There must be some way out of here

[Vega]

33rd Trial of Vhalar during Arc 720

Following: this

All along the Watchtower
There must be some way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief

Business men, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody offered his word

No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke

But you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour's getting late

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too

Outside in the distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl.

Alone, she made her way deeper into the Stormwastes. Vega was more than relieved that she was on her own - she couldn't deal with any of the others being there, she didn't want anyone else to die. Also - if she was entirely honest as she tried to always be - she was happier with just getting on and doing it herself because then, no one else was in danger. So, she made her way. Up in the first Tower, Vega had seen something which seemed most odd, very peculiar to her. It had been footsteps, she knew that she had to go in this direction but, unlike other times she had used this power, she didn't know more than that. It wasn't clear. Which must mean, Vega figured, there were things to do and what she did would make a difference.

"Or," she whispered softly in her usual chatter with Xiur, "you think it'd be a righ' laugh if I get lost doin' this, an' so thought you'd make it more interestin'." Shaking her head, she looked up at the stars which guided her. The ability to understand them, as all biqaj did, had eluded her all her childhood. It had been just another way that she'd been different. But they had always been there, every trial, and the stories her Papa had told her from them carried on giving her hope now.

The darkness wrapped around her and Vega breathed in the cold night air. It was nice to feel it, the cool against her skin which was forever burning hot from the curse her Immortal father had placed on her. She did her best to ignore it and she did that by reminding herself that the cold - like the stars - was always there. It helped that Xiur's mark utilised the cold because it linked in Vega's mind. She thought in such a way that the link helped her, so she was happy to run with it.

For all that she had an ongoing internal dialogue (and she'd say to anyone who asked that it was with Snuffle, her Warden diri that she was talking to, and it kind of sort of was), Vega was constantly looking around, keeping an eye out. She knew that there were all sorts of issues going on here, but Xiur had shown her where to go and so she had to go there.

Ahead of her, Vega saw the next of the watchtowers come into sight and she kept glancing around. There was a feeling she had, a feeling of being watched. Like there were eyes on her. But Vega had scanned the area, Snaffle had, too, and there was nothing.

Yet, still, there was that itching sensation in her back. Right at the spot she couldn't scratch.

[Vega]

33rd Trial of Vhalar during Arc 720

Following: this

All along the Watchtower
There must be some way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief

Business men, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody offered his word

No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke

But you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour's getting late

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too

Outside in the distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl.

"I know you're there, you know," Vega whispered. She could feel it, sense it. Snaffle, too, was concerned. "There is nothing and noone, but I feels them!" The little diri spoke in her mind, wrapped around her in armour as she currently was, and Vega nodded as she replied to Snaffle in a similar manner. "I feel it to. Look, either we're right, an' there's somethin' watchin' us, or we're wrong an' we're a right pair of nutters." Vega tried to calm her diri down, but she knew that they were both spooked.

It was so quiet, so very quiet. The watchtower was getting larger and larger and, was she anyone else, Vega would believe that she was hallucinating. Or deluded. Or just afraid. But, Vega was who she was and she knew that she wasn't hallucinating, wasn't deluded and, of course she was afraid, but that wasn't going to stop her from doing what needed to be done. She would need to be an idiot not to be afraid, Vega considered. But then, it was so quiet. And, in that moment, with that realisation, Vega knew that not only did she have a feeling of being watched, but it was too quiet. Too quiet by far.

As someone who had spent her childhood on the oceans and her adulthood in the wilds, who had never owned, nor lived, in a house - Vega understood that the night was not quiet. Not at all. There were different noises at night time, the sound of different insects, the hooting of specific birds. But it was never just this quiet. That realisation hit her as she lifted her hand, her sword moving in the starlight and the ground in front of her rumbled then exploded. "Vhalar's vest!" Vega declared, and she sliced, quickly and accurately, at the wormanickel which had just burst up out of the earth in front of her. It moved with as much speed as she'd ever seen one of them move and then it buried itself back in the earth. She'd sliced it, Vega was sure because she felt the resistance, but it evidently wasn't enough to stop it. So, with the ground rumbling beneath her, she listened carefully.

When she listened, she could just hear where it was, where it was moving, and it seemed to be going around, circling her underneath. Vega stood still - very still, because she figured that it must sense movement and such, and simply listened. So, when it burst through the ground again from just behind her, she knew where it was and she heard the noise that it made as it rapidly made its way to the surface. That was good information, that was, and she'd be sure to stop and celebrate it later.

But right now, she needed to focus and, as she was showered in earth and dust, Vega stabbed hard into the gaping maw of the creature - which had far too many teeth, and she roared with effort as she twisted her blade and sliced it's head open, from the inside. Snuffle gave a whoop of victory, and yelled "We wins! We wins! We is victorious RAWR!!!" Vega glanced at the small creature and shook her head. Kneeling, she started the gruesome task of collecting up a sample of blood, some teeth, and of course, the gem from it. She made sure that she didn't touch any of those things and she slowly, carefully, labelled the things in her shaking, almost child-like handwriting. "Worm 1"

Glancing up and Snaffle, Vega shook her head again - the small diri was doing somersaults in the air and, for all that it made Vega smile, she didn't join in with her companion's celebration. "What be the matter, Vega Creede?" Snaffle ask and Vega answered honestly, as she always would.

"That weren't it, Snaffle. They're testin'."

"How does you know, Vega Creede?" Her diri friend flitted around and Vega looked at the small creature with serious eyes.

"Because that were far too easy. They're learnin' about us. Not us about them."

Snuffle sighed. "Well, Pier and Pre's pink parts!", she said with a genuine sadness in her voice. Vega couldn't help the guffaw which escaped her. "It's alright, Snuffle. They'll push, an' they'll push, an' we'll push back an' then, in the end, we'll win. So that's alright, innit?" She looked around and she considered carefully. "But, it's not all lost. We learned that things go quiet when they're approachin' an' that, if you listen real hard, you can hear what's happenin', an' that they sound different as they get closer to the surface. It's not a bad start. But they know that we know that, an' I don't like that idea. Not one bit."

There would be more of the creatures, she was sure, more of them and more types of them. They were going to push her, test her boundaries in the way they had tested Storm's Edge and Vega promised herself that, from this point on, they'd learn less about her - and her, more about them.

"Come on, then, Snuffle," Vega said softly. "We need to keep movin', an' I reckon things will become clear sooner, rather than later." Her diri nestled on her shoulder, mostly hidden by her hair. "We will win! We will beat them! Rawr!! Go onwards, Vega Creede!" Vega rolled her eyes, but kept moving. "Alrigh', love, calm down."

[Pig Boy]

Vega

Experience: part of a tier 2 plot

Knowledge:

Detection x 2 (Tier 1)
Linguistics x 4 (Tier 1)

Renown: 5

Skill Usage: Appropriate to level.

Loot/Losses: none

Injuries/Conditions: none

Consequences: none

Comments: This was a bit of an eerie venture into the Watchtowers in the stormwastes. The suspense was pretty palpable throughout, and made the stakes seem all the much larger, despite the fact that the worms were only probing her and snaffle, trying to determine their strength. I wonder what will happen now that they have a taste? It makes me nervous to think about!

She made short work of the worm, and snaffle's celebration was adorable. I vote Snaffle as the most adorable diri ever!

Great writing and enjoy the rewards!

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.