The dual moons are high in the night, stars shining and desert dust scattering itself along the area. Neil nearly spits out a chunk once he feels the crusty substance go into his mouth. Heist seems unbothered, gleefully holding that same bone of inconclusive origins in her mouth whilst pounding her claws into the rock. Heist immediately stops, but her Featherduster littermate, Trot, seems to have trouble with doing so.
“TROT! Slow down!” Winter commands her steed. Arch Extent’s face lands into the back of Winter’s scarf, and his arms desperately hold onto her. Trot eventually stops, raising his head to get a view of why they’re resting.
“The rock path ends here. A sandstorm from earlier probably covered it up.” Neil speaks, though he seems a tad concerned. Heist is looking around with concern.
“Why is that an issue?” Arch Extent leans from the side, eyebrows raised at their situation. It’s just a valley of swept up sand with no rocks or anything else in the middle.
“There’s rumors among us hunters about a type of creature that lives in the sand. And it hunts during the night. I’ve never seen it, so we should be careful when crossing.” Neil remembers certain descriptions of creatures Nanan used to tell him as he was training. He heard about a worm that lived in a desert somewhere on Divon, ready to rise from the dark depths of rock and rubble, only to latch onto whoever stepped there. It’s a cautionary tale he hoped wasn’t true as he watched Heist take the first step into the lifeless desert valley. “I’m not sure if this creature exists or how it hunts.”
“Neil actually mentioned it to me when we came here at the outpost.” Winter gives a gentle tap to Trot to instruct him to follow his sister, Heist. The gray Featherduster leaps onto the sand, causing Arch Extent to grip Winter a bit tighter.
“So what else have people said about it?” Arch Extent perks back up, trying to relax his grip from Winter’s waist. Trot catches up to Heist, staying very close by her.
“It’s big, and it hides in the sand. And it’s silent. If it exists, I don’t know how it hunts. All I know is that this type of area is somewhere it would live in.” Neil explains.
Silence falls between the trio. The only other sounds were gentle breezes of wind that would occasionally whip up light sand, sending it past the group. Neil had Heist continue to lead them into the sand valley, as she chewed on that same questionable bone to help calm the Duster’s nerves.
But there was something she noticed.
Heist stops immediately, feeling vibrations under her. Tan colored ears perk up, blue eyes go wide as her slits minimize themselves. Neil remains quiet and places his hand out towards Arch Extent and Winter. He signals for Winter to stop as well, taking swift notice of Heist’s body language. Neil’s best girl was panicking underneath him, her legs almost trembling.
But it wasn’t her trembling. It was something in the distance, but that’s not where his eyes should be. Sand bursts out from under them, dark orange-like claps from a mouth rear out of the sand and encapsulate around the duo. Neil grips tightly to Heist, bracing himself for the horror that rose up below him.
Winter watches as her brother is swallowed whole by the sand creature Neil had expressed warnings about earlier. There’s no way she could calculate how tall this thing was as it soared upwards, tendrils decorating its back and sides of its head. It was a worm. A massive worm. There were so many teeth that lined the inside of its mouth, witnessing it open it briefly to expel sand, but no big brother of Winter’s in sight. She feels tears swell up in her eyes, emotionally overwhelmed at watching her brother devoured.
No, no!
“NEIL!” Winter shouts from the top of her lungs, as if her voice could reach him. Her digits curl hard around the leather reign of Trot, teeth gritting, not wanting to turn around for Arch Extent to see her brief tears. The Winterlance pushes his hands off of her waist, and the scientist is respectful enough to not hold onto her. He’s aware she’s ready to kill, based on the way Winter plopped her boots right into the sand. Ice begins to form abruptly at her fingers as she gets off of Trot, her eyebrows furrowed and anger plastered all over her face.
“I’m gonna fuckin’ KILL that THING.”
“Wait!” Arch Extent reaches out a hand towards Winter. He grasps at her turquoise scarf, gripping firmly to keep her from taking another step forward. “Don’t take another step, Winter. I need you alive.”
“I know, Fancy Hat! But my brother is alive, that I know!” Her panic is at least replaced with focus and anger.
“I’m aware, and I don’t doubt he can ’t be killed that easily.”
“I’m gonna kill that thing. I already figured out how the damn thing hunts based on movement.” Winter finishes aligning her arm with ready-to-kill ice, making sure the edges were salient to inflict a deep cut into whatever flesh she slashed again. She would tear that monstrous worm right open, gut it alive until she could get her big brother out.
