savetheearth | SAGE PARTY GO

Suddenly, Aeron's there, one hand pressing her face against his chest as he shields her with his form. He's pulled the hood of his jacket up to serve as a flimsy barrier between the sharp rocks and his head, and in his other hand, he's holding a rusty crowbar picked up from the mine's floor.

"Shit," he breathes out, gaze flicking rapidly from side to side. He draws Colette closer to him, thoughts shifting between this was such a bad idea and shouldn't have brought her here. The furred creatures start lumbering toward the group of networkers, and Aeron curses under his breath again. "Looks like we're trapped. Stay behind me, all right?"

Ah. His hand is a welcome thing against the harshness of falling rocks and dust; she blinks when she hears him curse, his voice managing to bring her back to a little bit of reality, but she's still dizzy. Disoriented. Wait -- he's saying something else, Stay behind me, all right?

She nods her head knowing full well that she can't fight, she has no skills (that she's aware and even though she wants to help she'll only be getting in the way. There are noises -- something's coming and it's strange and gives her a chill up her spine.

This was all wrong. So, so wrong.

Her eyes water as she steps behind him, groping behind her to make sure she won't bump into or step on something else. "Please, be-...careful!" The words are tough to get out because of the dryness in her throat and her own wash of fear, the pain shooting down her leg from tripping, but more than anything she's worried about everyone else.

Aeron barely has time to register her words before the first of the bats converge on them, their wings turning the air around them musty. He's never actually been in a fight before, but that doesn't seem to matter; the adrenaline in his veins keeps his focused and gives him more strength than usual to swing at the creatures with his makeshift weapon.

One gets in his face, scratching at him, and Aeron has to duck his head with a pained hiss. While he's distracted, a couple of the bats get past him and try to get at Colette, screeching furiously.

The screeching is alarming and she waves her hands, trying to smack away anything that might be trying to get at them. But of course that's no good, she doesn't really know what she's doing, and ends up tripping again behind him, stumbling back onto the floor.

"Aeron!" Is he all right? While she couldn't quite see what was going on she could hear that hiss of pain, and even though they're fluttering around her, it doesn't hurt that much, for some reason. One dives at her and tangles in her hair and she tries to push it away, grabbing a rock and swinging her hand, smacking.

It takes him a second to recover, but once he does, he lunges and catches the second bat hovering around her in the wing. It gives another awful screech as it goes down, and Aeron pivots on the spot. He holds the crowbar in front of him grimly, keeping guard in front of Colette again.

"Did they get you?" he asks lowly, swiping the back of his hand across his cheek. It comes away bloody. That's it--he's going to get a weapon, a real weapon, for himself after this. For Colette and Emery, too. Getting caught by surprise like this again is not an option.

She opens her eyes and sees him wipe his hand across his cheek. Oh no...

"You're bleeding? Aeron..." Her mouth twists into a frown as tears sting at her eyes but they do not fall. She fumbles around in her pockets for anything, anything at all, though when she moves her leg there's a decidedly large amount of pain shooting up it now, enough for her to let out a little gasp.

"I... no, I'm okay. They didn't really do anything to me." She shakes her head, a little woozily, as she pulls a napkin from her pocket. "Here, use this..." To stop the bleeding.

Torn between kneeling beside her in concern and staying right where he is to keep the bats off of them, Aeron grits his teeth and glances behind him as a temporary compromise.

"Doesn't sound like you're 'okay', Colette." As the fighting continues around them, Aeron lets his frustration bleed into his expression. Colette, injured and stuck down here with him while he has nothing but a scrap of metal to drive their attackers off. At least Emery decided to stay out of this one.

Aeron seizes the opportunity when the bats around them turn their attention to another network user, who's stumbled into their range. He drops down beside Colette, taking the napkin, but not using it just yet. "Let me see," he says gruffly. Even when he's filled to the brim with adrenaline and energy, he still fumbles around her; he's never had to take care of someone younger and more vulnerable than him like this. "Where are you injured?"

She doesn't want to tell him, doesn't want to make him worry but there's a part of her that can just tell that he probably won't let the subject matter rest. They have a moment of reprieve for now and she grits her teeth, tugging up her jeans to reveal a nasty gash along the side, one that even goes further than she's managed to pull up the fabric.

It looks worse than it feels. For now, anyway, and once uncovered it begins to sting and bleed, dripping down reddened skin and she lets out a low sigh. Of course, curse her clumsiness.

Even though it hurts she does her best to not show that on her face. "Really, it doesn't feel that bad--... it happened when I tripped and tripping again made it worse, I guess..." Another rush of dizziness stops her from continuing, eyelids fluttering and she shakes her head again.

"I would... be so much worse if it weren't for you... thank you..."

"Hey." Aeron reaches out and steadies her as she seems to lose strength right before his eyes. Helplessly, he glances between the gash and her closed eyes. Aeron might not be a doctor like the other Aaron is, but even he knows he needs to stop the blood flow or he'll lose her. Losing consciousness here of all places would be the worst possible thing to do.

