middleofsomewhere | Final: Blue and Purple

Final: Blue and Purple

Blue: A Call to Arms

On the sixth night (G10) since arriving in the Gry coves the fighting is the heaviest than it has been all week. What’s more anyone who tries to sleep that day or night will find their dreams are the clearest yet. Darkness, downward tunnels, fear yes but a clear calling. A draw. A call for help. A cry to arms.

The caverns are a flurry of activity but by the morning (G11) the elders address the cove. It is clear. The Burrower wishes them to descend. Furthermore if the aliens have been having dreams as well then it is clear that they are invited.

Not all can go of course, the caverns still need defending. But any who wish to may. The morning is spent preparing for the descent, or rather making sure that there are still defenders of the caverns and that everything is in order for them to descend.

Purple: A Plan for Aid

The fighting is still thick and fast but the morning of the seventh day (G11) brings another flurry of activity. The teenagers who had been growing restless all week can be found gathering in groups.

If approached by anyone who isn’t a Terran adult they will let them in on the secret. The Gry were going down to the dweller. The Gry dream forums have been full of Gry teens talking about this, worried their god is in danger. Worried they are in danger and going down there will mean certain death.

So of course the Terran want to help and their adults have not been listening. They have found one of the entrances that they believe will go down into the dwellers domain. They plan to strike out by noon and won’t say no to any one who wants to go with them.

It’s a steep entrance, going almost vertically down into the darkness below. They are pretty certain it leads to the dweller.

Meanwhile the monsters are still attacking the city with increasing numbers and almost every Terran is engaged in some level of fighting.

The Descent (Please specify team colour.)

The tunnels down from both the Gry coves and the Terran tunnels are steep. Even the Gry and Terran themselves struggle with the descent and voidtreckers will definitely need to use climbing equipment. It takes most of the day and into the evening to climb down. The air is dry and thin the further down they get but their SCA keeps them going.

The Terran and Gry have no such technology but they are better acclimatised. It’s a long climb down through the darkness.

Meanwhile... (Please specify team colour.)

For those that don’t descend there is still plenty to do. Monsters are still attacking, though as night falls they dwindle, as they begin to rush down to the cavern below. Still there are pockets of monsters around that need dealing with.

Parts of both tunnel systems are in need of repair. Down in the Terran tunnels the areas that had been collapsed still need a lot of work, though all the citizens have been rescued. The Gry systems are less structurally damaged but they are a mess and the clean up operation will take a while.

Deep Dweller

Finally the dark downward descent leads into a huge cavern. In the centre of the cavern there is a large, grey creature easily filling the space. It looks almost like a grub, if a huge one. It is hard to ascertain if it has eyes or a mouth even but it moves, slowly up and down as if it is breathing.

The elder Gry make respectful gestures towards it, the younger ones follow suit, a little more hesitantly. The Terran teenagers mostly seem some mixture of horrified and amazed.

There are four large entrances to the cavern, the two that the two groups came down and two other large ones from elsewhere. There are also numerous small ones, high and low in the walls. The two groups arrive at roughly the same time and it is not long before they have company…

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well, I for one am glad you're sticking by me." Gladio gave her a big grin. "I can't make light that hurts these things."

He turned fully now and took the few steps closer to Madoka so he could kneel down in front of her, still smiling.

"I think you'll do great up here. We'll watch each other's back, huh? Maru too. And anyone else who decides to stay up here with us." He suspected there might be one or two, but it would be mainly the older Gry who remained up with them, while most everyone else were going down. Pulled there by the call.

"Yes..!"

She doesn't even have to seem to think about that reaction. Honestly, it's almost kind of funny.. Maybe it's the days of fighting monsters that have gotten her used to having to deal with that, or maybe it's since she still has Maru here with her, or maybe it's the fact that she knows few people more dependable than Gladio.. But she doesn't feel scared at all, even though there's less people here to fight now. Even though she knows they'll still have to face those monsters.

If anything, it makes her feel good. Useful. She can actually contribute something here. Gladio is counting on her.

"I'll do my best, mister Gladio. I promise to get rid of as many monsters as I can so you won't have to worry!"

Gladio laughed, her enthusiasm was cute. He liked it.

"I know you will, Miss Madoka." He couldn't help himself, it had to be done. And maybe laughing and teasing were things better suited to another time and place, but Gladio wasn't about to miss an opportunity like that.

