Ch. 11: Blood and Sand
During the day the Wastes were a blinding gold that strained eyes and and baked skin. However when the screaming sun sets, it transforms into a cold alien place. The once golden dunes had become shimmering expanses of various hues of blue and silver. Shadows melted in-between the cresting waves of the Wastes, resulting in blacks that slithered and wound their way for miles. The parched sea danced to the tune of a crescent moon accompanied by an ensemble of twinkling stars, the multitude of which shimmered without hindrance. A kaleidoscope of color filled the void in-between, dusts of shattered galaxies spilled about as the only clouds present in the clear cold night.
Yang shivered as she marched behind her field researcher, glancing about as the dunes began to make way to dyed rocks painted by the moonlight. The protective clothing had done more to combat the heat than it did now with the cold. She clutched her cloak to her body in a vain attempt to abate the tiny gusts of wind that seeped into her bones. Blake was currently taking them to a point of interest discovered by a scouting blimp that had scanned the area a week before. Ahead multitudes of craggy rocks protruded from the sands and opened up into an abyss that sunk beneath the arid waves. Blake paused and crouched at the lip of a set of rocks twenty meters from the opening, waving for Yang to join her.
The huntress moved to her and leaned close in, their shoulders and arms pressed together as they huddled. Blake honestly didn't mind, understanding that the contact was more for conserving heat and less for any ulterior meaning. Blake leaned back into the press of heat at her side, thankful that their proximity allowed for a moment of comfort and less distance for her whisper to travel, "Look to the left, right before the edge of the shadows." The wyverian pointed to a smear just outside the entrance, the stain standing starkly against the pale white of the sand. Yang focussed and was able to make out the viscera of some unknown kill, combined with the streaks of the familiar black ichor trailing into the dark.
Yang had drawn her blade without thinking, the two shifting slightly as they peered around the general vicinity to ensure that their monster wasn't behind one of the dunes. Without any evidence to the prior, Blake faced Yang and laid out the plan, "Reconnaissance says some large monster has been killing the local fauna more aggressively the last few weeks. Often leaving the carcasses behind without feeding on them." She set her bags to the ground and drew her daggers, Yang followed suite and stretched her arms out, limbering up for the mortal contest ahead. "It may be sleeping, we should sneak in and get a look, maybe we can capture it with this-" She pulled a contraption with silver balls surrounding a blue coil, a shock trap, "And be able to study it in-vivo."
Yang nodded but pursed her lips, "We saw how nasty that Yian Garuga was, I'm not really sure how achievable this goal of your's is." Blake shrugged and gave the blonde a nudge, "Well that's why you're here Miss Huntress. If it all goes to shit, we back each other up and collect what we can." Yang's smile shone in the moonlight, "I have to say, I like that plan much better." The two stood into low crouches, waddling quickly to the pieces they had observed earlier. As they approached, the putrid offal reached their noses meters away forcing both to suppress gags in an effort to remain silent. For a few moments Blake studied the streaks of ichor that lead into the cave before sending a small hand signal to Yang, "Lets go a bit inside and let our eyes adjust to the dark." She whispered.
As they entered the cave the darkness enveloped them completely, instantly dropping the already frigid air to bone chilling temperatures. The pair walked several meters into the dark, the moonlight fading behind them before Blake touched Yang's arm to stop their pace. For several minutes they sat in silence, their shallow breaths puffing into clouds that became visible as time ticked by. Just as Yang was able to make out Blake's silhouette in front of her, the wyverian tapped her arm again and they continued their silent shuffle. The cavern they descended into was empty save for the few slabs of stone that dotted the sand. The pair avoided these as they would lose the advantage of masking their steps if they were to cross them. The sand softly shifted as they prowled, the two peering about in the darkness and attempting not to leap at any shadow that danced in their vision.
Not long into their journey they heard a soft hissing ahead, a glow appeared around the corner of a wall, and the two pressed themselves against the rocks and peered around the corner. A large room expanded ahead, beams of light piercing into the chamber from holes in the wastes above. Slow waterfalls of sand dumped themselves into the room, twinkling as the moonlight bounced off of them. Mounds converged at the base of the beams of light, and the cave was illuminated offering a much clearer view of their surroundings.
Blake spotted forbidding shapes stacked in one corner of the chamber and pointed with her chin to catch Yang's attention. As their eye's adjusted to the brightness, Blake caught a small gasp in the back of her throat, gripping Yang's arm as the shapes revealed themselves. Stacks of rotting corpses littered the far corner, animals of varying shapes and sizes scattered chaotically, the size of the pile almost reaching the ceiling itself. Blake crept from her hiding spot and stuck to the shadows with Yang following, the two sticking to the perimeter of the room away from the light. If the stench outside the cave was offensive, the bodies in front of them were repulsive. Blake heard Yang quietly retch into her mouth before spitting the contents into the sand. Blake studied the stacks for a moment and identified several local fauna that frequented the wastes, even spotting the remains of a Kulu-Ya-Ku stuffed and broken among them. Her skin was beginning to crawl as the monument of death continued further, dried blood and offal stained blue by reflected moonlight.
