The snowy mist hangs over the landscape, the muffled pitter-patter of trenching snow follows Dealix and Chandra through the night. Being led to a destination
"unknown". Dealix had answered Chandra as they sprint through the thick sleeted snow.
"Are we getting close at all!?"
"Not yet!, I'll know for sure once it happens!"
Muffled voices trying to skewer the density.
{●}
Vem, tucked away into a house, sits in the corner, making shift draperies covering the windows, obscuring the vision of the fire he put together from paper left over from the rubble. Hands hovering the flame to bite off the cold.
"Going to stay here for the night." Mutters to himself.
we've been told to believe in these things he thought. Staring at the open flame. The breeze hits the window, whistling through its frame and passing through the makeshift curtain then into Vem's ears.
they'll find you soon, you need to run, a faint inner voice tells him.
With a sudden impulse Vem shoots up, the fire flickering.
stay there.. another voice pleads for concern.
Vem's legs goose-bumped, he takes a look outside seeing guards patrolling the streets. He closes the blinds. Looking at the fire and smothering it, however, keeping items he warmed up to help him stay a little comfortable in case he needs to go outside.
He then shuffles towards the windowed wall, pressing his ear firmly against it. Giving himself space between the peering window.
Muffle voices start.
"One of our 'men' saw an individual over here.."
"Think they made it into these houses?"
Vem's heart started to race.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Think we should search the house?"
"We did get those orders…"
"Yeah, but we've been searching for a long time and haven't found anything in these newly builts."
"Yeah, we should follow the orders given to us. This is the last house - not to mention the anonymous Tipper. "
Vem's heart drops.
someone's been watching…
unless if its a ploy
"I'll take the front, you take the back."
Shit. Vem lifts his head up from the wall. Swiftly making his way towards an attic in the upstairs hallway. The faint voices of the soldiers approach both sides of the building.
Once they arrive at their positions they pattern the knocks. Giving signals to each other that they're ready.
With quick movement and years of getting into messes, Vem reached for the attic latch, pulling both the hatch and stairs with one swoop.
The knocking continues throughout the bottom section of the house, as the loudest thud reaches the living room. Vem's foot stops the ladder from blooming, however it still makes a slight sound along with the stinging pain of the drop.
A series of knocks, a pattern of what could be boots hitting the floor. Meeting each other on the stairs leading to the second floor.
Silence.
Then footsteps slowly inching up, Vems ears correlate, noticing only one pair.
Where's the other? he thought. Climbing up the ladder, the footsteps sluggishly reaching its point.
The guard's helmet glimpses at the stair rail.
Vem grabs the ladder and yanks it up, just in unison of the guards head that peaked across the stair rail. Their torso becomes visible, the patroller reaches the railing for stability and the attic hatch tightly closes.
{●}
Octavia slides into cover within the house that the guards bashed into for 'investigation'.
what are they up to..? sliding into another part of the house, skillfully maneuvering around the guards' commotions.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in.."
Octavia's body jumped, her heart dropped. ah, shit she thought.
The guards' sword swooshes down with an arc - Octavia's' practice at play, she dodges it.
Thud. The sword hits the counter top, It wedges into the fine material.
Octavia brings her stretched palm to the soldier's equipped grasped hand. The guardsmen yelps as he cradles his wrist, within this moment. She puts all her force into one kick - with her surprise the man flies backward hitting the wall.
The thud of the wall was the final sound that brought another guard rushing over. Octavia does a quick glance. Yanking the splintered sword out from the counter-top, gripping it tightly.
feels like the one back home.
Screams seep from up the top floor, aching her ears from the tone. Octavia's face morphed to a worsening scowl.
"What the Aiel are you doing to these people-" she spouted as the second guard blitzed.
Swords clashed. - more screams can be heard up top.
"You guys are sure to resign after this!" She gives a spark of humor with another clang.
The guard laying on the floor shuffles up, regaining their balance.
Another scream for help reaches Octavia.
shit.
She dashes to the guard struggling to get up having the other follow suit, Octavia dips down and to the side as the partner guard pierces forward.
