|
Post by Neon on Aug 22, 2009 20:04:06 GMT -5
Well, I don't have an update ... but, since natalie was the only one to ask, her request has been fulfilled and I sat down and drew Koya. And my plan worked; ideas are flowing once again for the story and I plan to have an update up very soon.
|
|
|
Post by giantblackcat on Aug 23, 2009 0:49:21 GMT -5
^w^!!!
|
|
|
Post by natalie on Aug 23, 2009 1:19:33 GMT -5
Well, I don't have an update ... but, since natalie was the only one to ask, her request has been fulfilled and I sat down and drew Koya. And my plan worked; ideas are flowing once again for the story and I plan to have an update up very soon. Yahoo!!Thank You very much for drawing it!! You did a great job!! I like it!! ;D
|
|
|
Post by Neon on Sept 2, 2009 0:22:58 GMT -5
(Short update for all y'alls. Also, warning, one or two swears in this one, I think.) ~~~~~ Darius sat on a discarded box lid, which was leaned against the wall. The room they were in was a standard size hospital room, at least standard for the giant aliens, the Cyli. It was the size of a very small airport hangar; it measured about 250 ft. by 300 ft., and Darius was currently situated at one of the narrower walls, at what would be the right to someone walking in through the door. He couldn’t believe this; things would be much more convenient if they could just stay on the Angelwing. Yeah, he’d take any chance he could to escape, but he worried also what effect another portal jump would have on their ship. Whether Reniven believed it or not, that method of escape was not an option to them.
The bed that folded out of the wall was stowed now, leaving the room with much more space. The single-windowed door was framed in the middle of one wall, and was to Darius’s left now. To the left of the door, against the wall, was a countertop with a sink that Darius guessed was around forty feet tall or higher. The wall to the right of the door was occupied by a white plastic shelf that extended from the floor to the ceiling high above. The wall opposite where Darius sat now, the wall closest to the shelf, was plain except for a single door in the back corner of the room, which had yet to be opened. The wall opposite the door sported a screen inlaid right in the wall, though it seemed to be switched off at the moment.
A simple chair, nightstand, and lamp were situated in the corner to Darius’s right; they would be bedside accommodations, if the bed were not stowed almost seamlessly in the wall behind Darius. One of the Cyli that had been guarding the ship when he’d been returned to it occupied the chair right now. He was relaxed, absently watching the door opposite him.
“Brother, this room is so big!” Jenny piped quietly from her seat beside Darius on the lid. He looked at her and nodded, but didn’t have anything to say. He didn’t want to slip and say something snappish that’d hurt her feelings.
Lydia, Max, and Joy were the only humans not with them in the room. They’d gone with Reniven and the other Cyli to make sure the ship was moved properly and received no damage on the way. Jenny sat to Darius’s right, and a bit to his left on the long, narrow lid sat Melody. Leona had just returned from the cabinet off to the side, curiously examining it. Ian was about fifty feet out on the floor of the room, turning and seeming to take in every detail as his gaze shifted around. Jerrin sat on Jenny’s right, silent but clearly the most relaxed one in the room.
Melody had turned her head when Jenny had spoken. “Damn right, it’s big, but it’s still a prison.”
Jenny leaned forward to look around Darius, who’d narrowed his eyes but nodded very slightly. “At least we’re all okay ...” she answered, looking a bit intimidated by Melody’s lingering anger. Then, she set her chin and continued, “At least we’re not squished!”
“That’s right, dear,” Leona answered with a smile as she walked by them to sit by Jerrin. “Think on the bright side.” Melody sighed and turned away from them, absently watching Ian walk about exploring the room. Leona lifted the shoulder strap of her field kit over her head and discarded the bag on the lid, shoving it back the short distance to the wall behind them.
Darius lightly patted Jenny’s head. “It’s a good thing some of us are optimistic,” he told her. “Because I still don’t trust these guys at all.” Jenny looked up at him as if searching his face for something. Darius could only shrug; he wasn’t lying, after all.
“Oh,” Leona said suddenly after a brief silence. She turned her head to Darius. “How’s your wrist, dear?”
Darius raised his left hand to look at the bandage wrapped about it. It was only dully throbbing. It had hurt worse when he was thrown into that glass container with Lydia earlier, and when he’d fought against the captain. He shuddered to remember that—a sickening vertigo had coupled with a feeling of utter helplessness. They were just like ragdolls to these aliens; that was why he didn’t trust them. “It’s fine. I probably shouldn’t have shaken it around so much when I did, but whatever.”
Leona tilted her head. “What were you shaking it for, dear?”
Darius realized none of them knew what all had happened during the first negotiations with Reniven. He delved into a short explanation, saving the most detail for when the captain had picked him up off the desk with little warning. He wanted them all to feel the same resentment he had.
