Skylark Starflower's Silly Blog of Silly

Small stones tumbled down the rocky incline behind Kim, having been disturbed by the meaty wheels of the green motorbike as it gripped onto the rocky surface to pull itself and its rider up and over the edge.  The clicking and tinking sounds as the chunks bounced off of the ground slowly faded into the distance below, while the rumble of the engine continued to echo thru the cliffsides.  Riding thru the mountains is always a rough time, and the Spine of Gyvia was no exception.  A pachycapra would've made the trip much smoother, but she wasn't about to leave her beloved motorbike behind.

While throttling the bike up, Kim could feel the small claws of her pet false-dragon, Zoom, dig into her pilot jacket.  One of their feet was also suctioned against the back of her helmet as well, hanging on for dear life, altho Kim knew the creature would have no trouble if they did fall off.  The small reptile would have simply glided away to safety, then scurried up the mountain after her.  No, Zoom was more of a drama queen, and didn't like being put into situations where they had to actually do something for once, instead of just lounging around.  When the bike jostled around, Kim could hear a hiss of disapproval from behind her, and she chuckled at the annoyed lizard.

"Look, if you don't like it, you're welcome to scurry your own hide up the rocks instead.  You got feet."  Kim said with an entertained huff as she glanced over her shoulder at the dark colored reptile.  Unblinking, fiery-colored eyes met hers, then there was a sound of disgruntled compliance as Zoom settled against her back.  The false-dragon wasn't done being sassy tho, and quickly flicked their long, three-pronged tongue against her neck below her helmet in spite.  There was a bit of a twitch in response, but Kim was used to the feisty lizard's shenanigans, and half-expected it.  "Yeah yeah."

With Zoom at least pacified, Kim returned her entire focus on the rough mountain trail, trying to make her way thru it as quickly as possible.  She was keeping calm the best that she could, but her anxiety was sky-rocketing.  In the nearby area, she had spotted troops she recognized as the Hollows searching for something.

For her.

Kim knew DekTek Industries was hunting for her, for something she took.  But seeing that they sent the Hollows to retrieve it, they definitely were not looking to negotiate.  The Hollows were very dangerous special troops used by DekTek when they weren't worried about having a discussion.  They followed orders completely, thoroughly, and intelligently, with no emotions and no way to talk yourself out of a situation with them.  She didn't know how people like that existed, and she didn't want to know how.

But she knew their reputation, and keeping out of their line of sight was her only real option.  And so Kim forced her bike up the treacherous path, hoping the precarious trail would at least slow them down more than her.  She had been going thru the Spine for two days now, and there was still a lot of mountain to go.  There was no real destination in mind, only a need to put as much distance as possible between her and her pursuers.  This drive kept her pushing forward, over the jagged rocks and thru the sparse trees, one crevice after another.

It was only after not seeing or hearing any sign of the Hollows that Kim finally took a small break, tucking into an alcove to stay hidden still in case of any surprises.  Propping the bike against the rock, she sat down on the hard ground, leaning against her bike while removing her helmet.  Passing a hand thru her strawberry blonde hair with red and black tips, she felt how soaked it was from her sweat despite the chilly mountain air.  She took a deep breath to calm her nerves a bit, letting the brisk air cool her down.  Hearing a scampering sound, Kim turned to see the dark lizard with orangy-yellow stripes living up to their name, chasing down bugs to gobble.

Kim watched amused as Zoom flicked their blue tongue out and snatched up beetles and flies they were finding, a loud crunch sometimes accompanying the catch.  "Good stuff?"

Zoom turned their head sideways, giving Kim a full side-eye before bobbing their head up and down quickly, their fiery-colored throat showing brightly.  Then a movement caught their eye, and they scampered off again to sate their hunger.  Taking a cue from Zoom, Kim reached into one of her many packs on the bike, and pulled out a container.  Kim originally had planned on stopping by the town of Prism to restock, but after getting waylaid by the Hollows, she was second guessing going there.  There was probably already some troops there waiting for her, since Prism was often a major stop thru the mountains.  She was prepared with several days of food still, plus basic survival knowledge, but she'd rather not push her luck staying in the Spine for too long.

Kim nibbled on her salty food absentmindedly, thinking more about where to head to next instead of Prism.  She barely noticed when Zoom came skittering back into the alcove, and then up onto the bike on top of the packs, hissing.  Frowning, she glanced up at the false-dragon, who she could barely see poking their nose out from up top.  Then she heard it, a scraping sound, from above the alcove, followed by small rocks falling down with a quiet clinking.  It was the only sound at this point, as Kim had completely frozen, even holding her breath despite her heart pounded in her ears.  What could be up there that even Zoom didn't want to mess with?

A thin shadow passed over, followed by another, before what appeared to be a scaley tail came into sight, the deep maroon scales on it looked almost worn and disfigured.  Then another tail came into view, along with a third.  Kim's mind raced, trying to figure out what they could belong to.  A levan?  No, didn't seem big enough, and whatever it was it was fairly quiet.  Cavalier false-dragons?  Maybe, they did live in these mountains, altho these tails seemed too long even for them.  As one of the tails slithered along, adornments came into sight, and at the end of the tail was a...lantern?  The sight of it caught her off guard, and now she was at a loss of what was outside of the alcove.  Staring at the lantern, Kim could see that the lights inside of it seemed to swirl around, never quite holding onto a single color, but they seemed to stay mostly in the cool range.  Caging the lights, the metal of the lantern was old and weathered, with engravings she didn't recognize.

Kim was already anxious from everything else going on, but what manner of creature was outside unnerved her more than anything, and she hoped it would move on soon.  Whatever it was, tho, did not hear her plea, or perhaps it did and choose to ignore it instead.  From near the top of the opening, slowly sliding into sight, Kim saw a pointed nose and chin appear, that same maroon color, followed by a sharp-toothed grinning maw.  She reached for her handgun, and quickly unholstered it, bringing the barrel around to point at the long toothy mouth.  Its head, which was as long as she was tall, twisted around on top of a winding neck, somehow rotating its head to be upright while pointed right at her, staring at her.

Or, at least, Kim assumed it was staring at her.  On top of its head, she only saw several pale, overlapping plates, getting progressively larger as they went farther back.  It looked like it was all bone and dangling flesh, with a long narrow jaw full of sharp teeth.  On the front of the largest crests was a strange, deep series of grooves, but her eyes couldn't focus on it for some reason.  From the grooves a thick waxy substance flowed out and, oddly enough, upward towards the top of the crests.  Against gravity, it dripped up, forming into a series of floating candles that burned with an eerie purple flame but gave off no smoke.  More adornments hung from the head that matched those on the tail, tinkling faintly whenever it moved.

Then Kim heard more scraping sounds, and realized that the rest of its body was now climbing down in front of the alcove, altho its head never moved from its spot despite the weird contortions it was doing.  A large pair of knobby, semi-transparent wings came to rest on the ground, propping up the rest of the body, which Kim came to realize was more than half just tail.  Tails.  Three of them, snaking and winding around the nearby rocks and ground, eventually coiling under the body and helping to prop it up.  The tails themselves were more than double the length of the body by itself, each being roughly twenty-five feet long.

Kim then saw its hands, skeletal and long, but wearing more matching jewelry on its clawed fingers and lithe arms.  The hands then came together a bit, fingertips touching, as if the creature was scheming.  And for all she knew, it was.  Above the large wings, Kim finally spied a second set of smaller wings.  Or at least she thought they were wings at first based on their shape, but when they opened up, she realized her mistake.

