Within The Dark

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val had not been completely consumed by his endeavors, and when the footsteps rang out his head slowly swiveled to the side, lips brushing against the skin of her neck and upper shoulder, brushing away the cloth that had been there.

The move was unintentionally sensual, Val resting his head there for half a second before letting out a long sigh. Slowly he drew back, bearded stubble rubbing across her skin as he shifted himself. For a moment the grip on her wrists remained, the press of his body stayed, and he looked her in the eye. A small smirk touched his lips, a mischievous confidence that he seemed to brim with. "Stay right here."

He doubted she would follow the command, but it was worth a try.

Then, as quickly as he had grabbed her, Val let go of Ryssa. He seemed to become half a blur as he rushed off down the corridor, renewed with the same vigor he'd had on the surface. It was clear that wahtever had been in that water had been fantastic for him, his wounds were gone, the poison had been flushed from his body, and he seemed as though he had just eaten an entire fresh doe. Within just a few heartbeats screams echoed through the cavern, followed quickly by the loud snap of bone.

"WHAT THE HELL AR-"

The scream was cut off with another loud crunch followed by a snap, then a loud thud as a body fell to the floor.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Why that little --

Part of Ryssa was relieved. Another part of her cursed her up and down the Hydian Way. The part of her that enjoyed her longevity yelled at her to get her poodoo together and focus on the task at hand -- like getting out of this bloody mineshaft alive and giving that Tionese noble a piece of her mind.

The smug rascal!

When the loud snap and crunch followed, Ryssa couldn't help but give a grimace. She wasn't shy about having to defend herself. In her occupation, there was more than one thief who wanted to claim whatever she'd managed to find in a dig or had to face various miscreants who wanted to make a quick credit at her expense. Just -- the muscles in her throat worked. Well, it never really had escalated to this degree.

The last time she could even remember such an act had been back home, and that had been for an entirely different reason that had to do more with self-preservation than what she had in her pockets. Bigotry, speciesism, and prejudice all made terrible neighbors in the Clawdite's youth.

Nervous and slightly trembling fingers pushed past the baser emotions and towards the present. No, she didn't stay put. Instead, she brought out her Westar-34 pistol and kept it snugly in her hand. Backing up and away from the wall, the woman turned to catch another cultist come running out to attack Val.

A single shot of her blaster managed to strike a knee, downing the figure. However, that didn't stop the small bouncing silver ball that came rolling right between them.

A concussion grenade.

"WATCH OUT!" Ryssa yelled out in exclamation, eyes widening in horror as she backed herself away from the potential radius of the explosion. They had all of three seconds before it would blow, potentially starting a collapse of this mineshaft and once again, threatening their lives.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val wasn't one for Heroism.

Concussion Grenades weren't exactly something that you wanted to mess with, and in truth Val would rather not get buried alive in a mineshaft two hundred feet beneath the surface. A curse spat from his lips as he pointed up towards where they had been headed before their little ruffle against the wall. "GO!"

His voice boomed within the hall, his feet already pounding against the loose earth of the mine floor. Two seconds passed, and Val managed to rush half a dozen steps away from the grenade, stepping up to Ryssa and half turning, half throwing her down the hall. Another second passed, his heart pounded in his chest, and then the grenade exploded. There was a pulse at first, a rushing depressurization of air that ripped through the ground and kicked up dirt, and then the explosion tore through the hall. It was more of a pop than a large fiery bang, a wave of differential pressure that pushed out and bit at rock, flesh, and whatever else was in its way.

Val wrapped an arm around Ryssa, curling around her to protect her as the wave pressed against his back.

Flesh and sinew shredded apart as rock and debris dug itself through his clothes and into his skin. He let out a howl of pain, blood splashing on the rock behind him as he took another step forward, half collapsing under the pain of the wounds in his back. For a second his vision blurred, and then he took another step, dropping Ryssa. "Need more of that water I think."

Val joked, though blood dripped from his torn up back.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

There was an intense, ringing pain in Ryssa's ears in the wake of the concussion blast. What made matters worse was the winded sensation at having just about all the air blown out of her lungs when two meters of man tumbled her onto the ground.