“So you have a plan then?”
“Yeah. And I’m wasting time standing here. I’m not gonna die that easily either, Fancy Hat. I know you need me. So stay put for now.”
Winter sprints off, ice claw on one arm, too fast for Arch Extent to give a proper response to her. The scientist watches Winter charge into a fight he believes she might be able to win. Trot wants to leap after his owner, but Winter hadn’t given any clear indication for following, especially when the Featherduster still had Arch Extent on his back.
If anything happened to you, Winter…I fear I may have lost the last possible chance at stopping Cosmos Plague.
The Winterlance watches as some of what she theorized in the end part of the worm stick out of the sand. It was massive, especially in length. She couldn’t believe how huge this creature was, its black eyes that lapped around the circumference of its head stared at her. She puts an arm up to protect her face from the loose sand it caused to fly as it raised the end of its tail.
Just need to slice the throat and it’s done for!
The deathworm slithers towards her, opening its mouth to reveal hundreds of razor sharp teeth that decorated inside its mouth. The four flaps around its mouth protrude out, readying itself to devour Winter next. Winter grits her teeth and positions herself. She knows it’s aware of her presence, considering the movement she just made. How else would it hunt in the sand if it wasn’t movement based?
“Come at me, ya big fucking noodle!” Winter shouts as the deathworm launches itself at her hungrily. It misses as Winter successfully dodges to the side.
I managed to evade it! This will be an easy swipe for sure!
The huntress quickly twirls her body back towards it, aligning her free arm with salient ice that decorates her arm. There’s a confident smirk on her face as she does this, thinking she’ll easily gut the bastard open. She thrusts her newly rendered ice bladed arm at the deathworm, feet planted firmly in the ground as the giant worm speeds right through the bladed ice. The only thing it does is cause her ice to become brittle from such high velocity of its movement, making Winter question the skin. Was it thick skin or was it the speed? Winter is panicking, trying to think of what her next move will be.
My ice isn’t cutting through?! How thick is this fucker’s skin?! Damnit! I know Neil is alive in there, too!
Trot is antsy, wanting to jump right into the ongoing fight for the sake of his precious owner. He wails out, causing Arch Extent to glance at the creature. Arch Extent knows this isn’t good, especially since after what he witnessed previously with Winter’s ice, it should slice right through the worm. But it’s not.
Trot starts to shake, eyes going wide just like his sister. He feels the sand under them vibrate, as if another massive entity was causing it. Trot tries to desperately warn Arch Extent by turning his head around to face the scientist.
“What’s wrong?” The answer came immediately once Arch Extent looked out into the distance. Another massive body caused the sand to shake, orange-tinted tendrils sticking up from the sand to indicate another presence not far from the huntress. It slides right under Winter while she was stuck in a position of using her ice to slash the thing open fruitlessly. Winter isn’t the target in this scenario, it has another pretty in mind as its fellow mate ripped through Winter’s claw.
“Winter! Behind you!” Arch Extent tried to shout out to the huntress, hoping his voice would reach her. He already feels the real possibility that his only solution to Cosmos Plague might be ripped away from him by giant deathworms. Winter’s attention swings around, and panic forms on her expression. The huntress removes her ice claw off from the other nimble deathworm, and she fears for the life of her precious Featherduster and her client.
It’s heading straight for Fancy Hat!
“TROT! Run!” Winter shouts.
The Featherduster stamps his feet into the stand, peacock-like feathers swaying to the side and whipping up sand. He makes a run for it, whatever he can do to get away from the massive beast approaching him. Arch Extent grips tightly to the reins, hoping the speed of the Featherduster can outrun the massive goliath underneath the sand. He grits his teeth, more panicked at what Winter’s fate might be.
We weren’t even moving, and it knew where we were! But I’m not leaving her behind!
If her fate were to die since her ice rendered useless against the deathworm’s speed, then he’ll make sure his fate is with hers. All is lost without her.
“Trot! We need to run towards your owner instead!”
Winter takes a turn, noticing Fancy Hat redirects himself with her steed. He’s charging at her, and it leaves her in shock.
Why the hell is he coming back this way?! Fuckin’ idiot!
“Hop on, Winter!” Arch Extent reaches his hand out to the huntress, hoping she’ll take his hand.
