Jelm shouted into the night, no words or real meaning, just pure crazed joy at a suddenly maddened and turned upside down world. He reached down and pinched his right leg, really dug his nails in almost to the point of drawing blood. Not a dream or nightmare, he was awake and alive in a way he had never thought he could feel. He knew many of the other Rakus would never look at him the same again, and that if his mother saw this, she would likely die of fright and haunt him for the rest of his life, but he suddenly didn’t care. So what if he was supposed to just be a scout, to watch for threats, find new sources of food or water and help the hunters or gatherers.
This, he thought, this is where he belonged, as he held tight to the spinal spikes of a massive tan and green mottled reptile that could rip him to pieces faster than he could blink, should it choose to, as the two raced through the ruins of an old world military base. He could feel the great predator''s muscles moving beneath his paws, see the steam billowing out of its tooth filled maw in the rapidly cooling night air, and gave another shout into the night. Jelm could hear answering shouts to either side, of others who had just discovered their new greatest joy in life.
He smiled, wide and feral, showing all of his teeth as he looked ahead and to the sides, searching for the one person who had made this possible. Jelm reached forward and patted the Arvo on it’s, no his, right shoulder, to indicate that he spotted something off to the right. He held tight to the spikey armored back as the Arvo slowed from his loping run to a jog and finally, the Arvo pushed up from the ground with a grunt of exertion to a standing walk before finally stopping and looking around.
Jelm scrambled further up his new friends back to stand on his shoulder. “Narrg”, he said to the Arvo, “I see something fluttering over that way, between the two fallen buildings” as he adjusted his authentically reproduced leather cowboy hat from one of the movies he had fallen in love with.
Narrg nodded, “Good, hold tight, we move” he rumbled out, pausing for a moment for the Rakus to slip back down onto his back. Once he felt the two slaps on his shoulder, Narrg leaned forward and began to move, picking up speed by using his powerful arms and legs to propel the duo forward towards where the little Rakus had indicated.
It was something new, and Narrg wasn''t sure how he felt about it. He knew their Queen, their Omega had commanded them to be peaceful towards the other Human and its rodent like servants. He even understood that he was not required to do this, as his Alpha, Saav had explained, and that there would be no reprisal or punishment for refusing. Still, it was something new, and new things alway piqued Narrgs interests. Their Queen had called him a curious one, and once she had explained what curious was, he agreed. It had been his curiosity that had gotten him into trouble with his previous tribe, the previous Alpha he had served had disapproved greatly of Narrgs tendency to pick up junk or see how things fit together or just try different things, but Narrg was strong and had the scars to prove it.
His previous Alpha had threatened to eat him if he didn''t volunteer for this new tribe that the Omega was creating, and so here he found himself. A completely new situation, with a small, furry creature riding on his back and guiding him through ruins. He would admit, it did make getting around at a run much easier, with the Rakus spotting obstacles ahead of time and signaling which way he needed to move to avoid smashing into them as he ran at full speed. He would have to think on this new situation when he returned to his burrow once the Human was found, perhaps there were other advantages to making use of the Rakus riding on his back.
The two wove around rusted hulks of metal and crumbling former buildings and slowed as they entered a small clearing between buildings.
Narrg inhaled deeply through his mouth and nostrils as he heaved his torso up into a standing position, and frowned deeply. Something smelled off, and as he began to take a step backwards, the ground began to tremble and he felt the Rakus slam its paw down on his right shoulder, and without thinking, Narrg threw himself hard to the right and hoped the Rakus either managed to hold on or leapt off as he landed hard on his right side, dust and dried grass puffing up all around him.
Jelm had almost missed it, and it almost cost them their lives. His eyes had been scanning the rubble of the surrounding buildings in the moonlight, still caught up in the euphoria of the nights adventure when he finally noticed the deathtrap they had stumbled into. It was only as he noticed what he had mistaken as cloth fluttering in the wind that he felt the blood drain from his face, the gossamer threads of silk blowing in the air and dozens of faintly red glowing eyes beginning to open. Training snapped him back into focus and he stomped down on Narrgs right shoulder as he shouted one word at the top of his lungs, “LURKERS!”, and the world began spinning.