A look around--there's nothing--and Aeron uses the sharp bit of the crowbar to tear into the bottom of his shirt. Though part of him (the posh side) winces at his carelessness, Aeron also knows that the clothes can be replaced. Colette can't.

There are still creatures in the the mine; Aeron quickly rips his shirt into strips and wraps her leg up with the makeshift bandages. "Keep an eye out for me. Warn me if anything's coming."

She watches as he rips his shirt, eyes focusing in the dim lights as well as they can and she nods, a little dumbly, "O... okay." She moves her gaze to behind him for any sign of movement other than their fellow network-mates but doesn't see anything, not quite yet. Though she hears something, like something's walking, but when she glances down she sees nothing.

"Do you think we'll be able to get out of here...?"

Her question isn't out of pessimism but concern. There are so many people down here, trapped, and she's never been trapped in any kind of mine before. And, more than anything, the sound of his voice is reassuring. It helps calm her nerves, as on edge as they are.

The thing is, Aeron isn't sure. He wishes he could tell Colette that everything will be fine, that it's just a bit of a rough patch before the smoother road, but he can't. Everything that's happened since he wrote that number into his planner is filled with the things movies are made of. Conspiracy theories, werewolves, magical sages, monsters--this is so far out of Aeron's comfort zone, all he can do is scramble to keep up. It isn't a feeling he enjoys, as used to being in control of his life as he is.

Still, he's never had someone to look after like this either. Before Colette tracked him down, all fumbles and good-intentioned stalking, Aeron had been an only child. She isn't one of the employees in his father's company that he can just brush off and keep at a distance. She's his sister. The only blood relative of his who seems to actually want his company. Suddenly, Aeron isn't fighting for just one person anymore; he's fighting for two, and he'll be damned if he lets his sister down now. Besides, isn't believing supposed to be the first step toward victory, or some such rot like that?

Aeron, aware that he's been quiet for longer than he should, straightens. "We'll be fine, Colette. We'll get everyone out--it'll just take some time." He hesitates, then ruffles her hair a little. That's a good gesture of affection, right? They don't have much room for hugging--not that he wants a hug--and leaving it there without some motion hadn't seemed right either. "Just trust me on this one."

She's a little worried when he remains quiet for a while, eyes focused on him as he seems to think on something, though she can't guess what. Even if she doesn't know him that well... even if they exist in very different worlds, she trusts him, because he's her brother and in truth she's always wanted a sibling. Growing up had been a little lonely in her home with parents who worked long hours. Sure, she killed time volunteering at the church and at school, but it wasn't the same as family.

Family... something of hers that had all but fallen apart, save for Aeron, now. Now that she knew who he was there was no way she was going to lose him.

The hair ruffle soothes her even more than his voice does, even if her head is a little sore from the barrage of earlier rocks. She makes a noise of agreement, "Okay. I trust you, Aeron." If he says that they will get everyone out then they will. Time, though... she can't help but to worry about that before another wave of dizzy passes over her. And there's still that noise and she turns a little, trying to see if something is creeping up on them from the darker little nooks of the mine.

"I hear something... do you?"

Aeron tenses, scanning the area around them. He doesn't hear anything, but now that he's listening for it, he hears the soft scrape-scrape sound of something moving across the floor.

"Yeah...I hear it. Keep quiet and don't move, all right?"

With one last touch to her hair, Aeron stands, gripping the crowbar tightly.

She doesn't want him to go. It gives her a bad feeling in her chest and she grips her shirt with sweaty bloody palms, staining her eyes in the darkness to try and see.

Initially she intends to stay quiet and sit like he says but when another scuffle becomes louder she turns, "What..."

This is like a bad movie, nerve wracking, as though something is playing with them. Gingerly she touches her foot to the ground, testing how badly her leg hurts. Wouldn't it be a good idea to regroup with the others if they can? She shifts forward to take a step and something crunches beneath her foot.

There's the sound of something like laughter (or something, a screech?) behind her and she spins, falling back against the wall.

"What is that?"

“Doesn’t sound like a friend, that’s for sure,” Aeron replies, scanning the area again. “Be ca—“

Just as he looks over at Colette again, a furred shape darts out from some nook behind her, chattering.

“Behind you!” Aeron makes a grab for her, pulling her along as he heads back in the direction of the main network group. Something grazes his arm before he can pull away completely. It’s just a shallow scratch, but the next time they might not be so lucky. Especially since it sounds like the creature’s right on their heels.

"Ah!"

She lets out a gasp of surprise as he grabs her and pulls her along, her head rushing with dizziness and confusion. She flails her free arm as something moves and there's a noise of what sounds like laughter.

"What should we-?"

Whatever it is gets at her leg and she stumbles, pulling on him for support.

"Aeron-!"

SAGE PARTY GO

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