Author's Note.
Here it is, friends; the next part of my story. I have been thinking about how to get this chapter off without having it run by too quickly or amount to very little and just turn into filler, so without any more delay, here it is.
Chapter 8: Blood Trail. Begin.
Silence. A cold, chilling burn circulated through the air so quickly that it was inescapable but so slowly that it lingered on the skin and in the hearts and souls of all those that were trapped in its crippling embrace. Nothing felt real at that moment. Like the entire last 24 hours didn't happen. Like it was all a dream that, like all dreams, you were powerless to stop without tearing it apart or waking up; it felt like one wrong move and it would fracture into so many pieces that even the miraculous amounts of weapons readily available on this dreadful planet that the Vault Hunters called home couldn't shine a candle to its true quantity. A confused shiver wracked Maya's spine and pulled her very gently from her stunned and motionless state of shock. What just happened? Maya thought, her mind as blank as the ten feet that stood between her and the fast travel station in Hayter's Folly.
Flashback: Two minutes ago.
Krieg's eyes widened and he immediately ripped his next lunge away from her as it left a very slight score on her skin, just on her cheek, leaving no wound whatsoever. Maya stood in place, her feet touching the stone ground and her eyes wide in shock for many reasons. First; Krieg was either lucky or very good at judging his weapons, despite his insanity. Second; she could have just been killed, or worse, exposed to her psycho crush. And third; Krieg isn't very good at playing teasing games like these.
Maya stood for several moments with her mouth agape before she tried to psychically speak, 'Holy. Fuck.' She said, touching the slightly itching mark on her left cheek. Seeing what he'd almost done, Krieg looked down to his hands in silence, his hands beginning to shake. He then clenched his hands into fists around the chains before slowly looking up to stare at Maya with an immensely pained aura oozing from his eye while his shoulders were slumped. He then looked up instantly and hurled his axes towards the hole, catching it and hoisting himself out of the spring, disappearing into the light above the hole. Maya looked at the hole for several seconds, her shock still gripping her muscles. She then blinked several times before bolting straight towards the hole and following him out. When she got up, she grabbed her digistruct, not caring about her clothing at that moment completely, and using it to change her bikini into her suit automatically while she continued to sprint after him. She passed the bloodied, lacerated corpses of the pirates that respawned while Krieg was running. "Wait!" she shouted desperately, holding her hand towards him as he dematerialized into digistruct particles. She caught up to him only one second too late, catching a glimpse of his eye as he turned towards her right before teleporting to nobody knows where. His eye was filled with indescribable sorrow and remorse that made Maya's heart stop and ache with a pain that she'd never felt in her entire life.
Flashback: End. Present time.
Maya's muscles ached and her thoughts seemed to roil up in her head in a sickening cacophony of pain and emotions. She couldn't differentiate the emotions as they swirled and swashed through her mind except for one. The single strongest emotion in the maelstrom was a mind numbing level of regret. Regret that she didn't realize that he wasn't like most men until it was too late. What started as playful quickly became something much more dangerous. And he didn't realize it either until he was almost losing himself in blind psychopathic fury.
That second thought caused Maya's heart to sink painfully. I was supposed to be the voice of logic in this team… The one who would tell him when he was doing wrong, especially when his inner voice didn't understand something either... Damn it! She thought, closing her eyes tightly. But I couldn't get it together before it was too late. This was my fault. Maya's mind then settled into an agonizing self-loathing that wracked every part of her heart. Trying desperately to hold back her pain, she clasped her hands together and brought them up to her chest, over her heart. Even as a psycho, he was sweet. And I fucked EVERYTHING UP! Maya shouted internally, tears seeping into her clenched eyes, threatening to overflow. But I can also make it right… Maya thought, her hands tightening and her eyes opening, revealing a determination that would frighten away most bandits in her path, should any decide it was wise. She then pulled out her Volcano Maliwan Rifle and sprinted straight towards the Fast Travel, punching in the code for The Badass Creator Of Badassitude.
Within moments, Maya stood at the station where all the Vault Hunters first met the comical antics of Mr. Torgue first-hand. She then lifted up her Echo Communicator and dialed in all the other Vault Hunters. "This is Maya. Krieg is missing. You all know how bad that could get for our effort to unify Pandora. Find him. Quickly." She spoke with a practiced coldness that sent shivers down the spines of Salvador before a protest could be uttered from his drunken maw and Angel simply out of fear. She then hung up the call before even saying another word. She then began to sprint toward the opening of the area, before stopping in her tracks at the clearing after the signature board she then activated her echo again, dialing up Mr. Torgue himself.
"THIS IS MISTER TORGUE, MOTHER F%CKER! HOW MAY I BE OF ASSISTANCE!?" he shouted in his overly aggressive manner.
