Centuries ago the world ended. The people of that time made miracles of technology, they had discovered how to manipulate the genome, defy gravity, and how to harness the very powers of nature. This world of strange and wondrous things was protected by a guardian, an ever present sentinel, that they called, The Harbinger. The Harbinger was a weapon system that maintained altitude in the stratosphere, just below the stars. It had the power to surveil the world, and the people of the time decided that to insure peace it would be the only accumulation of weapons of mass destruction. The Harbinger was trusted to bring an everlasting peace, and it worked. Civilization advanced, technology and science leap-frogged into unimaginable discoveries... but it ended in a moment.

For some reason unknown the A.I. which operated the Harbinger's weapon systems turned on the world; instead of being a protector, it became the destroyer.

As the rogue weapon delivery system devastated the planet with natural disasters and fire bombs, the scientists, in a stroke of brilliant fore-thought, activated a resource to stop Harbinger and save the world! The Oracle protocol was initiated... but by that time it was too late.

Nature has grown back, but everything is changed. The genetically enhanced animals of the old world have repopulated and rebalanced the ecosystem. Technology has reverted back to a primitive state, but remnants of old tech are found everywhere by the curious and brave. This new world will forever have the finger print of the techno-geniuses of the past. It is into this beautiful, strange reality that our story takes place.

Sarah [+]

Kensu's Island [+]

>.......initiating system boot
>..............
>.......Harbinger activated
>..............
>....... Awaken the Oracles
>..............



"Sa.... Sarah wake up...." a musical, sing song voice whispered gently in Sarah's ear. The Oracle began to rouse as the pod hissed and cold air blew out from vents. "Sarah you must wake up, there is little time." Sarah opened her eyes. She could see the little fairy like creature flutter in and out of existence in her peripheral vision.

"Good... good... I am Asra. I don't have much time, but I will return when I can. You are safe, and all your questions will be answered, in time. For now seek the one called Kensu, he lives on this island and will gu..." The fairy blinked out of existence, leaving Sarah in a state of mystery.

YOUR NEXT STEPS [+]

You've awoken alone in your pod in a cave. To the south of the cave is a small fishing village. The village is quiet and peaceful, there are birds but you don't see any people. Take stock of your situation and explore the village using the picture posted above as reference. Look for Kensu, he's somewhere on the island.

The first thing she is aware of is a voice in her ear, calling her name. It takes a struggle to open her eyes, and she can feel the sting of light hurt them, unused as they are to it. Yet when she finally manages, she turns to look at the source of the voice - a small, fairy-like being that glowed like a lamp. At first, its presence hurt her eyes and ears, still fresh from an age in cryostasis, but she quickly adapts, and hangs on to every word, her first input in heaven knows how long.

However, before she can ask the fairy anything, it fizzles out and disappears, leaving her alone once more. Sarah slowly starts getting up out of her pod, shivering at the sensation of cold, muscles and joints feeling odd after so long in hibernation. Slowly, surely, she manages to get up, puts a foot out of the chamber, and nearly slips and falls, only to catch herself by grabbing a railing in time. Breathing heavily, unused to the physical effort, she takes a moment to gather her strength, and takes her first steps. At first, they're halting and unsure, with a couple missteps almost sending her sprawling on the ground, but she quickly adjusts, and soon finds herself walking with almost complete confidence. The sensation of shivering is also gone, her body shaking off the long sleep rather quickly, though the stiffness in her joints and body remains.

Now that she's free of the pod, where would she go? What should she do?

The fairy had called her Sarah. She also said to go find someone called Kensu somewhere on the island. That he is important somehow.

Looking around her, she sees nothing but a cool stony cave floor, and the chamber that she had slept in for who knows how long. Was this where she'd been sleeping? And for how long? She shivers at the memory of the cold, now fading. She feels she can get no more answers waiting here, and decides to leave. She walks to the mouth of the cave, and hesitates for only a second, before the warmth of sunlight and the sights and sounds of the outside world draw her out. Then she puts one foot in front of the other, and doesn't look back.

The sunlight feels wonderful on her skin, and while she occasionally stumbles or trips with clumsy, stiff legs, the warmth and the exercise quickly ease any discomfort, and Sarah finds the whole experience very enjoyable and exciting, a wide grin forming on her face. She keeps walking, but continues to swivel her head from side to side, gawking and marveling at the world around her, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells with great gusto. In her mind, she knows the general names of most things, but to put sights and sensations to the names was a strong rush, almost making her giddy. She's so engrossed with her walk that before she knows it, she finds herself at the village.

She looks around, trying to see if there's anyone there. The village is quiet, rather peaceful.

"H-" She stops, feeling as though her throat was full of sandpaper. She coughs and clear her throat.

"Hello?" she calls out, trying to see if anyone is there. "Is there anyone here?"

"Hello? Hellooo?" Sarah calls out looking around the village, trying to find someone, anyone. "Is there anyone here? Anyone at all?"

Silence. Not a creature stirring, no motion, no sign of life. Somehow, she doesn't think that's natural. No matter where she looks, she can't find anyone. What stops her is a sense of urgency to find this mysterious Kensu - but more importantly, the new, unpleasant sensation of sharp, throbbing pain in her feet.

She stops, sitting down on a nearby convenient stair, and studies her sore, dirty feet. She'd been walking since she woke from the capsule, and walking all the way barefoot on tender soles is rather unpleasant, she notes. She needs to find something to cover them, especially if she has a long way to go, which she probably does. She also notes her simple tunic, the only thing she was wearing during her long stasis sleep. It's not dirty or worn, but she blushes at the idea of going around wearing nothing but this. Better get some better clothes. Then her stomach rumbles, and she experiences her first brush with hunger. Some food is necessary, then.

The clothes were easy to find; the house she stopped at had a small but suitable wardrobe with a short dress, a cloak, and some spare clothes. It takes her a few minutes to change into her new clothes, mostly out of guilt the people living here would come in and find her ransacking their stuff. She isn't sure what they'd think, but something in her said it's probably impolite to take people's belongings without their permission, especially if they're away. Even though she lucks out and finds a good(ish) fit, and even a decent pair of boots, guilt is constantly nagging her in the back of her head. She promises herself that if she ever gets the chance, she'll repay these people for what she borrowed. She really needs it right now, but that's no reason to be rude, right?

Once properly clothed, food becomes a higher priority, especially as her hunger pangs have grown stronger, her body managing to recover enough from her sleep to properly process its biological functions. Again, luck favors her - there's a strong scent drawing her to the courtyard, one that smells weird but... very delicious. Sniffing about, she follows the scent, and finds some fish hanging over a fire. It's strange; she knows these things by name, but not by experience. Matching cold fact to living reality was strange, but pleasant. She kneels to the fire, pleased by the warmth it radiates - then pulls back with a squeal as she gets too close and burns a finger. She sucks on the finger to soothe it, an instinctive act, before taking it out and studying the burn. Fortunately, it was only a very slight burn, the pinkish skin a warning. Having taken the lesson to heart, she turns her attention to the fish, the source of the delightful smell, something which her hungry belly loudly demands.