Three pairs of horizontally slitted eyes stared at her from the appendages, a sickly green color flowed thru them.  When its head moved back out of the alcove and into the sunlight, it was then that Kim finally saw the wax weeping symbol of the Hadalic realm etched into the bony crests on its head, almost like a mirage.  She tried to focus on it, but every attempt to do so made her eyes itch, and she had to look away.  A gravelly sound soon filled the alcove, causing Kim to snap her attention back toward the creature, trying to lock eyes with it.  But it's rather tough to do when said creature has multiple sets of eyes to try to keep contact with.  That was when she realized the sound she heard was it chuckling, before it finally slid away from the alcove a bit, altho it remained in sight, its long neck dipping low while it sat back on its mound of tails.

Getting a complete look at it now, Kim was able to piece together what it was she was looking at.  A strange draconic being that seemed to defy physical laws and had the Hadalic symbol on it?  Kim knew she was looking at a Primordial Dragon, and even had an idea of which one it was too.  With an exasperated sigh, she holstered her weapon, tho she kept it unlatched and a hand on the grip.  Stepping out of the rocky sanctuary, eyes narrowing against both the sunlight and the dragon before her.  Taking a shaky breath, she steeled herself for potentially making a deal.  "What do you want, Syrr'dynn?"

The dragon's long snout opened up into a large toothy grin as they tapped their fingers together in glee.  "Always nice to see that my reputation precedes me."  They leaned towards her a bit, somehow the grin widening.  "It allows us to bypass formalities and get to the point, Kim Ryder."  A sigh of satisfaction escaped from the skeletal chest while the eyes on the secondary wings narrowed in amusement.

Kim tried to not let it bother her that the dragon knew her name.  They were...other-wordly beings, and often didn't abide by normal rules, Kim thought as she eyed the wax that was dripping up into the candles.  "Alright then, what is the point of you wanting to meet me?"  She shifted her weight a bit on her feet, ready to listen.

Syrr'dynn's forked tongue lolled out to one side a bit before the dragon responded with a hiss in their voice.  "I can see you're in, to steal a human term, a pickle."  They grinned.  "And a very sour one at that.  Being chased by Hollows…never ends well."  The dragon clicked their tongue, making a mock sound of sadness for her.  But Kim only huffed in return.

"And?"  She asked pointedly.

"Well, I'm sure you can see where this is going.  Quite simply, I'm offering you safety from the Hollows.  Perhaps even a long-term safety, depending on choices made."  The dragon snaked their head towards her, while the eyed wings shook a bit in excitement.

Kim narrowed her eyes.  "And in return?"

"I want what they're looking for."

Hesitation caught her breath.  "No way, that's my only bargaining chip."

The wyrm gleamed.  "And this is the bargain.  Do you think it will be any different whether they catch you with or without the disk?  No, they will kill you either way."

Conflict showed on Kim's face as she debated with herself on the best option.  In the distance, scarcely audible thanks to the rocks of the mountainside, she could just barely hear the soldiers and their bikes.  Her eyes shifted back over to Syrr'dynn, who simply watched her in quiet bemusement.  She looked back at Zoom, who had been staying on top of the bike, hiding.  Their eyes met hers, and she sighed heavily before facing the six-eyed dragon again.

"What kind of safety?"

-

Kim rode her bike hard in order to keep up with the Primordial Dragon flying overhead, their large spindly wings giving them a massive advantage in the mountains.  But Syrr'dynn never stayed out of her sight long if she managed to fall behind, and made sure every path they followed was one she could navigate on the ground.  Her mind raced alongside her bike, thinking about the deal they had made.  The dragon didn't ask for the disk right away, which matched what she had heard about the creature.  They were notorious for always keeping their end of the bargain, but also making sure the other end was kept as well.  Syrr'dynn didn't think the bargain was quite finished yet, and so let her hang onto the disk for now until they reached their destination.

Of course, Syrr'dynn also didn't explain any further what this "safety" was, and so Kim was following more out of desperation than anything, hoping everything she had heard of the dragon was true.  They were wily, and clever, but never dishonest.  So she believed it when they offered safety, but her hesitation came when details weren't given on what that safety was.

The hours spent following the wyrm caused her anxiety to increase tenfold, wondering where they were leading her to.  It was late in the day, the sun starting to touch the horizon in an orange blaze, before the dragon finally landed again next to a cave entrance.  Kim crested the ridge and came to a stop before them, eyeing the cave warily.  Syrr'dynn snaked their head towards the cave before their body followed, walking on the knuckles of their wings while their tails dragged behind them.  "This way, we still have a bit of a walk thru the cave before we reach our agreement."  Their raspy voice echoed thru the cave, betraying the large size of the space within.

Dismounting her bike and removing her helmet, she peered as far as she could in, but the only thing she could see was the lights coming from the wyrm's candles and lantern.  Turning on the headlight of her bike, she slowly pushed in after.  The sound of the tires on the rocky floor seemed magnified by the stone walls, only dwarfed in volume by the dragging scaly tails, and the thick armored knuckles stepping on the ground.  Occasionally Kim could see one of the smaller limbs twist backwards, the sharp pupils focusing on her for a moment, piercing in the yellow-green iris, before turning forward again.

The long dark before them as they traversed the cave worried Kim, and she tried to keep a mental note of where they were going in case she needed to backtrack.  She hoped that Zoom would also be able to find their way too, as she looked back at the small reptile perched on the highest bag, nearly stock still.  It was a reflex of Zoom when they felt unsettled by a situation, which didn't help alleviate Kim's own fears.  Looking past Zoom, she could barely see the entrance, glowing slightly in the fading sunlight.  Swallowing a bit, she turned away to face a different light, the eerie flickering ones from the dragon as they led her deeper in.

After a few more minutes with no words exchanged, Kim decided to break the silence.  "You ever gunna go into more details about this 'safety' or are ya just going to leave me..."  She glanced around at her surroundings, "...in the dark?  Your lack of forward information on it is concerning to say the least."  Kim looked back towards the wyrm, seeing one set of eyes turn towards her.

"Sometimes...details are best held back."  Syrr'dynn's voice seemed to slither down the cavernous tunnel.  "Ignorance is bliss...or so I'm told.  But you will see soon enough why I am keeping it to myself.  Whether you agree or not, well, that is besides the point."  While Kim couldn't see their face, she could hear the grin in their voice.

"What kind of game you playing here?  Not just on this, but also the item you want in return.  I've heard you often like to make deals just for the sake of making deals, but this feels more than that.  I am a bit worried about what you're gunna do with it."  Kim stopped abruptly when she realized the dragon was no longer descending down the corridor.  They turned around, body partly contorting in order to face her with both sets of eyes, which had narrowed while intensely holding her gaze.  Their pointed snout slowly came close to her, until it was only a few inches away.  In the light of the candles, the Hadalic carving in the crest wavered, almost as if itself was alive.

This close, Kim now noticed the faint smell coming from the dragon.  It was a touch salty and humid, but under that she caught just a hint of ocean rot, which made her nose twitch and she grimaced slightly.  Whether Syrr'dynn took notice of this or not, they did not give sign of it.

"I rarely have any long term goals with my deals.  I am...much more fascinated by the things people are willing to trade with and for.  The value of something changes drastically from person to person.  One man's trash is another man's treasure...and vice versa."  They pulled their head back a bit away from Kim, but still faced straight at her.  "I once had a kid who just wanted to try a Rainbow Bite from the town of Prism, and traded with me a small card for one.  Later, I found someone else who wanted that card desperately, and exchanged their right eye for it.  I later traded that eye with someone wearing an eyepatch for some nachos (they were quite tasty)."  The candles flickered brightly while the wyrm grinned, bringing their tails around to coil underneath and prop themselves up, the lantern illuminating their maw from below.

