Death Isn't Temporary

[zorbo]

Looking over towards Jaz, a small smirk crossed his lips. Kelas knew what it was that bothered him so much about Jaz – beyond his reckless ways and perhaps immature demeanor. It was the way he spoke. “Well in one hand – thank you. Otherwise I would not have found my way back. That ‘thank you’ is there assuming you did not almost kill anyone who was not already dead in the process. Frankly, I didn’t have any form of training in my life – other than life itself. So long as you don’t get anyone else killed.” He began tapering off as he could feel himself becoming more irritated. Lately he was just a fountain of emotion, which really just irritated him in general. However, due to all the high stress situations catching up with him, the ‘filter’ he generally had was beginning to not function properly. So he generally just stopped himself from speaking. No matter how much he may have not liked Jaz, he was here now and Kelas would have to make do. “Just remember what I said.” He concluded with a leveling look that hinted back to the part where he actually threatened him if he hurt Xinghua.

Kelas founds himself wearing an irritated look after he observed Xinghua’s reaction to his question, looking as if he was about to lash out. Only then did his mind remind him that him and Xinghua did not always see eye to eye on everything. He knew that the situation was more than just screwed up, it was outright insane. They arrived to hunt down a witch, only to find her abominations roaming not far away. Undead walked the streets, feasting on the living like it was from out of some old holo film. Only the truth was that it was very real, and kelas himself would have never imagined being thrust into any variety of the situation – let alone volunteer. They had not even seen the boneworms yet, but he knew that he really did not want to. He also knew that she outright hated Ler’a for reasons that he did not know.

Something dawned on him as he watched Xinghua’s reaction to his very simple question – the hip swing, the overall demeanor of ‘seriously?’. Even though they had spent a great deal of time together and practically shared everything – both the good and the bad – they still did not completely know each other. He meant the question out of pure concern, as he would admit that he would not know what he would do without her. The pair had well – become a pair. They were no longer two individual’s. They had melted together with all the trials by fire that they had endured. It was then that he realized why she hated Ler’a so much. It was not that she just trampled everyone verbally, culturally – it was that she was talking to Kelas. As they traveled, he had grown to know that she was extremely protective over him. In truth, he never really knew why – other than that he was the only one that had not abandoned her. He had not owed her anything, but when he met her – he wanted to help her. After that, he wanted to learn from her. After that, he wanted to stay by her side – through thick and thin. It was natural to grow closer in that time, but neither one of them seemed to understand what was going on between them.

Admitting the fact that he was not always the most vocal of a person was difficult to come out with. He knew that it was true, that he suppressed his emotions in order to cope with the troubles that the galaxy brought to their door. Some days he was talkative, others he was not. He was used to looking inward for dealing with his problems, as for the past years he was the only person he had. Now, having Xinghua had changed all of that. He felt that he needed to vocalize a few things, just to let her know that there was a soul beneath the rough exterior that he possessed.

“I agree – “ Kelas stated in reply to Xinghua, his eyes moving to the rest of the group. “Let’s disperse and try to gather the people at the Cantina, try to keep it calm and orderly if possible. Ler’a and Al – you two will probably be better received then the three of us, so you should start down the main stretch where the population is thicker and we can cover the outskirts where it thins. Jaz – maybe start with the elderly man you helped earlier?” he added before sheathing the Jian over his shoulder.

Ler’a and Al would mount up into their vehicle without a word and took off down the main stretch. As they reached each doorway, they would announce their presence and knock on doors – hoping anyone would answer. Some doors would open, while others did not. Out of the group of five, Ler’a and Al were certainly the cleanest looking on account of their being in a vehicle at the time of the attack. Plus they were more ‘local’ than either of the three others among the group of defenders, which Kelas hoped would allow them to gather far more than a few of the towns folk. Too much of Kelas’s surprise, there seemed to be more than he had expected. Though the majority seemed to be children and elderly, there were at least twenty adults among the group. They would make their way towards the bar in an orderly manner, bringing with them what necessities they may require as well as weapons and some tools.

Looking towards Xinghua, his eyes would level with her a moment, speaking to her like no one else would understand. His face was still covered with blood, his armor soaked in gore - but that did nothing to mask the look that rested both in expression and through his eyes. Beyond even the tired expression on his face, it was clear Kelas wanted to talk, to get something out into the open – if she would allow him to. He would begin to step towards the outskirts of the town, hoping that she would accept his non-verbal invitation to join him. People began to fill the space in the main square that had been emptied, some going to the Cantina for cover while others wept in the streets. It was a depressing scene, one that Kelas found himself looking away from and staring ahead as he walked, hoping Xinghua would be there along side him.

 

[Befallen]

From beneath her helm, Xing sighed. So, that idiot had been serious? He actually wanted to talk now? A wave of mixed emotions washed over her. Here she was covered in all manner of gore and jellied death, on a planet where the dead did not rest, and hamstrung with an actual imbecile who couldn’t do anything on his own. Yet, despite these obstacles, she was still forced to deal with other, more human and more specifically womanly emotions. Emotions she had yet to fully comprehend. Her shoulders visibly sunk as she trailed behind Kelas. Whatever he wanted to discuss must have been important.

Did she smell bad? Xing had made a greater effort to bathe as of late. Depression or no, she could not abide smelling bad. It was one of those small nuances of her upbringing. Cleanliness was next to holiness or so the monks and abbots had led her to believe. Both inwardly and externally her head shook. No, it couldn’t have been that. Could it have been the gore? No, that would have been silly. Frowning, she tried to buy herself some time to figure it out. Her steps slowed and the gap between them grew as she furiously pondered. Was it…? No, she shook her head again so furiously it looked like to pop off. No, it couldn’t be that! Kelas doesn’t like me that way, she thought with a wan smile. I doubt he could even see me that way.

