by Charles Rye
Koriphus quickly opened the doors and scampered inside, sliding into the driver seat noticing the keys were still in the ignition before turning them.
The engine sputtered and rumbled into life, shaking the frame of the bus.
"We're good, should get us back to base where we can fix'er up," He said encouragingly, waving the others to board the bus.
Aurelia and Caliphar helped Norenia up the steps and into the seat behind Koriphus, Aurelia sat beside her as Caliphar took up the seat across from them.
Soraf, Roy and Zandrem took up the seats behind them as Sif and Royena took the seat behind Soraf and Roy.
Vorenzar walked towards the back of the bus and sat down in the seat, Zxeron was the last to board and he lied down in the isle facing Vorenzar, his front paws crossed with his long tail curled over his hind legs.
"Hold on tight ladies and gents, this may get bumpy!" Koriphus exclaimed with a grin, glancing at everyone in the rearview mirror as he sped through the junkyard.
"Take it easy, please Koriphus‚ I don't want my bus breaking down half way to the base," Aurelia spoke catching his attention in the rearview mirror.
"Yes ma'am‚"
"Thank you," Aurelia said before turning her attention to Norenia.
"Think you'll be all right until we reach our base?" She asked looking at the girl.
Norenia nodded slowly, tucking her legs up against her chest and resting her chin on her right knee as she wrapped her arms around her lower legs.
"Okay, Caliphar will stay with you‚ I'm gonna go have a chat with our new passenger, understand?" She said quietly, gently patting Norenia's shoulder.
Norenia nodded again to show she understood.
"I got her, go talk to Vorenzar," Caliphar whispered to Aurelia as she stood from the seat.
Aurelia stepped past Zxeron as she walked toward the back of the bus; she sat down beside Vorenzar and stared at her lap in silence.
Vorenzar glanced at her sideways with curiosity, unsure whether she should say something or not.
She placed her gloved hands in her lap and quietly cleared her throat.
"Take off your bandannas,"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me,"
"Okay," Vorenzar sighed.
She reached up and tugged the bandanna over her face down to hang around her neck to reveal her dark red muzzle, then removed the one on her head allowing her tufted ears to pop up, twitching them nervously.
"You're a fox, no wonder you had to disguise yourself to stay alive in that fucked up place!" Aurelia exclaimed rather loudly, causing the others to all glance over their shoulders at her and Vorenzar.
"Yes, I'm a fox‚ I figured if I was discovered I would'a been killed on the spot," Vorenzar replied, removing her gloves before cracking her knuckles.
"Well welcome to our group of abominations," Aurelia said with a slight chuckle, patting Vorenzar on the back.
"Yeah, I was hiding when I heard that asshole commander call you lot abominations‚"
"The others I was with before they got captured and killed‚ used to call me Trickster 'cause I was good at fooling people, but now I just go by Vorenzar," She explained, a note of sadness in her voice.
"You got us for a group now; we take care of our own. You're safe with us," Aurelia said reassuringly.
"I'd hate to interrupt but‚" Koriphus interjected, catching Aurelia in the rearview mirror.
"What is it?" Aurelia replied looking at him.
Koriphus opened and closed his mouth several times, which reminded Aurelia of a fish gasping for air.
"Well?"
"We're‚ lost‚" He finally managed to admit, glancing at the bus floor.
Aurelia muttered under her breath standing up on the seat, reaching for the hatch in the roof before opening it as she climbed through it.
The others could hear her on the roof of the bus as she walked towards the front of the roof before stopping.
Aurelia looked around for a moment, gazing towards the fading night sky spotting the crescent moon high above her.
She lied down on the roof and holding on, managed to lean down in front of the windshield causing Koriphus to jump in his seat.
"We're not lost!" She shouted so he could hear her.
"Turn left and keep going!"
Koriphus regained himself and nodded to let her know he had heard her.
She ran across the roof and suddenly appeared as she jumped down through the hatch, landing in the seat beside Vorenzar.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go," She said looking at Koriphus.
He gave her a quick nod and turned left, suddenly speeding across the dry desert ground.
"Should be back at base in no time," Aurelia said reassuringly, looking around at everyone.
"How'd you know which way to go, there aren't any kind of land markers out here‚" Soraf said glancing at her.
"I didn't need land markers to know where to go, just had to look for tire treads left behind from the soldiers' vehicles," Aurelia smirked.
"Why hadn't I thought of that?" Koriphus pondered to himself, swerving left and right to avoid jagged rocks jetting out from beneath the ground.
"Hey Aurelia, I think we may have another problem here‚" Caliphar called glancing over his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around Norenia, who had begun to shiver.
"What's the matter?" Aurelia replied walking back to Caliphar and Norenia.