"But...while I don't have any specific goal in mind for this...I will say, if you...and him...go thru with it, I think it will be one of my finest deals yet.  And I look forward to seeing how it plays out."  Their skeletal nostrils flared, and Syrr'dynn released a breath in a shudder.  Watching the cloud of vapor leaving them and wafting thru the air, Kim was sure they were reeling in a feeling of ecstasy, altho that didn't detract from the words that were said.

"Him?"  She tilted her head at the dragon, eyebrows raised in question and asking for clarification.

Kim didn't think the dragon's grin could get bigger, but here she was, staring into the gaping maw lined with irregular teeth.  "Yessss...him.  He will be your safety, and you will be his salvation."  With a sound of creaking bones, Syrr'dynn twisted around away from Kim and started down the tunnel again, signifying that they were going to say no more.

She stared after the retreating dragon, a frown on her face as the light slowly moved away.  Kim looked back up the tunnel again.  Squinting hard, she could just barely make out the dim lighting on the edge of the cave entrance, nearly gone now with the setting sun.  It felt like a last chance to turn around and leave, take her chances elsewhere.  The lack of clarification gave her pause, and she wasn't sure she wanted to meet this supposed person who could protect her from the Hollows and DekTek.  What kind of person, a single person, could they be to assure safety like that?

The idea of it filled her with dread more than anything.

Her curiosity, however, got the better of her, and Kim soon began to follow the winged serpent again.  One of their occulid limbs peered back at her, amused.  Kim shot a glare, but said nothing.  It wasn't long after that the tunnel suddenly yawned open, the walls vanishing into the blackness that the lights from Syrr'dynn didn't reach.  The headlight from the bike, while still meager in the void, did manage to light up more.  Turning it one way and then slowly sweeping it to the other side, Kim tried to get a better idea of what all was in the abyss before her.  She could just make out some stone walls, and a bit of colorful lichen growing on it.  Straining her ears, the faint sound of water dripping quietly echoed.  Looking back forward, Kim saw Syrr'dynn continuing forward, the candle light starting to illustrate the far side of the cave.

Something about how the light reflected seemed...off.  There was a bit of a shine underneath the lichen, which wasn't as thick here as it was in other places.  Drawing closer to let her bike illuminate it better, Kim could make out a black metal under the grime.  Panning her eyes, she then spied other colors such as a fierce aqua, a vibrant purple, and various other shades of greys and whites.  Kim frowned, then flipped the kickstand down to lean the bike onto while she rummaged thru a bag for a proper flashlight.  She hadn't noticed that Syrr'dynn had moved quietly off to the side to watch from the shadows in curious glee.

Clicking the light on and raising it up, Kim's eyes followed the light as she lifted it higher, trying to get a bead on what she was looking at.  The colors seemed familiar, but the memory was currently eluding her grasp like a fog.  Moving the light sideways, she saw what looked like turbines, altho when they were last on was anyone's guess as there was moss hanging from the spike in the middle of the turbine.  She dropped the light a bit, hoping to get a better idea on something closer to her, seeing a trail of overlapping metal laying against the ground and running along the walls for over seventy feet.  It eventually ended in what looked like some kind of three-pronged grasper.

Her breath caught a bit, as she recognized that particular item, realizing it was the end of a tail.  Kim then quickly brought the light around to where she knew the head would be.  There she saw the familiar but broken teal crest, the blue and red-orange gradient scarf wrapped around his neck, and dour metal face of the infamous massive machine known as Tempest.

There was some water dripping down from his head, but other than that, she saw no movement from the giant mecha, and noted no glow from the optics.  Was he dead?  Or rather offline perhaps, Kim wasn't sure exactly when it came to Tempest.  All the official stories about the large robot suggested glitchy programming, but some other observations were made by people who thought differently...including herself.  He was not friendly by any means, but there was thought and purpose behind his actions that suggested an intelligence of more than just a faulty machine.

She had only met him face to face the one time, almost two years ago, but the encounter had always stuck with her.  During her travels, Kim had spied the mech, and went to the edge of a cliff to get a better look at him.  He was at least sixty feet tall, which made getting that look pretty easy.  While she stood there, Tempest had locked eyes with her, who in turn had stared back at him.  During the meeting, Kim could see a sense of curiosity from him towards herself, perhaps because she too was more curious about him than afraid.  Kim was certain the mech often didn't run into humans who stood their ground before him, especially ones like her who had no real defense against such a large being.  But the mech had simply tilted his head a bit, before making a sound like a huff from his vents, and then walking away.  However, the robot got the last laugh, as his tail swung around and snapped at her, causing her to yelp loudly and nearly knock her bike over.  With her own huff, she had shaken her fist at the retreating metal back, unsure if he even noticed.

Kim blinked a few times, clearing the memory from her sights before going back to inspect the robot again.  He didn't look to be in the greatest of shapes, but she also didn't see anything concerning to cause his unresponsiveness.  Then she remembered that she wasn't alone, and quickly whipped her light onto the nearby dragon, whose pupils contracted tightly into narrow slits when the light hit them.  She was used to seeing that grin by now, but that didn't mean she couldn't be annoyed by it.  "Guessing this is what you meant by 'him'."

The three tails flicked around in amusement.  "Very astute.  What do you think, hmm?  I'm fairly certain he could protect you quite well."  Syrr'dynn clicked their claws together.

Kim glanced at the quiet mech for a moment.  "And why would he? Pretty sure I don't have anything he would want."

"Ah, but you do."  The wyrm sidled up closer to Kim, tilting their head.

"The disk?"

They shook their pointed head.  "No no, that is for me as part of our bargain.  What you have that he needs is simply..."  Syrr'dynn brought a clawed hand up and pointed a single finger into Kim's chest to emphasize their point.  "...you."  The hand pulled away.

"Me."  While Kim had said it like a statement, it was also a question, moreso about whatever delusion the dragon was having.  "It's kind of common knowledge that this guy doesn't like humans, so why would he need me?  He's been doing just fine on his own for years now."  She panned the light back up, curious now to what had changed then, if the mech required a person.  His slumped figure against the stone wall was odd to see, and Kim wondered what led to his current predicament.  "...altho he looks kinda dead right now."

Syrr'dynn glanced up at the mech as well.  "He's simply in a low power state while hiding and waiting.  He'll be waking up here soon tho.  Well, that is, if you agree to it."

"Right, the bargain.  What makes you think he'll agree to it?"

The wyrm faced her again, toothy grin wide.

Kim frowned, starting to piece it together.  "He has a bargain with you too."  It wasn't a question.

Sighing happily, the dragon tapped their claws together again.  "Mmhmm. He needs a pilot, and you need safety.  Seems like a good deal to me, no?"

"I don't recall Tempest being piloted..."

"Well, life is funny like that sometimes.  One day, you could be just traipsing along, beholden to no one.  Next...well, I'll let him explain his hubris if he wants to.  Don't be surprised tho if he doesn't want to divulge his...mistake."  They clicked their tongue and chuckled, a dry crackly sound.

Kim's mind rotated thru a dozen scenarios, trying to figure out what had happened.  For now, she really didn't have enough information to even have a decent starting point, so she dropped the subject.  But she kept a mental note of it in the back of her mind to potentially ask about later.

"Alright, fine.  He needs a pilot.  Ok, I can work with that.  But will he?  He's kinda notorious for not liking people."  Kim realized she was probably going to take the deal, and so now was trying to work out the logistics of it.

"People?  No, not really.  Most of the time.  A person, however, that is a different story.  He'll be more willing to work with a person.  Now, if you fully agree..."  A clawed hand extended toward Kim, palm up.