"Torgue. Krieg's missing. Is he anywhere around here, wreaking havoc?" Maya asked in the same spine chilling crispness that actually caused Torgue to speak quietly out of fear.
"Uh… Sorry, Ms. Siren… Haven't seen him. I'll keep an eye out though." He then hung up the call with shaky hands. His nervousness apparent in the multiple clicking and thumping sounds that the other end of the line made as he fumbled shakily with the handset to end the call.
Moments passed as Maya simply stood, her hands slowly clenching into fists and her eyes closing and slowly tightening as her hands began to shake with anger. She then unleashed a bone chilling scream, brimming with hatred and underlying sorrow that echoed through the creator. To her right, she then heard the sounds of several Skags growling and one producing its angered bark as it charged. Without even looking, Maya lifted her sniper rifle with one arm and blindly pulled the trigger, her anger guiding her bullet true. It split the head of the beast, combusting it instantly as it fell in a heap. Sensing the malicious intent and the willingness to unleash it upon them, the other Skags retreated into their lairs with several whimpers and left the fuming siren alone. She turned on her heal, glaring at the shivering beasts before trudging back from whence she came, resuming her search with a huff.
"He's not at Lynchwood." Axton reported in.
"Jakob's Cove neither." Zed stated.
"Same at Candlerackk's Krag." Gaige said blandly.
"He's not in Thousand Cuts, Slabs." Brick said with a grunt.
"Not in Tundra Express…" Mordecai groaned before swigging from his ale.
"Keep searching. He's not in The Badass Creator either. I'm going to get a runner and check The Dust next." Maya said, her voice seething once again.
"Don't bother, Sugar. Ellie told me that he hasn't been around." Moxxi said in a sultry voice.
"No esta en la cantina de los Zaffords." Salvador hollered.
"Wildlife Exploitation Preserve came up empty. He is not here." Zero stated in a smooth tone.
"He's not in the Highlands either, Soldier." Roland added.
"Oi! He's not 'round here, Vault Hunters!" Scarlett spoke up, her cheery yet doubled edged voice cutting at their ears.
"He has to be around here somewhere." Mays said, closing her communicator before turning on the fast travel again and heading to The Caustic Caverns, being destructed moments later.
She arrived at the underground acidic environment several seconds later and took off towards the massive steel doors, punching the release switch. By now, she was so worried and enraged, that her tattoos were alight and she was surrounded on all sides by flames and acid. She simply stormed through the caverns, ignoring everything as it burned and corroded around her or left her alone to her search. In several minutes, she returned to the massive doors with a terrifying scream of anger so startling that one of the flying Varkids above dropped about 200 feet to the ground with a hard spatter, dying instantly. She turned hesitantly towards the sound before huffing and calming herself enough to check in.
"Report." She demanded.
"He's not in The Fridge." Angel mumbled nervously.
"Bloodshot Stronghold and Ramparts clear." Axton stated.
"Frostburn Cavern is empty." Lilith said.
"My Slabs reported that be ain't killin' Sawteeth either." Brick boomed.
"He's got to be somewhere. Check everywhere." Maya commanded.
"Haven't tried ENGORGE! Yet? Then wh-… ot… Th- s… This is Athena. I heard your chatter and I thought I'd update you as well. He hasn't been to T-Bone Junction or any of the old Lance Strongholds either. Athena- out." She said, then her echo cast going silent.
"Huh. Haven't heard from her in a while. Well. He's not there then." Roland said in a surprised voice.
"The Dahl Headland is clear." Mordecai said, his new young dragon-like bird screeching in the background in agreement.
Then, revelation struck the fuming siren. "Claptrap!" she shouted.
"AHHHH!" the screechy bot shouted over the Echo, a metallic thump immediately following. "Wha-What?" he stuttered in terror.
"Have you and the other Claptraps gotten the train system running yet?" Maya asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say it's finished, I mean, we only have like, twenty of us down here working on the damn thing! Well, there's that and our resolve is wearing a bit thin. You can only sing "I've been working on the Space Tram" so many times before it gets boring and you want to stop but don't know anything else to sing so you keep singing anyway. Why do you ask?" the little, annoying robot replied nervously.
"Claptrap! This is not the time for your idiotic B.S.! Is it operational or not!?" Maya shouted, her patience wearing thin, a vain popping out on the side of her head and her eye twitching slightly.
"OH! Well, if you use the train cars, yeah. Just don't set a foot on the tracks, otherwise; Crappochino." he replied, his voice giddy, seemingly unfazed by the demanding Siren.
"Great…" Maya began, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose before continuing, her eyes shut out of anger. "Just have your friends off the tracks in two minutes or they'll be reduced to the scrap they were before Gaige fixed them up in her free time." Maya said slowly, removing her hand from her nose and pulling out her favorite revolver.