Her gaze rose from beneath her helm and with it, her visor climbed from her feet to Kelas’ eyes. He had finally come to rest and was standing there, patiently, away from everyone else and waiting. His expression was as it always was. Whatever he wanted to tell her, she couldn’t read it from his face. A pity really, considering if she could, she’d have been able to prepare herself. There was no thought or inkling that her companion wanted to discuss her current demeanor or behavior. How, despite the lies she told him and herself, she was not as well as she said. How, her mannerisms were affecting him. No, none of this was acknowledged. Instead, she had focused her mind on the earthly and petty and had created considerable confusion within herself for the effort.

Coming to a halt before him, she meekly shrugged her shoulders as a way of silently asking the unaskable. For some reason, Xinghua assumed what he was about to say was the worst news possible and it showed in her body language. She all but cringed in preparation for an onslaught that likely wouldn’t happen.

 

[Naruto667]

“Well in one hand – thank you. Otherwise I would not have found my way back. That ‘thank you’ is there assuming you did not almost kill anyone who was not already dead in the process. Frankly, I didn’t have any form of training in my life – other than life itself. So long as you don’t get anyone else killed" When Jaz heard this he wasn't completely sure that it was truly a thank you or something more cryptic but either way it was a good thing Jaz stopped to hear if anybody was going to talk to him before he headed off

"..."

"Let’s disperse and try to gather the people at the Cantina, try to keep it calm and orderly if possible. Ler’a and Al – you two will probably be better received then the three of us, so you should start down the main stretch where the population is thicker and we can cover the outskirts where it thins. Jaz – maybe start with the elderly man you helped earlier?" now this sounded like a good idea, as it would be better to focus on one area rather than being spread out defending different pockets of the population

"Will do I'll meet you guys at the cantina in that case"and with that Jaz headed off back to where he had met the elderly man surveying the area as he walked wiping off what blood and gore he could so he didn't scare people as he walked..but it wasn't going to help regardless people were going to be afraid of him, so once he arrived at the building he noticed that the door was open slightly which was strange, as everybody else's doors were closed..which was strange, but of course he couldn't remember seeing the man close the door after he had finished helping the man and received some grenades from the man, and so he entered the building, drawing his combat knife then made his way through the building.

"...", as he was searching the building he could hear moaning and scratching sounds coming upstairs, so as he carefully moved up the stairs at the back of the building the sounds were becoming more and more loud until he reached the top of the stairs and there clawing against a closed door was a abomination..apparently there were still stragglers that hadn't been dealt with which can be understandable considering how spread out everybody was, there's bound to be pockets of zombies around

"Quick update Song Xinghua and Kelas..I've found a abomination that's still alive..so I would guess that-"and before he could say more the duo would probably hear a loud moan then sounds of a struggle between Jaz and the zombie then a few moments of static before Jaz's voice came back

"Sorry about that, as I was saying be careful there might be some stragglers left"and with that Jaz turned his comms off and then proceeded to the door opening it up, to reveal that the man..and two kids were in the room cowering in the corner, however relief became evident when they saw Jaz instead of the abomination

"Hey..I don't think it's safe here for the time being we're gathering everybody together in the cantina so pack up the things you need, and follow me to the cantina"

 

[zorbo]

Their surroundings were eerie, a storm approached and power seemed to have been pushed towards the limit with the electrical grid in the town. Street lights revealed the streets below, in this instance, the gore and debris that was a direct result of the previous onslaught. Some of the town’s occupants made their way into the streets, bringing with them weapons and other supplies. Some moved together in groups while few others walked alone, most staring towards the ground as if sleepwalking. Kelas wondered how it was that him and the rest of the group were not in the same state.

The commlink in his ear buzzed a moment, Jaz’s voice speaking over the commlink sporadically. It sounded as if he was involved in a struggle of some sort before finishing his sentenance to inform the pair that there were stragglers in some buildings, so they should watch out. “Hard copy. Thank’s for the heads up. Watch yourself out there.”, he muttered before clicking the commlink off.

Kelas walked along the road at a slowed pace, starting to feel the effects of exerting so much effort in a short amount of time. His legs were sore, sluggish beneath the weight of not only the body, but all the gear he had brought along. It was customary for him to bring everything with him, as he did not own much. As he became more and more involved in combat oriented operations, it became clearly apparent that the pack on his back was going to inhibit his movements more than was necessary. This troubled Kelas. His family had been nomads for decades and never once left their few possessions anywhere or with anyone beyond themselves. Your distracting yourself, his subconscious spoke as he glanced over his shoulder towards Xinghua.

He noted that she too were walking sluggish. However, he knew that it was not just exhaustion that pressed her down. She had been through a lot during their time together. Thrust from a homeworld to the galaxy as a whole, chewed up and spit out. He felt her beginning to resemble himself, which made him even more ornery of the situation. Kelas felt that their pairing was toxic if both of them were not on the same page. Communication was important and Kelas knew that he was not the best communicator. Things generally came out wrong or translated differently than expected.

Soon enough Xinghua had crossed the space between them, resting only a meter or so away from Kelas with a shrug that begged in question of kelas’s thoughts. He noted that her demeanor was stiff, expectant of something negative- Kelas did not know what she was thinking. Silently, he cursed himself for always being so stiff himself. He tried to loosen up and relax his shoulders, but failed miserably. “We are in a screwed up situation.”, he began as he looped a thumb between his armor and belt. “Neither one of us have faced anything like this . . . at least, I have not.” He continued, his eyes looking into Xinghua’s visor, searching for expression or anything that could help him push past the knot in his throat. Your distracting yourself , his subconscious repeated before Kelas let loose a sigh.

