01-14-2011, 04:52 AM
“Okay, so…” Sophia spoke as the pair entered the tunnels that Kaden had mentioned. She turned to him and winked with a smile. “Walk into the creepy tunnel, check. What’s our next objective?”
“Oh, so this is a military operation, is it? I see, I see. Well, lieutenant, I’m thinking we can snake our way through these tunnels and, you know, get the drop on these guys. I can track them pretty easily, so we’ll just pick our best spot and take it.”
“Wait, I’m only a lieutenant?” Sophia frowned.
“Right, because that’s totally what I wanted you to get out of all of that,” the courier couldn’t help but grin. He turned her slightly by pulling on her shoulder as he passed by. “But come on, we should hurry. It’ll take ‘em a while to find us, but it’s not smart to stand around and take chances.”
Sophia realized that they would be descending into a tunnel, one that was supported only by a few beams of wood and the very ground that it was dug out of. What she couldn’t anticipate, however, was the unsightliness about the whole thing. It was dark and damp, with less room to move around than what she would have liked. The tunnels seemed to be very purposely carved out to provide safety for the villagers, but it was quite evident that they didn’t exactly expect to use them so extensively. The healer shrugged most of her concern off as being paranoid, but a portion of the emotion couldn’t help but hide somewhere in the back of her consciousness.
Kaden didn’t appear to mind any of it, however, although it was hard to read his face as he looked straight above, his eyes taken over by that…Sight thing that he did. Sophia didn’t really understand it fully, but she knew that when it came down to it, Kaden was more reliable than a GPS when it came to finding things, just so long as they had a ki signature. While he was focused on tracking down their attackers, Sophia did the only thing she could do—make her way through the tunnels and make sure that the courier didn’t run into a wall.
The paths split up into several larger corridors, ones that Sophia would have felt much more comfortable traveling within, but Kaden pulled her by on the “main” path every time she tried to change direction. He apparently knew where he was going, so the healer decided to just let him do his thing. Just as that thought crossed her mind, the courier made a complete stop and looked to their right, though to Sophia it just looked like a solid wall. “There are people over there.”
“…right,” the blonde woman merely shrugged. “Should we worry about them?”
“Let’s hope not,” Kaden sighed. “It’s likely that the invaders haven’t found the tunnels yet, but you never know. I guess it’s time to put our ninja skills to use.”
The idea sounded fair enough, so the pair went to work, going about their paces with more grace and silence than they had previously attempted. It occurred to Sophia that perhaps one of the invaders had similar ki sensing capabilities as Kaden did, but she also supposed that the courier would realize if these beings were counter-acting their movements. In short, the ex-priestess felt as though she was just being led around in the dark, which wasn’t too far from the truth. Kaden held out an arm to stop Sophia’s progress, just short of another corner. “Alright…they’re in the next room.”
“‘kay,” Sophia nodded, nearing the edge and trying her best to peek around the corner. There was no telling who or what they were going to face, and they weren’t going to know unless they just charged in or tried to use…craftier means. Of course, the craftiest mean that Sophia could think of was the equivalent of a child trying to peek through the door crack. As she did, she spotted green-skinned beings gathered in the next room, but couldn’t determine much more than that before she got scared and moved back before anyone could possibly see her. “Okay. I don’t think they saw me.”
“That was smooth. Very sneaky,” Kaden whispered. “Could you see anything? Are they our invaders?”
“Well…I’m not sure,” Sophia responded with a shrug. “The one I saw looks kind of like that Mal Nova guy we saw in Dante’s Abyss. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”
“Me neither,” the courier responded. “But…now that I think about it, they’re probably the missing villagers. I think Mal Nova was a Namekian.”
“And if they aren’t?” the ex-priestess inquired after a moment of hesitation.
“Well…” Kaden pondered the thought, but resigned with a shrug. “I doubt we’d be able to negotiate. I doubt they’d just laugh and call it a misunderstanding.”