Melody certainly had that resentment. “Hah! And he says he’s going to be civil about things. But he just figured we’d never know or care about the fact that he grabbed up our first officer and shook him like a bad kitten. That condescending son of a—“
“Pardon me.” The voice sounded from their right, and everyone looked to the Cyli that sat in the chair in the corner. He was now leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees, watching them. “I apologize for interrupting. But I thought you ought to know, the captain is just very outgoing like that. And I can assure you that most of my kind on this ship will treat you the way you deserve.”
Darius regarded this one warily. “Really? Then why are we locked in? Forget that, why do you need to guard us in here?”
The giant sighed and shook his head. “With all due respect, young sir, you haven’t looked at this situation from all sides. You are a rogue crew with an unrecognized ship. You appear as if out of nowhere in the middle—yes, the very middle—of a well-guarded territory. You are a completely new species for this region of the universe. Did you ever consider the lock was to keep curious Cyli out?”
“Don’t change the fact that your own captain had some awful conduct, yeah?” Melody countered.
The Cyli smiled faintly. “I believe that what happened to you happened as it did. But it wasn’t entirely unprovoked, was it?” he hinted at Darius. The other humans turned to Darius expectantly, who suddenly found himself losing the argument.
“Jeez, Darius, you just shot off your mouth again, didn’t you,” Ian said. Darius flinched; he hadn’t noticed his approach at all. He chuckled and added, “Well, with some of the stuff you say, I’d say it’s no wonder that Reniven guy tried the best way he could to maybe get you to shut up.”
Darius glared, but it didn’t have a sincere edge to it. “Oh, you’d of course know about shutting up, wouldn’t you?” The others laughed in varying degree, and Darius couldn’t help but to smirk lightly. He nodded at Ian, who grinned back.
“I am glad that is resolved,” their guard added quietly, calmly.
“I don’t trust you guys any more than before, though,” Darius answered plainly.
“Well, good, if you’d backed down from your argument so easily I’d wonder what sort of leader you usually are.”
Darius was somewhat taken aback by such an answer. He fell to silence thinking on that. He was aware of the eyes of his fellow humans on him appraisingly.
It was Jerrin who next broke the silence, with a whisper to his mother. “Can I go meet him? Like, for real, I mean.” When Leona paused, deciding her answer, he added, “That’s the one that waved at you. Remember?”
Leona smiled. “I do remember. I suppose there’s no harm in it. Just be very careful, okay? He can hurt you even if he doesn’t mean it, you know.”
Jerrin nodded. He stood up quickly. Before turning away, he turned to look at Jenny. “Wanna come, too?”
Jenny turned to look at Darius imploringly. “Can I, Darius?” she asked, making sure her voice was as sweet as she could make it.
After a pause, Darius rolled his eyes. “Whatever, it’s your choice. You know what I think already, but you go ahead.”
Jenny grinned. “Thanks, brother!” She hugged him briefly before jumping down from her seat and going to Jerrin’s side.
As the two kids tentatively approached the guard, Melody leaned over to whisper to Darius, “You aren’t gonna go along and make sure it’s all good?”
Darius shrugged and shook his head. “I can still see what’s going on. And I didn’t get my gun taken away, like Lydia did,” he absently patted the holstered gun at his hip. He doubted that he’d need to use it, or that it would be of much use if he did. Ian came forward to sit down on the box lid where Jerrin had previously sat. He, like the others, was watching as his brother and Jenny advanced toward the giant guard. ~~~~~ (c) Neon Sorry if my descriptive mapping of the room is bad. Like I've said, I'm bad at spatial reasoning. Also, an interesting factoid that won't really be addressed in the story: if they tried a Portal Jump with their ship in its current state, it'd leave half of the ship behind, pretty much gutting the engineering level. Sad day. Introducing (not really) the guard! He's wiser than he knows. Ian and Darius are friends. I wish I could write more about that, but it just keeps turning out that they hardly interact as part of the main story. Blah. Oh, Jerrin and Jenny, are such sweet people. : D
Please enjoy, and expect more fairly soon!
|
|
|
Post by natalie on Sept 2, 2009 0:38:40 GMT -5
Really great update!! I like the conversation between the guard and the crew, can hardly wait to read what happens when the kids go to meet the other guard who waved at them. awesome story!!
|
|
|
Post by Amayasama on Sept 2, 2009 19:17:54 GMT -5
O.O Oh dear the little ones are going to meet the guard D: I hope they'll be okay...
|
|
|
Post by natalie on Sept 6, 2009 21:34:39 GMT -5
I hope they are okay, also!! This reads like a movie, I like it a lot!!
|
|
|
Post by Neon on Sept 22, 2009 21:36:25 GMT -5
(Thank you for all the comments, those who are reading) ~~~~~ Jenny followed behind Jerrin shyly, looking up at the giant guard sitting in the chair. After his short conversation with her brother had ended, the guard had leaned back in his chair again, watching the door. Jenny was a little bit scared of him, but far less than she was before he’d talked to them. That had made him seem far more ... human to her.
