Ask Drums In The Deep

[Skade Wulfsbane]

It was grim at the camp even though some families were reunited as the surviving men arrived. There were lots of injuries to heal and lots of frightened people to counsel. Everyone was on edge and the Jedi would be able to feel something unsettling from deeper within the mountain path. Hans had only arrived for a moment before the Jedi from earlier rushed up to him. It was the woman that stood in battle next to the Deucalian when he arrived. While she originally looked hopeful upon spotting him, her face fell slightly.

“Skade…” She said simply, “She is with the Force, then?” Tanna sighed, pausing for a moment before she spoke again, “She would have wanted to go fighting.”

Death was always on the table when they had signed up for this mission. This line of work was a very different than the other Jedi specialties that saw them far from harm. It was accepted quickly and people moved on. Tanna introduced Hans to the highest ranking surviving soldiers, and he would have the chance to take charge of the situation from there on.

Every now and then people approached him asking if he could bring their family members back from the dead. Some of the children asked him about his saber and a woman brought him a bowl of stew. People were getting comfortable as the hours passed. Still there was no sign of Skade.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal gave Tanna a pensive look paired with a small frown. Several moments passed in silence after the other Jedi's question, emerald eyes seeming to stare out at into the nothing of the forest down the mountain. Wind whispered through the trees and the ocassional sound of birds or other creatures joined those of the camp. The young Master was trying to find some evidence one way or another but frankly he'd never been all that good at finding things directly like that. No hint or sense of intuition came, and if it was there it was buried beneath everything else around him.

He sighed.

"I don't actually know, but fight she did," he responded with a somewhat strained serenity, accepting with his thanks the bowl of stew and sipping at the broth. With bits and pieces of information from different soldiers and a village chief he was able to start organizing things somewhat, setting up a less terrible patrol for starters. The camp needed lookouts to watch for Tof and more refugees while other things were worked on.

With mixed sorrow and honestly he told more than one person he had no power to bring back the dead, but instead asked them to tell stories of those who had passed. "It brings them back in a sense," he explained, "For a little while at least." Some told him of husbands or wives or children, or a brave old grandmother who killed a Tof to save her grandchildren from death. Hannibal offered comfort, or advice when it was asked for, help with one thing or another, but he would leave them to their mourning.

The dead deserved respect, and now they had found their peace.

Perhaps to the surprise of anyone who knew him- or perhaps not- Hannibal got on fairly well with most children. While he worked on the most badly injured to bring them at least to a stable condition he talked to some about his lightsaber, answering other questions about Jedi along the way in simple and practical terms.

Hours passed and still Skade did not arrive. Hannibal preferred not to assume a person was dead or alive, but he would have to accept that may have been the warrior woman's fate all the same. With a stiff stretch the young Master rose from his seat in the medical tent and limped to the camp clearing, looking out over the trees as the sun began its lazy descent toward the horizon, red and yellow splashed across the clouds.

Hannibal would turn away after a few minutes and speak to the other organizers to plan for them to head into the mountain. They couldn't wait too long, and so they'd begin pre-packing now and likely leave when it was done, under cover of night. They didn't want the Tof to see the lines of people with their scouts, after all.

@Sreeya

 

[Skade Wulfsbane]

Time ticked by and the able bodied soldiers and Tanna grew restless. Several of the men were standing guard outside, watching for any suspicious movement. The camp began to pack up, the plan to have a group of soldiers venture ahead to clear the path. The sun had already disappeared by the time Tanna approached Hans again.

“It’s time,” She said quietly, “We have to keep moving. You can put weight on the leg?” Tanna was a practical Jedi by nature. She understood that his ability to heal the people or ensure their safety mattered above his own discomforts. It was the Jedi way. She understood it. Skade had understood it.

Most of the camp was wrapped up and they had begun to organize themselves to walk deeper into the mountains. It was then that the call of a fathier echoed in the distance. One of the men that was doing a last minute scan of the area, and Hans if he remained, would see it right away. The man began to shout to the others about the approach.

At some point the fathier that had brought Hans over managed to escape and seek out its master. There was a figure on his back draped over as the fathier called out again, trotting slowly towards the mountain cave. It almost made it over before the figure fell off its back and landed with a thud on the grass face down. Several arrows were protruding from their back and shoulder.


@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

He nodded to Tanna and without a word Hannibal made to stand from the clearing stump, using a new stick he'd found somewhere. His healing skills had been used a little on his leg, though only in the form of a basic trance, in the hopes of discouraging it from being completely useless if the situation warranted. "It'll do," he said, leaning a little on the leg in question. Of course it still hurt and he probably shouldn't push it, the muscle partly damaged, but he didn't need to be carried at least.