Shuffling could be heard in the next room, and silence again took over. The pair exchanged worried glances, and with little alternative options available, Sophia decided to take a peek around the corner again. She did so, but instead of spotting the supposed Namekians huddled in the room, she just saw the bright glow of a ki ball being charged. She turned around as quickly as she could and placed her back against the wall frantically, as if that would turn back time. “Okay. I think they saw me.”
“Yeah, we saw you,” a voice sounded.
“We can hear you, too,” another chimed in. “The female’s voice echoes. A lot.”
Kaden shot Sophia a glare before returning his gaze to the corner. “I guess we’ve been caught. Are you the villagers?”
“Yes,” the original voice spoke. “Now show yourselves. Slowly.”
Both warriors stood up and rounded the corner slowly, holding their hands up. Sophia took a breath before speaking. “We’re not with the invaders.”
“We figured. You don’t look like any of them,” the Namekian holding up the ki ball nodded. “But strangers you still are, and during troubled times, we cannot afford to take any chances.”
“We’re here to rescue you,” Kaden pulled that line out of Star Wars, Sophia thought before she settled into a more relevant train of thought. “The militia sent us. We entered the tunnels to escape.”
“We also thought we could take them by surprise,” the healer added carefully. “We thought the village had been deserted…”
“If you’re lying, I’ll fire,” the Namekian spoke sternly.
“I doubt it would take much ki before these tunnels cave in,” Sophia said.
“Considering the circumstances, I think that’s a risk we’d be willing to take.”
“Look, we’re not lying,” Kaden sighed. “If we were here for you, we would have found a better way to flush you all out. There would also be more of us.”
“And I would be wearing a robe,” Sophia added.
“Well…” the elder turned to look at his people, who merely stared on in fright. “I suppose that’s good enough,” the ki in his palm shrunk, still giving off light but without the foreboding attitude it carried before. He motioned towards a ladder behind them. “This leads just outside of the village. It’s been placed inside a hollowed-out tree, so it’s hard to find.”
“If they aren’t looking for it,” the courier breathed. His eyes flicked up and around for a few moments before returning to Sophia. “They’re not far. This is as good an opportunity as any.”
“Ready when you are, captain.”
“Oh, so this is a military operation, is it? I see, I see. Well, lieutenant, I’m thinking we can snake our way through these tunnels and, you know, get the drop on these guys. I can track them pretty easily, so we’ll just pick our best spot and take it.”
“Wait, I’m only a lieutenant?” Sophia frowned.
“Right, because that’s totally what I wanted you to get out of all of that,” the courier couldn’t help but grin. He turned her slightly by pulling on her shoulder as he passed by. “But come on, we should hurry. It’ll take ‘em a while to find us, but it’s not smart to stand around and take chances.”
Sophia realized that they would be descending into a tunnel, one that was supported only by a few beams of wood and the very ground that it was dug out of. What she couldn’t anticipate, however, was the unsightliness about the whole thing. It was dark and damp, with less room to move around than what she would have liked. The tunnels seemed to be very purposely carved out to provide safety for the villagers, but it was quite evident that they didn’t exactly expect to use them so extensively. The healer shrugged most of her concern off as being paranoid, but a portion of the emotion couldn’t help but hide somewhere in the back of her consciousness.
Kaden didn’t appear to mind any of it, however, although it was hard to read his face as he looked straight above, his eyes taken over by that…Sight thing that he did. Sophia didn’t really understand it fully, but she knew that when it came down to it, Kaden was more reliable than a GPS when it came to finding things, just so long as they had a ki signature. While he was focused on tracking down their attackers, Sophia did the only thing she could do—make her way through the tunnels and make sure that the courier didn’t run into a wall.
The paths split up into several larger corridors, ones that Sophia would have felt much more comfortable traveling within, but Kaden pulled her by on the “main” path every time she tried to change direction. He apparently knew where he was going, so the healer decided to just let him do his thing. Just as that thought crossed her mind, the courier made a complete stop and looked to their right, though to Sophia it just looked like a solid wall. “There are people over there.”
