A skirmish at the fountain

[The Humble Sage]

The Sage awoke, and could not see the sky. He was outside, there was no way he could be inside, there were not enough echoes from the surrounding area for anything to be nearby. He sat up, and looked around. There was no way he could be outside though, there was only whiteness around him, and the hourglass. It was large and imposing, the sand continued to seep down from the top towards the bottom, the soft sliding sound continued past him and out into the whiteness beyond him. He was vaguely aware of the sounds of people, yelling from far away, but it was almost immediately lost in the intervening space. He looked around, but there was only white to be seen. They sounded so far away, their voices drowned in the rushing sand and the vast expanses of white.

This is not the world you know...

The grinning face flashed in his mind, and he jolted to his feet. He felt unbalanced, the floor was incredibly smooth, and his soft shoes slid slightly...

What is this made out of, anyway? he thought to himself. He reached down to touch the floor, then froze as there was a clicking sound from behind him.

“You a new prime?” came a static-distorted voice from behind him. The sage turned around in surprise and found himself facing the end of a rifle. He instinctively jumped backwards and the white-clad soldier tensed, tracing his motion with the rifle. “Move again and I'll see you every three days for the rest of your sorry existence, pal!”

“Easy Baratori, he's not gonna understand that. He's not a threat yet, he doesn't have any weapons. We can get him peaceful-like.” There was another soldier a little farther back, he seemed far more nonchalant, holding his rifle easily and comfortably.

The first one, Baratori, shot him a glance but continued to keep the rifle steady. “Oh Yeah? What if he's got some sorta powers? You think about that, Cantor? I overheard Belren in the mess yesterday! He was talking about a shadow that controlled his mind!” The stormtrooper turned his full attention back to the new prime. “ Now, are you a new prime pal? You got any Omnilium on you? Speak up!”

Cantor cursed, and leveled his rifle “That's a lot of Camee's coming this way Baratori! We need to get the prime and get out, if he even is a prime.” He began to fire his rifle at the enemy, though they were still a good half-mile away.

Baratori also began to fire at the warriors, though their shields deflected the few blasts that reached them. “This is Trooper TK 5835 Requesting Backup at the Fountain, we have a potential prime in custody, and multiple Kingdom Swordsmen converging on our location. Requesting Extraction STAT!”

One of the swordsmen went down with a shot to the leg, but there were still half a dozen of them, and they were nearly there.

Just think of what you desire most.

The Sage concentrated, he needed a weapon, these men did not seem to be friends of his, and he doubted that the Swordsmen would be any better. He needed to be able to defend himself. As if on call, a small globe that looked strangely familiar rose from his palm and hovered in his hand. A weapon, I need to be able to fight!

The small globe began to glow.

But nothing happened.

“Hey! Quit that, Prime!” The butt of Baratori's rifle smacked him across the face and sent him sprawling.
“Idiot, you think we'd ignore you for three whole minutes? Do we look like conscripts or something?” The stormtrooper turned back to fire at the approaching enemy.

The Sage struggled back up to a nonthreatening crouch, he was too out of his element to do much here, he would have to be very careful about how he handled this.

Two more swordsmen were down, but the rest had closed the gap. Baratori and Cantor were using electrostaffs to fend them off, but they were outnumbered two to one. As the Sage watched, one of the Swordsmen found a gap in Cantor's armor, and the blade slid home sharply. Cantor collapsed, and Baratori positioned himself with his back to the fountain.

He should run.

The Sage got to his feet and began to sprint away from the fight as quickly as he could. The shriek hit him first, and he saw the speck approaching fast. Its sound was a whine that rent the air as it passed. He heard shouts of dismay from the swordsmen. It must be friendly to the White soldiers. He looked around for a place to hide, but there was nothing, only the hourglass, the sand continuing to flow down.

Cantor was sprawled on the ground, and blood was seeping out onto the white floor, but it was fading rather fast, faster than he felt like it should for how solid the floor felt.

A weapon!

The Sage tried again to focus, and again the orb rose from his palm, but again nothing happened. The speck had closed the distance fast, and he could see another of the white soldiers atop the mechanism. I don't have the time for this! He thought, and began to sprint towards one of he fallen swordsmen.

The engine of the speeder-bike throbbed in his ears. There was a strange sound and a searing pain arced across his back. He sprawled on the white ground, and darkness closed in on his vision.