“What’s going on between us, Xing?”, he blurted out in question as he reddened in embarrassment. “I don’t know how to explain this but – there are times where I just . . . when I am stuck in a screwed up situation, I think of you to lead me through my problems. Your smile makes my day better, even the worst of days.” He unloaded, his eyes resting on her visor before staring away. “Yet then there are days when I get irritated with the way you treat me. Yeah, asking ‘are you okay’ is a dumb question when we are in the middle of this shit hole. It’s completely screwed up. But I’m asking because I worry about you. Even when you run out on me all the time, and no matter how mad I am, I come running after you.” He took a breath before stopping himself, wanting to make something clear. “I know that you can protect yourself – but I want to, because I care about you. And I know you worry about me too, but I know that there has to be more than that, right? I mean – anytime almost anyone, especially women, speak to me – you get angry and irritated.” He tried his best to compose himself, gathering up everything and trying to sort through it.

Taking a breath, his shoulders sunk and his face wore an expression that was similar to guilt, as if the way things came out was not right. "I know things have been crazy . . . it's been a ride for you and I, Xing." he continued before looking towards her visor. "I know that i'm not always easy to deal with, that I seem as emotional as a rock. But here is the truth: I'm scared too. What's going on here? It's . . . it should not exist. But it does. Back on the station when the tether was cut? Yeah, I was scared then too. And for a moment, I got pulled back into the crowd and I thought I would not make it. It dawned on me that I would die - but you, you would live on. And in that thought I found solace and the acceptance that death would take me, but that you would be safe. But yet everytime we get pulled into these crazy situations that we should not survive, we find a way to make it work. No - we are not the same people after. But we are still together and everything keeps pushing us closer."

He stopped, closing his eyes a moment as he spoke to her in a low tone. "If I am just being an idiot, or am going crazy - tell me. Tell me and I will shut it and I won't bring it up again and we can put it to sleep, as if this conversation never happened."

With that, he stood silent for a long moment as his mind replayed everything he just said – trying to decide if it came out correctly or not. Doubting that it did, he opened his eyes and stared into the expressionless visor that stared back at him and awaited her response.

 

[Befallen]

There were several things that Xinghua was good at. The list was long and varied. At the top of that long list was her martial training. A lifetime devoted to the higher arts of expression benefited her. Beyond that, she wasn’t a terrible cook. Her Uncle, at least praised her every time she made bao and that was something. She was also well versed when it came to her spiritual studies, albeit she had little time of late to properly devote herself to them. And as she walked the catacombs of her mind as Kelas fell silent, she reflected on all of this. However, on that long list of things she was competent at, expressing herself was not one of them.

In the past it had been easier. What few times she had been infatuated with others it was a rather simple, straightforward affair. Of course, there was awkwardness. And there were uncertainties. But, still, it was simpler. Part of the reason she suspected with great shame was that they were from the same place. Both her and her infatuation were Yu. Anything else had never, ever been expected or entered her mind. They both intimately understood each other and what was expected of them as society dictated. With Kelas, though, it was different. There were things neither knew about the other, things that would be difficult to explain, things that would be hard to understand, even. Yet, despite this fact and the fact that he had given her an out, she bit her lip from beneath her helm. The color rose to her cheeks and hot behind it was a flush of panic.

Her hands would not listen to her pleas. They rose steadily toward her helm and with practiced ease the helm hissed and was removed. The curls of her dark brown hair spilled from the helm to tumble over her face, momentarily concealing her features. In the split second before this, it was evident she was blushing feverishly, her bottom lip a quivering mess as her teeth gnawed against it. She began to fidget as her head swiveled left than right. This desolate and morbid area that she had found herself in with Kelas had become too hot, too stifling. Her nerves were getting the best of her and once again her hands ignored her cries. Each took up a tuft of hair and brushed it aside, out of her face. She searched Kelas’ eyes for an answer to this quandary. All she found was the same uncertainty, the same yearning and nervousness staring back at her.

What was going on?

She chuckled beside herself. What else was she to do? Answer his question? Answer the only question that mattered. How? Her teeth quit gnashing momentarily and her lips parted, her tongue flicked and nothing escaped. It closed and opened again. Her hands began to move frantically, as if to compensate. For a time it looked like she were communicating with him non-verbally. The blushing of her cheeks intensified and she sharply looked away. As she did so, she chuckled exacerbated.

Next thing she knew, she was swallowing hard and had returned to stare uncertainly back at Kelas, “I--I don’t know what to say.” her voice small, uncertain, scared. “I --” she sighed heavily and flushed, “half of the time I don’t know what’s going on. What I’m doing or why. Nothing makes sense. The last time it did, I was on Zhenxing. I was with my Uncles. My brothers and sisters were still alive. Still whole. We smiled. We fought. We laughed. We didn’t know about Verus Fett. The troubles of this tuíxiǔ galaxy meant little to nothing to me.”

The words spilled out of her like water from a burst valve. It had overcome her, the truth and she did not know where it would lead. Xinghua could not even bring herself to stop, even though she desperately wanted to. She didn’t want to let Kelas in so much. Why did they have to discuss these things? Why did they have to put a name on the unknown? Stupid Kelas, she thought as words continued to pour out of her.

“--say? I don’t know what’s going on. Why the hell are we always in such terrible situations? Why did Verus have to do that?!” Her voice became pitched, feverish before it abruptly fell. “Why did all those people have to die on that skyhook? Why are we here, Kelas? Its so hard for me to get out of bed most days. You know that? I can barely sleep. I see all the people that have died. All the people I have killed. I…”

Suddenly, she trailed off. Her visage became stern, a stonewall. She began to stare hard at Kelas - through him. This lasted for several moments as her eyes began to search the unseen.

