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Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 612972" data-attributes="member: 812"><p><strong>Room Service</strong></p><p></p><p>The little red-skinned girl drifted down the steps, her happy smile never wavering.</p><p></p><p>In a single motion, the five newcomers pressed backwards, away from her. Philip held his guns up, the barrels shaking in his big hands.</p><p></p><p>"Okay," whispered Elena, "Philip, you shoot her, and Aubrey, you and I will rush her."</p><p></p><p>Philip and Aubrey, standing to either side of her, frowned and turned to look at the Saijadani woman. Aubrey shifted his rapier to his left hand and drew his own pistol.</p><p></p><p>The Kishak girl started speaking again, gibberish to everyone. Everyone except Arrafin, who cocked her head to one side, concentrating hard. The blood-covered child stepped forward, still speaking. She raised her hands.</p><p></p><p>Fingers tightened on triggers and swordhilts. Even Nevid drew his rapier, holding it clumsily out to one side. Elena took a deep breath.</p><p></p><p>"Gesthalinik. Kam."</p><p></p><p>The little girl halted in mid-step, her face suddenly awash in confusion. Four other faces (also suddenly awash in confusion) turned to Arrafin, who stared at the girl, ignoring her friends.</p><p></p><p>"Gesthalinikam."</p><p></p><p>The Kishak girl turned and strolled out the double doors into the rain. Arrafin blinked, evidently surprised. Everybody else looked back and forth between Arrafin and the doors.</p><p></p><p>"What was that?" asked Nevid. "What language was that?"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin couldn't help looking smug. "Calegrian. From the old empire, before Kish. Nobody speaks it anymore."</p><p></p><p>Aubrey kept one eye on the door. "What did you say to her?"</p><p></p><p>The smug expression disappeared, replaced by a blush of embarrassment. "Um, 'chariot'. I think. I've never spoken Calegrian before, just read it, but... yeah, I think it was 'chariot'."</p><p></p><p>"'Chariot'?"</p><p></p><p>"Well, it was the only word I could think of. Look, she's gone, right?"</p><p></p><p>Sudden wonder filled Arrafin's big eyes. "She speaks Calegrian. She couldn't be... How could a little girl know Calegrian?"</p><p></p><p>Elena scowled. "That's no little girl. Come upstairs with me for a second. There's something all of you should see."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Trazik was tall and thin and, despite Ilonka's constant teasing about his appearance, quite good-looking in a pensive sort of way. Sitting on the counter, he let his long legs dangle, his feet nearly touching the floor as he waited for Ilonka to brew up another round of coffee. The dark-haired woman nudged him.</p><p></p><p>"Too bad about the weather. Guess your girlfriend will have to stay in tonight."</p><p></p><p>Trazik rolled his eyes. He glared at Karel, chuckling over at the table.</p><p></p><p>"Iseut's a nice girl. Just because --"</p><p></p><p>He broke off as footsteps pounded up the stairs outside and in from the rain came a gangly figure wrapped in a soaking blanket. Trazik sighed and Karel's chuckles turned into ill-concealed snorts of amusement.</p><p></p><p>The blanket shook and drew back, revealing a rather pretty girl with tangled blonde hair and nervous eyes. She saw Trazik and smiled, then immediately blushed and looked at the floor.</p><p></p><p>Ilonka called out to her. "Hi, Iseut. I'm just brewing up a round now. Have a seat."</p><p></p><p>"Hi, Ilonka. Hi, Trazik."</p><p></p><p>Iseut sat next to Karel, and they exchanged greetings. Karel had controlled his laughter enough to be able to nod in a friendly fashion.</p><p></p><p>Trazik looked over at Ilonka. She grinned and leaned close to him.</p><p></p><p>"You'd have more fun if you had less scruples."</p><p></p><p>Trazik smacked her as he pushed off the counter and headed over to the table.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Elena pushed Aubrey and Philip aside and shook Arrafin's limp body gently.</p><p></p><p>"Arrafin? Sweetie? Come on now, everything's okay."</p><p></p><p>"What were you thinking, Elena? Remember how she fainted when Nevid got shot?"</p><p></p><p>"Shut up. She's coming around."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin groaned and her eyes fluttered open. At the sight of Elena's worried face, she cried out and threw her arms around the bigger woman. Elena patted her on the back, smiling as Arrafin got control of herself and managed to stand up.</p><p></p><p>"Sorry, guys. I -- It was just..."</p><p></p><p>Everyone protested, insisting they understood and that it was no problem and that they all nearly fainted themselves.</p><p></p><p>"Do you want to go back upstairs?"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin's stomach gave a lurch at the thought of the sight of that hallway. She shook her head.</p><p></p><p>"That's fine, you don't have to. I think we saw all we needed to see." Aubrey went to the door and looked outside. "What do we have so far? A great big white... thing... that eats dinosaurs, and a little Kishak girl who kills people."</p><p></p><p>Everyone nodded.