Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"To the tundra!"
Crystal shouts, turning into a dog.
"Not quite."
"Wait, why?"
"If we go to the tundra straight from here, we might be off track. If we go back to the ship, then to the tundra, it'd be like following their footsteps."
"But that'll take longer."
"And it'll be more accurate. We're looking for the survivors, not just the tundra."
"Mmmm... Fine. Let's just get going."
I rocket off in the direction towards the ship, and Crystal follows.

 

Upon reaching the wreck, it's the middle of the night, and the shifting sands make it hard for Crystal to run.

 

I quickly notice, mid-turning towards the tundra.
"I should carry you."
"No, I'm fine, I can do it."
"Of course you can, but it'll take longer."
"I can do it."
"Don't you want to get there as soon as you can?"
"Fine!"
Crystal, frustrated, walks up to me as I land.
"If it makes you feel better, you can try out a few different forms as we fly. I think we work well as a team."
Crystal doesn't say anything, just shifts around me as I fly upwards and towards the tundra.

 

It's a comparatively brief flight, though from up here you can see a camp of sorts visible even from the night sky.

 

"There."
I point out, Crystal noticing as well, and I land near enough to walk, Crystal detaching into a human form.

 

You feel eyes gaze upon you, but the night remains as silent as ever.

 

"Keep watch, keep looking non-hostile."
"Do you think something's watching us?"
"Maybe, maybe not, but better safe than sorry."
I walk towards the camp, and Crystal follow looking around.

 

Gaia wanders the desert, looking for landmarks or anything at all of interest. The hostile enviroment of a desert has ansolutely no effect on Gaia, it seems.

 

Those watching are definitely from the camp.
"Take another step and you'll be dust." A guard growls.

The only thing there is bothering Gaia is a hellhound playfully nipping at her feet, tail wagging like a puppy.

There seems to be a spaceship wreck that reeks of death from here, and looking up, there's an odd distortion in the sky that seems to be a darker night than the rest of its surroundings.

 

"Quite an odd protection."

"Ah, greetings." I reply, not looking up from the flower.

 

We both stop.
"Okay, note taken."
"Hi."
Crystal tries to lighten the mood with a friendly greeting, but it comes out awkward.

 

Gaia lowers, then raises her hand, a sand-person raising out of the ground that plays with the hellhound, attempting to distract it.

A massive pair of wings sprout from Gaia's back as her hair and eyes turn silver, and she flies upward toward the distortion, the sand below her being blown out if the way in a crater-like pattern.

"I sense we share an element. Are you an equivilent of this universe's death guardian?" Mortius asks chillingly.

 

The sand construct and hellhound are blown away as Gaia takes off.

The distortion seems to be rather large; the size of a room from the wreckage below.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" They ask, hostility unwaivering.

 

Gaia plucks one of the many flowers growing on her leafy shirt, throwing it up into the distortion to see what happens to it.

 

It disinterates.

 

Gaia swiftly descends back down to the ground, not wanting to mess with the distortion, before venturing onward; her hair and eyes turning back to a sandy yellow.

 

She ends up accidentally jabbing her foot on a piece of wreckage sticking out of the sand.

 

"Thirteen, Crystal."
I say, pointing respectively.
"We heard there was a camp here and that they knew a story."
"About a wandering swordsman."
Crystal inputs.

 

Gaia flinches slightly, raising her foot from the wreckage, any damage done quickly healing. Gaia reaches down and picks up the wreckage piece, pulling it from the sand as it shifts around it, out of the way.

 

"Correct on both counts. Why do you seek our knowledge about it?"

________________________________

The hellhound seems to think it's a toy now, having returned from being flung as it gnaws on the metal.

 

"We've never heard it before, and we're interested."