“I don’t know what this is. I don’t know how to express it. I--” she flinched suddenly, flushed, swallowed hard and continued, this time in a much smaller voice, “I like you. I like you, Kelas. I don’t know what that means. I’m a mess, but being with you makes it alright. When I’m with you, no matter what happens, its always alright. You helped me on Zhenxing. You didn’t even know me. I was nobody. Some strange woman. Why? Was I strange to you?” Xinghua shook her head and sighed. She could feel herself growing angered, but it was misplaced and she knew it. It was a defensive mechanism. It wouldn’t help here. She didn’t want to harm him.

“You helped me survive afterwards. You didn’t have to, but you did. You could have left at any time. I think I would have understood. ...Eventually. Since then, you’ve taken care of me in more ways than one. You’ve clothed me, fed me, sheltered me.”

She paused, swallowing her. Her features had softened long ago. She stared at him almost in relief. Yet, before she could really answer she lost her nerve. Panic and embarrassment crept into her face, into her bones. She smiled meekly, uncertainty present, her eyes seemed to apologize for her awkwardness. “I--I--I don’t know.”

 

[Naruto667]

"I'll be careful..heading to the cantina now"and with that Jaz switched his comms off from sending to receiving as he exited the building blaster at the ready the elderly and and the two kids one a 12 year old boy and a 14 year old girl both of whom were scared out of their skins which was understandable consider the situation, however he relaxed his guard when he saw that the street was clear of abominations and so lead the small group to the cantina where the general plan was to protect the survivors in one central location..well that was all good..unless they managed to get inside somehow

"..."nearing the building he could see that a lot of people were gathering around the cantina for some reason or another and a lot of them had brought supplies and weapon..now Jaz hoped things wouldn't escalate further with angry people annoyed by the lack of protection or lack of progress against the abomination and whoever was summoning or creating them

Well I hope this plan works...or we'll be in trouble Jaz thought to himself sitting on the steps of the cantina resting up after guiding the elderly man and the two kids into the building..causing people to look at him weirdly at his yet uncleaned armour until the time he had to move to combat the abominations..whenever that happened

 

[zorbo]

Few people actually knew Kelas, but those that did knew that he was not one for companionship. Even before his family broke apart, a part of him felt emotionally unprepared. His family raised him to brave the unknown, to hold no fear, hardening him so that he could not get hurt. In doing so, he put up large wall that was unpassable. Closing off all others, it was just him and his family against the world. However, once that family was gone – he was alone. For years, he lived on his own as a hermit, besting the boiling Tatooine suns and all obstacles in his way. When he encountered other people, he would not speak to them, only watching them expectantly. Truth was that Kelas was so hardened, that he found it difficult to open up to anyone. Let alone invite someone in to the point where few had ever ventured before.

Just as he had watched people back on Tatooine, he was watching Xinghua’s body language, expecting it to be aggressive and outraged. However, where her voice could not speak, her body spoke to him clearly. His features would soften as he realized that their emotions in that moment were the same: A mixture of nervousness, anxiety, raw energy and confusion. To those who did not feel it, it would sound like something beyond natural. But to them, it was just difficult to understand.

When she lifted her helmet and revealed her hair to be hanging in front of her face, a small smile formed on his face. In that moment, he realized that she was not going to call him an idiot, or stupid for feeling such ridiculous feelings. Her rosy red cheeks only solidified his feelings for her, as he knew she felt the same for him. It felt good to know that she wanted to be seen by him rather than remain behind a perfectly good barrier that made it impossible to see her features.

Once she finished speaking, her eyes apologizing to him for not giving him a straight answer, he would offer a soft smile, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “I didn’t see a strange woman on Zhenxing, Song Xinghua. I saw you. Even to this day, when I am by you? It just – it feels right. I feel like I belong and that is something I have not felt in a long time. What is more? I like you Xinghua, a lot actually. If I didn’t then I would not still be here.” He turned his head a moment, just a brief moment before offering her that small smile of his. “Besides – I am a mess too. I don’t know about you but – being a mess together sounds pretty good to me.” As if it felt like the ground had left his feet, the carnage that rested around them disappeared like a dream. Telling her felt like a great big relief, like he had said what needed to be said. A time had come and gone when he was a few seconds quicker than death and he had not talked to Xing. To tell her how he felt – he did not want to do that again. He admitted, his eyes resting on hers a moment before he would step closer to embrace her, hoping that she would accept it. Regardless if she would or not, he would continue on by saying in soft voice: "This galaxy is screwed up Xinghua. But there is no where else that I would rather be, then beside you. No matter what it throws at us - we will get through it, together"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Al’, get these people inside! Get ‘em working on holing up the place. Any of ‘em kno’ how to shoot? send ‘em to the balcony. Children and elderly to the cellar, rest on the first floor.”

Ler’a shouted out to Al through a growing crowd, as word spread rapidly that herself, Al and a few out-of-towners were holding up in the Cantina. She noted that there were a lot less then she had expected, but she figured that it was acceptable – after all, she would see the others soon enough. She had no doubt of that.

Outside a storm approached silently, darkening the sky and making the surrounding area more humid then it already was. It did not help the smell of rotten flesh at all. If anything, it amplified the stench to the point of no longer being bearable. Streetlights automatically turned on at the change in surrounding lightening, illuminating the streets that were better off not being. The exterior of the cantina was more natural and rustic than galactic standard, which would make it a little more difficult to defend. But it was one of the few large buildings in the city, so it would do.

Inside the cantina people shuffled about, preparing themselves and comforting each other quietly. In the silence someone wailed, stifling a moan of sorrow. Each person had lost someone, if not then they lost their feeling of safety within their own town. It was being overrun by abominations, creatures of dark forces that seemed to have grown stronger and stronger. Now they were forced to either die slowly apart, or unite and hold out for as long as they can. The odds were not exactly with them.