“…right,” the blonde woman merely shrugged. “Should we worry about them?”
“Let’s hope not,” Kaden sighed. “It’s likely that the invaders haven’t found the tunnels yet, but you never know. I guess it’s time to put our ninja skills to use.”
The idea sounded fair enough, so the pair went to work, going about their paces with more grace and silence than they had previously attempted. It occurred to Sophia that perhaps one of the invaders had similar ki sensing capabilities as Kaden did, but she also supposed that the courier would realize if these beings were counter-acting their movements. In short, the ex-priestess felt as though she was just being led around in the dark, which wasn’t too far from the truth. Kaden held out an arm to stop Sophia’s progress, just short of another corner. “Alright…they’re in the next room.”
“‘kay,” Sophia nodded, nearing the edge and trying her best to peek around the corner. There was no telling who or what they were going to face, and they weren’t going to know unless they just charged in or tried to use…craftier means. Of course, the craftiest mean that Sophia could think of was the equivalent of a child trying to peek through the door crack. As she did, she spotted green-skinned beings gathered in the next room, but couldn’t determine much more than that before she got scared and moved back before anyone could possibly see her. “Okay. I don’t think they saw me.”
“That was smooth. Very sneaky,” Kaden whispered. “Could you see anything? Are they our invaders?”
“Well…I’m not sure,” Sophia responded with a shrug. “The one I saw looks kind of like that Mal Nova guy we saw in Dante’s Abyss. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”
“Me neither,” the courier responded. “But…now that I think about it, they’re probably the missing villagers. I think Mal Nova was a Namekian.”
“And if they aren’t?” the ex-priestess inquired after a moment of hesitation.
“Well…” Kaden pondered the thought, but resigned with a shrug. “I doubt we’d be able to negotiate. I doubt they’d just laugh and call it a misunderstanding.”
Shuffling could be heard in the next room, and silence again took over. The pair exchanged worried glances, and with little alternative options available, Sophia decided to take a peek around the corner again. She did so, but instead of spotting the supposed Namekians huddled in the room, she just saw the bright glow of a ki ball being charged. She turned around as quickly as she could and placed her back against the wall frantically, as if that would turn back time. “Okay. I think they saw me.”
“Yeah, we saw you,” a voice sounded.
“We can hear you, too,” another chimed in. “The female’s voice echoes. A lot.”
Kaden shot Sophia a glare before returning his gaze to the corner. “I guess we’ve been caught. Are you the villagers?”
“Yes,” the original voice spoke. “Now show yourselves. Slowly.”
Both warriors stood up and rounded the corner slowly, holding their hands up. Sophia took a breath before speaking. “We’re not with the invaders.”
“We figured. You don’t look like any of them,” the Namekian holding up the ki ball nodded. “But strangers you still are, and during troubled times, we cannot afford to take any chances.”
“We’re here to rescue you,” Kaden pulled that line out of Star Wars, Sophia thought before she settled into a more relevant train of thought. “The militia sent us. We entered the tunnels to escape.”
“We also thought we could take them by surprise,” the healer added carefully. “We thought the village had been deserted…”
“If you’re lying, I’ll fire,” the Namekian spoke sternly.
“I doubt it would take much ki before these tunnels cave in,” Sophia said.
“Considering the circumstances, I think that’s a risk we’d be willing to take.”
“Look, we’re not lying,” Kaden sighed. “If we were here for you, we would have found a better way to flush you all out. There would also be more of us.”
“And I would be wearing a robe,” Sophia added.
“Well…” the elder turned to look at his people, who merely stared on in fright. “I suppose that’s good enough,” the ki in his palm shrunk, still giving off light but without the foreboding attitude it carried before. He motioned towards a ladder behind them. “This leads just outside of the village. It’s been placed inside a hollowed-out tree, so it’s hard to find.”
“If they aren’t looking for it,” the courier breathed. His eyes flicked up and around for a few moments before returning to Sophia. “They’re not far. This is as good an opportunity as any.”
“Ready when you are, captain.”
![[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.