Jerrin stopped them when they were about twenty feet from the base of the chair. The giant’s legs were crossed, so one of his great boots hovered in the air, and Jerrin seemed like he was keeping them out of range of that. He waved his hand in the air quickly.
“Hey! Hello!” Jerrin called jovially. The guard looked down at them with surprise. Then, he shifted where he sat again, planting both feet on the ground and leaning forward to look down at them with a faint smile, his bright yellow eyes agleam from the blue-grey mask-like rings around them. Jenny giggled when she felt the vibration in the floor from him putting down his foot.
“I recognize your face,” the guard said quietly, to Jerrin. “I believe you were waving from inside your ship?” he asked, just to be sure.
Jerrin nodded. “Yep, that was me. You kind of scared me at first but that’s when I realized you’re nice. My mom made me get away, though.” He turned back briefly to look at Leona, who smiled and waved her hand.
The guard kept smiling. “I remember. Your name is ... Jerrin, correct?”
Jerrin nodded quickly. “Yup, you remembered it right!”
“And I’m Jenny!” Jenny piped up. She was proud she didn’t need someone else to introduce her this time around.
“Nice to meet you, Jerrin and Jenny.” The guard bowed his head slightly. Then, he continued. “My name is Rutan.”
“Nice to meet you too, Rutan!” Jenny answered with a smile. “We can be friends now!” Jerrin nodded in agreement. Rutan seemed pleased, too.
“That would be nice,” the giant answered. Then, slowly, he moved his right arm from where it rested on his knee. He brought his hand towards them slowly, stopping when it hovered a few feet before them, in a loose fist and palm-up. Jenny was proud of herself; she hadn’t been scared by that. Rutan had his index finger extended towards them. With a smirk, Jerrin stepped forward, and lightly touched the huge fingertip with his hand in greeting. Jenny copied the action, and noticed absently that his fingerprints stopped at the fingertip, making it much smoother by comparison.
After Jenny and Jerrin had once again stepped back from Rutan’s hand, he drew it back, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “And here I thought nothing interesting would come of working on this ship,” he commented.
Jerrin chuckled. “Guess you thought wrong. Now you’re the first one to make friends with humans!”
Rutan smiled and nodded at that. “But I hope you’ll all find friends here, too.”
“Me too.” Jenny added, nodding. Then, she motioned for Rutan to listen closely. In a lower voice than before to avoid the possibility of being heard by anyone back in the group, she said, “I really hope my brother is nicer soon.”
Rutan paused. “I cannot hear you,” he admitted after a few seconds.
Jerrin looked at Jenny for a moment, as if thinking on something. Then, looking back up at Rutan, he made a beckoning motion with his hand. “Help us up on the nightstand or something so it’s easier,” he told him.
Jenny glanced back to the others, who were holding their own conversation. Darius, who had also been monitoring the conversation, shrugged his shoulders when he saw her looking. She smiled and turned back to look up at Rutan. It seemed the giant had been hesitant to comply, but, seeing that no one seemed to be against it, he lowered his hand to the floor in front of them, palm up. Jerrin quickly stepped forward and hopped deftly onto the hand, then turned and took Jenny’s hand, helping her up, too.
“We’re ready,” Jerrin said up to Rutan when they both stood safely on his palm. Rutan nodded and started to slowly lift them off the floor. Jenny gasped and smiled as the ground fell away beneath her. It almost felt like a theme park ride. She swayed, and, with a giggle, latched onto Jerrin’s arm to keep from falling over.
“Here you are,” Rutan said as he lowered his hand to the nightstand next to his chair. Jenny and Jerrin carefully stepped onto the pale lavender-colored material, somewhere between thirty and forty feet up. Right in the middle of this 15ft square was a simple lamp about 12 ft tall, switched off at the moment. They turned just as Rutan shifted in his chair to lean closer to the surface. Jenny was glad that now they could be a little closer; they wouldn’t have to crane their necks just to look at him, and he wouldn’t have to strain his ears to hear or lean forward uncomfortably.
Jerrin wandered towards the edge of the table. Jenny watched as he peered over the side. “Wow—we’re so high up, and it’s just a nightstand! Wow.” He waved at his mother, who watched somewhat apprehensively for a moment. When she saw his smile, Leona seemed to relax, but from so far away Jenny couldn’t tell for sure.
“What were you trying to say, Jenny?” Rutan asked. Jerrin came back to stand beside her again at that.
