draining it by using my cloak which needs a massive amount of power." he explained.

 

Varren sighed and nodded and motioned for Avira to take Fren again before making his way past Vita and into the passage way, even with his armor Vita was able to keep the arching power between him and the door. "Alright.... seems to be safe, Vita don't move till where all through." he said and the robot nodded, his drone flying into the tunnel to scout ahead.

 

 

[Ryujin13]

The precaution of Vita having to wait for them to enter vanishes quickly when the door opened and the electricity stopped flowing.

Avira took Fren's arm over her shoulder and helped to support the shatongs weight, wondering when Fren would get better. She was very heavy after all.

Vitas drone didn't have far to go before hitting another door. It was gold and covered in different gems, but in the center was a brilliant red gem that seemed to glow.

"The book said to touch the gem and the door opens." Avira said as she helped Fren through the door behind. "I'd do it with a really long stick." She grinned and shrugged, then looked at Varren.

"Don't see much of an alternative." She said before touching the gem with her palm.

More gears followed and the last door opened, showing a long, perfectly round tunnel. There were red crystals jutting from the ceiling and walls which glowed a dim red, giving enough light to walk by, but not to see by comfortably.

The first step taken in by Avira though sent a shudder through her, this one easily recognized as she didn't even try to hide it.

"I don't like this." She said instantly, taking a step back. "I believe in first thoughts, suspicions, that sort of thing, and I don't like this place one bit." She couldn't really put it into words, but it was like everything was permeated by a feeling. It wasn't dread, it wasn't fear, it wasn't anything tangible, it was like the weight of the ages was pressing in on her, reminding her of how truly small she was in the universe, how insignificant the piece of time she lived in was in the great scheme of things.

That being said she also knew that her personal feelings might be clouded by recent events, and more importantly, this was the only lead the group had to to on, so they couldn't really back out. Glancing at Varren she gestured for him to draw his weapon before drawing her own. It wouldn't be fun trying to shoot it one handed, but she was hoping that in such cramped quarters they would only need on shot.

"Vita, go first." She said, gesturing the robot forward.

After that it was just a matter of putting one foot in front the other. The feeling never went away, and seemed to get worse in some spots while better in others, but always it was there, as though reminding her that the clock was ticking on Avira's life.

As they went the crystals began to get bigger and bigger until finally they were passing ones as big as school busses. They all glowed the same dull red, and at the edge of their hearing the crystals seemed to whisper in a voice so small that it was only there in the subconscious.

The group walked for who knew how long, their footsteps the only thing that could be heard, although strangely they didn't echo, they just seemed to absorb into the rock. They could have walked for seconds, minutes, days, or years and Avira wouldn't have been able to tell. Her implants chronometer didn't seem to register properly, and she was almost in a half daze as they walked. She was aware of her surrounds, she knew where she was and what she was doing, but she couldn't have told how many steps they had taken, not even a few or a lot, nor how much time seemed to have passed. It was like time merely stopped, and they were moving while the world was paused.

Then without warning they entered a cavern and everything seemed to snap back into focus. Avira could tell that time was passing, that she was actively moving, and the weight from before was gone.

The cavern was actually small by the castles standards, maybe four hundred feet circumfrance at most and lit by a warm green light. The cavern was dominated by a pool of water about ankle deep except for an island in the exact center which held a plinth. The light came from that plinth, and something small sparkled there. Avira carefully let Fren go where the Shatong could rest against the wall, then wandered over to the waters edge. She stopped and sniffed, her ears swiveling for a hint of a sound but unable to hear one. Finally she squared down and removed her boot knife which she used to poke the water.

