>>5298340Your response to Hephesta’s questions comes in the form of an exaggerated shrug of FuzzBuzz’s chitin, and you will a shimmer to shuffle across his compound eyes—your best attempt at an eye-roll, given his limitations.
"What, is there anything else you want me to examine on your Facebook profile? Like your favorite relics?" You ask with another forced smile. The woman before you barks out a peal of laughter that sends a lash of flame skyward, and you take the moment to indulge in a series of deep breaths.
In.
Out.
This could’ve been bad.
"I came here to scout and acquire information. I got more than what I asked." You declare, distancing yourself from Hephesta as she gets back on her feet, slinging her hammer over one shoulder with grin.
“Another tttime then, Defiant.” She cackles in her not-quite-human tone. “And bbbelieve me; it’ll come.”
"I'll see you around Hephesta.” You say, not dignifying her promise with a proper reply as your FuzzBuzz’s physique slims down to a Stealthling’s mirror-like shell. “Tell your girls inside I said 'Hi.'"
And then, with a shout skyward in the hopes they’ll hear; "You too Vector!"
Hephesta gives you a lazy salute as she turns on her heel, and maybe it’s your imagination, but you could almost swear you feel the tinge of static just before your swarmling fades from view.
A light, almost affectionate sensation that’s supplemented when Gina reaches out across the Crimson Cord.
{Hey babe, thanks for having Dorian check in} She purrs in your ear. {Newcomer just exited the forest as is picking his way down the canyon. Amalgam, by the looks of it…but weirdly humanoid. Judging by the fuck-ton of swords he’s packing? I’d guess he’s the one we heard about earlier}
[Odd that it’s not sticking to a usual patrol route like most] You muse, a flicker of information prompting you to ask; [What’re the other two things you wanted to mention?]
{Ha, well it looks like there’s some Daughters licking their wounds, the ones that wanted to keep fighting. I’m not saying we could take them, buuuuuut-}
You scowl, both at her suggestion and at your own temptation of a relatively easy meal, if the group is as ruthless as they appeared earlier.
{There’s always those assholes that’re preying on Daughters at the bottom of the canyon} Gina offers, and you find yourself ruing the options before you. It’s a strange position you’re in, leering down from on high, deciding who lives, and who dies.
The comparisons to Mara are something you try not to dwell on.
>>You won’t abide predators—deal with the canyon-dwellers personally.>>Approach the group of wounded Daughters, and if they try to fight, well…>>Investigate the swordsman. Swords-gam? Amalgam, in any case.>>None of these appeal to you—continue further into the canyons in search of better options.>>Write-InYOU ARE IN CONTROL
