trans_9 | A light in the dark (and a car in the hangar) [Open]

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A light in the dark (and a car in the hangar) [Open]

He is restless, wanting one minute not to leave his castle unguarded, the next certain of some distant conflict that must require his help. The Nightmare King is strong, after all, and only getting stronger. Even Goliath is having nightmares now, flickering visions of warped horror that he half-remembers upon waking. They could get worse. They probably will.

He ends up wandering, fitfully patrolling the ship for signs of crewmates caught in waking dreams, all the while guarding himself against one. Unease gnaws at him, has been gnawing at him for days now. It's becoming as normal to him as breathing, this edgy, hateful boiling discomfort, worse for all that he cannot tell where his natural discomfort for his new setting ends and the Nightmare King's influence begins.

So he wanders, and in his wandering finds himself in the hangar, policing his thoughts for ones of defeat (worse yet: thoughts of submission), when a bright splash of red and the silhouette of a tailfin catches his eye from between spaceships and mechanized suits of armor.

It is a car. A familiar car.

He is inspecting it even as he approaches. The license plate number is correct. There - a scrape from Lexington's overcurious talon. A nick in the door handle from when he once pulled it open for her. Little details, adding up to a sudden, restful quiet settling over his mind.

The Daligig would not have gone through the trouble of saving him only to overlook the rest of his city entirely. She is strong. She is capable. She is the equal of any human here, and they would have been fools to look her over. They would have been fools to have brought him here to be alone.

This much he is certain of now - the Daligig are not fools.

Carefully, respectful of the pride Elisa takes in her car, he spreads his palm over the hood of the vehicle, ensuring its reality. For the first time since his awakening in the Statuary, Goliath does not have to force himself to smile.

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"Eeeee!"

He'd been utterly fascinated with this contraption he and Billy are inside. Sniffing at the seat, the window, anything as long as it hadn't gotten in Billy's way. He figures, if it's anything like driving a carriage pulled by a team of animals, you need to concentrate and not be bothered.

However, the roar sends a shrill squeak out of him. The sound of weaponry already has the creature trying to figure out how this vehicle's doors open. Oh and yes, his skin is flashing like mad in amber, gold and brown.

"Trrrreeeeee!"

It doesn't really register that his nickname for the Gargoyle slips. All he knows is, something's fired. It's not good. And someone's in pain; he wants to get to it and protect both Human and Gargoyle.
So, pardon his defiant shriekings.

"Eeee! Ba-ck ohff, yeu go ah-way!"

"Goliath, no!" His cry comes at the same time as Renne's. Heart racing, already shifting into battle mode, he gets the car going. Not far, because he knows the tires will be shot out, but if this works...he can get out of the way long enough to get him and Renne out while the car rolls to a stop.

He readies the accelerator and brake, ducks, unlocks the door, tucks Renne into his chest and...leap. Roll. Please, please work.

There is no blood, fortunately, and the shot was a near-miss. The burn down Goliath's back remains just that, but with no wind to lift him off the street, he's stuck climbing the sniper's building, leaving the sniper adequate time to retake her aim. Shots rain down around Billy and Renne before Goliath launches himself through the window -

He re-emerges a minute later, locked in battle with the other gargoyle, she blocking his blows with her gun, him with a grip on one of her arms, unwilling to let go, and the pair tumble to the street in a tangle of limbs and wings and land, hard, on the pavement. They separate, circling each other, talons out - the female throws her gun aside, the weapon having been crushed in the fall, and she shrieks a battle cry before attacking again - past Goliath, towards Billy and Renne.

"Eee!"

Another squeak. He easily curls into Billy's grip though and does his best to roll with the tumbling.
Sometimes, he's very thankful for those few months in the Mysterian mountains...

Things change for him when he and his carrier stop moving. Rage literally permeates off of him as strongly as the sharp, slightly musky scent of his native ocean. It might not be said aloud, but it's screaming-clear within.
No one hurts my family!

Already, his tail slowly un'sheaths'. The beginings of a strange nine-wing set wisp out from his shoulders like coloured fog trapped in glass.

"Bee. Rrr-enne hell-p. Prrro-teck!"

Oh...oh my.

