Aurora POV
"But it might be better for you if you were to put it on, child. If something went wrong, we could always pull you out." urged Imam.
She shook her head. "Yeah, but if it would cave in, it could be caught under some rocks." she retorted trying to cover up.
Owens frowns. "Alright, we'll do it your way. We'll leave the rope but be sure to make a sound if something goes wrong." he tells her.
Hope gave her a forced smile, while she and the others all walked towards the spires again.
The closer they got, the more nervous she became.
Each step seemed to feel as if she was going to her death.
It was all too soon that they arrived by the pit. Looking down at it, she gulped and some of the color disappeared from her face.
Imam placed a hand on her shoulder, making her tense. "Are you sure you will be alright?" he asked, concerned. Her gaze flashed to Jack who stood next to him and Ali on his other side.
She looked him back in the eye and gave him a fake smile. "Yeah. Everything will be fine," she told him before she turned and jumped into the pit followed by me.
Frost, Owens and Johns followed suit.
"Here, you might need this." said Owens and held out a small flashlight.
"Thanks." she muttered and put it away. "Be careful, toots. Wouldn't want to lose ya." commented Frost with a smile. I glare at him with Hope and then at Johns before she turned to the hole.
Sighing deeply, Hope and I crouch before the hole and push all the sand out of the way.
We look inside and a shiver of fear went through us.
It almost made us wish we were back home. Almost.
Sighing, we softly started working her way into the hole. Crawling army-style deeper into the hole.
A few feet further the place became wider until she could stand up.
We gulp as terror filled our stomachs. We had a bad feeling about this.
Taking a breath, we knew there were creatures around us. 'Don't freak out, they're all sleeping. Just go to the pillar that Fry used in the movie and get out of here.' she thought to herself and calmed a bit.
As silently as she could she stepped forwards while looking around before stopping again.
'Oh no! I can't remember which way Fry climbed up! It all looks the same!' Hope thought while her eyes widened in panic.
We gulp nervously and look around. 'Please don't let them wake up! Please!' we silently plead. We took steps as quietly as possible while we walked around. Our hearts seemed to beat loudly in our chests. Every sound and breath we took felt to us as if the whole world could hear it. We need to relax. Need to distract ourselves before we made a mistake that could prove fatal.
Breathing deeply in and out a few times, we force my mind to focus on other things.
Hope thought of Jack and how she was slowly becoming like a little sister to her. Thoughts of the mercs made her frown. She still wondered how it was possible that Blade and Peter were in this world. Shaking her head, she reminded herself that even though it was distracting, it wasn't the time or place to mull over that.
My mind immediately strayed back to the creatures. 'What were they called again? It had something to do with dinosaurs,' I thought before we heard something move behind us.
Whirling around, I narrowed my eyes at the wall across from me but saw nothing.
"Oh, no," Hoe whispered, and her breathing accelerated.
Paranoia mixed with panic. It made her whirl around again while her eyes darted around, trying to catch sight of one of the creatures.
'Okay, what were they called? Dinosaur… dinosaur…' Hope thought frantically, trying in vain to distract us, through our telepathy.
She then saw something move in the corner of her eye. Snapping her head in that direction, she saw it. A creature.
It had a long tail that split in two points at the end. A strange head that looked triangular in a way yet looked at the same time as the head of a hammerhead shark.
She remembered the name.
"Bioraptors." she whispered before the creature twisted its head towards her. It seemed to stare straight at her but it had no eyes.
Its mouth was slightly opened and showed two rows of very long, very sharp, pointy teeth.
The tail uncurled from around its body and the bioraptor moved to the ground.
Two wings that had been folded around the body folded close against its back while two sharp claws were used to stand.
On television they didn't look so scary. Actually, they looked kind of funny. But now, in real life, it was a whole different story.
Perverts she could handle. Annoying assholes, she could handle. But bioraptors? This, she wasn't so sure of.
'A weapon! I need a weapon!' she thought frantically while looking around on the ground.
There was not much choice. She stepped slowly towards a small rock the size of her hand and picked it up. All the while she kept her eyes on the bioraptor a few feet further near the wall.
Standing up, she dared to look away and looked for a way to get out.
The first thought went to the way she came from, but she quickly shook the thought away.
She knew there was one lurking around there, if she remembered the movie correctly.
Her eyes darted to the pillars. She stood with her back to one and swallowed thickly.
'No choice. Gotta risk it,' she thought and looked for a way to easily climb it.