“Trooper TK3359 reporting, I have apprehended the rogue prime. TK5835 and TK2184 reported deceased. Hostile targets are fleeing. Returning to Base.”

The Sage felt himself lifted, and deposited on the mechanism, then he slipped into unconsciousness.

[The Humble Sage]

The Sage was groggy, but he was vaguely aware of the speed with which he was moving. He forced his mind to focus, he knew very little about what was happening, but he knew that his current captor had fired on him without hesitation. Clearly they were not interested in his own best intentions. He was slung over the back of the mechanism, with the driver steering in front of him. They seemed to be headed towards a strange set of pillars. They were clearly metal, but the architecture was of a very strange design. They seemed far too compressed and angular, almost aggressive, unlike the sweeping arches and soaring towers The Sage understood to be impressive. They were still miles away from the gate. He wasn't sure how long he needed to actually summon a weapon, but he certainly couldn't outrun the soldier. not while he was on this mechanism

He reached out a hand, and focused as hard as he could. Once again the orb began to form. He didn't have time to make this weapon fancy, it just needed to work. He pictured the item in his mind and as he continued to focus the faintest of outlines began to appear in his hands. It was appearing very slowly though. He wanted to glance up, to try and guess how much time he had left, but he knew that he couldn't afford a lapse of concentration now.

This is going to be cutting it pretty close...


TK3359 was in a foul mood. He had been sent to aid two of the scouts, and retrieve the prime they had found. While he knew that his superiors would only care about the objective, and he had accomplished that in capturing the prime. His commander would say that the deaths of the scouts were regrettable, but not to let it weigh on his mind.

His Barracks-mates would say differently. Cantor had been a prick and didn't get along with the rest of them very well, he doubted anyone would miss that one very much. But Baratori had been a good friend. He had been summoned earlier than most of them, and though one could tell he resented being put with a younger squadron he hadn't let that prevent him from actually getting along with any of them. Baratori had been the one to explain so many of the bizarre things that the Omniverse held.

He was only about a mile away from the gate now, It was so strange. The concept of Hyperspace, of traveling speeds that would not be possible otherwise, made complete sense to him. But the idea that the ONLY way to get between these planets was through these gates just struck him as... unsafe. It made them too easy to target, Particularly here where they only had a couple soldiers posted. He knew the other side was riddled with turrets primed and ready to take down any sort of invading force, but it still seemed like the gate itself was poorly defended.

Not like they care though, they don't die when you kill them. He thought bitterly. Sure an attack might destroy a couple buildings, but those primes could just re-summon them. He had no doubt that someone was being contacted to summon replacements for Cantor and Baratori even now.
It could even be those same two fools again. The Empire had never agreed not to re-summon a dead secondary, even though this was viewed as the ultimate insult by most of the army, a position he agreed with completely. He made sure his com-link was turned off, wouldn't want some prime to overhear him back at HQ.
“You're all a bunch of sick monsters, you know that?”
he said, looking back at the prime he had slung over the back of the speeder-bike. There was a blur of motion, and something solid and wooden smashed him in the side of the helmet. He nearly fell off the bike, and his motion pulled the bike off-course. It began to lean heavily to one side, spinning in an arc back towards the Fountain. TK3359 fumbled for his blaster, shaking the spots from his vision. He couldn't remember if he'd left it on stun, but right now he didn't have time. The Prime had nearly been thrown off when the speeder-bike had swerved, since he'd only been flung over the back and wasn't secured. He struck the soldier again, having held on with one hand and gotten at least one foot secured.

“I need backup!” TK3359 shouted into his com-link, but the lack of static reminded him that it wasn't active. He just had to hope that the troops on duty at the gate would see what was happening and get here in time. He reached behind him while trying to line up a shot, and readjusted the controls, they needed to stay headed towards the gate, he didn't want some other faction spotting them. The bike veered back the other way, and the prime was thrown off-balance. TK3359 fired a shot at him, but the prime managed to twist out of the way somehow, and the shot went wide.