"Renne, go!" He yells. He's already contemplating how to help---from his experiences with Goliath, he knows there's no way that his puny human body could challenge a Gargoyle and come out alive. Not without help, at least.

As they circle each other, he reaches for the morpher, pushing it forward. With a yell and a flash of light, perhaps the Blue Ranger stands a slightly better chance of surviving than Billy's base strength. He's arming up, and then...Renne is preparing to fight. That would be amazing at any other time, but now he just needs his friends to live.

He doesn't think he can convince his friend to back down, so Billy follows Plan A---charge into battle before Renne can, bracing to hold her off as long as he can. Demona, here comes a slightly enhanced puny human with a lance, preparing to strike.

She bats the lance aside with practiced ease, lunges out with a taloned foot to kick the Renne aside as well. She is one of the greatest warriors in history, and she has had hundreds of years to prove that - but the defense of human and small alien has slowed her down enough that before her talons can rip either of them open, Goliath has got his arms around her in a half-nelson.

"You are not real," he growls, tightening his grip. "You are a dream, and you will disappear now!"

The apparition of Demona shrieks, struggles one last time, and is gone. Goliath eyes the empty space in front of him with a suspicious glare, growl rumbling deep in his throat.

"I am sorry, my friends," he says - or starts to say, before he gets a look at Renne's transformation and Billy's getup. He raises a brow ridge at both of them. "I . . . do know the both of you, right?"

His smile is small, wry, and brief. A little after-battle humor.

He's been kicked before. That's where he learned how to tuck in and roll like an armadillo.
Thing is, what with rolling, he can't afford to get his wings out so once the oddity comes to a stop, he's bounding back the way he'd come like a seriously pissed off animal. Well, he kind of is right now. Very pissed off. Extremely protective.
And that end of his tail looks a tad different now -- unarmoured, it sports a sinister double-sting.

"Eeegh, yeu noh hurrr-t Fah-mi-lee!"

Tail hooked and poised, silver talons out. His skin's gone a kind of starry-night blue/black, complete with speckles of fiery gold flashing in random places on his skin. However, when he's close enough, the imp hears Goliath's voice and another side of himself kicks in.
The healer-side.

"Trrrree? Bee?"

His skin slowly begins to mellow down. The sting on his tail gets closed up and "sheathed"; the tail following a mere minute after. His eyes? They flash between alternaing golden and amber-brown.

"Trrree, Bee hurrr-ted?"

Please don't let them be hurt...

In a word, Billy is terrified. Congratulations, Nightmare King, here's some more fuel for you. He's disarmed and on the verge of dying a horrible death before he can blink, Renne isn't much safer nearby, and Goliath...where...oh. There.

And the illusion disappears. Impressive control, that. Maybe if Billy exhibited similar discipline, he wouldn't be in the mess he was now.

Shoving that thought aside, he reaches for his belt and unceremoniously demorphs. Time to check on Elisa's car...it rolled to a safe stop, thank goodness.

To Renne, he says, "No, I'm not injured. Are either of you?" He'd seen something happen to Goliath, and it looked like Renne had been kicked hard. Worry definitely crosses his face.

Billy moves to stand at the car door, trying his best to smile. "The car won't drive itself, so I'll go when you two are all right. We should probably bring it to safety as quickly as possible."

Edited 2010-02-21 20:20 (UTC)

Goliath nods. "The Nightmare King may find us whether we are on the move or not, but you are right. It is best to keep going. I am sorry as well, to have endangered you like this. I am at fault for not having been more attentive."

All things considered, though, Goliath does not seem overly upset by the interruption. Why should he? An illusion of an enemy is nothing more, and was easier by far to defeat than the real thing.

Besides, although Billy and Renne are obviously unsettled by the attack, on Goliath it has had something of a different effect.

"You have both reacted bravely in battle, as bravely as any member of my clan would have. This is not an easy feat, when Demona is your opponent." He frowns at the name, before clapping one large, taloned hand on Billy's shoulder. "You both have my respect, and my sincere apologies for bringing my nightmares upon you."

He smiles. His true strength never has lain in brute force, after all, but in true friends. The attack has unsettled Billy and Renne, and put them both in danger, but it has reminded Goliath of this.

However, in moving, he winces, and craning his neck to look over his shoulder, notes that his back is still burned, and that the act of wrestling with Demona has opened the wound to bleeding.