He pushed himself back to his feet and looked around. Things were... oddly quiet at the moment. Most of the creature would find their way down to this Burrower thing he was sure. But he wasn't going to let his guard down just yet. So as he stood, he summoned his sword and lifted it to rest upon his shoulder. "You and me against these creepy things."

Gah! He just had to sneak one in when she least expects it, didn't he?! Madoka knows this really isn't the time to get all flustered, especially when for all they know they could get attacked any moment now.. But it's hard to help it. It's like the combination of those two words instantly makes her cheeks light up, no matter how she feels about it being the appropriate time for it or not.

At least she manages to keep any and all protests to just one half-whiny non-verbal sound (why so cruel, Gladio, why do you do this to her!).

And seeing him pull out his sword like that makes Madoka summon her bow as well, just to be ready. In case..

.. huh?

".. Mister Gladio, do you hear something too?" Like a very faint skittering in the distance..

Gladio's smile didn't fade away as he slowly taps the sword against his shoulder.

"Yeah." He'd heard it, but he was having trouble pinning it down. It was in the walls, they were always in the damn walls. Gladio moved a step or two away from Madoka, then a few more, walking toward the walls to listen.

"... Don't know if they're heading down or..." Or if they're working their way toward them. Either way... "Just be ready, Madoka. I don't think they're all going to be heading down."

She nods. "I'm ready."

If anything pops up, at least. If there's an unnerving part about these things, it's exactly that you don't know where they're going to come from until they're already there, just bursting from the walls. It's why Madoka frowns, slightly biting her lower lip as she concentrates. She really wants to make sure to be ready to fire as soon as they pop up.

Madoka may not be outright scared, but she still feels a bit nervous - or maybe she's just experiencing a lot of anticipation in this moment where all they can do is wait. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"If only we knew where they'll come from.."

It was one of the things he hated about these caves and their stone walls, the way sounds echoed. It was sometimes hard to pin-point where it was coming from. Certain sounds seemed to carry. What sounded like it was right beside him could be far down the corridor. Or a sound above him...

Gladio frowned and tilted his head as he took more steps away from Madoka and removed his sword from his shoulder.

"Back up..." Gladio's smile was gone now, and while he kept his voice low, his tone was firm. The skittering was not just one creature, but several... and they were getting closer. They sounded like they were above...

Madoka's uneasy gaze turns towards the ceiling. Are they really up there? It's where she thinks the sounds seem to come from, but it's true - it really is hard to tell.

She instinctively backs up a step even before he says anything, as if that might get her out of the way. Logically it won't though - they have no idea where the monsters will strike. So instead Madoka pulls back her string to form one of her magical arrows in the bow, even though she's still making sure to keep her bow lowered so she won't accidentally hit Gladio with it if she's startled.

Though she does feel a bit bad about backing away from him further.. but does so anyway. He's right. She needs to be a bit more off to the side to be able to fire, after all. As she too tries to focus on the sound, Madoka grows quiet enough that all that's audible is her breathing.

Gladio shot Madoka a quick look, pleased to see her backing up... Because he was about to do something very stupid.

With his sword in hand he moved back a step further away from Madoka and then slammed his sword into the wall. The clang of metal on rock rang through the cavern, loud enough to make his ears ache. And if it bothered him... He hoped it'd bother those bastards as well. Bother them enough to stop nearing Madoka and come straight at him.

The skittering was drowned out by what sounded like a screech from multiple sources and, just as Gladio hoped, the sounds began to converge on his position. Gladio had just enough time to call out his shield before the creatures started to force their way out of the rocks and tunnels around them to come for him. There were far more than he'd imagined there would be! Had that screech been a call for help rather than pain? Damn... Gladio cursed under his breath as he brought his shield up to stop one in it's tracks as it launched toward him, he tossed it aside to slam his sword into another. But unlike the movies, they weren't nice enough to come at him one at a time.

"Madoka, get outta here!" He was surrounded.

Out of all the things Madoka expected to happen, Gladio slamming his sword into the wall wasn't really high up on the list. And if the surprise of that action by itself wouldn't be enough, then the sound it makes sure does it. It's slightly less bad for her since she's further away from it, but she's not far away enough to not still wince the moment she hears the loud sound. The girl does her best to surpress the urge to cover up her ears though, since she knows she can't afford to let go of her bow now. Not when something more might happen any moment now.

