Exploring: Chapter 7
By Titanium Blossom
The town was in chaos. The distant explosions coming ever closer and closer had stirred up the residents into a fervor, so when Wheat arrived on the street, they failed to acknowledge her among the throngs of soldiers rushing to their defenses, the panicking citizens flooding towards the mountain-bound trains that headed towards the mining camp deep within the rocky slopes. A few just sat or stood in a stupor, memories of past experiences too much for their minds, and if they moved, they did so in a strangely slow way that seemed to hang back at random moments.
By the time she was in the center of the city, her ears were deafened and ringing, the ships having moved faster than she could into the city, nearly leveling the seaside district, and wreaking heavy damage on the heavily populated core of the city.
She was expecting the worse, when she saw Emilio digging at a pile of rubble, throwing rocks aside. She had been too late. The first wave of griefing had came and went. However, there was still time to warn them about the nature of the force itself. It must have worked itself into the very fabric of the Kingdom's defense system.
"Emilio, they..." Wheat trailed off when Emilio turned around, an broken-off arrow shaft in his shoulder, tears in his eyes.
"Why, Wheat? Why is this happening? I got them all together... Why did they die? Everyone... The rubble... And then the cloaks shot us. And now they're buried." Emilio sobbed and gasped at the same time, a disturbing sound like a dying man's last breaths. "Ha.", He weakly laughed, then again "Ha. Ha. Ha Ha Ha."
Emilio was soon laughing like a madman. Wheat hesitated, and then slapped him across the faee.
"Stop this.", she said. "We have to go. They're coming, And the only thing that can save us is ourselves. Do you want to die as well? I'm serious about this. The griefers are not who we thought they were. They're on both sides. And they go high up, too. We have to get to my parents and tell them of this. Otherwise, they'll be vulnerable for a close betrayal any time now. Let's go."
She set off, not looking back, but she could hear Emilio's steps behind her. After a few minutes, she heard his footsteps stop as he turned around. It was surprising she could still hear after all the TNT but she heard a distant echoing war call behind her, and the sudden speeding up of Emilio's steps, as if he was running. A second war cry was emitted from in front of them, and there was an audible thunder of rushing footsteps charging down the middle of the ruined town mall.
It was the remnants of their army against whatever force the griefers had managed to gather. Thankfully, Wheat and Emilio were stationed further to the outskirts of the battle, but she knew that as soon as she informed her parents about what was going on, she would return to the battle, bow in hand.
Emilio behind her managed to keep pace, and after eating a cookie he had with him, managed to get over the arrow wound that he had. It was at least a mile and a half to reach the entrance to the underground shelter.
It was a long run, but nothing they hadn't done before. If anything, the sounds of all out war behind them just drove their heels on as they sped through the city, becoming less damaged as they came out of range of the TNT cannons.
"We're pulling into range with the rear of their fleet, Agent Jilna. Their cannons are directed in the completely other direction. We're in the clear to fire now. They've stopped their bombardment after we sunk the rear guard."
Hacié nodded at the report.
"Good. That means its time for us to go, Cave. Come with me. You know how to swim, yes? Of course you do. Put this on.", Hacié said, throwing a black getup similar to hers at him.
"It's waterproof, and at the same time, lightweight. We use this for stealth underwater."
Cave nodded and put the garment on, noticing it was tight in some places, but entirely loose in others.
Hacié scowled. "Look long enough, did you? Anyway, we're going underwater to sink some of their ships using TNT. You'll both plant and set them off, and I'll provide as lookout. You'll have to do, as the rest of the personnel are either injured or manning some position aboard the ship. Take this sword just in case."
They dove into the water, Cave finding swimming easier with the suit than he thought it was. When they reached the ship, skirting past a few squid on their way there, Cave knocked some wood out of the hull to provide a nook for the TNT to be placed. Thankfully, the hull was thicker than expected, so he didn't break a hole in the ship itself prematurely.
After the mechanism was done being built, he turned to see Hacié being strangled by what appeared to be a squid. Knowing that couldn't be true, he looked closer, and saw that it was actually a man disguised as a squid, and he was surrounded by three of them, advancing menacingly at him.
He drew his sword and gutted the one closest to him, driving the sword deep into the leathery hide that hid the person within. Blood clouded the water around him, and immediately. The remaining squidmen dropped what they were doing, such as strangling Cave's associates, and swam for him at full speed.
As he observed them coming at him, he noticed that in reality, the disguises weren't that good. Dangling squid arms, loose at the joints, looked plain silly, and their faces were clearly visible under the unevenly cut hides they attempted to disguise themselves in.
The next man had a curved knife, but the sword once again beat him at range, becoming lodged between his ribs at one point at an angle. Momentum kept him drifting at Cave, so Cave quickly took his knife and kicked the carcass at the assailants approaching comrades.
The two merely clambered around him, and Cave, devoid of momentum, found himself running out of oxygen with the two coming at him. His knife suddenly appeared silly compared to their large harpoon-like spears.
Hacié appeared behind them, breaking one's neck, and kicking the body at the second, this time, successfully interrupting the harpoon's incoming motion. The TNT made a sudden muffled detonation, and the water around him started feeling as if it were sucking him in towards the breach. Due to the squidmen, he wasn't able to get out of the way, and judging by the panicked look on Hacié's face, she couldn't move out of the way. He managed to stab the remaining squidman as he squared up on him during their induction into the ship's center.
When they reached the source of the leak, he saw multiple crewmen attempting to seal the leak from the inside. As soon as they saw him, they dropped their materials and drew their swords.
Hacié gave him a nod and they went to work.
(A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Part forgetting, part procrastination, part life. Let's just call it an underserved hiatus. Apologies for the wait, and for the brevity of this chapter.)
