01-18-2011, 10:52 PM
A flash of light came, illuminating the spaces within the cave quite adequately, even by the stray beams that shined through the cracks of the hatch. Sophia laughed and shook her head, garnering a lot of strange looks from the Namekians. It probably seemed like an odd reaction for such a trying time, but the ex-priestess couldn’t help but be amused at the courier’s flare for the dramatic. She supposed that was what happened when a person is able to produce obscene amounts of energy with relatively little effort. Regardless, that was the signal that they had all been waiting for, so without wasting much more time, Sophia motioned toward them all with a wave. “Come on, I think that means ‘go.’”
The group muttered amongst themselves, clattering about in hesitation, though they needed little more motivation to get moving. Nothing more than their life was depending on their ability to scurry along their underground tunnels, but Sophia merely wondered if she was strong enough to save them all. Being left alone to ensure the safety of an entire village would have been a challenge for Sophia at her peak, let alone the sorry state that she found she was in after taking an incredible amount of time off from the whole adventuring scene.
The sounds above resembled fireworks, a sight that she had only seen a few times, but the loud pops that shook the very ground beneath them were hard to forget. Whatever Kaden was doing up there was obviously working, meaning that it was more important than ever for her to succeed. She took one look over her shoulder to ensure that everyone was following in line, and although many of them looked a bit dizzy with concern, a quick head count told her that everything was going according to plan.
Of course, Sophia had been using her human GPS for the trip into the caverns, and making her way outside without him proved to be a taxing task, if only because she had paid little attention to where they were actually going beforehand. She was positive that they had only gone straight the entire trip, but the different branches that turned in either direction caused the slightest bit of hesitation. Then again, she figured that a wrong turn would not have gone unnoticed by the villagers, if only because they were the ones who built it.
All breathing became more rapid and heavy as they neared the exit, and as the sounds of battle above seem to lessen with every step. Sophia knew that it was impossible for Kaden to shoot ki beams constantly, but it eased her already frayed nerves knowing that the aliens had to dodge explosions just to stay alive. That made it more difficult for them to think to check the tunnels where they resided. Sophia turned around more fully to address the crowd, though her pace remained as brisk. “Okay, I think we’re nearing the tunnels now, but try to keep moving when we’re outside. Kaden won’t be able to stop them forever.”
As soon as the words left her lips, she turned around. The light from the exit shined against the wall, signaling their near escape, but a shadow had cast itself and thoroughly ruined Sophia’s day. She stopped fully and put her arms out to stop the progress of the ones who trailed behind. The shadow grew fuller as the figure appeared to be nearing, and it took her all the willpower left in her body to avoid backing up. If she was going to save everyone—anyone—she was going to have to make a stand at some point. Kaden, as strong as he was, couldn’t make the difference alone.
The shadow blinked, then Sophia. When she opened her eyes, one of the robed figures descended upon her, arms extended as the alien floated towards her with surprising speed. Sophia gasped and fell backwards, regaining her balance only by breaking the fall with her hands. Upon realizing what had happened, she shifted her weight and sprang upwards with the strength in her arms, thrusting her legs up towards the alien’s torso as it passed over the woman. Heels dug into skin, the impact obviously felt through the cloth armor that the…thing wore. The invader bounced off of the ceiling and cracked against the floor as it landed.
Her eyes flicked over towards the entrance—none of the others seemed to follow. She looked back down at the alien she had just attacked. It was out for the count, it appeared, which concerned Sophia, but not enough for her to do much about it. She had hit the invader with as much force as she could muster, but that alone wouldn’t have knocked it out. Kaden must have worn the guy down before it made its way down to her. With a shrug, she looked back at the villagers. “Stay here. I think there are more out there…if there are, then I won’t be able to save all of you,” she turned to walk towards the exit, but stopped and tilted her head back before she left. “Oh, and watch out for that one. If the little jerk wakes up…well, deal with it. He’s probably too weak to do much.”
