Plots: Serious, silly, random, oh my!

[bc56]

Firstborn Ship
Nothing, I'm fine. Sekhmet brushes the questions off. I should go. She doesn't want to be found out, and the more questions she is asked, the more likely she is to let something slip. She starts to stand and leave.

[Meowmai]

[A Curious Canine Conundrum]

"It's not far." Krivka's wolf marches steadily back the way they came, Vulp's sister trotting along on a tether. "The young ones didn't have much time to flee very far, thankfully. We'll be entering through the wolf pens. They're attached to... hmm. How do I describe it? A branch of the colony. It's a cluster of caves and tunnels near the surface. Like a village, I guess? Larger caves are deeper into the mountain."

[A Curious Canine Conundrum]

"Oh, you live in caves?" That made sense in hindsight, given their earlier comments about disliking sunlight. Kestrel couldn't imagine living like that, she adored the open air, but at the same time she still seemed eager. Caves were cool to explore. And she had never visited any kind of underground village before! She was keen to find out what that was like.

Always curious, she continued to ask questions as they walked, occasionally interrupted by having to bring Vulp to heel. "So how long have you and your wolf been bonded? What's it like?"

[Morty]

[A Curious Canine Conundrum]

"Of course. You haven't heard of goblins living underground?" Krivka seems surprised. "We've been bonded with Zhurrk for seven years, since he was just large enough to carry a goblin. I've had other wolves before him, but had to let them go when they grew too old to carry me. It's hard to describe. It's not magic, even if it might fell that way. There's an instinctive understanding. Like we're part of a pack and know how to best support each other. Can feel each other's discomfort and fear." She taps her tusk. "I don't know if we goblins have some kind of gift for it or just figured it out before anyone else did."

The three wolves, goblin and bird-girl head uphill and reach an area that was cleared of trees and rocks. It stretches before a steep cliff-face, which is riddled with several large holes, that contain fences and gates. Voices are coming from behind the fences and there's a distinct smell of many furry animals.

[Recaiden]

Firstborn Ship
Nothing, I'm fine. Sekhmet brushes the questions off. I should go. She doesn't want to be found out, and the more questions she is asked, the more likely she is to let something slip. She starts to stand and leave.

You just got here. observes the first of the firstborn.

You ought to come to the medical cabin, rest a time. Thinks the second, accompanying Sekhmet towards the door. The door she had a bit of trouble with; she's probably not fine at all.

[bc56]

You just got here. observes the first of the firstborn.

You ought to come to the medical cabin, rest a time. Thinks the second, accompanying Sekhmet towards the door. The door she had a bit of trouble with; she's probably not fine at all.

I'd rather not. Sekhmet is moving in earnest towards the door, fumbling with her telekinesis at it. I need to get out of here, she sends to the Hive, Something's about to go wrong! She's trying desperately to keep the panic tamped down until she can reach safety.

[Meowmai]

Kestrel shook her head. "Nope, never. Although like... I guess I never really thought about it before. So that's probably it." Now that she thought of it, the goblins she was used to were typically countered underground. But she had met them on the surface too! After all, she met this lot on the surface. Plus, by now, she had learned it was wise not to make assumptions towards anyone in the Nexus. Some people came from really weird places. Where she was from, for example, dragons were just ferocious monsters with the same intelligence of a beast- and probably hunted to extinction. Yet she had learned that here a dragon was the host of some big Thanksmas party a little while ago!

She tilted her head curiously as Krivka described the bond between wolves and their goblin riders. "Lucky it's not magic then, never been able to get the hang of that sorta stuff. But wow! It sounds really nice to have such a bond..." She looks down at the cub bounding alongside her. "Hope mine and Vulp's bond grows that strong someday."

As they crest the hill, Kestrel takes in the sights, sounds and smells. "I assume this is the place?"

[Recaiden]

I'd rather not. Sekhmet is moving in earnest towards the door, fumbling with her telekinesis at it. I need to get out of here, she sends to the Hive, Something's about to go wrong! She's trying desperately to keep the panic tamped down until she can reach safety.