She picks up one of the wood skewers, careful to avoid getting burnt again, and making sure to hold the cooler spots. She prods the fish to see if it's hot, cools it a bit by breathing on it, then nibbles on it to see if it's cooled down enough. Finding the taste delightful, she starts digging in with vigor, practically devouring the fish. She only stops when she feels herself bite on something hard. Reaching inside her mouth, she manages to pull out a fishbone. She proceeds to eat more carefully after that - and then manages to demolish a couple more fish rather efficiently. She buries the bones in the dirt, takes a few more fish and wraps them in some cloth, all the while guilt panging her again about stealing someone's food now, and goes to wash her hands and face in a nearby pool.

Going to the center of the village, she finds a map on a board, one with features and landmarks she recognizes from her walk. The only other feature left on the island was a skull-shaped cave, something that gave her a shiver despite the warm sun. Seems like that's the only place to go, so she notes the direction, takes a deep breath, and walks to the new destination. Much as she still feels guilty from borrowing the boots, she's glad she brought them along; the path seems to be a bit long.

The world was coming apart at the seams.

Sirens blared, warning lights flashed, and, even this far below ground, the hardened complex shook violently.

“Hurry, Stephanie!” her father implored urgently as they ran down the shuddering corridors. “We don’t have much time!”

Stephanie had never seen her parents look so frightened before, and that sight scared her far more than any other aspect of the cataclysm raging around them. It had all happened so fast… One moment, she had been working in one of the labs, the next, and the entire complex had exploded into complete pandemonium. Dozens of voices chattered at once, adding to the already cacophonous wailing of the alarms. Someone had said that Harbinger had gone insane and was now attacking the planet it had been created to protect. Others relayed reports of thermonuclear strikes, supervolcanic eruptions, and the formation of massive hypercanes all across the world. Stephanie had struggled to keep up with the rapid flow of information, even as her parents spirited her away to the deepest, most secure recesses of the complex. What happened next was a blur of hastily applied genetic enhancements and cybernetic augmentation, after which Steph found herself before a prototype cryostasis chamber.

“Get in, Steph,” her father instructed. “Quickly, now! There’s not a moment to lose!”

“W-What’s going on, Dad?!” Steph asked, her shaky voice filled with a mixture of fear and confusion. “W-What even is all this?! A-And, what about you and Mom?!”

“I’m sorry sweetie,” her mother apologized as she helped her into the chamber. “There’s no time to explain, but I promise that we’ll tell you everything when you wake up.”

Steph could see that her mother was trying her best to sound reassuring, but she couldn’t hide the tears in her eyes.

“Y-You mean you and Dad also have cryochambers? B-But, I only saw this one… Where…?”

“Just trust us,” her father told her with an encouraging smile. “I promise you that everything will be okay.”

He was crying, too.

Steph was beginning to feel increasingly frantic now.

“Mom, Dad, please!” she pleaded, tears streaming down her own cheeks. “I-I don’t want to do this! I-If we stay together, m-maybe we can work this out, fix whatever’s wrong with—”

“I’m sorry, Steph,” her father said softly. “This is the only way.”

“We love you, sweetie,” her mother sobbed as the chamber was sealed.

“Mom!” Steph cried out as the cryostasis system activated.

“We love—”

…
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---

Steph awoke feeling groggy and disoriented. The last thing she remembered was her parents, her mother saying that she loved her. And then….

“Mom!” Steph tried to call out, but her throat was so dry that her attempt came out as a hoarse croak. Needless to say, there was no answer. In fact, the chamber had yet to even open. She felt a pang of fear at the thought that she might be trapped inside her chamber, with no chance of escape, doomed to die a slow death by starvation, but her attention soon refocused on the faint, almost musical voice calling out to her. Calling her name. Telling her to wake up.

“Mom…?” she inquired uncertainly, her voice slowly beginning to return.

No, this wasn’t her mother. The voice belonged to what appeared to be a holographic fairy. The fairy introduced itself as Asra, said it was sorry, that there was no time, and then… Nothing.

Was she simply imagining things?

Everyone’s sorry… Steph reflected bitterly. And there never seems to be enough time…

She heard a hissing sound, and her attention was drawn to her pod’s lid, which was now slowly beginning to open. Once it had done so, Steph carefully stepped out and took a moment to get her bearings. To her shock, the room she found herself in was not the most secure lab of an ultra advanced underground complex, but an ancient pagoda-like structure. No one seemed to be present, and there were no signs of advanced technology anywhere. Well, aside from her cryochamber, of course.

Looking back at the now horribly out-of-place device, Steph was momentarily startled as a cloud of nanites emerged from an opening on the side of the machine. The cloud rapidly coalesced into a form-fitting suit, which glowed with streaks of neon, much like her current outfit. Stepping up to it, she allowed the suit to mold itself to her body, the nanofluidic garment feeling like a second skin. After a moment, the suit formed a small holoprojector on her wrist, which promptly activated, displaying an image of her parents.

“Dearest Stephanie,” her father began. “It is our sincerest hope that we will be able to explain all this to you in person when you wake, but in the event that we are not, we have recorded this message.”

“Please try to understand, Stephanie,” her mother continued. “Your cryochamber was the only one in full operational status at the time, and we needed to use it to ensure your survival. Our own pods should be ready soon, and, if at all possible, we’ll use them to join you. But, if not…”

“We never wanted to leave you alone, Steph,” her father told her firmly. “But you needed to survive. You are one of the few who are capable of restoring the world to its former glory. We have no idea what condition the world will be in when you awake, so to aid you we have enclosed this suit of nanofluidic armor in your pod. It will supplement the increased vitality and protection provided by your genetic enhancement, as well as allow you to camouflage yourself in order to better fit in with those you encounter. Your cybernetic implants should already provide you with full knowledge of your enhanced body’s various abilities, as well as those of the nanite swarm the implant allows you to control. Of course, the complex also contains a supply of weapons and useful equipment, but there’s no guarantee any of that will be available to you when you wake.”

“E-Even if we can’t be with you, there are others who were placed in cryostasis just as you were,” her mother told her between sobs. “Try to find them. They’ll help you in rebuilding our world.”

“We know you can do this, Steph,” her father assured her. “You are a true gift to this world, and we are so very proud of you.”

“We love you, Steph!” her mother called out as the image began to flicker. “Never forget that!”

Steph felt a tear roll down her cheek as the image faded away.

So her parents were really gone. Or, at least, had been moved elsewhere. She felt a small glimmer of hope at that thought, but she forced herself to clamp down on it. She needed to focus on her present situation. She was alone, in a strange structure, with no idea of how long she had slept. The first thing she needed to do was acquire some information, and for that, she needed to find someone to provide it. Making her way to the structure’s entrance, Steph was momentarily left breathless at the sight that greeted her.

"Where am I...?"

Arrayed below her was a rather primitive village, seemingly located high up in the mountains. But that wasn’t the most shocking thing. The village seemed to be under attack by a number of monstrous beasts. Steph had never seen anything like them before, and it appeared that they were far more than the village’s inhabitants could hope to handle. Steph knew that with her enhanced physical abilities she was the best hope the villagers had of fending off the beasts, but she was understandably hesitant to rush into things. She was still a little disoriented from being in cryostasis, and even with her increased physical prowess, she was still only one person. Could she really hope to take on all these creatures and win? Escape seemed the most logical option, but she needed answers, and she didn’t want the death of an entire village on her conscience. Not if there was a chance that she could help save it.