"Great! Will you bring milk and cookies? We have been waiting for the Christmas Dwarf to- he was then cut off by Maya ending the call and trudging back to the Fast Travel and punching in the coordinates of Claptrap's House and traveling there seconds later.
Several moments passed and Maya rematerialized in the center of Claptrap's Place.
"AHHHH!" one screamed, holding a magazine over his lower half as he sat on the toilet in the far side of the room with the door open. He then slammed it shut and the sounds of fearful shuttering could be heard as the Claptrap everyone knew best rolled up to her with his hands drawn out to either side enthusiastically. "Welcome to my humble abode! Right this way, Minion. I will show you to the tracks!" he said in his stereotypically high and happy voice. Maya kicked him out of the way, sending him into the wall beside the door frame and stomped out of the underground house and took off into a sprint towards the prepped train car and hit the switch before hopping into it and allowing it to carry her off.
With a sigh, Maya sat down onto the seat in the middle right side of the car and allowed herself to relax for several moments. She then lazily picked up her Communicator and opened the channel. "I'm heading up on a lead. Keep looking, everyone."
"Of course. The Eridium Blight and Hero's Pass are also clear." Angel said in a soft, less startled voice.
With that, Maya closed down the call and leaned her head back onto the seat, her mind finally catching up to her emotions. Krieg, you sick son of a bitch, I'm gonna kick your ass so hard that not even someone who enjoys pain like you do will be able to sit down for a week! Maya then released another sigh. I just hope he's alright when we find him. She thought, her emotions changing direction and intensity like a spreading fire. If he's not, I'll bring him back to life like we did with Angel and kill him all over again… If he's not too hurt. She then cuddled up to her knees in the seat, resting her head forward on them and tightening her arms around them while she closed her eyes. Please be alright, you big Lummox… she thought as tears began to burn at the inside of her eyelids. She then sniffled softly and inhaled, trying to get a grip on her emotions, but only releasing a shaky breath after, her tears overflowing the instant her lungs emptied. She sobbed in anguish as the train continued to trudge on along the track towards the station where she and Krieg first met.
Meanwhile, With Krieg.
He sat motionless against the steel side of the Hyperion station, his mind deep in thought and a single salty trail from a tear marking his face and the edge of his mask as he stared off into the twilight of the mid-afternoon.
(I tell you, Big Guy; we are probably better off away from everyone now that we've taken down Hyperion.) His inner voice spoke up, trying to comfort the large man as he sat. Krieg nodded, whimpering like a small child as his parents tried to sooth away his sadness. (That's the spirit! And don't worry; we'll come back to them someday. And we'll make everything right with them again!) It continued to say. (And we'll never have to worry about hurting any of them again.) It spoke up again. Krieg released another whimper and nodded again, his face rubbing against the cool steel. (And Maya will love us for the rest of our lives. You'll see. Just don't lose hope, Big Guy.) Krieg's mind them began to wander and he started to remember all the fun and strange moments that he had with Maya. All the new things she taught him; all the different emotions he felt around her that he'd never felt before. He then remembered her soft laugh as she teased him underwater, her kind voice as she spoke to him with a smile.
"Krieg. What am I ever going to do with you?" she spoke in a soft, almost distant voice, causing his eyes to water instinctually and his heart to warm in a way he'd only felt around her.
"The soft one is so nice I can swallow her noise box from the insides of my shattered grievances…" Krieg muttered, his eye finally releasing the new tear that was flooding it and blurring his vision.
(I hear her too, Big Guy. Don't worry; you're not the only one who's going to miss her.) His inner voice commented in a solemn voice.
"Hey. Turn around." Her voice said, louder now. Krieg's eye widened and he turned around to see her standing over him with a smile and tears streaming down her face, ruining her make-up. She then dropped to her knees and embraced him, her face buried in his neck and her sobs muffled by his skin as her tears rolled down his shoulder and back. Krieg momentarily hesitated, his eye wide and his insane mind reeling in surprise as he struggled to differentiate reality from delusion. He then slowly coiled his arms around her, resting them on her shoulders and holding her close, closing his eye and causing another tear to roll down his face as he shifted so his chin rested upon her shoulder softly.
(We'll never run away like that again! Won't we, Krieg?) His inner voice spoke shakily into her mind. "I…"he then sniffled through his mask. "I agree with… The Little Man…" he said, holding her tighter, more of his silent tears slipping from his eye.
End Chapter 8: Blood Trail.
Well, I was going to ask if I should end it here on such a happy note, but I was thinking that I still have a few curve balls left for this story. Review for me, guys! I want to know what you think as well as hear some of your suggestions for some future character interactions. I'm thinking of having this story at least reach chapter 12, but I think it might end there depending on what else interests me in this story. Thanks for the support so far, everyone, I'm looking forward to everything you all have to say!