"Go!" I yell distracting the raptors.
She heard one of the creatures squealing. The sound seemed to come from everywhere.
The fear that was in her chest filled her whole being.
She dropped the rock and turned completely to the pillar. "Screw this!" she hissed and tried to climb it.
Her feet clumsily sought for foothold. Her hands grabbed blindly at the pillar, but she couldn't find a good way to pull her up.
"Please don't let me die," she whispered softly, hearing again squealing from one of the creatures followed by that of another one.
She managed to crawl a bit up the pillar but when she took another step she slid down again.
"No." she whimpered and tried again.
Clumsily and with a lot of slipping up, she slowly managed to climb higher and higher.
She finally managed to find a good hold when she came to the hollow part of the spire.
She smiled while hope filled her heart when she found it becoming slightly easier to climb up.
With more confidence she climbed further when all of a sudden, her foot slipped up and she slid back down again.
"No!" she cried while her eyes glanced to the sides.
She saw more movement this time.
"Please! Help me! Somebody!" she cried. Now she knew how Fry felt when she was down here.
Tears gathered in her eyes making her vision blurry.
She blinked them away and tried again.
Something hissed before she felt a slight wind behind her as something passed by.
The little bit of hope that had welled up in her vanished as quickly as it came.
"No." she whispered. "Please! Anybody! Help me!" she screamed as loud as she could.
At the same time, she tried to climb the pillar again.
Once again, she clumsily climbed upwards.
"Halfway there, just a little longer…" she muttered while she came to the hollow part again.
"Fight back Hope! Fight back!" I tell my Alpha Female.
Suddenly something sharp grabbed her leg and yanked hard on it.
The sudden pull made her lose her grip and balance. With a short scream, she slid back down and fell the last part, landing hard on her side.
She coughed for air. Having landed with her elbow in her own side had pushed some air out of her lungs.
Groaning, she glanced down at her feet and cried out when she saw the face of a bioraptor right before her.
Acting fast, she kicked the creature in the chest with her free foot.
The creature let out a hissing howl while its claw clamped down harder on her leg.
This time, it was her that hissed in pain.
Gritting her teeth, she ignored the pain and kicked the creature again and again in the head.
Finally, after the sixth kick, the creature let go, shaking its head a bit.
Hope scrambled to her feet as she circled around the pillar while keeping her eyes on the bioraptor.
It hissed and slowly followed her but kept a distance.
She carefully glanced to the side and saw another pillar. Swallowing she turned to the pillar and started climbing it as fast as she could.
Which wasn't fast enough when the creature ran towards her and quickly lashed out with its tail at her.
She cried out as the two points cut her right arm.
Her feet stumbled from the sudden blow and made her hit her head against the pillar.
With a yelp she slid down the little distance she had climbed.
Shaking her head, she quickly tried to climb again.
The wounds on her arm stung along with her ankle and head. Clumsily she started climbing again. "Help! I'm here! Help!" she cried while she clawed at the pillar, trying in vain to get herself to move quicker.
This pillar was slightly easier than the one before and it went more quickly this time.
She was almost by the hollow part when she was suddenly tackled from behind and both fell down to the ground again.
With a cry she landed on the ground on her front.
Shaking her head, she glanced over her shoulder and cried out when she saw two rows of razor teeth come towards her.
All of a sudden, the pillar she tried to climb rumbled before rubble fell down from the hollow part.
Light came from the breaking spire and hit the paw of the bioraptor on top of her.
It screeched in pain and quickly rushed off of her to get in the shadows for safety.
She climbed to her hands and knees but buckled slightly to the side when she put weight on her wounded arm.
She suddenly heard something flutter next to her along with a soft 'thump'.
Wincing, she ignored the pain in her arm and got to her hands and knees.
She turned her head towards the sound with slight hesitance, afraid it was another creature.
"Blade! Peter!" she cried out happily. The hunter stared down at her and looked her over. His eyes immediately caught the wounds on her arm and leg.
Instantly, the scent of her blood filled his nose. It was… delicious.
She noticed him staring blankly at her.
She was about to ask something when a bioraptor hissed next to her ear.
Glancing to the other side, she saw a bioraptor dashing towards her.
Gasping, she stumbled back.
A blur of black and the sound of fluttering passed her by. The creature had no time to dodge as Blade gutted the beast with one slash of his sword.