His sword connects to their partners back. With a holler and the guardsmen's failed swing, she takes advantage. Kicking the mans' rib-cage with a grunt, it breaks.
Screaming proceeds, but this time its the guards'. The guard that got stabbed in the back is pinned to the floor, yet is still pulling himself up with an intense struggle.
"Damn…" Octavia admires the dedication, yet a thought lingers on how?
She snaps out of it and takes this time to haul ass up stairs, shaving off time by running up the flight of stairs by quick movements and agility. Implanting her feet and leaping towards the railing, grabbing onto the top.
Screaming persists. Octavia worries grow, but hustles up the rails finding the door to the source of the blood curdles.
She rushes towards the door hearing panic muffled voices beyond it.
Octavia tightens her leg muscles and gives the door a tight kick.
The door flies open, the screaming halts.
Octavia's eyes only see a dark shadowed room... with curiosity she steps in, her guard still in motion.
{●}
The muffled voices within the snowy field burst out of the mist.
"Here!"
"Where?!"
Dealix grips Chandra's hand, leading her towards the direction that has been flashed within his mind.
"Over this way!"
The cold snowy mist acts like needles to the two sprinting, the snow weighing heavily upon the twos' feet. Working every fiber of their muscles.
I'm getting tired, but we can't stop now. We're so close, Dealix thought.
Suddenly the weight and working of their muscles relaxes.
They look at each other with bewilderment and stoicism. "Are you having the same feeling as I'm getting?" Chandra questions.
"Yeah.." he confirms
"Would this be a possible time to assume that we're getting close to our destination?"
"Well, those flashes didn't exactly tell me of this, over this way"
The discussion continues as they do a sharp turn, their legs feeling of slight vibrations. Overcoming the senses of pain as quickly as it arrived.
"How well do you know this area?!"
"Not at all!"
"Well that's reassuring, now isn't it!"
Dealix lets go of Chandra's hand, giving her a signal to 'dip and slide'. They pass underneath a large fallen tree, sliding down some rough patches. Lix (Dealix) does his best to avoid the tree debris and uproots. Chandra swiftly avoids them with ease, yet slows down to match Lix.
With a turn of the head to confirm that Chandra is doing well, Dealix's foot snags on a piece, tumbling down the hill into the snowy blanketed night.
"Dealix!" Chandra yells out, pausing in her tracks getting one final glimpse of Dealix tumbling before vanishing.
{●}
The undercover guard zips across the snowy field, luckily he had training requirements in this sort of environment along with a set of other guards that accompanied him during the training process.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
With the cover of trees on his side, he had the advantage. Although keeping in mind not to over or underestimate his opponents.
"I heard your sword clank off in the distance, think you're gonna be able to fight me with nothing but your hands?!" He mused with a slight tint of taunting seeing if the "U.C" (under cover.) Agent will fall for the passive.
Silence.
"Come on, then!?" He tries again, but another wave of silence follows right after. The guard trenching through the snow, Digging and scavenging through the blanketed white to locate the agent's sword.
He wont find that sword the agent wishfully thought.
U.C.A moved once more, dodging patches of snow that could announce his location to the other. With an alienated flash of a "memory" he gets an idea to ball some snow and chuck it at a tree near the hill.
The other guard snaps his neck towards the sound, his grip tightens on the sword. Yet skeptical of closing any distance.
come on.. he throws another snowball up in the air than another near the same spot. Causing a ripple of noises.
Splosh, splosh.
"You think you're clever?!" Getting flustered by the sudden noises back to back.
The guard inches closer to the spot. His grip is getting tighter and tighter on the handle. This wouldn't be so bad if it were day time..
Just a little more.. the feeling of time slows dramatically as he picks up a rock then chucks it.
His heart beats. Thinking that this is all or nothing for whatever flash of thought that occurred.
Thud, the rock makes contact with the tree, the branches dance with excitement and shiver down snow flopping down below.
"Got you.." the other guard believes. He follows the trail, taking a moment to look back at the carrier to see if they've moved the girl or not.
