Disclaimer: Speedos!

Nova

Chapter 20: Ravine

Knives

"What now?" asked Vash.

We stood at the mouth of the tunnel, which abruptly ended with a steep drop. I stared down into the dark and if it weren't for the sound of a raging river far below, one might think it were virtually bottomless.

It stretched as far as the eye could see on either side. Dark as death. On the other side of the ravine the tunnel continued. But there was no way we could possibly get across.

Unless of course Kestrel started sprouting Telekinetic powers, but that was highly unlikely.

"We could go back the way we came and try to find another route." The priest offered.

Vash was muttering about bad luck following him like a plague, when a ear splitting roar sliced through the air.

"Oh great!" Vash yelled, "Wonderful timing!"

"Look Mr. Vash!" the human Milly cried. she was pointing to a narrow ledge off the edge of the mouth of the tunnel. Out into the ravine, where one slip could send you falling to your death. Even if you did hit water, the impact alone would be enough to make any living thing into a pancake.

Vash jumped onto the narrow out-cropping followed closely by the priest and the tall female, and then went the shorter human.

Kestrel paused before moving slowly towards the outcropping.

"Move it human, we don't have all day to dillydally."

I heard a choked-off noise eminate from her that could have been a laugh, but she said nothing otherwise.

What the hell was that? I shook my head in confusion and followed after her.

I was still fairly close to the edge when they beasts reached the edge of the tunnel. Suddenly, one of the beasts reached around the corner, its claws missed my shoulder by inches.

I pushed myself away from them, literally mashing Kestrel between myself and the human Meryl.

The beast roared all its frustration at me as our parade of bodies slowly moved away.

Suddenly we came to a stop twenty feet from the maw.

"Vash?" I called over.

"Hold on! I need to clear some rock that's in the way."

I looked down and watched Kestrel's face go through a series of emotions as she looked down the ravine. Fear, anxiety, shortness of breath, and then it hit me. She's afraid of heights.

I couldn't help myself. I laughed.

Her head shot up and she glared at me, "What?"

"You're afraid of heights, I would never have imagined--"

I touched her shoulder like I was going to push her off. Her eyes widened and her body stiffened and she tried to lean back further into the wall.

I chuckled and took my hand away, but her face didn't change. Her eyes were her still wide and her face had gone pale, and being so close to her I could feel her trembling.

I narrowed my eyes as I examined her. She was truly scared to death.

I reached out to her mind which was open like a gaping wound. Her thoughts were moving an ile a minute. All the times she'd walked along the cliffs of Lanoth, falling from the roof of her house, feeling the paralysis that hit every time she was above the ground more than ten feet. All these thoughts and many more rushed through her panicked mind.

What an irrational fear.

And she knew it. But there was nothing she could do to stop the fear from escalating.

And then I thought... why not just push her. Get rid of the piece of trash once and for all.

No. I couldn't. What would Vash think?

But since when did I ever care what he thought?

I looked down at her. I should be happy that the human was experiencing her worst fear. But I wasn't. Maybe a month ago, before all... this... I would have been. And I wouldn't have thought twice about pushing her off.

Damn, losing most of my powers and living with these humans had made me weak. That woman saving my life had made me weak.

No more.

I reached out finally resolved to push when a shout from Vash stopped me.

"Alright, I got it! And look! I think I see a way we can get across!"

I let my hand drop to my side and caught an odd look on Kestrel's face. But before I could make out what it meant it was gone as she slid away from me towards the others.

I smiled. Maybe next time.

Kestrel

I don't know what happened back there. But whatever Knives was thinking was far more scary than those immense heights.

The first time he'd touched my shoulder he'd just been playing with my head, but the second time...

Maybe it was the thought that Knives could so easily decide to bromg someone to death was what was so frightening.

I followed Meryl across the natural bridge that crossed the massive ravine. I did my best not to look anywhere but at the back of Meryl's head, afraid that if I did and looked down I would be paralyzed.

I could feel Knives' eyes watching me. What in God's name was wrong with that man? He was as unpredictable as the summer sandstorms that ravaged the walls of Lanoth Valley every year, and as cunning and devious as the Mawki sand lizards.

Finally we reached the other side. I was relieved to see the outcropping on this area was wider, and my fears of being 'pushed off' faded.

Even so, I stayed as close to the wall as I possibly could. As we got to the other half of the tunnel I could see the creatures trying their best to fit their large bodies onto the narrow outcropping.

The second we entered the tunnel it was almost a direct upward slope.

"We must have finally reached somewhere close to an exit!" Vash cried happily, "It's going straight up!"

Sure enough just after the tunnel leveled out, a bright light blared into existence in front of us.

Vash took Meryl and spun her around in a circle, as they both laughed.

Wolfwood let out a whoop of joy and Milly laughed and clapped her hands happily.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Knives neither said nor did nothing, he just continued walking towards the exit.

We stepped out into the sunlight, squinting as the glare from the suns met our eyes for the first time in two days.

We saw something else as we left the tunnel. A humongous shape lay prone in the sand.

Halfway buried under 130 years of sand.

A ship.

The middle had collapsed and the back where the Plants would have been was completely gone.

Even though the sand and wind had worn most of it away I could still see the shapes of large letters printed on the side.

"SEEDS" I whispered aloud.

Thanks to wise Foo.

Reviewer responses.

Lord Hustino: Alright! XD One of a kind! Unique! Top of the line! hehe. Back atcha, friend.

Saroya: Meow? I knew you were no mere mortal, Saroya, but I see now that you're actually... a cat. *_* No wait a minute... uh... thank you! I'm glad you like them.

Rosebud: Wow I actually got a laugh? Coooool. Hehe, I knew you would like the WM. :) Oh and I've already got name picked out for the two kiddies, though Eden is a very pretty name. :) Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Chibi Chibi: Oh, hell no, Knives admitting it? Crikey, that'll be the day! One which I shall relish in writing! *evil laugh*

DjMonkey: I'm glad you like it, and it's nice to see a new reviewer. :)

Neptune Butterfly: Hey hey! Another person laughed! does this mean I can finally fulfil my life long dream of writing a humor fic? ............. Naw. Not THAT funny. hehe. But to clear up a few things: The mystery person is still the same one as last time, the lizard dude. oy, I have a name for him and his creatures but I haven't yet found a way to introduce the names yet. *shrugs*. OH and 'simaki' is made up. Basically it's like Knives calling humans 'spiders'. A demeaning sort of word. ^_^

Desmonia: You stabbed yourself? oog. just the thought of blood makes me a little queasy... no seriously I feel queasy. hmm or its that pancake I had for breakfast. ug. Well... heal well, so it's not hard to write up a review! :)

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