But how to go about doing that? For now, she resolved to simply observe, intently studying the creatures and trying to discern any potential weaknesses. Meanwhile, she instructed her suit to adopt the appearance of a typical villager’s attire, while instructing her nanite swarm to locate some nearby sources of metal to form into a weapon.

Kensu stood in front of the cave mouth absently stroking his beard and imagining what to do next. The cave was long, and winded its way into the bowels of an old, extinct volcano. He had spent the better part of the last twenty years mapping out the ways but he still hadn't found the sword. It was down there, somewhere, and there wasn't any time left to find it. The Guild had heard from Zebu that the Oracle at Leaf Village had awoken, and that could only mean the beginning of something terrible. The others all believed the Oracles were somehow super beings, blessed with infinite knowledge and power, and that they would awaken to save us from the ethereal threat of the "Harbinger," whatever that may be. The fearful truth was that Zebu shoved the Sword of Wind into a naïve boy's eager hands and sent him into a sewer to save one of the village children. The boy never returned.

Kensu was one of the few in the guild who realized that these Oracles, these supposed saviors, were not the mythologized individuals people thought they were. They were kids, just like the ones in any village, and they don't know anything about the dangers which present an immediate threat; namely Draygon, his terrible minions, and the monsters. And from what Zebu says, they know nothing about using the power of the elements through the swords.

He dropped his hand and sighed, feeling the heavy burden of responsibility settle on his shoulders. There was only one thing to be done. He, and those who were brave enough to stand with him, would take the swords and face whatever the Harbinger might be. There was no other option. If the Oracles are waking up, then the time to fight was coming, and if Draygon and his swine were there too..... He gathered his things and prepared to enter the cave. "Come Pip, let us go." A small creature chirped from behind a rock and skipped over to Kensu's side, then it started barking and insistently tugging at Kensu's pant leg. "What! What is it creature?!"

Pip chirped up at him and turned towards the village. There, coming up the trail, was a bobbing bundle of pink hair climbing over the rock. For a moment Kensu's heart thudded in his chest. It was her, his Oracle, the one he had tended to for most of his life. When he heard that Zebu's Oracle had awakened he anxiously wondered when his might, that is why he has been in the caves for so long these last few weeks. Now that he saw the girl, his girl, he felt worried. He had spent a long time watching her and wondering what mind hid behind that calm, porcelain face. For a long time he thought that he was taking care of a hero, a savior, but now.... "Brrup!" Pip chirruped.

"Yes I agree," he said, "A most auspicious happenstance, given the state of things." He sat down and lit his pipe, not feeling the need to hurry, Pip sat down next to him. After a few, long moments the girl finally arrived, huffing a little from the effort. "Well now, hello.... Oracle." The girl looked a little fazed but was polite. Pip made a few sounds and stood up, "Be calm Pip, be calm" the small animal sat back down.

Kensu took another long draw from his pipe, "I am Kensu Thunderfist, Wizard of the Island and Keeper of the.... well, of you I guess." A smile touched his lips. "You've been asleep for a long time girl, I cannot say if you've ever been awake. Welcome, to our world."

*******

"Hello Sarah, I'm glad you ate. That was to be my dinner, but you are welcome to it."

*******

"The village was attacked. It happened last night. I was in this cave, just there, mapping and searching. When I returned to the village all my people were gone," his voice choked just a little, but he worked hard to control his emotions. "That is why I am here, and that is what puts us in the precarious position we find ourselves in right now."

*******

"Thank you, that's very kind. I'll tell you, inside of the caves is a weapon, a sword, said to harness the very thunder from the sky. I myself have worked hard to understand this force of our world, but I have only been so successful. With the sword hidden in this caves depths, well, truth be told I don't know what it will do, but our legends tell us that it is part of mecha left over from the old ones, and that it has incredible power."

*******

"HAHAHAA!! That map has been my burden to make over the last 20 years! Memorized it you say? Well, that's quite a fete, maybe your kind will live up to the myths after all." Kensu smiled and toked on his pipe.

*******

"You speak wisdom. I have been in the depths of these caves as far as I can imagine to go, but I've never found the sword. I... I don't even know where there is left to look." He dropped his hands to his lap, he let his countenance fall, "I will stay and guard the cave. I do not know where the mist came from, but I have my suspicions. Maybe, if you find the sword, you can save us all."

"Brup.. rup! Brrup!" chimed Pip. Kensu smiled.

"Pip will join you, he has been with me through these caves and he will light your way. I wish you a safe journey, and when you get back, I'll have you more fish." Kensu couldn't help it, he felt something of a grandfatherly affection for the girl. He hoped this would be different from the boy from the Leaf shrine, hopefully this Oracle will find the sword, hopefully this young one will stay safe.

The trip had taken quite a bit, the young girl getting a bit winded after all that walking, but the thought of someone there, waiting for her with the key to her past kept her walking briskly forwards. Not to mention she's been getting a little anxious for some company; she hasn't seen anyone since she first woke up, and it was getting kind of lonely. Even if they only talked for a bit, it would help her feel better.

As it turns out, she didn't have to search long. At the mouth of the skull-shaped cave was a squat and heavyset man, with thick beard and piercing gaze from his one eye. She pauses for a second, before stepping forwards to meet him.

After a few, long moments the girl finally arrived, huffing a little from the effort. "Well now, hello.... Oracle." The girl looked a little fazed but was polite. Pip made a few sounds and stood up, "Be calm Pip, be calm" the small animal sat back down.

Kensu took another long draw from his pipe, "I am Kensu Thunderfist, Wizard of the Island and Keeper of the.... well, of you I guess." A smile touched his lips. "You've been asleep for a long time girl, I cannot say if you've ever been awake. Welcome, to our world."

Sarah pauses, and then speaks up.

"Thank you, Kensu... kind sir," Sarah says with a bow. "My name is Sarah - or I think that's my name. It's a pleasure to meet you. And no, I don't recall... anything really. Just... glimpses of things.

"I... I have so many questions to ask...

"Though I might want to start by asking; was your house in the village? I kind of ate someone's roast fish, but I was hungry... I-I didn't mean to steal anyone's food..."

"Hello Sarah, I'm glad you ate. That was to be my dinner, but you are welcome to it."

"Ah! I didn't know it was your food! I'm sorry!" Sarah says as she blushes hard and gives a sharp bow. She breathes a sigh of relief when he seems okay with it.

"So what happened to the village? There's nobody there. It's supposed to have people, right?"

"The village was attacked. It happened last night. I was in this cave, just there, mapping and searching. When I returned to the village all my people were gone," his voice choked just a little, but he worked hard to control his emotions. "That is why I am here, and that is what puts us in the precarious position we find ourselves in right now."

"Oh," Sarah says, her face going a bit pale. "I'm very sorry to hear that, sir Kensu. I hope they're alright..."

"Thank you, that's very kind. I'll tell you, inside of the caves is a weapon, a sword, said to harness the very thunder from the sky. I myself have worked hard to understand this force of our world, but I have only been so successful. With the sword hidden in this caves depths, well, truth be told I don't know what it will do, but our legends tell us that it is part of mecha left over from the old ones, and that it has incredible power."

"It's not on the map back on town, is it?" she asks. "I've read the map quickly and memorized it, but I didn't see any clues as to the sword's location."

"HAHAHAA!! That map has been my burden to make over the last 20 years! Memorized it you say? Well, that's quite a fete, maybe your kind will live up to the myths after all." Kensu smiled and toked on his pipe.

