scoundrvls » ( HUDU SHIV ) :
𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌. vents produced clouds of it in overlapping intervals, shrouding the terrain in a permanent crepuscular veil. flora here grew fat off the moisture and nutrients constantly expunged from the lithosphere. trees, with bark denser than krayt scales, stubbornly grew in massive groves. their roots, broader than a man, broke through the rocky soil and locked themselves into gnarled postures. grasses formed a patchwork of tall, salted strands that quivered as the planet’s active upper mantle rumbled. cerulean eyes outlined in sulfur dotted what landscape was spared the primordial woodland.
massive amounts of heat hid the hunter from unwelcome thermal scanners.
but so too did it shield his prey.
hudu shiv was a slip of a man. tall, unburdened by excess. not a creature of flesh and blood, but bone and steel. his growl, a timber dredged up from a molten hellscape, reverberated like a monster come to life in the condensed air.
❝ i’m not here to fight a man, mereel. ❞
thousands of gallons of superheated water erupted into the sky, blinding the infrared spectrum with a flash of scalding white. the massive geyser stretched twenty-four meters, dousing the pale yellow rock at its anchor in vaporous welts. the eruption lasted less than a minute before it violently collapsed in a curtain. residual gallons evaporated before striking the ground, parting like a canyon of smoke around a sulfur rock. perched upon it was shiv, crouched on one knee, his target squarely in his rifle’s sights.
❝ i’m here to put down a dog. ❞ said the echo of a firing stud’s swift click.
the fine, dark hairs which rested against his neck prickled in the roaring silence of the geyser, all other sounds obscured in its violent gush. something wasn’t right… as the waters fell, dashing themselves into a steaming cloud upon the rocks, he glanced over his shoulder and into death. ❝ osik! “ it was a shift of mere centimeters, but not quite fast enough to avoid the spray of splinters from the shattered, deadened outer bark, to not feel the searing near miss of the shot through the neck of his suit.
though the ancient trunk could shield him well, there was little sense in remaining in place against such an opponent, not when his sightline was frequently obscured and the other just as nimble. determination was an able weapon, but no amount of skill, of training, of intelligence could prevent his death if he remained on the back foot.
maneuvering across the volcanic forest would have been treacherous under even the most ideal of conditions, but while avoiding the deadeye of fellow mandalorian and searching for ground which could provide him the advantage? better than he expose himself to his enemy than fall into a boiling mudpot, or trip into one of the vents, to cook alive. his opponent chose his ambush well. ❝ if i were a dog, i would be long dead. ❞ the mocking chuckle came easily even under these conditions, arms burning as he lugged himself over dampened boulders, always seeking to place impenetrable objects between him and his pursuer. ❝ men are much harder to kill. ❞
armor grinding against the bubbled surface of the rock, he turned onto his front toward where he last spotted a flash of movement, barrel hidden amongst the features of higher ground. ❝ still don’t want to fight, shiv? ❞