Emergency exit should be right then left then up if you go through that door. Offers a voice from the hive. They can't do too much to help while she's still inside the ship (though they'd rather not interfere here at all).
Can you get a look at the pilot's room before the situation completely collapses? Asks another.
Those are of course, opposite directions.

Admittedly, who wants to? But you can barely open a door. You definitely shouldn't go back to work.
With his actual practice at the task, he tries to help open the weird door and step out into the hall with Sekhmet.

The other one, Sekhmet might notice, has stopped paying so much attention to her, and is going to psychically complain to someone outside the ship, the officer that she presumes is responsible for Sekhmet. Then it will be someone else's problem and she can go back to her break.

[Morty]

[A Curious Canine Conundrum]

"That it is, yes." Krivka gives a sharp whistle. "Open up! We're back!"

One of the gates swings open. Krivka dismounts from Zhurrk and leads him through, motioning for Kestrel to follow. Inside, she will find herself in a large, domed cave, illuminated by some holes drilled in the ceiling and a number of bowls containing a faintly glowing paste. The effect is a dim twilight, which seems to be all goblins need.

The gate through which they left seems to be on some kind of elevation, and the main part of the cavern is below it. It's filled with a number of wolves, young and old, wandering around their enclosure or resting on straw beddings. Notably, a number of pups are either located in their own enclosure or accompanying their mothers. The arrival of Zhurrk, Vulp and Vulp's sister stirs them somewhat and they pad over to the fence. There's a number of ramps through which wolves can leave the enclosure, it seems.

A number of goblins also approach Krivka and Kestrel, among whom are the two who accompanied earlier. But in the front is a very large (relatively speaking) goblin, who seems equal parts annoyed and relieved.

"Krivka!" he booms. For someone his size, he's got a resounding voice. "I wasn't sure if I believed those two wastrels when they returned with only two pups and said you had things well in hand. But you did! And you did have help. It seems I have you to thank as well, young miss." He strides forward and thrusts a hand out for Kestrel to shake. She might notice that goblins have disproportionately large hands.

"I told you my mom could do it!" calls out a voice from above. There's a ring of catwalks along the wall of the cave, lined with goblins. The one that just spoke is a young teenage girl, with light brown skin and hair in a fairly similar color.

[bc56]

Emergency exit should be right then left then up if you go through that door. Offers a voice from the hive. They can't do too much to help while she's still inside the ship (though they'd rather not interfere here at all).
Can you get a look at the pilot's room before the situation completely collapses? Asks another.
Those are of course, opposite directions.

Admittedly, who wants to? But you can barely open a door. You definitely shouldn't go back to work.
With his actual practice at the task, he tries to help open the weird door and step out into the hall with Sekhmet.

The other one, Sekhmet might notice, has stopped paying so much attention to her, and is going to psychically complain to someone outside the ship, the officer that she presumes is responsible for Sekhmet. Then it will be someone else's problem and she can go back to her break.

This is bad. Emergency exit is definitely the best option. She just needs to get away from this guy first. He's being nice and trying to help, so she'd prefer to be as harmless about it as possible.
She suspects many of her tricks won't work as well on Firstborn - naturally psychic creatures are no doubt more aware of and resistant to psychic manipulation.
She channels her magic into creating a fire. Not a big one, but she just needs to catch his attention long enough to get away. The hard part is making it not look like she's the one causing it: no gestures or eye movements can give it away. She faces away from the room (she is leaving through the now-open door, after all) and works her magic.

[Recaiden]

[Firstborn Ship]

Absolutely a correct thing to worry about. Although the Firstborn do psychically manipulate each other much as non-psychics manipulate each other in conversation, Sekhmet would be unfamiliar with the subtleties of it.

Pyrokinesis, on the other hand, is much rarer.

There's a sense of alarm from the one who stayed behind, and the one behind Sekhmet turns back to look, and then a very audible fire alarm starts ringing-
Plenty of opportunity to get away, it seems like.