"That's very generous of you, sir," she says with a blush. "Right now, I'm just a lost girl with so many questions, and I'm not even sure what my purpose is. I'm going to need some time to fulfill whatever is expected of me - but rest assured I'll do my best."

"You speak wisdom. I have been in the depths of these caves as far as I can imagine to go, but I've never found the sword. I... I don't even know where there is left to look." He dropped his hands to his lap, he let his countenance fall, "I will stay and guard the cave. I do not know where the mist came from, but I have my suspicions. Maybe, if you find the sword, you can save us all."

"Brup.. rup! Brrup!" chimed Pip. Kensu smiled.

"Pip will join you, he has been with me through these caves and he will light your way. I wish you a safe journey, and when you get back, I'll have you more fish." Kensu couldn't help it, he felt something of a grandfatherly affection for the girl. He hoped this would be different from the boy from the Leaf shrine, hopefully this Oracle will find the sword, hopefully this young one will stay safe.

"Thank you very much, kind sir Kensu," Sarah says with a bow. "I'll try and find the sword as quickly as I can."

She follows the dog in, though as she finds herself away from the entrance, she gives into the temptation and gently rubs the dog's fur, feeling how soft and pleasant it is to the touch. She just wants to lift up the dog and cuddle him, but she's not sure how he'd react to a stranger he just met.

"Come on, Pip," she tells the dog, "let's get started. Maybe we'll be able to find that sword quickly..."

"Yesss... yesss! Die! Die you weak, pathetic Fools!!" The harpy screamed, hovering over the village. Tinkertown was built into the ruins of one of the structures of the ancients. It seemed unreachable from the ground, a protected spire on a mountain's peak calling the clouds it's friends. Unreachable from the ground, sure, but not so unreachable if you could pick up your force and drop them on balconies, on roof tops, and on ledges. Late the day before she had drugged a herd of twelve lizard-bears and had gently placed them into their positions. It was a perfect set up for the meager and unprepared peasants of this disgusting place, they didn't have a watch or guard posted at all so they had no idea. When the lizard-bears awoke, they began to wreak havoc, and havoc was what Jub Jub loved the most.

As an added bonus, there was an Oracle here... somewhere. If she could murder the strange creature and bring it's wrecked body, or maybe just its head, Draygon would be well pleased.

The lizard-bears had ripped into a few of the villagers, Jub saw their blood stain the steps and it made her mouth water. The villagers had been herded into one of the central buildings by four of the more furious bears. The other eight had shrunk away into corners and were trying to find a way down. Fools, this is a one way trip for them, there is no way down but the fall, no way down but death. Jub smiled and licked her fangs.

"You.. Will... NOT!.. take them!!!" Came a scream from the building being molested by one of the bears, suddenly a spike of mountain sprung from the door and pierced the animal through it's torso. It whimpered lightly and died quickly. The cry of their dying fellow lizard-bear worked the other three increased their ferocity, and three more from the group trying to get down responded as well and began scratching at the doors and walls which were protecting the villagers inside.

Jub took to the skies and with a few strong flaps of her wings she flew around the mountain village, looking for some sign of where the Oracle shrine might be. That rock spire was obviously the work of the fool wizard who guarded these parts, so somewhere in this disgustingly clean spire of houses there had to be one of those pods, but where? Well, it didn't matter, once the lizard-bears murdered their way through the townsfolk they would find the pod and if they didn't eat the inhabitant then Jub Jub would surely have her blood. She continued to circle the village.

@Ponn

Urgrapth nimbly creeped about her lair. Millions of shining threads glittered in the soft light of the deep cave, as she moved across the steel like threads they tinkled, creating a musical ambiance of nightmares. Slowly, deliberately, she moved to inspect the tightly wrapped bundles she had collected from the sea village. Morsels of delicious food, enough to satiate her hunger upon waking in this cave, and enough to keep her and her babies alive for the next year. She was happy, but she didn't smile. Emotions existed in some absent part of her psyche, separate from her conscious self but present enough for her to know it was there. Methodically she moved from bundle to bundle, making sure her neuro-venom was keeping them alive so as not to spoil the meat but still enough to make sure they couldn't move. If they could move they could hurt her and her babies, and that simply would not do.

A blue light began to blink over her head. She looked up and opened her fanged mouth in a hiss, an intruder had entered her caves. She moved quickly to the button and slammed it down, releasing the blue smoke that caused hallucinations. She went to another button and upon pressing it the outer doors slammed shut, this did two things: it closed the entrance so her latest victim could not escape, and it closed the hole at the top of the mountain so the blue smoke wouldn't release into the village but would fill the caves and take down this mysterious visitor. Once the visitor collapsed she'd send her babies, just like she did to the town, and her babies would bring the visitor back and she would wrap it and save it, or maybe, her babies could use the snack...

Sarah walks down the corridors of the cavern, staying close to the light Pip provides. While she spent some time exploring the cave, uncertain of where to go, she gradually feels a "pull" from something deep within, something calling to her. Maybe it's the sword? Kensu mentioned that perhaps she'd have better luck finding it.

For his part, Pip seems to have quickly gotten accustomed to his new companion. He seems to stay near her, panting at her cheerfully whenever she stops to investigate something. Or maybe he's just a good dog who likes people. Either way, Sarah likes her new companion back and pets him from time to time.

The time spent in the cave, however, makes her appreciate the sunlight outside even more. She's not sure how long has it been in here, and the place is getting rather claustrophobic, what with its tight corridors, lack of light, and strangely stuffy air. Even Pip is whining in concern; this is deeper than he's ever been before, and he keeps occasionally turning back to her as though to say 'are you sure?' It almost feels like it's hard to breathe in here. She pauses to take a breath, struggling against the suddenly heavier air. It's as though the air itself is resisting being drawn in. Suddenly, she feels the world beginning to swim around her, causing her to stumble and struggle to stay on her two feet. She hesitates, taking a couple of stumbling steps - and then her foot hita a soft spot in the ground that caused it to collapse and swallow her up. She screams as she falls into the abyss.



Suddenly the horrid vision is gone, and above her is Pip, barking at her for some reason before he resumes licking her face. She stirs, weak and sick, feeling like she's about to throw up, while the air around her is thrumming and heavy with malicious intent, her vision hazy...

Pip isn't sure what happened with New Master. She started out well, giving pets and rubs which he appreciated, but after a while she started going in deeper into the cave than Old Master did, as though driven by something. Old Master never acted like she did either; first she was calm and focused, like she was hunting or something, but then she started to tremble, breathe hard, and smell funny. He could smell fear, it was instinctive to dogs. But this fear is different; the longer she stayed here, the more New Master seemed to be going crazy, reacting wildly and shiver before she eventually collapsed and started screaming. He tried to revive her, bring her to her senses by licking her face, but she slapped him away in her thrashing. If she didn't just smell full of fear, he'd have chalked it up to being moody, but he can smell something in the air, bad and sick, like it was making New Master sick just by her being in it. As it were, he just barks at her in mild reprimand before trying to revive her again.

Her eyes open, and he sees she can see him again. He'd be happy, but her shivers indicate she's still under the influence of the Bad Smell, even if she can't smell it. He can, but it's not affecting him for some reason. He'll have to be her eyes and ears for now.