Nothing, so he continues to pursue the U.C.A as he reaches the tree. Rapid crunching sounds of snow catches him off pairing with grunts and screams of both kinds. The sound of another person catches both the U.C.A and the guard to a shock.
Here comes the boy tumbling down, knocking into a tree then onto the guard. Laying him flat on the ground, his armor weighing him even more so, the snow filling in empty spaces of armor and into his helmet.
He scuffs and grunts. Trying to yell at the now unconscious person. The trained U.C.A reacts, moving through the snow, taking the guards sword as his own now. Then yanking the person off the guard.
"It's a good thing you're asleep for this." He speaks to the sleeping boy, stabbing the guard's sword into the corrupted soldier. Muffled pains of yelps and grunts could slightly be heard from within the carrier.
The doctor perks their head up, eyeing the iron door. Squinting their eyes, debating whether or not to drift from the plan or to check on their soldier. He looks down at
"The gate.. or.." looking at the iron door. Takes a moment and follows the orders given to him by Sam.
U.C.A picks up the sleeping boy and hauls off with him, sword in hand. Having premonitions with the flashing "memory" in thought.
"Was it you that did that..?" He murmurs to himself.
"A gate?" He questioned what he overheard. Dashing into the dark snow, with another thought lingering about the events that unfolded piecing together what could or could not be.
{●}
Chandra dashing down the hill after Dealix, hoping to see him still breathing.
"He's a tough cookie when he can be. You better be fine…Dealix" Quietly speaking to herself, huffing within every pause. She spots blood going down the hill. this isn't good..
She sees more, then some ripped fabric. Making her believe that they went the wrong direction, however another thought invades her mind. Picturing a hazy figure laying on the ground next to two others..
This again? she pushes through the thought right in time to dodge the same fate of tumbling down the hill.
She slides finishing the hill, getting up with the other leg and leaps towards a nearby tree, stopping her momentum. Snow truffles down, coating her jacket, and head.
She leans over, making sure she doesn't fall flat. She uses the tree as support. Her eyes met a shiny figure, Their armor glistened with the moon light. With shimmering red laid across the thick blanketed snow.
what the hell…
Crunch. The snow goes as she steps out from the tree, a cloudless sky dances with the shimmering armor and red. Then came an intruding light, she jolted her glance toward it.
one of those carriers. she goes back into hiding, crouching behind the tree to avoid any contact. While still eyeing the door. Seeing an individual carrying another.. a flash of idea, her vision narrows seeing details she couldn't before. Like a magnifying glass piece.
" A Girl?" She slipped, but luckily the individual did not notice her sprouting words.
"So you failed." They said seeing the dead guard laying on the floor. "This causes many problems for us.." with a sigh she turns to the house and heads in, the door opening what it seemed like by itself, but an arm comes into view.
She squints more, seeing a tiny marking on the wrist, barely noticeable in fact Chandra would have missed it if she didn't have whatever this was.
The two talk for a bit, the one holder looking down at the dangling individual within segments of discussion.
"Where's the other one?"
"Inside the room, they've been hitting peaks.."
"Must be her."
"Or both." The one inside shook his head. "Well, let's get to it."
Chandra waits until the door has closed behind them and dashes towards the body. Seeing this armor reminds her of the other guards, but this one is different. a bit more advanced..
She scuffs snow off the armor plating seeing engravings that she never saw before. With the thought about the marking she saw on the wrist. She yanks the dead guard's arm. Sorry.. She thinks about the weight of the situation.
I can't believe this shit is happening, She bewildered the events and her actions. Uncuffing the man's gauntlet, twisting his arm. It releases steam as she slowly takes it off.
Seeing puncture wounds as the gauntlet uncovers the arm. She gasps, her breath leaving her lungs, getting the sense of it all, she pushes through it.
"There it is… The marking" she places her palm against her mouth. Tightening her eyes, doing her best to let go of the feelings at hand. "There's no time for that."