Sophia emerged from the caverns and looked around, her eyes taking a moment or two to adjust to the new level of light—she hadn’t noticed it before, but the planet had more than one sun, which seemed problematic in a way. She was fine, however, and had more things to worry about as she opened her eyes more fully. Two invaders, the other ones wearing robes, floated overhead, leering down at her. One was still in the cave, but the other was nowhere to be seen. She hoped that Kaden had taken care of it, but she remained aware of its absence regardless. She tightened a fist as she looked between the two enemies. “Why are you here? Why are you doing this?”
No sounds came immediately, and only gurgles came eventually. Sophia frowned as a moment’s worth of disgust flashed across her face, but she settled into a more traditional, stoic expression as she continued. “Well…it doesn’t matter! I’m not letting you into this cave!”
The two robed figures tensed and slowly looked towards one another. One expressed a shrug while the other merely shook its head. Sophia blinked, unaware that she was slowly floating upward. The pair suddenly snapped their attention back towards the girl, and flew towards her with increased speed. The healer sunk into form, one that she had learned from Kaiousama all that time ago, but she remembered the basics. She awaited for them to arrive, but she was surprised to find that they weren’t aiming for her and descended upon the cavern rapidly. “H-hey!” she turned around and stuttered out the command in her most threatening voice, but she failed miserably with a cracked voice. “Come back! You’re supposed to be fighting me~!”
She charged a quick ball of ki in the palm of her hand and threw it at the one on the left and flew after the other one as soon as she released it. The Namekians seemed pretty able to protect themselves if necessary, but she didn’t want to take any chances. The bolt of ki exploded on the invader’s back and sent him spiraling towards the ground, while Sophia managed to catch up to the remaining alien and grab him by the back of its cloak. With a grunt, she turned around and tossed it back up and released another ball of ki. The attack collided with its target, and a small explosion ensued.
Sophia breathed a sigh, but immediately regretted letting up as the other alien charged her. She lowered an elbow in order to block the alien’s punch, and turned to block an imminent kick with her knee. As they floated there in mid-air, she threw her open fist at the invader’s face, but it lifted its free hand to grapple the blow. As the other alien adjusted and appeared to ready to engage in combat once again, Sophia began to panic. With a deep breath, she reared her head back and swung it forward, cracking her skull against the opposing skull. A gurgle burst forth, and although the attack left Sophia dizzy, she grabbed the front of the alien’s robe and swung him around and towards its ally.
Without thinking much about it, she pressed her palms together and charged azure energy as fully as she could. The aliens collided with each other and became entangled in midair. With a scream, she thrust her palms forward and released all the energy she had gathered in one beam. The light that ensued made it difficult to determine what had happened exactly, but she could at least tell that the attack hit its mark. As the smoke cleared, nothing remained. With a cough, she looked down at her hands in shock. She had never been able to do that before.
“Oh no!” she gasped, flying towards the cavern once more. “I’m not done!”
“What…” Sophia blinked as they looked upon…whatever it was that they were looking at. It definitely was some sort of computer room, but it was difficult to grasp exactly why it was there, let alone what it was used for. “What are you expecting to find, exactly?”
“Hell if I know,” Kaden muttered, looking around with as much awe as Sophia had managed. “I mean…it’s a computer room. There has to be something important here.”
“Something to help the cause of justice,” Sophia said with a giggle. She approached the nearest console and glanced at the screen. The text on-screen was in a language that she couldn’t understand. The healer sighed and looked toward Kaden, who was still looking around. She looked back. The buttons on the keyboard just sat there neatly, just waiting to be pressed. Really, it would have been a shame if they weren’t touched in any capacity. After all, that’s what they were there for. “Okay…what, exactly, do I press?”
She spoke softly enough to avoid Kaden hearing. With a deep breath, she touched a button on the bottom left corner. It seemed like a good button to start with, but nothing happened. She clicked her tongue and frowned as she inspected the other buttons present. She pressed another. And another.
Her fingers finally fell upon a red one right in the middle. Suddenly, red lights flashed along the walls and the console began to beep loudly. With a gasp, she frantically pounded the remaining buttons until everything went back to normal. After a few moments passed, she sighed. “Don’t even say anything, Kaden.”
“What? I didn’t say a word!” he protested.
