"So let's get on with it already." Kogut stared at the loose bit of portal like a starving person staring at food. "I can't stand another min in this hole."
"Wait."
Kogut threw an icy stare, which Okse deflected without a thought.
"Before you go charging up there, you need to understand the dangers of planewalking. First, many of the rules we know are changed. The plane to which that portal is tied is similar to ours, but the people know nothing of bases, shifting, or even spellbinding shortcuts. You can't just throw fire and expect not to be attacked."
"Tell me something I don't know," she snapped in even greater impatience, if that was possible. "I've been a spy much longer than you've been a rampaging lummox. I know how not to be noticed."
"...fine." The 'lummox' crack was getting old, but at least they were on the same page regarding evasion. "The next thing is there are six portals between this plane and that one, each tied to location. That is why I would rather not go back—I already know where it goes. However, they aren't tied by time, so it is not guaranteed that spending a day there means only a day has passed back here. In fact, only a bit may have passed – or aeons."
"Which means what for us?"
"It means every time we go through a portal, in whichever direction, risks the chance of moving forward in time by an unpredictable amount. It's NOT reversible—we can't go back if we've travelled too far."
Kogut did her best to follow along, but it was evident she was having some trouble. She stared down at the napping child who, as if expecting to be interrupted, opened an eye and looked up at them. "May I shift so I can better understand how to get us out of here and to somewhere more comfortable?"
If she understood the question, Bāgha didn't give any indication to her preference either way, yawning and curling back up.
"Hmph."
- KogutTR
"What? No..."
"Isn't that what you said? The portals are tied to location, but not time, so it is possible to advance—"
Okse gritted her teeth in irritation. "I mean, THE risk? Hardly. I haven't even gotten into the possibility of the natives of other planes invading ours! What complicates things even more, which is why Base-DK is so protected, is every portal that is not sealed – or at least closed – will remain a potential breach between our plane and another. However, they are the only transfer points we can use—I don't know how to open new portals myself.
"This is only getting into the six portals I can sense that exist between this plane and the one that brought me here. There are infinite planes, and infinite transfer points—not being able to tell which is which is a fast way to never find one's way home again."
Horoz listened patiently, pondering each new piece of information like an archaeologist examining a precious find at a dig site. "How can we best be assured of finding the way back, if lost?"
"Our plane has a taint of plasma. It is exceedingly rare of the planes I have walked with my prior."
"Where is your prior now?"
Okse scrunched up her face in near-agony, not certain how long she would be able to override her grief in the name of focus on their goal. "Aghvesi brought her down in a far-distant system."
If there was any sympathy in Horoz's heart, it was as concealed as a self-declared master of concealment could make it. "Then that is of no help to us."
"Ya think?!" Okse wanted to stomp that cold face with all her might, but it would neither solve her problems nor abate the pain.
"But..." He pondered another moment anyway. "How did Aghvesi reach such a distant system?"
"He followed me to my home and engaged my prior in battle. She took him with her to planes unknown."
"Can he planewalk?"
"As far as I know, no. He is equally bound to the same constraints we are under, only he does not know what they are."
"That's our advantage!" Horoz clenched his fists in anticipation. "They are without a leader! It may not take planewalking at all!"
Okse couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You mean to break out of this cell?"
"It will take help, but yes—anti-spell barriers are only as strong as the implementor's reinforcements, and if Aghvesi is gone, the barriers will not have been refreshed!"
"Are you sure?" She was still dubious about his plan. "What about Kissa, or Paendeo—"
Undeterred, Horoz was already examining the walls for something unseen. "Kissa likes to show off, but she doesn't know a thing, and Paendeo knows even less. Aghvesi was the brains of the operation, to be certain."
"But they will still put up a fight when we try to break out."
"I doubt any of his henches know what they were truly after. Only Kissa MIGHT have the brains to pick up where he left off, and she isn't going to be able to handle ALL of us acting together. Hear that, Hunden?"
There was a voice barely audible from the next cell. "...whatever..."
"Fine, all of us EXCEPT THE LAZY PACIFIST acting together!"
"...eh..."
"Hold up," Okse demanded, "it's YOUR turn to explain. How are all of us prisoners working together?"
"Which cell were you?"
She gave him a look as though he was asking how many babies she ate for breakfast. "How would I know?! A cell's a cell."
Horoz shook his head in disappointment. "How you ever managed to get into the Brigade, I'll never know. Puzzle-solving, mum."
"I solved puzzles!" she protested. "But I was thrown in my cell when I was unconscious, and I didn't pay a lick of attention when Vepar was breaking me out! All I could see was one cell across the way and two cages in the middle."
"Exactly!" Horox drew a diagram on the floor consisting of boxes in an odd elongated arrangement of nine with two circles in the middle. "If you had TRIED to communicate with the others, you could have worked out a hat problem with what they responded. Here." He pointed to a box in the upper-left of the diagram. "This is where you were, then. Here is where we are." He pointed to the bottom-most box.
Okse stared at the diagram. "Is that..."
"I think it is. Aghvesi meant to arrange us in these cells according to how he thought our order should be to solve the hunt. However, he's WRONG. There are eleven cells, and only ten are used, but NOT in our current arrangement."
"Maybe he meant to move us later."
"Why? If we're already trapped, moving us only serves as a chance to make our escape."
"But if he doesn't know the proper arrangement, why think about where we go before he catches us? If I was doing this, I'd catch first and worry about whether the arrangement works after."
