10 Visitor

a/n: Wolf and Duna get to know their new friends. They tidy up and start their walk home. Easy peasy.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, but not all these extra Prone.

"We need to go," Wolf said flatly. "The Nopon said there were more soldier Prone by the walls." He waved towards the base of O'rrh Sim castle in the distance. He noted that a few of the prisoners nodded or cringed or otherwise showed signs of agreement. "I don't want to stick around for reinforcements."

Duna looked at him, her arms wrapped around a weeping kinswoman. Her eyes were so full of emotion, they could have contained galaxies, but there were no tears on her face. She pushed the other woman away, hands gentle on her shoulders, and nodded to Wolf. "Agreed, BLADE Wolf."

"Where? Where?!" shouted another woman standing with a cluster of other prisoners. Wolf glared at her. She'd been the one pointing the sniper rifle at him, and she hadn't been particularly gracious about handing it over when he'd asked. "Where will we be safe, that they will not come for us?"

"There is a city," Duna began to explain.

The angry Prone scoffed. "A city, ha! We've heard rumors of it. There is no hope for us there. Cowards will not protect us."

"We've done okay," Wolf said quietly, masking his impatience and irritation. "Beat the Ganglion every place we've decided to stand. Right in their own hangar, when it came to it."

"Liars! Worse than liars! If you can fight so well, where has been our rescue? It has been a year! More! Every day was agony but you could not be bothered."

"Look, lady, we didn't know you guys existed until last night. We didn't even know that. A weird visitor dropped by our city, gave us a hint to hit Cauldros ready for a fight, and here we are. You're welcome."

"It was Sunilla," rasped Duna. "It was her words, though brief and strange, that led us to you."

The angry woman glanced at the woman closest to her. "Sunilla, so full of hope. She couldn't even save herself," muttered that woman quietly. She did not meet Duna's eyes.

"Where is she?"

"She left us months ago, trying to escape," the angry woman added, also avoiding Duna's earnest gaze.

If Wolf weren't bald as an egg, the hairs on his neck would be standing up. Something nasty had happened to poor Sunilla, he was sure of it, something these prisoners didn't want to discuss. "We don't have time for this," Wolf interrupted. "You don't have to like the idea of New Los Angeles, but believe me when I say anywhere is better than staying here. Let's at least put some distance from this place before we start arguing the details."

The angry woman thought for a moment, then nodded shortly. She was clearly something of a leader for these prisoners. "Push that one into the pool." She gestured to the fallen guard that the prisoners had killed. "I assure you, he deserves it. Besides, it is better they don't know everything that happened here, when they catch us." Wolf didn't move, staring her down. After a moment, she pointed to one of the old men. He lumbered over and hurriedly rolled the corpse into the glowing lava. Wolf watched long enough to make sure he didn't have to lend a hand. "Now show the way," she ordered.

"First we return to our skells, our vehicles," explained Duna. She held the hand of the woman she'd been comforting, a frail looking creature that was still weeping. "It is a short enough distance that we can hasten the whole way."

The angry Prone clapped her hands, tentacles firmly set. Not one to give away much info, and not one to let any individual endanger the group, Wolf hazarded. Didn't matter, just so long as she got her sheep to move.

Duna pulled the frail woman with one hand, grasping the hand of another woman with the other, leading the way. Wolf walked at the back of the group, scanning for any new enemy that might choose to appear. The group wasn't moving fast enough for him to feel at all easy. They picked their way along the narrow paths that threaded through the lava pools.

The overpass was in sight, and beyond it the ramp, the skells, the initial journey to safety. Wolf was calculating how far they could carry these passengers before they burnt out an engine. Four in the back, but the males were still bulky enough to count as two. Could they risk flight? Was anyone strong enough to follow on foot for a distance? Were there any away teams still on missions that could help out? He ran through the options, rejecting the worst ones, but leaving the decision open for the moment.

Then the old man walking beside Wolf broke into a run. He caught up to the angry leader and fell to his knees before her. "NOOOOOO!" he bellowed. "You cannot abandon her!"

Wolf immediately knew the journey home had just gotten much, much longer.

a/n: At least 5 chapters longer, sorry. We still haven't found the treasure.

Next up: Reborn. I need to name these Prone. Linda. Michaela. Jamar. No.