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 Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:58 pm
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The minute the beep rang out through the air, Austri knew they were in trouble.
It wasn't the movement of the pillars, or the building air fueling her electric desire for freedom-- That singular, slow beep made Austri's pump biscuit race, rushing her girls out of the ladder in a flurry of movement. A sickening screech forced the troll to cover her sponge clots in a panic as she looked up at the tower with wide eyes filled with terror. One by one, piece by piece, the troll watched their creation fall and break like her own personal nightmare. Austri leaned back so far she fell off her lusus, landing flat on her back as she instantly sat up, searching for her friends in the heat of the movement. Just as she'd seen them, pass, a large boulder shook the ground, disorienting the greenblood and making her stumble. "W-Wait, wait--!" Austri called out, feeling panic make her insides seize up. She talked big, but when she needed to do things, she was always distracted-- Confused, scared. Austri swallowed hard, rushing after them before a piece of debri as large as her lawnring slammed in her path, forcing the greenblood to spring backward in a flurry of movement.
Austri couldn't believe it. She was completely and utterly alone.
With no one to guide her, the greenblood was left to scramble away, following the vague direction she'd seen her girls head toward. She was nervous and tired, and the adrenaline coursing through her only made her body a heavier load. Austri lagged a little before her legs collapsed from exhaustion, eyelids heavy, body aching. She reassured herself as she saw bits of debri fall near her-- She'd be fine, after all, she was powered, and a greenblood, and she'd have a life full of adventure and drama and gogdammnit she wouldn't die here, not if she could help it. Austri slumped into a slow limp, using her arms as help and trying to keep herself balanced.
A large shadow made the greenblood's blood run cold.
Austri turned. On top of the oncoming shrapnel, the piece of metal soaring toward her was enough to make her question all her beliefs. It was large, very large, with fire and concrete and smoke soaring toward her. Austri stood there, frozen.
She couldn't move.
Her legs just wouldn't work. Her mind simply couldn't process the situation. She was going to die.
Then, she remembered. She had powers. She was different from the rest. She was better. She was stronger. Austri stood her ground, relaxing her muscles and focusing. If there was one moment she needed her powers the most, it was right there and then.
Austri prepared her arms, getting in position before thrusting forward, pushing her arms toward the metal with a singular thrust forward, all the energy in her body releasing at that singular, pivotal point. For a blood pusher stopping moment, all continued the same. And then, the winds became so strong, it was pushed backward somewhat. A tear in its structure made Austri's body relax. She was going to be okay.
What surprised her was how it broke and kept moving.
Austri was too slow. A smaller piece of parted metal slammed into both her arms, the weight of the metal beam crushing them and pushing hard onto her body.
It took a slow second before the troll began to scream. She thought she was crying, but she didn't know. She just-- She didn't-- She didn't know about anything it seemed and the pain the pain the PAIN was unbearable and everything was too much and she had too little and she couldn't breathe her chest was being pressed down it was too much and her arms and her arms and her arms and the pain--!!
The pain in her arms was only amplified by her lightheadedness.
It was the last thing she remembered before passing out.
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:13 pm
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Her heart was beating so fast that Lorata almost couldn't even feel the pain of her wounds anymore. In that terrible breathless moment in between the bomb's final beep and the heat of the oncoming blast as it worked its way down the corridors after them, her world narrowed into a desperately pointed focus. One foot after the other, the girls at her side, the exit so close and so far, the maddeningly erratic thrum of her pulse. And then, as they finally pulled free of the building, the scope of it all widened, multiplied by the screech of metal and the screams of trolls and a shockwave that took her off her feet.
When she came up again, panic seized her. The Sirens were nowhere to be found, though whether they'd been totally taken from her by the blast or whether they were simply hidden by the smoke and debris was hard to tell for a moment. Shrapnel slammed into the ground nearby, still aflame, and she finally made it to her feet in her desperation to get away. Panting, she turned, tried to filter through the screams for a sign of her friends.
A drone burst through the haze and faltered at the sight of her there, but she shook off their attempt to pull her along with them to safety. They gave it up, but pointed up before they left. Lorata regretted looking, because the debris falling this close to the tower was massive. She drew in a breath for a shout, but sputtered instead, choking on smoke. It was in that moment, as she tried to catch her breath, that she felt the breeze. Immediately she thought of the open window, that refreshing breath of air that had given them the strength to carry on just a bit further.
She thought of Austri and just like that, there she was. It was her powers, Lorata realized, taking in the stance the younger girl stood in. She was using her powers to keep the debris from falling on her. Her mouth twitched up towards a smile, pride filling her. She'd always known-
The metal parted, the larger piece streaking away, and the remainder slammed into the greenblood. There was a clatter as Lorata's partisan fell at her feet and her hands lifted to her mouth in absolute horror at what she'd just witnessed. Eyes wide, fingers trembling, she dropped to her knees, opened her mouth and let out a scream that was complete and utter anguish.