Kim glanced at Tempest again, before sighing and digging into one of the bags on the bike.  She pulled out a data disk, staring at it for a moment, then handed it over.  The skeletal hand wrapped around it, vanishing it from sight.  "Pleasure.  Now for the second part."  Syrr'dynn, using their large winged limbs, quickly crawled up the mech, and fidgeted with something on the chest.  There was a hiss, and suddenly it opened up.  They lowered most of themselves inside, tho the tails could still be seen hanging out.

Kim had been watching the wyrm intently, and so was caught off guard when she realized there was another pair of lights now, staring down at her.  Tempest was online, and looking directly at her with glowing blue optics.  She felt her breath hitch at the intensity of the stare, but after the long moment of nothing else happening besides the sounds of the wyrm in the cockpit, Kim's muscles relaxed a lil.  Holding his gaze, she noted that while his face was still dour looking, Kim wondered if perhaps that was just his default expression in general.  Eventually, the mech broke eye contact first, the optics flicking down to the open cockpit as Syrr'dynn finally poked their head back out.

They turned and faced the mech, grinning while holding a second disk that Kim didn't recognize.  Syrr'dynn turned one set of eyes toward Kim, and the other toward Tempest.  With a sly smile, their voice echoed thru the cave interior in a sing-song manner.  "Good luck. You're going to need it~."  Then with a shimmer of strange colors, the Primordial Dragon phased away with their goods, leaving them to figure out the rest for themselves.

With a deep breath, Kim looked at the mech again, who had an expression that Kim could only think of as exasperated.  Tempest looked down at her again, and she saw a flash of annoyance now.  With a loud creaking of metal and crumbling pebbles, a dust cloud fell off of the mech as he leaned forward and down.  A metal hand came up next to Kim, planting his spiked knuckles, to brace himself up while he lowered his body, bringing his face closer to hers to get a better look.  Kim had taken a small step back before she realized it, wondering how well the mech knew his own strength and size.  The intensity of the light coming from the slotted pupils of the brilliant blue optics felt like it was piercing thru her.  Even tho the world was full of huge beings, between the levans, the dragons, and the few remaining titans, she had never been this close to one before, especially not face to face.  And his face alone was nearly as big as she was tall.

Which made it easy for her to see every scratch, ding, dent, and scrape in his metal form, especially the multiple large gashes that ran down a good bit of the left side of his face, with one of his front crests broken off.  Kim didn't remember seeing it at their last meeting, and wondered what could have caused it.  After staring intently at the scars, her eyes turned back over to meet Tempest's, now realizing she was seeing a variety of other colors besides the blue in his optics.  There were also shades of teals and purples much to her surprise. But something about the way the optics looked at her seemed off, and she couldn't quite put a finger as to why.  Her curiosity was quickly outpacing her fear and nervousness, and she decided to reclaim some ground, stepping towards the metal face.

A loud hiss from behind Kim drew both their attentions.  She turned to see Zoom puffed up on top of the bike bags, tongue flicking menacingly while they stood on their back feet, and had their wings spread to make themselves look bigger.  Kim shot an annoyed look at Zoom, making a gesture with her hand to try to get the reptile to stand down.  Zoom refused to listen.  Turning back towards Tempest, Kim saw only a look of mild curiosity on the mech's face before his optics focused back towards her.

"They're a feisty one."

His voice wasn't as deep as she expected, but he also sounded like he was talking almost in a whisper.  Perhaps Tempest did so for safety, as she was sure he could've easily deafened them, especially in the cavern.  Still tho, she could feel the power behind his voice, and had felt the vibrations thru her body.  She never met anything this big before, so Kim was understandably nervous and somewhat unsure of how to proceed.  But one thing she was sure of now, from this short meeting so far, is that he wasn't glitching or faulty.  He was fully sentient.

Which meant that talking to him would probably not be too different from any other person.  Just...much larger...and made of metal...and could kill her in a flick of his finger...nothing too worrisome.

"Yeh, they are."  She glanced at Zoom again whose tail was swishing in agitation before facing Tempest, feet planted.  "I'm Kim Ryder. I guess I'm your pilot now."

-

Kim said those words, and Tempest cringed internally at them.  He hated it, hated hearing it, hated that it was true.  But he had no choice if he wanted to survive.  And despite everything that had happened to him, he wasn't ready to give up.

Of course, he didn't voice any of these thoughts outloud.  And with some effort, Tempest pushed the thoughts to the side in order to focus on the current situation.  "Hmm…we'll see..."  He said with a gruff voice.

She seemed familiar, and after playing thru his memories, he finally did find her in them, from nearly two years ago.  It was one of the few times he had an interaction with a human that didn't involve weapons, altho he still messed with her a bit.  Despite having his back to her, the mecha absolutely saw the fit she threw afterwards, finding it humorous.

Most people didn't realize that Tempest had a three-sixty view around himself thanks to his multiple sensors on various parts of his body.  Often they focus on his glowing optics, even tho he can't actually see with them, as they are false eyes.  The optics were built into him strictly for the purpose of giving people something to focus on, as well as giving him a way to convey some emotions, often thru a changing of color of the optics.  His actual sight, as well as other senses, were located behind reinforced glass for protection, in a variety of locations, such as the crests on front and back of his head, his arms, his legs, his chest and back, as well as his tail.  It was nearly impossible to sneak up on the mech.

All these memories and thoughts passed thru Tempest's cybernetic mind in less than a second, unnoticed by his company.  Instead he focused his sensors on her, getting a read on both her vitals as well as her body language.  Despite having been built by humans, he really wasn't that familiar with them personally.  He was rarely this close to one without it being in a panic or trying to attack him, at least not since when he originally came online all those years ago in Kuurchek, and more recently, in Akida.  Other than the loud thumping of Kim's heart, she seemed...ok?  Tempest was only guessing tho, but she was standing her ground with him, like before, so perhaps this was normal for her.  Somehow.  What kind of life do you lead that you seem so unperturbed meeting me?

Pulling back slightly, the mech was at a bit of a loss on what to do or say.  Socializing wasn't exactly a strong suit of Tempest's for various reasons, so his conversation skills were severely lacking.  He wondered how much he actually had to work with her, or if her just sitting in his pilot seat would be enough to reactivate his systems.

Kim moved closer, and Tempest felt himself tense up as a reaction.  She reached out a hand and placed it on one of the many battlemarks across his metal body. While he couldn't actually feel her touching him, knowing she was doing it was enough to cause an almost visceral reaction in him.  His gears stiffened at it, and his wires felt like they were crossing.  His tail prongs slightly flared open in a jittery motion, showing his agitation.  The vibrating noise caught Kim's attention, and she quickly removed her hand.  After a moment, his tail stopped shaking and closed back up as his body ever so slightly relaxed.

Tempest's reaction caught himself offguard, not realizing how much he didn't like being touched by humans til now.  His memories from Kuurchek started replaying in his mind, and his armored fist clenched even tighter next to the small human, the metal groaning from the strain.  From down below, Kim's voice drifted up, quiet in the cavern compared to his own noisy form that was vibrating.  It was enough to get him out of his loop and focus on her instead.  He then noticed that she had taken a few steps away from his planted hand with preemptive caution.

Kim cocked her head, realizing he hadn't heard what she said.  "Look, I don't know you.  And you don't know me.  And we both have no real reason to trust each other.  But it seems like we're both in need of help, yes?"

Tempest didn't answer, but he kept eye contact with her in silence.

