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originally posted in:The Black Garden
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Edited by Eterteeter:
2/17/2014 10:33:53 PM
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The Longest Stride Chapter 5: Old Man's Treasure
The Longest Stride
Chapter 5: Old Man's Treasure
The thunderous echo rocked the cave with a mighty roar. Boulders fell down to the surface, creating a mini quake that threw Leslie off guard. He fumbled with his notepad until it slipped out of his hands and fell into the path of the falling debris. It was crushed under the great weight of the rocks, but he had no time cry over it now. He felt his arm being tugged at as his brain started thinking for itself. His legs started moving as they tried to keep up with MacGraw's pace. The two ran while the collapse came to a halt. Once further away, they turned around and observed the damage. Suddenly, Leslie felt dizzy and his body gave way to darkness.
Sunlight stuck his eyes with great intensity, it would have been worse had it not been for his helmet. His body shivered as he tried to move off of the cool ground below. He got to his feet and stared at the cloudy sky. He was high above the lower lands, which were covered with green coloring. He could see something further off in the distance that hid in the shadow of another mountain range. It looked to be a small settlement, but the walk to it would take a good day or two on foot. Nevertheless, Leslie reached for his writing materials but remembered the scene in the cave. His thoughts instantly jumped to Chloe and Curtis.
Turning around, he saw MacGraw leaning against a flat wall next to the opening of the cave. He too looked off into the distance, acting as though important matters were nonexistent. He noticed Leslie standing there.
"You alive, boy?" MacGraw's tone was serious as usual. Leslie frowned under his helmet.
"Yeah, thanks for asking." Leslie noticed Mac's stance was slouched, "Your leg?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Mac said but it was already too late. Leslie walked over to hunter and stuck out his arms. A orange mass of energy formed around his hands and a warming sensation found its way into Mac's left leg. "I said I'm fin-ugh."
"By the sound of that grunt, you don't seem ok to me."
"And how would you know?"
"Because, it's what I do."
Minutes passed as Leslie silently healed MacGraw's leg until he shrugged the boy off. Another period of silence followed as the two observed the landscape. The view from other side of the mountain range was something else, beyond where they stood lay a field of tall trees. Even further in the distance, next to the settlement, hid a small pond that reflected the grey sky above. More mountains aligned the border, their bulky shapes protected whatever cowered behind them. Leslie judged that their jounrey would take much longer than he had originally predicted. He looked back at the cave.
"The others?" the urgency in his voice poured out in the form of a question.
"Inside."
"We have to back for them."
"There are no other pathways that lead to them." Mac's tone couldn't have sinked any lower. Leslie felt his anger begin to brew. "I've checked. Wonder how I injured my leg?"
Leslie walked over to the entrance, but was blocked by a firm hand. "Let me go in, I have to go save them."
"They'll make it."
"You don't know that." the flame grew stronger.
"There is no need. Your father and Chloe.... they can handle themselves." his sentence almost stopped when her name was mentioned. "Besides, let'em get bashed around. She needs the experience."
"What is wrong with you?"
"I'm not in the position to worry about petty matters. I have other priorities." a feeling of bitterness snaked through his comments.
"Do you even care about her?" Leslie's flame died out the minute the question left his lips. He instantly regretted the words that flowed out of his mouth, but that didn't hinder him. Mac stood motionless, his hand still held Leslie back. He pushed the hand away and started walking into the dark abyss.
"..."
The tunnel suddenly became illuminated by a misty glow that brightened up the arching rocks. Leslie stopped in his tracks once a figure concealed by vapor emerged from the wall. The cloak that it wore was covered in tatters and the trimmings shined with the color of gold. It pointed towards a set path, then started to slowly hover backwards in that direction. Leslie stuck out his hand, but the figure was already gone without much of a trace. Only a faint outline remained further down ahead.
Walking past the baffled navigator, Mac's footsteps echoed loudly. His hand tightly gripped the hand cannon, his other was balled into a fist. "I do."