The young Master fielded a few questions as the camp backed itself up to go but generally just kept an eye on the horizon, relying on his intuition more than his eyes to warn of danger. Hannibal may not be good at predicting the future but his instincts were sharp and generally accurate.

A call sounded and Hannibal's head turned toward it almost before it'd begun, eyes narrowing in its general direction. The Jedi moved toward it at his slowed pace, which was turned up to haste when he saw the state of the person atop it. It and the falthier that carried it had made it pretty close so at least it wasn't much of a walk. With an effort he leaned down to look over the scattering of arrow wounds with a sharp and trained eye. He looked up after a moment.

"Two to carry, quickly. Keep her steady," he barked at a pair of guards who jumped a little, not having got used to the snappish tone he took when working with the wounded like the people in the medical tent had. Both hopped to it and handed off their spears to someone nearby, lifting up the wounded Skade. Hannibal patted the falthier's side appreciately and followed, limping after them. She was placed on a collapsible stretcher obtained originally from the Spirit and moved to the other injured.

Hannibal leaned down, gingerly moving around his injured leg, lay gentle hands over her back and shoulders, and listened. She was breathing, but shallow.

He clicked his tongue and leaned closer to examine the arrows themselves and where they'd hit, pulling over his bag of stuff. None had gone all the way through and several were in a bad spot to push them, so...

Hannibal pulled out a very sharp vibroknife, the buzzing filling the tent. He'd done this earlier to one or two others but it wasn't going to suck any less and the camp would be moving on within the hour. No time to be nice about it, especially with one of them in a potentially very bad spot.

The healer got to work removing the arrows, saving the worst spots for last and treating the resulting wounds with adhesive bacta patches, of which he had many but was now at least half out. Without proper scanning equipment he had to be extra careful and rely on those instincts of his not to pull something out that was up against a blood vessel or the heart, which he suspected that one arrow might be. It's a good thing she wore armour to slow things down.

@Sreeya

 

[Skade Wulfsbane]

Skade was knocked out by the time Hans came over to address her injuries. As a result, she was oblivious to just how bad the process was. She woke up a while later, her upper body covered in bandages. She winced as she rose to sit, shooting pain coursing through her back. Skade looked to spot Tanna nearby and scowled.

“Why are you all still here?”

“The villagers refused to leave you behind.”

Skade growled in frustration, “Where are my axes? We have to push through,” She winced as she attempted to get up. Deucalians never knew when to quit and the same applied for her. Her ribs were sore, she had several newly stitched up wounds and an assortment of scratches and scrapes on her from all the fighting.

“You don’t know what’s in there! Everyone’s still reeling from the battle-”

“The Tof have been recruiting the other villages,” Skade said bluntly, “Humans attacked Hans and I on the way, not the Tof. They were from the village down by the river.”

Tanna was silent, her face alarmed. This had been the first instances of humans actively siding with the Tof. Thus far they had been conquered and enslaved. If they began to lose their allies now, this would all be a hopeless cause.

“Is there any whiskey?” Skade asked abruptly, “I need something for the nerves and then I can keep going.”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal was still around when Skade woke up, in the middle of sterilizing the vibroknife he'd use for arrow extraction. Emerald eyes snapped to the Deucalian woman and watched how she moved, paying special attention to the remaining bruises across her ribs. They narrowed when she moved to stand.

"Sit," he said sharply, a full 180 from the prior irreverence with which he'd dealt with injuries, and in fact he even sounded vaguely military. Some of his family and culture did come out sometimes. Adrastia Grayza was an old and hardened mercenary. She'd probably like Skade.

The young Master moved a little closer, specifically checking on the arrow wounds to see how blood-soaked they were. After a moment he reached into his bag and pulled out a glass bottle of whiskey and poured some into a tin camping mug which was then offered to the muscular but very injured woman.

"Don't push the drink or you could start bleeding again," he informed matter-of-factly, although his expression had softened a little. A hand reached over to the side and picked up a familiar looking axe which was presented to Skade. "You were holdin' this one, dunno where the other is. Sorry." He turned to look at Tanna next.

"Camp's ready, yeah? Let's- okay, what the kriff is that?"

A clap that thunder resounded in the distance, followed by another, and another in rhythm. A sentry screamed wordlessly somewhere at the edge of the camp and Hannibal shot up in defiance of his leg, leaning on the stick to get moving. He put on his helmet and looked toward the sound.

His expression was a very clear mix of surprise, bewilderment, and considering the situation, mild horror.

"Why do they have a dragon!?"

Approaching over the trees was a massive six-legged reptile with a tiny armoured figure on its back, each beat of its wings snapping through the air and causing the thundering sound. Understandably the camp was freaking out.

Hannibal turned back toward Tanna, the very presence around him in the Force shifting into a calm chill.