Jenny leaned forward slightly and answered in a hushed voice, “I said I hope my brother gets nicer.” In mid-sentence, she brought a hand up to the side of her face, blocking anyone watching from the floor from reading her lips. When Rutan raised his eyebrows questioningly, she continued. “Sometimes he says stuff without thinking and gets in trouble. Even Captain Lydia used to get mad at him sometimes.” And Jenny worried that not all Cyli would hold back as much as Reniven had.
Jerrin chuckled. “I don’t think that’ll stop.”
When Jenny looked at Jerrin sharply with a mock glare and a hint of worry, Rutan spoke again, quietly. “I don’t think you need to worry; he seems able to take care of himself.”
“But you’re all so big,” Jenny answered weakly. “And that general guy looked pretty mean.” Jenny saw Jerrin nod out of the corner of her eye. “What if ...?”
“You will be kept safe, child,” Rutan said kindly. He reached out slowly and gently touched his index finger to the top of her head. Jenny smiled, reassured. She was sure that Rutan would be able to protect them all.
After Rutan brought his hand back, Jerrin spoke up. “This is all so neat, now that I know you guys are cool. It’s like a real adventure!”
Rutan chuckled, and Jenny gasped at the volume. “You had no adventures before?” he asked.
Jerrin shrugged. “Well, yeah, but not ever as (haha) big as this one.”
Jenny shook her head. “I think the Ralthians were scarier.”
“But we can get away from them easily,” Jerrin countered boldly.
Rutan, who’d been temporarily quiet, asked, “What—or who—are the Ralthians?”
Jerrin scratched his head as he thought of the answer. “Well, they’re these other aliens, they live back around where we come from. They look a lot like us, but they’re just ... freaky, I don’t know how to describe it.” He paused, frowning as he remembered. “They hate us—humans, I mean.”
Rutan frowned at that. “A rival species, I see. Do you know why?”
Jenny answered that one. “I think it’s because of a war we had with them a long time ago.”
Jerrin was still somewhat somber-faced. “I think they’re part of the reason Earth—that’s our home planet—got in such bad shape.” Rutan only looked at him and indicated with his expression that he should continue. “Most of the last humans had to leave Earth because the air was making people sick.”
“That’s very sad,” Rutan commented.
Jenny nodded. “Other than us, there’s a couple thousand more humans out there ... somewhere.”
Jerrin smirked. “Something like twenty thousand, actually.”
Jenny frowned at him in mock frustration. “Well, I don’t know!” she answered sharply.
Rutan tilted his head slightly, looking thoughtful. “How did your little group end up so far from the rest?” he asked.
Jerrin grinned at that. Jenny knew he was always glad to know that they were something like heroes. “We had to drive away a bunch of Ralthians from one of the biggest ships! It was called the Halo. We all got away, too!”
Jenny looked away for a moment. “Not all of us, not really.” She added with clear melancholy. She looked back at Jerrin to see that he was shocked, and somewhat angry with himself for being insensitive.
Looking up at Rutan, she saw that he was watching calculatingly. “Did something happen before you could escape, Jenny?”
With some tears in her eyes, Jenny nodded. “My parents and other brother ...” she bit her lip. “Mom is dead. We don’t know about dad or our brother.” Jenny, for a long time had been optimistic about it. But somehow, Darius’s bleaker outlook had taken over. She looked down, covering her eyes with her arm as tears started to come more freely. She was glad Jerrin was there to put an arm around her shoulders and comfort her. She looked up in surprise, though, when she felt Rutan’s fingertip brush her shoulder. He looked concerned.
“I am sorry this conversation has made you cry,” he said quietly.
Jenny shook her head, wiping her eyes with her hand. “It’s okay. I don’t want to be sad, I really don’t.” After a pause in which she took a few deep breaths, she smiled again. “So what’s your big ship for? It must have lots and lots of ... Cyli on it.”
Rutan nodded, smirking pleasantly. He seemed glad she was okay. “It’s a luxury/transport ship. We’re taking supplies from one colony to the home planet, and a good number of passengers, too. There is a science level, though, as well as medical, and the staff there are semi-permanent residents who get their studies done through travel.”
“What’s the general guy here for?” Jerrin asked.
Rutan sighed slightly, his breath brushing past them. “Ah, yes, and of course this ship does house some of our military, for security. He’s the regional general, and chose this ship as his ‘base,’ so to speak.”
“Wow, this ship must really be huge!” Jerrin commented. Jenny nodded. Admittedly, the prospect of that was a little bit intimidating. But she felt safe. She had her family with her, and a new friend who’d protect them. ~~~~~ (c) Neon Bah, long update is long. Can I help it if Jenny has a lot to think about? This is one of the longer sections in her POV; I don't have a lot of these.
How about a Cyli handshake? Anyone? Eheh.