And happen it does. Before the girl even has the chance to fully recover from the sound, there's more of those monsters breaking through every wall, especially near Gladio. It's definitely more than she still expected to be out here after days of fighting them, too. It's easy enough to send an arrow flying at the very few that actually approach her, but doing something about Gladio's situation is harder. There's just so many of them around him. Not to mention that he's such a big guy - which is usually a good thing, but it's a little harder when it makes it difficult to aim at the creatures in a way that doesn't hit him as well.

"No..!" She just answers, even as she can still feel her heart pounding in her throat. She's not leaving now. Could even Gladio handle that many on his own, especially when he doesn't seem to have as big of a lightsource to actually destroy them with? She can't leave him alone without backup.

So she raises her bow again, squinting as she tries really hard to get a good angle on the things. One of her magical arrows flies past Gladio, and then another, each hitting one of the monster's eyes and shattering them.

But that's only two. There's no time to take them out one by one like this, and Madoka knows it.

"M.. Mister Gladio, are you okay..?!" There's no way he can handle all of them.

There were far more than he'd counted on, and Gladio distantly felt a little regret for antagonising them as he had. But it wasn't something he could change now it had happened. All he could do was try and keep them off of him as best he could.

The problem was Madoka wasn't moving. He heard her cry of no and debated shouting at her, when two of the creatures turned to dust before him.

He swung his sword, slamming into three of the creatures and sending them flying as he rounded on another and swung his hand around, flashing them with the light from his SCA to make them scatter or duck out of the way, but they still kept coming at him. On all fours a small group ran at him from behind and jumped onto Gladio's back, sending him stumbling forward and then down onto his knees with a grunt before he could answer Madoka's next call to him.

Gladio tried to throw the thing off of him but another struck him from the side, teeth bit down into his bicep and Gladio yelled and let his sword vanish in favour of reaching around to grab the creatures head to try and pry it off of him and pushed it to the side.

The situation seems to be getting worse rather than better in front of her eyes. Madoka audibly gapss when the creatures jump him with just enough of them to force him down on his knees. At this rate the monsters would only have more opportunity to force him further down, and he wouldn't have the capacity to deal with that many of them at once..

What is she supposed to do? She immediately thinks of going to find Maru to try and get him to help out, but would even he be able to deal with this many of the creatures at once? Besides, would she even have time for that? If she'd leave now, even for a moment to grab Maru, things would probably only get even worse.

No, this is something she has to solve. Because.. what would she tell anyone if she let something happen to Gladio right now? He was counting on her. What would she tell herself, knowing that she let someone important to her get badly hurt or worse right in front of her once again?

The image of Mami's lifeless dangling body appears in front of Madoka's mind again, and she raises her bow again before she knows it. Not again. It can't be Gladio this time.

"Gladio..!" She calls out, louder and more panicked this time. Madoka's eyes briefly turn gold as she fires, but this time it's not a regular magical arrow like before. It's much bigger than before, and rather than hitting any of the monsters, it just explodes in the air, lighting up the entire cave with a blindingly intense bright light that lasts for a good moment or two.

When the light fades away, it's forced all the monsters to shatter, leaving only very small pieces of them sprawled everywhere.

And by the time it fades, Madoka is already running over towards the man, dropping to her knees as well once she's reached him - like these last few steps just took away her last bit of energy. She does look rather exhausted.

"Sorry.. I was just a moment too late, huh..?"

There was no way he was going to be brought down by these things. If he had to find a way to crush their skulls with his bare hands he would do it. But he also knew that was going to be a near impossible thing. What he needed was a weapon that worked against them and that, he did not have. Idly he wondered if he could somehow set one of his swords on fire. One of the katana's maybe... It was as he was thinking this that he was also reaching back to grab the bastard clinging to his back to flip him off and over his shoulder...

... And it was at that moment he heard Madoka call out to him.

Gladio looked up, just in time to see a strange glitter to Madoka's eyes, and to watch her arrow soar toward him, above him, not looking like any arrow he'd seen her use before. It exploded above and he was forced to shield his eyes from the bright light, something the creatures couldn't do.

All around him he could hear the sounds of them shattering. Killed by the light. It was only when he heard Madoka's running steps and her voice right beside him that he slowly cracked an eye open. First one, and then the second... and then he grinned. "Better late than never, Princess. You saved my life."

