[Wildstrike....]
Rylan, hoping that he hadn't been hallucinating the whole episode in the bar
after all -- but then if he had been, what the hell happened to his shoulder?
-- led the blue-eyed barmaid to the dooor of D`Tarik's quarters. Ringing the
chime, he suddenly realized that he hadn't even thought to ask the girl her
name, and so didn't have a way of introducing her to the Medical officer at
all. He turned to her, intent on solving this problem, when the door
suddenly opened. A confused glance passed between Rylan and the girl when
they didn't see anybody inside the room beyond. "D`Tarik?" Ry questioned,
then caught the girl throwing another glance his way, looking like she was
about to try and lead him away from the door again. "I swear...." Ry's
almost desperate voice began, "he was just here...."
"Hey!" a familiar little voice said from somewhere within the room,
"Down...here...."
The barmaid's eyes traveled down to the owner of the voice, then suddenly
jumped back in surprise. "What the....?"
"Na, na..." Rylan took hold of the girl's arm this time, "that's just
Sprink. He won't hurt au...." then addresses the Tribble, "Where's DT?"
"He......went to look for au...in ninte....qor...qor..." the creature
stammered, then finally settled on, "...room." the Tribble paused to coo,
pleased that he had gotten all that out, and noted proudly the rather
impressed expression on Rylan's face as well. Continuing on with his 'butler
detail', Sprink motioned towards the back of the room with a claw, "Emni is
here.....useing his....." he paused, trying to remember the word, and finally
added, "...shower." then coo'd a little more.
"Oh, ah....well we don't want to disturb her, now do we?" Rylan smirked,
thinking that if he had rang the chime a few minutes sooner, he probably
would've inadvertantly interupted the lovebirds yet again. "Alright...let's
go to my quarters then...." he nods to the girl, then leads her off down the
hall.
After a moment of walking, Rylan suddenly stops as he finally sees D`Tarik.
The smaller boy, out of breath, is running as fast as he could towards them,
and screamed the warning "RUN!!!!!"
"Wha.....what's going on....?" Ry stammers, confused at this.
"I said.........RUN!!!!" DT keeps going right on past them.
That seemed to be enough for Rylan. Taking hold of the barmaid's hand, he
pulls her along as he runs to catch up with DT. "What the hells going on?!"
Before he could ask again, and before D`Tarik could answer anyway, a loud and
rythmic 'THUD' is heard from somewhere behind them, and slowly and steadily
sounds like it's getting closer.
The sound unnerved the barmaid who grabbed onto Rylan's arm with her free
hand, shrieking as she's being pulled along, "What is it?!" Not sure if he
really wanted to know himself, Rylan casts a look over his shoulder anyway to
see what it was that was coming after them. Seeing it, Rylan first
hesitated a moment, then put on an extra burst of speed.
A huge, hunched over, ruffled-furred, droopy eared, Pink Rabbit is hopping
along after the three. Two long, pointed fangs hang out the front of it's
foam dripping mouth. It's wide, blood-shot eyes peek out from behind it's
dangling ears as it bounces along. The red bow-tie was comically
oversized...even for such an oversized bunny. And it's carrying a very large
and rusty looking chainsaw that appears to be rather sharp and deadly looking
despite all the rust on it's blade. The pink monstrosity practically takes
up most of the corridor, and seeing that two new victims have joined the fun,
it pauses a moment, and starts the chainsaw going with a deafening
"VERR-WHIRRRRRRRRR"
Out of nowhere, a thought occurred to D`Tarik, "Wait...Emni's in my room!"
the smaller boy screeches to a halt, urns, and runs towards the
chainsaw-wielding bunny.
Seeing DT suddenly change direction, Rylan briefly thought, *I knew it! He's
insane!* then shoved the bar girl down the hall as he kicked off a boot.
"Keep going!" he yells to her, then turns around, "Hey floppy ears!!!" he
waves with one hand to the bunny, while picking up the boot with the other,
"Over here au deranged Rharit!!!" then chucks the boot, nailing the pink
monstrosity right between it's blood-shot eyes.
The ploy worked, the bunny came after Rylan, allowing D`Tarik to sneak past
the beast with a semi-skillful jump and roll. Turning down a corner to lead
the thing away from the others, Rylan's suddenly surprised by the swipe of
the chainsaw that had sailed mere inches from his head to sink in the wall.
Ry actually pauses a moment to look at the newly created hole. *Oh the Leih's
NA going to be pleased about that.....*
The beast pulled the chainsaw out of the wall, then held it up, getting ready
for another swing. In the Rihan language, but speaking with a British
accent to the words, the bunny announced gleefully, "I Like Pants!" then
swung the chainsaw's blade at Rylan's head again.
Rylan ducked, then started to run again, calling back obnoxiously, "Yeah?
Well, I'm about to hanev mine right now...Let's see how au like them then!"
Seeing the end of the corridor loom ominously closer, Rylan unseaths the
kalen at his belt, then turns, running backwards now and minus a boot, and
aims to throw the dagger.