It's updates like these that remind me why I had to have some younger characters--all of the others seem like they're growing up too fast because of their circumstances.
Rutan. Probably my favorite giant in this one. He's a great big sweetie.
Jenny and Jerrin both are not particularly fearful for their own lives. They're too innocent to be. But dear Jenny ... she's constantly worried about her brother. Ironic since he's always worried about her. It's partially because of their brother ... I will explain a bit more about him (next update, actually, whenever that is).
Enjoy ... I haven't really looked this one over for editing purposes, so bear with me, eh?
|
|
|
Post by natalie on Sept 22, 2009 22:45:55 GMT -5
I think Rutan is my favorite character is Rutan also, I like Jenny too, great update!!
|
|
|
Post by Amayasama on Sept 23, 2009 19:25:02 GMT -5
x3 Awww the Rutan is sweet...XD Though I'd love him to cuddle Jenny to comfort her x3 <333
|
|
|
Post by giantblackcat on Sept 23, 2009 22:30:49 GMT -5
=D!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Neon on Sept 27, 2009 19:01:54 GMT -5
x3 Awww the Rutan is sweet...XD Though I'd love him to cuddle Jenny to comfort her x3 <333 Haha ... Except, if he tried, Darius would probably shoot him. D:
|
|
|
Post by Neon on Oct 18, 2009 11:56:40 GMT -5
*hits self* Gah ... I need to make sure I keep updating this! I foresee, however, having a lot more time to write, so that's good news!
|
|
|
Post by Neon on Oct 25, 2009 23:24:29 GMT -5
There was a loud bang that woke all of them. Darius shot up in his bunk, and his gaze flew over to his brother, who shared his likeness almost exactly. They both had a mirrored look of fear. They quickly evacuated their beds and just as quickly changed into the clothes they’d worn the day before. Darius stood at the door and opened it slightly. No one was in the narrow hall. He slipped into the hallway, followed closely by his twin, and went to the open door of their parents’ room. Both were up already, too. Their father was currently talking urgently to someone over the phone on the wall, and their mother sat on the bed watching him.
“Wha’s going on?” came the sleepy voice of Jenny, who remained in her pajamas as she walked up. Darius patted her head absently as she stood in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Their father slammed the phone down. “We have to get away from this area of the ship. Ralthians have infiltrated, somehow.”
“What?!” Darius’s brother asked incredulously.
“We have no time to be disbelieving, Lucas. You two, take Jenny and get to the main meeting chamber. We’re going to be close behind.” Their father answered quickly, stepping forward to point authoritatively out the door.
Darius nodded once. Then, he took Jenny’s hand and turned sharply, leading her through the hall to the door of their small apartment. It seemed she was still too sleepy to comprehend the danger, for she leisurely followed behind, though he and Lucas urged her to hurry.
They stepped out of the apartment into the hall to see a number of people already running past, to the left. They were some of the last, Darius noticed with worry. The three siblings started down the hallway. Darius glanced back to see that their parents were about ten feet behind, their father carrying a mid-sized laser rifle.
Another bang. This time, a wall a short way behind them exploded. Darius turned to see even as the shockwave whipped past him. He looked with horror as four adult male Ralthians stepped over the rubble of the wall and into the hallway maybe thirty feet behind their parents. All of them had their four-inch claws out except one, which carried a weapon.
The Price family started to run. Darius, almost tripping, turned and picked Jenny up into his arms. The girl wasn’t so little anymore, but now it felt as if she weighed next to nothing. He and his brother kept pace with each other as they ran down the hall. He heard their father fire the weapon a few times, but for the most part their parents were running, too.
“Mommy!!!” Jenny suddenly screamed into Darius’s ear. He barely slowed to turn his head in time to see his mother hit the ground with a nasty-looking barb in her back. They all stopped and stared in shock. She was dead. Just like that, the ralthian with the weapon had taken her down. Even the aliens had stopped, smiling maliciously at the deadly hit.
Their father turned to them, and Darius saw a crazed look in his eyes. “You two! Get Jenny out, NOW! I will meet up with you all later.”
“Dad, you can’t—“ Lucas started to protest, even as the four ralthians began to stalk forward, taking advantage of the distraction. There were no other humans left in the hall.
“GET OUT OF HERE!!!” their father roared. With another yell, unintelligible this time, he turned back towards the advancing aliens, firing the gun he held without pause. The one with the weapon went down with an eerie screech. The others began to dash forward, their claws prepared. But Darius saw no more than that, for he and Lucas had turned to sprint even faster down the hall, Jenny crying and clinging to him.
It was a few twists and turns later that they joined up with some more humans making their way to the better-secured meeting chamber. Darius grunted with savage satisfaction as he saw at least two ralthians dead on the ground on the way. But that was beaten out soon enough as he found himself wondering ... exactly how many had managed to board the ship, and how?