Bloody scrapes lined her body, having cut through the thin cloth and light armor. She was dizzy and disoriented, half curling up in a small fetal position before attempting to struggle up into a half crawl motion.

A thick dust cloud had surrounded them, choking the lungs and making it hard to see. Ryssa barely registered the thick arm that roped around her her waist before it let her go, the large body crumpling to the ground beside her as she choked on the dust.

As she was still getting her bearings, Ryssa didn't quite pick up just how wounded Val now was. Instead, she took his quip as a sign that at least he was still alive and conscious enough to joke.

"We.. we need to get out of here." a trembling hand went reaching out, feeling the band of his dusty forearm. Her fingers curled against that muscle, coaxing him to get on his feet.

"Gotta keep moving." a bloody hand came up to swipe down her visor, leaving a crimson streak in its wake. Her HUD activated, a few of the systems offline. Damnit, will I be able to access the map?

A small click in selection and it came up. Oh thank the stars for small favors, she mused as the crackling holographic image came up.

"Come on!"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He sat there for a moment more, trying to collect himself. Oddly enough he found himself remembering a time back home when he had been lost within the wilderness. He had been stuck in the woods for three days, hunting for winter meet when he'd stumbled upon a Nexu. The creatures weren't indigenous to Virith of course, long ago they had been brought there by a merchant and as it often went, had been released into the wild.

Over the centuries the creatures had become Apex predators within the mountains, hunting and killing whatever they wanted, including people.

Val's run in with the Nexu had ended in a similar state as he was in now, his back torn to bits, bloody, bruised, gashes and shrapnel embedded within his skin. During that time it had been the Nexu's claws of course, broken off within his skin as he'd fought the creature and eventually killed it. Aerith had been the one to fix it up, though it had taken him months to properly heal, an oddity with his faster than normal healing. The memory managed to coax Val to his feet, albeit slowly.

"Need to get home." The words were said so quietly they were barely audible.

He took a step forward, stumbling before slowly raising himself up.

Adrenaline surged through his veins, his heart began to beat faster, his eyes darted from place to place. He registered the dead cultists, a sigh of relief passing through him for just a moment. He felt blood drip down his back, but nodded to Ryssa as she stepped forward. As they began to move dust shook from them, a trail of red left in their wake as they moved closer and closer to the surface.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Ryssa might have been small, but she did her best to help the much larger man move along. With her ears ringing and still feeling a bit dazed, Ryssa only barely managed to get a few words from being so close. Home. She got that at least. Home.

"Virtih, right?" she half staggered, her palm coming to rest along his back. A sticky warm and wet liquid coated her hand, and along with his flinch, set off a mental alarm. Wait, what the? Swiveling her head around, the helm tried to catch what her hand was now coated in. Blood.

Behind her visor, Ryssa's face blanched in growing horror. When he jerked up and swung his gaze around like a wounded animal, the Clawdite attempted to calm him.

"Hey.. hey.. it's okay.. the collapse should have blocked them for now." another half stumbled and staggered step. Holding him close, Ryssa led the way. Her side to his side and her arm wrapped round low by his hip to where she'd give the less amount of pressure.

"What do you like about Virtih?" conversation was the key. Keeping his mind busy. Heck, he was going to need a medic.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"I don't know." Val said simply. "What do you like about your homeworld?"

He simply refused to answer any more questions.

Val might have been bleeding out, he might have been half buried in shrapnel, but that didn't mean he was just going to abandon his own principles. He shifted slightly, pulling away from her slightly. He could still feel the blood dripping, but he also knew that...well she wouldn't be able to handle his weight. He felt as though he was about to crush her. Val stood nearly a foot above Ryssa, and he weighed considerably more, almost three times as much.

Having her tacked onto his side wouldn't help but if he tripped on a rock and ended up crushing her to death.

"Go up ahead." He told her, his hand coming up to brace against the wall of the cavern. It was easier this way. Her support helped, but...well it didn't really mean all that much considering their size difference, like an infant trying to drag their father across the living room floor.

"See if there's any waiting on the surface." Val took in a deep breath. "I'll follow you."