Sekhmet may run across another of those little robots, coming the opposite way as it responds to the fire alarm. But she's not on fire so it shouldn't do much more than physically be in the way.
And then up ahead is a rounded-diamond-shaped alcove with a series of emergency hatches - for getting outside, for accessing the engines, and so on. These open with plain (if heavy and precisely-made) handles.

[bc56]

Firstborn Ship
Sekhmet doesn't look back, she just runs. She passes the little robot with hardly a glance and reaches the emergency exit. Thankful that she doesn't have to fumble with telekinesis, she wrenches that hatch to the outside open and climbs through. I need to get out of here without being seen. By now they're probably looking for her, or at least she thinks they will be.

[Recaiden]

[Firstborn Ship]

Where'd you go? Thinks the first of them, confused and increasingly alarmed.
Behind her there's the sound of a robot colliding with a firstborn in a doorway, and eventually the sound of fire extinguishing spray. But that's less important.

But yes, now she's being looked for. Opening the emergency hatch will definitely have notified them, if the fire and the messages didn't. The guard robots are powering up their weapons, the scientists are clearing away from their desks...
The four back-swept wings of the ship hide her from most viewpoints at the moment, but they're also casting about psychically, looking for minds that don't belong here.

Go back to your normal shape and fly out one of the high windows?
If things are very bad we can cause another distraction remotely. But it might well lead to more trouble later on.

[bc56]

Firstborn Ship
If I fly, they'll see me, Sekhmet worries. She considers other options. I could open a portal, but I don't like the idea of giving them a chance to follow me. She's wasting valuable time with her indecision.

[Recaiden]

[Firstborn Ship]

Window or portal, you need to go now! If you get enough of a head-start it won't matter that they follow.
By now, they'll be realizing that Sekhmet wasn't one of them at all, and there are sounds of more people moving aboard the ship. Probably towards the hatch she escaped through.

[bc56]

Firstborn Ship
Going! Sekhmet jumps off the ship and flies straight for a window.
Assuming there is glass in it, this is going to hurt.

Mountainside
With a flash of light, two people materialize a foot above the mountain slope. Immediately they crash down into a snowbank.
"Oof..." Mary's horned head pokes up through the deep snow. "Where are we? Achoo!" A heavy snowstorm is preventing them from seeing much even in the flash of fire that results from Mary's sneeze. "I think my magic is acting up, sorry." Sneezing fire is definitely not normal.

[Keeper]

Mountainside

oof. If they hadn't fallen they might have been able to salvage their lunches. Instead the food is lost in the snow.
"I hate this school." Kol whines, getting to his feet.
"We should try to find some trees, or a rock face where there might be a cave. We can't just stand out here and...."
...
"Is it just me or is this snow not col...col...ACHOO"
A massive gout of flame matching Mary's flies out of Kol's mouth as well.
"Mary I think something might be wrong with us."

[bc56]

Mountainside
"Kol? You don't normally ah-ah-ACHOO! Breathe fire right?" Mary seems much more shocked by this than by the fact that she doesn't feel cold even in this storm. "Let's find shelter, then we can figure out what's going on," she agrees. Even as mysteriously uncold as it is, trudging through the snowdrifts in these conditions is a taxing and tiring proposition, but they can keep moving. Until they come to the top of a nearly sheer cliff. "I think there's a path down. Do you think it's... Cough cough... Do you think we can make it?" In the occasional firelight of their coughs and sneezes maybe they can barely make out a narrow path of switchbacks down the cliffside. Or maybe they need to turn and go another way. It does look dangerous.

[Keeper]

Mountainside

"No!" Kol answers before falling into a coughing fit.
Kol squints down at the cliffside once he's recovered. He eventually points to a small point about a quarter of the way down the cliff.
"There. That might be a cave. (cough), We can hole up there until the snow stops." he suggests. It's cold and dangerous, yes, but this way only requires that they get down one steep slope.

[bc56]

Mountainside
"I... Achoo! Think you're right. Come on!" They clamber and slide down the slope to the spot Kol saw. At some point the rough path becomes more even, and the tops of stone walls poke up from the snow. It's when they look into the cavern entrance however, that Mary realizes. "This isn't a cave. It's a mine!" The rusted rail tracks and the weathered wood and metal support beams seem to support that conclusion. "It looks abandoned." That's unfortunate. But signs of civilization are promising anyway. "Let's get inside and dry off."

