The Wastelands

Tunnels

Druid was watching Brit in the corner of her eye. No, it was more accurate to say that she was watching Brit watching her. Druid smiled bittersweetly.

'This isn't going to be fun. Not at all.'

Oh, of course, Bryson was staring at Brit suspiciously. Whereas Statson was a little ways ahead, leading the way. The reason why well because he's Statson, and Brit didn't seem to mind….for obvious reasons. Plus, the path didn't diverse as one might think, and if one did then, Brit was there pointing the way.

"Something blocking our path," Statson called up. "Damn, there's a lot of roots." When Statson brought out a knife.

"Don't touch them!" Brit called out, running over. "There no ordinary roots their Wasteland roots. They'll attack anyone if threatened."

Statson pointed at the roots with the tip of his knife. "Okay, fine, but if there's a path I do not see, by all means, show us the way. Otherwise…"

Brit just sighed and shook her head. "Men always thinking that force is the only way."

Bryson tempted. "Don't lump me in with this fool. If they're that reactive, then they'll respond with the right incentive. Correct?"

"You're right." Brit walked to the side and splashed water onto the dirt wall.

Statson folded his arms. "Nothing happening."

"Just wait." Then suddenly, some of the roots moved to try to soak up the water. Leaving a gap big enough for even Statson to squeeze through. "There." Brit smiled, satisfied. Pouring the rest of her water onto the drinking roots. "Better hurry; we'll have a window but only just."

"Yeah," Statson looked closer and whistled. "Damn, that's going to be tight, and they seemed to go on forever."

"Scared," Bryson smirked.

"No," Statson quickly denied. "No, I do it. Give me a minute."

"We don't have a minute." Bryson sounded irritated.

"But…"

Bryson pushed Statson forward. "Come, let's go already." He turned back, eyeing Druid. "Are you coming?"

"You go ahead," Druid answered, shaking her head.

Bryson moved his eyes toward Brit. "Are you sure?"

Druid smiled lovingly at Bryson. "Trust me, okay?"

"Fine, but I don't like this," he grumbled.

"Noted."

As he and Statson disappeared into the roots. Druid turned to Brit to find her point a gun right at her. But instead of shooting at Druid, she shot at the roots. They went wild; Druid could hear Statson and Bryson calling out.

They were trapped.

"Bryson, no, not again," Druid whispered, but she straightened and faced her opponent, pulling her flames into her hands.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Brit smirked. "That'll just burn up all the oxygen."

"How…"

"Did I know?" Brit interrupted with a smirk. "I put two and two together. You guys weren't exactly subtle before we met." 'But how did she know I was a Fire Elemental?' Druid reached for the mask. But Brit just laughed. "those are defective."

"I thought as much." Druid sighed. She and Bryson would probably be okay; they had other means of breathing. But Statson, he'll be a sitting duck. "Why are you doing this? Are you responsible for the disappearances?" Druid stepped closer.

"Don't move any closer. I know what you are." Brit quickly backs off. "And I have nothing to do with those disgusting people. No, all I wanted was you. Are you going to ask me why?"

As Druid kept silent, her eyes watchful.

Brit worked at the neckline of her and revealed burns that had gone halfway up her neck. As she pulled at the clothes further. Druid could see that the burns went further down, much further down. "Do you remember me that night in Trentville? I certainly remember you, Drucilla. You're hard to forget." Brit looked her over. " Beautiful as ever, not a mark on you. This is funny since you're the one who everything to the ground and did this to me. Killed all those people," Her voice choked up. "Killed my little sister."

Druid stepped back as her mind flashed to a girl's face no more than eleven years old. She was smiling, holding out her hand. "Emma." A tear ran down Druid's cheek.

"No, no, no. You have no right to shed anything for my sister." Brit raised the gun. "Unless it's blood, then I'm all for it. So tell me everything, remember there's more than you are on the line."

Druid could feel the air swirling behind her as the roots moved frantically.

***

Shadow and Andres moved swiftly down the tunnel. They heard shouting up ahead, then someone called out from behind.

"In here!" Andres whispered, running over to a door. "Damn, it's locked."

"We could take them, but…." Shadow's eyes looked regretful.

"Yes, more will come for sure," Andres confirmed with a sigh.