He would slow her down considerably, and if they ran into any more cultists there was no way Val would be of any help finding them. It was better that he make his own way to the surface, it would be slower, but safer in an odd way. He knew he wouldn't die just yet, if only because the bits of shrapnel in his back were doing an oddly good job of keeping in most of his blood...for now anyway.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"I'll give you that." Ryssa said with a small huff. They staggered a bit. While he was trying his best to keep his weight off of her, he was still wounded and the dust and debris in the mine shaft made it difficult to navigate and see. Ryssa had the advantage here.

"You are persistent." she breathed out. A nod of her head gestured for them to go left, her bloody fingers now flexing on his hip. When Val suggested that she move on ahead, it was Ryssa this time who revealed even more of her stubborn nature.

"No." the guy had tackled her to the ground to protect her. A bit of guilt along with a sense of what was right. "You wouldn't be able to find..." huff and a tug. " -- your way out of this mess if you had a map!"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val leaned against the wall. "I'll find my way just fine."

He could practically smell the fresh air already.

They weren't too far underground now, just a few hundred feet, he was confident of that much. The shafts still wound around on one another of course, shifting and moving so that the miners could get all the ore out of every nook and cranny, but there was a logic to the way it all moved, and in theory Val would be perfectly fine.

If not...well there were worse places to die.

"It'll be more trouble if we get to the surface and find twenty of them sitting out there waiting for us." He would be completely useless in a fight until he had a few days of rest and some bacta, if they were ambushed by cultists...well they would be dead. The cave had been sealed behind them so he knew that no more would come from there, so really they just had to worry about being assaulted from the front. Shifting slightly the Viking stood tall against the wall, towering over Ryssa. "Go."

He commanded one more. "I'll die when I'm fucking ready."

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Why are you being so stubborn! " one might even imagine that the bright crimson sensors over her helm seemed to glow even brighter. He practically loomed over her, his towering body and scowl glaring daggers down at her. She paused, pulling away a bit as her chin rose in defiance.

"And you think going by myself would be any different?" she glowered right back, Ryssas's hand coming up to slide her visor back and reveal her grimy and bloody face. There was another cut along her cheek, a bright red slice that bled a trail down to her neck. That wasn't even including all the other bruises and cuts that marred her body. She was as equally tired and weary as him. Maybe not as wounded, what with all the shrapnel he would have to get off of his back, but still!

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"You don't have to kill any of them." He said plainly.

There wasn't much of a chance that she could if there were more than a few in fact, but they needed to make sure the way out wasn't going to be...well death incarnate. Val had no illusions about their situation, they were in pretty dire straights, but unlike him she could at the very least still manage a light jog. Adding that to the fancy device on her head, and she would make a perfectly fine scout that could more than make sure nothing was going to jump out and kill them.

"Just find where they are." He took in a breath. "So we can go around them."

The concept wasn't a difficult one to grasp, basic military doctrine. They weren't trying to fight, they were trying to avoid the fight. Under his best circumstances Val wasn't stealthy, right now? He would be a walking disaster that every single person within a mile could hear, see, and probably smell at this point. "Find where they are, re-trace your steps and find me, then we get out."

Hopefully avoiding the waiting cultists.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Scouting. He was asking her to scout ahead. Perfectly logical but she wasn't too keen on the fact. The woman rocked back and forth on the pads of her feet. He made a good point, with her visor she'd be able to detect if there were any more cultists. Along with her map, they were then able to redirect themselves to move towards another mine shaft to avoid them.

Ryssa's lips drew thin.

"Fine!" a bloody finger shook at him, taking the first step back towards the far end of the mine where potentially the entrance would lay "But if I don't see or hear from you soon.."

Well, guess they would cross that bridge when they get there.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He wasn't about to drop dead here and now, not if he had anything to say about it. His eyes closed as Ryssa left him, concentration growing. He tried to think about something else besides the stinging pain in his back, a memory, a thought, anything. Val slowly began to tell himself a story in his head, a small tale about a Knight and a Dragon. It was a silly thing really, childish, but it helped keep his mind off of the agony that threatened to wreak across his nervous system.

Slowly he moved forward.