"It will heal with the dawn." He's more concerned that the wound remains than that he has one at all. But he chuckles softly as he offers his hand to Renne in comfort.

"Another name, my friend? Does the one not suffice?"

"Eeee."

For a minute, the oddity simply offers a kind of nuzzle to each in turn. True, the attack had unsettled him but it had been the unsettling protectiveness of an animal meeting an invasion against his pack.

The kick had been hard but he's faced worse. The bruise forming on his left side is probably more resembling cyan-silvery paint in its beginnings. Still, he's prudent enough to handle that side with a little care. It's the Gargoyle's pain and the Human's pain he's more worried about.

"Rrr-enne fol-low. Eee...Trrrree be hurrr-ted. Bee, hurrr-ted too. Rrr-enne wahn-t hell-p Bee, Trrree."

He hadn't just meant physical wounds, you know.

Some decisions don't require much thought so yes, this may look strange for a first-timer, but he partially Transcends right there. Ah, yeah, living bundle of emotion. The Empath seeks to reach out.

Pain. Not good. One seek, erase pain.

Well...that wasn't what Billy had expected. He'd instinctively cringed when Goliath started speaking to them, expecting scolding or disappointment. Some Ranger he has turned out to be, huh?

Thus, Goliath's commendation and shoulder-touch surprise him. He doesn't think I'm a weakling? Wonder and gratitude drift across his face, punctuated by a real smile. He's comforted, pulse slowing to a more normal pace. But the pain and fear of defeat can't entirely fade yet. They're an urging to become stronger, which is definitely a long work in progress.

Said pulse shoots right back up when Renne starts Transcending. "No, Renne, I'm not in need of healing. You should save that energy for yourself---or at least focus on Goliath if you insist on healing others. My ego will recover on its own, I'm sure."

A joke, yes, but a more direct confession of the problem than he would normally make.

Edited 2010-02-21 23:52 (UTC)

"My friend, you would be wise to save your energy. I believe Billy is fine, and I will heal with sleep. These are small wounds in any case. Yours are greater."

They don't look that small. There's a hole through his wing.

"Eeee. Rrr-enne be tuhff. Yeu, Bee, is Fah-mi-lee. P-lease?"

His chirpings sound a bit echoed in this half-Transcended state and his control on skin colour isn't as precise. So he's appearing a lot like he's got a colour-changing cloud swirling violently around him.

That cloud of colour and alien warmth, if one were to touch it, might feel a bit like perhaps liquid smoke. And...well, call him a sap later but the love growing for these two is close to literally tangible.

Drat, Renne had to ask him so sincerely. It's really, really difficult to deny a request from his brother. Even if he's not sure what the little imp intends to do with his pain. Or even if it can really be cured.

Goliath's another matter, though. That wing injury looks quite painful---and he remembers then that Renne can't see the extent of the damage and has no way of knowing unless Goliath consents. Lucky for Goliath, not so good for them. But what can they do about it?

Renne doesn't need to wait long before Billy's resolve crumbles. "I'll allow you to try, if it will put your mind at ease and it won't take too long. But if Goliath agrees, I need you to focus on him. And when you're finished, we're going to make sure you heal, all right?"

Edited 2010-02-22 02:55 (UTC)

"There is no need," Goliath insists, uncertain of what Renne's . . . transcendence indicates, but having no intention of taking energy the little being could be using to heal himself. "Sleep heals me. I will wake tomorrow morning with no wounds. Tend to yourselves."

The pain that Renne feels, if he feels it, has nothing to do with wounds, and is buried two years' deep - a betrayal and a loss so severe that to touch upon it directly would be devastating, emotional wounds knit together, healing steadily. An old pain of enmity swept over by balms of friendship, love. This Demona hurt him deeply, but his scars fade. As this one will.

"Eee."

At first, comes a chirping nod to Billy. Goliath however, confuses the oddity and his ears come perking up. Indeed, the creature 'feels', knows the existence of pain around him. That had been the catalyst of his healer-instinct coming out in the first place.
So he's quite blunt in his question.

"Haow yeu do tha-t? Is fohrrr trrrue?"

