Chapter 6, New Horizons
When he awoke, he wasn't surprised it was because of sirens again. He had gotten used to it, seeing as this was the third time and he hoped he'd be able to find a place where he could fall asleep without having to worry. The sirens told him exactly what to do. He sprang from his bed and half ran, half stumbled down the stairs. He saw Katana waiting there for him and he knew that she would inform him of what the problem was as they ran. -Katana- "Come on, we have to suit up." He wondered where Colleen was, but he just assumed she was ahead of them. Katana wasted no time. As soon as she had yelled to him to fallow, she was already turned and escaping the confines of the building. He knew the drill, and fallowed without a thought about what he had to do. Katana yelled over her shoulder. -Katana- "The dampeners were knocked down." He again didn't seem surprised; in fact, he was just annoyed by the situation. What was the point of the dampeners if they are always getting knocked down? He hardly remembered where he was, but he was used to just fallowing blindly. The door to the docking bay was left wide open. It wasn't long before they were both within the walls of the bay. Katana slipped into the Tamer. He watched, still amazed by the process, as the metallic force rapped around her figure. -Katana- "Stop day dreaming, it's your turn." Garali made his move into the Tamer and within moments was also ready to go. -Garali- "Where is Colleen?" -Colleen- "I'm right here." She waited for them, already in her angelic form, in the doorway to the outside world. -Garali- "Are we going to evacuate?" -Colleen- "Evacuate? No, I'm just going to fix the dampener. You two mind covering me while I fix it?" The way she spoke, she made it seem like this sort of thing happened all the time. She also didn't seem to like wasting time either and left the dome. Katana was hot on her heels, forcing him to fallow or risk being left behind. Once outside, Katana drew her sword, waiting for the daemons to arrive. Colleen left the ground, floating up to the top of the dome. She moved to something that looked to him like a satellite dish. It was toppled over, the main part laying a few feet away from its supports. Once near it, Colleen started to put together frayed wires and melting together torn supports. -A familiar voice- "What are you doing? Just give up already. The daemons will be here any minute. You don't have enough time to fix that." Immediately, Katana and Garali turned, only to see what Colleen already suspected. It was that same talking daemon from before, standing only 10 meters or so from them. For some reason, it hesitated from attacking. -Colleen- "Get out of here, you can't take us alone. I don't need your annoying voice keeping from my work." -Daemon- "I broke that. When did I say you could fix it?" -Colleen- "Do we really have to do this dance again? Just leave before you get hurt." Their squabbling put Garali to ease. The way she talking to him, he suspected that she had no fear for him. Garali let himself believe that this talking daemon was not of any threat. He even noticed Katana drop her guard a little. -Daemon- "Not this time. I ruined it enough and they will be here before your done. In the mean time, I'll just take care of these two myself." An odd smile seemed to creep across his face, if you could call it a smile, or if you could even call it a face. Those words seem to put the guard back into Katana's stance and even made him get more ready to defend himself. -Colleen- "Don't worry about him you guys. He won't attack. He knows he can't take all three of us. He ran before and he is just going to do it again. In the mean time, he will try to mess with your mind. Just ignore him." Again, the way she spoke continued to calm his nerves. Both Katana's and his guard dropped entirely. Katana's blade became sheathed again and she stood as if trying to intimidate the opposing daemon. Before speaking again, the daemon let out a fierce growl from deep within its throat. -Daemon- "I can't believe you aren't afraid of me. If not of me, you should be worried about the numerous daemons about to come over that ridge and make you eat your words. So please, just wait here for your dooms." Katana's intimidating look deepened. Garali was starting to get annoyed with its lies and raised his palms towards the daemon. -Garali- "I advise you leave now, and leave your words behind." -Daemon- "What, you're talking now? Please, don't make me laugh. I don't fear you." Garali decided that this daemon needed to be taught a lesson and started to charge up. Light flickered from his arms as the spirit energy gathered in them. Katana saw this and joined in by drawing and charging her weapon. The light flickering from her blade was purple while his arms gathered white light. He wasn't sure if the colour made any real difference, but he did know the daemon was about to taste pain. The daemons growl this time seemed to hit both of them in the stomach with its depth and intensity. -Daemon- "Fine! There is no reason for me to get hurt more