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Narrg felt a heavy impact from where he had previously been standing, and mentally added another point in favor of letting a Rakus ride on his shoulders, before rolling onto his belly and scrabbling forward as he whipped his tail through the place he had been standing. He felt it connect to something big, and he felt it get lifted and flung and briefly saw a dark blur go flying across the grassy area. With a grunt he heaved himself back into a standing position and looked around, careful not to step on his much smaller partner.
Rolling across the ground, trying to get as much distance from Narrg as he could so that the Arvo wouldn''t crush him accidentally, Jelm rose up on shaky legs. The Lurker was almost two thirds the size of Narrg and had impacted the ground almost exactly where they had been standing, its arm length fangs, when compared to a Raksu at least, embedded in the ground. Jelm could see a dark liquid splashed over the soil as the creature lifted its body up on multi jointed legs, and let out an uncontrolled laugh as Narrg’s tail whipped across the ground and sent the Lurker flying. It smashed into the rubble of an adjacent building with a splat, as Narrg pushed himself off the ground.
A hissing screech sounded out from the buildings as more and more faintly glowing eyes began appearing, and then a tide of black chitin began to flow out of the ruins. Narrg spotted Jelm and began to run towards him, extending a clawed hand. The Rakus lept and grabbed the arm and let the natural motion swing him up and onto the Arvos back as a tide of awful death chased after them.
Together they fought, Rakus and Arvo, through the swarming mutant insects. Narrg, using his powerful limbs and tail to punch, kick and smash the larger Lurkers, while Jelm used his broken spear to smash and stab anything that tried to land on his partner''s back as a tsunami of mutant bugs crashed onto them as a horn sounded in the distance.
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Across the base, an exhausted Delvik and Saav halted in front of a building that was missing most of one side, the ground floor near the corner and a couple floors above it exposed to the elements. Just seeing the building brought back a mix of painful and joyous memories to Delvik, which was apparently a common thing for humans, at least according to the movies he had watched with the others in the bunkers lounge. Perhaps that was why Thomas was here, laying with his legs hanging over the side, on the strange hexagonal platform from which he had arrived.
Saav stepped forward, and into the ruined building. He could smell the faint scent of decay in the air, along with a harsher scent that reminded him of the bar. Then he noticed the nearly empty bottle next to the human. He was curious as to why the human would leave the warmth and safety of its lair to drink, but said nothing. It was not his place, he would witness and report to his queen what he learned.
Delvik leapt from the Arvos shoulder to land next to Thomas and sat down as the human turned his head to face him
“Hey buddy” Thomas slurred slightly with a smile, blinking a few times before looking past him with a confused look on his face
Delvik frowned, “Don’t ‘hey buddy’ me, you had us worried. Both of our people are out searching through this base looking for you”
“Aw dammit,” Thomas said, the smile leaving his face and he tried and failed to sit up, knocking the nearly empty bottle over before giving up.
Thomas sighed deeply, “Im sorry man, um… dudes” he said dejectedly, and began rubbing his eyes, “there are two of you right, i''m not imagining the giant gator dude standing behind you”
Delvik picked up the bottle and sniffed it, quickly recoiling from the harsh smell. It was much more potent than the regular alcohol that was kept in the bar. He looked over to Saav and motioned him to come closer.
“Thomas won''t be able to walk in this condition and we need to get him back home, would you be willing to carry him?” he asked
Saav nodded his agreement, “I will help, you make signal to tell others to return” he rumbled out, as he moved around to pick up the Human carefully, placing an arm under his back and behind the knees and lifted smoothly.
Stepping outside with Saav carrying Thomas, Delvik pulled out a carved horn and blew three loud notes that echoed across the base, and they began the trek back to the bar and grill as the rhythmic motion began to lull Thomas to sleep.
Bluuuurrrrrgggggg……
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