The two finally caught up to the misty figure, again it pointed towards a wall with a distinct current flowing underneath it. It phased right through it, disappearing into solid wall. Leslie inspected the spot, quickly finding a trigger thanks to his knowledge of rock formation. Pressing on an uneven space, the outline combined with the wall and revealed a secret path. They walked in without question, with MacaGarw leading the way.
Through the twist revealed a secluded room, it was empty for the most part. Old lockers lined themselves in prefect rows and benches sat still in the corners. Leslie's helmet light granted light to the darker areas, in particular was a jammed locker. He played around the door until it opened and jerked back as something fell out. Shining his flashlight, light bounced off of a yellow lining and blinded them slightly.
[i]Gold trimmings[/i]
A decaying body stared back at them, it's aging robes and beard suggested that it had been in there for a long time. But what caught Leslie's attention was a silver gun that leaned against the back of the locker. Picking it up, he ran his fingers on the components of the weapon. There was no slot for a magazine or clip, a latch opened up at the bottom instead. The handle was connected to the stock and the trigger was guarded by a metal railing. Below the serial number was an etching.
"RG 31055245157" Leslie questioned.
"A railgun." Mac said.
"TNT." the carving made an image of the ancient explosive appeared in Leslie's mind. Miners would use these explosives to blast away the rocks that impeded their path, they often were the death of many innocent workers.
"There's some ammo for it by the corpse." Mac again pointed towards the body, next to where the gun was located was a pouch. Inside were three small cartridges, each about the size of a stick of dynamite. Leslie hooked the pouch to his hip and held the railgun firmly. "Hold on to that closely, we may need it."
A couple of rumbles threw the two off as the figure from earlier manifested. They could see the man up close, his beard hung down from his shadowed face. Leslie finally put two and two together, the figure in front of them was the Old Man of the mountain. And the body that sat against the wall was that same old man, as suggested by the robes and the decaying beard. The now identifiably man pointed at another entrance just as the sounds of gunplay echoed through the room. The man then faded into nothing as the two ran towards the opening.
__________
"You ever been in a battle before, Chloe?" Curtis excitingly asked as they hid behind their cover. She turned to him.
"Nothing like this before."
"Well let me tell ya!" Curtis jumped over the cover spot and skidded down the rocky cliffside. "That feeling you get from battling is amazing; every second the bullets fly is another second at Death's door. You survive the battle, you live to see another day!"
Curtis bolted right into the crowd of enemies, his shotgun propelling round after round. A weakling to his left fell victim to a powerful kick, while another to his right was blown apart by the beast of a weapon. Chloe watched as the fearless leader plowed through the Fallen with relative ease, only sustaining minor dents and nicks to his armor plating. He hid behind a rotting machine and luckily for her, she could pick off the ones who focused their attention on Curt. She lined up her shots one by one, her adversaries fell with well placed bursts. Before the dust could even settle from the the kickback of dirt, a good portion of lower ranking Fallen lied dead in their own pool of blood. The pirates cried out in anger as the shooting stopped and the Elder emerged from the gathering crowd.
Curtis emerged from the machine, pointing his shotgun at the giant alien. He pumped the gun and aimed right for the captain's head. The gun ignited, spraying pellets of lead. A loud clinging noise erupted as the Elder pulled out all four of his holstered swords and blocked himself from the bullets. He grunted as some hit others parts of his legs and torso, but his swords managed to deflect most of the shot. Curtis sighed.
"Ah, a son of the Schild family." the Elder sounded surprised.
"So your the one who killed my father and fathers before him? It's bout' time we met."
"You have been elusive so far, yet here you are. I have other plans, so I shall make your death a quick one."
"Curtis, what are you doing?" Chloe commented.
Curtis threw his gun to the ground below while the Fallen leader tossed a sword towards him. Chloe watched in confusion. Picking up the blade, Curt smirk under his helmet. "Your not going anywhere. I have something you want!"