"Not in this situation, I need to find Dealix, wherever he might be now. At least I hope he didn't share the same outcome as this guard." She gets up, eyeing the iron doors of the carrier. I wonder what's in there..that's pushing my luck a bit.. I'll have to wait.
Chandra does a quick turn around seeing snow prints leading off in the opposite direction.
Before she makes the move of following the tracks, she turns to the guard, turns to the house, and then looks at her feet. This will cause a problem for future me, I'm great when it comes to tracking, but covering my own..
"I'll have to at least try." She begins her plan.
{●}
Within the house, unaware of Chandra's presence.
The medicalist and the driver lay down the milky eyed girl, pairing to another individual who has the same eyes.
"Now, you two are going to be doing something for us. We can call it a game if it helps you get into space." The doctor says, turning on heaters facing away from them. Towards the door, the walls, and even the windows, Making a circle around the four.
"What I want you two to do.." she turns to the driver and nods. The driver reacts by grabbing pieces of different material walls, placing them at the heaters, matching the circle.
However the padding on the material is facing towards them instead of outwards like the heaters.
"Grab each other's hands, and lay down. -"The girl is reluctant and so is the other individual. "I need you two to work for me here. This is very important." They continue to ignore the medicalist. She turns to his partner again and gives him a hand gesture.
They grab appliances that were stashed on the floor. An extra pair of those syringes with different toned liquid.
Driver goes over to the both of them, the individual tries to shoo him off, but their body is sluggish. The girl tries to stop them as well, but her weight is TONS as well.
Please.. she thought to herself. Finally a thought formed other than nothing, the medicialist injected her with the serum. Anything, anyone! her thoughts become more tense. The feeling in her chest tightens. Wanting to lash out, but can't.
The driver injects the boy. He wants to scream, but can't; it's like he's in a thousand different dazes.
She reacts, her milky eyes roll back, the surrounding area jolts with a sudden snap of cold. "It's happening!" The doctor yells, the heaters buzz rise within fluctuations of cold fronts. Getting louder as her eyes start to rapidly shake, with sudden freezes
"Get the pen and paper! New information is being given to us!" She hurries the driver, but he's stuck. He also starts to shake. "What are you waiting for!" He doesn't notice her partner has been 'latched.'
The girl's arms start to rise up, her legs unfolding as her body begins to lift as well.
Accompanying the two, the sleeping boy begins to rise up as well. However their eyes aren't shaking. The girl's pose changes drastically her back arches, making her head look up to the ceiling. "I said get the pen and pap-er…"
"Alzen?"
….
"Alzen!?" He goes over to the driver and places his hand on the shoulder, twisting him around. She shocks and falls on her ass. Seeing Alzens eyes change from a milky white to a dark clouded mist.
"No…"
"How is this possible, we have everything all set up and correct, but how!"
The boy hangs in the air, the driver turns to them both.
Her head snaps to the driver "don't you dare!" She says in a completely new voice. A mixture of warmth yet anger. Alzen reacts by vomiting thick black goo at their feet. Hissing at the girl, the black goo starts to vibrate, turning into steam.
"This..this is a new breakthrough '' the doctor reacts, scrambling around for the notes in desperation.
However Alzen grins..his gums are leaking tar like goo. He spits in her face, the tar etches onto the doctor's skin, she yells as it digs in.
The younger woman reacts, a warm front pushes the driver into the blockade and into the heaters piling it on top of them. The medicalist is still screaming, doing their best to rip the tar off, but it gets stuck onto her hands and morphs onto it.
"This is why.." the girl says, pointing both hands towards the boy and the man who's being enclosed by the warm front.
However she couldn't finish. She flops to the ground, fighting the instant of falling to sleep. She raises her hand once more. Odd sensations cover the room, the boy falls, going into a mock-coma that the serum causes.
The warmth from the heaters swells up around the room, plants materialize before the non sleeping eyes.
Tar like goo screeches peeling off of the doctor, leaving irritations upon her skin. Her eyes widened, a face of mixture.
Rin, the nature gate. Seeing the plants grow lashing onto the driver, the boy, and her.
she falls under a sleeping 'spell'.