Al walked into the cantina carrying a large bag over his shoulder before tossing it onto the bar-top, motioning out to the abled bodied civilians. “Ladies and Gent’s – weapons. When the rotten one’s step in, make sure the safety is off and that the barrel is pointed at them and not at anyone else.” He said before unzipping it, revealing a dozen various weapons. As he stepped away and aloud the people to dig through the gear, he stepped towards the man in gore covered armor and gave him a strange look. “Pink armor?” he murmured to himself in passing, helping a young man with a large board to cover a window. “So where you lot from anyway? Not many merc’ types come around here – mostly just those looking to bury their dead. Merc’s tend not to bury anyone.

 

[Befallen]

Immediately after she had replied, Kelas began responding. At first, she was nervous to meet his gaze, fearful that he would somehow admonish her convoluted admission of infatuation and need. Yet, all her fears were assuaged by the tone of his voice and Xing found herself staring at him, honestly stunned. Uncharacteristically, he seemed to be speaking with passion. It laced the truth of his words, only solidifying his feelings towards her. It was uncustomary of him and for a brief moment, Xing did not know how to respond. She did all she could, yet, in the end, that only amounted to appearing stunned and wide-eyed. As he continued, the sensation of being overwhelmed dissipated and she returned to a state of even calm - something Kelas had not seen in many months. A sense of serenity overcame her as he spoke and she found herself smiling softly, knowingly.

When he reasserted his feelings for her, she saw his vulnerability and it caused her to blush. In response, she looked away just as he did. Despite herself, or simply because she was unfamiliar with such situations, she found herself hollowly upset with Kelas. Stupid Kelas, she thought with a soft smile as her eyes returned to him. Amber pools simply watching his vulnerability. In a short amount of time, they had both overcome the walls that were protectively built around them, between them. They were both in uncharted territory, yet it did not frighten her as much as she thought it would. His small smile sent butterflies twirling in her stomach and her rosy-red cheeks briefly intensified before subsiding.

An intense moment passed between them. Xing staring back into Kelas. She could not tell what he was thinking. Then, he moved forward to embrace her. For a picosecond she thought about rebuking his embrace, fleeing from it. All this was still too new, too raw for her. It made her uncomfortable even as she was in peace with it. Simply, she was conflicted and unsure. Xinghua had been naked before Kelas many times before, but never like this. She blinked and allowed his embrace to happen. Her heart skipped beats as it began to hammer in her chest. The color returned and intensified in her face. She found herself stiff as his arms wrapped around her in a way she was not used to. Off in the distance, she stared hard at the decaying remains of a recently returned and ironically saw something poetic. The sight jarred something within her. Her sense of duty began to stir, even as she felt her heart shoo it away.

Slowly and with great uncertainty, her arms began to raise as she gingerly wrapped them around the small of Kelas’ back, lacing them between the straps of his pack. A different thought assailed her. One that caused her to smile. Despite having a home now, he still carried all of his earthly possessions with him. Stupid Kelas. Her eyes slipped closed and she felt herself sigh. His breath was hot on her neck when next he spoke. His words a whisper, dancing in her ear. Her heart fluttered. A biological sensation stirred deep within her. She did not understand. Unable to comprehend why, she realized she had begun to gnaw on her bottom lip, unable to speak as she grunted a response.

“Mhm-hmm,” was all she could muster. There was a slight nod of her head, accompanied by a closed eyes, flushed cheeks and a small smile. For a time everything felt right. Nothing else mattered. Her troubles slipped away. There was just her and Kelas, standing under the warm light of a recently activated lamp, surrounded by the decaying and returned. Were she a philosophical being observing this, she might have found the scene entirely ironic and macabre. Thankfully, that was not the case.

Finally, she gathered the will to pull away from him. She did so slowly, carefully and hesitantly. Her eyelids cracked open and she glanced into Kelas’ expectant eyes, once again unable to read his thoughts. Reflexively, she blinked and looked away, the color rising within her visage. Xinghua pulled away fully then, her hands untwining themselves from him to drape down his forearms and brush against the back of his. She twitched as she took a step back, a shiver running throughout her.

“We should check the immediate area, don’t you think?” Xing asked, hurriedly changing the subject. “There’s no way everyone has made it to the cantina yet. And I’m sure that Huóbǎo is messing things up somewhere. I can almost sense it.” she ended with a laugh, one she secretly hoped would diffuse the tension she felt.

 

[Naruto667]

“So where you lot from anyway? Not many merc’ types come around here – mostly just those looking to bury their dead. Merc’s tend not to bury anyone" Jaz took off his helmet and looked at the man before thinking of how to answer it after all he had never talked to Xing or Kelas ever....this was their first mission together...and it wasn't going as well as it could be, first there was the tension between Jaz and Xing and second they hadn't moved out of the town to find whoever or whatever.

"We come from all over the place..we each have our own creed to follow, and we're here to do some good"Jaz answered as he wiped the gore off his helmet, a rather futile attempt as when the fighting happens again gore was most likely going to be splattered on his armour and helmet once more which was why his armour still had the gore and the helmet didn't, looking over his shoulder into the cantina he could see people who were capable of using weapons moving to pick up a weapon from the bag that was placed on the cantina's bar.

"Hmm..a medium to long range weapon would be useful.."Jaz said as he stood up and walked to the bag to see what weapons that would be suitable for what he had in mind...since he had his E-11 for the short range he just needed something for longer ranges

 

[zorbo]

Kelas was relieved that Xinghua not only accepted his feelings, but actually shared them with him. In truth, he expected her to call him stupid and discredit his feelings with that of desperation or otherwise. It was due to this assumption that Kelas felt ashamed that he would expect such behavior from Xinghua, but he would admit that their relationship as of late was shaky. However, in his heart he felt that they had dismantled that which plagued them. These sort of relationship stresses tended to run havoc on the dynamic between people

To say that Kelas had a track record of successful relationship was something of a insult to the memory of his brother. The two shared a livelyhood together, taking on all that came before them. It was them against the world. And just like that, a silhouette of a beacon of hope was blown out. His parents were a story for a different day.