[b]Continues Below[/b]
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14 Replies"Ha! Other than your life, you have nothing worth value to m-" The Elder stopped as Curtis flashed a small object from one of his secured pockets. Chloe couldn't really tell, but she guessed that the pirate's jaw had dropped as low as it could. "Vile creature! How dare you taunt me with the relic! You are the carrier!?" "Curt, don't do this!" Chloe yelled into the channel, but Curtis seemed untouched by her warning. A dangerous game was about to be played, the winner would be coated in the blood of his cocky competitor. Curtis placed the relic back in his pocket and loosely waved the Fallen blade in his hand. The Elder took his taunt as a challenge and charged the Titan without warning, going straight for the final blow. It was easily blocked by the fearless leader who then quickly countered with a diagonal slash, the veteran barely dodged the attack. The Elder backed away and rushed the startled Curtis. Three blades came crashing down on one weaker one, but the force wasn't powerful enough to blow through. Curtis smirk grew larger as he pushed against the blade. The clinging of forged metal kept the surrounding crowd silent, including Chloe. "What's wrong old man, your slipping." Curt mocked. His smile disappeared as saw a hidden fourth blade coming at his side. Letting go of the one hand pushing against the blade, he blocked the blade with the padding on his arm. He felt the blood begin to trickle down but another smile snuck up on his lips. But it was Curtis who made the mistake, the face made by the veteran fighter suggested defeat. All four blades began to glow and flicker with a faint blue. Curtis instantly lost all feeling in his body as it was meet with a shock of electricity. He held his ground until the pain bit at all parts of his body, causing him to fall to his knees. The Elder unleashed a power blow to the stomach and an even more powerful kick to the same place. He flew back and laid flat, occasionally twitching and shivering as his body fought off the voltage. All Chloe could do was watch and aim her rifle at the Elder, deciding that she had seen enough. "Do not move human, or I will kill you where you stand." the familiarly cold voice cause Chloe to freeze as the image of the Fallen captain emerged in her mind. He tapped the back of her helmet, which only made her frantic to think of a plan. Curtis had the energy to move his head up, only to realize that he his arm was bleeding badly from the impact. The Elder walked up to him, his tall shadow and scowl would be the last thing he saw. "Playtime is done. On this day, another Schild falls to my sword." The veteran rose the three blades high in the air. "Leave my father alone!" a distant voice echoed through the cavern and caught the attention of everyone. All eyes were on the two figures that stood in an opening high above, their weapons were pointed at the Elder. Chloe could see the familiar brown duster hat and dark trench coat, while the other held something she had never seen before. The Elder laughed and so did the rest of the crowd. "And what do you expect to do, boy?" The Elder question hysterically. "This." Leslie warned the curious leader by pointing [i]TNT[/i]at the hanging stalactites. The gun shot out a orang flicker of light that quickly exploded on the ceiling, causing the whole cavern to shake and rumble. The spears broke off from the ceiling and smashed anything below it, which just happened to be a crowd of unsuspecting space pirates. Lots of screams and painful moans roared as the two captains stood still. Chloe took advantage of the confusion and and delivered a low kick to the captain behind her. He fell down to ground, a loud thud accompanied him. She pointed the gun and pulled the trigger, but the gun was smacked out off the way. A fist connected with the alien's chest, he coughed as the heavy punch shattered his lung. Her second fist came down, but it was caught by four hands which then proceeded to toss her like a twig. She was surprised by his strength, but caught herself in mid flight and landed on her feet. She jumped down the cliffside and slid down into adequate cover. MacGraw bolted from his position as the falling spears finished their rampage. Landing, he shot those who stood their ground. Within seconds; the standing collection of foot soldiers had been diminished, reduced to only a few who were lucky enough to find cover. Leslie follow while carefully shooting the explosive gun. The Elder stood tall as Mac pointed the small glowing revolver at the him. "How dare you interrupt my battle?" The Elder asked. The revolver's glow grew brighter. "Stand down." Mac's