The barmaid, meanwhile, had gotten farther down the corridor the three had
originally been running down. She ducks into a random room, then comes out
with a disruptor, and heads back to the hall Rylan had gone down.
D`Tarik, who had successfully squeaked past the bunny a short while ago, had
almost reached the door to his room, when the hallway around him started to
shift. "What the....?"
The three suddenly find themselves standing on the counter of a Romulan
grocery store. The store was completely devoid of others, save for
themselves, and the huge pink bunny standing at the back of the store,
twitching it's nose. The plate-glass window almost seemed to be painted a
neon blue color, as if that was all that there was to the outside.
Rylan jumps down from the counter, miraculously with both boots on again,
then turns and helps the barmaid down as he addresses D`Tarik, "What is going
on?!" then suddenly stops, and points to DT's face, "See! What'd I tell
au?!" he grinned at the girl, "Scars!! *Now* will au believe me?"
"Ie, well....I think I believed au when I saw that thing coming towards us
the first time." she points towards the bunny at the back of the store, then
reaches out to accept the hand Rylan held out to her.
"Ie Rylan, I have scars," D`Tarik grumbled angrily, "but right now we have to
deal with that...." he points to the bunny, then notices the thing is lining
up a double-barreled sawed-off shot gun at them. Grabbing the girl before
her hand had touched Rylan's, the Medical officer pulled her down just as the
gun goes off.
"Fvadt!!" Rylan had ducked immediately as the others went down, and the shot
sailed over their heads, spraying the contents of the shelves in back of the
counter everywhere. Ry spies the produce section, then bolts for it.
Picking up random vegetables, he starts pelting the bunny, trying to distract
the beast long enough for the other two to get out of the store.
The bunny turns it's head and starts lining up another shot at Rylan. "Oh
come on...." the boy makes a dive behind the swinging doors to the storeroom,
as the bunny lets off another shot.
DT grabs the barmaid by the hand and bolts for the door. As they ran out,
they find themselves falling....into nothingness. As they look up, they can
see the store getting farther and farther away, but if it weren't for that,
they wouldn't be able to tell they were moving at all.
[In the Blue Emptiness of Nothing]
Still falling through the air DT looks over at the barmaid "So... au know
Rylan, eh?"
Looking quite confused and scared, the girl looks at the medical officer as
if he's nuts. "Na really....he only just spoke to me today. Other then
asking for Rhennish that is." she shrugged.
"Ie...we have spoken before, au and I." D`Tarik nods, remembering that this
was the girl that he had instructed not to give Rylan any more alcohol under
any circumstances just before he had confronted Rylan in the bar about his
problem. "What's your name again?"
"Katara t`Tei" she answered then looked down at the blue nothing-ness around
their feet "Umm....where's the ground? Na that I want to hit it anytime
soon, au understand..."
"Katara?" he smiles, "That's a pretty name." D`Tarik paused a moment,
following her gaze and shrugs, "I have na clue where the ground is.......so
come here often?" he smiled again, trying to make conversation.
Katara stares at him a minute, thinking to herself, *And he says the rekkhai
has a problem?* Shaking her head she answers, "Well...na falling through the
sky, na." she looks around at the endless blue around them, "And I don't see
anything to grab onto to stop us either....from hitting the ground, I mean."
Another brief silent moment passed between the two. Then, trying to use the
same casual tone that D`Tarik had earlier, she asks with a slightly raised
brow, "So....how long have au known the rekkhai?"
"Oh, a good amount of time." he answers. "And if au are wondering why I'm so
calm...this is nothing compared to the kind of stuff I've seen before...." he
waves it away.
"Falling through the sky to crash on the ground below -- wherever that may be
-- is na exactly an experience I wouldd take likely; na matter what au have
seen before... umm, rekkhai." she countered.
"My name's D'Tarik...but call me Doctor." he smiled, having no clue why he
wants her to call him that....but it seemed to fit.
She nods, then shakes her head slightly looking away. "Alright....Doctor.....
where's the rekkhai?"
Before he could answer her, the pair found themselves standing on the ground.
The ground is hard, black and bumpy. And it seems wet, squishy. The air
around them is quite humid and dense with fog and darkness making it quite
hard to see. They get the sense that there's movement around them, but with
the swirls of fog, it's hard to tell for sure. "Okay..." Katara begins,
trying to peer through the fog, "Well, doctor...have au seen something like
this before then?" then directly on the heels of that, the girl looks down
at her feet with a distasteful expression, "And why is the ground so
squishy?"
"Eh...." D`Tarik shrugs, and answers her question about whether or not he's
seen something like his current surroundings before, trying to peer through
the fog, "Close enough..."
Suddenly, through the fog, they see people surrounding them. Curious beings,
around five feet tall or so, holding strange two-pronged pitchforks with a
erie blue glow that shines between the prongs. The figures wore dirty brown
capes over their smooth, black and shiny skin. They didn't appear to have
eyes at all, but their mouths are full of silver little fangs. Apparently
these odd little teeth were too big for the narrow slits of their mouths as
they hung open, drooling all over the ground. Frightened by the strange
looking aliens, Katara stands behind D`Tarik watching the figures creep
closer to the pair. "Okay, so...au have seen stuff like this...so what do
they want then?"