They made a sharp right. It was the wrong turn. They came to an abrupt halt just as another human, running ahead of them, ran right onto the deadly claws of yet another ralthian. This one was alone, but it looked like it had already taken quite a few human lives.
“What’s this, children, are you scared?” The ralthian asked maliciously, his serpentine voice making Darius shudder. Jenny held onto him even tighter, burying her head in his shoulder.
Lucas’s already-labored breathing picked up. Darius glanced at him to see that his chest was heaving with fast breath. He stared wide-eyed at the ralthian, who laughed roughly. “Seeing as you’re all ... disadvantaged, I’ll give you a head start ...” He dropped the lifeless body of the one he’d just killed, and stepped back one step. His grin was full of absolute hatred and intent to kill.
“Let’s go!” Darius said loudly as he turned to backtrack through the hall. Lucas was close behind, his breathing still quick and heavy. Darius for once felt no joy in being the only of the three siblings not to have inherited the rare lung condition. Now, his only thoughts were to escape, to get them out of this trouble. So far, there was no sign that they were being pursued.
Darius skidded to a stop yet again when he heard a thump behind him. He turned to see that Lucas had fallen down. He rolled onto his side, his arms wrapped around his ribs. He was grimacing like a gargoyle. Darius knew somehow that he’d be unable to get back up on his own. But still, he said, “Come on, Lucas! There’s not much farther. We can find some others and get some help. Come on!”
Darius despaired to see a few trickles of blood come out of the corners of Lucas’s mouth as he looked up. “Just ... give me a minute. I gotta rest. You take Jenny and save me a seat in the meeting hall. I just gotta rest.” His green eyes were glazed over. They were full of agony and at the same time just tired.
Jenny cried out. “No, Lucas! Brother, please get up and come with us!”
Lucas’s expression softened, even as he coughed lightly and a spatter of blood marred the floor beneath him. “I’ll be fine. Okay? Just get out of here.” He looked Darius in the eyes. “Get her out of here, Darius. You were always a good leader. I’ll follow you. Go and help everyone else. I’ll be fine. Just gotta rest.” He laid his head back down on the ground, unable to crane his neck anymore.
Darius’s heart was heavy. Hating himself for it, he turned his back once again, leaving behind a member of his family. He didn’t feel like a good leader, leaving like this. He heard no pursuit behind them. But he was leaving his brother at the mercy of the intruders. He told himself as he ran that he wasn’t ever going to leave Jenny behind. She was the last member of his family whose fate he was sure of. He’d never turn his back on her. ~~~~~ (c) Neon
This part was hard to write. I haven't even really written much about Lucas, and still it's hard to write about this.
I figured this was the best place to put this backstory, in relation to the whole story. Flashback time.
Ralthians are just mean critters. There's not really any way to reason with them.
|
|
|
Post by natalie on Oct 25, 2009 23:31:59 GMT -5
WOW!! This was really emotional, great update!!
|
|
|
Post by Amayasama on Oct 26, 2009 15:44:21 GMT -5
;^; Ohhhh that's so sad of a past D: I'd be protective of my baby sister too if that happened
|
|
|
Post by Neon on Dec 24, 2009 2:20:50 GMT -5
Lydia was doing her best not to just yell. She was angry with Reniven. He’d insisted that she, Joy, and Max come along to this. They were to see to it that no damage was done to the ship as it was carried back to their temporary residence on the colossal Sun Rainer. But, right now, she was not on board the ship. Max and Joy were allowed to be on the bridge to monitor the internal status of the ship. When Lydia had started to walk with the two of them towards the reopened ramp, a huge hand had suddenly been placed on its side in front of her like a barrier.
“It’s best we have one of you out of the ship, Lydia,” Reniven had said. Neither she nor Max and Joy could really convince him otherwise. With apologetic looks, the two technicians boarded the ship, leaving her behind. She frowned as the ramp retracted again.
Then, without warning, Lydia was swept into Reniven’s hand from behind. She fell backwards onto his palm with a startled gasp. “Pardon me, Captain,” he’d said with a chuckle. Lydia said nothing, just righted herself and stood as steadily as she could even as she was lifted from the ground at a nauseating pace.
The outer speakers of the ship had then sounded to life. “I am going to raise the landing gear, Oui?” Max asked. Even as he spoke, the window shields had risen up to once again reveal the bridge. Joy was standing at the main console; she’d raised the shield at Reniven’s request.
Now, Lydia still stood in Reniven’s hand, wishing she could more freely be angry with him. He led the two mid-sized but muscular Cyli through the corridors of the Sun Rainer. They each held in their hands one end of the Angelwing, carrying it carefully. Even so, the swaying had forced Max and Joy to strap into seats on the bridge. Lydia faced coolly ahead, not meeting the gaze of any of the other crew or occasional passenger that gawked at her or the little ship carried behind.
