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Date Posted: 21:47:50 03/03/02 Sun
Author: Random SCI-FI
Subject: :)

Under the cover of darkness three silent figures hastily made their way through the night. The creatures had nothing in common, though it was obvious they were aware of each other's prescences. The first had a light fur covering of grey, it was almost feline in shape, with sharp pointed ears that nervously flicked back and forth as it ran. It's tail was curled tightly, six clawed paws merely blurs beneath it's speeding form. It's body had a deep chest, built for endurance running and it's legs were broad and muscular. The second creature was scaled. It's hide changing colors to blend perfectly with whatever it stood near, the only way any being could see it was when it opened it's eyes... they were a bright purple, swirling with emotion. It had no claws but merely a horn upon it's head, a deadly weapon that with luck could destroy the enemy before he even knew of it's existance. The third was quite different from what you would expect. It had a deep blue hide, tinted lightly with green to give it a marbled appearance. It had neither fur nor scales but instead a soft penetrable skin, and though neither it's long narrow jaws, blunt hooves, or long tail provided it much defense... it had all the protection it needed within it's mind.

The grey feline led the trio to a river. Quickly climbing down into it's rushing waters it did not wait for the others to follow it's lead, as it somehow already knew that they would. It paddled strongly forward, the current propelling it faster. After a long tiring swim the creature pulled itself out of the water and turned it's smooth grey head to see if the others had made it. And they had. The reptilian willed itself to a light tan color, and the feline nodded. The skinned gently touched the reptilian and the feline without physical movement and the feline nodded again. Then the cattish creature spoke, "Name. Species. Employment." The reptilian answered first, his voice raspy and tough, ~Sskenth. Vekin. Mercenary.~ The feline merely blinked, "You," it said now, looking at the skinned creature,"Name. Species. Employment." The skinned creature did not answer. "Speak up," The cat said harshly, "Or have you no voice?" The skinned creature turned it's sharp head towards the cat, >>I have a voice. Though I choose to only speak to those few beings who need to hear what I say.<< The cat raised an amused eyebrow,"Well then, consider myself one of those few." >>Cesilvi. Jenjol. Warrior.<< The Vekin snorted, his scales growing a bit brighter as his mood lightened, ~You? The hooved marble? A warrior?~ he snorted, ~The day you become a warrior is the day that I join the Testers.~ Cesilvi mearly flicked her round ears back against her head and before the lizard could move the thorns from a nearby plant were flying through the air and then deeply embedded within his arm. Sskenth roared in pain and the silver cat chuckled.

Cesilvi turned to the feline now, >>And you? Name. Species. Employment.<< The cat smiled,"Dekir. Tigion. Slave." Sskenth turned his head and with a low rumble of annoyance spoke again, ~Great, wonderful... I'm in the company of a marble and a runaway... what more could I ask for?~ >>Not much. Truth be told you were as much of a 'runaway' as the rest of us. There is no mercy on this planet. It is simply a prison in which captives such as ourselves are kept for testing purposes. But how do we get off? We've escaped the cells... but is there a way to escape the planet?<< Silence followed the statement. Sskenth finally broke it with a low hiss,~I say we go back, steal one of their damned ships, and get the hell off of this planet!~ "Right Sskenth. You go ahead and do that. You'll only lose your life in the process." >>Dekir is correct. We all know how many guards they have on each of those slave ships. There is no safe way to steal one.<< Sskenth shrugged, ~I don't fear death.~ "Well guess what? A lot of creatures do." Sskenth gave the cat a look of pure anger, ~I don't take insults from a slave cat.~ "I don't take insults from an iguana!" the cat retorted, claws unsheathed. Cesilvi emitted a high pitched bugle, the first sound she had emitted unto the outside world. Sskenth and Dekir both looked at her curiously. >>Stop it. If we are going to get off the planet we must work together. Even a fool should know that much.<< Sskenth hissed one last time at the Tigion before curling up by himself. Dekir and Cesilvi slept together... each enjoying the others warmth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dekir was the first to arise. Gently pulling himself away from Cesilvi he sniffed the air... no danger was nearby. He loped away from the two at a steady pace, somewhat curious as to their surroundings. Even for sharp eyes such as his the evening had brought about unfamiliarties... and if the trio were to be staying here for ahwile he had best become familiar with it. They were in a clearing admist a large forest... that much was evident. Dekir had not trusted sleeping in the forest itself, and not until he knew of all the creatures that lurked their would he be. Climbing a tree at the very edge of the forest Dekir gazed around the strange terrain. It was all very flat, so different then the rolling hills he had gazed at forlornly when he was a testee... but that was over now. He'd escaped, and so had these other beasts of woe. The Tigion shook his grey head... they definitely were unlike anything he'd every seen before. The Jenjol seemed nice enough though he doubted he'd ever want to deal with a Vekin again after his impression with this one. However, since this one was a mercenary, perhaps it had a different way of thinking.