"To the cave. Now."

@Sreeya

 

[Skade Wulfsbane]

Skade’s eyebrows rose as the Jedi Master all but scolded her. The tone was entirely surprising, and she eased back down almost involuntarily. The wide eyed look remained as he moved closer to patch her up. Her expression lit up when he offered the mug, and she happily drank from it. Skade glanced down when he held up her axe right after that.

“Ay! I’m likin’ you more and more, pretty man,” She gleefully took the axe, whirling it around in her hand until pain shot through it. She winced a little before gently setting the axe down.

The very ground beneath her began to tremble as a thunderous noise echoed all around them. Skade cursed loudly in Deucalian, wincing as she jumped to her feet. She grabbed her axe and made her way out of the tent with the others, eyes widening in horror as they took in sight of the massive beast that approached.

Within moments, the dragon opened its maw and unleashed a stream of putrid acid. It splashed forth like a jet, washing through an entire swath of the camp. At once, screams of agony erupted as the very flesh seared and melted off the bones of those hit. Skade could only cry out in despair as women, men and children were instantly killed.

The dragon stomped towards the cave, crushing anyone and anything in its path. Within moments it reared its head back and unleashed another spray of acid, wiping out another large swath of the camp and people. At this point, about half of the surviving group was dead in one fell swoop.

Getting everyone to rally and coordinate in an organized fashion was proving impossible.

“EVERYONE TO THE CAVES!” Her voice bellowed loudly through the Force, but everyone was too scared to be coordinated. They ran in different directions, some tripped over one another and it was complete chaos. Skade turned her attention back to the dragon itself, ready as always to face death. Anyone watching would consider her a fool as she stood by herself with the giant beast approaching directly at her.

The massive dragon reared its head to once again spit that deadly acid and Skade was ready. She cried out the names of her gods and hurled her axe with all her might into the open maw. She watched her weapon disappear and she waited for the end to come.

However, the axe found purchase in a place she couldn’t see. The dragon gave a choked, strained gasp as acid failed to spill out. The beast angrily stomped back and around, agitated and in pain. The process threw the rider off its back, the great fall killing him upon impact. Acid never came as the dragon continued to trample the ground.

Not pausing to marvel at her astonishing luck, Skade turned and bolted towards the cave. The dragon would follow shortly after, but at least the villagers would have a slight head start.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Well. At least it wasn't some kind of ghost this time.

Over a part of the camp away from Hannibal it spewed a breath of burning acid. He felt lives snuff out through the Force and it was probably for the best his helmet hid his face after he'd donned it. Hannibal pushed people to flee in a more useful direction toward the cave, a sweep of his arms redirecting part of the second wave of acid. Even so, quite a few more people died. It was unacceptable.

Some- most, actually, if not just about everyone who exists- would consider Skade a fool before standing before the dragon. It was massive, apparently breathed acid, could fly, and likely had enough strength in its clawed limbs to kill most other things on this planet. The smartest thing to do would be to run directly toward the gave and try to get the panicked civilians to do the same.

So naturally, Hannibal moved directly toward it. Winter blew through him and chilled the air, an indifferent and all consuming cold, and he could no longer feel the pain of injuries. He ran almost as if his leg was no longer injured, the death all around forgotten for the moment in lieu of a specific goal. The calm that followed in his wake was infectious as he barked commands to head to the cave, turning to look back at Skade as she threw her axe.

He'd expected that to turn out poorly but in fact the Deucalian woman was incredibly lucky. Hannibal would've attributed that to being a Jedi but there also wasn't any lava around to prove him wrong. But more importantly it gave him an idea.

Hannibal picked up a metal tent pole that had been placed down to be loaded up and carried off, the bottom sharpened into a spike for security. "Fear is the mind killer," he intoned quietly to himself as Skade ran past him, right foot forward and left arm drawing back. His right hand came up to assist his aim.

The Force coiled around the long metal spike just before every muscle in the young Jedi's body tensed and moved forward. Hannibal threw the makeshift javelin with unnatural speed and Force, a concentrated use of ballistakinesis that sent the pole whistling through the air toward the dragon. It struck with a wet thunk against a shoulder and stopped on bone, the beast roaring in pain and anger. He launched a second and third from the ground as he retreated back to discourage pursuit, less powerful but giving the beast pause.

Even though it was angry it was still a predatory animal of sorts, and without its handler to spur it forward it wasn't happy about having things thrown at it which seemed to slow it down. Although he couldn't really feel it blood dripped down Hannibal's leg as he turned to follow the rest toward the cave, clearly limping as he ran but less than he probably should be for his own health if nothing else. He physically hefted a child from the medical tent along with his bag as he passed, relying on the Force to keep his stupid leg working close to normal long enough to get these people out.