"I dunno, one minute she was just sitting still as a statue and the next she started shivering. I think she's in shock," Caliphar explained with concern.
"Koriphus, pull over now!" Aurelia commanded.
Koriphus slammed on the brakes, causing the bus to lurch forward as the tires squealed in protest before the bus came to a complete stop.
"What's wrong?!" Koriphus exclaimed leaping out of the driver's seat.
"Norenia's gone into shock," Aurelia responded without looking at him.
Soraf stood from her seat beside Roy and quickly retrieved a little pouch from beneath the seat and stepped over Zxeron to stand beside Aurelia.
"She's being affected by the Destroyer's poison, all the moving around from earlier made it surge through her system quicker than it should have," Soraf explained, moving to sit beside Norenia.
"Don't worry, all right? This will help you, I promise," She said reassuringly looking into Norenia's eyes.
Norenia gathered up all the energy she had to lift her head and looked back into Soraf's eyes, blinking away a tear.
Soraf unzipped the pouch and dug into it, pulling out a medium sized syringe filled with a greenish colored liquid.
"This won't hurt at all, okay?"
Norenia gave a small nod, feeling every muscle in her body ache.
Soraf rolled up the sleeve on Norenia's right arm before gently pressing the tip of the needle against it, letting it slip into her skin as she injected the strange liquid into Norenia's vein.
"It may take a moment to work but you'll feel it soon," Soraf smiled pulling the now empty syringe away from Norenia's arm, dropping it back into the porch before zipping it close.
"Will she be okay?" Aurelia asked turning to look at Soraf.
"She'll be better than okay, just give the antidote time to work its magic," Soraf smiled in response as she returned to her seat.
"Keep an eye on her for me," Aurelia said looking at Caliphar, nodding to Norenia.
"Yes boss," Caliphar replied, saluting Aurelia.
Aurelia walked back toward the back of the bus and sat down beside Vorenzar.
"Can we go now?" Koriphus asked as he slid back into the driver seat.
"Yeah, better we get back soon as possible,"
Koriphus started the bus up again and continued driving in the direction Aurelia had ordered him to.
"So, you don't know anything else about that place or what those psychos are up to?" Aurelia unexpected questioned glancing at Vorenzar.
"Just what I told you, I tried to keep my no
se clean and stay out of the way. Apparently doing that gets you promoted pretty quickly‚" Vorenzar replied gesturing to her uniform.
"Does anyone smell rainbow cupcakes?" Norenia suddenly interrupted as she glanced around at everyone on the bus.
"What on earth was that?" Sif asked, a look of pure confusion furrowing her brow.
"That would be the antidote working," Soraf said simply.
Aurelia and the others looked at one another before all turning to stare at Soraf.
"I like this bus, this is a really nice bus‚ the seats are so soft‚" Norenia purred stroking the upholstery of the seat she and Caliphar were sharing.
"What the hell did you give that poor girl, Soraf?" Aurelia demanded.
"An antidote that just saved her damned life, it just has‚ side-effects‚" Soraf muttered looking down at her hands in her lap.
"Side-effects?"
"Relax, it won't last long and she won't remember when she wakes up‚"
Caliphar glanced down and noticed Norenia has passed out, using his shoulder as a pillow.
"I like mermaid ponies‚ Would you like some tea with that general Charlie‚" She mumbled sleepily in-between snores.
"See? She's totally fine," Soraf said reassuringly.
Double Spy
Very soon, they were turning onto the airbase tarmac.
Koriphus steered the bus into the hangar and parked beside an NH-90 before killing the engine.
"She still out?" Aurelia asked as she stood from her spot beside Vorenzar walking toward Caliphar and Norenia, who was still leaning against Caliphar's shoulder.
"I can carry her, don't worry," Caliphar reassured.
Carefully supporting Norenia's legs and shoulders, he lifted her from her seat.
"We can set up a cot for her. Let her rest until the antidote wears off," Royena advised, following Caliphar and Aurelia with the rest of the crew.
"That's a good idea. She needs as much rest as possible," Aurelia agreed, looking on as Caliphar carried Norenia to a nearby cot.
"Here, I'll go get her a blanket," Royena decided, and darted off to the supply room.
"What's going to happen to her when she wakes up?" wondered Aurelia.
She flashed Soraf a stern and inquisitive look, hoping for a positive answer.
"Will you just relax? She will be perfectly fine. Trust me, please?" Soraf replied with some exasperation.
"All I did was give her an antidote mixed with a tiny bit of Destroyer poison. It's no different than treating snake bites with snake venom mixed with antibiotics."
They both turned their heads to look at Norenia on the cot, curling up as Royena covered her with a blanket.
