Remnants of the Earth
EDANITH => The Frontier => Topic started by: Nix on September 11, 2016, 09:09:41 pm
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Carmine had spent much of the day as he always did- lying around in the sun not really doing anything. That really was how he spent most of his time. As night approached he would begin to move. It wasn't that he was particularly active at night either, he just wanted to find somewhere less open to sleep as it got dark.
The barn he had been crashing in the last few nights seemed abandoned- which wasn't all THAT strange these days. With bandits and all sorts of unruly types on the frontier sometimes people just picked up and left. Or worse.
What was strange was that after sleeping curled up in the far corner he was awoken to a loud noise. Shit. Was someone here?
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It seemed like not only one person was here, but multiple people.
"Shit," a feminine voice resounded as Lillith stumbled backwards into the barn Carmine currenly was formerly sleeping in. "I got your cargo, I delivered it and I took my share," she said with a hand on the blaster on her hip. "I don't see the issue here. You're backstabbing me here," she argued.
A crew of three, rather unruly looking and armed, frontier dwellers seemed to grin and smirk at her, pistols drawn. "Aye, you did," one answered. "But ya see, ain't often there's a pretty thing like you here on the Frontier."
Her face screwed up. Really? Really?! She grit her teeth. Seventhreer was still on the ship, even if she was able to call him now, it'd take a tad too long. She slipped up again. "For fuck's sake," she murmured, still taking slow steps backwards, the men taking steps forward to follow her.
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His pointed ears twitched as he listened in on the conversation still half asleep. A deal gone south? Well as long as he wasn't caught up in it...
"ain't often there's a pretty thing like you here on the Frontier."
His blood felt like it froze in his veins at that comment. Shock, fear, memories all flooding back to him- and anger. The need to make a preemptive strike was too overwhelming to the red haired Naga, it didn't even matter to him that he wasn't their target.
It was different now. He wasn't small or helpless. He rose up from his hiding spot and slithered quickly withing striking distance, hissing and dripping venom as he flew into a rage, slashing at the backs of the three attackers, not even stopping to consider they were probably armed.
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As soon as an unknown being attacked Lillith's agressors, she jumped back flinging out the pistol and starting to fire at the men, making sure she wouldn't accidentally hit her saviour.
After several blaster shots, both Lillith and Carmine seemed to more or less emerge unscathed. She let out a soft sigh, stepping back. "At least I got my paycheck," she looked at the naga. "Thanks.."
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Carmine had more or less hidden when the gunfire started. He wasn't good with guns and a different sort of panic set in. He was hiding behind the haystack again, peering out briefly to make sure the girl was still ok and once he saw she was still standing he curled back up and closed his eyes shut, covering his ears and trying to get the image of blood out of his mind.
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Lillith looked around to find her saviour, only to see his head before he ducked behind cover again.
She frowned. It was afraid? While she had no idea why, maybe she felt compelled to console her saviour, but she walked over and got on one knee, leaning forward with an extended hand. "Hey.. It's alright," she murmured.
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Carmine opened his eyes as the woman approached. He pulled away and hissed a bit when she reached for him but he didn't make any agressive movement and certainly didn't look intimidating now. Just scared, maybe freaked out by his own actions too. He certainly didn't want to see the dead people, and he could clearly smell- even taste the blood in the air.
"You... You're ok?" He muttered looking at her, trying to focus on the positive instead of getting lost in his spiralling panic. His body relaxing enough to not be quite so tightly coiled.
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She smiled faintly at Carmine as he looked up, still holding out her hand in a disarming and friendly gesture. Yet it did feel so out of place, even as a professional smuggler, more than often met with both danger and death, she was about to get raped and dumped in a ditch right then and there. She made the mental note to keep Seventhreer closer at all times.
"I'm okay," she answered. "Thanks to you. I'm Lillith. Lillith Ebonheart."
