Ashen Wastes: The Road to Nowhere?

[Dawnika Snow]

The Vigilante trudged on, thankful she was able to out maneuver the drakes that had somehow snuck up on her. She ejected the clip from her sniper and replaced the bullet she had shot with a new one. Fully loaded. The clip snapped back into the reloading chamber. She also screwed the silencer off the muzzle. Switching to Oscurità, Dawn and Rouge continued to search for what they were looking for, if only they knew. The world around her seemed ripe with wrong, but it didn't seem anyone she had met was trying to stop it. Granted she'd only met the robot teenager, but if there was someone around here trying to help things get better they were very absent in this area. It looked like death incarnate in these ashen wastes. Volcanoes and clouds of smoke weren't very inviting.

A river of lava poured past her right side. The heat was unbearable, but to her left was a fissure that was a far enough fall to kill her. “Damn Rouge, I can only imagine how you feel.” A whimpering whine came from her canine companion in response. Dawn stopped and shared her water with Rouge, pouring it gently into her mouth and letting her lick the opening of the bottle. She gave her a soft pet and continued onwards.

The two traveled on for what felt like hours. Avoiding the beasts and creatures that inhabited this area of the universe. Dawn was starting to wonder if her choice to go through a different gate was a bad one. Though she was nearly lost in thought, she felt it: The earth shifted somewhat silently. It was like an earthquake, but there was no way an earthquake of such unimpressive magnitude would happen next to volcanoes. Something was going on. Rouge knew it too, her ears perked up and tail shot down. “C’mon Rouge, let's investigate.”

The two traveled past an opening in the rocks that led to the mountains. Just as they cleared the rocks, a small opening of flat land stretched a few meters before the mountain rose. Looking up the slope, rocks protruded slightly like a stairway, though at first glance, she almost missed it. “Rouge. Delta.”

The dog responded quickly, jumping ahead of Dawn, who followed behind her. The husky walked up the stairs slowly with Dawn watching her six. The both of them on high alert. The door with an odd symbol stood in front of them. “Shall we knock?” She looked at her companion, who gave her a head tilt in confusion. “You know me too well.” She stroked her ear and slowly opened the door, peering in to see if anyone was around. The first room was led into by a hall, so no one was near the entrance. She squeezed through the door and led Rouge into the hall. She formed a mirror with omnilium in her hand and peered around the corner with it. A man sat a table tinkering with his arm with a screwdriver. His arm was made of metal.

“Damn,” his said aggravated, “the chief really fucked up some of my circuits.”

His back was turned slightly out of out of the angle of his line of sight. “One Alpha.” She whispered to Rouge. “Blind, 180. Continue Delta.” Rouge crawled low to the ground past the man fiddling with his arm, followed by Dawn after her. The went further down the hallway. It branched off into selerate rooms, one with the door open, a man lay on his bed fiddling a phone. “What should we do?” She whispered to her companion. She returned with a response of clenched teeth. “Commando? Idk, he looks tough. Maybe we can get some info off him though.” She took a moment to think, trying to get a plan together quickly. A stoke of genius came across her. She bump his wall with the butt of Oscurità, making a loud thump, catching his attention. Kuzuru stood after setting the phone down.

“What the hell is it now?” He slowly walked to the door. As he got close Dawn slipped past the corner of the door into the room. She moved almost too quickly to see, throwing her rifle around his neck and getting behind him. The metal of the gun pressed to his neck but wasn't choking him. “Me and Rouge want some answers. You're gonna give them to me.” Kuzuru grinned, things were getting real interesting, real quick.