Though she knew it made little difference, Lydia felt she should be on her ship at a time like this. It was weird not being in the pilot’s chair when, under any other circumstances, she would be.
“Thanks a lot for cooperating so well, Lydia,” Reniven said suddenly, after the clipped silence. She didn’t turn completely, but did turn her head to look back and up at him from his palm. Raising an eyebrow, she waited for him to continue. “We don’t need General Zhane to have any arguments against you.”
“What do you mean?” Lydia asked cautiously. She swayed slightly as Reniven made an abrupt turn, but held her balance.
Reniven sighed and shrugged very lightly. “Perhaps it’s just his job, but he’s very ... untrusting of you. Then again, you did portal jump without trouble right into the middle of a well-protected region of space.”
“It can’t be that well-defended, if we could just Jump right past the border.” Lydia commented.
Reniven smirked. “That’s just it. It is. Even our own ships can’t Jump the border without clearance. Coincidence or not, Zhane is worried about that.”
Lydia scoffed at that. “He’s not threatened by us, is he? Nine beings that could stand on the palm of his hand?” When Reniven only shrugged, she added, “So far we have had much more reason to feel threatened, Captain.”
With a sigh, the giant Captain nodded. “I can imagine. The scale of things must be a little overwhelming.”
Lydia almost rolled her eyes. Then, she replied, “You know, it doesn’t help when you take us in your hands without warning. I doubt my first officer will ever trust you fully because of that.”
Reniven laughed fully at that. Lydia had to uncross her arms and hold them at an angle to her sides to keep her balance as the laughter moved through his arm. She wanted to cover her ears from the noise. With a faint glare, she waited the few seconds for him to stop. His smile lingering, he said, “Your first officer is funny. His boldness amuses me.”
Lydia frowned. So, that’s all they were? Entertainment? Without dignifying that with a response, she turned away to face the way they were going again.
There were a few more minutes of silence. Then, Reniven spoke in a softer, more serious voice, “You know, captain, I am more on your side than Zhane’s in this issue. I hope that perhaps more diplomatic relations can be opened.” He paused. “I hope to be on friendly terms with you and your crew.”
Lydia didn’t respond, except to incline her head to indicate she’d heard. She thought that if she said anything it’d be more clipped and angry than she was willing to risk. She wanted to tell him, though, that teasing the first officer and disrespecting the captain were not good ways to go about securing good relations. She decided to save that thought for a later time.
A few more turns later, Lydia recognized that they were back in the medical wing. Soon, Reniven and the two crewmen carrying the Angelwing stopped at a door. “Here we are,” Reniven announced to no one in particular as the door opened with a hiss. There was a relatively small entryway room beyond it; opposite their door was the door to the room in which the humans would be kept.
Lydia turned where she stood to watch the two giants carrying the Angelwing. They stood in single-file behind the captain, waiting just outside the first door. There wasn’t room in the entryway for all of them and the ship. When the second door slid open and Reniven led the way in slowly, the crewmen followed. The first made it through the door when they realized that the wings were just too wide to fit; they tilted their grip on the ship slightly to make it through. Lydia’s eyes widened at that, wishing they’d have asked before something like that. Max and Joy were probably very surprised by the sudden tilt.
When they had all entered the room and the Angelwing was righted again, Lydia turned to face forward again. The room looked rather empty with the bed folded into the wall, but all the same she was grateful that they had a lot of space. Most of the others sat on a narrow box lid that was against the wall to the right. She noticed with some surprise, though, that Jenny and Jerrin stood on the nightstand near the corner, maybe thirty or forty feet in the air. The guard who’d been sitting in the chair now stood at attention from Reniven’s entrance.
“We’re back!” Reniven announced cheerfully, and pointlessly. Turning his head to look at the crewmen, he gestured that they come into the middle of the room. “Just put their ship right here ... yes, that’s right.” The crewmen complied, setting the ship down as gently as they could manage in the very middle of the floor, its nose facing the humans who now stood apprehensively by the wall. After they’d stepped back carefully, making sure the ship was upright, Reniven signaled that they should wait out in the hall. They left, but not without a number of final glances at the diminutive humans.
Reniven took a few short steps so that he stood in front of and to the right of the ship. He looked at the guard with a faint smile. “Making friends, crewman? Good. But bring the kids back over here for a moment.” He started to kneel as he spoke. “I want to lay a few rules out for our guests.” His hand lowered to the ground and Lydia gratefully hopped from his palm onto solid ground.
