PDTS3 - R1 - Tarlia versus November

AN: November's "main manipulator" in this entry is her tongue (basically, it acts in place of a hand), seeing as she only has wings, legs, and a tail as limbs. It's split and is sort of like a tentacle. Just wanted to clear that up before you read.

The catacombs of Bardoon were stirring again. Life, something the small planet had gone quite long without, was busy burrowing its way back into the ground in the form of Para and her assistants. Bardoon, who had been quite upset at being awaken by this gang (especially when it had spent so much time evicting the previous tenants) was preparing to ignore the humans in its belly until it was promptly waken up again by an odd, mishmash group of semi-mercenaries. With a grumble, it woke up fully and started to go to work. The catacombs, which had been sealed off for a millennia, started to shift and weaken as they were once again exposed to the upper elements. Water flowed where it had previously not been, caverns were created and collapsed, and tunnels shifted and shook.

November the Egeilian was walking down one of these very tunnels, feeling very sorry for herself. While she didn’t necessarily mind being underground – in fact, her species originally roosted high in the arctic mountain caves – being completely in the dark, with thousands upon thousands of pounds of dirt above her, walking through unsupported tunnels that could possibly fall at any moment wasn’t necessarily her idea of “fun”.

Not to mention, Para had been there for far longer then they had. She would have had plenty of time to set up any tricks or traps for any following parties. In November’s mind, it was a miracle that they had survived for that long. Which just means that something is more likely to happen sooner, she thought glumly.

Far worse than any of that, though, was Tarlia.

Somewhere far behind her, she heard the frantic, high-pitched sobbing of Tarlia. Another unpleasant surprise of the partnership was that she discovered that “Tarlia” – currently called Hinaz, as long as sobbing was audible – had multiple personalities, all with different names. Disappointingly, the only other one she seemed to have was a whining, clingy child with abandonment issues.

“Pathetic,” November muttered under her breath, cringing as Hinaz/Tarlia cried once again. Perhaps one of Para’s henchmen will follow the sound and finish her off, she thought wishfully. November knew that it was bad to hope for a teammate’s death, or to even abandon a teammate – after all, even with personality issues, they could be of use in a fight – but she had made an exception in the face of Hinaz.

 It was a wonder that Ollivander had managed keep sane while collecting this freak show. If she were in his position, she would have thrown the entire ship right into a convenient star long ago.  She sighed.

Choosing to ignore the human, she continued walking down the small tunnel alone. The only sound, besides the frantic sobbing fading into the distance, was the clicking of her talons on the rock floor and her breath.  

The only variation in the tunnel she currently found herself in was a couple of mushrooms and some miscellaneous plant life. The Egeilian had already studied them, and she had came to the conclusion that nothing in particular was special about them besides the fact they seemed to survive in a completely dry environment. She took to ignoring the small life forms.

November had made it quite far when, suddenly, all was silent. Perhaps some monster finally got her. It didn’t really matter what had happened to the human, though, as the Egeilian was too far away for her to track down. As long as she was quiet. Spirits lifting slightly, she smiled, an extra spring in her step. Now that she could think clearly in the silenc-

Suddenly, a deep rumbling echoed throughout the tunnels. Loose dirt from the ceiling gently floated down, shaken loose by the earthquake. November slowly turned around towards the source of the sound, her heart sinking to the floor.  Oh shit. Oh, shit. The Egeilian knew precisely what was happening. The rumbling developed into a roar. Her eyes widened in fear, and she turned around and started to run, feet splashing in the puddles that dotted the floor.

Something wet gently tickled November’s forehead.

Water was everywhere. The sound of steady droplets filled in the otherwise silent scene as they slowly trickled off of every available surface, forming small pools in the floor. Small waterfalls crashed to the rocky floor, disappearing into the darkness far above. Elsewhere, miniature streams drained further into the planet. Pieces of rock and vegetation were scattered among the dirt, and they released a gentle yet persistent odour that wasn’t necessarily pleasant.

Amidst the liquid, a half-drowned and moody Egeilian slowly came to.  Well, slowly for her, at least.

Her head suddenly snapped up, eyes wide and breathing heavily. Legs flailed faster than a kangaroo in a kicking match, and wings buffeted at an invisible enemy.

Water! Flood! Fly away, fly away! 

Then her conscious caught up to her subconscious, picked it up by the collar of its shirt, and slapped it three times for good measure.

