It Only Takes a Pebble to Make a Ripple in a Peaceful Stream (Closed)

[Dragon Fae]

The way he said the man's surname made it sound like a pack. I opened my mouth, wanting to ask more about it when he shushed me with the idea of a back up beacon. I had not even thought of that. Instantly, I moved from the door frame and began searching for it, starting at the most likely of places and working down to the least likely. The fear rising in me at them tracking us this far was enough to make me search thoroughly.

 

[Enyhk]

Enyhk could do nothing to help her, any time spent among the systems of the ship could easily trigger the beacon. Instead he picked up his journal and began looking through it. Aside from his throughts he also wrote what he learned of the Hunters. The name Hadrien struck a cord in his mind.

Zarah searched.... and searched. When she was nearly certain there was no secondary beacon of any sort she found the hidden circuit. All but buried in the communication conduits she found a relay that should not have been there. Tracing it she found its control module which lead her a merry chase all the way back to the cockpit and there mingled in with the environmental controls was the beacon disguised as a tertiary temprature gauge she never ever would have guessed that it was infact a pop circuit, a circuit designed to pop just like a thermal coupler and activate once a certain level was reached, in this case it wasn't heat it measured but that damnable feedback loop his mark caused. Finding it took her an hour, disabling it without triggering it took another. An hour of laying on her back/side wedged up under the console dash with her head at an altogether wrong angle but she got it! When she snapped in the last piece of the reroute circuit she built from scratch it made her smile... success!

 

[Dragon Fae]

I braced myself on the edge of the console and slid out, rubbing my neck the whole time. Dusting my pants off, I got to my feet, letting out a groan as I did so. My heart was still pumping strongly, causing my head to pound as well. Still, I made my way back to Enyhk and slid down the wall across from his cell, laying my head against the cool metal.

I pulled the bottle of water from my oversized pocket and took a long swig, gasping after I swallowed and looking wearily into the darkened room. "You were right. Took some finding and a little improvised rigging, but I bypassed it." Picking up the bottle again, I downed more of it, realizing I had almost drunk the entire bottle in just two swigs. My heart was still pounding, but being at rest seemed to slow it a little. I had used too many stims in one day. Wiping the beads of perspiration from my brow, I set my head back against the wall again.

"These Oriods. It's not a family name, is it?" I asked him, bringing my gaze down and rubbing the back of my neck again, trying to ease the tension.

 

[Enyhk]

"No." He answered her. Up till then he'd been focused on his book, scanning pages swiftly. He looked at her "The Oriods are Hunters who have proven themselves, killing at least four multi-spiked Manticores, two of at least five spikes. Now beyond five-spike Manticores there are not many, I believe though I am not certain that I am the only seven spike Manticore in the Society's history. The Oriod that kills me will have his place as Nirion assured. Hadrien and I have crossed paths before. When he was apprenticed to Memnos Oriod. He was just a hound then. He has a scar crossing his right eye, I gave him that. Memnos earned me my sixth spike. He has waited far too long for this to be vengence... He must be from an old Society family. He will not be easy to evade or kill." He paused cocking his head to the side. "Turn around and move closer to me. I will massage your neck."

 

[Dragon Fae]

A sigh escaped my throat as I heard that which I had hoped not to hear. These hounds he spoke of so lightly, just like the man I killed, were men that grew up to be Hunters. From the way he spoke of the Oriods, there were several, which in turn meant there were several others out there like him. The thought sent a chill to my very bones. Shaking, I brought my gaze back up to him, pulling my hand from my neck.

"It's fine," I lied, not wanting to be too near to him. Even though he had done nothing to harm me personally, I did not wish to be close to him. What he was...what the people were that were after him were... The more I began to learn of these people, the more confusing the whole picture became. It only made my head ache even more.

 

[Enyhk]

"You lie poorly for a smuggler." He said... was that a joke? "If you do not let me help you with it now you will have cramped muscles for days. I may not be able to help you with the running of the ship but I do know how to attend to the body. I am... unused to being idle. Let me at least contribute something to the running of the vessel if only to keep it's pilot healthy."

 

[Dragon Fae]

I glared at him for a long while, not trusting him one iota. Still bristling from his insult, I slowly rose and walked into the cell. My eyes gauged him carefully as I stepped closer, trying to read his body language. If his muscles tensed, readying to try something, I would quickly...

My hand had unconsciously moved toward my holster, finding it empty. Looking down and then glaring back at him, I extended my hand. "Where's my gun?" I asked in a cold, low voice. Why hadn't I noticed it missing sooner?

 

[Enyhk]

He gestured over towards the pile of weapons on his neatly folded clothes. "There, I thought it wise to remove it from you incase you tried to shoot me. I did not want you to 'hole' this ship in the attempt. I cleaned and oiled it." He sighs "I would request you use a smaller weapon at least until I've trained you in how to properly fire a pistol that is. That crater gun is easily capable of puncturing bulkheads." He gestured to the floor "Sit, I will help your neck."