“You were looking,” Sophia shook her head. “I can feel your look.”
After another moment or two, the text on the screen in front of her changed. Her eyes returned to the screen and lit up immediately after seeing a language that she understood. “Oh! Eureka!”
The group muttered amongst themselves, clattering about in hesitation, though they needed little more motivation to get moving. Nothing more than their life was depending on their ability to scurry along their underground tunnels, but Sophia merely wondered if she was strong enough to save them all. Being left alone to ensure the safety of an entire village would have been a challenge for Sophia at her peak, let alone the sorry state that she found she was in after taking an incredible amount of time off from the whole adventuring scene.
The sounds above resembled fireworks, a sight that she had only seen a few times, but the loud pops that shook the very ground beneath them were hard to forget. Whatever Kaden was doing up there was obviously working, meaning that it was more important than ever for her to succeed. She took one look over her shoulder to ensure that everyone was following in line, and although many of them looked a bit dizzy with concern, a quick head count told her that everything was going according to plan.
Of course, Sophia had been using her human GPS for the trip into the caverns, and making her way outside without him proved to be a taxing task, if only because she had paid little attention to where they were actually going beforehand. She was positive that they had only gone straight the entire trip, but the different branches that turned in either direction caused the slightest bit of hesitation. Then again, she figured that a wrong turn would not have gone unnoticed by the villagers, if only because they were the ones who built it.
All breathing became more rapid and heavy as they neared the exit, and as the sounds of battle above seem to lessen with every step. Sophia knew that it was impossible for Kaden to shoot ki beams constantly, but it eased her already frayed nerves knowing that the aliens had to dodge explosions just to stay alive. That made it more difficult for them to think to check the tunnels where they resided. Sophia turned around more fully to address the crowd, though her pace remained as brisk. “Okay, I think we’re nearing the tunnels now, but try to keep moving when we’re outside. Kaden won’t be able to stop them forever.”
As soon as the words left her lips, she turned around. The light from the exit shined against the wall, signaling their near escape, but a shadow had cast itself and thoroughly ruined Sophia’s day. She stopped fully and put her arms out to stop the progress of the ones who trailed behind. The shadow grew fuller as the figure appeared to be nearing, and it took her all the willpower left in her body to avoid backing up. If she was going to save everyone—anyone—she was going to have to make a stand at some point. Kaden, as strong as he was, couldn’t make the difference alone.
The shadow blinked, then Sophia. When she opened her eyes, one of the robed figures descended upon her, arms extended as the alien floated towards her with surprising speed. Sophia gasped and fell backwards, regaining her balance only by breaking the fall with her hands. Upon realizing what had happened, she shifted her weight and sprang upwards with the strength in her arms, thrusting her legs up towards the alien’s torso as it passed over the woman. Heels dug into skin, the impact obviously felt through the cloth armor that the…thing wore. The invader bounced off of the ceiling and cracked against the floor as it landed.
Her eyes flicked over towards the entrance—none of the others seemed to follow. She looked back down at the alien she had just attacked. It was out for the count, it appeared, which concerned Sophia, but not enough for her to do much about it. She had hit the invader with as much force as she could muster, but that alone wouldn’t have knocked it out. Kaden must have worn the guy down before it made its way down to her. With a shrug, she looked back at the villagers. “Stay here. I think there are more out there…if there are, then I won’t be able to save all of you,” she turned to walk towards the exit, but stopped and tilted her head back before she left. “Oh, and watch out for that one. If the little jerk wakes up…well, deal with it. He’s probably too weak to do much.”
Sophia emerged from the caverns and looked around, her eyes taking a moment or two to adjust to the new level of light—she hadn’t noticed it before, but the planet had more than one sun, which seemed problematic in a way. She was fine, however, and had more things to worry about as she opened her eyes more fully. Two invaders, the other ones wearing robes, floated overhead, leering down at her. One was still in the cave, but the other was nowhere to be seen. She hoped that Kaden had taken care of it, but she remained aware of its absence regardless. She tightened a fist as she looked between the two enemies. “Why are you here? Why are you doing this?”