November closed her eyes and focused on slowing her breathing. Panic, while it wasn’t quite a stranger, didn’t visit November often, and she found the feeling to be quite worrying.

Once she had achieved peace with her instincts, she massaged her temples with her tongue and began to turn her focus to the matter at hand.

What in hell just happened? Well, whatever it was, it definitely had something to do with water. It was everywhere and on everything, including all across her new suit. And from the looks of it, it seemed lucky that she hadn’t drowned.

But a flood? Here on Arerin? That doesn’t make sense. The technology for mining is impeccable. A flood like this is unheard of. It must have been Para.

She paused. Para. Para. Why is that name so familiar? She racked her memory. Realization dawned upon her, dragging back up both memories and several emotions from wherever they had disappeared from.  She remembered DreamState, and political mess back at home, as well as something called the Gallows project. And Olliva…ollive… olive? What did an olive, a human food, have to do with all of this?

November’s lack of memory frightened her. While small lapses in thought could cause a temporary loss, a little spring-cleaning easily brought them up again. After all, one does not become a walking encyclopaedia by forgetting everything immediately after they learn it. But even more worryingly was that this was an event, and not just a trivial fact. A major event, from the looks of it. This was incredibly uncharacteristic of her.

Another earth tremble brought her back to her senses. Far away in the darkness, through rock walls, another tunnel collapsed. “Well, first thing is first,” she said to no one in particular. No matter how important this Para person was, her own safety was more important. Regrouping back at the surface of this planet would be her best course of action. November made a mental note to give whoever planned this mission an earful. And then I’ll have to give Eos hell for letting someone else other than me plan out this mission. The goal gave her a bit more energy, and she set off into the darkness, following a tunnel that sloped upwards the most.

***************

Tricky gritted her teeth once more in an effort to fend off her two counterparts. Usually it wouldn’t be such a chore; however, the complete and utter silence she now found herself in forced her two roommates to divert their full attentions towards Tricky and her thoughts. Vixen, of course, was clamouring on about demons and how they were responsible for the cave-ins, and wouldn’t it just be better to kill them all now to stop the problem? Hinaz was predictably crying about how they would be left alone again, except this time it would be permanent. Tricky was simply determined to survive. One thing, however, unified the trio – the need, the drive to get revenge on Para was almost suffocating, and managed to unify the three enough to make the attempts at control mediocre at best.

She just wished they didn’t have to be so vocal about it.

A slight vibration from her hip surprised her out of her inner conflict. Curious, she picked the device up.

Bzzztt….lost..cave-ins…. Treat everyone as enem…Para…limited contact OUT.

What in the world was this? Tricky didn’t recall there being other people on the lookout for Para. As far as she knew, she was the only one hunting her.

And what was this device? How did she get it?

After a few moments of regarding the strange device, she shrugged and dropped it on the ground. Other people didn’t matter – the only thing that did was finding Para, and she didn’t need any more technology for that other than her pistol. Besides, the light and sound from it would attract unwanted attention.

She looked up idly from the device, expecting to see the bland, featureless ceiling, when with a start she realized she had exited the tunnel. Blackness surrounded her. Risking a bit more light, she illuminated her surroundings.

The room was huge; there was no doubt about that. Ancient pillars, showing signs that time had almost gotten the upper hand, served as support for the ceiling. The floor was covered in some sort of thick hay of unknown purpose. Some liquid, most likely water, seemed to be scattered across the room. Little bones, the meat long gone, were piled around the pillars.

Impressive, but let’s not stop for the sights. They had a goal.

She was about to start walking across the room when she suddenly heard murmurs coming down the tunnel opposite to hers. She thought back to the message, and smiled. I suppose revenge will begin a little bit early. The half-elf turned off her light and melted into the shadows.

The Egeilian suddenly and inexplicably stopped dead, the catacombs once again filled with silence. At first she wasn’t so sure why – after all, what did she have to fear – until she felt a dull, nervous twist in her upper stomach, a feeling that she was actually quite familiar with. It was the feeling of being watched. November nervously narrowed her eyes and dimmed her light. Where on Arerin is this coming from, and why now? She dropped closer to the ground and gave a quick peek ahead. Her light was eaten by darkness. Ah, a cavern. But what is up there? She supposed it could be a smallish creature, something that could survive on the hardy vegetation that survived down here. Or perhaps it was more like a mole, eating insects that thrived in the dirt walls. But I wouldn’t be feeling this apprehension if it were one of those things. Perhaps, she though more darkly, it is one of Para’s henchmen? That was far more likely, and she cursed her carelessness.