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Carmine looked confused that her hand was still out. Unsure what the gesture was. He looked her up and down as if sizing her up. "Carmine. My name is Carmine." He muttered relaxing a bit more, I'm cooking more to slither a bit closer again, still unsure what the hand gesture was for.
"I'm glad they didn't hurt you." He said softly, trying not to think about how there were three bodies lying on the ground just behind the haystack, or how much blood there probably was.
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Lillith lowered her hand as she noticed the confused look on Carmine's face. But she still gave him the same faint smile. "Nice meeting you," she answered, sighing softly. "And thank you for saving me," she added, before pushing herself up. "Let's just.. Get out of here," the white haired woman offered, glancing over her shoulder momentarily.
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That seemed to snap him out of it a bit. Get out of here. But where? Where was he going to go? This was his spot for the night. He didn't want to spend the night out on the open frontier.
He looked at her, his expression more that of a lost puppy than a threatening snake.
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She momentarily chewed her lip as Carmine gave her the look of a lost puppy. She was familiar with the look and it was known to melt her heart in the past. This time was no different. "I.. Can take you to my ship? We'll see what happens from there?"
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"...you have a ship?" Carmine did want to get out of here but the idea of getting on a ship wasn't appealing either. At least it wasn't here though. With the scent of blood so thick. "Ok."
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Lillith nodded once more. "Yes. The Constantine," she answered with a faint smile. "I'll take you there," she answered as she pushed herself up. "It's the least I can do for my saviour," she added, still donning the same smile.
If Carmine decided to tag along, Lillith would walk towards one of the nearest landing patches of the frontier where her ship was parked, greeted by a canine android who was gaurding the ship. From both thieves and punks with spraypaint. As it spotted the beacon that was Lillith's pristine white hair between the crowds, it let out a mechanical bark and jumped down, awaiting his master eagerly. But he did detect another lifeform when she approached. "Seventhreer, this is Carmine. Enable gaurd protocols to his signature aswell," she immediately stated, before walking iver to give the machination a soft caress over it's head, before walking towards the ship.
Seventhreer, who was currently in his docile mode, emitting a soft mechanical humming as he trod, aswell as a soothing blue light came from it's eyes and cracksbbetween the armour, approached the naga. A soft mechanical croon resounded and the metal canine would be pushing it's nose against Carmine's hand in greeting, like a normal dog. The wiresm that substituted a tail wagging rapidly.
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Carmine did follow but was still uneasy, and for a whole new set of reasons. He did not look at the bodies as they left the barn but as they got further away and the scent of blood dissipated he began to breathe easier. Still. He didn't like being out at night. Too many beasts on the frontier, and it was too easy for him to be mistaken for one. Following Lillith did make things easier though.
He slithered after her and was doing alright still they got near the ship and- holy crackers what was that thing?! It acted and moved like both a beast and a machine! Instinctively Carmine puffed out his chest and hissed at it but then the human began talking to it. PETTING IT!
Carmine was really confused and looked back and forth between this 'Seventhreer' and Lillith, backing up a bit as the robotic beast approached him. He was frightened as it began nudging his hand and he stiffened up, unsure what to do.
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She glanced at Carmine. Perhaps a small faux pas, she was so used to the idea that this machine would sacrifice itself for her that sheblooked past the sharp and agressive appearance she had given him. Truth be told, she had tried to make him look as intimidating as possible.
The smuggler turned around, before walking back towards both the naga and the machine. "It's alright, Carmine. I pade this droid. He will give his life to protect me," she started. "I made it so he sees you as a friend. It's basically a big metal dog who loves you unconditionally." She hoped he would understand and be more comfortable. The programling behind it was infinitely more complicated, but that was the gist of it.
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Unfortunately Carmine didn't have great experience with dogs either. They tended not to like large snake people for some reason. He looked up nervously at Lillith. "It... Isn't going to attack me then?" He asked quietly, still afraid he might agitate the mechanical beast.
