Chapter Title: In a Bind
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
POV: Dashen
Ages in this chapter: Tanner (16) Dashen (22)
Chapter Summary: While on a job, the boys get into a bit of trouble and Tanner tries a bit of Force magic to get them out of it.
A bind. We were in it. We were in it bad.
How to get out of it, well... I was hoping that little brother's Force magic would lead us out.
I was wrong. As usual.
"Why won't it work, Tanner?"
"Because I'm not scent-trained Akk Dog, Dash. I can't see anything, can you see anything? No, you can't. Why? Because it's pitch black down here and if it wasn't and I could see you, I would punch you in the face."
That minor threat was the equivalent of a temper tantrum in the form of Tannerlin Vai. Ferocious he was not, however, an idiot I was. Again.
Damn it. I really needed to stop living up to the moniker that Colton had bestowed on me when he'd taken us under his wing... or under his criminal empire.
This bind was my fault completely. I'd own it. The underground cavern we'd gotten sucked into seemed to have no end. Not that we could see an end if it smacked us in the face, but no... we really couldn't see crap.
"You can't reach my face or see it for that matter. Punch me later. Right now, figure out how to get us out of here."
"How?"
"So, okay, you can't smell your way out with your magic, can you feel your way out? Sense weird stuff? There has to be some type of animal or creature down here, you could ask it."
"I don't talk to animals, Dash. I've told you that a million times."
"But they like you, so one might come to your rescue if you scratch it behind the ears or something."
"Idiot."
Eh, he wasn't wrong as I'd noted only moments ago. That didn't help the situation though. We hadn't moved from the spot we'd landed when were were hurled down here. Yes, hurled. And the hole we'd been hurled down seemed to no longer exist or it was shot to hell. Last time I take a job for this client. I should have headed Colton's warnings. I didn't. As usual. The money dangled in front of me was far too much to refuse. To real to be true. I was a sucker. Now we were stuck.
The most I could tell was that Tanner was next to me, sitting close enough to touch shoulders. We could bicker all we wanted, but the truth was, we were in this together... alone.
I wracked my brain for an idea. Any idea. Tanner's magic had to be worth something. Otherwise what was the point in having it? If only we had something to light the way and...
Pyrokinesis! Yes! That was it!
"Fire, Tanner. Fire. You lit those candles that one time by rubbing your hands together and closing your eyes really hard or something, I don't know, but you made fire. You called it pyrokinesis. Do that!"
I couldn't see Tanner, but I imagined him shaking his head and rolling his eyes. In the blinding darkness, his voice said those things instead.
"Candles, Dash. Those were flammable objects and I could manipulate the molecules within the Force to light them. I can't just spawn fire in my palm with no vehicle for lighting. And even if... wait... do you smell that?"
"It's not me. Well, it could be, but... oh, never mind. What?"
"Some type of chemical."
"Combustible?" I asked. Curious now. If combustible, then just maybe... "Can you feed from that to spark fire?"
"Maybe. I don't know. But it's dangerous. What if the entire cavern is coated in it? We could burst into flames and blow ourselves up."
Now it was my turn to shake my head and roll my eyes. If only he could see it. "So, we went from, 'no Dash, I can't light a candle without a candle... to we're gonna blow up an entire cavern with ourselves in it.' Is there a middle ground here, Tanner? Seems a little dramatic."
"You say that now. Wait until your butt is on fire."
"I think we're gonna need to try it. Or we sit here and rot until someone happens to stumble in after us and since no one in the galaxy knows we are here, that seems less than likely."
A pause. A long one. Little brother was thinking hard. Something he was quite good at.
"I'll try. But if you explode, it's not my fault."
"I promise to not blame you if I burst into flames. Swear it."
"Okay, I need quiet, so no talking. And don't move from where you are. I need to focus. If you're squirming around, I can't get the right focus."
"Got it. Okay, shutting up."
Five minutes and I don't know what happened. Not really sure Tanner knew. But the entire wall behind us lit up in a sheet of flames.
Our bind just got, well... bindier? So much for the idea that we couldn't burst into flames. "Um, Tanner. What did you do?"
"I made fire? And well, now that we can see, I think we need to run, Dash. Like, run really fast." He pushed me forward. "Go, now, go. This is bad. This is very very bad."
