SoS B1 C5 X7: Back Aboard
Dmitri hauled ass, pulling to the head of the pack with sprint. Laemon pulled ahead next, boots crunching gravel, breath high-pitched and panicked, jacket flapping with the wind of his own movement. He was hot on Dmitri's heels, and oblivious to Immuena keeling face first into the gravel behind him. She didn't make a sound, merely toppled over as a rail tie caught her boot and overbalanced her.
Allarah watched Immuena out of the corner of her eye, but Immuena wasn’t who she saw. Faravel laid there lifeless, and it only took her a moment to act. She cast out with her vectors and picked up his limp and lifeless body. She wouldn’t leave him in the dark. Not again… Never again.
"Thank you so much! I can run again now that I'm up." Immuena gasped in the chilling air. Allarah ignored the comment. The dead didn’t speak… Tskhan continued running, keeping pace with Allarah
A cold wind erupted from behind the party, whipping at their clothing and lashing at their faces. They could actually feel the air pressure dropping, condensation collecting upon and freezing to their faces. Whatever distant hulking form that monster was had blocked out the light at the other end of Vien, and they could feel the heartbeat-throb of thundering footsteps rumbling through the ground, approaching slowly from behind.
The breeze changed direction, and lashed at their faces now. They fought against it, heads bowed against the increasing gale. It made the end of the tunnel seem so far.
It felt like the sucking of a breath.
And then the air broke with a shriek that was utterly warping in its nature and scale. No description could do the sound justice, except perhaps to say that it sounded like the collective cry of the damned of hell arriving for war.
A bright coruscating glow filled the tunnel as Vien returned to unlife. Later, the crew still aboard the Trundler would tell them that it looked like thousands of ghosts had manifest at once, so numerous and powerful that they kept leaching each other in and out of existence.
The temperature was plummeting, faster and faster.
Sunlight broke over the party as they reached the tunnel just as the ghosts fell upon them. The ghosts burst in the sunlight, some managing to cross four or five meters before dissolving.
"Get on! Get on!" Dimmu yelled, throwing open the door of the Trundler and beckoning everyone aboard. The engines were firing, and several crew members stood on the rails, guns aimed to take shots at any ghosts who got close to the trundler.
Allarah stumbled aboard and set, who she now knew was Immuena, down out of the way of everyone else clamoring on. When everyone was in she hit the intercom. "Pull us out. And Narissa, when we are away from Vien, I need to speak with you." She leaned heavily against the wall and willed her mind to settle.
Tskhan jumped onto the rail on the on the drivers side on the Trundler. Clunk clunk, he slapped the hood "Let's get out of here."
"I'm going to go lie down." Immuena propped herself up, and found a way to her bed.
"Eh, Immuena... Not that I mind too terribly, but it's day shift. I can take things for a few hours, but not much longer." Allarah called gently.
"Crap-- Sorry! I forgot. Let me go grab some coffee. You have your hands full, so I'll take care of my shift." Immuena followed up mumbling about getting some warmth in her iced body with a happier tone.
Allarah nodded then thumped her head on the wall behind her. "Come here a sec and let me see that arm."
"Later. Attend to the others first." she didn't give much time for a reply as the Trundler doors shut behind her.
Allarah sighed and pushed off the wall. "Anyone bleeding, meet me in the comfort car. I'll see what I can do. Synna, you're first. Let's go."
After they took their leave, Tskhan wandered around looking for Immuena while she was on patrol. Since he hadn't been much help to her during the last mission he could at least assist her during patrol while she recovered. He found her in the amenities car. Immuena was checking in on who was dispensing food, more to get sustenance than for her patrol.
Tskhan entered the amenities car and saw Immuena standing in a corner nursing her mug of coffee. He approached her and nervously began chatting her up. "Hey, how are you? Looks like you’re doing better."
"Not really. But work's work. How about you? Holding up?" she blew on her coffee and took another sip.
"Probably as well as you." Tskhan walked over to the to the refreshment station and poured himself a mug of coffee. "Do you want talk about it?"
She took a deep breath and sighed out a "No... I... there isn't anything I can say. Thinking about it makes my head burn." Looking up at him, "Sorry... just stay close to me, I'd really like that."
"Oh, sure." Tskhan nervously pulled his mug to take a sip. "Do you want to sit down or do you have somewhere you need to be?"
"I have to patrol, but I wouldn't mind company."
"Okay. Whenever you're ready.
It was messy work. The cut wasn't deep, but it was ambitious, and the wound wept blood faster than Allarah could bandage it. Blood stained the Faeo's clothes as she worked, but given that she'd torn the sleeves off already she didn't much mind.
She cleaned the wound and smeared medi-gel in it to stop the bleeding, disinfect it, and set it on the path to healing. Given a day, if that, and the wound would be right as rain.