Nothing happened whatsoever, not a ripple, not a sound, just her blade entering and exiting the liquid. Avira didn't touch the liquid, instead sniffing it before reaching behind her and grabbing her tail. She gritted her teeth and pulled a long hair from it, then looked back to the liquid and dropped the hair onto the water. The hair sat lazily on the surface for a few moments before sinking below the surface, causing Avira to frown. Her knife went back into the water and attempted to pull the hair back out, but it resisted at the surface. It felt like trying to lift the ground, and no matter how much she struggled she couldn't withdraw the hair. Finally she pulled her knife out from under the hair and wiped the blade on a small napkin before sheathing it again.

"That's the booby trap." Avira said, straightening again and looking at the others. "The liquid seems to recognize organic items like the hair I just used. It sucks them under and the surface of the water becomes solid like a rock. Someone walks out to the center, and try's to exit, their stuck. If they try and drink the water their hands get stuck and so on until they either drown or die of thirst. Ingenious really, although I'm sure Alex could tell us what the correct name and description of this stuff is. She's the fantasy buff." Avira said with a smile.

[little lost dragon]

Varren waited for the rest of the group to make it throught he first door and moved till they got to the next. THough Avira seemed to take it on her her self to touch the gem right after saying she did not want too.

As they entered the gem decorated tunnel Varren paid little attention to the whispering, partly due to the haze feeling that weighed on them all besides Vita, that and Fren. Thanks to being a host for a little bit with a ghoul in her the whispering almost counteracted the daze enducing fog that tried to enter her mind. the whispering triggering her senses making fear creep into her form again, though with the fog she did not enter a panic state again.

However when they came to the room with the strange fluid that looked like water She felt the need to minimize as much contact with the ground as possible, the idea that since water is soaked up, should a talon work its way into the pebbles, she'd rather not lose one of those either. "Varren has mentioned nothing of value is handed over easily. Such a trap means something that could help us is..... on that light over there." she said with a nod to it in the middle of the pool.

 

Varren looked around as he helped balance the Shatong "The data cube mentioned a boat..... wait." he snapped his fingures "Vita, whats your drones maximum lift ability?" he asked and Vita shrugged "Not much, 200 pounds at the most..... nothing to lift other units though." he said and Varren nodded "Fren's over that for sure as well as am I, However there's no way I'm sending a child over, so that leaves you Avira." he said with a nod before raising his spare hand before she could respond "Before you are flown over, I want any and all means taken to ensure your safety. Vita, the boats most likely goign to have some kind of leak, otherwise it would be too easy, I want you to see if you can hold the boat above water with Avira's weight in it, If you can since it detects organic matter and other things are ignored, you should be safe." he said before looking at Fren who shook her head "I'm pretty sure the trap would be able to see that Vita is not just a device though." she pointed out.

 

With a a movement of the arms like he tried to shrug Vita moved towards the fluid before lowering his self so only one tiny part was making contact with the fluid, should it grasp him, he'd just leave that bit of metal in the water, small chunks of armor where easy for him to repair.

[Ryujin13]

Avira looked hesitantly at the water, then at Vitw and the drone as the plan was gone over. The boat in question was quickly located, and just like Varren had said it had a hole. To course the hole was the entire bottom of the boat, seemingly rotted away by the ages. Vita's experiment led only to a severed piece of metal, meaning that the liquid could differentiate between intelligent and unintelligent things as well as all bio matter.

Avira looked at the drone closely, then out at the liquid.

For some reason she knew with every inch of her being that if she failed there was nothing that could save her. Falling into that water, even brushing it with the tip of her tail would result in death. She didn't know how she knew, it was just instinctive, like the need to breath, to survive.

"I... Um." She took a breath, then looked at the drone again. "Um, can we disarm your drone any?" She asked, looking at the numerous missiles on it. "Might make it a bit lighter." She said before looking at the rest of the group.

Now came the hard part, the part she hated to think about.

"I-" she began, her voice catching in her throat as she took a breath. "I need to um, shed weight." She said quietly. "I'm probably over 200 pounds. I know I don't look it but I'm heavy. So I have to um, I have to lose everything that could hinder the um, the drone."

