07-20-2019, 04:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-20-2019, 04:58 AM by Ivan Sarkozy.)
Ivan swallowed, his eyes focused, head deliberately swinging about in careful fashion. The land warriors' response time was instantaneous, but holding the power had amplified every one of his senses and time seemed to have slowed to the point that he still perceived a slight lag. Like when audio and video were off almost imperciptably. Distracting.
Slow deliberate movements minimized it, allowing him to be thorough and focus. Yeah yeah ok. Wuss. And it helped him to avoid the fact that they were heading deeper into the earth. The concrete seemed to give off little heat and the air smelled dank and stale, occasional scents of rot or something else tickling his nose.
Not surprisingly, the faint odor of death still hung in the air when they came to the old nest. Ivan was reminded of that time with Xena when they had come down here, the fresh pool of blood. The carefully splayed handprints that indicated that something had bent down and drank, as if from a pond of spring water. He had burned an entire room of the creatures when they found them. He wondered if he'd see her again down here. She had been a good person to have at your back even if she was delusional
You had to be crazy to live down here, after all. Slither on you crazy diamond, he thought.
But now, this smell was old, the rot and decay and char only faint. Nox marked the room and they continued.
The kid- Lih he should call him, but he really did seem like one. Rookie, he decided. Rook. There we go. Anyway, Rook seemed to be bouncy, trying to be on alert and everywhere with his eyes. He hoped he didn't get shot with one of those bolts or whatever in his bow. Getting laid up down hear would royally suck.
Tunnel connected to T connected to outflow connected to abandoned line. It was a maze and thank god Nox and his mapping app was dropping breadcrumbs. If this turned into a shit show- and it would, he knew. One way or another, it would, he thought darkly. Fucking Yun...- they'd be high tailing it outta here and those blinking lights would be their life line.
He laughed a bit harder than he should at Lih's quip. Nerves had him on edge alright. The half formed fire darts- pregnant with fire and earth- were ready to go.
At Lih's question, he answered. "Yeah. Been down here before. Cleared out a few rooms of these things. Fire works wonders." Why hadn't Nox given Rook one of those? Hehehehe. Maybe he doesn't want to be burned alive either. Itchy trigger finger and all that.
The land warriors had the time on them. And he could see they were all amped up. Heart rates were high. It seemed like they spent forever advancing on that red goal post, the place Vega had flagged as where Pavlo went down. Ivan tried to suppress his heart rate by breathing but of course that zen shit didn't work for him.
What if Pavlo was there? Alive or dead, what would he do? Those dart weaves seemed to fade in and out almost as if he could feel them with his fingertips. Imagination, he knew. But as they got closer, he got more worked up.
Zara and Danya's face kept floating across his mind. And ma and pop. And all the rest. But Zara and Danya foremost. And he felt guilty, his eyes on Nox's back as he shifted, thinking. The guy was more experienced, no question. But without the power, Ivan wouldn't even break a sweat beating him to a pulp. So far, nothing Nox held of the power had made him feel small. Not like Ascendancy.
Ivan paused. He hadn't thought of him as Ascendancy in a while. Brandon for the longest time. But when it came to power, the man was the peak standard. Like it happened without thought. The man was cool at all times.
Evading. You asshole. What would he do? How could he do it? The Ivan in him thought he could be upfront with Nox. Tell him what he needed. It appealed. There was no love lost between Nox and Vega. As in, Nox's goals weren't Vega's. And both had been....well, running in their own version of right and wrong for such a long time. They weren't rookies or by the book mooks like he....fuck! It had happened. Somewhere along the way he had crossed a line.
He wasn't a by the book guy. Not when his family was on the line. Is this how it starts? Odd, while his attention was focused he could have this look at himself. Like he had split. The animal Ivan. And the other Ivan. Soul? Spirit? He hadn't ever been religious. He didn't know how it worked. All he knew is that he empathized with his father. And he had learned something in the last few weeks.
The world was fucking complicated. And sometimes you did shit you weren't proud of. Crossed lines. Ivan had. Already, he had. So...the question was, how far was he willing to go?
Zara and Danya came to him again.
As far as I have to.
And like that his minds merged. And he realized his heartrate had dropped to normal, as if he were sitting on his couch. Odd, as he was hyper aware of everything around him. Time had slowed. The pressure from above no longer bothered him. He saw and was aware of everything. And seemed to have time to think.
He was deliberate and mindful and in that place. Zen. Before any elation came to him, he flicked it away. He was in a void of perfect concentration.
They entered the dead zone and panic swelled from those around him. Nox was startled and fell back as the wall sprang up to block the thing that was once human that beat at it in a frenzy.
Lih screamed at him and the words came to him through the jellied air. He was already considering. His darts wouldn't make it through the wall unless Nox dropped it. He wasn't sure if Nox could do that without getting attacked.
Why do I need to get through the wall, anyway? It was obvious.
Dart weaves evaporated as a weave of air ripped a chunk from the wall behind the thing and slammed it at the creature's head crushing it against Nox's wall of air. Blood and brain splattered everywhere, though it was strange to see it seem to stick to something flat and invisible.