His palm stayed flat against the cave wall, his feet moved in front of one another slowly, almost at a snails pace. There was no quesiton that Ryssa would make it to the surface, though whether or not she would leave him...well that remained to be seen. He knew it was a distinct possibility, he knew that she could still have been lying, but in that moment he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Either he would die down here, or he would die when he got to the surface.

In the end it was his choice.

That was what mattered most to him, that it was his choice, no one else's.

Slowly Val moved through the darkness of the cave, following his nose towards the breaths of fresh air that rushed through the caves. His progress was slow, and he had no doubt Ryssa would return to him long before he ever reached the surface.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]


It was hard enough to use her HUD with a smear of blood over half of her sensors. Harder still when a thick cloud of fine dust lingered. The right cracked area of her HUD flickered as it displayed the map of the mine. Come on, come on, Ryssa murmured to herself.

Life sensors were still online, thank the stars. A few clicks and she was able to utilize a thermosensor as well. Typically those were a little bit harder to use along hot springs or anywhere relatively warm, but here along the cold limestone, it helped.

She only had her WESTAR-34, and he held it up in front of her just in case she had to use it again. Didn't hurt to give her powerpack a quick check, clipping it off and then snapping it back in after.

In the back of her mind, she wondered just what she was going to do about Val. Part of her was still very much suspicious about the man. He had just appeared while she had been interrogating the drunk miner a bit too coincidently. He could very well be in line with someone else who wanted the gauntlet or who wanted to do her harm.

Then why would he save you? The tiny logical voice would interject. Okay, minor technicality. He could have kept the gauntlet when she had shown it to him earlier, but he didn't.

For all intents and purposes he -could- be just a random backwater planet spacer who had a thing for history. Now Ryssa just had to make a decision on if she was going to stay or go once she reached the top.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He wo dered for a time whether or not he would be able to heal properly.

The shrapnel in his back was embedded deep, and removing it would likely be magnitudes of pain he'd not felt in decades. The healing process would undoubtedly take months, even with Bacta, and well...unless he went to a proper doctor there was no guarantee of removal of all the pieces. He frowned slightly, stopping for a moment to rest.

He would have to find a proper surgeon.

The idea made him bristle, doctors were rare things in the outer rim, good ones even more rare. Perhaps a trip to the mid-rim would be warranted, though that in it of itself would be quite a task. A sigh escaped his lips, he always knew that women caused problems.

Aerith had told him so.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Creeping towards the front of the mine, Ryssa quietly made hast. She kept an eye out, using the sensors of her visors to try and pick up any movement. So far so good. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Mining equipment riddled the chambers. A few glistening crystals and crates full of ore sat to the sides. As this was a rather backwater world, there wasn't much of need for security. Most would simply pay a few of the miners to be on rotations. A cheaper alternative would be to use hover security droids. The only problem is that one was able to easily sabotage the security droids either with an EMP or a method of taking it out before the alarm was set off.

The things you get yourself in Ryssa! The mental chide would echo in her mind. A worried glance would dart behind her. Was Val okay? Another thought came that this is why she did things alone. So she wouldn't have to worry about others.

Figures this would happen to me.

Pressing herself against the rocky wall, Ryssa slowed her approach. There was a figure there, followed by another under her life sensor. Damn. Was there a way to avoid them?

Quickly, the woman checked the holographic map and tried to discern a different way. There was one more potential exit, but it was at least another hundred meters away. Would Val be able to handle that?

Ryssa bit her lip. Unlikely.

Turning towards the two figures, Ryssa made up her mind. She'll have to take them out herself.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He kept walking.

There was really nothing else for him to do. Sitting down didn't seem like an option, stopping didn't either. He felt tired, but oddly enough the prospect of getting some fresh air was enough to drive him onward. As he moved he thought of a doctor, where he would have to go, what he would have to get done. He was pretty certain there was no major nerve damage, if only because of the amount of searing pain that he felt each and every time he moved.

Similarly, he doubted his spine was hurt, mostly because he could still feel his extremities and move without much of an issue. Those two clues made him feel somewhat better about his situation, like he actually had a chance of moving forward.

