Finding a Drone? (High-Fives!)

[Anonymous]

Serentia glanced around one of the darker tunnels of Teinar. I suppose it could be a possibility, but it's too close to the main city. she mused. Heresy was wrapped around her arm, eyes glowing. "Bah. I need to have a source of drones before I can think of a hive location." She muttered, heading back towards the main city. Heresy chittered something and she sighed. "No, Heresy. You're only the source of DNA. You won't be transformed into a lowly drone. You're too precious for that."

She paused at a tunnel with some of the lights dying. "Hm. Perhaps someone might be coming by for that. And where there is prey... There is a predator." She slunk into the shadows and did her best to nullify her hivemind aura, leaving only enough to keep Heresy under control.

[Anonymous]

[center:2xit8qhq]The strap of a trusty patchwork-leather bag dug further into Fives' shoulder as she quickly bound her way down the dark corridor. Someone in her department had been slacking, and it was up to her, as usual, to take care of business. As she approached the flickering floodlight, she heaved the heavy sack off of her back and tossed it to the ground with a clattering thud. These days she was used to doing things a bit more cautiously, but tonight her nerves were shot, and she just wanted to get the job done and get back home.

"I can't believe they let it get this bad" she grumbled to herself, as she examined the light-source. "Hopefully its just burning out, that would make my day a heck of a lot easier..." She rummaged through her pack and retrieved a few bundles of glowing vine. Their bio-luminescence only lasted so long after being harvested, but hopefully it would suffice for this job.[/center:2xit8qhq]

[Anonymous]

Serentia watched Fives. She grinned slightly at the irritation emanating off of the girl and watched silent. A faint clawing sound echoed through the tunnel and her grin widened. And so the predator comes forth. she thought. Heresy let out a quick chitter, showing he was a little afraid, and he crawled down Serentia's back. Break through the wall... Come on... she urged the creature down the tunnel.

Heresy clung tightly to Serentia's back, eyes faintly glowing. Mistress... He chittered in the mild telepathic language he used. That creature isn't fit enough. Serentia rolled her eyes and hissed, "Which is why it will be a drone only. A slave caste of sorts." She kept her voice down, not wanting to reveal herself to the target of the creature in the wall.

[Anonymous]

[center:2xru342x]Bulb-in-hand, Fives hoisted herself up on part of the crumbling wall. Her own source of light made the flickering a bit more bearable, but it was still a pain. She nimbly exchanged the fresh bulb for the presumably faulty one, but the flickering persisted.

"Damn," she grunted, "Looks like its going to be a long night." As she repositioned to dismount the side of the tunnel, a noise caught her attention, causing the old bulb to slip out of her hand and land squarely on her big toe. Yelping an incomprehensible curse or two, she instinctively reached for the source of her pain, causing her to tumble to the ground as well.

She hit the ground a lot harder than she expected. Once she caught her breath, she noticed a sharp pain in her right arm. The bulb had shattered when it hit the ground, and she was lucky enough to land in most of the shards. She sat herself up as close to the vines as she could get, and proceeded to pry the bigger pieces of glass from her flesh, expletives flying all the while. Whatever had caught her attention before was obviously no longer a priority...[/center:2xru342x]

[Anonymous]

Serentia stiffled a giggle. "Oh how the mortals worry about their flesh when they should worry about what WILL happen to their flesh." she whispered. A sharp crack echoed through the tunnel and the sound of rocks falling onto the floor was heard. Sharp clicking sounds grew louder as the creature came closer. Coming into the light was a scorpion-like creature, pure white. The tail curled around the side of the body and mandibles clicked audibly. It was at least 5 feet long and a good three feet high.

Serentia took in a sharp breath as she beheld the creature. It was the perfect combination of strength and defense. She stepped into the light. "You might want to worry about what WILL happen to you, girl!" she called, causing the scorpid to turn its attention to the queen. Her eyes swirled with psionic energy. The scorpid didn't back down and decided that she was too much trouble and turned its attention to the downed woman and advanced.

[Anonymous]

[center:1ofouuu0]Fives barely had time to react before the creature burst fourth from the tunnel wall and set its way towards her. Clinging to the base of the light, the young woman heard a voice that she could not quite make out calling to her from the shadows. She shouted at the figure in desperation, "Hey, uh... a little help?"

The floodlight flickered about in a futile attempt to perform its duty one last time, then it went black. Now the only source of light came from three small piles of vines, and it wasn't providing the kind of protection Fives would have hoped for. The scorpid closed the gap quickly, with an unsettling grace.

Why isn't it afraid of the light?