And that's when he hears - and smells - something else. Something bad. He smelled traces of it in the village when Old Master took him back and found all the other people gone.

Out of the shadows come three things - bad, tall, gangly bug-things, with legs like spiders and long claws like a mantis. Pip realizes these spider-things were there at the village. They took Old Master's friends, the neighbors who'd say hello every morning, the little children who'd play with him every day, who'd feed him tasty scraps when they thought Old Master wasn't looking, the nice skinner who'd toss him some spare rawhide to chew whenever he came begging. These spider-things had the villagers' smell on them. They took the villagers.

Pip growled, his fur standing on edge as he turns to face the bug-things. The spider-things will not take New Master. Not if he had anything to say about it.

What Sarah sees is three long, spidery horrors crawling out from a wall and skitter towards her, their terrifying presence filling the world as the air is now positively groaning and shuddering, her vision blurred and her breath short and uneven. All she could do is scramble to sit upright, her mind feeling like it's trapped and drowning in water, her reactions slow and ponderous even as the monsters sped up to attack her.

And then she sees Pip, glowing alight, growling and barking bravely at the monsters, trying to scare them off. He manages to get them to back off briefly with his loud barking and snarling. But the spell is broken as the spiders smack him aside and reach for her. Pip hits a wall with a loud whimper and crumples to the floor.

With the annoying yapping thing dealt with, the leading spider-thing turns its attention to the newcomer. This new human isn't like the others in town; she looks and smells... different somehow. It's puzzled to see her still conscious, but finds her sufficiently weakened by the miasma to be taken. Its mandibles open, looking like a nightmarish maw full of teeth to the still-stricken Sarah, hissing in anticipation. She struggles to throw off its grasp, managing to smack its arm aside with surprising strength. The spider-thing hisses in surprise, then anger. This one is still strong, it realizes even through the miasma she's proving resilient. Best to weaken it some more before bringing her in. Or better yet, it realizes, it's been a while since they ate. It's always delightful to enjoy a fresh kill, it decides, as it calls up its brethren to finish this strange human off. They raise their claws into the air to strike...

To be continued...

Part II:
Pip, however, was merely stunned, and is very much alive and still ready for a fight. He rolls back to his feet, shakes off the lethargy, and sees the spider-things trying to hurt or kill New Master. He could feel his anger boiling within him. Even a dog like Pip, genetically engineered and modified in a thousand ways, could still trace his ancestry to the original wolves that prowled the plains when mankind still lived in caves. Each noble beast had a strong drive to fight, hunt, and survive, and every wolf had an ironclad loyalty to the pack. Nobody hurts the Pack. And in that, Pip was very much one with his wolf ancestors.

Snarling, he curls up into a ball, and spins in place, electricity sparking all around him, before he launched himself like a cannonball at the spider-thing in the back, catching it by surprise as he slammed into it with great force, only to uncurl and latch onto the nape of neck with sharp, pointy teeth. The thing squealed and hissed in pain, surprise and anger, and flailed its claws in an attempt to get the monstrous little furball off its back. It manages to get a couple of close swipes, shaving a bit of fur off the tips of his long ears, and Pip retaliates by summoning his inner power - and channeling his electricity through sharp canine teeth into the thing's neck. The thing squeals in agony and fear as it's electrocuted, much to the shock and surprise of its brothers as they try to fend off its frenzied flailings. This gives Sarah the chance to crawl away, giving her some breathing space.

The spider-things try and pry Pip off their screeching brother, but their long claws and their brother's flailing makes it difficult. One of them manages to land a hit on Pip, managing not so much to wound him as knock him off, giving the wounded one a respite. Angry, they turn to face a snarling Pip, ready to defend Sarah with everything he has. Hissing and screeching, the spiderlings move forwards with frightening speed, trying to eliminate both the girl and her dog, brandishing their sharp curved blades with wicked intent.

Pip, his back hunching and fur standing on end, keeps growling, his snarl increasing in intensity as arcs of electricity shoot around him, surprising Sarah and forcing her to stagger back and onto her shaky legs. The spiderlings braced for a possible charge, but Pip surprises them as he lets a grunting growl, a powerful bolt of lighting shooting out from the crest on his back and striking the lead spiderling, causing it to screech in agony as sparks flew and the acrid smell of burning flesh fills the room. The other two spiderlings back off in terror, while the roasted one, alive but badly mauled, staggers back blindly.

The small dog seizes his chance. He hurls himself at the weakened enemy once again, biting and gnawing at a joint and forcing the beast to sway and move, weakly trying to throw him off and end this torment. However, this gives the other spiderlings a chance to recover, and charge in to help their wounded ally. They both try to flank the snarling, biting creature, put it down before it gets out of hand. However, by then, Sarah had recovered enough of her senses and manages to balance herself on two feet. She still feels the room is swimming and dancing around her, and it feels like the shadows of the room themselves are reaching out to drag her into darkness, but Pip's glow gave her enough of a clear shot at one of the spiderlings. She throws herself at it in a body block throwing it off balance as it tumbles backwards, trying to get back on its legs. The other two, trying to recover and compensate for the supposedly weakened prey recovering, leaving themselves open as Pip starts biting savagely at whatever he can reach, trying to maul them for the audacity of trying to hurt New Master.

However, Sarah is still dizzy and disoriented by the hallucinogenic mist, and she feels like the world is spinning around her. She startles at something to her left, only to realize it was not only a shadow, but that she just left herself open. The angry spiderling slashes at her, and she barely gets her forearms up in time to block the attack, resulting in a sharp, bleeding gash across her arms as she cries out in pain. Her yell distracts Pip, who turns around to punish the offending spiderling, only for one of the other two to get a good hit in and land a strong slash across his exposed back. Pip yelps in pain and is flung across the floor of the cave corridor, his light fading as his injury seems strong.

Sarah is terrified, realizing she's unable to defend herself, and that the only source of light is fading. But above all else, she realizes her only friend and companion is wounded, possibly dying. Even with the shadows reaching out to grab her, even with the monstrous, shifting visages of the spiderlings coming for her, she does the only thing she can, and jumps to reach Pip. One claw manages to catch her leg, causing a sharp pain in her thigh as it cuts a new gash in her skin. She almost fails to reach Pip, and her condition won't allow for a second attempt. But catch him she does, and rolls around him to protect him with her body. In the fading light, feeling as though they're about to get killed, Sarah cries for herself and her companion. Pip, whimpering softly, licks her face and tears, trying to apologize in return for being unable to protect her.

"I'm sorry, P-pip," she sobs. "I g=got us here, and I couldn't help you when you needed it. I j-just wish I-I could have b-b-been more h-helpful... I'm so useless..."

In that moment, a soft glow emanates from her hands and envelopes Pip. The wounded dog feels his injury disappear, and finds renewed strength and vigor flowing into him once again. Is New Master giving him strength? Yes... he can feel himself grow strong again. New Master is giving him her strength, he will not let New Master down again!

He turns to see the spiderlings try and move in for the kill, trying to put an end to this fight. He preserves his strength... just one good strike...

He then lunges with a snarl at the nearest one, his fur suddenly glowing brightly, blinding the spiderlings. In their hesitation, he aims for the one he had mauled first with an electric bite to the back of the neck. This time, he fastens his jaws around the throat and fires another electrical jolt through his jaws, not letting go of the agonized thing until it stops moving. Once it drops dead, he turns his attention to its recovering brothers.