"To the cave!" he insisted as he approached people, the calm that followed in his wake seeming to be infectious.

@Sreeya

 

[Skade Wulfsbane]

Skade was hightailing it back towards the cave, still thinking about her insane luck at landing the axe. She still had to run into Tanna to find her other axe as she was effectively weaponless now. The Deucalian jumped over obstacles in her way, the entire ground shaking and rumbling under the dragon’s pursuit.

On her way, she spotted that Jedi Master from before as he hurled his weapons. Skade cursed in Decualian as she grabbed him by the wrist that was still extended from the throw, “Come on, you idiot!” She screamed as she half dragged him towards the cave. They barely missed being stomped as the dragon slammed down its forearm and claws, raking back the earth to cause deep divots in the ground. The dragon wasn’t going to be paused that easily.

Skade released Hans when she was sure he was actually coming along and not being a moron. She found a cowering woman screaming in the corner and she grabbed her and tossed her over her shoulder with ease. Skade made it into the mouth of the cave with the others and they kept pushing in.

The dragon kept up its pursuit, plowing directly into the cave entrance and collapsing everything behind it. It managed to barge in and seal the path in shut, effectively ensuring that the group had no choice but to go through the mountain.

Skade set the woman she carried down, running over to find Tanna. The other Jedi had her axe and she hurled it through the air for the Deucalian to snatch up. As the dragon shoved its head in to eat some villagers, Skade focused the Force on a large stalactite. It broke off and slammed directly atop the dragon’s head, resulting in an earsplitting cry of pain. This paused it again, allowing the villagers to quickly rush in deeper.

The Deucalian followed suit, adrenaline pumping as she ignored all her injuries. Her heart pounded against her chest as she pushed past her fears and focused on getting the others to safety.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

At some point during the running Hannibal's mind traveled to some odd places. Like, for instance, why was it never the Jedi that got to ride around a dragon? Why did no one ever listen to him about investing in anti-air weaponry? Why did his left leg feel vaguely numb?

Oh, right. The injury. That was probably not good.

But run on he did regardless, well practiced in doing things he shouldn't be by this point. His will carried him into the cave ahead of the dragon and outran the falling stones for the most part. Quickly he handed off the child he'd been carrying to someone else to free up his hands and turned around to look at the dragon making its way inside. Skade's stalactite dropping maneuver delayed the beast but also appeared to piss it right the hell off. Hannibal followed right on behind the others running away in the meantime and felt absolutely no desire to actually try fighting a dragon, especially with his leg the way it was. He wasn't sure how long he could keep it working.

In the middle of their running Hannibal felt the urge to turn around and followed it as he generally did. While the cave did eventually turn into a more narrow network the dragon was still following for now, wings folded close by its body. It was also currently crouching and its wings flared a little in the tight space. The young Jedi's eyes followed where it was looking to some stragglers in the back who had yet to get to the more narrow part of the cavern.

"Skade, catch!"

Both hands flung out and pulled mightily toward himself and the others, a rush of the Force yanking the stragglers to fly over his head toward Skade and Tanna and the others of the group. This did, unfortunately, leave him as the only one still behind. The dragon leapt and Hannibal turned to leap away.

Which was when his leg finally gave out, the muscle seizing beneath him. He fell to a knee instead of flying through the air and he whipped to the size, both hands coming up behind himself and the dragon. The Force rushed to his aid as much as it could in that smile time to pool between Hannibal and the dragon.

There was a resounding crack, a flash of light, and a spray of blood. Hannibal flew through the air and landed heavily, rolling into the narrow cavern and leaving a trail of crimson behind him. He didn't seem to be dead, judging by the wheezed swearing in an alien language, but he was certainly not unscathed.

The Jedi Master had attenuated the damage from the blow but not enough. His left arm was half gone, lost to dragon claws, and his left leg was clearly bleeding as well from his efforts on the wounded leg. The dragon struck the side of the cave, charging forward blindly from the sudden flash, and the stones from the damaged roof fell between it and its prey with a thunderous sound.

The way was shut. Well, more than it already was. The beast roared with frustration behind the wall of fallen rock.

"The arm, Skade," Hannibal forced out through gritted teeth, referring to the one he was half missing. "Lightsaber." He seemed to be determined to do it himself if necessary, although his right hand didn't seem to be doing what he wanted either and, frankly speaking, he was more dizzy than seemed safe or healthy.

Meanwhile, a new sound resounded toward the group who had entered the cave network proper. A thumping sound, distant and rhythmic. The beat of wood on stretched leather and the sound of an enemy marching to war.

There were drums in the deep. Someone or something was already dwelling in the mountain, and they probably knew they had guests from all the noise.

@Sreeya