</p><p></p><p>Nevid spoke up. "And silver production is down. That's the problem, remember."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, well, I guess the first two items explain the third, kind of."</p><p></p><p>Elena went to the door. "Why don't we discuss this somewhere more comfortable? Like back at the del Maraviez house?"</p><p></p><p>Retracing their footsteps through the rain and muck, the weary little band was nearly at their destination when yet another round of screaming broke out, right next door, this time.</p><p></p><p>"Philip?"</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, yeah."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Ilonka and Vlad sat curled up cozily on the sofa, watching Iseut attempt to fascinate Trazik. Ilonka sighed.</p><p></p><p>"Why doesn't he just take her upstairs?"</p><p></p><p>Vlad frowned at her. "Ilonka, she's a child. It wouldn't -- "</p><p></p><p>"She's going to be a dead child soon enough. Why not -- "</p><p></p><p>She hushed as Vlad put a finger over her lips.</p><p></p><p>"Stop it, Ilonka. It doesn't do any good." Vlad looked over at his friends, his face stiff with suppressed emotion. His mouth tightened. "We can't turn into a bunch of... savages. We have to keep living properly. We have to -- "</p><p></p><p>He broke off as Ilonka hauled him down for a few serious kisses.</p><p></p><p>Trazik, Karel and Iseut looked over at the sudden commotion then looked away quickly, grinning. Iseut caught Trazik's eye.</p><p></p><p>"I guess Vlad is okay this week."</p><p></p><p>Trazik nodded and Iseut chuckled and for a second, Trazik stared at the young Gap woman, her clear blue eyes so full of honest courage. She noticed his stare and looked down at the tabletop, her cheeks burning. She blinked in shock when she felt long fingers on her face, her head turned and Trazik kissed her.</p><p></p><p>Karel looked from one couple to the other and turned his gaze up to the ceiling. He began counting broken boards overhead. Out loud.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>The screaming went on longer this time, but still, it was all over by the time the group of muddy, exhausted investigators made their way into the house. Not everyone was dead, at least. Somebody was sobbing, somewhere.</p><p></p><p>Most of the ground floor of the house was a single room, with heavy split-log furniture that had been overturned and tossed about. A big fireplace at the back of the room cast a sweaty, feverish light over the bodies that sprawled on the dirt floor. Long sprays of blood lay across every surface in sight.</p><p></p><p>Aubrey moved to catch Arrafin but it seemed the girl had mastered her nerves, for though she wavered she remained upright. Elena moved quickly into the room, homing in on the quiet sobbing that came from behind a shattered table. The muscles of her arms strained against her sleeves as she heaved up the furniture and cast it aside. She crouched down next to the middle-aged man who lay there, his eyes blank with terror.</p><p></p><p>"Hi. Are you injured, sir?"</p><p></p><p>Elena looked him over. He seemed to be okay. There was nothing to be done for anyone else in the room, that was for sure. The stench was incredible. She glanced up at her companions.</p><p></p><p>"Philip. Aubrey. Why don't you guys check upstairs?"</p><p></p><p>Philip nodded and moved to the stairs, then stopped and tossed Elena one of his pistols. They gave each other a weak half-smile and he ran up the steps out of sight. Elena stuck the gun in her belt and leaned down to help the sobbing man up.</p><p></p><p>Nevid, shaking with both exhaustion and fear, moved from one body to the next, gagging at smell and sight of the terrible, terrible wounds. His mind imagined what such a death would be like, wondering if you would realise that your chest had been torn open before you died. Some of the heads were cracked open, and queasily Nevid realised that the interiors of those shattered skulls were empty.</p><p></p><p>The survivor cried out at the sight of the bodies all around and stumbled to one, a solidly-built lady about his age, and fell to his knees next to the corpse, moaning in grief.</p><p></p><p>Elena sank down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.</p><p></p><p>"I'm so sorry, sir. Can you tell me what happened? What's going on here?"</p><p></p><p>The man turned to her and Elena recoiled from the agony in his eyes. Before she could react, he yanked the pistol from her belt, stuck it into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Nevid gave a cry of disgust as blood and brains spattered across him and the man's body collapsed next to the woman's.</p><p></p><p>Philip and Aubrey came charging downstairs, weapons ready. Elena sat frozen, staring aghast at the two bodies. For a long few seconds nobody moved. Aubrey spoke at last.</p><p></p><p>"This is a bad place. I don't like it here."</p><p></p><p>Nevid wiped the worst of the gore off his face, fighting nausea. "We can't leave, unfortunately."</p><p></p><p>He looked around at the group, all of them staring at him in growing comprehension and horror.