As they exchanged a warmed and welcomed embrace, a shock traveled throughout his body in automated response. Closing his eyes, he felt her breath strike his neck, his body shuttering ever so lightly against her own. In that moment Kelas felt neither here or there. He just - was. When Xinghua began to pull away, he felt like pulling her back in and holding her until the world around them just dissolved and became nothing. But he knew what would have to be done - the day was not over, their challenge not through.

Opening his eyes for only a split second, it was as if stepping into a new dimension. He realized that they were standing in a street that was barely lit, corpses littered the ground in small groups of where a final struggle took place. If the victim got away or not was not clear, but the evidence of the eve` rested all around them. The strong stench of rotting flesh returned, and with it the soft touch of precipitation lingering in the air.

Weighing her words, Kelas found the strength to press on as his eyes rested on hers. Nodding his head, he agreed before straightening up and bringing his hands back to his belt, looping a thumb and glancing about before speaking. "Yeah, I doubt everyone has made it there just yet. There is bound to be someone holding their ground in their house somewhere." Clearing his throat, he turned himself to face the nearest home that looked to be deserted. Peering, he mustered a smirk before drawing his sword - not wanting to take any chances. "Well, figure there is only one way to find out if anyone is home."

The pair would inspect several buildings along the far edge of town, finding a few survivors here and there. Most were startled by the pairs grizzly appearance before realizing that they were speaking basic to them, instructing them to find their way to the cantina as fast as possible. Not all listened, but those that did moved with a purpose, gathering up only the bear essentials and their loved ones. A train of bodies moved quickly towards the center of the town, bringing with them weapons and basic living supplies. Kelas did not realize just how many people lived in the town - yet, he reminded himself - the majority were already dead. These were no more than forty percent of the total population.

It was at the final building that the situation changed. First, it began to rain. The precipitation had been lingering in the air since they had begun the search, so that was not unforeseen. However, it made the grounds surface slippery if you were not careful - which did not bode well for anyone. On the other hand, Kelas figured the abominations would have a difficult time navigating the surface even more than anyone else. Secondly, what silence had fallen the rural town was quickly washed aside as a wave of terrified screams echoed from inside the building. Though even before Kelas could reach for his sword, the door swung open and out came a woman running with her small child in hand, behind her something croaked and bellowed in pain.

What was once a man, now looked even worse than the risen dead. Kelas gut twisted and turned as he stared wide eyed at the -thing- that stood in the doorway. Attached to random locations of his body were oversized worms that burrowed into his flesh with relative ease. "That would be the bone worms." Kelas announced before raising his blade to chest height. Stepping forward, he swung it in a wide arc that would catch two of the bone warms by surprise, cutting them into several pieces with a rush of blood flowing to the floor. Another would burrow its way out of the ground and launch itself towards his chestplate, desperately attempting to burrow into Kelas flesh. Lucky for kelas, the worms teeth scratched and clawed at his armor before kelas grabbed the wiggling creature with his gauntlet, throwing it into the nearest wall. Turning, he shouted to the people down the road as he and Xinghua began to run towards the cantina - "RUN! GET TO THE CANTINA!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Outside the cantina, more and more people came seemed to be piling into the building as well as those surrounding it. The main room of the cantina looked like a herd of nerfs being pressed into the machine that would grind them up to be someone else's meal. The air stunk of sweat, fear and rotten flesh. But among all these revolting smells was that of precipitation, just before it began to rain outside - turning the entrance into a muddy mess.

Blaster and slugthrower wielding members of the crowd found themselves either thrust upstairs or pressed against the small exposed holes of the forward facing windows. The rest of the crowd was moved to the back of the building, or even the elderly and children to the basement. Those who owned starships had already taken off long ago. Now there was just no other place to go - no where safe to run to. There were cornered and they knew it. But even knowing what was coming - it did not show in their faces. Most were determined, silent, masking their inner conflicts in order to focus on the most basic concept in all of the galaxy: Survival.

Outside the cantina came a scream and then the sound of dozens of puts striking puddles and mud. "Into the cantina!" a woman shouted before a loud splatter and a grunt from the receiver. To those that viewed the exterior, they would see men and women running in the streets, being chased by giant worms that launched themselves from the muddy soil. As a man entered the cantina, his mouth gaped open to shout for help before a worms dorsal like head pierced his stomach, two other worms grabbing hold of either side and pulling him through a crowd that seemed to storm the door. No one could anticipate the monstrosity's that were at their backs.

From the opposite side of the street that Xinghua and Kelas were approaching from, a large creature came into view just outside of town. As it got closer and closer, it grew smaller and smaller before revealing that it was not a creature: It was a woman. A woman riding bone worms like there were nothing more then a electronic walkway htat conveyed people to their destinations. Behind her staggered the undead horde, so many that no one would be able to count them all. Something to note was the fact that the undead and bone worms alike swarmed around her as if casting a net of protection around her. In a fowl shriek a voice boomed as if from the sky "Liberate their souls my children - kill them all!"

 

[Befallen]

Life was a funny thing. Invariably filled with surprises and shocks. The chaos that was life often comforted the criminally unhinged. Xinghua had known of two such mentally unstable people in her day. Mad men who were abandoned by society. Men who were more raving beasts than man. Oftentimes, they were abandoned on the steps of temples - left in the care of the monks and abbots who society felt were best fit to treat and rehabilitate the insane. For some such creatures, it worked. The isolation and quiet tranquility that was universally celebrated by temple life was a curative salve to the afflicted. Others were less fortunate. Xinghua had the pleasure of knowing both spectrums of the pendulum. And it was just so that she began to think of these men as they searched the outskirts of the dead town.

