Never Hurts To Help

Chapter Ten: The Cave


Sylvia's finally made her discission. Now she and Wander just have to get off the planet somehow. Then she needs to decide what she wants to do after that…

Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on the last chapter. I really appreciate it, and I'm so glad everyone liked how the turn was written.

Enjoy!

"You're kidding me," Sylvia said flatly. "You have a ship?" Wander's face looked sheepish in the dim light filtering into their hiding place.

"It's not a 'ship' per-say but…" Wander paused, smiling up at her. he dug around in his hat for a moment before pulling out the small blue bottle and holding it up.

"An orble transporter?" Sylvia snatched the bottle, examining it critically. The liquid sloshed inside; almost full.

"Haven't ya seen one before?"

Sylvia shrugged. She'd seen one, sure. At a distance, and usually on the more wealthy and 'peaceful' planets. They were pretty expensive for what amounted to a small, delicate bubble you could float around in. It looked a little fragile, even while traveling on a single planet. The idea that Wander used it to travel through deep space, probably having to evade asteroids, laser fire and galactic anomalies, on his own no less, gave her the shivers.

"Never ridden in one before." She continued eyeing the bottle with curiosity mixed with distaste.

"There's a first time for everything!" Wander sounded painfully chipper. Sylvia shrugged aside her uncertainty to glare at Wander accusingly.

"That's beside the point anyway. You had this the whole time, while we were sneaking through town and dodging blaster fire to try and steal that old ship out there?"

"Well, sure!"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I did try but," Wander shrugged his slim shoulders, "ya didn't seem ta want any advice."

That stopped Sylvia in her tracks. It had been said in Wander's usual cheerful tone; there was certainly no accusation behind it, yet a flood of guilt washed over the zbornak at the reminder. Thinking back, she did remember that he'd tried to make a suggestion before they headed into town, but she'd shut him down before he could actually get around to telling her anything. She hadn't wanted his advice. As a matter of fact, she hadn't even wanted to talk to him, just to drag him along with her until they reached the rendezvous point so she could get him off her hands and collect her money.

Now here they were, hiding out together from the people she'd been trying to sell him to.

What a difference only a few days could make.

She glanced over again at the opening to the outside, where the wan rays of light were just barely able to fight their way through the choking mist and provide some slight illumination. She wondered absently if the sun ever shone brightly on this planet. They had moved even farther back from the entrance now, to where the ceiling got lower, and Sylvia had to duck to avoid brushing against the slick surface of the rock overhead. There was a kind of passageway further on, but they hadn't explored it yet. Sylvia wanted to keep the outside in her view while they talked. She didn't want to chance getting trapped in the dark somewhere, and a light source was risky.

Wander was sitting next to her on the floor, no longer on her back, but nearby in case they had to plow their way through any intruders. So far, all they'd heard of Lady Infinite's soldiers were some occasional footfalls and distant voices, which meant that the odds they hadn't been seen had gotten at least a little higher. They weren't late for the handoff yet, so if their 'visitors' hadn't found their ship, they were probably waiting for them to arrive.

Sylvia turned back to Wander.

"Okay, so we have this…thing." She wiggled the bottle again, still not particularly happy about the idea. "But that won't help us while that massive ship is up there. It'll spot us the second we take off, and we'll be out the open and sitting targets, even if it travels at a half-decent speed."

She handed the bottle back to Wander, who looked at it consideringly before slipping it back into his hat.

"Ya might be surprised about the speed, but we would be seen, fer sure. Ol' Lady I's real persistent too, once she get's her eyes on you." Wander stroked the hairs on his chin, looking thoughtful.

"So, what else you got?" Sylvia hoped Wander was taking this seriously. His tone seemed a little too casual for their situation.

"Well, she's a bit of a homebody! Likes ta stay on her big old ship an' let her armies do tha talkin' most of the time."

Boots thumped by outside, and both aliens fell silent, eyes on the opening until the noise faded. Once it was quiet again, Sylvia turned back to the little nomad.

"So, you're saying she probably didn't come down to the planet?"

"I'd be surprised if she had, t' be honest."

"Even if it's to catch you?"

Wander shrugged again.

"She'd rather hang out in her throne room an' look all impressive for when they bring me in."

"Hmmm…" Sylvia considered, still keeping one eye on the entrance in case of surprises. Their enemy not being here in person was a potential positive at least, though if she didn't have to micromanage them, that could mean her army was fairly efficient. "What are her soldiers like?"

"Oh, they're all real swell folks!"

"What?"

"Real nice an' friendly with each other. An' they sure know how ta have fun! They hold a square dance every second Tuesday, an' ya should see 'em goin' at it!"