She said, her nerves already shot as she explained to the group. "That means I um, I-" She couldn't say the words, couldn't even think them to herself. She knew his had to be done, that getting this thing was going to help all their chances of getting home, but she was scared, terrified even of what had to come next.

Finally she dropped her gaze and began to remove her boots. Her shirt came next which had a sports bra on, then her gun belt, quickly followed by her pants. Now she was just down to her underwear, and already her ears were flattened in fear and she refused to look at the group.

Memories were boiling up in her mind of all the times she had been forced to do things like this at Red Palace, of the times she had been forced onto a stage with threat of a whip behind her.

Still not letting her eyes rise above her feet she turned partway around and finished the deed before quickly going to the drone, trying to cover herself as best she could while she did so. For the most part she was succesful, but even her attempts to cover herself left no question as to the proportions of her various assets.

Finally she stood in front of Vita and the drone, her eyes still downcast, ashamed to even let a robot see her like this.

"I... I need your drone to go straight as fast and as high as possible." She said quietly. "If I lose group or it starts to go down at least I've got a chance of landing on the island." She explained. After that she turned away and went to the robot, considering it. Finally she got up the nerve and reached up to grasp ahold of its underside. It took a few moments for her fingers to get good holds, then a second more for her to lift her legs up and cross them over the drones body.

Avira almost let go the moment the drone began to move, but resisted the temptation instead pulling herself as close to the drone as possible and curling her tail up between her legs to hold it between her body and the drones.

The moment the drone was over the water though everything changed. It was like gravity was turned up 100% and she had forgotten to sleep the night before. Her muscles ached where there hadn't been any problem before. Her arms felt like she had been holding this position for hours instead seconds, her fingers were cramped, and her legs were like jelly. She almost let go in shock, she almost died, but managed to hold on even as the drone crossed. The journey took maybe 30 seconds burdened as the drone was, but to Avira it was like hours of torment. It was like Red Palace when they had beaten her for hours but kept her awake with drugs to make everything so much worse.

The drone itself seemed to be doing well enough although it was moving excruciatingly slowly and making a whining sound as the engines tried to cope with the weight.

When it finally came to a halt on the island Avira didn't even conciously realize they had stopped, her grip just gave out and she fell to the hard ground beneath her where she curled into a ball, every inch of her screaming that it was in pain and needed rest. She ordered her implant to trigger a stimulant, but didn't feel anything even though a cocktail of amphetamines and other stimulants were coursing through her system.

Through the exhaustion, the fear and everything else a single thought managed to cross her mind, and that was of her team on vacation. They had decided to go to Montreal and see the sights. Though it seemed weird that a group of military specialists would want to visit gardens or the bio dome or the other places there, to a chimera it was haven. The sheer number of smells made everything so interesting a beautiful, and the group had loved it. That was when Avira had been with Andrew. He was a very sweet guy, and even though he wasn't a chimera he had put up with a lot of her teams quirks and behaviors. She remembered the five of them sitting around a campfire somewhere while he taught them all how to make 's'mores. All of them had enjoyed them a lot, and that was before the 'special' brownies were brought out by Rachel.

Suddenly seemed to snap back into focus for Avira and she managed to get a hand beneath her. It still felt like she had been whipped a hundred times then run a marathon or two, but she managed to get onto her knees, then pull herself up using the plinth as a crutch. On it sat a jade box without any hint of a lock or other security.

Avira carefully opened the box and looked inside only to get a very confused look on her face. Inside was a simple white stone in the shape of a shield. The surface of it was carved with millions of tiny symbols that could have been writing or any number of other things. The stone was attached to a leather thong so that it could be worn as a necklace, but beyond that it didn't appear any more special then something Avira could buy in any airport gift shop.