</p><p></p><p>"All our parasaurs are dead. We'll have to walk out. It must be a two-week walk back out to the highway. Where are we going to get food? And what are we going to do if either of these things comes after us? That man was right, back in the coffee shop. We're never going to leave this place. Not alive."</p><p></p><p>Nobody had ever heard Nevid make such a long speech. The corpses strewn about provided silent, incontrovertible testimony to his assessment.</p><p></p><p>Elena reached down and took Philip's pistol from the dead man's hand. She wiped it clean, stood and stepped carefully across the room to hand it back to Philip. She turned to scowl at Nevid.</p><p></p><p>"I'm not dying here. That's final."</p><p></p><p>Nevid spread his hands, apologetic.</p><p></p><p>"I'm just saying."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 612972, member: 812"] [b]Room Service[/b] The little red-skinned girl drifted down the steps, her happy smile never wavering. In a single motion, the five newcomers pressed backwards, away from her. Philip held his guns up, the barrels shaking in his big hands. "Okay," whispered Elena, "Philip, you shoot her, and Aubrey, you and I will rush her." Philip and Aubrey, standing to either side of her, frowned and turned to look at the Saijadani woman. Aubrey shifted his rapier to his left hand and drew his own pistol. The Kishak girl started speaking again, gibberish to everyone. Everyone except Arrafin, who cocked her head to one side, concentrating hard. The blood-covered child stepped forward, still speaking. She raised her hands. Fingers tightened on triggers and swordhilts. Even Nevid drew his rapier, holding it clumsily out to one side. Elena took a deep breath. "Gesthalinik. Kam." The little girl halted in mid-step, her face suddenly awash in confusion. Four other faces (also suddenly awash in confusion) turned to Arrafin, who stared at the girl, ignoring her friends. "Gesthalinikam." The Kishak girl turned and strolled out the double doors into the rain. Arrafin blinked, evidently surprised. Everybody else looked back and forth between Arrafin and the doors. "What was that?" asked Nevid. "What language was that?" Arrafin couldn't help looking smug. "Calegrian. From the old empire, before Kish. Nobody speaks it anymore." Aubrey kept one eye on the door. "What did you say to her?" The smug expression disappeared, replaced by a blush of embarrassment. "Um, 'chariot'. I think. I've never spoken Calegrian before, just read it, but... yeah, I think it was 'chariot'." "'Chariot'?" "Well, it was the only word I could think of. Look, she's gone, right?" Sudden wonder filled Arrafin's big eyes. "She speaks Calegrian. She couldn't be... How could a little girl know Calegrian?" Elena scowled. "That's no little girl. Come upstairs with me for a second. There's something all of you should see." ***** Trazik was tall and thin and, despite Ilonka's constant teasing about his appearance, quite good-looking in a pensive sort of way. Sitting on the counter, he let his long legs dangle, his feet nearly touching the floor as he waited for Ilonka to brew up another round of coffee. The dark-haired woman nudged him. "Too bad about the weather. Guess your girlfriend will have to stay in tonight." Trazik rolled his eyes. He glared at Karel, chuckling over at the table. "Iseut's a nice girl. Just because --" He broke off as footsteps pounded up the stairs outside and in from the rain came a gangly figure wrapped in a soaking blanket. Trazik sighed and Karel's chuckles turned into ill-concealed snorts of amusement. The blanket shook and drew back, revealing a rather pretty girl with tangled blonde hair and nervous eyes. She saw Trazik and smiled, then immediately blushed and looked at the floor. Ilonka called out to her. "Hi, Iseut. I'm just brewing up a round now. Have a seat." "Hi, Ilonka. Hi, Trazik." Iseut sat next to Karel, and they exchanged greetings. Karel had controlled his laughter enough to be able to nod in a friendly fashion. Trazik looked over at Ilonka. She grinned and leaned close to him. "You'd have more fun if you had less scruples." Trazik smacked her as he pushed off the counter and headed over to the table. ***** Elena pushed Aubrey and Philip aside and shook Arrafin's limp body gently. "Arrafin? Sweetie? Come on now, everything's okay." "What were you thinking, Elena? Remember how she fainted when Nevid got shot?" "Shut up. She's coming around." Arrafin groaned and her eyes fluttered open. At the sight of Elena's worried face, she cried out and threw her arms around the bigger woman. Elena patted her on the back, smiling as Arrafin got control of herself and managed to stand up. "Sorry, guys. I -- It was just..." Everyone protested, insisting they understood and that it was no problem and that they all nearly fainted themselves. "Do you want to go back upstairs?" Arrafin's stomach gave a lurch at the thought of the sight of that hallway. She shook her head. "That's fine, you don't have to. I think we saw all we needed to see." Aubrey went to the door and looked outside. "What do we have so far? A great big white... thing... that eats dinosaurs, and a little Kishak girl who kills people." Everyone nodded. Nevid spoke up. "And silver production is down. That's the problem, remember." "Yeah, well, I guess the first two items explain