Sarah is just as surprised as the spiderlings by Pip's sudden recovery, but she felt the warm glow in her hands.

'What did I do?' she wonders in surprise. However, she realizes she doesn't have time to gawk; she's still in danger, and there are still two spiderlings. Ignoring the pain the best she can, she launches herself at one of the two remaining spiderlings, knocking it to the ground in a bundle of flailing legs and claws, and getting another gash for her troubles, this one fortunately rather superficial. This allows Pip to focus on the other - and unleash a devastating final bolt of lightning that utterly fries the thing. It gives off one last screeching death cry, before collapsing to the floor in a smoking heap. Pip, exhausted by the fight slumps to the ground with a whimper, his light growing fainter but not going out.

The sole survivor, noting that the odds had now gone sharply against it, attempted to scramble back to its legs and run for safety, but by now, Sarah is running on a rush of adrenaline and anger, and isn't going to just let it go away. She manages to kick out two legs from under it just as it got up, sending it sprawling on the floor, and losing her own balance in the process. She lands on her ass with a grunt, but finds the dazed spiderling right in front of her and in leg's range. Before it could get up, Sarah landed a vicious kick to the side of its skull smashing it against the cave wall.

"You! Ugly! Monster!" she calls out angrily, pounding the thing's head into a wall with her heel. "How! Dare you! Hurt my! Friend!"

She keeps smashing the thing with her foot, not stopping until the thing slumps lifelessly to the floor. It takes her a couple seconds to realize that, resulting in her kicking the wall. Overcome with the effort, she collapses, sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath. She feels a wave of nausea overcome her, barely managing to roll to her side to puke up whatever's left of her lunch onto the dirt floor. She takes several deep breaths, trying to regain her strength, before sitting up, sliding up to Pip, and cradling him in her arms, panting hard against the cave wall.

Pip whimpers as he licks her, but then barks triumphantly.

"Thanks, Pip," Sarah sighs tiredly. "You're a good dog..."

Pip can smell there's more of these things in the cave. They're probably coming here to check in on the scouts. But for now, he likes being called a good dog.

Sarah catches her breath for a second, gets up, and starts limping to get deeper into the cave. However, Pip walks over to one of the dead spiderlings, and tries gnawing off one of its bladelike arms.

"What are you doing, Pip?" Sarah asks cautiously, and notices what the dog's trying to do. She hobbles over, grabs the arm, and it takes her a few attempts to wrench the thing out of its wrecked socket, granting her a crude makeshift weapon. Maybe now she'll be able to help Pip more in a fight.

Pip barks triumphantly, and leads the way, the two going deeper into the caverns...

Jabberwocky flies overhead, letting his massive claws dig into the treetops, tearing them in half with minimal effort. He flaps his mighty wings, flying to the nearest town to look for a meal. He sniffs the air, and licks his lips, smelling fresh meat. Time to hunt. To sate my endless starvation. He slips into a town, surprisingly stealthy for such a large creature, a cousin to the mighty dragons. His eye narrow, and he snatches a cow, tearing it to bits in a split second with his mighty jaws, swallowing it in two quick bites. It didn't even get to make a sound, so quick was it's death. He licks the blood off his lips, and takes off, circling around in the dark sky to hide in the clouds above, waiting for any sign of the one the Seer spake of. He takes good care of his Seer, protecting her from everyone else, in exchange for information.

As Steph continued to observe from her hiding place, her attention was drawn to the sky, where what appeared to be a harpy was also taking note of the battle. Based upon the creature’s screeches, it was very much in favor of beasts, and by the looks of the local terrain, chances were that it was the one who had brought them here. She was momentarily taken aback when a spike of mountain blasted out from one of the buildings, impaling a beast attempting to claw its way inside. It appeared the villagers did have a protector of some kind after all. Even so, Steph knew that they would need help if they wished to fend off this attack, especially with that harpy circling overhead…

While this was transpiring, Steph’s nanites had returned from their search and informed her that while there were indeed numerous sources of metal from which to craft a weapon, she would have to venture out from her hiding place to make use of it. That didn’t seem like a good idea, and even if she could somehow escape notice, she doubted a simple sword would be all that effective against these creatures, especially a flying opponent, like the harpy. There had to be another option, something closer…

It was then that Steph remembered the cryostasis chamber. It was easily the most advanced thing here and she certainly had easy access to it. Her nanite swarm was only programmed to manipulate metal, but if anyone could modify its programming, it was Steph. After all, she had reprogrammed her first robot at the age of five. Reprogramming the nanites to reassemble the cryochamber into a weapon was well within her capabilities. After hastily tapping away on a holographic display, Steph was ready to let the cloud of tiny machines go to work. After only thirty seconds, it was complete- a cryostasis rifle. It would only be good for five shots, six at most, but Steph knew that if she could make those shots count, then the village would surely be saved.

Once more taking up position at the pagoda’s entrance, Steph waited patiently for the harpy to come into view. Once the creature had done so, she placed her finger on the trigger, took careful aim…

And fired.

Jub Jub heard the shot first, then SHLWAP!! her wing was suddenly torn as if from a great claw! She screeched in pain! But she was still able to fly. Not knowing where the hurt had come from she dropped from the sky to the nearest building and crouched to hide. There was some terrible magic at work here, something she didn't know. She contemplated escaping, but the invisible claw might still get her, so she creeped quietly into the shadows and slithered away from the building to hide against the mountain. She closed her eyes and took in the scents of the night.... she could smell the lizard bears, their fear mixing with... *sniff* ...the villagers, and Minoc, the mountain wizard who protected the village, but... *sniff* ...yes there was another, sulfur, fire, metal... *sniff* ...a female, a metallic female, she smelled like something freezer burned. Yessss, she could track her now, she could find her.

Jub snaked around the buildings, the Bears could be heard roaring as the wood planks broke under their onslaught. Yess, Draygon had given Jub Jub power, Draygon had given her gifts, with his gifts Jub Jub would find the metal female and hurt her... Ahhh, Jub Jub thought, There she isss.. The harpy had through the shadows and could see the girl through an open window. She was holding some strange looking stick from which the sulfur smell was coming from. Jub's eyes glowed blue and began to glow, she could feel Draygon's gift growing with her fury. She opened her mouth and with a terrible screech shot a blue colored ray at the girl...





In this world there are powerful beasts who roam the lands, monsters and creatures created by the strange atomic powers which brought about the destruction of all civilization. Many animals, like the lizard-bears, have developed all the ferocious traits of the animals from which they are amalgamated. But some animals, like Ayaan, developed consciousness, and became protectors of the forest. Ayaan, the mighty bear, lived in the forest and understood that the animals were innocent creatures; though some could be malicious and hurtful, they rarely acted out unless they were scared or threatened. This was the case with our lizard-bears attacking Tinkertown. They had been taken from their homes and placed high in the mountains with no hope for rescue. Ayaan had to do something.