The look in Madoka's eyes turns from worry to relief the instant he grins at her like that. It's just.. such a typical Gladio-like response, okay. And that's a great thing in a situation like this, where she really worried things were about to head seriously south. But he seems fine. Apparently she did manage to do what.. well, whatever she did just now, because even Madoka isn't quite sure what that was.. She did manage to do it in time. Before he got seriously hurt.

"I'm so glad you're okay.."

The relief is so obvious in her voice too, it's practically dripping straight off her tone. Everything was so high-tense a few moments ago that it's just starting to be released all at once now. Madoka was still tightly clutching onto her bow, but now it disappears from her hands.

She would reach out to give him a hug, but.. you know. Even when they're down both, there's still that height difference. And Madoka's legs currently feel like a newborn fawn's, so if she'd try to get up to give him that hug, she'd probably sink right back down onto the ground. So instead she just sits there.

"I-- I really thought everything was about to get super bad.."

With a groan, Gladio moved himself so that he was sat on his ass instead of his knees, and carefully looked at his arm where the stupid beast had bitten him. His flight suit was torn and he had a wicked looking bite, and knew that his back would be sporting some nice scratches, but nothing one or two of Nocts potions wouldn't cure so he wasn't too bothered.

He laughed and let his hand drop as he huffed a sigh and then brought the same hand back up, only this time to brush his hair back from his face.

"Nearly did, kiddo." He looked back at her, still smiling. "I'd probably have gotten away, somehow. But I'd be in worse shape if you hadn't been here to help. So thanks." His smile widened. "Haven't I always told you you're tough? I knew I was right."

That last part finally does make the relief change into embarrassment.. Or at least Madoka looking flustered. Because she can't even really deny the compliment. Most of all since she doesn't want to deny Gladio much of anything after getting hurt, but also since what she did just now technically was pretty tough.. Even though it doesn't make Madoka think of herself as very tough at all. Wouldn't anyone have tried the same in her shoes? Gladio is so nice, she can't imagine anyone abandoning him to such a painful fate.

"Well.. I--! I just did what I had to.."

She shakes her head, but then does smile at him.

"And honestly, I'm mostly just glad it worked out.. I really didn't think I could even do this much. So I'm glad I could be there for you at a moment when you really needed it.."

"Ohh, I bet you can do a lot more than that!" That smile cheered him up a hell of a lot as well. He'd worried some that Madoka might panic, might second-guess her actions or even apologise to him for having fired n arrow so close to him. But Gladio was glad to see she was owning this. Loved that she looked happy that she's been able to do something with her abilities.

"You were right where I needed you... Kinda glad you didn't run off when I told you to." Gladio managed to look sheepish here. "Sorry about that." He held out his arm to her. Yes, it was the arm with the bite, and he would do his best not to get blood on her. But... "Forgive me?" A hug would go a long way to making him feel better!

"It's okay. You were just trying to keep me safe. There's nothing bad to forgive."

And honestly, Madoka is used to that. Not even necessarily in a bad way. Sure, sometimes it goes a little too far with some people, but she knows most people who attempt that kind of stuff really just don't want to see her hurt. Madoka can understand that, she doesn't want to see people hurt either..

And even though she can only feel relief now, Madoka knows they just escaped from a really dangerous situation. If those creatures had all turned on her instead, even Gladio wouldn't have been able to stop them all before they'd get to her..

So there's no panic. Or apologies. There's just acceptance of the hug the instant he offers it. Thankfully she's close enough to him that Madoka doesn't have to move a whole lot - she just has to kind of drop forward to let herself lean against him, slowly moving up her arms to at least cling to him a tiny bit. Apparently she's not worried at all that the bite arm is about to wrap around her - just as long as it doesn't hurt him! But she knows Gladio is probably the kind of guy who can endure a wound like that.

"But we make a pretty good team, right..?"

Edited 2020-07-21 19:02 (UTC)

When Madoka fell against him like that, Gladio chuckled and wrapped his arm around her and scooped her closer, half lifting him into his lap so that she wasn't just hanging off of him like that.

And no, the bite stung and it was still bleeding but it would be sure to stop soon enough. It wasn't going to bother him when there was a cute girl he needed to offer comfort to.