the third, kind of." Elena went to the door. "Why don't we discuss this somewhere more comfortable? Like back at the del Maraviez house?" Retracing their footsteps through the rain and muck, the weary little band was nearly at their destination when yet another round of screaming broke out, right next door, this time. "Philip?" "Yeah, yeah." ***** Ilonka and Vlad sat curled up cozily on the sofa, watching Iseut attempt to fascinate Trazik. Ilonka sighed. "Why doesn't he just take her upstairs?" Vlad frowned at her. "Ilonka, she's a child. It wouldn't -- " "She's going to be a dead child soon enough. Why not -- " She hushed as Vlad put a finger over her lips. "Stop it, Ilonka. It doesn't do any good." Vlad looked over at his friends, his face stiff with suppressed emotion. His mouth tightened. "We can't turn into a bunch of... savages. We have to keep living properly. We have to -- " He broke off as Ilonka hauled him down for a few serious kisses. Trazik, Karel and Iseut looked over at the sudden commotion then looked away quickly, grinning. Iseut caught Trazik's eye. "I guess Vlad is okay this week." Trazik nodded and Iseut chuckled and for a second, Trazik stared at the young Gap woman, her clear blue eyes so full of honest courage. She noticed his stare and looked down at the tabletop, her cheeks burning. She blinked in shock when she felt long fingers on her face, her head turned and Trazik kissed her. Karel looked from one couple to the other and turned his gaze up to the ceiling. He began counting broken boards overhead. Out loud. ***** The screaming went on longer this time, but still, it was all over by the time the group of muddy, exhausted investigators made their way into the house. Not everyone was dead, at least. Somebody was sobbing, somewhere. Most of the ground floor of the house was a single room, with heavy split-log furniture that had been overturned and tossed about. A big fireplace at the back of the room cast a sweaty, feverish light over the bodies that sprawled on the dirt floor. Long sprays of blood lay across every surface in sight. Aubrey moved to catch Arrafin but it seemed the girl had mastered her nerves, for though she wavered she remained upright. Elena moved quickly into the room, homing in on the quiet sobbing that came from behind a shattered table. The muscles of her arms strained against her sleeves as she heaved up the furniture and cast it aside. She crouched down next to the middle-aged man who lay there, his eyes blank with terror. "Hi. Are you injured, sir?" Elena looked him over. He seemed to be okay. There was nothing to be done for anyone else in the room, that was for sure. The stench was incredible. She glanced up at her companions. "Philip. Aubrey. Why don't you guys check upstairs?" Philip nodded and moved to the stairs, then stopped and tossed Elena one of his pistols. They gave each other a weak half-smile and he ran up the steps out of sight. Elena stuck the gun in her belt and leaned down to help the sobbing man up. Nevid, shaking with both exhaustion and fear, moved from one body to the next, gagging at smell and sight of the terrible, terrible wounds. His mind imagined what such a death would be like, wondering if you would realise that your chest had been torn open before you died. Some of the heads were cracked open, and queasily Nevid realised that the interiors of those shattered skulls were empty. The survivor cried out at the sight of the bodies all around and stumbled to one, a solidly-built lady about his age, and fell to his knees next to the corpse, moaning in grief. Elena sank down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. "I'm so sorry, sir. Can you tell me what happened? What's going on here?" The man turned to her and Elena recoiled from the agony in his eyes. Before she could react, he yanked the pistol from her belt, stuck it into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Nevid gave a cry of disgust as blood and brains spattered across him and the man's body collapsed next to the woman's. Philip and Aubrey came charging downstairs, weapons ready. Elena sat frozen, staring aghast at the two bodies. For a long few seconds nobody moved. Aubrey spoke at last. "This is a bad place. I don't like it here." Nevid wiped the worst of the gore off his face, fighting nausea. "We can't leave, unfortunately." He looked around at the group, all of them staring at him in growing comprehension and horror. "All our parasaurs are dead. We'll have to walk out. It must be a two-week walk back out to the highway. Where are we going to get food? And what are we going to do if either of these things comes after us? That man was right, back in the coffee shop. We're never going to leave this place. Not alive." Nobody had ever heard Nevid make such a long speech. The corpses strewn about provided silent, incontrovertible testimony to his assessment. Elena reached down and took Philip's pistol from the dead man's hand. She wiped it clean, stood and stepped carefully across the room to hand it back to Philip. She turned to scowl at Nevid. "I'm not dying here. That's final." Nevid spread his hands, apologetic. "I'm just saying." [/QUOTE]
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