Now enters our friend Ayaan, mighty bear and Protector of the forests:


Ayaan used it mighty claws to pull itself up the mountain, and he found a path half way up that he could use to lead the lizard-bears down. When it got to a ledge close to the village area Ayaan could see what had developed: The lizard-bears were trying to break into one of the houses that were built into the mountain side, and there was a strange winged beast flying around the spire. Ayaan could see one of his lizard-bear friends were skewered on a mountainous spike and was dead. Suddenly a loud Bang! rocked the skies and the flying beast fluttered and fell behind one of the buildings. Ayaan didn't understand what happened, and now it was time to decide what to do next.

>.......initiating system boot
>..............
>.......Harbinger activated
>..............
>....... Awaken the Oracles
>..............



"Little girl... little girl, wake up!" the little girl's eyes fluttered open and she smiled at the pretty, sweet voice of the fairy. "Well hello pretty girl," Asra's voice smiled as she talked, "My name is Asra, what's your name?"

"Wooby," said the little girl in the pod.

"Oh dear girl, how old are you?" Asra asked, the little one looked maybe 3, maybe 4 years old. The little girl responded by giggling and reaching for the holographic fairy that wasn't there. "This is not good, this, this wasn't supposed to happen. Oh you dear, sweet little girl! You cannot wield the swords, you cannot call to Harbinger and save all the world. You poor little thing..." then Asra blinked out of existence and the little girl was left all alone, or so she thought...

---

Ruby doesn't remember when she was born. She doesn't remember light or the sun, her first memory is the fire. It was a fire that burned her eyes and took her sight, and it was the fire that taught her pain. She had thought about it often, her first memory of when the beautiful man, her Dadda, pulled her out of the fire. As he picked her up she saw his icy white skin and that was the last thing her eyes registered before her optic nerve burnt away and she never was able to see again. Her Dadda held her and comforted her, and he was with her as she healed.

Ruby didn't remember the fairy from when she awoke, but when she met her the second time the experience was strangely familiar. She was coming of age and her body was growing. A surge of power shivered through her and suddenly she heard the tiny fairy. She was not alone when the holographic entity spoke this time...

"Ruby!!" Asra's voice sang, "My how you've grown!"

"Who... who are you?" Ruby asked out loud, her Dadda was sitting close by and turned to listen.

"I am Asra, and I only have enough power to talk for a moment, there's not much time, we must hurry, the Harbinger has awakened," the fairy said.

"You are Asra, Harbinger has awakened," Ruby repeated out loud.

"Yes dear Ruby," Asra pleaded, "but you are still so young, no older than 12 or 13. It is your biogenic energy that gave me the power to speak to you again. I was there when you were born, do you remember?"

"You were there when I was born?" Ruby asked, "in the fire?"

"No...no.. I.. I don't know about the fire, is that what happened to your eyes?" Asra sounded sad.

"What do you want?" Ruby asked.

"The Harbinger, it is a great weapon flying high, high in the sky, it is an island up in the stars. To communicate with Harbinger you must find the swords that are lost all over the world." Asra said.

"Harbinger is a weapon, and I can find swords to communicate with it." Ruby repeated for her Dadda's sake.

"There are also others who are like you, those were are to be born from stasis. You all can feel the swords, and through your feelings you must find them. Then you must use them to contact Harbinger and bring it back into the atmosphere to deactivate it. There is an evil Artificial Intelligence that has re-activated Harbinger and will use it to destroy all the world for good, as it has done in the past...." Asra's voice blinked out with an electronic blip.

"Others like me?" Ruby asked, "do you mean the ones that the Wizards call, the Oracles? ...Asra? ...Asra?" The musical fairy voice was gone. Ruby turned to her Dadda, "She said that I can feel the swords, and that there are others like me, I think she is talking about the Oracles worshiped by the Wizards. She said that using the swords I can communicate with Harbinger, and Harbinger is a weapon." Her Dadda told her she was a good girl and Ruby's heart swelled with affection.

That was 7 years ago, and now Ruby was grown. She lives in her cave where her Dadda had raised her. She had found mecha there, remnants from the old world. She was able to get the mecha to respond to verbal controls and was able to build a map of the world using something the computer called a "Satellite." She could not see it, but her Dadda could, and making her Dadda happy was the most important thing in the world to her. Her Dadda protected her, he had given her the fire.

Ruby felt the warm slush build in her hands. Her Dadda had taught her to channel the fire like he did, but she couldn't do it quite like him because she couldn't see, so her fire was thick and tactile, but it didn't burn her, it burnt others, and that meant she could never by burnt by the fire again!

It was her who was able to find the Crystallis sword for Draygon, Dadda's boss, and it was her who had begun to use the crystal her Dadda stole off the sword to talk to Harbinger. So far, she has not been able to decipher any of the strange words and language coming from the weapon in the sky, but she would. She would make her Dadda proud.

Jabberwocky flies back to his hidden lair, bringing food for his daughter. He lands outside, and turns into his human form, carrying the food inside. "Ruby! Dadda's home!" He sets the food to one side, and hugs his adopted daughter. "Were you a good girl while Dadda was away?" He kisses her cheek, and starts combing her hair. "Did you understand anything of what the crystal said?"

Urgrapth nestled into her web, secure, safe. Her babies surrounded her, tinkling and moving throughout the web, doing the insectoid things that spider creatures would do. Urgrapth waited, expecting her children to bring back the intruder. The smoke should have made it fall, and her children should have brought it quick, but there had been too much time. Urgrapth waited... impatiently.

At a nod, she sent five more of her children to help fetch, two more than before, if the others were hurt then more would be needed. Her babies, they should not be hurt, they need to be safe. Urgrapth nervously began to pace around her web. She grabbed one of the villagers, a young one that smelled like flowers, and prepared it for food. If she had to go to fight the visitor herself she'll need food, but she will wait for her children to report back first.

SETTING:

Kensu sat at the mouth of the sealed cave smoking his pipe and lost, deep in thought. He knew that somewhere in the caves, hidden behind walls and in secret caverns rarely seen by any eyes, is a sword mounted into stone. It has no scabbard, no lace, but it did have the power to harness the dramatic and fearful power of the Storm. The mysteries of his religion taught that the Oracles were made to speak to the swords and feel their call, and hopefully this pink haired girl would be drawn to the weapon soon.

Kensu wasn't certain, but he feared that the disappearance of the villagers had something to do with this mountain. A week or so before he had peeled open some strange, metal door and inside was this pulsating black mass. Hesitantly he watched the mass pulsate faster and faster, then little spindly creatures began to leak from the sides of the mass. Disgusted, Kensu backed away and shut the door. Normally the animals and creatures of the island were of the nature to leave people alone, but maybe, maybe this one was different. The people of his island, his people were all gone, but there were no signs of violence; and the cave was not shut, but Pip was with the girl.

So much had changed, so much, and so fast. Kensu smoked his pipe and watched the cave, it took much of his will power not to show his terror.

@Shadow Dragon

Ruby hugged Jabber back, accepted the food and ate graciously, "Not yet Dadda," she said between bites, "it's all clicks and strange noises. I need to talk to the fairy again, but I'm not sure how," she chewed, "she said something about my 'biogenic energy' giving her enough strength to talk to me, but I don't know what that is or how to make it work."

He sighs, and glances at the crystal necklace around her neck. It glimmers softly in the light. He smiles, and kisses her head gently. "We'll figure it out baby girl. Have you tried those meditation cards I got you?" He gently hands her a engraved plate with some simple steps to guided meditation. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out someday. How was your day today?" He smiles, gently brushing her hair.