Sylvia stared at Wander, and he smiled back, apparently oblivious. He really didn't get it. After a few moments she decided she had to say something.

"I don't care how much they like each other; I meant their skill level! How well organized are they, how strong, stuff like that!"

"Oooooh." Wander deflated a little at her tone. He paused, seeming to think. "I can't really speak ta strength all that much, they're a pretty diverse bunch, an' we all have our own strengths an' weaknesses, ya know? They are very organized though! An' they do a lotta trainin'. That's why they can only have a dance every other week. It's when they get tha chance ta let their hair down, so to speak, given they don't actually have any."

Sylvia rolled her eyes at Wander's commentary. She tried to sift through what he'd said in her mind to find the relevant information. A strong, organized group of soldiers was something she had to deal with occasionally, whenever she'd managed to rip off someone a little too powerful and she needed to make herself scarce from whatever territory they controlled.

She glanced down at Wander, sitting happily beside her. How reliable was his information, really? Sure, she was willing to work with the little guy, but his perspective on things still seemed a little warped, in the nicest way possible, of course. The way he talked about the soldiers, as though they were old friends, was just so strange. Still, he was the only one who'd ever encountered them before. If anyone knew what to expect, it would have to be him. She just didn't get how he could talk about them so happily when they were out there right now trying to capture him.

Come to think of it, that was exactly how he'd been acting with her, right from the very beginning.

That thought gave her pause. Wander seemed to act like everyone was his friend. He was nice, and polite, and helpful to all the villains and enemies he came across, and even though he'd explained it to her before, she still felt like she hadn't gotten the full picture.

And suddenly, she had to know, even while the time was ticking away before the soldiers up above started searching for them in earnest, even knowing they needed to use that time wisely to escape.

"Hey, Wander…?" She heard the hesitation in her tone and tried to tamp down on it, hoping to sound more casual. Wander looked up at her, familiar smile just visible in the dimness.

"Yeah, Sylvia?"

"Why were you so nice to me when we first met? I know you said you like helping people and you had fun traveling with me, but you knew why I'd captured you. What if I'd actually gone through with it? I was going to, right up until twenty minutes ago. What would you have done then?" She hesitated a moment, an unwelcome trickle of suspicion winding its way through her. "You didn't know this was going to happen, did you?"

Wander's smile had vanished as she spoke. His face was serious as he seemed to study her, all his attention on her face. It was the most serious she'd ever seen him look.

"A'course I didn't know," he said quietly after a moment. "I can't control how ya feel about somethin', or tha choices yer gonna make, Sylvia. But that's no reason not to be nice an' try ta help a buddy out." Now he smiled again, a little sadly. "I guess I jus' figured we could be friends, but if ya didn't want to, then that'd be that, I suppose."

"So, you'd just have let me hand you over?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time, an' it prolly won't be the last." Abruptly, Wander straitened, smile growing stronger again as he stared determinably up at her. "It was worth it. What matters is we got ta spend some time together an' have a little fun. It's like I always say; an enemy's just a friend you haven't made yet."

Sylvia scoffed at the sentiment, covering up the twinge of unpleasant feeling inside her. She didn't like thinking of the little fuzzball as an enemy, not after everything. Instead, she focused on what he'd said before.

"Is that why you want me to come with you so bad? You think we can be friends?"

Wander's smile widened. He stood abruptly, hands clasped in front of himself, eyes sparkling up at her.

"The way I figure, we already are, an' even if ya don't wanna come with me, we'll still be friends, even if we're galaxies apart. I've had a lotta friends who weren't able or didn't want ta come traipsing across the stars with me, an' that didn't make 'em any less special."

"Huh." Sylvia wasn't sure what to say to that. Ordinarily she'd dismiss it as a pack of baloney, sentimental hogwash she was too savvy to fall for, but somehow it didn't come across that way when Wander said it, maybe because it was obvious he meant it with all his heart. 'Friends' wasn't the word she would have chosen for the two of them. They were barely allies, so far as she was concerned. But she supposed she could believe that Wander thought of them that way. That was certainly how he'd been acting all along.

Friends.

Sylvia didn't really have friends at this point in her life. She had contacts, informants, resources, but not friends. They were too much trouble to be worth it in her experience. The closest thing to a friend she'd had recently had been her former partner, and she'd seen how well that had gone. Friends were a nothing but a hinderance, a weakness she couldn't afford, and potential backstabbers when things got hairy.

She looked over her small companion again, forcing herself to be critical.