It took her several minutes too long to realize Austri was still alive and half-stumble half-crawl to her side, and by then the girl's screams had faded off already along with her consciousness. She was still shaking as she tried to see the best way to free her, didn't think she'd ever stop shaking because she knew she wasn't strong enough to lift this but she had to try. The metal didn't even budge under her hands, and she tried to use her partisan as a lever next, straining uselessly against the weight.
"No." It still wasn't working and debris was still falling all around them and everything was still burning and Austri wasn't moving. Guilt and failure and shame boiled in her blood, but she'd never learned how to deal with any of those things so she got angry instead. "You're not allowed to die!" Lowbloods or monsters, the queen had told her once, and when she figured out which was responsible for this she would tear them to pieces with her own hands.
"None of you are allowed to die!" Her grip on the partisan faltered, not that it had done any good to begin with, and she snarled through her tears, slamming a hand to the ground. "Heroes. Don't. Die!" And why wasn't anyone helping her!? They were all useless cowards, while someone who actually had potential was laying here dying. Austri was dying.
The seadweller reached out to touch Austri's forehead, something brief and hesitant and gentle, and then she was on her feet again and stalking towards the nearest shadowy figure fleeing the vicinity. "Hey!" Like hell was she letting them run when they should have been doing what she wanted instead. "Get over here! There are trolls under the debris. Are you just going to leave them there!?"
She didn't bother with pretty smiles as she rounded up everyone who had the misfortune of passing too close by. Instead she snapped orders and let the stain of her own blood fill the spaces between her threats and commands. She wasn't letting anything keep her from her promises.
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:02 pm
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What was that coming running at her..? For a moment Voscil panicked thinking it was another droid. “AH--! ...Reemus?!” Vos had screamed in surprise as the other barreled into her, and urged her to move with him. Pain radiated from her shoulder, which like the rest of her aches was ignored. She was relieved to see him. Her legs felt like jello, odd given how much she loved running. Out of breath, and lacking the usual yellow hum of her electricity Voscil looked on in a daze as she stumbled after him. Yellow blood stained the grey of her clothing, mostly from where the bots had latched on. Yet she was alive. And so too was Reemus. He looked worse for the ware, and for it her pump biscuit sank a little deeper.
She should have stuck closer to him rather than getting herself lost like an idiot.
Voscil had tried. She’d used more energy than she ever thought possible, and still she’d pushed on. Getting lost down a series of corridors when all you wanted was to find the troll you’d came with had been infuriating. Voscil had been burned, cut and felt like she couldn’t zap anything decent to save her skin. Yet the time to give up, and collapse was not now. She’d found Reemus…no more precisely he had found her. He’d come running as fast as the taller injured troll could.
The deafening roar of the explosion and fires made it hard to really hear. She got the gist of what Reemus was saying; they had to keep running until they could not anymore. It wasn’t safe. She gripped at him for a brief moment, as if to reassure them both. “I know Ree..we have to keep going. No time to stop.” Voscil growled at the blaring broadcast that added to the panic and chaos. Her head felt like drums were going off in them, and that wasn’t making it any better. Fear gave her new life; they had to escape from their defeat.
Tears blinded her vision as she grabbed hold of him and blabbered her apology. How had she screwed up yet again so completely? The psionic was use to relying on a team, or her own wit and skill. Working as a team as much as she loved it was easily one of her short comings. In her desire and wish to be the center of attention, it usually ended up horrible in some fashion or another. Her heart sank as she ran alongside him. She could have outpaced him, even as tired as she was. Only this time, the yellowblood ran with him for both their sake. She couldn’t keep going for much longer…yet at this rate.
It was unthinkable. They had to keep moving before the explosion took them both.
Voscil had been looking for the exit herself, pangs of guilt from having gotten so separated weighed on her heavily. The worst part was they had failed. How had this happened? It wasn’t supposed to be like this, she had wanted to try and stop the destruction. We failed. The city of Civisect would be in ruins soon. The ladder was collapsing at an alarming rate, and sirens blared noisily. Fear made her pump biscuit beat wildly in an uncontrolled fashion.
"I got you..keep going." She encourged, trying her best not to look back the way they'd came. Vos didn't want to see the destruction any more than was necessary.
Sliding an arm under him to support the other as he seemed to be forcing himself to move with every step it was the least she could do to help him. She winced in discomfort from taking on his weight but made no complaint. It was more to keep them moving at the faster momentum. They had to keep going. They could make their way across the desert to Chittentown.
The burning pyre lit up the night sky. The image burned in her mind, much like the faint roars of screams from all around. She wanted to stop and check on him, but for now the priority was getting to safety. Amidst the crowd she tried searching to see who among those fleeing she could recognize. Tears made it hard to really see. Right now all she could do was hope for the best, and it sucked. Horribly.
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