"We make a really good team." Gladio grinned playfully. "I get my butt kicked and you save me. It's perfect."

It really says something about Madoka that despite the fact that she feels tired after using up that much energy, she still raises her head to look at Gladio even while clinging to him and a small pout still appears on her face.

"T.. That's not how it works..!"

Of course she's going to give the obvious Madoka response. Even in this situation. There's just no way this girl can let anyone get away with even jokingly putting themselves down in front of her, no way!

Besides, it's a little easier to focus her last remaining energy on that when she's being held up by Gladio's muscle mass rather than her own legs.

"You drew them out that way because you wanted to make sure they didn't come to me first, right..? I don't think I didn't notice! That was really brave of you..!"

Gladio chuckled and tilted his head to look at her, so she wouldn't have to keep tipping her head up to look at him.

"You noticed that, huh? And here I thought I was being subtle..." Though what he had done had been for two very important reasons. To bring the creatures to him and... he hoped... to maybe see what Madoka had to offer. Though that last part had only been a guess. He had thought maybe she would rise up to the challenged if forced to and she hadn't disappointed him. If she hadn't, of course, he would have found a way out of the mess eventually.

"I had you here, Princess. I knew I'd be safe with you at my back."

"You can be subtle when you want to be, I'm sure.."

Maybe that's Madoka thinking a little too positively of someone else - it wouldn't be the first time - but she does genuinely think so. Even though Gladio is big, he's never overbearing in her opinion. He could be subtle! It's just..

"But you have such a big heart that it's obvious when you do things like that." Especially with often Gladio's heart seems to be set on protecting people. That's one of the sweetest things possible. He's so often putting his life on the line in battle for other people's sake. Could anything be sweeter and more selfless? "And.. um, I mean, only someone with a heart that big would say that.. that they think they'd be safe with me at their back."

She blushes a little.

"I'm not that impressive yet, I think.. Although I'm really glad it worked out this time. I really want to help you like that in the future too, if I can."

He could give it a good try, but being as big and broad as he was, subtlety wasn't something he was very good at. But he could come at things in a round-about way if it suited him. It just depended on his mood. Sometimes, though, the direct approach was always the best. And if Gladio could get results faster and more efficiently like that, he was going to do it.

But then Madoka was off chatting away again... Gladio's grin softened into a tender smile, and before he could stop himself he had both of his arms around the small girl and was hugging her.

"... You..." He cleared his throat, his voice had sounded a little on the thick side there, all clogged up with emotion he needed to get a handle on before Gladio could start again. "... You say the sweetest damn things." Was it any wonder so many people would go to the ends of the world for this girl? It was just so sad she didn't see her own worth. Or understand that others did. "Madoka... You are impressive in more ways than one. And as you get older, wiser and stronger... you're going to be formidable. You're amazing. And I'll be proud to have your help in the future, fighting along side me."

A hint of surprise enters Madoka's eyes when Gladio first speaks up. It's just-- something about his tone that's a little unexpected, just a tad too much on the emotional side, even though it fades slightly when he speaks up.

But Madoka definitely heard it. She's sensitive to little things like that. Always a little too attentive, maybe, and also a little too empathic.. Since something about hearing his tone so thick for a moment makes her own eyes water slightly.

But not in a bad way. Since she smiles in the hug.

"Well.. If you're saying that, then it has to be true."

Because he wouldn't lie. And Gladio is smart. And also much more of an expert to her when it comes to these things.

"It's just.. um, just a little hard for me to believe things like that, but.. I'm going to try to." Madoka nods, and then quickly adds-- "Really!" As if she wasn't sure whether or not that sounded believable enough, despite meaning it. "After all, that's how I get older, wiser and stronger, right? A.. Ah, though I guess the older part might happen automatically.."

"I know it's hard. You're still young. It's hard to imagine what you'll be like ten years from now. Even when you get to my age, looking ten years into the future can be hard. Anything can happen. But if you keep on the path you're on, you'll be so much stronger."

Gladio wasn't sure how strong, but he had a feeling that she might surpass a lot of their friends in terms of sheer power, if the previous little display was telling. Madoka was strong, Gladio had no doubts about that. And he wanted her on his side. He'd help her in any way he possibly could, to help her reach her potential.

Final: Blue and Purple

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just setting things up here for the actual big help in the next tag!!!

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