Clicks and clatters turned in to vibrations and hums as the creature excitedly stared down its helpless victim. It was only a few feet away, but Fives could already feel the clammy heat emanating from its carapace. Luckily, Fives' trusty pack was within reach. She grabbed the strap as best she could with one bum arm and swung the hefty bag towards what passed for the monsters face...[/center:1ofouuu0]

[Anonymous]

The scorpid was hit squarely in the face and let out a screech. Just as the tail raised, Serentia exploded her hivemind aura throughout the area. "Stop!" She commanded. The creature instantly did and backed off. Keeping her aura focused on the creature, she stepped forward. "Come here." The scorpid obeyed instant and did a poor imitation of a bow. "Good. Now you know who's in charge." Serentia laid a hand on the carapace of the creature and grinned. "This creature was only looking for escape. That's all." It let out a small hiss in agreement. "Now, it has someone to provde discipline."

Heresy looked at Serentia and clicked. "Go pry the glass out of her arm. She won't be able to get all of it." Heresy obeyed and wound his way to Fives, looking at her and giving a strange, insectoid purr. Immediately, he set to work, pulling even the smallest shards out of the girl's arm.

[Anonymous]

[center:2tvoa6fl]Adrenaline still coursed throughout Five's body as she fell back to the ground in a slump. While the smaller arthropod went to work on her arm, the young woman's horrified gaze never left the large scorpid. She was used to creepy-crawlies the size of Heresy, but she had never encountered one so vicious and massive as the one that she had narrowly escaped. Escaped? More like 'been rescued from' she corrected herself, mid-thought.

"Th... Thanks," She stammered toward the still-obscured figure, "You really saved my arse. I owe you one, I guess." The young woman paused for a second to regain her composure and assess the damage to her limb. Blood trailed down her arm, dripped from her fingertips, and was spattered across the vines, giving the tunnel a rather eerie purple glow. She began to worry about how she was going to stop the bleeding when something occurred to her.
"Hey,  How did.... How did you manage to do that?"[/center:2tvoa6fl]

[Anonymous]

Serentia smiled. "I have a way with insects and arachnids." Heresy just pulled out the last shard of glass and swept them away with the lower part of his body before crawling back to Serentia, blood covering his face. He quickly scrbbed his face on the tunnel floor, shedding part of his carapace that grew back in a minute, before crawling back up Serentia's leg. "I'm Serentia. My little one is Heresy." The centipede chirpped and the scorpid tried to hide in the shadows, but the faint glow of his carapace gave him away.

[Anonymous]

[center:3b3ezl9f]Fives' eyes darted suspiciously between Serentia and the now-docile scorpid at her side. This all just seemed a little too convenient; introductions could wait. "Listen, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but... what are you doing out here in the dark?" Pulling herself to her feet, Fives kept a firm grip on her pack, just to be safe. The blood from her arm was still flowing, but it had slowed considerably since the scuffle. Finally her sense of self-preservation was kicking in, and blood loss was the least of her worries. "This is a fairly dangerous place," she added, eyes narrowing towards the monstrous creature, "...and I'm not just talking about the bugs." [/center:3b3ezl9f]

[Anonymous]

Serentia sighed. "I was actually looking for a creature. I just lucked out that you came along and caused it to panic." She ran a finger along the scorpid's head. "I won't explain why I needed a creature. That would probably sow more distrust, which is something I cannot have. Let's just say I have a plan to save a species." She smiled. "You might want to staunch that bleeding." The queen tapped the stone wall a couple times, sending a mental pobe into the stone. No other creatures were nearby. Now... if I just get this into the pod... Heresy suddenly screeched. Another creature was coming. One that was big. Serentia stroked Heresy, trying not to betray alarm.

[Anonymous]

[center:27mve4hw]The darkness of the tunnel before them seemed to move, lumbering its way towards their location in a slow, deliberate manner. An immense shadow zigged and zagged slowly across the corridor before finally coming into view. At first all that could be seen was  a cluster of pink, wriggling appendages, but a mass of fur and claw wasn't too far behind. Fives had heard stories about a creature like this, but it never occurred to her that it might be real.

"Ohshi- It's a Star Mole!" Fives whispered, half amazed. She put a finger against her lips and motioned for Serentia to come closer to her. If the stories were true, their best bet was to stay quiet and get in the light. The mole paused mid-stride, its tentacle-like snout probing the area around it. There was no doubt that it had heard their altercation, but it didn't seem to know exactly where they were just yet.

Trying her luck with the wall again, Fives clumsily examined the failed floodlight. Aha! she thought, breathing a sigh of relief, Its a wiring problem. This I can handle. Then she hopped down from the wall with a new found vigor, and began to rummage through her pack for just the right tool.

The mole's muzzle finally caught wind of something, and, once again, it slowly advanced down the tunnel toward them.[/center:27mve4hw]

[Anonymous]

Serentia paused. Star mole? She was curious, but she ordered her scorpid pet to go to the light and prepare to fight, whereas she tried to stay out of sight. Heresy, wisely, stayed silent. She was worried that she would lose her latest acquisition and considered fleeing. Just leave... I need to get to my small lab... She hissed silently, hoping the mole would leave soon.


(No muse...)