14 Preparations (Wolf & Duna)
a/n: Wolf and Duna move quietly into the camp, ready to rescue the two prisoners.
All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, but not these extra Prone.
The two of them watched silently until the child, obedient to a call from the main camp, snatched up his empty bowl and hurried out of sight. Wolf glanced at Duna. Her eyes weren't asking a question, but he answered anyway. "Yeah, I saw, and yeah, we will." He calculated rapidly, then continued. "Plan stays the same, except before I go off we get Mekra to call him to you. Can you handle both of them?"
Duna's eyelids fluttered shut for a moment, her major tentacles tracing the shape that Wolf always thought looked like clasped hands. He allowed her time for one deep breath. She was as composed as ever when he nudged her to indicate they should move.
The trash heap shielded them from view as completely as the previous rubble, but Wolf felt jumpy, knowing the guards were only a sword strike away. He listened and thought he could distinguish four gruff voices plus Mekra's. He knew there had to be more, Tria had managed to give them that much confused information, but he hoped it wasn't much worse. He pointed ahead, a single snap of his finger, and they slipped like shadows a few steps closer, stopping at the back edge of the cooking tent.
The first contact went down smoothly. When Mekra returned with an empty tray, first Wolf, then Duna waved to her. After one squeaking yelp and a spoon dropped soundlessly into the dirt, Mekra rushed to Duna. Wolf admired how few whispered words it took for Duna to explain the situation, at least enough so that they could continue. All that was left was to get the kid to return to the back of the camp without raising suspicions.
Mikra refused to help.
"You only need call him, as to a task," Duna encouraged her gently.
Mikra only shook her head in silent refusal, her tentacles devoid of any playful curls that she had spared for the guards. She edged away from them, farther towards the trash heaps and lava pool that bordered the camp.
"But he is Sunilla's child," Duna whispered desperately.
The woman scoffed. Wolf was reminded of the prisoner leader's response earlier. "I never put my trust in her when she was alive. I will not die for her..."
Wolf cut her off with a hissed warning. Maybe she fell silent because she recognized the expression on his face, despite it being so flat and alien to her. More likely it was the rifle he'd readied that told her she'd said enough. He gestured to the two women, waving them back towards the edge of the camp.
"Wolf. We need to rescue him." When he didn't answer, Duna said his name again.
"I'll get him for you," he assured her. "Even if I have to toss him at you."
a/n: Don't worry. There will be no toddler yeeting. These next bits may continue to be short because that's about all I can manage before I start to chicken out.
Next up: Heart-to-heart, which works pretty well for what comes next.