Of course, this was all assuming he would make it past the caves entrance.

A part of him was still convinced that Ryssa was working for the Cult and that she had now abandoned him. There was a logic to the thought, she had the gauntlet after all and what more did she need? He was just a stranger, and a rather odd one at that. The cynical side of him told him that she was either waiting up top with her friends, or she had rushed away from the mine complex and headed towards whatever starship had brought her here. He wasn't naturally distrusting, not usually anyway, but the fact that she had so vehemently denied telling him of her homeworld...that just didn't sit right with him.

He frowned slightly, nearly tripping over a small boulder before righting himself.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The two figures were pale blue auras within the HUD of Ryssa's visor. They appeared to be having a conversation, one gesturing back into the mine while the other swept their hand in a broad motion. Their voices were low murmurs, barely audible. What were they even saying? It was a rather thick accent. Local? Maybe. The Clawdite gave a frown under her visor. No, sounded a bit like the old trader language.

She'd heard tales about the Cult of the Ominous Fist, but none had really been able to substantiate how they worked. What was their goal. Why they did so. Learning that it dealt with Darth Moridin and whatever manipulation that came from the lies in order to create the gauntlet brought a bit more clarity. The original members were healers. Powerful ones; that is, they were made as strong as the purifying waters of the underground river.

Most of it remained deep in the mines, however, folklore had it that there were still wild women in the hills that maintained the old ways. Could there be a connection there? Likely. A recall back to how Val's wounds had been healed through immersion in the river only strengthened her theory. If it could do that...

Crunch!

Her boot made a slight sound on the gravel. Shit! Frozen in place, Ryssa awaited with baited breath to see if the two figures had heard her. They stood still, the cloaked figure on the left turning as if to discern if there was something there. Pain still rang in Ryssa's ears and she was still getting her bearings.

This just might not work out as well as she'd hoped...

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He was starting to feel tired.

Loss of blood hit him as hard as it hit anyone else, he wasn't immortal after all. Faster, stronger, and longer living that most normal human beings, but he wasn't invulnerable to harm. The blood that he had lost made him dizzy, tired, sleepy. It was a trick of course, his body trying to simply force him to lay down. He frowned slightly and reached back, slowly touching the wound. He winced as his fingers probed around the shards of metal. Oddly enough he felt that most of his wounds had coagulated, sealing slightly to at least stop the worst of the bleeding.

This could be attributed to his faster than normal healing, though the wounds wouldn't be able to heal properly unless the metal was removed.

Some of the deeper gashes still bled of course, those that had really torn into his skin. He frowned for a moment, taking a stumbling step forward before catching himself on the wall. Val was determined not to die here, determined to at the very least taste fresh air again.

He sucked in a deep breath.

There wasn't much he could do for himself. He didn't have any equipment, he didn't even have a mirror. Taking out the shrapnel himself was simply impossible, even though the process likely would have helped. HE frowned slightly, noticing a slight hunger returning to his belly. His body was working in overdrive trying to keep him alive, speeding up healing and burning through what little sustenance he'd had that day. Val let out a sigh, and then pushed himself forward.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

As if they had an inkling Ryssa was there, the figure on the left drifted away from her companion. Swallowing hard, Ryssa crouched down close to the ground to make herself as small as possible. She was tiny to begin with; most would consider her height to be little more than a tall child's. It came in handy while spelunking and wiggling through tight caverns underground. In some instances, had she'd been any taller or larger, she'd have never had gotten through.

The figure drew closer, holding in their hand a small lantern. The yellow sphere of light floated closer, illuminating the mine shaft as the cultist drew near.

"Chak rah de man moh?" the other figure inquired. It was feminine, but thickly accented. Almost a rough, raspy language of its own. The old tongue.

"Charbah de moi de aie." the other replied, bringing their hand to their side. There the sound of a sword being unsheathed hissed in the dark. At that, the former cultist also followed suit, bringing out another sword as if expecting a battle.

Okay Ryssa. Just be patient. She had to be patient. Her shots had to count and be quick enough so that others wouldn't notice. If they came a little bit closer... then she could try and do something to either distract them away from Val or shoot them dead.