He heard a soft humming and when he turned his head to his left he saw none other than Cesilvi beside him. He cocked his head inquisitvely, "How'd you get up here?" >>Teleportation. Very useful.<< The tigion nodded, "I'm sure." He grinned, "Is lizard-boy still sleeping?" >>Soundly.<< Dekir laughed, "He must be nocturnal as well as odd." the Jenjol laughed silently. But then her expression changed, >>Do you believe that there is a way off of this planet?<< "If there's a will there's a way!" >>Seriously.<< Dekir shrugged... not quite sure what to tell her, "I suppose so. If there's a way to get on it there has got to be a way off of it doesn't there?" Cesilvi smiled, >>I suppose.<< "Glad you think so," Dekir said with a smile...

"Shall we go wake Prince Charming?" >>Must we?<< "Yes." >>Then I shall do it,<< Dekir heard the humming noise again, only this time louder and couldn't help but laugh as Sskenth awoke with a start to the Jenjol's loud mental summons... ~What? Who? Why you bloody marble! Do that again and I'll...~ >>You'll what?<< ~I don't know. Skin you and use your hide as a throw rug I suppose.~ "You do realize that if you did that I would be forced to skin you and use you as a furball case don't you?" Sskenth turned his icey gaze towards the Tigion, fierce violet eyes locking with golden orbs of calm. ~I told you not to mess with me cat.~ "Then don't insult a fellow crew member." ~Crew member?~ "Yes, I have decided... since we have escaped together from one place, we are technically a crew. Now all we need is a ship!" Cesilvi laughed outloud this time, >>And I know just where to get one!<<
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As it turned out the Jenjol had picked up traces of an abandoned luxury ship when she had used her mental blast to awaken Sskenth. Without wasting time the mis-matched crew of three ran stealthily through the woods, much refreshed from the nights dreaming. While dashing through another clearing in the woods Dekir was startled to see Sskenth suddenly pause and yell out to drop. Dekir did so without thinking twice and was grateful that he did. If he had not a creature ten times his size could quite easily have taken off his head. With a roar of anger Dekir raised his body to face the attacker... it was easily fifty feet tall and was covered in sharp spikes... that by their coloring... appeared to be poisionous. It also had wings! Dekir yelped loudly and dived behind a rock as suddenly those huge, probably poisionous spikes, were launched from the creatures body in several directions... and then regenerated.