Narissa stood by the door, arms crossed. A cigarette burned in her mouth. "Do you wanna talk about it now, or on your shift?"
Allarah nodded to Synna, gesturing her to leave as gently as she could after playing the part of an amateur surgeon. Wiping, more smearing, the blood from her hands onto a rag, she stood to greet Narissa. "Now is more appropriate. It would be disrespectful to you, him, and Ijin if I made you wait." Try as she might, she didn't know what face to make. She couldn't form the picture clearly in her mind. In fact, everything felt fuzzy. She settled on keeping her face steady.
"Vannik is dead." The words burned. "When the lights came on, the beasts began pouring out of their cracks. Worried we might not reach the others in time, I asked Ijin how far we were from them. At that moment, she and Vannik both were exposed to the auric band. Synna was able to wash Ijin clean of it, but Immuena... No one in her group knew what was happening to him. Try as we might, we didn't make it in time." She gripped the table a moment to steady herself.
"I don't know what he saw, but it tore his mind apart. Immuena tried to stop him, but he- Vannik, took his own life. Ijin-" Her voice broke and she sat heavily into one of the table's chairs. "Ijin saw the whole thing." She stayed where she was unable to find the will to stand again. "I am to blame for his death and her pain. If I hadn't asked her to check for him, he would still be alive."
"She's a Venuan, they both were. With or without you asking they would have sought each other. Few things can affect a Venuan's connection. It's not like you could've known, hun."
The older woman rest her hand on Allarah's shoulder. "I am one hundred years old. I'm not going to tell you that the pain will ever go away, it shouldn't, but you can't invite it upon yourself either. You could have chosen to not have gone any further, which is probably what I would have done, but instead you kept going. You risked yourself, Synna, and Ijin, but in doing so you might have narrowed four deaths down to one. Let's be careful about the Div bands from now on, though, looks like we want to keep our heads down."
She tapped out her cigarette and flicked it out the window. They were leaving the grey, dead countryside behind for plains. "We're gonna be stuck out in the plains tonight if we keep going. Do we want that?"
"We are far enough away from that mess. Whatever the hell that thing was that chased us out will have a long run. We should park and charge." Allarah gripped the hand on her shoulder a moment. "How is Ijin? I can't imagine well. I know her pain. I lost my man 25 years ago and it still hurts." She looked to Narissa. "I want to help her... I'm useless as I am now, but... If she wants, I am always free to talk. I would let her know now, but I fear I won't even make it to the shower." She let go of Narissa's hand with a small grin and glanced at her own.
Dried and fresh blood coated them and drew her eye along the puckered skin of her scarred arm. Her mind slipped only a moment before returning. She pushed herself up, using the edge of the table. "I should clean this..." her head lulled as she leaned to look at the bloodied table top. Shaking her head she looked to Narissa. "I'm a bit more tired than I thought. Could you do me a favor and send Lyshjo to collect me? I'd rather not fall over the railing on the walk back." Allarah walked to the showers opening and stopped, looking back at Narissa. "I didn't really know Vannik, but I wish I'd had the chance. He seemed a good man. I hope he finds peace within the wheel. And... Thank you Narissa. This mustn't be easy for you."
"He was a good man," she agreed. "Shower. I'll send Lysjho along and I'll cover your shift today if you'll let me." She didn't give any room for an affirmation or a denial before leaving the car.
The shower was warm at best, and obviously meant for someone a good head or so shorter than herself, but refreshing after all the exertion and bloodshed. Partway through she heard the cart door open and close, and a black-furred hand with gilded nails peeping from the fingertips placed a couple towels atop the stall wall.
Lysjho sat patiently and read the trundler manual, and when Allarah left the shower offered to "carry you if you need, your muscles must be dead."
She shook her head and tossed her arm over his shoulder while pulling his around her waist. "This is all I really need. How will I demand respect if I can't walk for myself?" She leaned into him a moment and turned to hug him. He was warm, and smelled pleasant. "Ahhhh..." she sighed wistfully, "I could sleep like this." She made no motion to move, but rested her head against him for a time before speaking again.
"I don't have the words to explain how nice it is to touch another person. Not casually, like shaking a hand, or patting a shoulder, but to actually hold someone. It's just... To feel them breathe and hear their heart, to feel that they are alive is comforting." She fell quiet once more, lost in thought. After another long moment, she leaned back. "Sorry to force this on you. It's just... I really needed it."
Lysjho nodded and made a low, a bass-laden purr deep in his chest. "Not at all," he murmured. "Skinship is important, and something too many cultures spurn. Yours in particular denies it, does it not? It's curious that you have the carriage and appearance of one of the Haimarchy, yet are also so drastically different." He chuckled. "Conversations for another time, though, you need rest, and you need to dream." He didn't release her, despite telling her to go rest. Instead he held her closer, and continued to purr.
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