No sounds came immediately, and only gurgles came eventually. Sophia frowned as a moment’s worth of disgust flashed across her face, but she settled into a more traditional, stoic expression as she continued. “Well…it doesn’t matter! I’m not letting you into this cave!”
The two robed figures tensed and slowly looked towards one another. One expressed a shrug while the other merely shook its head. Sophia blinked, unaware that she was slowly floating upward. The pair suddenly snapped their attention back towards the girl, and flew towards her with increased speed. The healer sunk into form, one that she had learned from Kaiousama all that time ago, but she remembered the basics. She awaited for them to arrive, but she was surprised to find that they weren’t aiming for her and descended upon the cavern rapidly. “H-hey!” she turned around and stuttered out the command in her most threatening voice, but she failed miserably with a cracked voice. “Come back! You’re supposed to be fighting me~!”
She charged a quick ball of ki in the palm of her hand and threw it at the one on the left and flew after the other one as soon as she released it. The Namekians seemed pretty able to protect themselves if necessary, but she didn’t want to take any chances. The bolt of ki exploded on the invader’s back and sent him spiraling towards the ground, while Sophia managed to catch up to the remaining alien and grab him by the back of its cloak. With a grunt, she turned around and tossed it back up and released another ball of ki. The attack collided with its target, and a small explosion ensued.
Sophia breathed a sigh, but immediately regretted letting up as the other alien charged her. She lowered an elbow in order to block the alien’s punch, and turned to block an imminent kick with her knee. As they floated there in mid-air, she threw her open fist at the invader’s face, but it lifted its free hand to grapple the blow. As the other alien adjusted and appeared to ready to engage in combat once again, Sophia began to panic. With a deep breath, she reared her head back and swung it forward, cracking her skull against the opposing skull. A gurgle burst forth, and although the attack left Sophia dizzy, she grabbed the front of the alien’s robe and swung him around and towards its ally.
Without thinking much about it, she pressed her palms together and charged azure energy as fully as she could. The aliens collided with each other and became entangled in midair. With a scream, she thrust her palms forward and released all the energy she had gathered in one beam. The light that ensued made it difficult to determine what had happened exactly, but she could at least tell that the attack hit its mark. As the smoke cleared, nothing remained. With a cough, she looked down at her hands in shock. She had never been able to do that before.
“Oh no!” she gasped, flying towards the cavern once more. “I’m not done!”
- -
“What…” Sophia blinked as they looked upon…whatever it was that they were looking at. It definitely was some sort of computer room, but it was difficult to grasp exactly why it was there, let alone what it was used for. “What are you expecting to find, exactly?”
“Hell if I know,” Kaden muttered, looking around with as much awe as Sophia had managed. “I mean…it’s a computer room. There has to be something important here.”
“Something to help the cause of justice,” Sophia said with a giggle. She approached the nearest console and glanced at the screen. The text on-screen was in a language that she couldn’t understand. The healer sighed and looked toward Kaden, who was still looking around. She looked back. The buttons on the keyboard just sat there neatly, just waiting to be pressed. Really, it would have been a shame if they weren’t touched in any capacity. After all, that’s what they were there for. “Okay…what, exactly, do I press?”
She spoke softly enough to avoid Kaden hearing. With a deep breath, she touched a button on the bottom left corner. It seemed like a good button to start with, but nothing happened. She clicked her tongue and frowned as she inspected the other buttons present. She pressed another. And another.
Her fingers finally fell upon a red one right in the middle. Suddenly, red lights flashed along the walls and the console began to beep loudly. With a gasp, she frantically pounded the remaining buttons until everything went back to normal. After a few moments passed, she sighed. “Don’t even say anything, Kaden.”
“What? I didn’t say a word!” he protested.
“You were looking,” Sophia shook her head. “I can feel your look.”
After another moment or two, the text on the screen in front of her changed. Her eyes returned to the screen and lit up immediately after seeing a language that she understood. “Oh! Eureka!”
![[Image: SophiaRetro.jpg]](http://rpnexus.com/sig/miscsig/SophiaRetro.jpg)
And tell me where is the love
In what your prophet has said?
Man, It sounds to me just like
A prison for the walking dead.