@Shadow Dragon

Ruby set aside her food and ran her hands over the indented cards, scanning their contents with her fingers, they involved breathing exercises and sitting in silence, which was something she was good at anyways. "I'll be honest Dadda I haven't looked at these since you brought them," he started to brush her hair, "there are some disruptions the mecha has reported from the Sat-lites," she stumbled over the word, "Jub Jub is attacking some village of Tinkers in the mountains, and Bandersnatch is heading towards Castle of Solace. I don't think Bander is going to have much luck though, he's only one lieutenant against a huge castle with knights and soldiers and who knows what else."

Ruby picked up her food again and took another bite, "I don't understand what your boss wants you guys to do," she spoke with a mouthful of food, "I mean..*chew*.. what good is randomly destroying things?"

The further she goes down the caverns, the more Sarah finds it harder to breathe. The shadows, which only just flickered and shifted, now seem to form malevolent faces, gaining demonic forms and always seeming to reach out for her, clutching with long, spindly claws. She would startle, only to stop and realize Pip was looking at her funny, as though wondering if she's alright. She realizes that Pip isn't affected by the miasma, meaning she could at least trust his senses if not her own.

She coughs into the crook of her arm as the bitter, pungent miasma fills her nose and mouth, her eyes watering. She's certain this miasma is the source of these hallucinations; get rid of it, and she'll be able to trust her senses again - for that matter, she'll just settle for being able to breathe clean air again!

Pausing for breath, she notes the spiderling claw resting in one hand. She realizes that the claw is much smaller than she thought it was, and the things that had harried her earlier were much smaller than she imagined. It must be the miasma's work too. The sooner she's done here, the better. Fortunately, the deeper she goes, the closer she can sense the sword. It's as though this particular sense, this feeling, is uncorrupted by whatever hallucinations inflicted upon her, allowing her to at least navigate the tight, winding corridors with some reliability. The sooner she finds that sword, the sooner she can begin to understand her past, and the thought drives her onwards, battling her thick, palpable terror.

Pip, for his part, is worried about the path they're taking. The miasma is thicker here, and it's hurting his nose and eyes, causing him to whimper in protest. He could still smell the fear on New Master, even as she continues to walk forwards. The paths here are new and uncertain to him, and he can smell the spider-things more and more; this is their territory. And yet, New Master seems persistent in the path they're taking.

Then he smells something... close. More Spider-things. He stops and growls threateningly, and New Master takes a few moments to realize the threat too.

"W-what is it, Pip...?" Sarah asks anxiously, only too aware that her skin is clammy with sweat and she's breaking out in goosebumps. "Is... is it more of those things...?"

She hears something skitter closeby, and prays it's only another hallucination. However, the sound comes closer, and she she grips her makeshift weapon, she realizes the sound is undeniably real. Before she realizes it, there's another patrol of spiderlings here, one bigger than the previous one.

It takes a considerable effort of will to not bolt; there's more of them this time, and she's still suffering from shakes and nausea. However, she reminds herself that these things, while still dangerous, aren't as big as she thought, and that this time, she's armed. If they want to kill her, she'll put up a better fight this time. And she knows she can at least heal Pip if he gets hurt...

The spiderlings emerge from the winding tunnel, not sure what to expect, but ready to fight. They see a human girl and a strange, furred creature, the human girl holding what seems to be a claw from one of their brothers. They collectively hiss in anger, the combined hissing echoing in the caves menacingly. Apparently, those two managed to overcome the previous patrol, and for some reason this particular human is immune to the miasma. They skitter forwards quickly, intending to put these foes down quickly.

Pip strikes first, the crest on his back lighting up again before filling the cave with a bright light, striking one of the spiderlings in front with a powerful bolt of lightning. The sudden blast and the surprised screeching of their ally surprises the spiderlings, causing them to panic and try to split up, backing away from another possible attack.

Sarah, finding her chance, swings with the claw, only to realize she attacked a hallucination. In retaliation, the closest spiderling cuts her arm with an opportunistic strike, wounding her. Despite the pain, she doesn't let go of the claw. She tries to kick in revenge, but misses as she stumbles, barely managing to keep her balance. The spiderlings try to capitalize on her weakness, trying to swarm the duo with superior numbers. They swing their razor-sharp claws, slashing and stabbing, but Pip dodges deftly using his surprisingly strong legs to dodge and weave their strikes. He'd felt their sting once, he's in no hurry to get hit again. Sarah dodges a swipe by stepping back out of harm's way, but knows that they need to end this quickly. She sidesteps another attack, then sends one flying with a swift kick, smacking it against the cave walls.

Pip avoids another slash, and finds an opening as the spiderling had overcommitted, leaving its flank open. He lunges forwards, snarling, before clamping on the thing's throat with sharp teeth. The spiderling panics and tries to throw him off, managing to inflict a slash while one of its brothers assisted by managing to stab Pip in the flank. Pip yips in pain but doesn't let go, not dropping the spiderling until it flops lifelessly to the ground. It whirls with a snarl and a snap at the spiderling that wounded it. Its brother moves to flank, forcing Pip to hobble around to avoid getting attacked from two sides at once.

Sarah, meanwhile tries to cut down the last spiderling still standing, but it uses its smaller stature and great agility to dodge attacks. However, it miscalculates and finds itself cornered right in the path of a frenzied swing, and blocks by raising its claws to block. It manages, but Sarah's greater strength shakes it, and it would have gotten stabbed had not its dazed comrade recovered, and moved forwards to jump onto Sarah's back. It starts clawing and slashing, causing Sarah to cry out in pain and reach for the thing. Unable to reach the blind spot on her back, she resorts to slamming herself, back-first, into the nearby wall several times. The spiderling ultimately lets go after one too many hits, allowing Sarah to crush it under her boot. Its enraged brother jumps at her leg and stabs her in the calf, causing her to grunt in pain and drop to one knee, but she manages to bring the claw down sharply, impaling it in the back and twisting the blade to ensure it stays down this time. She clutches her wounded leg in pain.

Pip snarls and barks at the surviving spiderlings, trying to keep them back while he charges another lightning attack. The spiderlings sense it too, and try to at least finish this furry threat before the human recovers from her injuries enough to help. One of them skitters sideways, claws raised, but it's a feint to draw Pip's attention while its partner attacks Pip's exposed and injured flank. However, it barely manages to get close before Sarah's boot comes down, crushing it with brutal intent. Sarah had managed to heal herself so she could move sufficiently to help Pip. Surprised by this turn of events, the surviving Spiderling turns and tries to run away, but Pip catches with a strong jolt of lightning, frying it and putting it down for good.

For a moment, the noise in the hall quiets down, as Sarah pants heavily trying to recover her breath and the spiderling's scorched corpse sizzles audibly. Pip limps over to the corpses, sniffs them to make sure, then barks at them tauntingly, as though to gloat about winning. Limping, Pip turns to Sarah, panting happily as he's glad to see she's alright. Sarah returns his grin by kneeling down, petting him gently, and healing his wounds.

"There," she says. "Let's hurry, we're almost at the sword now. Let's find it and get out already."

She stumbles along, trying to heal her wounds, Pip walking along, lighting the way. This time, Sarah's stumble is a bit rushed; even as dizzy as she is from the fight and the miasma, she can feel the sword close. If she finds it, maybe she'll have an easier time in here.