It was. The wall of flames became a wall and cavern ceiling of flames, spreading rapidly so we needed to run rapidly. The way ahead was lit now and that seemed preferable than burning alive. Call me crazy. I know. We ran and ran and ran. Was the fire chasing us? I'd have stopped to ask Tanner if we'd had time, but he'd have probably given me some mumbo jumbo about there being a living essence around a roaring fire and the way it moved and danced. Typical thoughtful Tanner. But nope, no time to talk. Only run and run fast.
"Apparently," Tanner shouted from two steps behind me, "that smell was chemical and that chemical was flammable. Interesting."
I yelled back. "Only in your warped brain is this interesting! It's insane, is what it is! Hey, is that daylight down that way? Or more fire? Maybe it's the way out."
"It better be because this fire is angry and it's a few feet away and OW! Singeing my feet, run fast, Dash. This will be really bad if it catches me."
"Roasted little brother is not on the menu. Come on, I think our way out of this burning hell is just a little further. "
A little further was farther than it appeared, but we flashed to the finish and tripped into the light at the end of the tunnel. Landing hard and flat on our faces as an immense ball of flames blew out of the cavern exit and over our heads.
Outside. Now we lay on the ground. Stomachs flat on the rocky surface. Our faces coated in black smudge. Eyes red from chemical ash. Clothes and hair singed. Breathing hard. Inches away from behind burned to smithereens.
Not the most successful of jobs.
I rolled to my side facing my brother as he did the same.
"Well, you made fire." I said between breaths. "There's that."
"Remind me to never do that again. Remind me never to listen to you again."
I stood, pulling Tanner with me, checking him over. Nothing too bad, just some scrapes and scraps. Now we just had to figure out how to get back to our speeder. We were on Terra, but across the planet. The trip home would be long.
"Any idea where our ride is?" I asked, scanning the horizon with my burning eyes.
"Well, we came from that way" he pointed back. "So, best guess. Let's start walking."
"I don't suppose you can use your magic to..."
"Not a compass, Dash. Not a compass."
"Next time, I'm leaving you at home."
"No argument from me."
Exhausted and filthy, we started our slow walk toward where we hoped our speeder was still parked. Assuming my now ex-client hadn't stolen or blown it up. My money was on the latter. In which case, it would be a really long trip home.
Could be worse. At least I wasn't alone. Wasn't long ago I thought I'd be spending the rest of my miserable life alone. Then Force boy came into my life and that was that.
And speaking of... "I still want to punch you in the face though," came Tanner again, as I strode up next to him. His poor excuse for a temper tantrum surfacing again.
"At least we didn't explode. That was something. You can punch me once we get home. Whenever that is."
"You think our speeder is gone, don't you?"
"Think?" No, thinking involved. That thing was long gone. I was sure of it. "Pretty confident, yup."
Reaching into his tunic, Tanner pulled out his hidden comlink. The one my ex-client didn't find as he searched us for weapons just before he'd hurled us into the flammable cavern. He handed the small device to me. "You're calling him."
Colton. Damn it. He really would punch me in the face. But it was either call him or find a way to hitch or con our way home. I ripped the comm from his hand.
"Maybe we just..." I hesitated.
"We just nothing. Call him and get us out of here before your insane client tosses us into a pit full of gundarks next."
"That. Would not end well. I'll call."
The voice on the other end did indeed threaten to kill me. Mostly for losing his speeder, less for almost getting myself and my little brother killed. Priorities, you know. Wasn't the first time with that particular threat, though he'd never yet followed through with it. He would, however, give me crap janitorial duty at the bar for a while. Also, not the first time. I'd take it. I'd earned it.
One of Colton's security picked us up. Two hours later. On our way home. Tanner gave up his own grudge against me and settled into the backseat. His magic that I so carelessly joked about at times really wasn't something to be taken lightly. At least not all of the time. The larger efforts tended to drain him; like the one needed to get us out of this latest mess. Beyond tired, beyond exhausted, he leaned against me for the duration of the trip, eventually letting his eyes close and finding a well deserved sleep.
And this was us. Out of our bind and with another unexpected, crazy adventure now in the past.
END