As strange as it was for her thoughts to be filled with them in this dark hour, they offered her a different lens for viewing this world that she had found herself in. Despite that, the scenery around her and Kelas was disquieting. Even as stormclouds gathered and moved ominously closer to town, she could feel that disquiet. The unshakable feeling that things were about to go terribly wrong lingered and chilled her to her bones. She had survived the sacking of Chángshā, the destruction of her kin, the dissolution of her clan and numerous other traumas before today. Yet, none of that seemed to prepare her for the trials ahead.

Moving apace with Kelas, she felt apprehension fester within her as they neared the last building on their search. Somehow, she knew they dared not go out any farther. It was an innate feeling that complimented the macabre backdrop her and Kelas had found themselves in. Punctuated perfectly by the sudden and violent downpour of torrential rain. Normally, Xing found the rain soothing. Where others shied from it, she reveled in it. Often going out of her way to be in it. Yet, here and now, she felt a darker power surging inside it. It clung to the air and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on ends. This darkness that hid in the shadows and in the rain had orchestrated this whole nightmare and they both knew it.

Ahead of them was their final stop on their tour. A plain multistoried structure of duracrete and simple windows. The three storied building had two patios that she assumed were used for lounging on better days. Now, they held a foreboding feeling that was punctuated by lightning and thunder. The violent shadows cast by the patio furniture sent shivers down her spine. That sensation she had been feeling ever since she and Kelas had pulled away from the safety and security of that streetlamp and each other intensified as they came to a rest before the structure. It was then that she noticed Kelas had readied his sword, the very jian that she had given him some time ago. The simple action seemed to speak volumes of his own thoughts and she realized they mimicked her own.

Moments later a terrified screeching emanated from the building. Xinghua jumped back, startled. Strange as it might have seen for such a hardened and perceived merciless warrior to jump in fright from a scream, it really wasn’t. Xinghua had only been that warrior in the heat of the moment, when her passions flared to the extreme and the situations were dire. Somehow, despite similar circumstances, that presence within her was not called upon. Instead, she began to shrink back from the building. Had Kelas turned to look upon her, he would see clearly frightened woman and not the warrior he’d come to know. This change in her countenance unsettled her. Xing was not focused on the coming storm. Her thoughts were on other matters. What if she died here? What would her Uncles do? What if Kelas died? She shuddered at the thought. It didn’t seem fair.

Death should have been permanent. Why was death be temporary here? Suddenly and without warning a woman and child burst through the front door, stumbling, balling and terrified. They ran towards the pair with abandoned and Xing could do nothing, but sympathize with their plight. It was then that she saw Kelas heroically lunge forward to face the threat. Before doing so, she heard him deadpan the description of what those things were that were burrowing out of the walking dead. In equal measures of awe and fright she watched, frozen as Kelas made short work of the creatures and the undead being. As of the woman and child, they had tore past Xinghua in a mad dash toward the city center; terror the only thing motivating the mother. Watching the pair disappear into the rain-soaked darkness that was punctuated by lightning, something tugged at Xing’s heartstrings.

“RUN! GET TO THE CANTINA!”

The booming command roared by Kelas spurred Xing to action. She flinched back against the harshness and urgency of his words; revived inside her the purpose that brought them here, to this god-awful place. She burst into flight after the pair as congealed and fresh blood and gore slipped from her armor. The rain slammed like pellets against her exposed flesh and dark brown locks. Her bangs became stuck to her face and when she tried to brush them aside, the downpour invariably replaced them. It was vexing, but also quietly comical. To think that she would concerned by such trivial things made her laugh quietly as her feet pounded against the slippery muck. The helmet she carried jostled in her grasp as she stampeded toward the cantina, chasing after the mother and child.

Xing could think of nothing worse than failing to protect them. Even Kelas was forgotten as she focused all her efforts on willing herself to purpose. The slick ground, her beating heart and the subtle inhuman grumble behind the thunder paled in comparison to the singular focus of her mission. Her strides became longer, lighter and more fluid. Her fear became the fuel of her driven desire. Then, suddenly, something unnatural began to move beneath her feet in the slushy mud. That something sprang from the ground, a flash of lightning displayed it in all its horrid and ghoulish splendor. Boneworms were horrid when they were just imaginings of her mind but seeing one in the flesh was much worse. The pallid white of its hardened skin. Its lifeless face, devoid of eyes. Mandibles and gnashing teeth as it lunged toward the little boy that trailed behind.

Xinghua cringed even as she knew what she must do. Her steps quickened, spurned by the sheer power of her will, her arm outstretched as a gauntleted fist grabbed the boneworm in mid flight. Instantly, it wriggled, trying to break free from her ironlike grip. Flaying, it turned and broke free. Its body coiled, it lunged for Xing’s chest connecting with the breastplate that protected her soft flesh beneath. As horrible as that was, what was worse was that her uncontrolled momentum carried her forward still. That combined with the boneworm trying to burrow its way inside her, caused her to lose focus and topple over herself. She bounced off the soft ground, crushing the ‘worm to horrible effect. Disoriented, she was momentarily unaware that the very ground beneath her, slick with mud and gore was crawling with the nightmarish creatures.