then necessary." -Colleen- "Good, because I've just finished." Both Garali's and Katana's eyes left the daemon to see what had happened behind them. The dampener was up again, the dish standing on top of the supports instead of lying beside it. Colleen was standing now. She flicked a switch and the dish began to rotate. The sound of energy flow resonated from the dampener until a sudden flash. When the flash died, the dampener's barrier was left around the dome as it was before, and the daemon that had once bothered them, now nowhere to be seen. -Colleen- "Told you he was all talk." She floated down again, to meet them face-to-face. -Colleen- "Wow. Good job scaring him. I don't think he knew you were bluffing." Garali hadn't been bluffing, but they way she said it made him think that his attack wouldn't have done anything. -Colleen- "He does this every once in awhile. It never works, but it is defiantly a nuisance. So, now that that is dealt with, are you going to be leaving?" Katana and Garali looked at each other for a second, as if asking each other that same question. -Katana- "Yes, I guess we will. We have a lot of ground to cover, and not enough time to just stand around." -Colleen- "Good. Then do you mind if I go with you?" -Garali- "Don't you have to stay here and stop that daemon from doing more damage?" Her question didn't seem to make any sense in his mind. How could she just leave these helpless civilians? -Colleen- "Actually, I think the only reason he continues to disturb this place is because I live here. If I go with you guys, I'll be helping them even more. Anyways, you guys need my help more then they do. There is no way you'll survive out there without my help." When she put it that way, he was glad she had asked after all. -Katana- "We could use some protection. All right, you can come with us. We leave immediately. Do you need anything?" Apparently, he didn't need to be asked this time. Katana was willing to make all the decisions on her own -Colleen- "No. In times like these, no one has anything of value anymore." -Katana- "Fine, just fallow me, I've got the maps up here." She pointed to her head before started to walk around the dome. Colleen and Garali fallowed without a doubt. After a couple of minutes of nothing but walking, the silence was finally broken. -Colleen- "Are we suppose to stay quite this entire time? This is going to be a very boring walk if we don't even talk." Garali hadn't really noticed the quiet, but after it being pointed out, he too wondered why they never talked while walking. -Katana- "I need to concentrate. If you two want to talk between yourselves, go right ahead." They looked at each other for a second but didn't really have anything to talk about. -Colleen- "All right, when I get bored, I'll tell you." He felt a little insulted but understood that they really didn't have that much to say to each other. Periodically through out the trip, Colleen would take flight and scout the area. When everything was clear, she would land and assure them there was nothing in sight. After much walking he started to notice the surroundings. The land really was barren, nothing living anywhere. Garali remembered when trees grew and animals ran across the land. He had always taken them for granite but now he missed them almost as much as his parents. The endless stretch of unchanging land began to get to his head and he had to start some conversation to take his mind off of it. -Garali- "So, are you bored yet?" -Colleen- "I'm okay. Is there something on your mind?" Besides his earlier thoughts of having nothing to discuses, he currently had something to ask. -Garali- "Actually, there is. You have experienced dementia right? I did too, so I was just wondering what you can remember about it." He recalled his experience and really didn't want to think about it. He hoped she would be more open to such a topic. -Colleen- "I don't remember too much about it, only that it was the worst thing I've ever felt. I remember what I felt whenever I'm in pain. I remember how I survived that and therefore should be able to survive anything. I also remember when I'm fighting that talking daemon. I make sure to fight my hardest because I never want to feel dementia again." It made sense to him. Dementia must be a state of repair and change. It must have been then that she became what she is not. He remembered seeing his parents, but he really wasn't sure if anything was really that different about him. -Colleen- "I know we should really talk more, but I'd rather not talk about it anymore." -Garali- "I agree. I don't like to think about what I was feeling during that six months." -Colleen- "Well, I have to do some more scouting. Maybe we can talk it a moment." Even with that said, when she returned from her scouting, little talk past between the two of them. Like the last time he had to travel, it was very uneventful. After what seemed like forever, Colleen finally returned from one of her scouting treks with news of the next town within sight. Each of them increased their pace with anticipation for a good, long rest.