Knowing that things were going to go wrong if she thought things through to hard Avira put the lid back onto the box and staggered upright, moving towards the drone. She didn't think she could make this ride. Maybe she could make it halfway and throw the box? Probably the best thing to do would be to attach the box to the drone and let it fly over. Somehow she knew that rest wouldn't help with the exhaustion, so at this point she was just maximizing the groups chances of succeeding, even if that meant death on her part.

As she neared the drone however Avira noticed something through her haze of exhaustion. There was a rushing sound, and something silvery was flowing at the edges of her vision. Looking at it she saw the liquid doing odd things, seeming to ripple away from the side of the lake with the door, allowing access to anyone who wanted to cross. Without much prompting she began to stagger back across the now clear floor, making it about halfway before falling to her knees and continuing by crawling. Finally she found the other side, and some of the weariness left her.

She knew she was tired from the ordeal, but it was more of a long day of work tired instead of the exhaustion she had faced. Almost instantly though she vomited as her system kicked into high gear from the Stims delayed reaction. It was then that she realized she was still nudes and quickly curled up until someone handed her clothes. She handed off the box to Varren, then quickly dressed with her back turned, minimizing the amount the others could see, although the way she had moved she was pretty sure they had seen it all.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

Varren nodded as she said she needed to make her self lighter. Though when she started to undress he looked away. Fren did as well though had thoughts not understanding why humans and there creations felt a need to cover up.

Vita though just waited and when she came to him and said she needed the drone to go as fast as it could go he nodded "I'll have it go as fast yet remain stable for you as well." he said as she climbed on.

Then the drone started the trip. However as soon as it got over the fluid it beeped a few times as its load and weight seemed to double. Including Avira's. Vita did a quick scan from where he was "Load perimeters exceeding drones lift ability, it won't be able to get any more air." he said

The drone did make it to the middle and Avira let go it suddenly gained altitude really fast for a moment. Through the drone Vita took a look at the small little box along with the small stone inside but could not scan it for any detailed info through the drone. It got ready for her but then the fluid parted showing a clear path to the door way where the rest where.

When she finally stumbled again on 'shore' Varren had Fren stand on her own and she nodded before he slithered over with her cloths putting them over her in a blanket like manner to quickly cover her up will she got them on. He took the box and opened it with a puzzled look as well. "You did well Avira." he said after she was dressed and looked at her "We need to keep going, so you have permission to have a seat on my coils if you need to rest." he said with a nod before looking at the small shield like stone on a neck thong like thing. "The writer never got this so he lacked any intel on this item. However since it tried to make sure Avira perished to grab this item, I assume its something good, but if we can find the library again there should be a book that includes what ever this does." he said.

 

Fren looked at him "As time we where there the crystal beast had us leaving with it wedged in our sides." she pointed out "Not to mention the beasts death took out quite a few selfs as well." she said and Varren sighed "Alright..... vote, should we find out what this does now? Or wait a bit to see if we find the library and hope the book its in is not destroy?" he asked though knowing it sounded kind of stupid on the last part, but better safe then sorry.

[Ryujin13]

Avira was to stubborn at the best of times, everyone on her team would say so instantly. She put a lot of responsibility on her shoulders and bore it without complaint or a sign of weakness, and it was the same here. She wouldn't sit and ride while people like Fren were barely walking on their own.

So Avira merely shook her head at Varren's offer and instead considered the ramifications of the library. From what the group had said and the way they acted she doubted the library was good news, especially when they mentioned more crystals. That being said they did need intel, and that meant they needed to get books or better yet a computer. She doubted a computer would be forthcoming, so books it was.

"Library." She voted, standing and checking her pistol. She didn't show any weakness she didn't have to, instead just acted natural, even though her steps were tired. "We need intel, so we go to the library."

[little lost dragon]

Vita nodded "Caution is the best course. The results may only be a one time use, or worse, such chances are not in our favor thus we need to find out, or at least attempt to." he said siding with Avira. Fren gave a nod "Lets get to it...... sooner where through that cursed tunnel the better." she stated before starting to take a few unsure steps.

