The Swarm

Marco thought a bit


"well, if we place one of our radios on the ground, and use the other to contact Command and call in an orbital strike, and to use the other radio as a target... use the tube grenades and Mana-Cannon to open the hive's roof, the orbital cannon fires, then BOOM... improvisation at it's best


he drew a crude illustration of his idea in the dirt


"so.. how about it?"
 
Sarah flinched only out of instinct as the girl swiped at her. What worried her besides the girls injuries, regardless of how slight, was that she kept referring to the bug as her friend. Whether or not she was merely deranged at the swarm's countless attacks upon the cities it was still dangerous for her to say that she was on friendly terms with the swarm, especially outside of the HQ.


Why had Tiel kept her here when she obviously had wanted to leave? Sarah wondered if this was how the HQ recruited people and she couldn't help but feel a little sour towards him, regardless of the fact that he had saved her life not even two hours ago. Shaking her head she looked over to him, as if he would know what to do in this situation.
 
She halfway winced at the boom sound. "Hmmm, sounds pretty good, although i'm not too excited about blowing up a hive as the only way to eliminate them," she answered, sitting on the swing beside Caleb.
 
Tiel watched as Sarah tried to calm the female down, and the female refused the well needed advice. He thought the same thing she did (though he didn't know it), in that she should not be shouting about being friends with the swarm out side of the HQ. Were the guards to hear her she would be questioned....


and just his luck, they did hear her. The two guards, Tiel noted, walked up on the trio, and stared at the female with quizzical eye's. one put a hand out, and reached for her.


"Stand down!" Tiel barked. He didn't want anyone getting out of hand, especially the new girl who he could tell would freak.


"Sorry sir, but we have orders to take anyone in that claims to be with the swarm!" commented one of the guards.


Grabbing the out stretched hand, Tiel twisted it and bent the guard over in a rather painful manner. One could almost hear the bones creaking in his back, and Tiel smirked ear to ear.


"You must REALLY want to meet Shade today..." He commented through gritted teeth, his voice Laden with Malice.


"No sir! Please! I didn't mean to!" the guard begged.


As Tiel bent over, he put his mouth mere inches from the guards ear, and made sure he could hear exactly what was being said.


"Then I suggest you leave my niece alone, and never question my authority again. Otherwise, this pretty little neck of yours, along with every other bone and ligament in your body will be cut, snapped, and severed until you wish you were dead!" Tiel snarled.


With that, he let the body fall, full force to the ground. The guard wheezed as the air was pushed from his lungs, but managed to scramble to his feet and race back to his post, followed by the other, who remained quiet.


Turning back to the two females, Tiel smiled innocently, but the sternness in his voice was apparent. he didn't want to yell or scream and scare either one off, but he wanted them to understand the importance of not being in that same location any longer.


"We need to get out of here now!" he said, and raised a hand over the dead Hound.


The same thick black substance poured out and into the hound. after a few seconds, the hound got back to it's feet and awaited orders. Tiel looked at the girl, who he still had yet to recieve a name for, and smiled.


"I apologize about before, but i didn't want you running off with out us. Now that I see your able to be a user, I would very much like to get to know you..." he commented, then looked at Sarah, "As well as you, you have a very keen ability to be calm in any situation, which leads me to believe you have experience in that kind of thing. Are you some kind of therapist, or doctor?"
 
The girl stood tense, her dirty face blank as she stared at the two. She only looked away when the creature she stood next to came back to life. The girl then climbed up on the hound's back without hesitation. She didn't try to ride off though, afraid that the man would kill it again. She seemed to slowly understand that they meant her no harm. For whatever reason, the girl warmed up faster to a zombie bug than two humans who wanted to help her.


But now that she was no longer ranting in a made up language, who she made friends with hardly mattered. She wasn't dangerous.


"E-eva," She said. "Is my name."
 
Sarah didn't like where this was going but she couldn't bring herself to lie to Tiel. Whether or not it was fear of coming face to face with this Shade that he had mentioned she was not sure, but her heart was beating like a rabbit, threatening to come right out of her chest. "I am a med student. Just as I was about to enter my last year my college was attacked by the swarm." she said quietly, looking away from him.


