April 04, 2009

362. THX 1138 - Trychon

They only paused over the prints in the sand momentarily. Nothing could be gained by standing over it hoping it would shrink. They took note of their other surroundings for a bit, and then headed for the tunnel in the corner, as did the prints.

The tunnel did prove to be a little bit of a tight fit for them. Trychon figured that didn't mean it was a tight fit for a very large animal... but he didn't share the thought, and doubted he had to. The tunnel carried on for a ways, and eventually opened up enough that they were able to walk side by side with a shoulder's width between them.

"You feeling that Behemoth from earlier... or... anything?" Raezyr asked as he leveled up to Trychon, who had taken the lead, as Raezyr may have taken too quick a pace for him otherwise.

Trychon nodded his head as a negative. "Nothing." He spoke with a tone of wariness. Neither said anything else as they ventured onward, trying to extend their senses to feel and potentially ward off danger, although that tactic had mixed results in their time on the planet so far.

Eventually, they could tell that they were near the surface as the fog clouded their more distant senses. They couldn't seem to penetrate it while it was still beyond them. As they got closer they slowed down, careful of the wall of darkness they approached. Eventually, the fog had nearly enveloped them but their senses were still behind. Just when they thought they were about to lose real visibility, they caught sight of what seemed to be the end of the tunnel.

They could feel the relief rolling off each other, and at Raezyr's cue they paused to concentrate on their surroundings. Despite how hard they tried, they were unable to really get a feel for anything.

Except the sudden impending danger.

"Look out!" Trychon tried to say, as he shoved Raezyr to his left side and falling to the other. Only half the words got out as their vision was suddenly taken over by an overgrown Vornskr in mid jump straight for them. Raezyr's injured shoulder bumped into the cavern wall, and the pain shot up his neck, but they were both saved a full blow from the animal attacking them, instead both spun towards each other as the beast flew by.

They got up as quickly as they could and turned towards the opening, determined to get a bit of room to fight. Trychon turned back and saw the Vornskr bounding down the tunnel away from them. He backed up to meet Raezyr outside the caverns finally.

Only to find himself in a circular enclosure with a rough diameter of 5 meters, and a half dozen growling Vornskrs. They'd already created a rough semicircle between themselves and what seemed to be the real exit to the labyrinth. They were level with the surface now though, and the fog was yielding to their minds finally.

With an increased sense of ability and innate cooperation, they both jogged to the left flank of the ersatz formation, their weapons now at the ready. Together, they sprinted forward immediately as the nearest creature leapt directly at them. Trychon sidestepped to one side and allowed the vornskr to meet Raezyr's long blade directly. While Raezyr kicked the body to the side, Trychon pulled the force in him and concentrated it, letting it build slightly before releasing it outwards towards the next animal in line.

The force blow knocked the nearest several beasts backwards, and the ones farthest dodged out of their way to the Siths' right. They regrouped quickly, forming a new curvature facing them almost immediately, but they seemed to be a bit more reserved. While they made a new united front, their position had left the exit open to the Sith.

Trychon and Raezyr paused to stare them down in a very complicated mixture of a predator to prey relationship, prepared to dash out of the room when the larger group decided they were indeed the predators. The Sith moved forward slightly, but the beasts did not respond. Instead, they peered down into the tunnel that lead to the deep caverns, and waited as their master came nearly galloping towards the den.

MINE. KING. They felt through the force, as an image of the gigantic creature standing over them appeared in their minds.

They ran for the exit, with their predator right on their heels. They made it just out of the way of the incoming claws as they dove to either side when they got to the forrest. The 'King Vornskr' flew past them, landing on all four of it's feet and skidding to face them.

As Trychon tumbled to his feet, he ignited his blade, and neatly cleft in half one of the smaller attackers who followed out after them. Raezyr lifted his blade and was swinging it towards the next to follow them out, determined to continue to cut down the sheer numbers they were faced with. His vision went blurry and red as it was overcome with one thought. NO! He could barely hear the King Vornskr's thunderous roar over the overwhelming thought, let alone the whimper of the vornskr he grazed heavily with his saber.

The giant beast leapt towards Trychon, who was positioned for the pounce. The King Vornskr stopped short though, turning his body as his tail whipped around, ripping through his right sleeve and puncturing into his skin. The arm went numb, but he didn't have time to think about it as the tail was already coming straight at him again from a new angle, aimed for his chest. He managed to fall just under it, as it crushed the boulder face behind him and rocks fell onto his stomach.

Raezyr had taken the opportunity to flip to the side of the massive creature, and swing his saber at its side. The creature reacted in time, managing to get away with a small horizontal burn through the outermost portion of its hide.

STOP. DEATH. Pounded into their minds as another image of them bleeding underneath the claws of a roaring King, with a small group of smaller vornskrs surrounding them howling. Raezyr stumbled a little backward under the mental onslaught, keeping his lightsaber directly between them, and igniting his second blade even though his off-arm wasn't as strong.

Trychon got up and stared at the beast as it stared at Raezyr. In his mind's eye, he yelled, doing his best to imitate the roar of the Vornskr. DEATH. GO! And he pictured Raezyr slicing deeper into the beast, while Trychon pierced into the hearts of more of the smaller enemies.

The Vornkyr roared in return, and leapt at Trychon... whipping its tail around again. This time, the tail served to turn the animal in midair as it landed squarely between himself and the remaining vornskrs piling out of the cave.

Trychon backed up slowly as the Vornskr roared again.

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