Wander wasn't a backstabber; she couldn't imagine that little orange body holding even a tiny hint of betrayal, but he was a weakness, a liability. If she was thinking clearly, she wouldn't even be considering tagging along with him after everything was over. She'd wave goodbye and go back to her business, and let him wander off into the clutches of the next bounty hunter that came along.

That would be the easiest thing to do, but the thought wasn't very attractive, no matter how she tried to convince herself.

Besides…was that thinking clearly? By that logic, she should have just stuck to her agreement and handed him over instead of risking her life to get them out of here like she was doing right now. But she hadn't been able to. Despite herself, Sylvia liked the little weirdo. Once she'd gotten past being a ruthless bounty hunter, it had been kind of nice to travel with someone who didn't have an ulterior motive, who actually liked her and wanted to travel with her. It had been difficult for her to realize that for a while, between trying to shut him down and agonizing over handing him over, but Wander was actually kind of fun to be around. That last evening they'd spent together in the forest was pleasant, his happy chatter and the music he'd played had been soothing, and cooking and eating dinner with him had been nicer than all the times she'd done it alone.

"Hey, Sylvia? Where do ya think this leads?"

Sylvia glanced up to find that while she'd been thinking, Wander had walked away from her a little, over to the back of the cave where the passage narrowed and continued under the next set of huge rocks. Rising, Sylvia joined him, crouching to keep the condensation covered rock ceiling away from her head and neck. She pushed her uncertain thoughts away again, still no closer to a decision.

"No idea," she said. She eyed what they could see of the passage critically. The light was even dimmer at the back, and the air was thick with mist. The passage was narrow. She would fit, but there wouldn't be a lot of leeway if it got much smaller as it went further in. "Why?"

"Ya wanna check it out? Might lead somewhere interestin'!" Wander was giving her that conspiratorial little grin again, and despite everything, Sylvia almost wanted to grin back, some of his enthusiasm trickling through her. She glanced back at the entrance again; quiet right now. It would really be nice to have a back exit out of here, and to get a better idea of the lie of the land. She usually scouted meeting locations pretty thoroughly when she arrived, but she'd been too distracted to think about that earlier.

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, "but I'm going first, and we're turning back if it gets too tight." Wander nodded happily. Sylvia took a step forward, stretching her neck into the passage. It was very dark, the thick fog clouding what little light reached inside, muting it so it revealed nothing. "We'll need some kind of light, but not too bright or someone might see it." Sylvia's voice had dropped to a whisper involuntarily. It was that kind of passage.

"I've probably got somethin'!" She could hear Wander rummaging in his hat once more. How did he even find things in there? It must be an incredible jumble, not to mention pretty full given the sheer number of items she'd seen him pull out.

Finally, he withdrew his arm, a gentle glow coming with him. He held out his hand to her and Sylvia looked skeptically at what seemed to be a softly lighted egg. When she took it, she noticed it was squishy.

"Is this the only light source you have?"

"Guess so!" Wander stuck his tongue out slightly, arms raised helplessly. "Ya said we should try to keep the light down." Sylvia shrugged. She supposed it didn't matter. Holding the egg out in front of her, she started forward into the passage.

The light was really not much help. All it really did was make the mist in front of her face more visible, but if she held it up, she could just see what passed for a ceiling, which let her know how much she had to duck so she didn't hit her head on any protrusions. Behind her, Wander's footsteps were almost silent, except when she heard him slip slightly on the slick rocks. This passage seemed less sandy, which made the footing more treacherous than it had been in the main cave, but it did feel good to be doing something, rather than just waiting in the hole they'd found. It didn't seem to be narrowing any more so far either, so Sylvia pressed onward.

In the back of her mind, she was still turning over the information she'd gotten, trying to formulate a plan. Hopefully exploring this tunnel would help with that, though they might still have to fight their way out in the end, in which case…

She glanced over her shoulder, though she could barely see Wander now, the glowing egg completely useless in that regard. She was pretty sure he wouldn't be much help in a fight, although he seemed pretty good at dodging. Still, it was surprisingly nice to have him with her. It made the dark and dampness feel less oppressive, and the soldiers outside a less daunting obstacle. She still didn't know what she was going to do after they escaped, but for now, she guessed she might as well enjoy being with him.

They were in this together for now, and that thought was more comforting than she'd imagined.


Thanks for reading!

Sylvia's actually planning with Wander, finally, though they are still getting used to each other. She's still not sure whether to travel with him after they escape. It's tempting, but she keeps second guessing what she wants to do.

Well, we didn't get as far as I thought we would this chapter. Sylvia and Wander ended up having a talk instead. Probably two more chapters left after this one, but we'll see.

Learning to Swim or Wherever The Wind Takes Me will be updated next. Hope I'll see you there!