As the dirty faced girl, now known as Eva mounted the hound Sarah watched with quiet interest. She understood Tiel's interest in Eva but also condemned the inevitably that he would want to use her against the swarm. Of course it didn't help that Sarah was worried about her own fate surrounding the HQ and whether or not she would become one of their slaves in a war that she wanted nothing to do with.
 
Tiel would call the other hound, who raced up to his side in a matter of seconds. Mouting it, he offered his hand to Sarah, as he smile.


"Well, it's nice to meet you Eva..." He commented, and looked at Sarah, "Shall we go? I have a place we can be that no one will bug us... No pun intended...."
 
What he go after her if she ran? Would he find new marionettes in the swarm and send them after her? Sarah breathed in shakily and took his hand though still did not know why. It was evident to her that not only did she not trust Tiel but she was also terrified of him, even beneath that kind smile that he was showing her now. Climbing on behind him she hesitantly moved her arms down around his hips so that she wouldn't fall.


Sarah didn't know what she had just gotten herself into but there was a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her she would probably regret it very soon. Looking back at the HQ and then at Tiel she nodded her head. Wherever this place was she only hoped it didn't get her palms sweating like the dim HQ.
 
Eva watched the two, her confused little mind working. She could tell that the girl was afraid of the man. It jarred memories that should have been left buried in her head.


"Is he your master?" She asked, a bit wary.
 
Tiel ushered the hounds forward by kicking them in the side. He didn't want to be followed, so after a few second, he made them speed up. looking back at the guards before they were out of sight, Tiel was relieved to see that neither reached for their communication devices. If H.Q. found out about this, he would be in some serious trouble.


Following a winding series of twists and turns, The hounds would occasionally double back. One might think they were lost, were it not for the fact the their was no stopping and looking around. In a constant state of motion, Tiel egged the hounds to move forward, with each turn they took.


Occasionally, Tiel would reach his hand out and tap the wall in precise points, sometimes, in the same spot. a faint click could be heard with each tap, but over the thumping of the feet, it was likely to be passed as a simple brick being hit with a rock type of sound.


After about fifteen minutes of moving around multiple streets, and various alleyways, Tiel rushed down a deserted street. Commanding the hounds to pick up the pace as he pulled out his scythe, Tiel threw the object out, and had it latched onto a post. the post gave easily, and clicked into place like all the other bricks did.


At the end of the street was the outer wall of the city, and as the hounds picked up speed, Tiel smiled. Barely before impact, the wall opened to reveal an entrance, and they poured threw just as it closed.


I'm home... Tiel thought to himself, and slowed the hounds to a trot.


the passage in the wall was fairly long, and slanted. It took about two minutes to reach the end, where the passage opened up into a medium sized underground hut. The entry was decorated with chimes and ornaments, and there was no guards or defense mechanisms.


"Welcome to sanctuary..." Tiel said calmly, and stopped the hounds, "This is where I live, though I hardly get to come here seeing as I have to be HQ property for patrol pretty much all the time. The barracks are too uptight, so when I do come here, it's a real treat."


As Tiel walk into the hut, he flipped on a light and revealed the rest of it. Entering through the kitchen, there was a large circular table, a fridge, a stove, and a several cupboards covered in various cooking related utensils and appliances. Going out of the kitchen, you would see the living room with a large T.V., a couch, two recliners, and a coffee table. Down the hall to the left were three doors on the right, on at the end, and one on the left.


Tile then pointed down the hallway.


"The three doors on the right side are the bedrooms, Mine is the one on the far side, the other two you guys can fight over. The one on the end is the communications room with Two computers, and some things like that. Feel free to use them, just don't touch the Wall mounted access panel, it gives way to the security booth, and is password protected, but I assure you I do not have camera's in your rooms or the bathroom. And that on on the right actually is the bathroom."


Tiel sighed and plopped down onto the farthest Recliner. he flipped on the T.V and started to go through channels before he stopped. Muting the T.V for a second, he sighed and looked the two females.