"Gunna take that as a yes.  I dunno what happened that led to...this,"  Kim gestured at the cave, the cockpit, and Tempest's deep running gashes.  "...but must've been something serious.  Look, I'm a mechatronix technician, I could probably help repair some of this."  She put a fist on her hip while raising an eyebrow at him.  "Up to you, obviously.  You seem a lil antsy tho."

Tempest was confused by both her attitude and helpfulness, and instantly distrusted it.  His optics narrowed as the sound of creaking metal echoed thru the cave when he sat back up away from her, removing his fist from the ground.  His head essentially disappeared into the darkness of the cavern save for the blue glow of his optics.  "Right.  Like I'd let you get your meaty lil hands on any of my circuitry.  How about you just fuck off instead."  The mech huffed, glowering.

Her reply was not what he expected.

"Well fuck you too.  Maybe your shit attitude is what got you in your situation in the first place, ya ass."  Kim had leaned toward him, throwing her own glower at the surprised mech.

Tempest fumbled a bit in shock, getting ready to spit back but she cut him off.  "Listen here, we're both in some kind of shitty situation.  Instead of being snippy, how about we figure out how to get along first?  You're notorious for not liking humans.  Understandable.  They often suck.  But whatever beef you have with people, I'm not here for it.  I dunno what it is, and if you don't wanna tell me, that's fine.  But I'm here and willing to help you if you help me too."  Leaning back a bit, resting a hand in her bike, Kim moved the flashlight up so she could see Tempest's face better.

He didn't avoid the light, staying silent for a long moment as he had lost his bite, and instead had almost a sad look on his face.  Tempest's memories quickly passed thru some of the times he had trusted humans, and got along with them.  His right hand came up and gently fingered the gradient scarf around his neck while contemplating the past.  Kim watched for a quiet moment, then asked, “Is that scarf important?”

Tempest’s gaze slowly drifted off to the side before replying.  “It was…is…a reminder.”

“For what?”

“For when I met some humans that made me think twice.”  His memories from the town of Akida replayed, the place he had accidentally saved while fighting a levan.  Akida was remote, and didn't have a lot, but the people still wanted to thank him.  So they had sewn several blankets from different families together to make him a scarf.  The blankets had been colored after entities that the town worshipped, called Red Sprites, in which they saw similarities between the Sprites and the mech, especially of their electrical natures.

Tempest had never been gifted anything before, and that encounter was when he started to have second thoughts about people.  But old habits die hard, even for a machine.  Deep down in his programming, Tempest knew he missed working with people tho.  The mech had been designed originally to protect, to save, to help.

He still wanted to do those things, but his distrust always ended up overriding his initial programming.  Kim here was the first person in years he actually had a bit of a conversation with that wasn't a dragon or goddess.  Tempest felt rusty about it, but this little bit of talking made him truly realize how alone he felt.

With a sigh from his vents that sent dust billowing out, Tempest lowered an opened hand down toward her, palm up.  He had to start somewhere, even if the circumstances weren't favorable.

Kim was hesitating while looking at the black and white metal hand, and it dawned on Tempest just how small she was compared to him.  His metallic fingers were as big as her, and he could easily take her life away with barely a thought and a flick.  With some effort, he tried to be reassuring.

"I'm not going to hurt you."  The machine said in a surprisingly quiet voice.

After another long silent moment, Kim placed a hand on one of his fingers for balance and stepped onto his palm.  His body tensed up again, but he forced himself to relax as she stepped entirely into his hand.  Tempest only had pressure and temperature sensors in the tips of his fingers, so he could feel her hand, but not the rest of her standing in his palm.  He realized he was going to have to be very careful with his movements to keep his promise.

Moving as smoothly as possible, Tempest slowly raised his hand toward his chest, bringing Kim to the entrance of his open cockpit, even tho every circuit was screaming not to.  To not let someone in, past his armor, and given access to his vulnerable systems again.  The last time that happened, it left him with a dangerous weapon attached to his processors, a failsafe to be used against him at a moment's notice.  While he had destroyed the remote that controlled the EMP, the device was still attached to his systems, a constant threat and worry if it should go off.  Majority of the world didn't know that it existed tho, and he hoped she didn't either.

Cautiously, Kim slipped off of his hand and onto the first steps of the open panel.  Tempest was still figuring out the cockpit himself, and what all could be moved in it.  He realized that he had some physical control over the monitors, and was able to move them to the side enough that Kim was able to slip past them and fully into the cockpit.  Sensors and cameras in the interior allowed him to continue watching her as she inspected the panels, seat, controls, and monitors.  Whatever she touched, he both saw and felt, and started to realize just how much he could sense what all was in there.  Everywhere Kim touched, stepped, or brushed against, Tempest could feel the motion, and it made him uncomfortable.  A sense of touch wasn't something he often used, save the sensors in his fingertips and tail, but this was almost overloading in the amount of data he was getting from it.

His tail started twitching, then clacked the large pincers together several times, trying to alleviate some of his nervousness.  The mech was already anxious about having a human inside of him, but constantly feeling her was almost too much for his systems.  Tempest could see Kim looking around confused by the noise, and started peering back out thru the opening.

"You...ok?  It feels like you're shaking."  Kim had laid a hand against one of the titanium panels of his armor, feeling the vibrations.  She looked over his chest armor, trying to get a bead on his face in the dark, altho it wasn't as dark now.  And she quickly realized why.

Tempest's optics had gone from the soft shades of blue and teal, to almost entirely white, and they were staring straight ahead.  His CPU was getting stuck in a loop, stuck in a replay of old events.  Heat started to flush thru his frame as he couldn't get his systems to stop cycling up in a panic reaction.

Flashes of memories he tried to keep stored away came to the forefront.  Tempest saw the tools, heard the captors, felt the restraints once more.  He couldn't move, helpless to stop the invasion happening to his body, the violation from those he once thought he could trust.  The forceful installation of a death sentence, to right a wrong that didn't exist.  Not again…NOT AGAIN…

But new data started to filter in, interrupting the cycle, and the mech finally was able to break out of the loop.  His fans kicked into overdrive to drive out the excess heat, and his tail settled down against the ground.  Tempest processed what had happened, and his optics snapped down to focus on Kim who was looking at him intently.  She had been calling his name, which gave him something else to process and got him out of his panic attack.  The look of concern on her face was something new to him, and he was unsure of how to respond, his optics slowly fading back to the default blue.

Tempest was sure of one thing tho, and that this whole agreement wasn't going to work out, if just having someone in his cockpit caused this kind of reaction out of him.  He didn't realize til now how much he still didn't want humans touching him, even if his life depended on it.  Once he stopped shaking, the machine raised his hand back up towards Kim.  "Get out.  Please."

Kim raised her eyebrows at the tension in his voice, but complied, and stepped back onto his hand.  He lowered her back down, almost too quickly, and she about fell out of his hand once it was near the ground.  The sounds of scraping metal echoed thru the cave as the mech got his armored feet under him, and then pushed himself up and away from her.  Over the noise, Kim barely caught his voice as he was turning away.

"...I can't do this...I can't..."

-

Kim stepped back while grabbing her bike and rolling it away from the mech that seemed to be having a crisis right now.  His agitation was apparent, and she didn't want her bike or Zoom to get hurt if Tempest lashed out.  After moving the bike (with a hiding reptile in the bags) to the far side of the cavern, she slowly walked back towards Tempest who mostly had his back to her now, standing as best as he could.  The cavern wasn't quite tall enough for him, and he was hunched over with a large metal arm braced against the wall.  His other hand was held up, palm open, and in the dim light she could just barely see it shaking.  Behind him, his tail had curled up almost like a scorpion's, with the grabbers slightly open and pointed towards the ground.