The giant guard had let the kids walk onto his hand and now he carefully lowered them to the ground. Once back on the floor, Jerrin led Jenny across the huge tiles. Darius was in the lead of the other four approaching swiftly from the wall. They all directed their gaze at the ship when, with a shudder and a few metallic noises, the landing gear extended and propped it up. At the same time, the two levels were splitting and the ramp lowered. Soon, the group of the two giants and seven humans were joined by Max and Joy as they hurried out onto the floor off the ramp. Lydia thought Joy looked a little bit dizzy.
Lydia and Darius stood at the fore of the loosely scattered group of humans, all looking up at Reniven. The guard knelt a healthy distance on the ground behind them, watching curiously. To her right, Lydia could see the Angelwing in her peripheral vision, standing there with its ramp down and looking very inviting.
“Alright,” Reniven began. “Now, I was thinking of a plan for how this might work. Feel like hearing it?”
Lydia wondered at the point of asking. He was going to impose his rules on them either way, she was sure. She heard Darius scoff beside her, knowing he was thinking the same thing. But no one really gave Reniven a negative answer. They just waited for him to continue.
“I think this plan is reasonable. I know you’ll have necessary supplies and food and such on your ship. It’s easier for you to be able to use that, I know this. So, my plan is this: you can freely enter the ship as you need.” There was a pause from him, in which Lydia heard a number of her companions start in with happy whispers. Then, “But, listen, the ramp has to stay down at all times. And, only go on the ship if you need something; otherwise stay out here.”
Darius shook his head. Speaking up, he retorted, “Really? What made you change your mind? Now we’re only half-prisoners, or what?” Lydia closed her eyes and frowned. This was exactly the boldness that would make Reniven underestimate them.
Reniven only smiled lightly, though. “Sure, Darius. Half-prisoner. Think of this as an act of good faith. I could have had your ship detained in some high-security room, you know.” He pointed out. When Darius just continued to glare up at him, he added, “That’s what the general would have me do. You’d all know what it really meant to be a prisoner here if the general could have his way.”
Lydia could tell, somewhat, that this was in no way a joke. So, before Darius could do more than roll his eyes, she replied. “Thank you, Captain. I appreciate this gesture. We will do our best to abide by your rules.”
Reniven nodded and smiled lightly. “I’m glad for that.” Then, with a low grunt, he stood again to his full height. “Right now, I have to get a report ready. The sooner I can establish you are perfectly safe beings, the better.”
Lydia nodded at that. They all watched as he turned to leave. Lydia turned around to face their group as the door closed with its usual hiss.
Leona smiled. “Welcome back, dear. Looks like the ship made it back alright.” She commented.
Max interjected then. “Oui e no. It would seem that the ship ‘as lost more engine cells. That last Portal Jump did quite a number on the internal mechanisms.” With a shrug he glanced at Joy, who nodded grimly in agreement. Lydia wondered what could possibly have caused their ship to start dying. She didn’t think now that it was solely the Portal Jump.
Ian seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Woah, now, guys. I don’t know much about the engineering level, but I do know that the Portal Drive and the main engine are pretty much separate, right?”
They were all surprised when their guard, all but forgotten, spoke up. Lydia looked up at him quickly, though he still knelt in front of his chair, watching them. “Perhaps your enemies—the Ralthians?—managed to do something you did not detect.”
That was a logical thought, though a bit improbable. Lydia ignored for now the fact that this unknown (to her) Cyli knew about their previous scrape with the Ralthians. That was of little matter. “Whatever it is, I hope we can figure it out as soon as possible. Since we’re not allowed on the ship to fix it, all we can do is guess.” ~~~~~ (c) Neon Argh ... nothing happens! Blah ... just expository dialogue and transition. And dear Reniven has no idea how to be all that diplomatic ... but at least he's trying, right? Reason this has slowed down so much is because I have been trying to finish up Seeing Eye to Eye and also because the original file for Angelwing Nine corrupted, so I lost a handful of pages of work. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a lot, but it still sort of put me off the story for a bit.
|
|
|
Post by Amayasama on Dec 24, 2009 15:20:55 GMT -5
XD Oh my god I love Reniven! He's one of those laid back guys x3 I think he's my favorite <3 Great chapter Neon!
|
|
|
Post by Satal on Mar 15, 2010 0:42:06 GMT -5
FINALLY! I finished what you have up! You are such a great writer! I love Rutan and Renivan's bromance with Darius makes me smile more with each encounter. Though Melody is a serious buzzkill.
|
|
|
Post by Neon on Mar 17, 2010 22:30:19 GMT -5
Thank you! :] I'm glad you like it. Rutan is one of my favorite giants in this one. Rah-rah-rah-ah-ah-ah, Broma, bro-ma-ma-ah ... They have a rad bromance. XD You'll just have to wait and see if they reconcile their differences. Melody is actually scared. Give her time. ;0 Thanks again for reading.
|
|