"Oh.. and I can tell your uneasy about all this, so I'm not going to force you to stay here. If you wanna leave, you each have a hound readily available to take you out. At the end of the passage is a red level on the left side, which will open the door and let you out."


Tiel then turned the volume to the T.V back on, but not high enough to drowned out the females if they wanted to talk. As the channel was changed, News was broadcast over the T.V about the I.D.S and their new idea's to fight the swarm, and about casualties in the war.


Tiel's face turned from relaxed, to angry when they started talking about it.


"Casualties... The only reason there are any casualties is because the I.D.S doesn't do it's freaking job! GAH! I just wish someone would burn down that H.Q..." He screamed


Looking back at the two, Tiel suddenly remembered they were there.


"Oh.. sorry... I just really hate my job..."
 
Sarah looked back at Eva and shook her head, her throat to dry for her to speak. Wetting her lips with her tongue she answered, her voice a bit croaky, "No. But he is an officer, and if you know what's good for you then you don't defy officers." she whispered quietly, her face off to the side and away from him as they started to ride off so that he couldn't really hear her, though she was sure that in some twisted way he probably had regardless of her attempts.


It was like an out of body experience being back on the hound as the wind whipped through her hair which had come out of it's braid and was spiraling down her back. She actually closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy it for a minute, despite the fact that it was the swarm that had taken not only her education from her, but her father as well. When she opened her eyes she was surprised to find that they had reached a house.


After getting off of the hound she followed behind Tiel, more out of instinct to follow the person who was in charge and knew what was going on than out of respect for him or even a desire to stay. As he listed the different rooms and gadgets in the house she quietly nodded her head, though she was really making her own opinions of the so called sanctuary as he spoke. With his last comment that they were free to leave whenever they wanted to she looked up, almost as if she were about to say something but thought better of it and closed her mouth. Her home was gone after her decision to destroy it before the I.D.S could make their way in and use it as a base or to study her family home like if it had once belonged to animals.


She relaxed a bit, leaning against the wall as she weighed her options. Sarah wasn't sure if Eva would stay with Tiel or even why she was so worried about the girl who she hardly knew. Whether or not she wanted to leave Tiel was also something that she did not know. It was true that she could try and find another place to stay, but really there was hardly any chance of her succeeding. It was just as she was really starting to think over her options that her focus was broken by Tiel's explosion at the TV after hearing about the I.D.S's new fighting strategy.


It was odd to hear an officer say such things, especially Tiel who despite everything had seemed considerably cool headed to her, incredibly cool and quiet. To Sarah it seemed like a very personal moment and she blushed as if she had barged in on him, seeing him in a vulnerable state. She gulped down some spit and nodded her head. "Yes. I hate your job too."
 
Eva followed them inside. She seemed bewildered and amazed by the home, like she'd never seen anything like it before. She crawled onto the couch and watched the TV, mesmerized. The lamp on the table next to her then got her attention. She peeked under the shade and stared at the light bulb until it hurt her eyes. She then pulled away quickly and pulled the dangling chain. When the lamp went out, she began repeated the action over and over until the bulb suddenly popped, burned out.


Eva jumped away, startled. She removed herself from the couch, leaving a dirt spot on the cushion.
 
"well we cant take the chance of the hive getting bigger, its to close to the fort"


he looked at her and patted her shoulder and laughed


"if you help i can get you onto the fort legally what do you say"
 
caleb pulls a hand gun from his holster and gives it to her


"that better i hope...by the way this is marco and im caleb where soldiers for the edf" he said smiling
 
"oh ok, nice to meet you guys" she smiled, showing some rather sharp teeth. Before any of them could comment, she quickly added, "uh, so what exactly do I have to do here? Belli'atri, by the way."
 
"stay with marco and he will go with you to set the charges on the roof and ill set the radio tag at the lowest floor of the hive" he grabbed the radio and stuffed it in his pocket and got up placing his helmit back down
 
Tiel smiled. Hearing that she wasn't a big fan of the I.D.S either made it that much easier for him to talk to her. Not that he had much to say, but he knew now he could say it without fear. Something about having a common goal always made people get along better.