Wondering what the mech had going on, Kim came closer, trying to get his attention.  "Oye!  What's going on, man?  Why are y-AHH!!"  She yelped loudly when his tail suddenly came down in front of her, piercing into the stony floor with the tips of the prongs, missing her by a foot.  She had felt the breeze of it whooshing in front of her, and that of the small rocks that had been launched by the embedding of the metal, pelting her.  It was close enough that she could just barely make out her reflection in the scuffed up purple metal.

"Don't come near me."

After gathering her wits (and airing out her pants), Kim peered around the tail at the mech who was still facing away.  Tempest could still see her perfectly she realized, and after giving a glance over on his tail still buried in the rock, she saw the sturdy glass that hid his sensors.

"No sneaking up on you I see."  She leaned closer, peering thru the glass to see the multitude of sensors and cameras inside.  He saw the world very differently, and Kim was sure talking to the sensors was the same as talking to him face to face.  "Whoa, you got like...infrared, ultraviolet, temperature...some other stuff I'm not even remotely sure of...at least not without a better look."  Kim wanted to inspect them more, but with the way he was reacting to being touched, she decided being patient was going to be the best course of action.  Without touching him, she stepped around his tail and moved so she could see his face better, but still gave him room.

Tempest had glanced at her, and then removed his tail from the rock, but kept it curled up again.  Kim had no idea why he reacted like this, and if this was supposed to be some kind of partnership, she needed to figure out why.  The mech however cut her off before she could ask.

"I don't want you, ok?!  I don't want to do this...I don't...I can't.....it's just not going to work!"  His voice wavered, then a grimace crossed his face before he slammed his crested head sideways into the rock wall several times followed by his spiked fist in frustration.

Adrenaline kicked in as Kim noticed cracks forming in the rock, as well as debris starting to fall from the ceiling.  Tempest either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it, unconcerned by a cave in.  Kim, however, didn't have that luxury, and in a split second she had run over to her bike and hopped on.  The sound of the engine starting got the mech's attention, but she couldn't worry about that right now as larger pieces of rock began to fall down around her with a thunderous crash.  She gunned it, quickly whipping the bike around and aiming for the original entrance she came in at.

There was barely any time to think as she looked up and saw the wall in front of her slip down, then start collapsing towards her.  Kim gasped, and started skidding the bike to a stop as the deafening sound of the crumbling stone enveloped the area.  A dust cloud kicked up as the mountain began to tumble down on top of them.  She only saw a flash of black, purple, and teal metal before everything went dark and all she could feel, taste, and smell was rock.  The very air felt like it was crushing her, stealing her breath while the only thing she could hear was the roar of the world falling around her.

Kim had no idea how much time had passed before things finally went quiet, as she was tucked under her bike, and had Zoom underneath her jacket trying to protect the frightened reptile.  Now, with everything having gone completely silent, it felt like a tomb.  But she wasn't dead, and after slowly lifting her head up to look around, she realized it wasn't dark either as a blue light filled the area.

A wall of familiar black metal with teal and purple accents surrounded her, and kept the boulders at bay.  The black and white metal hand was cupped around the two of them as well as her bike, shielding them from any other debris.  Kim looked up into the softly glowing blue optics of the mech that was above her.  Even tho he was down on his armored stomach, and propped up on his elbows for support, Tempest still towered over her.  To Kim, the look on his face seemed to be one that was a combination of both concern and slight confusion.

"...Hi."  The machine nervously said in a very quiet voice, as if almost afraid to start another cave in.

Kim slightly nodded back while standing up, Zoom in her arms.  After a couple of coughs to clear the dust from her throat, she finally responded.

"Uh hey..."

Not the best response, but currently it was all Kim could muster after nearly being crushed to death.  She glanced past the mech, and could see nothing but stone around them.  The mountain really had come down on top of them.  Her eyes locked back onto Tempest, and wondered if he was struggling to keep it from collapsing the rest of the way.  "You good?"

Tempest looked off to the side for a second before looking back at her.  "...it's really heavy."

Seems he was as bad as her right now for responses, but given the situation, she felt it was justified.  "Yeah I bet...um....sooo....any ideas?  I think I recall you being pretty powerful, be pretty easy for you to escape, yeah?"

Somehow, Tempest pursed his lips in annoyance while staring intently at her.  "...I can't..."  Kim tilted her head at him and was about to respond before he continued.  "...not without a pilot."

Kim frowned in confusion.  "You weren't originally piloted, what happened?"

The machine grumbled a bit, and Kim could feel air gush from his vents in annoyance, before she shrugged her shoulders in defeat, a petrified false-dragon still dangling in her arms.  "Ok fine, you don't wanna talk about it.  Whatever.  But you need to tell me what all is going on with you so I can know how to help, ya dick."

Tempest jerked his crested head back a bit in surprise, causing a sound of metal on stone to echo.  Once the sound died down, Kim could see the defeat on his face.  "I can't access any of my weapons or flight systems, or my generators.  And the output from my power core is at 10%.  Unless someone is in my pilot seat.  I don't know...the specifics of it, just...that I can't access them."

Kim nodded while listening.  "So then, how do you know that having a pilot will grant access?"

The mech sighed heavily while looking everywhere but directly at Kim.  "Cuz that's what she told me."

Tilting her head a bit in curiosity, Kim raised her eyebrows in question.  But Tempest tightened his lips and refused to look at her (at least that's what it looked like, hard to tell sometimes when a being has a three sixty view around them).  "Alright fine, gotcha.  So then, my biggest question is going to be...are you going to be ok if I get in there?"  She stared pointedly at the machine.

There was a slight hesitation from the mech, but he answered truthfully.  "No…I don't…just no…”  Tempest looked somewhat worried, and Kim wondered if he was going to fall into another panic attack at just the thought of it.  Kim looked at this scarf, thinking about how it somehow related to something positive with humans.  She hoped that maybe she could help him find more.

“Hey, listen to me.”  Kim quietly talked to the mech, who met her gaze.  “I'm not here to hurt you, and I'm not going to hurt you.”  She repeated his own words back at him, which he recognized.  It was a bit awkward she realized, trying to talk softly to the large machine, but it seemed he needed some reassurance.  “Ok?  We'll take this slowly, at your pace.  But we do need to get thru this.”

Tempest listened, and eventually replied after a moment.  “I don't really have a choice at this point I guess."  A hissing noise sounded, and Kim saw the top of his chest armor split to the sides, then the front panel swung down, revealing the cockpit once more.

Even with him down on his elbows and abdomen, it was still going to be a climb to get up in it.  Not to mention, he was mostly horizontal right now, which meant the seat and flooring were decidedly not.  Kim stared for a long moment trying to figure out how to get up there, then decided to throw Zoom in first.  With a huff and a hoist, she tossed the startled reptile into the cockpit.  They hissed loudly, but latched into a panel with their suction pads and claws, then scurried up farther in, looking for a cubby to hide in.  Tempest shuddered, which surprised Kim.

"You can feel that?"

The mech grimaced.  "Really didn't want to, tho."

Kim glanced into the cockpit again.  "Ah, makes a lil more sense now.  I'd be weirded out too if I could feel things moving inside of me."

"Yeah well, I can see in there too.  But I'm not really used to feeling things.  It's a very...strange sensation.  Really don't like it."  Tempest shuddered again, and while his expression showed how much he hated it, there was also a look of resignation.  "Do you...need a boost?"

Her eyes flicked from the cockpit back to Tempest's face.  "I might.  You're kind of a big boy.  And I'm a lil height challenged compared to you."