[Keeper]

Mountainside

Kol is extremely relieved to get inside even if it's a draft mineshaft. "A mine!" he quotes with a terrible impression of a dwarf.
"Well look out for bears but otherwise it should be fine."
For some reason the idea of sitting around a musty old mine full of metals deep in the earth sounds oddly appealing to them regardless of any danger.
"By the way, do you feel kind of itchy? Achey?" punctuated by a loud sneeze, of course. Kol is happy to find shelter but everything feels off.

[bc56]

Mountainside
"I wonder what they were digging for? Maybe there's treasure inside!" Even if there isn't, a mineshaft is better than being out in the snowstorm. "I do feel a bit itchy," Mary agrees, "It's probably just because our clothes are soaked." Their school uniforms were decidedly not made for trudging through the snow. "Let's see if we can start a fire." Mary coughs up some sparks. With the increasing amount of fire in their coughs and sneezes, they could probably start a fire easily, if they find fuel.

[Keeper]

Mountainside

"Well, just be careful. If it's a coal mine or if there's just flammable stuff around we could (cough) start a pretty big fire."
Kol moves into the shaft, looking around for any loose, dry wood they can burn or a discarded lantern. It would be a miracle if there was still fuel for it around, but...

[bc56]

Mountainside
There's no lantern to be found, but an old pile of dried-up timbers (probably intended to be used in shoring up the tunnels) provides ample firewood. Mary stands over it. "Ah-Ah-Ah... I can't do it." She hasn't sneezed in a while, now that she thinks of it. And she definitely doesn't need to sneeze now.

[Keeper]

Mountainside

Kol doesn’t need to sneeze either. His cough has lessened a bit in the last few minutes.
”But don’t you have- never mind.”
Is asking a demon why she doesn’t just have fire prejudice? Better not go there.
Kol glares down at the timbers as he squats down. With a resigned sigh he breathes in deep and blows as hard as he can. A messy spray of sparks and half-formed tongues of fire emerges, successfully lighting some of the wood.
He tries not to think of the implications.

[bc56]

Mountainside
"I'm not very good at it, okay?" Mary protests. She knows where the questioning would have gone. "I can't create fire without also making poisonous gas and other things. Yet." She's learning. She doesn't seem as concerned about Kol breathing fire without sneezing as she maybe should be.

[Keeper]

Mountainside

"Hey, relax. It's no big deal; we got it." Kol reaches down and picks up their makeshift torch. It won't last very long if they don't find some proper fuel or lights.
"Um. Do you have something on your face?" Kol gestures at the side of his head to demonstrate to Mary, though it will only point her to the fact that Kol's ears are now long, purple, and vaguely fin-like.

[bc56]

Mountainside
"No, I..." Mary rubs her eyes and looks again. "Kol, your ears are turning purple. And I... Eek! Oh my stars!" Mary just touched the deep black scales on her ear, which is swiftly becoming fin-shaped, like Kol's. "Kol, what's happening to us?"

[Keeper]

Mountainside

Kol reaches out to feel his scaly left ear. He gives an even longer, more long-suffering sigh.
"I hate this school so much. Okay, Mary. Think. Did anything happen while I was gone? Anything about fire or people getting sick? Anything at all?"

[bc56]

Mountainside
"No? ... Wait. We all had to get vaccinated for something called 'dragon cough.' I thought it was just a fancy name, but..." She leaves the rest unsaid for now. "Except I got that vaccine! I should be fine. So it must be something else." Unfortunately, "dragon cough" does summarize their symptoms quite nicely.

[Keeper]

Mountainside

"Okay. So there was a weird dragon sickness. And now we're coughing fire and growing scales." Kol squints at Mary's long black ears.
"Well, that sounds like more of a weird Nexus disease than something liable to kill us at least. But we should assume we're contagious when we get back. With any luck this is just some fire and a weird skin condition and it'll all be over in a few days. We should look for supplies while we still have light."