 

However due to her leg build and how her kind naturally held them selfs weak legs where harder for them to use then a normal humans legs build. Fren had hardly enough strength to stand using her large long tail for support. Varren took his turn and came over to her to help her along. He just hoped Avira would not push her self too long, the fact she threw up said she was very tired already. "And before it slips my mind Avira, thanks for taking the risk. For all we know you just helped get a item that could save us from another puzzle or death challenge." he said with a nod.

 

[Ryujin13]

(Don't know if you looked but Avira has legs like a canines so her structure is different as well. Not pertinent at all, just... Actually this didn't serve any purpose in reminding you lol.)

 

Avira nodded mutely as she walked along, not trusting herself to open her mouth.

When she had activated the Stim, which amounted to a humans adrenaline coming into play for her, it was like it had activated, but hadn't flooded her system until after she reached shore. Then it had all flooded at once instead of over a few seconds. Finally she lost control and vomited the rest of her stomach contents up. She didn't look great, but now that she had finished she was already feeling a bit better.

Avira immediately waved Varren off as he came forward, muttering a simple explanation about the Stim making her sick, not that he would understand.

When they edited the tunnel again though it was like a huge weight was lifted from the group. Avira almost fell over from the shock of not being in that oppressive place, and probably would have skipped if she had the energy. She could have used another Stim, but using them close together was risky, possibly resulting in addiction and leaving the body unable to cope without them.

 

"Pick a direction." Avira said weakly, trying at humor as the doors behind them swung closed as they passed through each one. "I vote left." She gestured that direction and stood up straight, trying her best to exude strength and confidence. She wasn't at Red where she couldn't defend herself, she was free, strong, and didn't need to be given things to survive, she could do it herself.

Drawing her pistol she gestured for the others to follow, her ears twitching constantly and her breathing coming through her nose so she could detect any new scents.

It was a couple hours before Avira finally fell against a wall and slid down it. She was exhausted and she hated that. She had used another Stim which was the only thing keeping her going, and now that it was wearing off she knew that using another was extremely dangerous. Her body was screaming that it needed to rest and let it catch up, and if Avira tried to keep going it would eventually give out, no matter how many Stims she used.

"I- I just need a quick break." She said heavily, her legs saying out from her sitting position and her chest going up and down with her heavy breathing. "Just a quick rest." Her eyes were fluttering, she was trying to stay awake, and only an extreme act of will kept her eyes open.

[little lost dragon]

((Me thinks your auto correct is finding too much freedom "When they edited the tunnel again." Wait, they edited the tunnel? Did not know they could do that lol (j/k) ))

 

Varren did show concern for the fox lady when she barfed yet again. As they entered the tunnel again it felt like the weight was lifted. Almost like something was at peace now. There was no haze that clouded their thoughts or the weight they had all felt besides Vita. He helped Fren through it not minding her slime much, he had much worse before. At least Fren was not slime based like a few kinds of drakes where he was from.

 

He kept an eye on Avia at the same time and was not liking what he was seeing. She was barely staying awake, almost sleeping on her feet as they went. When they came to the forked path he shrugged and Fren gestured to lead on. They went on for a bit with nothing happening again but then Avira stopped and said she needed a rest. He shook his head "Vita, mind helping Fren for a bit?" he requested before slithering up to the fox lady "I know your going to wave me off, but its no longer a offer, you need rest but we need to keep moving, I'll carry you." he said having his coils come up along side her "We can do this the easy way, or the stubborn. Your getting a ride. That's an order." he said firmly. Though looking at her eye's she was hardly awake anyway. But it was not safe to rest in these halls. Not when a metal crab like bot could be skittering about. Or one of the rotting flesh beasts shows up.

[Ryujin13]

(Yeah, using my cell phone sucks, but it's what I have to work with. Sorry...)

 

"You can't order me." Avira said, shaking her head at the offer. "Give Fren a ride, she's worse then I am."