Sskenth leaped behind a tree and willed himself to blend in perfectly with the long gold grasses of the field. He kept his eyes tightly shut for fear of being killed without a chance to prove himself. Then he heard the mental voice of Cesilvi, >>Are you alright Sskenth?<< He almost laughed as another round of spikes flew over his head, he'd been in better situations... >>So have I Sskenth. But for now we need to work on this situation!<< Sskenth took in a deep breath, coming to the understanding that Cesilvi could read his thoughts as well. >>Of course I can read your thoughts!<< He mentally laughed and then thought about Dekir, trying to think of whether or not he was alright. >>He is fine. He told me so.<< Sskenth thought about being happy because of that and then tried to picture a plan in his mind of what to do... he thought of one, but would need Cesilvi's help for it... >>I approve of that plan. The spiked creature is known as a Lycol. It has one sensitive spot, it's neck. Stab it there and it shall die.<< Sskenth nodded and keeping his eyes shut started walking forward, >>A bit to the left Sskenth... alright... I'll stun it, you kill<< A resounding hum was heard throughout the forest as Cesilvi forcefully threw a huge amount of mental power at the creature. It was only frozen for a few seconds but that was long enough as the Vekin's horn went through it's neck, immediately hitting the horned beasts jugular. It screamed in a terrible agony and then started to fall... Sskenth still stuck in it's neck, now covered in the beasts dark green blood. Dekir leaped from his position from the rock, and with a mighty yank mid-air... pulled Sskenth out of the monster's neck and out of harms way before he was crushed. Cesilvi was unconcious, Sskenth burned from the evil's hot blood, and Dekir slightly scratched from the first round of fire.

The trio was a sorry looking lot as they limped onwards towards the abandoned ship... Cesilvi still weak, Sskenth still burned, Dekir still poisioned. They reached the ships mighty hull at twilight of the following morning, and collapsed beneath it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Awaking first on the third day Cesilvi took the spare time to scan the ship once more, just to reassure herself that no creature had boarded the ship while their group had recovered. Results of a search for other life forms were negative and she smiled. With a light mental call to both Dekir and Sskenth she woke them, and the group of three stood at the ships hull, examining it quietly. Sskenth wasted no time, ignore the pain from his burns he climbed up the side of the ship and forcefully rammed the main door, causing the old entrance to collapse under his body pressure. Dekir groaned as the door fell in, but Cesilvi calmly teleported herself up to the door and walked in without complaint. Dekir clambered up after them. >>It's a sorry looking piece of diamen isn't it.<< ~What the hell is diamen?~ >>What your head is filled with.<< Sskenth hissed annoyedly but turned to continue to explore the craft... it had rusted over in many places, there were no seats, much of the controls had been destroyed, and all safety weapons didn't appear to be functional. Dekir pondered on how to fix the weapons, Cesilvi thought about the controls, and Sskenth continue to search for the engine... a loud whoop of pleasure alerted the Tigion and the Jenjol that Sskenth had found the engine and it was still intact.

Eventually, after using scraps of metal from crashed useless ships in the area, Dekir had remade most of the weapons so that the ship would have a little bit of defense. Cesilvi looked them over and though she said nothing, was actually rather impressed. Sskenth glanced at them, commented that he could have easily done the same thing, and then headed for the piloting controls... Dekir right behind to serve as co-pilot. Cesilvi would be incharge of the weapons, as her inner scanning system could detect ships trying to stop them before they were close enough to fire. Sskenth fiddled around with the controls a bit, his claws nimbly trying different combinations of buttons to start the engine. After about an hour he got it and with a loud hum, the ship was ready for take off. ~Everyone ready? Cause here we go!~ The ship started its upward climb shaking and rattling the whole way... Cesilvi constantly muttered prayers to the Goddess of her kind in hopes the ship wouldn't fall apart. Sskenth was oblivious to the racket, he loved the thrill of battle, no matter what kind of craft he was in.

When they reached the planets atmosphere, heat overwhelmed them. The temperature soared but each silently suffered, not saying anything yet. As they continued their slow traveling the heat became unbearable, Dekir's toungue lolled out and his eyes bulged before falling over on the floor... Sskenth couldn't help him, using too much energy to stay conscious and keep the ship on a steady course. Cesilvi tried to concentrate and form a shield around the ship to stop it from getting any hotter. But the blazing heat was too much and she could not think clearly...

Then, like reaching some sort of heaven, the temperature quickly cooled and the trio found themselves floating... They had made it off of the planet! Cesilvi, gaining control of her mind again, used her mind to create a form of gravity on the ship and then hurried over to Dekir. Luckily, he was able to rise quickly and return to his seat next to Sskenth. The Vekir nodded to him, and, wiping sweat from his brow... ~We're not done yet. Cesilvi? Check what's around us.~

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