Wait, he came back for ME? That’s when she realized she was that important. She’s never had a client of any contracts go out of their way for her, especially in a life or death situation. The ice ejects itself ever so quickly from her skin and her slender digits wrap around his wrist. Arch Extent yanks her forcefully up, knowing she’s able to readjust herself smoothly since she’s ridden her steed bareback many a times.Winter wraps her arms around Arch Extent from behind, watching as he takes control of steering Trot towards a rocky terrain not too far away.
“So what’s your big plan, Fancy Hat?!” Winter makes sure to keep her grip around his waist tight.
“If we can make it to solid ground, they won’t be able to get us!”
“SHIT! Fancy Hat! It’s about to come up! Jump to the side, Trot!”
Trot listens with no hesitation to his master’s command. He jumps to the side as a deathworm sprouts violently out of the ground.
“The other one is about to catch up to us!” Winter shouts out, watching as the previous one that ate her big brother Neil, lashes out turbulently from the sand. It barely misses them with its mouth, but Trot panics as he’s lifted upwards into the air. Arch Extent reaches out as he watches Winter fling off to the side. He’s not able to grab her and he quickly feels himself lose his grip on Trot.
Both huntress and scientist vehemently crash into the sand, Arch Extent’s backpack opens up and his items fling outwards. Golden gems scatter the sand, his mask breaks upon impact, and a few other items of his disappear in the grains. Winter promptly sits up, coughing after swallowing a chunk of loose sand when her face planted into it. A deathworm looms over Arch Extent, and it brings the Winterlance to her feet once she sees the drools drip from its hundreds of razor sharp teeth.
Shit! Fuck! Fancy Hat!
Her heart pounds, fear fiercely pulsating through her. He came back for her, and it gave her all the more meaning to try to protect him. Arch Extent’s first instinct is to pull out one of his guns in hopes it might do some damage inside the monstrous creature. If ice couldn’t damage its outside, he knows that at least a plasma-based shot should do some damage internally. It’s the only chance he has.
His expression changes from the fear of death looking at him in the face to a blonde woman on top of him. Ice pierced out of her arms where the bandages were, crimson decorating the ones that were torn off by her mutation. Winter clenches her teeth, fuchsia eyes focused entirely on him. Before the scientist knew it, she had created two massive glaciers on her arms which glimmered from the purity of her ice.
Red ichor rained on both of them, mostly covering Winter’s back and the ice she generated from her body. The deathworm that had planned for Arch Extent to be its next meal impaled itself on the artificial glacier. The scientist watches as Winter takes the pain, as pieces of flesh and many of the creature’s dislodged teeth fall to the side. Her mini glacier cracks, sending cyan ice shards to rain down with the hefty load of bloodshed. The weight is painful, and it appears as if Winter was ready to pass out from her body pushing the limits of her mutation.
He hisses briefly as he watches Winter desperately eject the ice attached to her skin, and there’s a pain at his arm he tries to ignore. Some of her skin appears to begin peeling off from the muscle and the old scars which her tattered bandages hid were finally revealed. Old wounds.
The downfall of what the cost of her mutation was. She passes out for a short time onto the scientist, her head laying on his chest. Arch Extent wraps an arm around her while trying to bring himself up to a sitting position.
She must have hit the limits of her mutation.
“Winter, we need to get up!” The scientist knows the threat isn’t over, and he needs to get her out of there. If he can just carry her over to Trot, bring her to some form of consciousness, he could save her. “There’s still the other one we have to deal with!”
Trot finally raises his head after being thrown to the side forcefully. The remaining deathworm looms over the gray Featherduster, ready to pounce down. Trot stares up, unsure of what action to take as it pauses. The goliath deathworm shutters, trying to breathe out something forcefully. A load of crimson splatters out as a figure emerges from it.
Neil.
“FUCK YOU!” Neil comes crashing down with all his might, swinging his machete along the rooftop of the creature’s mouth, leaving a nasty slash. He rolls onto the ground, recovering, huffing and puffing after almost being digested inside the deathworm. Heist comes tumbling out, holding her bone of questionable origin in her mouth and lands perfectly next to her master.
Arch Extent had managed to wake up Winter by this point, trying to haul her up with an arm of hers over his shoulders. His other arm wraps around her waist, whatever he could do to support his Winterlance companion. He goes wide-eyed at the sudden appearance of Neil, knowing full well Winter believed he was potentially alive.
Seems that worked out in our favor…
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