H is for Hallucination
"…an so he climbed the mountain, this time being very careful to avoid the potholes…"
Windlifter spoke in his long-winded storytelling voice. Which wouldn't have been too out of the ordinary if he hadn't been telling this tale to a wall for five hours straight. Honestly, Blade was pretty convinced that his lieutenant's droning was going to drive him completely mad by the end of the evening, but it was also clear that the Skycrane wasn't in a condition where he could safely be left alone.
"…as soon as he made it to the top he discovered that while he had successfully climbed the mountain, it was the wrong mountain…"
The day's events had started innocently enough. A small fire had begun in the National Forest adjoining the park. The air attack team had been called in in the hopes that they would be able to contain and put out the fire before it had a chance to spread into a nearby ski resort. Blade's initial assessment of the fire had been promising and he identified a clearing on the leading edge of the fire that could easily be connect to a nearby timber road to provide a fire break. He ordered Cabbie to place the smokejumpers in the clearing…and that is when things hit the fan.
"…he moved down the mountain at a very high rate of speed…"
On the edge of the clearing, camouflaged under the arch of trees the smokejumpers discovered that this particular area was being used for illegal activities…primarily the production of drugs. Dynamite rarely swore like a navel vessel over the radio, but the scope of the equipment that the smokejumpers had stumbled upon was enough to get the ATV to curse the sky blue. That said, she also got her people to bend their blades into stopping the fire in its tracks because if this site burned it would not only burn the evidence of a crime of federal lands, but it would also release a whole lot of dangerous chemicals into the air.
"…once at the bottom of the mountain, he started to seek for the correct mountain to climb…"
The smokejumpers had fought valiantly and air attack team and poured as much retardant as they could on the approaching flames, but they were not match for a wildfire being pushed across the mountain by the wind. In the end, Dynamite had been forced to backburn the meadow and have her people shake and bake. They weathered the fire without incident…but once they did, it rapidly became apparent that whatever the drug lab had been processing, it was a whole lot stronger than weed.
"…an so he climbed the mountain, this time being very careful to avoid the potholes…"
There was no way of knowing which drugs or how badly the smokejumpers had been dosed, but it was slagging clear that it wasn't safe to keep them in a half-burned out meadow. So, Blade had pulled Windlifter to perform an emergency pick up. The first two pickups had gone fairly smoothly, all things considering. While the smokejumpers were clearly losing all track of reality, hundreds of hours of training allowed them to successfully comply with the steps of the emergency evacuation. On the third pickup, though, it became clear that Windlifter had also been dosed and by the fourth and final load, Blade had had to follow him in and grab Dynamite because Windlifter was clearly unsafe to fly.
"…as soon as he made it to the top he discovered that while he had successfully climbed the mountain, it was the wrong mountain…"
Blade had practically remained glued to Windlifter's side as he returned to base that final time, and honestly it was a minor miracle that they had all made it in one piece. Maru had taken over once their tires had kissed the tarmac. The mechanic was fully suited up and immediately started the process of giving Windlifter and Avalanche a proper decontamination shower. Once he was satisfied that they were cleaned, Maru had turned his sprayer on Blade and Dynamite to get them clean as well. It had not been a comfortable shower. The water was cold and filled with cleaning materials, and getting Dynamite to hold still long enough to get clean had taken more energy than Blade was willing to admit.
"…he moved down the mountain at a very high rate of speed…"
Maru had taken samples both for criminal evidence and to help the mechanic try to figure out what Windlifter and the Smokejumpers had been dosed with…in reality, all that the Air Attack team could do was keep an eye on their 'high' members to make sure that they stayed safe while they tripped. Which is how Bladed ended up in Windlifter's hanger watching the helicopter telling and endlessly looping story to his hanger wall.
"…once at the bottom of the mountain, he started to seek for the correct mountain to climb…"
"Maru, how much longer is this going to last?" Blade tried to keep the whine out of his voice when the mechanic swung by the hanger to check on Windlifter's vital signs and give Blade a fresh mug on coffee.
"I don't know how much more of this I can stand." Blade groaned as he downed half of his coffee in one gulp.
"If you want to swap, I am sure that Cabbie would be more than willing to keep an eye on Windy, if you took over riding herd the smokejumpers." Maru said with a smirk and Blade couldn't help but shutter. Windlifter's monolog might have been nearly unbearable, but he at least was having a hallucination that kept him in one place. The last time he had seen the smokejumpers, on the other tine, they were convinced that that the base had been infested by giant, glowing purple deere and had taken it upon themselves to solve the problem by trying to feed their hallucinations marshmallows.
"I think I will stick with Windlifter."
"Smart choice." Maru chuckled, before heading back out into the evening to check on Cabbie and his basketful of jumpers.
Term- Hallucination- Hallucinations happen when someone perceives a sensory input without that input actually existing. Even though auditory and visual hallucinations tend to capture most of the attention, hallucinations can affect any of the body's senses. Common causes for hallucinations include neurological illnesses, sensory deprivation, and drugs.