02. Hide
Therius knew that Asthar had warned him, yes, to stay put.
But Therius also wanted to make sure Dagran and Dr. Arganan were safe, too.
So, going against Asthar's orders, he and Calista snuck out of the room, telling hte others to stay put, that they would be back soon. Therius made sure to keep one of those communication spheres with him just in case Zael or Asthar had to contact him again.
Calista let out a slow breath as she looked around, clutching the gun she had tightly, shakily. Therius frowned as he looked to her.
"Are you alright, Calista?"
Calista nodded quickly, too quickly. "I'm okay. It's just..." A breath escaped her. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Asthar and Mirania could be coming closer to the others right this minute. If they miss us, we'll just be further separated from them, especially if we run into the Gurak."
Therius sighed quietly. "Calista, I know what you mean by that, but we can't just leave Dagran and Dr. Arganan behind. The sooner we find them and recover them, the better. And we have time on our side at the moment. The Gurak cannot have searched through this entire laboratory, so therefore it'll be harder for them to find us."
Calista nodded, but there was still uncertainty in her eyes. "Okay..."
That was when the two heard voices.
"Brother? Any sign of the humans?"
The voice was raspy, quiet. Another voice answered, a bit louder.
"No, brother. I have not sensed them..."
Therius and Calista went quiet in an instant. Though neither could recognize the voices, they could guess that the two owners of the voices were most likely two of the Gurak specimens that woke up. Therius turned off the safety on his gun slowly, and Calista did the same.
They couldn't afford to get caught by the Gurak. Not now.
Therius bit his lower lip, waiting for a moment before turning to face the Gurak, firing at them. One of them, with a red aura about them, was hit in the shoulder, a shriek escaping him as the bullet pierced through his armor and into his flesh. He growled, sending a long arrow out of nowhere towards Therius, who rolled out of the way in time, before the Gurak fell.
"Damn..."
"Brother!" The other Gurak, one with a blue aura surrounding him, quickly caught the red-auraed one in his arms, clutching onto him tightly as he glared up at Therius and Calista.
"How dare you," He hissed. The blue aura about him flickered wildly, glowing and full of rage. "You will pay dearly for hurting my lover..."
"Your...lover?" Therius repeated. In that instant, the blue-auraed Gurak regretted his mistake, looking down for a moment as he helped his brother get up. "You're both brothers and lovers at the same time...?"
The red-auraed one glared at Therius and Calista. "It is none of your business, human." He snapped, before a gold, transparent arrow appeared, launching itself towards them. Calista tackled Therius out of the way as the arrow sailed above their heads. The two hit the floor hard, and Calista heard Therius mutter a pained grunt. She could feel his warm breath tickle her ear, and she rolled off him, sitting up and pointing a gun at...nothing but thin air.
The two Gurak, the brothers/lovers, were gone.
"Any sign?"
"No, Asthar. What about you?"
"No, Mirania. None. I think we've lost them completely for now."
Asthar and Mirania slowly walked down the hallway, still feeling wary of Gurak that could be possibly trailing them. Mirania wasn't quite sure as of what to do besides reconnect with Therius, Calista and the others. Well, don't die was deifnitely one thing, and don't get caught by Gurak was another, but what else?
Oh, right. They had to figure out how to overpower the Gurak, too. Or at least make amends with them.
As if it was going to be easy. Finding their friends was the main objective, but considering that there were Gurak running around, it wasn't going to be easy at all.
"Mirania?"
Mirania looked up to see Asthar, concern etched on his face. "are you alright? You seemed to be staring off into space..."
Mirania nodded. "I'm okay, Asthar. I was just thinking about the Gurak we encountered earlier. They were brothers, I'm sure of it. It makes me wonder what their family structures were like...I mean, I know I've researched them in textbooks and files and such, but still. To actually talk to them..."
Asthar frowned. "As much as it interests me also to look at them, I think we'll need to think of them as more than just mere specimens or enemies, since they're alive now. I mean...I'd like to avoid further conflict. Seeing them as enemies and specimens is probably best to be kept out of hte question, and it's best that we come to a non-violent resolution if we are to regain control of the whole laboratory."
Mirania nodded, smiling a little. "I'm...glad to hear that. And thank you. I should remember that, too."
Asthar smiled at that. "Thank you." The two were silent once again as they walked down the hallway, and they opened a door to realize two things.
First was that they had basically went into a full circle and ended up in the greenhouse sectrion of the lab again.
The other was that the two Gurak brothers they saw earlier were lying some distance away from them. Or, rather, one of them had lain the other in the grass, desperately trying to heal the other's wounds.
"Zepha..." The wounded one whispered.
The blue-aurared Gurak, Zepha, shook his head, kissing his forehead. "Don't speak, Zesha. It seems that though I've awakened, my healing magic hasn't quite activated yet despite waking up after all those years...I'm going to find something to heal you with, brother. In the meantime, just stay here. And keep out of sight of those humans."
He turned to go, but Zesha grabbed his hand gently. "C-come back soon," He croaked. Mirania noticed the blood trailing from his shoulder. It was a lot of blood, and she looked down to realize that Zepha must have dragged Zesha here. They must have only gotten here moments before Asthar and Mirania did, as the blood trail was still fresh.
Zepha looked to Zesha sadly, kissing him gently on the lips. "I will." He whispered. "I'll be back soon," He then disappeared in a heartbeat.
Mirania looked to Asthar. "Those two we encountered before..."
Asthar nodded solemnly. "I know. We can't just leave him like that. But if we were to move him to the infirmary Zepha won't know where is, and assume that we took him. But if we stay and he comes back before we finish treating Zesha, he's going to be hostile. Either way it's a risk."
Mirania nodded. "Yeah, I know..."
Either way there was a risk. The safest option would be to just leave.
But Mirania and Asthar knew that leaving someone to possibly die was not a nice option.
So they went to him.
Zesha looked at them, summoning a long arrow, but not shooting yet. "Don't come any closer." He snapped.
Mirania and Asthar stopped. "And you want to die of blood loss?" Asthar shot back in question. "You and your brother don't know the entire laboratory. It could be possibly hours before you get treatment."
Zesha glared back. "Better to die than to be in the grasp of you humans. Your kind killed both my parents and many of my people."
"But that was then," Mirania responded. "This is now. What about your brother? I don't think he'd want to come back and see you dead!"
The Gurak gazed at Mirania quietly, saying nothing for a moment, and then spoke, chuckling weakly. "You...know how to read me, human..." He nodded quietly, giving them permission to come closer as the arrow disappeared.
Asthar tore some cloth from his sleeve to act as a temporary bandage as Mirania rushed about the greenhouse, trying to collect any herbs that were there.
"There should be something here that can help speed up the healing of open wounds like this...Asthar, keep pressure on the wound."
Asthar did so, looking to Zesha. The Gurak looked weak, but...they had to help him, because they could. And who knows how long it would take for Zepha to come back.
"...more.."
Asthar looked to Zesha. "What?"
"There..." He took a deep breath. "There are more of us in the lab than three. More than three. Lord Zangurak went to where we slept for years...and awakened the others."
Asthar's eyes widened as he processed this information.
There were even more Gurak in this lab now? Three was trouble enough, but even more...
...This was not going to end well.