Shadow tsched. "Then we have no choice." Reaching out for Andres.

"What are you…." But before she could say anymore, Shadow dragged Andres into the shadows.

A group of guards passed, and one paused. "I thought I heard something."

"Probably the ventilation acting up again." Another punched the guy's shoulder. "Come, I want to take a look at that big cat outside."

Much further in, Shadow and Andres suddenly reappeared, and they looked like they went through hell. Especially Andres. Her skin was marred with scratch and bite marks, and her clothing was torn. Her frenzied eyes met Shadow. "What the fuċkɨnġ hell was that." Then suddenly, a pair of translucent hands burst through and gripped onto Andres. Trying to drag her back in.

Shadow pulled out his knives and kept slicing at them until they let go. Both were breathing heavily. "That's why I didn't want to go there." He, too, slumped by Andres. "Taking a human was even more interesting than I thought it'd be."

"Interesting isn't a word I would use." Andres glared at Shadow. "Terrifying is more accurate.

"True." Shadow had a thoughtful look. "The ghosts are more aggressive than usual, and there were a lot of them. I was expecting that, but there's something off."

"What."

"Cranberries and Viniter. Torture." Shadow replied with distaste. He relishes in the chase but playing with his prey afterward….Especially how clinically it felt. Yeah, it wasn't his style.

Andres slowly got up on her feet. "horrifying, but not relevant. Our objective is still the same."

"It is relevant when one of our targets is starting to smell the same way. And the other…." He closed his eyes. Blackberries and peaches. "Despair?"

"Okay, we have no time to waste." Andres commented but stopped. "Do you know which direction."

Shadow pointed, and Andres walked ahead. "Oh, and Andres?"

"Yes?" Andres asked.

"Here." Then Shadow threw something at Adres.

Andres caught it swiftly, but the way she held it was like she was expecting it to blow up in her hands. Then, when nothing happened, Andres reluctantly opened her hand, and there was a small bottle of cream. Andres looked up, confusion soon on her face.

"Ointment. Courtesy of Terran. They're for your cuts," Shadow stated. "We can't have them getting infected? Now that will be bad, wouldn't it." Shadow strolled pasted her, a smile forming on his lips.

***

A panicked Lilia ducked just as the Protector crashed down with talons out. She scrambled to get undercover. But the bird seemed so razor-focused on taking her out.

'And my ankle isn't helping me any.' Lilia hissed.

Suddenly beak came out of nowhere, trying to swallow her whole. Her leg gave way, and she fell to one knee. Lilia's eyes widened, realizing that she had no time to dodge. So all Lilia could do was count on her enhance strength to save her. As soon as the Turkey Vulture came close enough, Lilia slung out and luckily or unluckily connected. As pain sliced through her arm, the Protector pulled back, looking more startled than anything else.

Shaking her hand, hissing. "Well, that's not smart." But she only had a second to complete as the floor gave way once again.

Lilia landed on her backside but was otherwise unharmed. She tensed, looking up, but the turkey vulture merely thrashed around. It was still searching for her, but else was going to fall on top of her. Not yet, at least.

Lilia sighed in relief. It looked like she'd have a moment to catch her breath.

Checking her injuries. Her hand looked like it was cut up, but at least she hadn't lost her finger. And Lilia could still feel them. "I take that as a win," Lilia mumbled. As for her ankle, nothing feels broken, and her boot seemed to stabilize it quite a bit, but… "I need something more if I don't want to be bird food."

While taking care of her injuries, Lilia couldn't help but think something was odd. Of course, it was well known that Protector drives away or kills anyone found in their territory. But with Lilia's ears, she could hear a different story. "What got you so pissed off?"

The obvious answer was the collapsing building that knocked her off her feet. "It's a little annoying but can't be helped." All she could do was think of a way to survive, and the way that was happening was to run away as fast as she could.

With a couple of sticks and bandages, she was done. Testing her leg, Lilia nodded, stratified."Doesn't look pretty, but it will do."

A yipping sound interrupted her musings. As Lilia looked up to find a grey fox staring at her."Hello, have we met…." But then she could feel hot air above. Looking up to see the Protector looking right back. "Crap." Lilia cursed.