A snort exploded from the darkness and the pair dropped to the ground, pressing their bodies as far into the sand as they could. Red eyes hovered in the shadows opposite of them, trembling steps collapsing mounds of sands as the monster stepped into a beam of light and fully revealed itself. A Diablos lumbered into the chamber, a large dragon covered in plating that gave it the appearance of a living stone. Its wings were crooked and had sharp talons, useless for flight as it had evolved to use them for shoveling sand that it swam into. Atop its head were two wicked curved horns, rounding outwards before converging into two razor points in front of its face. Saliva dripped from its fanged maw, tinged black from the sickness that had driven it insane. Beady eyes lazily observed the pile of diseased food in front of it, the monster slowly dragging its living corpse to its macabre pantry. A normal diablos would have a healthy tan hue to its scales, better to camouflage itself to stalk prey in the sands, but this diablos was a sickly grey, its once pristine rock scales slick with black pus and falling to the ground with every step it took. It's tail dragged behind it, what would once proudly be held in the air sagged as it's heavy mace-head end weighed it down. The appendage barely held to bone with sinew and muscle as it carved a path into the sand behind it.
It was truly a tragedy what was befalling these beasts. Creatures of raw natural power reduced to maddened monstrosities forever doomed to consume and exist in perpetual pain. The diablos paused and sniffed a half rotting apceros, the creature now more bone than meat as it closed its massive jaw around it. A sickening crunch echoed into the chamber, followed by the grinding of bones within the monster's teeth. Blake felt adrenaline pump into her veins, causing a pounding tempo of blood to fill her ears. She glanced at Yang and saw the huntress focussing intensely on the monster, seeking any weak points that she may focus on.
Yang stood, the diablos had its back to them, and fished a vial of flashbugs from her pack. Setting into a soft jog she covered her eyes with her arm and threw the vial with all her might. Brilliant light chased all shadows from the room, for a moment the entirety of the chamber flashed around them, illuminated by the faux lightning. But where lightning strikes thunder follows. Blake had ducked her head into the sand and plugged her ears as a piercing scream shook the stones around them.
When Blake whipped her head up she saw Yang sprinting towards the monster. With a draw of her sword her blade ignited in fire, blazing more brightly than the streams of the sandfalls. With a bellow she swung the weapon down and severed the pitiful tail from the diablos, coating the pristine sands with its foul smelling blood. Another scream ripped from the beast's throat and it swung its deadly horns around in a wide sweeping arc, forcing Yang to swiftly roll to the side. Blake exploded upwards and drew her daggers from the sheaths on her back, her own blades erupting in flame as she shifted them into a reverse grip. As she closed the distance the fire on her weapons coated her in warmth, energizing whatever strength had been sapped from the cold of the night.
The Diablos roared again and stomped its foot into the ground, kicking back sand as it readied itself for a charge. As the monster strode forward Yang threw up her shield and caught its massive horns, the momentum of the titan sending her flying across the room. The huntress landed with a roll and sprung back upwards in a defensive stance, sword swung out to the side. Blake took advantage of the distraction and slid underneath the monster, scoring strikes against its stomach that feebly bounced off the tough scales. The Diablos snorted and kicked to the side, striking sand that sent her sprawling into a partially eaten corpse. The monster swung its attention to the wyverian but squealed as Yang lopped off a toe from one of its feet.
Blake recovered as quickly as she could and lunged forward in a double bladed thrust, sinking her twin blades deep into its opposite leg and watching the fire evaporate the torrent of blood that poured from its wound. Springing backwards she sprinted in a clockwise path away from Yang while the huntress weathered a brutal assault from the Diablos's horns. Blake saw Yang spit a globule of blood into the sand as she furiously slashed at the creatures's eyes. Blake put more power into her steps and jumped as high as she could, flailing her blade upwards and tearing the sinewy webbing of its wings to shreds. With another piercing scream the Diablos shoved its head into the sand, clawed wings furiously tearing into the ground as it buried its massive body deep into the silver sand.
For a moment the cavern was silent, only for a sinister hissing to fill every nook and cranny. Blake saw a mass rupture its way towards her, clouds erupting behind its path in an unnatural speed. Twenty meters away the mass disappeared only to explode upwards as the Diablos hurled itself towards her, a horrifying roar piercing into her very soul freezing her on the spot. Helplessly she watched in slowed time as the creature descended upon her, death meters away in the form of shattered fangs.
Just before she was devoured, a brilliant shield slammed into the beast's head, driven with the full force of Yang's shoulder behind it, snapping a horn clean from the monsters head. With her own furious roar Yang slammed her sword into her shield and caused the mechanical-shift to engage. She swung the shield in an arc, unlocking it backwards and transforming it into a burning axe. With a set of blinding two handed strikes Yang cleaved pieces from the Diablos with her massive weapon, ending the combination by rotating the weapon behind her. An ominous hum reverberated in the air as Yang dragged her weapon across her shoulder and then down. The axe crashed into the Diablos sending an explosive energy-burst into the back of the creature, crippling its wings in the process. The beast sputtered weakly and collapsed on the floor, dazed by the murderous onslaught it had endured.