What remained fell to the ground and Ivan looked at Lih and Nox. "You both ok?
The heart rate on his land warriors hadn't changed.
Slow deliberate movements minimized it, allowing him to be thorough and focus. Yeah yeah ok. Wuss. And it helped him to avoid the fact that they were heading deeper into the earth. The concrete seemed to give off little heat and the air smelled dank and stale, occasional scents of rot or something else tickling his nose.
Not surprisingly, the faint odor of death still hung in the air when they came to the old nest. Ivan was reminded of that time with Xena when they had come down here, the fresh pool of blood. The carefully splayed handprints that indicated that something had bent down and drank, as if from a pond of spring water. He had burned an entire room of the creatures when they found them. He wondered if he'd see her again down here. She had been a good person to have at your back even if she was delusional
You had to be crazy to live down here, after all. Slither on you crazy diamond, he thought.
But now, this smell was old, the rot and decay and char only faint. Nox marked the room and they continued.
The kid- Lih he should call him, but he really did seem like one. Rookie, he decided. Rook. There we go. Anyway, Rook seemed to be bouncy, trying to be on alert and everywhere with his eyes. He hoped he didn't get shot with one of those bolts or whatever in his bow. Getting laid up down hear would royally suck.
Tunnel connected to T connected to outflow connected to abandoned line. It was a maze and thank god Nox and his mapping app was dropping breadcrumbs. If this turned into a shit show- and it would, he knew. One way or another, it would, he thought darkly. Fucking Yun...- they'd be high tailing it outta here and those blinking lights would be their life line.
He laughed a bit harder than he should at Lih's quip. Nerves had him on edge alright. The half formed fire darts- pregnant with fire and earth- were ready to go.
At Lih's question, he answered. "Yeah. Been down here before. Cleared out a few rooms of these things. Fire works wonders." Why hadn't Nox given Rook one of those? Hehehehe. Maybe he doesn't want to be burned alive either. Itchy trigger finger and all that.
The land warriors had the time on them. And he could see they were all amped up. Heart rates were high. It seemed like they spent forever advancing on that red goal post, the place Vega had flagged as where Pavlo went down. Ivan tried to suppress his heart rate by breathing but of course that zen shit didn't work for him.
What if Pavlo was there? Alive or dead, what would he do? Those dart weaves seemed to fade in and out almost as if he could feel them with his fingertips. Imagination, he knew. But as they got closer, he got more worked up.
Zara and Danya's face kept floating across his mind. And ma and pop. And all the rest. But Zara and Danya foremost. And he felt guilty, his eyes on Nox's back as he shifted, thinking. The guy was more experienced, no question. But without the power, Ivan wouldn't even break a sweat beating him to a pulp. So far, nothing Nox held of the power had made him feel small. Not like Ascendancy.
Ivan paused. He hadn't thought of him as Ascendancy in a while. Brandon for the longest time. But when it came to power, the man was the peak standard. Like it happened without thought. The man was cool at all times.
Evading. You asshole. What would he do? How could he do it? The Ivan in him thought he could be upfront with Nox. Tell him what he needed. It appealed. There was no love lost between Nox and Vega. As in, Nox's goals weren't Vega's. And both had been....well, running in their own version of right and wrong for such a long time. They weren't rookies or by the book mooks like he....fuck! It had happened. Somewhere along the way he had crossed a line.
He wasn't a by the book guy. Not when his family was on the line. Is this how it starts? Odd, while his attention was focused he could have this look at himself. Like he had split. The animal Ivan. And the other Ivan. Soul? Spirit? He hadn't ever been religious. He didn't know how it worked. All he knew is that he empathized with his father. And he had learned something in the last few weeks.
The world was fucking complicated. And sometimes you did shit you weren't proud of. Crossed lines. Ivan had. Already, he had. So...the question was, how far was he willing to go?
Zara and Danya came to him again.
As far as I have to.
And like that his minds merged. And he realized his heartrate had dropped to normal, as if he were sitting on his couch. Odd, as he was hyper aware of everything around him. Time had slowed. The pressure from above no longer bothered him. He saw and was aware of everything. And seemed to have time to think.
He was deliberate and mindful and in that place. Zen. Before any elation came to him, he flicked it away. He was in a void of perfect concentration.
They entered the dead zone and panic swelled from those around him. Nox was startled and fell back as the wall sprang up to block the thing that was once human that beat at it in a frenzy.
Lih screamed at him and the words came to him through the jellied air. He was already considering. His darts wouldn't make it through the wall unless Nox dropped it. He wasn't sure if Nox could do that without getting attacked.
Why do I need to get through the wall, anyway? It was obvious.
Dart weaves evaporated as a weave of air ripped a chunk from the wall behind the thing and slammed it at the creature's head crushing it against Nox's wall of air. Blood and brain splattered everywhere, though it was strange to see it seem to stick to something flat and invisible.
What remained fell to the ground and Ivan looked at Lih and Nox. "You both ok?
The heart rate on his land warriors hadn't changed.