He wanted to just get somewhere safe and decompress, relax, sleep. But... Maybe he was better off taking his chances out on the frontier?
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"It won't," Lillith answered with a soft smile. "I can even go further and promise you that he'll be the first one to protect you." She extended her hand. "Come, Seventhreer," she stated, the mechanical dog let out a soft, mechanical rumble, padding over to her hand and pressing his snout against it, before entering the ship.
"You're coming?" She asked with the same soft smile.
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Carmine was still uneasy but he looked back towards the direction of the barn and shuddered a bit before slithering up the ramp on to the ship. He had never been on a ship before... Metal all around... It felt strange to say the least. He looked at Lillith and her robot monster dog. He wondered if there was a good corner to curl up in around here...
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The hull slowly closed with a hiss after Carmine entered, before Lillith stopped in her tracks, rubbing the back of her neck. "What's most comfortable for you to sleep in?" She asked, turning around to face Carmine. "I don't know much about your species.. Do you prefer a bed? A blanket?"
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A bed.
For real?? Carmine blinked at that. He usually just slept curled up in whatever dark corner he could find. "I normally just sleep curled up where ever I can find a place for the night." He muttered scratching his chin.
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Lillith nodded, humming thoughtfully, before smiling again. "Well, tonight, you can pick. Sleep wherever strikes your fancy," she spread her arms and turned around. "The entirety of the Constantine is for you to peruse to find a suitable place to sleep," she added, rather dramatically.
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"...oh. Ok." He mumbled looking at her again to make sure that was indeed ok, before slithering around to find a suitable spot. Slithering on metal felt weird. He wasn't sure he liked the cold on his belly scales. After checking around a bit he curled up on a bed. It was soft, and definitely felt better than the metal floor. Of course obvious social cues that he missed should have told him this was Lillith's bed, but he was pretty oblivious.
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Lillith smirked as a bioreading was present in her bedroom, informed by the small watch on her wrist. A prototype interface, gifted by a very statisfied costumer. "Couch it is," she stated towards Seventhreer, who let out a mechanical bark in response. "Lock down the ship, you metal fleabag," she said as she pulled off her pants and took off her vest. She proceeded to lay down on the sofa in the living quarters and proppeed her hands up behind her head, closing her eyes to drift off to sleep.
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Carmine slept pretty well on the bed. He could get used to a thing like this. He was always fairly alert, even when asleep he was on edge. The naga could not afford to sleep deeply, and on the rare occasion that he did sleep deeply enough to dream, it was all nightmares. Tonight he did not dream. It was fortunate given the triggering events of earlier, a blessing even.
((sorry that was terrible))
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((What do you mean?))
Lillith, having expected nothing less than the naga occupying her bed. And sleeping in her couch wasn't all that bad. She was a pretty firm sleeper, since she knew she was gaurded by Seventhreer. No one could get past his detection system.
Het alarm went off and she woke up with a soft grunt, hair was a mess. A sharp pain in her lower back. Now she remembered why she actually disliked sleeping here. But, regardless of that, she got to her feet and went about making her breakfast, almost forgetting about the naga's presence on her ship.
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Carmine woke up startled and slid off the bed, not remembering where he was at first. His eyes darted around the room frantically and he hid behind the bed as best he could, staring at the door and-
No.. not it was ok, right? This.. this was a ship. Yes. A ship. Lillith's ship. It was ok.
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She took a sip of the coffee Seventhreer made her as she made fried eggs for breakfast, taking a deep sigh. Soon, she had to get in the field again.
This made her wonder how her guest was doing. She wasn't sure as to whether the naga wanted to stay or not. She pulled up a datapad and typed several commands to get the security footage of her bedroom. She noticed how Carmine was cowering behind her bed and sighed softly, turning her stove off.
She spun on her heels and took another sip of coffee, placing it down, making her way over to the bedroom. Unknowing or uncaring for the fact that she was wearing clothes that left little to the imagination. She knocked on the door softly and softly called out, "Carmine?"