[4-12] The Mines

[Amaterasu]

Fiara still was in the relative safety of the wreckage and was continuing her work of stabbing at whoever came too close, when the ground beneath their feet gave away. The wreckage creaked and a few bolts were sent flying like bullets from the enormous stress placed on them, hitting several of the employees around her, and one just barely grazing her ear and leaving a burning mark. She hardly had any time to scream before the entire plane nose sunk down, letting her do little more than to hold on tight to the closest support that she could find and hope for the best. Her head was smacked against the steel she held onto twice, leaving her too dazed to register what was happening around her for most of the involuntary trip.

By the time that the girl regained her senses the plane had come to a halt at the bottom of the pit and a suffocating silence had replaced the cacophony of battle that had raged here just... wait, had it been minutes ago? It could have been seconds or hours. She had no clue how long her dazed state had incapacitated her. Muttering something about putting bamboo shoots under the toenails of their aggressors and hammering them in, she got to her feet as far as the remains of the wreckage around her allowed. Had the metal been twisted and torn to a point where it was remotely reminded of the inside of a plane, it now was a mess of steel, plastic and other components beyond recognition. To top it all off it was raining into the hole and she was covered in mud that had gotten into the wreckage during the cave-in. Just perfect...

"Knew I shouldn't have stuck with the group... how am I ever going to find Saber in this mess?" She avoided asking herself the question if she would even make it out alive. Truth be told, the rescue mission to find the missing people had turned into a fight for survival very fast. As if waiting for the prompt her stomach gave an upset grumble. At least I'm not going to die of thirst, she thought to herself with bitter irony. The other three didn't look like they needed food or water to live. Well, probably not anyway. They might have their own necessities instead... she hastily brushed the mental image of Okor going into the bushes aside, amusing as it might be, and focused on the task at hand. Cave... limited light. Her Phoenix Blasters were still active though, she could... right. A look down at her bandaged stomach was enough to boil her anger and make the flames on her arms flare up into bright lights. It was very inconsistent, but supported by the little amount of light flooding in from the ceiling hole.

Almost immediately did Fiara have to suppress a scream by pressing her hand to her mouth and sliding backwards against a wall when the flames illuminated the horribly mutilated corpse of a Syntech employee that had been skewered by multiple steel bars during the fall. Though she wanted to look away she couldn't, her eyes refused to look away from the face with glassy eyes and a blood-covered chin. It was the woman who had previously helped her back to the wreckage, after she'd fought. Fiara felt something rise up inside her that made her snap back to reality, avert her eyes from the corpse and take deep breaths before her stomach could complete its rebellion and empty its contents on the ground. She forced herself not to look at anyone else as she got back to her feet and punched the steel wall with both hands and fired her Phoenix Blaster. It creaked but didn't quite break out of its hinges. A second double-handed smash blasted it out however and allowed more light into the room she had been stuck in. Still breathing heavily and holding back tears she grabbed one of the makeshift spears that the employees had made and climbed out through the opening she'd made, wincing at her injury that did not take kindly to such movements and stress. She ended up dropping the spear to the ground below her so she had both hands free and finished the descent.

Was she the last one alive? The question was answered when one of the attackers groaned, mumbled something in a foreign guttural language and grabbed Fiara's foot while looking up at her. She stabbed him through the heart with one hateful movement, driving the pointed steel through his body until his twitching stopped and left it sticking from his corpse, then picked up his spear instead. Following one of the few rational thoughts that made it past her bitter, frustrated feelings she also produced an ammo belt from her pocket and used it to replace the six shells that she had fired from her Phoenix Blasters - two during the fight, four to get herself out of the wreckage. Think, Fiara... the others can't all be dead. You can't have been the only survivor. The others are tough. They've made it.

As if to confirm her self-reassurance a grunt and the wet splat and schlorp sounds of someone moving through mud broke the silence. Fiara's eyes widened and she rushed over to what turned out to be Okor, coated in mud just like her. At this point, she didn't care about that nor about his... nature. He was alive. She wasn't alone. She wanted to hug him. "Okor! Are you alright?!" she yelled while stumbling through the mud to get to him.

1011 words.