She was still barely staying awake, but she managed to get her water bottle to her mouth and take a drink. Finally she put her hand against the wall and pushed, using it as leverage to get herself up. Taking a deep breath she readied herself and began to walk, making it maybe two steps before falling again, this time not even catching herself. She hit the floor hard but managed to avoid doing any permanent damage.

"I don't want a ride." She said weakly.

In truth she knew she needed a ride, she knew she should take the ride, but it felt like she was giving up, taking the easy way, especially since Fren was worse then her.

Avira's mind wasn't working properly, it was coming down off a high and it was tired. She ached, she was tired, and all she could think about was how she couldn't take a ride because doing so would admit defeat, and she couldn't do that, not after Red...

She relized she felt strong hands lifting her onto a seat and began to panic, her mind on what had happened in the past. She squirmed, trying to keep whoever was trying to take her from doing so.

"No." She pleaded. "Please stop, I don't want to do this, please don't."

To everyone else it just sounded like she was being stubborn, but to Varren it would make sense. She was tired and her mind wasn't really getting what was going on.

When Avira was finally situated on Varren's coils she almost passed out. She wanted to pass out, her body wanted her to pass out, but she kept herself awake.

Her mind locked onto her conversation with Varren and her thoughts afterwards, trying to come up with an answer but failing.

"How do you tell if you're real?" She asked, her words jumbled and disjointed but still intelligible. Just like that she was out, her head falling onto Varren's coils and her eyes snapping shut as she fell into blissful darkness.

[little lost dragon]

(I know, just the results at times are... interesting lol, hope I'm doing ok correcting it in my head ^^)

 

Varren watched her try to get up and more or less fall down right away. A few steps and she first caught her self, another few and she fell. He came up to her again and gently picked her up. He treid to be as gentle as possible as she struggled and pleaded with him. "I'm not giving Fren a ride because she does not need a ride, she needs to build up her strength." he explained gently as he placed her on his coils "You your strong Avira, but you only have so much too, you need to rest to let it heal and restore." he said as he carefully situated her into a relaxed sitting posiiton, her back against his lower back.

He blinked at her question but then he felt her fall over a bit and start resting. He arranged her so she would not fall off when he moved before looking at the others "Fren's got energy, but needs to build her self back up, Avira has the strength, but no energy to use it with." he explained.

 

The group moved through the halls for a bit till the sound of scittering was heard. Instantly Varren had his weapon out "Dam it. Crabs are in the area." he said quietly looking around. Right now, he did not see any, and the movement he could hear, the crab bot things where not grouped up here.

[Ryujin13]

(Just pointing out, my characters are gone so you're on your own during this fight.)

 

The noises that preludes the crabs seemed to come from the hall behind them, but it didn't sound like a swarm, more like a few and they seemed to be moving slowly. The group could take them out easily enough, but without knowing much about them it could result in a larger swarm. In all there were six of the crabs, and they seemed to be on a scouting mission more then anything, each one investigating the way the group had come. Some seemed to scan the walls and even the air while the others investigated the floor. One was even picking up stray hair that had fallen off of Avira when she leaned against something. Whenever one found something interesting it would chitter to the others and they would move over to scan whatever it was themselves before returning to their work.

If the group forged ahead they would eventually find another rest stop, this one obviously designed for a break of a few hours instead of overnight.

 

(If you kill the crabs or they spot you a swarm attacks)

[little lost dragon]

And with Vita in the group, each step he took was a thud. Though thankfully, this met the crabs where deaf to sound. Varren peaked around a corner. It was like finding him self in a rescue mission, guards all around, and he needed to get his team past them all and not attract attention, or chances where the enemy numbers would explode once they knew where they where.