"All humans are height challenged compared to me."  He said matter-of-factly, with almost a smug look.

She nodded a bit.  "Touche.  Anyways, about that boost..."

Kim heard a mechanical noise, and saw from inside of the cockpit, a pair of spindly, multi-jointed metal arms reach down, each with a set of four digits on the end.  "...oh."

She started to reach for one of the graspers cautiously, but then pulled her hand back.  It wasn't obvious, but Kim was sure Tempest was frowning at her.

"What's wrong?"

"No, I just had a thought."  Kim went back to her bike, and unhitched one of the bags that had food and water in it.  "Probably should put this near the seat so I have some supplies."  She handed the bag to one of the grippers, which promptly grabbed it and pulled it up into the cockpit.  "Now, about my bike..."

"What about it?"  Tempest asked pointedly.

Kim put her fists on her hips while trying to give the mech a bit of an intimidating stare.  "You better grab it once I'm in there."  She pointed at the open seat.  "I'm not leaving it behind, that bike has been with me thru thick and thin."

Tempest glared at her in return.  "I'm not carrying your stupid bike, you can just get another.  Besides, you'll have me for getting around."

Even tho she was just a puny human compared to the massive machine, Kim refused to back down.  "No, we're taking it too.  First off, I ain't gunna be in you all the time, and I'm certainly not gunna use you for getting around a town or something.  And second..."  She took a deep breath.  "...it's all I got."

The look on Tempest's face softened, much to her surprise.  "Alright, fine.  Get in, and I'll grab your bike.  Need to figure out a better way to carry it later however, I don't wanna be holding onto it all the time."

Kim nodded, then carefully grabbed onto the mechanical arms waiting for her.  Gently, they pulled her up into the cockpit, and helped hold her in place while she got strapped into the pilot seat.  Even tho the arms were helping her get situated, she could still feel a mild shaking coming from Tempest thru the seat and the manipulators.  Once she was fully belted in, the arms moved back out of the way, and the various monitors moved into position.  With another hiss, the chest armor sealed back up, locking her inside.

The monitors lit up, providing all sorts of information that nearly boggled Kim's mind.  There was data on all his various systems, as well views of what all he saw, altho currently that was limited by the mountain on top of them.  But in one of the front views, she could see Tempest reaching over to grab her bike and palm it.  Kim smiled a bit, glad that he was honest in that.

"I told you I was going to grab it."

Kim jumped a bit in surprise.  His voice rang from a speaker somewhere inside, and then she finally noticed a set of sensors that looked similar to his optics on his face, slotted pupil and all.  "I also told you I could see inside too."  From below the camera, Kim saw the speaker.  Then, when the device moved, she realized it too was on a jointed arm to move around.

"Well, at least I got something to look at when I'm talking to you."  She gave the camera a small tap, which jerked back with a whirling noise, flustered.  Kim looked around the cockpit some more, wondering what all she needed to do to help him.  The screens still showed everything offline and his output diminished.  Eyeing the joysticks on the arms of the seat, she slowly reached out and grasped them.  A metal ka-chunk sound was heard from somewhere in Tempest, followed by the sound of turbines winding up.  Monitors were lighting up more now, and she could see that his systems were all coming online.

"Oh shit."

-

Kim was so small below him, Tempest was almost afraid to move in fear of hurting her.  He already nearly got her killed from his own self-pitying stunt, and his initial programming kicked in to protect her from a problem he caused.  Tempest surprised himself with how he just reacted, but he realized that he also wanted to do it too.  She was one of the few humans who actually just...talked to him, and tried to understand him and his situation.  And when Kim said her bike was all she had, he understood all too well.  The mech was telling the truth when he said he wasn't going to be ok with her in his cockpit, but he knew that he would have to deal with it.

And while he didn't say it outloud, it wasn't just a need for his own life that made Tempest accept having a human inside of him.  He really did want to work with her, to be with people again.  He missed it.

Funny how life sometimes forces the issue.

Tempest kept himself fairly still while helping her get situated into the seat before closing up.  He was still fighting against the urge to remove her forcibly, but after a few minutes, his circuits calmed down.  Carefully and gently, he picked up Kim's bike, and wrapped his metal fingers around it for protection.  The mech then turned his attention inward, watching as Kim was figuring out the controls and monitors.

But when she grabbed both joysticks, Tempest could perceive locks releasing, and power to his systems flowing again.  He could feel his strength returning, after over a year of being stuck helpless.  The mech now was able to tell how much he had lost, and he hoped he wouldn't lose it again.  Turbines spun up, and his core began surging with energy again, sending power to every facet of the mech's being.  Tempest stared at his free hand while his systems charged up, seeing the electricity arch across his armor, feeling the power rising, unable to contain the grin on his face.

“Yesss….finally…”  Nearly reaching one-hundred percent, the mech chuckled at feeling powerful again, and wasn't going to let anyone take it away from him this time.

Until his systems suddenly started to lose power, his core winding down and the turbines slowing.  Tempest was confused by the sudden power loss, and turned his attention inward, seeing that Kim had not only let go of the joysticks, but had also unbuckled, and was currently sitting awkwardly on the back of the seat.  The interior camera jolted forward in agitation.  “What the fuck??”

Kim had a disgruntled look on her face.  “Well, was partly testing this whole failsafe thing out on how far it goes.  I have to be seated, buckled, and hands on the joystick to kickstart the systems.  But after they're started, looks like I can let go of the joysticks and you stay powered.  It wasn't until I left the seat that everything shut off.  But that's beside the point…”  She stared intently at the camera.

Tempest dropped his shoulders a bit in annoyance and let out a sigh.  “Ok, I guess that's probably a good thing to check…but obviously something else is bothering you.”

She shuffled a bit, legs dangling.  “Your attitude…and comment…as your systems went to full power.  It was…worrying.  I never really suspected you of being malicious, but that was…that laugh…”  Kim leaned forward, staring directly at the camera.

He had to actually think for a moment on what was concerning her before he finally realized.  His laugh combined with what he said, Tempest could see how it could be taken malevolently, which wasn't his intent.

“Look…to steal a human phrase, put yourself in my circuits…”

“That's not how that phrase goes.”

Tempest huffed.  “I don't wear shoes so deal with the update.  Moving along…”  The mech did an imitation of taking a deep breath.  “...I know most of the world doesn't know my exact history, since most of what's out there is inaccurate.  And truthfully, I keep it that way on purpose, because I don't want people thinking I'm weak or that I'm capable of caring…”

“Tempest…”

“...I don't get to talk to people often, and that's partly my doing because I have trust issues.  I've been betrayed and violated in the past, so I always felt I could only rely on myself and no one else.  And then…this happened,” he gestured at the cockpit, “...and now, I can't do anything.  I've lost my own agency…again…and I just…I hate it so much.  I don't want to be in this situation again.  I thought I had escaped it before, but now…this is almost worse.  I'm stuck having to keep a human inside of me just to survive.”  His voice faltered.

Tempest brought his free hand to his face, trying to keep his emotions under control.  His metal form was shaking ever so slightly again, and he had no idea what to do.  He felt lost, defeated, done.

A sensation from within grabbed his attention, and he saw Kim sliding off the back of the seat, trying to get buckled in again.  “Lil help?”

The multi-jointed arms came out again and helped her back in.  After she settled in the seat, Kim looked at the interior camera, with a look of resignation.  “I think I understand…I've not been in your situation, and probably never will, but I can sympathize.  I would like to hear the truth about you…”  There was a pause before she continued, “...but not today.  I think we got bigger priorities, so let's work together and get outta here.  Yeah?”  She smiled at the camera warmly.