Around the plants: the cold, the tar, and Alzens eyes begin to change back to normal..although the boy isn't phased. It didn't get to him…that's good. She inner monologue before passing out.
while the plant life is still covering them, protecting them.
With the boy under the sleeping spell that the serum has caused, he starts to spasm and shifts around. Getting back up, their eyes a deeper milky gray.
White veins accumulate surrounding his eyes. When the veins reach the temple of the head, it tenses up.
Releasing what it could best describe as a 'shock-wave'. This shock-wave disperses the cloudy gray within, clearing the eyes.
However, changing them slightly, Making a glimmer of one eye a 'safe.' He leans down, examining the plant life that Rin had created.
"Not there yet, but soon you will be." Touching the materialized plants. Its touch, soothing, warm, and of actual medicinal.
His vision, sharper than before, body weightless and healthy, thoughts quick and clear. He feels new, but almost the same as before.
The serum that infected him pours out from his pores, dripping onto the floor. It moves on command with his thoughts. Going into the doctor and the damaged driver.
Lifting up Rin's head. Forcing her eyes open…seeing the cloudiness still in effect. Then gently close them.
"Good..they'll always be there when you need them..you just have to let them in..it's difficult, but you won't lose on who you are.." he explains to the unconscious Rin. "However this could very well be how yours is…"
{●}
Chandra on the move, following the tracks that she hopes is Dealix. Sprinting through the inches of snow. Not slowing down, her legs still having the sensation to keep her going. "I'm getting close to you, the tracks…it's like they're speaking to me."
[This way] it's saying.
[Were here..over here.] She skids to the left. Seeing a man holding what she assumes is Dealix,. Chandra slips to the corner eyeing the man. He lifts a board up and crouches under, entering the abandoned building. After a moment she follows, doing the same actions.
The rubble hallway seemed long, but Chandra was dedicated. Shuffling, squiring, and ducking around debris. Hearing faint footsteps of the man.
It got to a stopping point. Crossroads more or less, hearing the man knocking on the door like a code, it opens and another voice rises. A woman?
He mentioned what Chandra wanted answers for. "I found this boy, strangely he helped me escape by falling down a hill..sounds bad, but it did the job." Yep definitely Dealix, she responded with thought.
"You got lucky, twice now! - for you and for him. He looks badly damaged. We can take him in and fix him right up."
"Thank you, Clystia…I owe you–"
"Yeah, you owe me for lots of things. Just get in here. Having the sense of daja-vu right now and it's unsettling with all these events that have been going on" she yanks the man in, gently closing the door before looking both ways.
Missing Chandra's glare as she does. Good thing I'm wearing dark clothing, or she might've spotted me..maybe that would have been a good thing though..?
She gently steps over a fallen rack, making sure she doesn't hit her toes to create sound. Stepping on broken glass in return however, but out of the years of exploring she stepped on them without making a peep.
Her left arm reached for a craving in the wall to bring her up and over a larger piece of debris. how did this man get through here so quickly while carrying him…
She shook it off, continuing down the hall. Reaching the destination of where she saw the two, seeing no door. Just a plain looking wall with a rather hideous sculpture, however the one who put it there had a different taste than Chandra of course.
Then one of those flashing 'memories' played within her mind showing her to push and rearrange the piece.
It was brilliant, changing something so tasteless of a piece to something heartwarming. Changing her taste on the piece of art. Yet still has a clinging disgust of the first form of it.
She follows what the flash gave her, rearranging pieces. To her surprise it works, making the piece of art into a beautiful sculpted art.
I wish it could stay like that instead of the first section… she sighs, but the piece of art gives her inspiration to move forward. The wall transforms into a door, popping it open by giving it a slight push.
"I think I heard the door just prop open just now." …. Says
"That would mean someone figured out the piece." Another says
"Did you have someone following you?"
"None that I know of." The same familiar voice assured them.
Do I make myself known to these people, should I hide; I mean Dealix is in here somewhere. Chandra stands there for a moment…Hearing faint footsteps come near her; still trying to debate if she should come out of the shadows
or to stay in.
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