"I have na seen stuff *exactly* like this...." he begins, then notices the
girl cowering behind him. D`Tarik stands on his toes, trying to look
impressive, "Don't worry, I ...umm...will protect au." he tries to throw her
a confident smile, but it didn't show up on his face.
One of the figures, apparently the leader, points a pitchfork at the two
huddled Rihans, "Eniagea dobaio sssssohmekiea!"
D`Tarik tilts his head, slightly confused, "Come again?"
The other figures come closer, their strange, glowing pitchforks aimed at the
pair, as the leader commands in a booming voice, "SSSSOHMEKIEA!!!"
DT pushes himself up slightly more and looks down at the speaker, "Inquence
orched!" The figures around them suddenly drop their pitchforks, and lower
themselves to their knees chanting something incomphendible. DT looks
*really* confused by this, but says to the girl in a confident tone, "See...I
told au I would protect au."
Katara looks even more confused then he did, "What did au say to them?"
DT shrugs and whispers, "I have na clue...."
Katara looks taken aback by that, then whispers worriedly, "Well....what do
we do now? We can't just stand here while they do this all day! That
rharit-thing is still with Ryl...err.. the rekkhai. And just where in hell
*are* we?!"
"Well......ummm......" he tries to think of what to do next, "We
can......RUN!" he suddenly grabs her hand at that last word, and bolts.
The figures stop their chanting, and turn to the leader, who now appears to
be offended that their gods are running away. The leader points his fork and
yells out, "TOEBEIREA!!!" and the other figures grab up their weapons,
firing bolts of energy at the pair, as they chase after them.
DT pushes the girl in front of him so she doesn't get hit by any bolts, and
ends up taking a bolt right in the back and falls down. "Ah...hanev!" he
says on his way to the ground, "Why dose this keep happening to me?" Still
lying on the ground, he motions with his hand, "Keep going!!"
Katara stops, and helps him up anyway, "Come on...." she puts an arm around
him to help him run. "I'm na that defenseless au know!" she adds with a pout,
pulling out the disruptor she had filched before, and fires back at the
figures, vaporizing one. "I *do* intend on going to the Academy after all."
she adds proudly.
"Yeah ok..." DT answers, as she helps him along, "But I'm the one who risks
my ahz half the time, and yet I end up looking like the io who needs to be
saved...." he grumbles with a frown, then pushes the girl ahead. "Run in
front of me! I don't want au getting hit!"
Thinking she had wounded his pride, she shrugs, "Au'rh the doctor...." then
runs ahead of him. Soon the bolts of energy are fewer and farther between,
but still they keep running. Only to be stopped suddenly by the unexpected
appearance of a wall. Katara hits the wall, then falls down on the squishy
ground, "Ow! Where did *that* come from?!" she questioned indignantly,
rubbing her nose.
An almost simultaneous "OW!" came from D`Tarik as he landed on his butt. He
sighs, rubbing his scarred face with one hand, and the small of his back with
the other, "This has been a *really* bad day!"
Katara stands then cranes her neck to look up at the never ending wall,
"Well...what do we do now?" she turns to him and asks without much hope, "I
don't suppose au have scaling equipment to get us up there?"
D`Tarik gets to his feet, and asks with almost over-concern for her, "Au
okay?"
She pauses and looks at him curiously, "Ie...I'm okay. Hann'yyo." she faintly
smiled, wondering what his problem was.
"Do I bother au?" he asked gently, "Au seem...uncomfortable." he pauses a
moment, then added with a smirk, "There are just a few likeable things about
me au know?"
Katara raises a brow at that, "If I seem uncomfortable it's because we're
being chased...we ran into a wall....and I don't know where the rekkhai went
off to." It was her turn to pause this time, "I'm sure there are likeable
things about au...doctor. But I think we should be trying to think of a way
*OUT* of here!" she stamps her foot and pouts.
"Oh, that's easy." he shrugged, "There's a door right there." he points to a
large red metal door, then looks at it curiously, "Wow! That almost never
works...."
"How did au do that?" she questions, heading towards the door.
"Skill." he nods.
"More like luck!" she tosses back sarcastically, then stepped back as DT
rushed in front of her to open the door and peer cautiously through. "And by
the way..." she crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, "If au'rh such a
concerned doctor, then how come au didn't help the rekkhai?"
"Because he wanted me to get au out of the store." DT answered, looking back
at her, "And he is a highly skilled solder. Au have na even been through
Academy.....all though au do seem capable of taking care of ninte-self.
Now...if au are in such a rush to get out...then let's go."
She pokes his chest with a finger, "Au better believe it, Mister." she smiles
slyly, "I'm quite capable, hann'yyo." Then steps through the door after him.
"As I said au were...I meant na offense." he bows slightly, "Sorry."
Katara smiles at his formal apology, as she had only been teasing," It's
okay." then looks around them at their new location.
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