words were clear, despite the occasional shots from Chloe's rifle. "I only counted six shots." the Elder snorted as Chloe and Leslie pointed their weapons at him. "My blade will cut you down faste-" The speech was painted in blood as a sword from behind impelled him in the chest. A glowing bullet from the hand cannon tore through the air and into the head of the verteran, ending his life before he could react. He fell flat in front of Mac, behind him stood the injured Curtis with a swords in hand. Leslie came over just in time to catch his father just while Chloe and Mac reconvened. They watched as the boy began to heal the man, the orange flow swallowed Curt's large wound. "I only counted six...as well." Curtis coughed. "We need to leave before this place collapses." Mac began to walk to one of the openings, standing in the threshold with his arms crossed. Chloe assisted Leslie in picking up Curtis and the three began to walk until Curt stopped. Turning around, Curtis looked down upon the dead captain. He felt pride in seeing his dead body, for he could rest easily knowing his father would be proud. A rumbling shook the cave, warning the group that their time was up. Rocks began to fall from the ceiling as they picked up the pace. Mac lead them through the twist of the narrow pathway, periodically looking back to make sure they were keeping up with him. The opening they came from was no more, large boulders blocked any hope of going through that entrance. The outside air blew at them as they arrived at a cliffside. A breath of relief escaped Chloe, which was met by a quick grunt for Mac. Chloe and Leslie laid Curtis against a wall while Mac looked away. A blue vapor caught Leslie's attention, his legs began moving in that direction until he stood in front of other path. The faint outline of machines with much needed supplies stared back at him. "Hey guys." Leslie called out from the far around the side of the cliff. "I think I found another way around the mountain." Chloe happily sighed and shook her head along with everyone else as they began to pick their feet up again, they began the long trek back to the waiting speeder bikes. __________ They drove the bikes for a hour or so until Curtis could go no more. Setting up a stable camp site was less of a challenge, the forest setting provided the needed materials. Night fell in good timing as Curtis slept in his tent; even in his sleep, he kept complaining that he could take on more had it not been for Leslie's untimely rescue. Mac kept watch from a far distance some couple yards away, leaving Chloe and Leslie to chat with each other by a roaring fire. The two talked about their experiences, Chloe did much of talking. She felt like Curt, in a sense that she could take on much more. From what Curtis had said; she seemed pretty excited for the next battle, that's was just the beginning for her. Leslie phased in and out, his ears focused less on her words and his eyes seemed to be more focused on her as a whole. Her face shined in the firelight and her happy expression melted away at him. He was really glad to see that she was upbeat. "Leslie? Are you even listening?" her question broke the spell that consumed the poor navigator. All he could do in response was shake his head. "Anything happen between you and MacGraw?" she asked. His name burned in the back of his mind, the small flame reignited. "Does he care about you?" he cleared his clouded mind, but immedatly shut his mouth when he realized he was thinking out loud. Her expression fell flat while a short slience drifted in. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I-" "Why do you ask?" her tone change, not much for the better. "Well. We found our way outside and when I asked him about you and my dad, he made it seem as though you two would never see the light of day ever again. He sounded so.....inconsiderate." "Yeah, he can be like that." she frowned but continued, "He treats a lot people like that. Trust me, I know how you feel. I've been through years of it." "Then, why continue to follow him? I've seen how he treats you, its not right at all. Why not leave?" "It wasn't easy living with him, but life in last stronghold on Earth isn't very easy either. I know he seems shallow and cold, disrespectful, brutal, the list goes on." she paused and lowered head slightly, but came back up with a light smile, "But, he has taught my everything I know. He did his best to provide for me and keep me safe, even if that meant doing something to me that I know he would regret later. I'm not sure what, but something happened to him that caused the man from before to shut himself away from everyone that cared about him." [b]One more scroll[/b]