However the behaver puzzled him, the crabs clearly where switching tactics, after many many mass attacks at once, he had never seen them so spread out. Maybe a scout here and there but a scout followed by the army, but here it sounded like many many scouts. And every now and then, some chittering followed by the sound of there tiny metalic feet on the stone like floor. He looked at Vita and Fren "Stay as quiet as you can, judging by the sounds, where surrounded, but they don't seem to know where here." he whispered and Fren nodded wishing she could move on her own.

 

It was trick rounding some corners. Once he nearly slithered right into one. And it let out a warning chitter and all clatter of the feet of its friends stopped as if they all scanned for movement. Vita made the silent motion and froze once they backed up around a corner again. A fight with the crabs would mean death to the group, only 2 where combat able, the rest where too weak and or sleeping to be of any help. Though after the warnign happened, the crabs where much more.... aggressive in there moves. They knew Varren and the others where in the area. Where exactly they did not know but close.

 

Some back breaking tension later a door was in sight. Varren checked the last corner to see the rest of the army seemingly sleeping. Though one was starting to move. They where about to be located. Vita could not run fast enough to make it in time. He looked at Vita and motioned to the door and to get moving. They'd need to make a break for it.

 

Varren moved to the door but as Vita passed the one corner, the pack was alerted and lots and lots of chittering sounded. Varren was about to reach the door when some crabs came skittering across the wall and onto the door clearly trying to block him off. He fired at them but more just took the deads places. They where blocked off and surrounded. Clearly this was either a trap to offically end them, or the crabs where not part of the castle, and if they where not, that would explain why they seem to act independently but how or why or anything he did not know.

 

((Till your characters wake, thought a little twist could be thrown in, no ones been killed, only paralyzed, and the threat was preseived if they kept getting stung, but what if there's a greater mind behind it all with its own goals? Say like a queen or something. just had it come up in my head as I did this lol))

[Ryujin13]

(The problem is that I don't really know what their objective would be. I don't want them to be allies because that's to powerful, but generally a hive is very simple in its motivations. It's mostly just feed, reproduce, and expand. If it's led by an actual intelligence, then I'm not sure how to go about role playing it. I'll do my best though.)

 

The swarm around them began to chitter angrily as the group stood mere feet from the door. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling were covered with them, and each one was still except for a plate on them shifting now and then.

Without warning they activated, dropping from the ceiling or jumping at the group. What followed was a storm of movement as the group fought for their lives, but in the end the swarm managed to get close enough to actually attack.

Those that touched a member of the group stung them, each stung spreading numbness through the body. It only took three for Fren, while Varren took five or six being longer. Both Alina and Avira only got one because they were smaller and/or unconscious. As for Vita it took them a moment to figure out a strategy, but finally they began bypassing his armor and putting up blocks around the energy reserves in his arms and legs, thereby rendering him useless.

The whole thing took only 30 seconds or so, and even with the large amount of casualties on the swarms side the group eventually lay paralyzed on the ground. What followed was five minutes of terror as the swarm began to poke and prod at the group, scanning everything from their eyes to their toes.

They seemed especially interested in Avira, who hadn't even been woken up. They went through great lengths to scan her body, removing a few hairs from her tail then some toenails as well, before finally focusing on her head especially near a spot behind her ear where the socket with her implant was.

Vita was also given special attention with dozens of drones scampering over him, scanning his different parts like he was a fish being bought in a market.

The others got the same treatment to a lesser degree, with samples taken, but the drones didn't seem as interested. Finally the swarm started cleaning up, collecting the destroyed drones parts before heading the opposite direction as the door. Only a few remained and they went to the individual members of the group, each simultaneously stinging the group again and releasing the antidote to the paralyzingly agent. Then they took off, skitterig away and around the corner except one which turned back to the group. It's eye turned red and every flap extended at the same time while it made a threatening hissing sound. Even to the stupidest of people the message was clear, 'don't follow us.' Then it skittered away.