Hope gasps and watches as the nasty creature fell to the ground with its intestines falling out of its stomach.
It shrieked in pain while it scrambled around.
Blade gave it no chance when he lifted his sword and brought it down in a downward swipe. Its head rolled a bit away from its body.
He crouched slightly while he looked around at the other bioraptors and bared his teeth.
"Can you stand?" "Yes, I have no choice. I am not weak I am never weak." she answered and got to her feet only to stumble when she put weight on her wounded leg at first but gets back to her feet.
She covers her wince of pain and glanced down at her leg.
The place where her ankle had been grabbed was cut in three different places.
Blade had noticed her stumble and frowned.
He took a step towards her, but quickly turned his back to her to intercept a creature that he heard running towards them.
He brought his sword up in a diagonal angle just as the beast arrived.
It managed to dodge in the nick of time by flying to the side.
Blade growled menacingly at it as it paced before him, trying to find a way to the wounded prey.
"Try to climb. Go!" he barked. Not wanting to get in more trouble, she turned to the pillar and started climbing.
The wounds on her arm and leg made her wince in pain. Luckily the abuse of her boyfriend made that she had a bit of a tolerance to pain.
Ignoring the burning pain, she started climbing.
Clumsily, she climbed up as fast as she could. Sometimes she slid down but she managed to get to the top where heads were peeking through the surprisingly large hole.
As they saw her coming, hands were held down the hole. "Come on Luna! Give me your hand!" cried Fry. "You can do it, Hope!" cried Jack.
She nodded and climbed a bit faster. Because of her quickening, she grabbed accidentally a loose piece of rock. It broke off and she slid down a bit with a startled cry.
"Hope!" cried Jack.
Hope pants. She had almost no strength left to climb. The adrenaline along with the burning of her wounds was quickly wearing her out.
'No! I gotta hold on just a bit longer! I can do it!' she thought, determined, and began climbing again.
Awkwardly, in pain, she finally managed to scramble up to the hole where Imam, Johns and Frost grabbed her arms and shoulders and pulled her out of the hole.
"Hope! Are you okay?" "What happened?" "Are you alright my child?" came the questions from the others.
Panting, she shakily pointed towards the hole where Blade and Peter quickly came climbing out.
"I told you… *pant* I told you… there was something down there," she panted while her legs shook from the exertion and pain.
"You're hurt!" "Blade and Peter saved you, Hope!" came more replies while hands rubbed her good arm or back in a soothing manner.
The fear had finally left her body, but she still felt shaky.
Imam immediately ripped a piece of his robe off and gently placed it on her cut up arm.
She nodded. "Y-yeah. One of those bi- creatures almost got me. Blade and Peter saved me," she told them and managed to stop herself from revealing the true name of the creatures.
Turning she looked to where Blade and Peter stood by Hope who had a gun to the hunter and wolf's head.
Blade stared straight at her from behind his aviators that somehow managed to stay on during the fight. His body was stiff, and she saw his nose twitch.
Her eyes glanced down to his hands, which she noted, were still in cuffs, but held his sword tightly.
'They managed to escape their chains?!' she thought a bit surprised, before mentally kicking herself. Of course, chains wouldn't be able to hold him back. Blade was half vampire and Peter as a werewolf. Her eyes glanced at the cuffs, and she saw that his wrists were bleeding slightly. He really came to save her.
Slowly she limped over to him after shrugging all the hands off of her.
"Hope?" came a questioning call. "What are you doing?" asked another person.
She ignored them and stopped in front of Blade. Her eyes went straight up to his aviators. "Thanks for saving me, Blade, Peter." she told him seriously.
Frost and Johns glared at her along with Shazza. The big hunter merely grunted in response. He scowled and swallowed after licking his lips. Hope realized she should move away, but she was worried the mercs would hurt him.
That was all he could manage to do. The scent of her blood was alluring to him. Having drunk no blood yet, he had to fight with himself to keep from attacking her.
In the meantime, Frost wanted to say something but didn't know what without causing a ruckus with the others.
Owens walked over and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, let's get those wounds treated," she said, making the other woman nod.
Owens put Hope's good arm over her shoulder and both limped/walked towards the ship with the rest following in tow.
Frost turned his glare on Blade, and Peter, while Johns came to his other side. "Come on, ya bastard. I don't know how ya escaped, but yer goin' right back in the chains," growled the large man while he roughly pulled Blade along. Johns followed behind, ready to attack if he dared to do something.