Snapping out of her reverie Blake sprinted towards the downed beast and tightened her grip on her daggers. Training poured energy into her body and fury filled her muscles. Memories of days spent mastering these blades flooded into her consciousness, months of blistered hands and aching muscles made every step sure and precise. The hours spent watching her mother dance to death's ballad steeled her nerves and eliminated all fear. She was too strong to die here. With a splitting cry she spun into a flurry of slashes aimed at the creature's neck, where her blades flowed fire trailed in hypnotizing sequence. Gouts of black spewed around her as she landed dozens of blows on its unprotected flesh. With a final flourish she flipped backwards and landed in a defensive pose dragging the edge of her two daggers across one another and sending a challenging screech of metal at her opponent.
Yang had disengaged her charge blade and stood by her side, the two's flaming blades creating a beacon of light within the abyssal dark of the cavern. The creature vomited its coal blood in front of itself, deep shaking breaths wracking it's frame. As it began to turn to the pair, a moment of inspiration flashed in Blake's mind, "Yang! Back! Now!" Reaching into her bag, Blake grabbed the shock trap and pressed its activation switch, tossing the contraption forward as they leapt back. Arcs of electricity exploded from the device, tickling the ground as it frivolously gyrated. The Diablos charged forward in blind rage, but as soon as it crossed the threshold of the trap it froze in place, body twitching disturbingly as it absorbed the contained lightning.
The two huntresses leapt towards the beast, both yelling their fury as they closed the distance. As they bore down on the monster they matched their strikes to near simultaneous precision. They slashed upwards and Blake sent a mess of fangs clattering into the sand. They slashed downwards and Yang ruined the monster's jaw, leaving it to cling helplessly to what bone was left. They slashed to the right and its wicked horn snapped off. They slashed to the left and clogged it's nose with choking blood.
The two spun and planted their feet behind them before lunging forward, sinking their respective weapons deep into the monster's eyes, Blake's daggers in the left and Yang's sword in the right. One final push and they scrambled the Diablos's brain as hilts met putrid flesh. With a shuddering croak the monster collapsed to the ground and joined its collection of death it had so masterfully constructed.
Shaky cold breaths puffed in front of the two as the adrenaline left their systems. Blake fell unceremoniously onto her butt and put her hands behind her to steady herself. Yang collapsed in a similar fashion and rested her elbow on her knee, weapons clattering into the sand as the night was once more filled with the shifting of sands.
"That's how you fucking do it." Yang gasped and glanced at her companion at her side. Blake hesitantly nodded and withdrew a healing potion from her bag, passing the vial to Yang. "As much as I hate hurting monsters, that was pretty good. Are you hurt?" Blake grabbed her own potion, but doubted she had more than a few scrapes and bruises. Yang said her thanks and drank deeply, giving a cough after she emptied the concoction into her stomach, "A little beat up maybe. That motherfucker packed a punch." The blonde unwrapped her gauntlets from her arms and showed Blake her shield arm, the wyverian sucked a hiss through her teeth as she observed a multitude of blotchy bruises.
"Drink up, you'll need it if you want to use your arm in the next few days." She paused and looked at the downed monster, purposely fixing her eyes on the corpse as she spoke next, "That's twice you've saved my life. I don't know how to repay you." Yang chuckled as she playfully punched the girl's shoulder, causing the wyverian to snap her head at the blonde with a glare.
"No need to sound all formal about it. Besides as far as Im concerned, this makes us even for convincing Ruby and Ice Queen to come save me before. And I'm not big on keeping score." Blake met her eyes and hesitantly nodded, "Still. Thank you. I think I'm getting a little rusty." Yang snorted and handed the girl two waxed covered cotton plugs, "Invest in ear plugs. Trust me girl these things are life savers." Blake joined in the low chuckle that Yang started and the two rested for a moment longer.
As the cold began to creep in once again, Blake pushed out a heavy sigh and struggled to her feet, exhaustion engulfing her body, "Come on. The sooner we carve this bastard up the sooner we can get back to that outcropping and sleep. If we head back soon we can arrive there before sunrise, and get to Astera within the following day." Yang grunted and began to collect every chipped tooth and horn she could find, while Blake walked over to the lopped off tail near the animal carcasses.
As the two secured their spoils they exited the cavern using the fire of their weapons as a guiding light. When they arrived back outside a wind had began to whip at the sands, making the two instantly shiver as they became exposed to the moonlight once again. Compared to the cavern below, it was like walking into a well-lit room, the desolate expanse almost inviting as they basked in it's light. They found their camping gear where they had last left it but now half buried in piles of sand. Yang took point and the two started their cold march back to camp. In Blake's mind several questions mulled about, but to her chagrin one seemed to take precedent over all others.
She wondered if it would be too awkward to ask Yang if they could huddle up for warmth when they went to bed. She sighed and followed the Blonde ever onwards.