Avira was making the same noises she had made in her dream the night before, telling someone no, helping in imagined pain and the like as she was again balanced on Varren and taken into another bedroom. When she was lain on a bed she instantly curled up, her tail almost touching her nose and continued to sleep, her mind still dreaming about Red Palace.

[little lost dragon]

(There was no goal, it was a window for ya to do something.)

 

Varren got the group into the safe room as soon as he was able. There he placed Avira down on a bed and sat up against the wall and took some deep breaths amazed he was still alive. He was missing a few scales, Fren was groaning a bit as she came too, Vita was looking at his arms and scanning them.

 

When she was able the first thing Fren did was double check Alina making sure every scale was in place and the hatchlings heart rate was steady. She held the hatchling against her chest in releif as the hatchling seemed to be alright.

 

((How long will your characters be out for?)

[Ryujin13]

(Avira is genetically modified so she heals at a much faster rate. She runs best on a normal nights sleep, but like a human can run on less, albeit at a lower performance level. So maybe three hours?)

 

Alina shivered and cried in Fren's arms, more frightened then ever. She wasn't even coherent anymore, she was just a wreck. Kara was dead, fuzzy was taken by the mean lady, mommy had been hurt then been really scary, and now spider things had liken and prodded them all. That wasn't even mentioning the scary tunnel with the voices and the fox lady who had yelled at her.

Everything that had been there for her since the start of her life was falling apart, and she was scared beyond measure. It was amazing that Alina even had tears to cry at this point, but cry she did, all while shivering and huddling against Fren, wishing everything would go back to normal.

 

Avira was out for another three and a half hours and even though she had the nightmares again she was at least rested when she woke up.

Her eyes blinked awake and her vision swam as she looked around the room cautiously. She didn't remember precisely what had happened, and that meant caution. Then it all came back to her and she sighed, uncurling herself and sitting up, her hand on her head.

"How long was I out?" She asked, taking a gulp of water. When given the answer she merely nodded and drank again, trying to replenish the fluids she had lost when she had thrown up.

As she was informed of the events that had befallen the group her eyes narrowed, but she didn't comment. Varren was right that she couldn't have helped of course, but she still hated that her weakness had left the group less able to defend itself. Still, her first instinct was to slap her hand to her implant and feel. Her skin was still intact which meant they probably hadn't physically accessed it, but that doesn't mean they hadn't hacked it. She checked the time and date, looking for discrepancies, but couldn't locate any obvious ones.

"Ok." She rasped before taking another drink. "Ok. So you said these things have been dangerous before?" She asked. "Fine, we assume they still are, they're just gathering intel as well. We still need to get to the library, and the easiest way to do that is to find the elevator you mentioned." She said to Varren. "Course that's easier said then done." Avira sighed and rubbed her implant, shaken up by the thought of someone or something she didn't know accessing it.

"Let's rest a bit more, discuss the plan, then get moving." She looked at Varren for his agreement, realizing once more that she was taking command. It was so natural to her that she just did it, but this wasn't her team, it was a group, and that meant she couldn't just give orders.

 

[little lost dragon]

Varren looked at her then at the others and nodded "This is not your normal team Avira, try to keep that in mind alright?" he said "Those crab things are clearly following us. Or t least there following me some how. They've chased me the entire time I've been here. Though never been caught by them till today, I just hope since they let us live, that was the last of the open hostility's, at least not attacking or following. Also another thing we-" he was cut off by Fren who was carefully holding Alina against her breasts and stroking the crying hatchling

 

"We need to try to keep Alina safe, she's tramatised right now and has had no time to grieve for her friends and things keep happening." she said firmly "She's a strong young one but she needs time to recover." she finished off saying and Varren looked at Avira then to Vita "We......" he started before shaking his head "We just don't have the.... we don't have a choice Fren, many things we find are.... unplanned, if they where planned we could help Alina not witness so much but..... there's only 4 of us here who can fight, and your still gathering your strength back." he said not getting a pleased look from Fren.