She crouched low to the ground, turning her legs into loaded springs, and cautiously inched forward. She extended her flashlight beyond the edge of the slope, and-

BAM!

A bright flash unexpectedly blinded November, and she scurried backwards as fast as she could go. A smoking hole was what was left of the rock that got hit by the projectile. 

Damn it all! she cursed. This was certainly no mole. This was someone that had to be dealt with, and dealt with immediately. She took quick stock of what she had to use. A U77L pistol, a longknife, some gun powder, and some miniature bombs. Not much to go on. A gun probably wasn’t of much use against an opponent that could vaporize rocks. A knife, even more useless, unless she could get up close. 

 But what else do I have? She quickly glanced around. Her eyes landed on the slightly-melted-but-otherwise-in-working-order flashlight, and she smiled.

*************** 

There was no movement from the tunnel after the first shot. Damn, I missed, Tricky thought. She aimed her gun back at the opening of the tunnel, prepared to fire immediately at whatever decided to come through.

In fact, she was growing bored of waiting there. Perhaps if she moved a bit closer, she would be able to see over the inclin-

LIGHT! LIGHT! LIGHT! TOO MUCH LIGHT!

Tarlia screeched and immediately covered her eyes with her hands, the pistol dropping to the floor. The impossibly bright white light seared her eyes, and the half-elf stumbled backwards into a pillar in an attempt to hide. Still closed tightly, she ducked around to the other side for protection.

November, meanwhile, didn’t wait for a moment. As soon as she had thrown her floodlight on full power, she leaped out of the cavern and took to the air. The light was held securely in one talon.

Originally, the plan had been to take to the skies, using the light to continuously blind the opponent and to hide herself in the process. However, what she didn’t count on was the light swinging around to create dizzying shadows. The Egeilian also instinctively closed her own eyes, which turned out to not be such a great idea, as she slammed headfirst into one of the pillars. An unbecoming squawk came out of her mouth, and she fell straight down to the ground.

Tarlia, fortunately, still hadn’t fully recovered from the blast of light. Both of them reeled on the ground like drunkards searching for their lost keys in the dark.

It didn’t last very long, however.

November was the first to recover, spinning around as she blinked the sunspots out of her eyes. Spotting her gun, she lunged towards the ground and scooped it up with her tongue. Turning around, she quickly fired off three blind shots. But when she looked up, Tarlia was gone.

She suddenly had a sinking feeling. It would be almost impossible to see a white rabbit wearing a top hat in the pure black shadows, much less a trained mercenary.

A small noise came from behind her back.

Without looking, November propelled herself straight up in the air with a mighty flap of her wings. Dust and hay were thrown up in the air. She flew straight towards the only cover in this cavern, a crumbling pillar, and she managed to find enough purchase to attach herself to it. She manoeuvred around the pillar, using it as a temporary shield between her and the mysterious enemy.

The flaming hole that appeared just where she had been standing was a sign that she had guessed correctly.

Tarlia, on the other hand, was disappointed in herself. She prided herself in her ability to hit almost anything, moving target or no. However, when this… this monster had jumped up and actually flew over to the pillar, she had been caught off guard and failed to hit her mark. She had no more time to reflect on the anomaly, though, as three more shots came speeding towards her out of the darkness.

Tarlia dropped down low to ground, out of the light’s path, and rolled around behind the pillar opposite of November’s. She paused slightly, taking the time to regain her breath and restore her vision. A few more shots came from high up, but they slowly died down. Silence. Then, movement. 

Tarlia quickly swung to the edge of the pillar, and saw a seemingly tiny clawed foot peek out from above. Before she could observe it, it tossed a round object towards her.

She shot it.

The resulting explosion blew apart the pillar November was perched on. A great ball of fire rose up into the air, causing a heat wave to spread across the room. Pieces of debris fell to the floor with a thump, shaking the very floor. 

November fell, dazed, to the floor. Her sensitive ears were ringing, and she was pretty sure that the tips of her wings were singed. Still, survival pressed at her, and she stood up as quickly as she could.  She whipped her head around, and pointed her gun at Tarlia. Or more specifically, the open barrel of Tarlia’s laser pistol.

Both of them stood with their guns pointed at one another, eying each other warily. Neither of them fired off a shot.