Betrayal. He knows it well and while he doesn't speak out loud, the expression on his not-entirely-solid face is enough. He'll be damned if he'd do to these life-forms what's been done to him by the shadows of his past.

"Eeee. Yeu ea-t? Rrrr-enne wahn-t to hell-p." Even if it's just being an ear to listen to or a perhaps over-enthusiastic cook that can gladly feed an army.

Billy looks on silently, choosing to back away from this confrontation. It's not his place to come between them right now, so he'll focus on sorting his thoughts and re-fortifying his mind against fear.

It's incredible, though, to have friends who care so much for each other.

"I would not lie if I were unwell."

And in any other circumstance, he would accept the offer of food. Without a real sun to absorb during the day, he's hungry almost all the time.

"Maybe later, my friend. We still have a car to take to a safe place."

"Eee. May-bee in pla-ce? Ahn-d haow yeu be ahll bet-terrr ahf-terrr s-leep? Is noh ba-d?"

Chirrup. About now, upon reaching full Solidity again, he unleashes Phear The Adorable face. Yeah. He dares use that on mighty Goliath. And yeah, he dares to give the gargoyle an affectionate (perhaps housecat-like) nuzzle.

He's a stubborn little thing but a multitasker as well. Crawling toward Billy, the oddity gives the Human the same kind of nuzzle.

"Eee. Rrr-enne hell-p Big Brrro-therrrs."

Did he just, yeah, he did.

That's a fair compromise, he thinks. Upon being nuzzled, Billy scoops his friend into his arms with care to avoid the bruise and shamelessly reciprocates.

"And we'll help you, Renne. But for now we have a task to finish, right?" Grinning, he moves to the car door and sets Renne down in the passengers' seat, once again taking the wheel himself.

"Ready when you are, Goliath."

"It is not far, and you may have full use of my castle."

Renne will be delighted, no doubt, when he sees the modern kitchen, but Goliath wonders where the imp will find anything to cook in the city.

He leads them through the streets, to a place where there are many castles lining the streets. The Luthor mansion is there, across the street from castle Wyvern, situated between Lewes and Conisbrough.

Goliath gestures to them to wait, and climbs the castle wall to enter. A moment passes before he lowers the drawbridge, then stands in the archway, waving them through.

"Castle"? And Goliath said he wasn't a king!

Mind, his imagination is going wild right now, really. Chittering almost...excitedly, the beastie at least tries to keep still in his seat.

"Eeee! Kass-uhl. Trrree say he noh be Kin-gh. Haow? Kin-gh go-t Kass-uhl, eey-ess? If Kin-gh go-t Kass-uhl, haow he noh be Kin-gh? May-bee Dooo-kee?"

That's "duke" in Imp-speak, Kids.

Billy smiles fondly, driving over the drawbridge with the utmost care. He parks as directed, then lets himself and Renne out of the car. He'll let Goliath answer the imp's questions about his status, taking this moment to view the courtyard with undisguised awe.

"Wow, this castle is incredible," he whispers reverently.

"The humans who first lived here built it when I was a young warrior," he says, happy to explain the history of his home. "Before our alliance, my clan lived on the sea cliffs on which it was built."

He raises the drawbridge himself, speaking over the sound of the mechanics.

"As I said - there were no kings here. This was the home of Prince Malcolm of Scotland, and his daughter Katharine after him. It was agreed that the humans would build their castle, and mine would roost there during the day, and protect it at night. Each guarding the other, in sleep."

He pauses, briefly melancholic. "It was a good plan. I still believe it could have worked. Could work, given time."

"Eeee. Guy-iff be guahrrrrd?"

Once the vehicle comes to a halt and he's able to get out (Hey, he's almost figured out how the doors work!), the oddity's hand/paws and feet make little patterings on the stone.
Already, he's sniffing the floor, both exploring but staying nearby to his companions' scent-trails. This is after all, unfamiliar terrain to him.

Goliath's tone of voice and his last words cast a shadow over the creature's face. A silent question, one of the rare ones he doesn't give voice to.
Humans betrayed you too?
I must not ask such things so readily. Bee is a Human and look what he accomplished.

Such a question on his mind is almost instantly shot back at by a different tone: A tone that is a reminder to not look back, but to look forward. Metaphoricaly speaking.

A light in the dark (and a car in the hangar) [Open]

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