Another smack from the wooden rod caught him under the chin and he was flung backwards onto the handlebars. Immediately the speeder-bike shot forward in a corkscrew, and both riders were flung off of it. TK3359 landed hard, and heard a snap before pain flooded him. Geh, that's an arm. He thought, as he struggled to roll into a sitting position. The prime had somehow landed in control and was already sprinting away. TK3359 reactivated his com-link to call for help, but he was immediately assaulted by static-laced chatter.
“It's coming in fast!” another voice shouted,
“I can't get a lock on it in time!” The panic was obvious.
“INCOMING!!” There was an explosion from the direction of the gate, and TK3359 could see the fiery remains of his speeder-bike scattered about. It had struck one of the pillars, spraying shrapnel and debris all over the guards. More then one of them was currently on the ground.

TK3359 collapsed back as the pain in his arm grew steadily greater. He could feel it was broken. He should be going after the prime, THIS would be something his superiors would care about. What could he say to defend himself? He lay there, staring at the white sky. He couldn't help thinking, Those gates are so poorly defended...

[The Humble Sage]

Eventually, the sage collapsed on the hard floor.

Huph, so that's what the floor feels like... marble... sort of? he thought between gasps. He had spent to much time pampered in the castle, he was out of shape. Yianna would kick me if she saw how sloppy I've gotten. he though with a rueful grin. His breathing was more under his control now, and he slowly sat up looking back for signs of pursuit. There was a speck on the...not really the horizon per see, but where it would have been if there was one . He couldn't make out what it was, but besides the slightly larger shape he assumed was the hourglass he couldn't see anything.

So do I just go back? Is there even anything else out here?

The Sage frowned as he considered his options, there were not many.

There wasn't anything I could do back at the hourglass, and everywhere else has just been whiteness. The soldiers were taking me back to their camp, maybe that's where the mechanism crashed at... I don't want to have to deal with those people if I can avoid it. They were attacked by the swordsmen, which means they can't be the only ones out here... I guess I just try and find somewhere else?

He pushed himself to his feet.

Well, I'm not walking the whole way....

The sage focused his attention, and once again the orb appeared above his hand. He could get used to this, he decided. It was certainly easier when he wasn't being harassed. It took longer than the cane, but after soon enough the horse was prancing in front of him. It was a pure white mare, the saddle and reins made from white leather.

He continued to focus, and after a few more minutes a set of white clothes and cloak appeared.

whether or not that was their intent, those soldiers have the right idea. There is so little out here, there's no reason to let my colors draw attention to myself.

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The hours passed slowly. Or at least, they felt like hours, he couldn't be sure in this place. No external references. He didn't even know where anything else would be.

The sage wondered how many other people were out here, lost in the vast white. Was there a wall? Did it just continue on forever? He assumed that it couldn't just keep going, but in truth there was no way for him to tell. As the time continued to pass and nothing but whitness surrounded him, the sage began to question his plans. He was tempted to try and return to the soldiers, if only because he knew they had a place to live. He quickly realized however that he no longer could find his way back to them, as he had left that speck behind long ago.

I wonder if I can actually summon food enough to keep me alive out here? I imagine this orb...
even as he thought the orb appeared in his hand. Eager for use are we? Well, I doubt you can sustain me for eternity. I wonder whether I would decompose if I starved out here? There's no airflow and no insects, so It would seem that nothing would actually be there to prevent my corpse from remaining...

...well that's decidedly unsettling... He mused as the horse shuffled to a halt. He scanned the horizons once again, and nudged the horse in the direction of the nearest spot. It looked much too small to be another of those gates, but it still provided him with some direction, which right now was good enough.

He arrived after a certain amount of time, and found the slumped form of a young man, approximately the same age as himself. He dismounted and checked the man for a pulse. ironic... he thought mirthlessly. The boy was dead, and long enough that he had gone cold to the touch. He was dressed for much warmer weather than the sage had been used to, but it didn't look like exposure had been his demise. The Sage began to search the man's belongings.

pardon me sir, but I must to know why you are out here, lest I share your fate. The man had an empty satchel over one shoulder and was clutching a small book to his chest. A log? You are too good to me... The sage tenderly removed the book, and opened it. He grunted in disappointment as he found it written in some language that he did not recognize. fair enough I suppose. This isn't your fault. He couldn't find any visible wounds, and the man didn't appear to have starved. The Sage had to admit that he didn't know what had actually killed the man.

He concentrated for another time, and a small cairn of rocks appeared around the man's corpse. The Sage remounted his horse and aimed her in his best guess at where the man had come from. The horse set off once again, and the sage set his eyes on what would be the horizon. I wish you the best of success in your journeys sir. May the white maiden lead you on your way...