When he awoke, he wasn't surprised it was because of sirens again. He had gotten used to it, seeing as this was the third time and he hoped he'd be able to find a place where he could fall asleep without having to worry. The sirens told him exactly what to do. He sprang from his bed and half ran, half stumbled down the stairs. He saw Katana waiting there for him and he knew that she would inform him of what the problem was as they ran. -Katana- "Come on, we have to suit up." He wondered where Colleen was, but he just assumed she was ahead of them. Katana wasted no time. As soon as she had yelled to him to fallow, she was already turned and escaping the confines of the building. He knew the drill, and fallowed without a thought about what he had to do. Katana yelled over her shoulder. -Katana- "The dampeners were knocked down." He again didn't seem surprised; in fact, he was just annoyed by the situation. What was the point of the dampeners if they are always getting knocked down? He hardly remembered where he was, but he was used to just fallowing blindly. The door to the docking bay was left wide open. It wasn't long before they were both within the walls of the bay. Katana slipped into the Tamer. He watched, still amazed by the process, as the metallic force rapped around her figure. -Katana- "Stop day dreaming, it's your turn." Garali made his move into the Tamer and within moments was also ready to go. -Garali- "Where is Colleen?" -Colleen- "I'm right here." She waited for them, already in her angelic form, in the doorway to the outside world. -Garali- "Are we going to evacuate?" -Colleen- "Evacuate? No, I'm just going to fix the dampener. You two mind covering me while I fix it?" The way she spoke, she made it seem like this sort of thing happened all the time. She also didn't seem to like wasting time either and left the dome. Katana was hot on her heels, forcing him to fallow or risk being left behind. Once outside, Katana drew her sword, waiting for the daemons to arrive. Colleen left the ground, floating up to the top of the dome. She moved to something that looked to him like a satellite dish. It was toppled over, the main part laying a few feet away from its supports. Once near it, Colleen started to put together frayed wires and melting together torn supports. -A familiar voice- "What are you doing? Just give up already. The daemons will be here any minute. You don't have enough time to fix that." Immediately, Katana and Garali turned, only to see what Colleen already suspected. It was that same talking daemon from before, standing only 10 meters or so from them. For some reason, it hesitated from attacking. -Colleen- "Get out of here, you can't take us alone. I don't need your annoying voice keeping from my work." -Daemon- "I broke that. When did I say you could fix it?" -Colleen- "Do we really have to do this dance again? Just leave before you get hurt." Their squabbling put Garali to ease. The way she talking to him, he suspected that she had no fear for him. Garali let himself believe that this talking daemon was not of any threat. He even noticed Katana drop her guard a little. -Daemon- "Not this time. I ruined it enough and they will be here before your done. In the mean time, I'll just take care of these two myself." An odd smile seemed to creep across his face, if you could call it a smile, or if you could even call it a face. Those words seem to put the guard back into Katana's stance and even made him get more ready to defend himself. -Colleen- "Don't worry about him you guys. He won't attack. He knows he can't take all three of us. He ran before and he is just going to do it again. In the mean time, he will try to mess with your mind. Just ignore him." Again, the way she spoke continued to calm his nerves. Both Katana's and his guard dropped entirely. Katana's blade became sheathed again and she stood as if trying to intimidate the opposing daemon. Before speaking again, the daemon let out a fierce growl from deep within its throat. -Daemon- "I can't believe you aren't afraid of me. If not of me, you should be worried about the numerous daemons about to come over that ridge and make you eat your words. So please, just wait here for your dooms." Katana's intimidating look deepened. Garali was starting to get annoyed with its lies and raised his palms towards the daemon. -Garali- "I advise you leave now, and leave your words behind." -Daemon- "What, you're talking now? Please, don't make me laugh. I don't fear you." Garali decided that this daemon needed to be taught a lesson and started to charge up. Light flickered from his arms as the spirit energy gathered in them. Katana saw this and joined in by drawing and charging her weapon. The light flickering from her blade was purple while his arms gathered white light. He wasn't sure if the colour made any real difference, but he did know the daemon was about to taste pain. The daemons growl this time seemed to hit both of them in the stomach with its depth and intensity. -Daemon- "Fine! There is no reason for me to get hurt more then