"She better wake up, for her sake and yours‚" Aurelia murmured.
"What are we gonna do about her?" Royena asked her.
She nodded toward Vorenzar, who was sitting on the steps of the bus.
"I was thinking about talking to her some more; really find out if she's what she claims."
"She could be an undercover soldier just acting like she's one of our kind to gain our trust, for all we know‚"
"We can't have that, now can we?" Royena remarked watching Aurelia walk toward the bus, where Vorenzar was still sitting.
"Hey Vorenzar, mind joining me outside?" Aurelia requested, already disappearing out the hangar door.
"Uh‚ sure," Vorenzar responded, scrambling after Aurelia.
She found her standing just outside the hangar, her tail flicking back and forth in agitation, her arms crossed over her chest.
"What's the matter?" Vorenzar asked quietly, standing just behind Aurelia, her tail tucked neatly between her legs.
"I want to know why you helped us out of that sub-base. We were doing just fine on our own," Aurelia replied, not bothering to turn around and directly face Vorenzar.
"I needed a way out of there without getting caught, so you can take it as you doing me a favor." Vorenzar stepped around Aurelia to look her directly in the face.
"I did you a favor?" Aurelia echoed.
"After the others in my group were captured and killed for fighting back, I went along with the soldiers. Some of which assumed I was a human,"
"They made me a soldier and I kept my nose clean for as long as possible," Vorenzar explained.
"How come none of the soldiers or officers ever asked about your tail?"
"You'd figure it'd be a dead giveaway, wouldn't you?"
"Well, at first I kept it hidden by wearing a jacket with my uniform, but one day a soldier noticed it and questioned me about it‚"
"So I made up a story about it being from a fox I once killed and kept it as a reminder of my first kill,"
"These people, already being fucked in their heads, bought my story," Vorenzar explained, wrapping her tail around her right leg.
"But you never really found out anything about those creatures they were using as test subjects?" Aurelia inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"That's all I knew them as, test subjects." Her voice trailed off.
"My friends and I discovered some stuff about those soldiers, found out they had meant to use this place as some sort of base or something," Aurelia explained.
"We have blueprints, of this airbase, which reveal some hidden underground chambers. We're trying to figure out how to get to it."
"If I help find a way in, will I gain your trust?" Vorenzar asked, looking into Aurelia's eyes.
"Aurelia!" Soraf called.
"Our friend is awake!"
Aurelia glanced at Vorenzar before rushing into the hangar, running over to the cot Norenia was lying on.
Norenia had propped herself up onto her elbows and seemed fairly alert to her surroundings.
"How is she doing?" Aurelia asked looking at Soraf, who was sitting on the ground beside the cot.
"The antidote seems to have worked and she's aware of her situation, she knows we saved her and she's safe with us," Soraf explained glancing at Norenia.
"How are you feeling?" Aurelia asked Norenia.
"A bit sore, I've got bruises and scratches from those damned creatures. Think I could get patched up now, please?" Norenia answered looking at Aurelia.
"I'll get a first-aid kit," Royena spoke appearing behind Aurelia.
"Thank you, Royena," Aurelia smiled at Royena as she dashed off to the supply room.
"How long were you in that place?" Aurelia inquired as Royena returned with a medical kit.
"A few hours, maybe just after dusk when they snatched me,"
"I passed out for a little while then woke up when they brought you into that room," Norenia answered, while Royena cleaned and dressed a wound on the back of her left hand.
"They grabbed us after dark; the sub-base they had us in is the place we were trying to find‚ I think,"
"Wait‚ You lot went looking for that place?
"Just exactly how insane are you?!" Vorenzar interrupted suddenly appearing behind Aurelia.
"We didn't intend on getting ambushed and taken prisoner, if that's what you're asking‚" Aurelia retorted turning around to face Vorenzar, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.
"Going to that sub-base was a suicide mission, that place is heavily guarded by mines,"
"Not to mention, hidden Destroyers that are commanded to burrow into the sand around the entrance," Vorenzar continued, despite the looks she was getting from Aurelia and Soraf.
"And how is it you know all this?" Royena asked, finishing dressing a wound on Norenia's right arm.
"I learned it all while I was there," Vorenzar replied.
"My group had been killed by these assholes, I wanted to learn as much as I could," She explained looking at Aurelia, Soraf and Royena.
"Give me a damn good reason why I should believe that!"
Aurelia growled, slamming Vorenzar against the side of the bus, her arm pressing into Vorenzar's throat to keep her pinned.
"Earlier when I asked if you knew anything about that place all you told me
was that you just didn't know about those creatures,"
"I never called them by their name‚" Aurelia spoke, glaring up at Vorenzar.