Tempest was silent for a long moment, before nodding the interior camera.  “Yeah.”  Kim nodded back, then reached out and grabbed the joysticks again.  Once more the locks retreated, and power surged.  As everything hit maximum output, the mech flexed his armored hand, relieved to have his strength back.

“Alright, so how do you suggest we escape?  I'm not really familiar with your systems overall, other than you do a ton of shit with electricity.”  Kim was looking over all the monitors for information, trying to decipher everything.

“It's the main thing, but not the only thing.  Lot also involves polarization, charges, and plasma.  I think first however…”  With some effort, he raised his left arm, and panels around it opened up.  A plasma shield expanded from it with a burst, both pushing and obliterating the rocky prison immediately around him.  Tempest then was finally able to get his feet under him, and his tail out from under the rubble.

From inside the cockpit, he could see the impressed look on Kim's face.  “Whoa…” She quietly exclaimed.

Tempest smirked a bit.  “Well, if you enjoyed that show…”  His turbines wound up, and electricity crackled.  From behind, the graspers on his tail opened up, and began to spin in a circle.  Electrical power started to arch from the tips of the prongs to the center, building up a charge.  With a flash that would've blinded Kim if not for the cameras instantly dampening the light, the tail released the blast with a ka-CHOOM upwards, piercing thru the mountain.

“Holy shit!”  Was all Tempest heard from within before he activated his flight systems, the fins on his back extending and opening up, and took off with a fwoosh.  While the hole wasn't technically big enough for him, on the account of him scrapping thru the tunnel, the mech did not care one bit.  He was getting out right now, banged up armor be damned. 

With a rumble, a roar, and a flash, the upper side of the mountain erupted, with Tempest shooting out of it like a missile.  Up, up, and up he went, into the night sky, feeling the cool air rushing into his vents, clearing out the dust and dirt.  The crisp air this high up felt wonderful on his systems that had been overheating earlier, and he pulled in as much as he could.  This high up, he barely spied the distant horizon, past the edges of the Spine of Gyvia. In the dark beyond, he could see the bright dot of Steele City to the south, like a beacon.  To the east, the shimmery surface of the Grave Gulf sparkled under the duo moonlight.  And nearby, the small town of Prism twinkled, at the edge of the Many-Mouthed Forest.  Looking up, Tempest saw clearly the galaxy his world called home, and the twin polar moons of ice that orbited overhead.

And there, a small light moving across the sky slowly like it was caught in a stream of stars, was the Obelos, a fount of forbidden knowledge.

Or so Tempest had heard.  Far as he was aware, no one had ever been to it.

Speaking of people…

Tempest had completely forgotten he had a couple of passengers with him, and quickly checked in on them.  He could see Kim completely sunken into the seat, death grip on the joysticks, while Zoom had latched onto the front of her, claws digging into her clothes, frozen still in terror.  The look on her face could only be described as a bluescreen of death to Tempest.

“Uhh…you ok in there?”  One of the mechanical arms came forward, giving Kim a small poke.  “Hello??”  Tempest waved the hand in front of Kim's face, then tapped her lightly on the head.  “Oye!  Answer me!”  Now panic started to set in to the mech as well from her unresponsiveness, wondering if he somehow damaged her with his sudden fast flight.

Kim finally blinked a few times, then looked over at the camera that was almost in her face.  “My dude…a warning next time.  I was not even remotely prepared for the sudden change in gravity.  Oof, think I left my stomach back inside the mountain…”  With some effort, she pried her hands loose of the joysticks, and saw they were now shaking from the grip they were holding.  After a moment, she settled, then looked at Zoom, who was stock still.  “Oh boy…”  She started rubbing the lizard behind the head in order to relax them.  It took a few minutes, but Zoom finally released their own death grip on her, and then looked around, licking one eye.  “There we go, easy now, it's fine now, we're all good.”  A few more strokes, and Zoom relaxed and settled into Kim's lap more snugly.

“Sorry…”  he quietly responded, catching himself by surprise a bit by apologizing.  Tempest watched Kim get settled better in the seat as well, then finally looked at the monitors.  There was a look of awe on her face as she panned her head from one monitor to the next.  Outside, the mech cocked his head in curiosity, tho she couldn't see it.  “What's wrong?”

Kim stared at one of the monitors while answering.  “I've been on airships before, but this just feels…different.  Are we even higher up in altitude than what airships travel at?”

The interior camera nodded.  “I prefer staying above the ships when I travel around, less likely to get attacked.”

She nodded in agreement and understanding.  “What a view…man, I wish I could step outside to see it tho.  Bad idea obviously.”

Tempest thought about it for a second.  “Maybe we can a little bit.”  He opened up the cockpit, and moved the monitors out of the way for her.  Carefully, he was able to move the seat forward to a degree, but not completely out.  But it was enough for her to see the sky without leaving the seat.  The mech could feel her shudder in the seat at the cold air, and she pulled Zoom up into her jacket before zipping it up.

“Amazing, it's so dark and bright up here.  Can even see the Obelos clearly…”  Kim looked around in awe, a smile on her face.

To Tempest, it was all bright, as he was seeing energy waves and particles she couldn't.  Trying to understand more of her point of view, he turned the majority of his sensors off, which made him feel blind.  But now he could see what she meant of the night sky.  And he could agree with her assessment.  “It is quite a sight.”  He looked at her face again, and for some reason, her expression brought him peace.

With a half smile that Kim couldn't see, the mech shook his head a bit.  Maybe I can work with this…

After a bit, the mech retracted the seat and closed up the cockpit as the cold air was starting to get to the duo.  Kim took a deep breath, then looked at the camera.  “Alright.  I think we're off to a better start now.  But I think the big question is going to be…where to?”

Tempest held up his hand, and opened it, showing the bike.  “Maybe find a way to transport this better?  You know of any good places to perhaps get some storage installed?”

“Ah yeh, lemme think.  Maybe Thranes.  If you know the right people there, you can get almost any work done.  It's also a major airship port so they tend to have large hangers and equipment for working on machines.”

“Guessing you know some people there, then?”

“You could say that, considering I'm originally from there.”  Kim grinned at the mech.

“Of course.”  Tempest replied with sass in his voice.  Then he realized, he knew almost nothing about her.  “Huh…didn't know…”

Kim softly snorted, smirking warmly at the camera.  “Lot about me you don't know…and vice versa.  Maybe we take our time getting there, and use that time to get to know each other better, hmm?”  She raised her eyebrows at the mech.

It was probably the best course of action currently for them, so he agreed.  “Yeah, let's do that.  Give me some time to get used to having a human touching me all the time too.”  Tempest whirled up his turbines in exasperation.

Kim chuckled.  “What, like this?”  She grabbed the joysticks and pushed them both to the left.

Tempest suddenly felt his body move without his consent, surprising both him and the pilot.  She let go, astonished that that even did something.  After a moment of processing what just happened, Tempest threw his fist around in frustration.

“Oh you have got to be fuckin’ KIDDING ME!!”

-

From way down below, in the rocky outcrops of the mountains, a group of dark humanoid shapes stared up into the sky, watching as the mech had erupted from the mountain, sending rubble flying.  The Hollows had seen Tempest rise up into the night sky, and then stayed there for a bit before heading southeast.  As the mech disappeared, the lead Hollow put a hand to the side of their visored and masked head, red sensors and camera glinting in the darkness.  “Inform command, still searching for Target R09, but discovered Target T17's whereabouts in the vicinity of where R09 was last spotted.  T17 is currently headed East Southeast from the Spine of Gyvia.”

“Information received, orders are to continue searching for R09 while a scout will be sent to monitor T17.”