necessary." -Colleen- "Good, because I've just finished." Both Garali's and Katana's eyes left the daemon to see what had happened behind them. The dampener was up again, the dish standing on top of the supports instead of lying beside it. Colleen was standing now. She flicked a switch and the dish began to rotate. The sound of energy flow resonated from the dampener until a sudden flash. When the flash died, the dampener's barrier was left around the dome as it was before, and the daemon that had once bothered them, now nowhere to be seen. -Colleen- "Told you he was all talk." She floated down again, to meet them face-to-face. -Colleen- "Wow. Good job scaring him. I don't think he knew you were bluffing." Garali hadn't been bluffing, but they way she said it made him think that his attack wouldn't have done anything. -Colleen- "He does this every once in awhile. It never works, but it is defiantly a nuisance. So, now that that is dealt with, are you going to be leaving?" Katana and Garali looked at each other for a second, as if asking each other that same question. -Katana- "Yes, I guess we will. We have a lot of ground to cover, and not enough time to just stand around." -Colleen- "Good. Then do you mind if I go with you?" -Garali- "Don't you have to stay here and stop that daemon from doing more damage?" Her question didn't seem to make any sense in his mind. How could she just leave these helpless civilians? -Colleen- "Actually, I think the only reason he continues to disturb this place is because I live here. If I go with you guys, I'll be helping them even more. Anyways, you guys need my help more then they do. There is no way you'll survive out there without my help." When she put it that way, he was glad she had asked after all. -Katana- "We could use some protection. All right, you can come with us. We leave immediately. Do you need anything?" Apparently, he didn't need to be asked this time. Katana was willing to make all the decisions on her own -Colleen- "No. In times like these, no one has anything of value anymore." -Katana- "Fine, just fallow me, I've got the maps up here." She pointed to her head before started to walk around the dome. Colleen and Garali fallowed without a doubt. After a couple of minutes of nothing but walking, the silence was finally broken. -Colleen- "Are we suppose to stay quite this entire time? This is going to be a very boring walk if we don't even talk." Garali hadn't really noticed the quiet, but after it being pointed out, he too wondered why they never talked while walking. -Katana- "I need to concentrate. If you two want to talk between yourselves, go right ahead." They looked at each other for a second but didn't really have anything to talk about. -Colleen- "All right, when I get bored, I'll tell you." He felt a little insulted but understood that they really didn't have that much to say to each other. Periodically through out the trip, Colleen would take flight and scout the area. When everything was clear, she would land and assure them there was nothing in sight. After much walking he started to notice the surroundings. The land really was barren, nothing living anywhere. Garali remembered when trees grew and animals ran across the land. He had always taken them for granite but now he missed them almost as much as his parents. The endless stretch of unchanging land began to get to his head and he had to start some conversation to take his mind off of it. -Garali- "So, are you bored yet?" -Colleen- "I'm okay. Is there something on your mind?" Besides his earlier thoughts of having nothing to discuses, he currently had something to ask. -Garali- "Actually, there is. You have experienced dementia right? I did too, so I was just wondering what you can remember about it." He recalled his experience and really didn't want to think about it. He hoped she would be more open to such a topic. -Colleen- "I don't remember too much about it, only that it was the worst thing I've ever felt. I remember what I felt whenever I'm in pain. I remember how I survived that and therefore should be able to survive anything. I also remember when I'm fighting that talking daemon. I make sure to fight my hardest because I never want to feel dementia again." It made sense to him. Dementia must be a state of repair and change. It must have been then that she became what she is not. He remembered seeing his parents, but he really wasn't sure if anything was really that different about him. -Colleen- "I know we should really talk more, but I'd rather not talk about it anymore." -Garali- "I agree. I don't like to think about what I was feeling during that six months." -Colleen- "Well, I have to do some more scouting. Maybe we can talk it a moment." Even with that said, when she returned from her scouting, little talk past between the two of them. Like the last time he had to travel, it was very uneventful. After what seemed like forever, Colleen finally returned from one of her scouting treks with news of the next town within sight. Each of them increased their pace with anticipation for a good, long rest.