Looking over at the couch after Eva scurried away, Tiel noted the dirt spot. Looking disappointed, but not mad, he looked at Sarah and kind of gave her the "Help me" look.


"She needs a shower or bath... And I'm not sure she has any idea how to use it... do you mind? Or if i do it, are you going to label me a perv?..." he commented, kind of sarcastically, but utterly serious.
 
Sarah looked back over at Eva who was leaving small dirty spots on the floor. Upon hearing Tiel's request her head snapped back to look at him. "You want me to... wash her?" she wasn't confused, understanding why he couldn't do it. It was more the thought that there was a grown girl that didn't know how to use a shower.


"It's probably best that you don't..." Sarah had surmised that at least Eva wasn't as afraid of her as she was of Tiel, something that they had in common. Walking over to Eva she cleared her throat. "U-um, Eva," she said, trying to catch the girl's attention. "How about a bath?"
 
Eva, who had busied herself by inspecting a radio, looked up. "B-bath?" She questioned. Eva had washed herself before, but never in an actual tub. She occasionally bathed in puddles that formed after a good rain, only ever succeeding in making herself muddier. "I-I need a bath?"
 
Sarah was worried that she had offended the girl and tried to be a little more conservative with her words. "Well after having such a long and stressful day I was thinking that a nice hot bath would help you to calm down." She put her hand on Eva's shoulder and walked her towards the bathroom. After clicking on the light she shut the door and was pleased to see that there was a tub. Walking over to the tub she turned the faucet and let the water fill the tub.


Once it filled the tub 2/3's she turned away from Eva. "I'll look away while you undress. Just get into the tub once you've put your clothes on the hamper." she said, trying to spare the girl some privacy.


 
Tiel would stand and walk into the first bedroom. Returning a few minutes later with a pair of loose slacks, a shirt, female underwear, and socks, he handed it all to sarah.


"i appreciate it..." he smiled at her


Looking at Eva, he smiled at her too.


"Surprisingly, no offense, you don't even smell bad, so that's not an issue. But lets try to keep some of the dirt off you. If nothing else, we should be able to get you looking good enough to avoid suspicious about being ... uhm.. Wild" he trailed off.


he didn't mean to make her upset, and hoped he didn't. He just knew that if she was dirty, the I.D.S might look at her as homeless and then try to take her in. They wouldn't really hurt her, but she would be like a prisoner. Sometimes he wondered if they were took protective, making it seem like they were evil. Or if they were just plain evil. The point was, if he could keep even just two people out of confinement, that was enough for him to know he was helping SOMEONE out.
 
Eva didn't seem too shy. After all, she ran around in a loin clothe. She shimmied out of her dirty animal skin clothes and stepped into the tub. The water was warm, much to her surprise. She sat down and began playing with the facet, turning it every which way to produce hot and cold water. The curious girl finally stopped once the water was a perfect temperature. She then began messing with the soap and shampoo bottles.


It didn't take long for the water she was sitting in to turn a stomach churning shade of brown from all the dirt on her skin. It looked like a couple small bugs even abandoned ship.
 
Sarah took the stack of clothes from him, stopping when she noted the snow white pair of women's underwear. Her eyebrow kinked a bit and she looked up at him. "Why do you have... a pair of women's underwear?" She asked, briefly looking down to reassure herself that it wasn't a pair of white tidies.


Shaking her head she walked into the bathroom and placed the clothes down on the hamper. She was surprised when she saw the shade of the bath water and shuddered softly before grabbing the louffa. "This might feel a little rough at first, but it's just to get the dirt off." she said, starting to scrub her back. The dirt seemed to serve as a second skin almost and she was surprised by how dirty the louffa became after a few minutes.
 
As Sarah questioned the underwear, Tiel looked away. He didn't think about it when he got them, but as for the reason he had them... he knew if it was going to be a full friendship, he would have to tell them everything, and not lie. It's not like he did anything bad, and perhaps it would even show how much he really hated the I.D.S.


After she disappeared into the bathroom, Tiel walked over to the same first room, and grabbed a picture off the shelf to the side. he then went back into the living room and waited for them to get done.
 
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