It was with dull surprise that November noted that her opponent was a human. Why would Para employ a human when she had so many other creations in her service? Tricky was thinking a similar thing – why would a winged dragon be employed in an underground environment?

But neither of them said a word. The standoff seemed to last forever, guns pointed unwaveringly at their respective opponent. It was almost as if they were frozen in time.

Then the clicking started.

It happened slowly, quietly, at the very edge of human or Egeilian perception. But it steadily grew larger and louder until the air was positively vibrating with it. November kept her eyes on Tarlia’s, struggling to fight her curiosity.

Tarlia, however, was struggling with something altogether more difficult. Muscles along her arm twitched, and it was soon shaking ever so slightly. Sweat started to pour down her forehead. Her eyes grew wilder, and her breathing quickened.

Then Tricky, exhausted from the fight, the collapse of the tunnel, and from the effort at keeping Hinaz at bay relinquished her control to Vixen.

“Demons! DEMONS! DEMONS EVERYWHERE!” Vixen shrieked suddenly. Her entire body whipped around, first shooting at the ceiling, then the floor, then at the pillar, then at the wall. She spun around furiously, an almost angry expression taking over her previous calm demeanour.

November, surprised at the sudden ferocity of her assailant, decided to jump back quickly to hide behind a pillar. Vixen was dangerous, firing at random, and there was no predicting when she would redirect her attention back to the Egeilian. She needn’t had worried - Vixen didn’t notice her at all. The “demons”, the clicking noise was driving her crazy.

Unnoticed by both human and Egeilian went a single bit of hot residue from the laser pistol. It lazily floated downwards, going this way and that before finally alighting on the liquid that soaked some of the hay. 

That single little bit of residue lit up half of the floor in flame. The fire rose up hungrily and spread quickly, licking and eating all the oil and hay that was in its path. The pillars also were consumed by flame, causing the temperature in the room significantly.

Vixen shrieked in surprise and leaped back towards the untouched wall, eyebrows singed ever so slightly. The shock gave Tricky a chance to return to control, and she did so. Suddenly serious once more, the rogue-like half-elf turned around, seeking the cool sanctuary of the tunnel. The only problem was that that too was now surrounded by flame, making it impassable unless you wanted to come out well-done.

November, by this time, had decided that enough was enough. The air, now thick with smoke, made breathing near impossible, and the shimmering air and unbearable heat meant that she would be cooked within minutes. She turned around back towards her opening. The only problem was, Tricky also had the same idea.

The two glanced at each other. No words needed to be said. They both started to run.

Tricky was faster and closer.

November had a hand-bomb.

The resulting explosion shook the entire room. The pillars, or what was left of them, crashed down upon the blazing floor below, their service finally paid. November propelled herself over the fallen pillar and into the cool tunnel hole with a flap of her wings, just making it over and out before the opening was consumed by flame.

The Egeilian got up and dusted herself off. Not too shabby, November, she told herself.  She looked up and around, taking note of the structure of the tunnel. It should hold up.

As she was observing the tunnel entrance, she once again heard that strange clicking noise. Her curiosity reignited, November tried to find the source of the strange sound that had made Tarlia so crazy. It didn’t take long. Within seconds, a pure white scorpion, no larger than her long toe, burrowed its way out of the hot tunnel wall. It fell to the ground with a small “plunk!” and started to make its way across the floor, its tiny legs making a distinct clicking noise as it did so. Hm. Must have been a whole nest up in there. November watched it for a couple more seconds, then shrugged and turned away. It wasn’t so different from her homeland on Arerin.

 The heat becoming a problem even at this distance, she distanced herself some more from the oven and turned back. Well, that’s my way back. I suppose I’ll just have to wait until the fire runs out of fuel. With that thought, she settled down in the tunnel, prepared to wait for however long it took. 

As soon as that thought formed in her brain, a rumbling noise could be heard. The ceiling of the ancient tunnel, weakened from age, the lack of pillar support, the flood, and the fire decided that this was its time for retirement, and it came crashing down upon the inferno.

In face of this new development, November just sighed. By this time, you would think that she would know not to think those treacherous thoughts. She went up carefully to the opening of the tunnel, feeling ever so slightly optimistic. There was no point, though – everything was completely buried, and it was a lost case to try and get through there. She shook her head, disappointed.

The Egeilian turned around back where she came from as she descended deeper and deeper into the catacombs of Bardoon.