 

[Dragon Fae]

My eyes followed his hand, seeing his large array of weaponry lying on the floor neatly. For a man that lived on the run, he seemed to take care with what little he did own. "The thought crossed my mind on more than one occassion," I said in a low voice, glad to see the same number in the corner that I had hidden previously.

Moving closer to him, I begrudgingly sat on the floor as near as I dared. Back and muscles all tense, I cleared my throat, staring at the weapons. I listened carefully as I heard him move closer to me, my muscles clenching a little tighter as my heart began to nervously beat faster.

 

[Enyhk]

His hands were surprisingly gentle, and undeniably skilled as he started working on the tense muscles in her neck and worked down to her shoulders. He knew just how to work away the kinks and knots. "You must relax. I know you fear me and I have given you no reason not to. I do this now, I could not land this vessel or bring it out of hypespace. Even if I knew what to do I could not without shorting out the entire ship. In this moment I would do what I could to save you were your life in danger. I may be a Manticore but even a seven-spike cannot fly." He continued to work at those tight muscles.

 

[Dragon Fae]

As his hands kneaded my muscles, I found it hard to keep clenching up. He was applying the right amount of pressure. How he knew how hard to push instead of hurting me with his strong hands, I did not know.

"So you're saying that as long as I prove useful to you, you will do what you can to keep me alive?" I asked, eyes closed as I relaxed further into the massage. Even the pounding of my head seemed to lessen. My tongue, however, seemed to loosen. "That's refreshing for a change. Usually, I get people telling me how they'll kill me if I don't get my shipment in on time."

 

[Enyhk]

"The situation has grown to encompass you. Whether or not they know you killed a hound is moot, they will try to capture you at the very least to find out what I told you. If they do figure out what happened they will kill you to claim his death price." He continued to work on her knowing this would cause her to tense again. "Had there been another ship, another option I would have taken it." He said softly. "Act as my wings and I will protect you." He added firmly.

 

[Dragon Fae]

"Had you been on another world, there might have been another ship," I said as my body tensed slightly. What little ground he had gained, seemed to have been lost with his words.

I sat there in silence for a long time before speaking again. "Do you know how that thing on your back works? Beyond the feedback loop it creates?" I asked him, wondering how much he really knew about what they had surplanted in his skin (possibly even further into his body).

 

[Enyhk]

"I do not." He said simply enough as he continued to work, he was relentless in this. "I do know I have been shot and stabbed in the back and no wound or scar will break it. Other manticores have tried to have it removed and it always grows back. Somehow it is a part of us."

 

[Dragon Fae]

The way he spoke of it made it seem as if it were more and more like a living creature. I shivered beneath his touch as I pulled from him and scooted around to face him.

"I could be wrong, but from what information was in the ship's log, it seemed as if when you reach a port, your mark will trigger a pulse beacon if the feedback loop is strong enough. Your back was practically crying out our position as soon as we landed because of the strength of the feedback loop. You're constantly giving off a faint echo, still, even now. No matter where you go, they can track you..." my voice trailed off as I saw the look in his eyes.

 

[Enyhk]

He thought over her words for a moment before shrugging "I am the Manticore, tracking me is why the Society exists. It predates the Republic..." He paused thinking "It began in the earliest days of the Azure Imperium... a society to preserve the Hunter culture we came from..." He shrugged again leaning back against the wall. "I can only do so much to remain hidden and ahead of them."

 

[Dragon Fae]

"That you co-...listen to yourself!" I cried at him, getting to my feet. "They kidnapped you and your family and murdered them! You are not from their culture," I said vehemently, my anger rising. "They don't determine what you are. Only you can do that," I said at last, my tone more calm.

 

[Enyhk]

"The Choice to become was taken from me so long ago." He said calmly. "I have been taught to be what I am. If I choose not to fight, they will kill me, if I run... well as you just said they can track me anywhere. I cannot run far enough. No one will believe that the Society exists. There is no proof, they will just be one more stellar governmental agency tracking down an insane murderer who spouts conspiracies about millenae's old secret societies that have killed my parents and made me into a killer. In a galaxy where people can hurl lightning from their fingers and lift star ships with their mind where does my plight truly rate?"

 

[Dragon Fae]

"For those left behind, those being trained even now to take your place when you're dead and gone, your plight means much," I answered him coldly. "Think about them if you can think of no other. You said yourself that there were not many with seven spikes," I said with a raised eyebrow as I turned and made to leave.

 

[Enyhk]

"And what would you have me do?" He asked simply. "What task will set things aright for those that are yet to come? I cannot free them, I know not where they are trained. I do not even know where I was trained... This Society has done this for some time and are rather good at not getting caught or faltering."