Shaking her head, she cleared out the clutter as more of the things leapt from the ground in a mad race toward the cantina. Overhead, those that could shoot began opening up on the ground below, spraying both bolts of light and slugs with abandon. It was a mess, a massacre and smack in the middle of the chaos and panic was Song Xinghua. Boneworms leapt from the earth, indiscriminately attacking the townspeople that lagged behind. The old, the infirmed, their screams were horrible. Worse than that were the ones that were gunned down by the panicked gunmen. With her back to the cantina, she could see Kelas pounding his way towards her, behind him an army of undead and boneworms. At the fore of that was a menacing silhouette, an ominous figure that seemed larger than life. As lightning flashed and streetlamps flickered from the ailing and overtaxed electrical grid, Xing caught sight of the conductor of this madness: There at the head of this hellish horde, astride abnormally large boneworms was a singular woman draped in macabre rags.

Over the din of the chaos and thunder, a horrid shriek filled the night, “LIBERATE THEIR SOULS MY CHILDREN - KILL THEM ALL!”

Xinghua flinched. Her visage paled as rain pounded her head and armor. Her buy’ce had skidded several meters from her, slick with rain and mud and muck. She cast a hurried glance at it, then toward Kelas and then toward the horde at his back. Boneworms marched and leapt around her as she began to crawl back, toward the cantina. Kelas, her mind cried. Her jaw clenched as a switch was flipped inside her. Her purpose roused itself, overriding her mortal fears. She wasn’t going to die here. She couldn’t! Kelas had been right. Foolishly, she convinced herself that they had survived worse. They could survive this. She scampered to her feet, slipping on the slick ground, she scrabbled her way to her her helm, wrenched it from the earth just as a boneworm leapt toward her arm, missing her by inches.

Rising, she moved her free hand toward her dadao and withdrew it from its sheathe. It sung in the night, ringing with purpose and justice. There she stood her ground as hails of gunfire rained around her. It would have made a gloriously epic scene in an action flick if it weren’t real. Popcorn would have been hungrily passed around as the viewers eagerly watched to see what fate would befall their intrepid heroes. Instead of such romantic notions, Xing was stuck with the reality of things. This situation was dire, their likelihood of survival was low and everything was made worse by the fact that the gunmen were firing indiscriminately.

A decision needed to be made. Rush forward to Kelas’ aid, fighting tooth and nail to get to him or retreat to the safety of the cantina. She couldn’t stand still in the open. Either a boneworm would get lucky and eat her face or some schmuck would shoot her in the back. Her armor would withstand several glancing shots, and even a few direct hits, but sooner or later it would fail her. To remain where she was meant death. To charge to Kelas likely meant death. To flee to the cantina meant cowardice. When the options were weighed so, the choice became clear. Swallowing her mortal fear, she charged forward with abandon. Slicing as she went, she made short work of the boneworms that leapt at her until she met up with Kelas.

“You Huóbǎo!” she yelled over the din. Her eyes filled with desperation. “You can’t die. I won’t let you!”

In front of her and behind Kelas the horde continued to advance. The necromancer astride her nightmarish mounts began chanting something. Her indecipherable words filled Xing with more mortal terror than what surrounded them. Because it held meaning. Terrible meaning. Whatever she was doing would be worse than what already was.

“Come on! We have to go!”

Without waiting for his consent, she grabbed his arm in her hand and began bodily dragging him toward the cantina as bodies dropped and rose and boneworms marched ever closer to the bar. There nightmare wasn’t over. It was just beginning.

 

[Naruto667]

Rummaging through the bag of weapons he noticed a A-280 blaster rifle a rifle that had good power and accuracy compared to his E-11 which although good wasn't suited to long range combat, and so running onto the second floor Jaz took position above the entrance that Xinghua and Kelas would use, of course he wasn't sure if there was any other ways in but at least he had what seemed to be a number of others had the front covered.

Using his IR vision he could see the duo closing on a building his vision mode casting them as red using his newly procured blaster he took aim and scanned the area incase they were about to be attack from behind, and as he slowly moved his scope from the duo he barely saw a small part of the door swinging open in his scope, and so quickly shifting the sight to the door he notice a woman running out of the building a child holding tightly onto the hand, unfortunally Jaz couldn't see what was happening, until he saw Kelas move foreward, like he was attacking something attacking something.

"..." quickly checking behind the two warriors Jaz tapped the side of his head with his finger turning the vision mode off and looked on, his finger poised to squeeze the trigger and Jaz was about to warn them about the threat, when he saw the abominations rising to swarm Kelas and Xinghua, and so without even waiting he started to fire his weapon, aiming at mainly though who were attempting to impede the flow of people running to the cantina, at times unfortunally switching to a new person to help only to see a blaster bolt hit the person either killing them outright or enabling the zombies to do the killing, and this annoyed the solider greatly

"Don't shoot wildly" Jaz said looking to his sides only to see the people beside him ignoring what he had said and noticed some of their shots nearly hitting his comrades, and in open view of the duo he simply stood up and kick each of the people with him with his foot to get their attention

"STOP FRACKING SHOOTING WILDLY!!....You're wasting ammo and not to say killing people who are trying to get to safety...and not to say almost hitting my comrades!" leaving his post for a few moments he went about the cantina and made the people shoot in a controlled manner so they could conserve ammo even going to the point of using a violent kick to drive home his point, he damned well wasn't going to die because one side of the cantina ran out of ammo before the others.

Making his way back to his spot he managed to hear over the roar of fire and groans Xinghua yelling at him admittedly helped because of his open comms with the duo

"You Huóbǎo! You can’t die. I won’t let you!" sighing Jaz simply looked at the woman before he aimed at a zombie trying to grab her from behind and fired a shot at the abomination before he spoke

"I know that, and besides I don't see myself dying to freaks like this anyway can you two please make your way here the last thing I want to see if one of these idiots shooting you two by accident, as I've already seem them gun down some townfolk stragglers already, I would really hate to see you two being accidently gunned down" and with that said he started to pick off the zombies that tried to attack Kelas and Xinghua, knowing that they would pick up at least some sort of sarcasm when he said please, if not then oh well