"Then he's an idiot. Solve the puzzle, then get the pieces. Saves valuable time."
"It certainly does."
The latter came from Kissa, staring over their shoulders. Okse and Horoz jumped up in astonishment, immediately taking defensive stances. Okse lashed out at her immediately with her foreleg, only to have it blocked by a steel shield shaped like Kissa.
"Not so swift, are you?" she purred from behind the bars. It was then Okse realized she had laid into a strategically-placed steel mannequin. "I'm not really sure how you got in, but I'll be sure to keep you from getting out. Thanks for the hint, though. Now I know what he was up to all this time. I see what you mean about the order, too."
"Tch!" Horoz cursed his failed perception check. "If you think you're going to reach the crown—"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Kissa teased. "Silly people pay good money to win contests. Maybe I'll just sell the answer and let them have their way with you."
It seemed like a not particularly horrible fate. Perhaps the buyer would be more – pliable than their current captors.
"We won't let that happen!" Horoz shouted, infuriated.
"Why not?" Okse muttered.
Horoz nearly fell flat on his face at her words. "You..." He picked his jaw up off the ground and turned on her. "Do you realize what can happen if the wrong person gets the crown?"
"In fact, I do." She turned on him. "And it WON'T HAPPEN. Only a worthy person will get ahold of it—someone I now realize doesn't exist."
"Nonsense! They wouldn't hold the hunt if it couldn't be won!"
"It's a teaching lesson, one with no winner. I've seen the result. In following the rules, no one wins – and that's supposed to show us that sometimes we need to change the rules."
He was still ready to lash out at her at any moment, clenching and unclenching his fists in fury.
"Idiot!" She kicked him in the shin. "Stop fighting it!" I thought you were perceptive!
The last she projected with all her might. To her astonishment, he seemed to relent. "Hmph," he snorted, turning his back to both of them. "I refuse to believe I ever joined an unwinnable quest!"
"So what's the solution, brainiac?" she taunted, playing along.
"I said I refuse to believe it! I didn't say it wasn't the case!"
Kissa yawned, swishing her tail in boredom. "Are you two done yet? You're the lamest fighters in all of creation. Even your drama is boring."
"You're free to leave, you know," Okse retorted. "We didn't exactly send you an engraved invitation, after all."
The three stood in silence, with Bāgha snoozing beneath them, seemingly oblivious to their talk. It was the most boring standstill in all of creation, each one waiting for the others to say the wrong thing, and the only sure way not to say the wrong thing being not to speak at all.
"Ugh," Kissa complained after what felt like three hours. "I've had it with your silent treatment. I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. Maybe Paendeo will be down with grub for you later, but no guarantees on that."
It worked! Now maybe once Kissa went away, Okse and Horoz could talk seriously about the—
"Are you REALLY going to leave both of us in the same cell together?" Horoz taunted, just as Kissa reached the exit.
Okse hissed, "You idiot—"
- *SLAM*
*CREAK*
*SLAM*
From farther down the prison, Okse could just make out the sound of Horoz groaning in pain—agony, even. His injuries must have been intense, something she couldn't readily identify with herself but she supposed must not be pleasant.
Speaking of not pleasant, at that moment Bāgha roused, starting to whimper when she realized Kogut wasn't there.
"Oh, is big sis not here anymore?" Kissa teased, pouting in a mock imitation of the child. "So sorry about that, but – I really don't care! Toodles, now!" At last, she blew a kiss, turning to leave the prison for good this time.
Bāgha was starting to wail loudly now. It was beyond irritating, and she could see why Horoz/Kogut had been so grumpy about it before. "Shut it," Okse growled, to no avail—the child was upset beyond belief.
"Ha!" came a weak voice from several cells down. "Now you know what I had to live with all this time!"
"I said shut it!"
It didn't matter how she yelled, Okse couldn't get the child to stop crying. Was there something else she was supposed to do? Like, pick her up or whatever? She leaned down and grabbed Bāgha by the scruff of her neck, but that didn't help.
"Hey," she muttered at last. "What do you want? What will get you to shut up?"
Though hanging limply, Bāgha still had tears streaming down her face, but it seemed as though she was reaching in the direction of – Horoz, of course!
"You want to get over there, don't you?"
Bāgha was still too young to vocalize her desires, but somehow Okse understood the jist of what she wanted. At the same time, an unusual sensation possessed her...
With a heave-ho, she lifted Bāgha up, as high as she could reach. The infant was nearly touching the ceiling at this point, clawing her way up the wall. "No—"
It was too late. By the time Okse realized what was happening, Bāgha made her way through the portal, her tiny body pushing it closed behind her—sealing it.
As the sensation passed, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach made Okse ill.
"...what's happening down there..." came Horoz's voice. "It sounds a bit quiet. TOO quiet."
"Bāgha's gone," she murmured.
"...what?"
"YOUR BRAT CLOSED THE PORTAL!" Okse screamed. "Now we're trapped for real!"
Silence again. Then, unabated laughter. Whatever, she didn't want to know.
What to do, though... It was clear that working alone would do her nothing. If they were to work together, would they really have a chance at getting out of there before someone could work out the correct list order?
Hmm. "Hey, Hunden, sire," Okse called, banging on the wall.
"Yes, my daughter?"
"Tell me how we're working together to get out of here. I'm ready to listen, for once in my life."
No comments:
Post a Comment