#dissida

Sitara pulled out a pouch of money and hands it to the woman. “Velaris. They need to get away from here.”

“Wonderful! I’ve already sent others over there to get away as well. They’ll at least have company.” She looked over at Richard and Volt and bowed her head. “My name is Zerith, and I’m the captain of this humble vessel. Let’s get going.”

Richard and Volt returned the greeting, and after a brief goodbye to Sitara and Zeth, followed Zerith up the ladder and into her airship. As curious as she was about how the ship worked, more importantly how to operate it, Volt was grateful when Zerith left them alone to rest during the journey.

She and Richard sat on either side of a little table in a small side room, quiet with only a faint engine hum reaching through the metallic walls. Volt’s eyes wandered. Panels set in the wall probably led to electrical controls, or… Something. This ship was so unlike what she was used to she didn’t even want to bother guessing how it worked.

The soft thud of Richard setting the packet of papers on the table made her turn. He nudged it towards her.

“What do you think?” Richard said. “Can you use this?”

Volt picked up the packet and slide out the stack of papers. It was thick, more pages than she’d thought when Sitara had handed it off. The papers rustled as she thumbed through them. Notes, diagrams, schematics… Clearly the girl had been busy, and she seemed to know what she was doing too.

Volt tucked the pages carefully back into their packet with a hopeful smile. “I think letting her look at you turned out to be a good idea. Its detailed, clear, and I think it might just get us somewhere. I’m sure for the parts I don’t know how to do we can find a technician who can. I know a few people.”

“Really huh?” Richard returned her smile. “That’s great news.”

It was, wasn’t it? Volt ran her hand along the edge of the papers. Maybe this whole ordeal would turn out to be worth it after all. It was a weight off her shoulders at least to finally be getting somewhere, to finally have hope that she wouldn’t have to worry about him breaking down beyond repair.

His chair squeaked as he stood with a stretch and a yawn. “Well, I think I might try and get some sleep. You should too.”

“I had a nap in the workshop.”

“Yeah, but does that really count? It’s been a long day.” Richard jerked his head towards the hallway. “I think I saw somewhere comfortable around the corner.”

For a moment Volt considered arguing, but then maybe he was right this time. She sighed, letting her shoulders fall as she slipped off of her chair and tucked the files under her arm. It really had been a long day.

#

Hours later, Zerith announced over the intercom system that they were getting close, and Richard watched the approach through one of the little windows lining the corridor towards the ship’s exit. They passed over mountains, deserts, jungles, prairie, finally slowing as the ship descended over a forest and Volt called for him to hurry up.

They reached the forest floor and just like that, Zerith’s airship was gone, drifting silently farther and farther away until it disappeared over the canopy. Richard craned his neck to stare up at untamed branches tangling from tree to tree, draped with soft moss and laden with verdant leaves. The sunlight that filtered through them reached his shoulders stained green and cool. Even the air felt green, refreshing and earthy.

“You know,” He turned to Volt with a grin. “Of all places to hang out and wait, this isn’t half bad.” He stretched his arms above his head, cracking at least three joints with successive pops. “Don’t you think?”

Volt shrugged, but eyed the ground-level ferns warily. “They really meant it when they said this place was uninhabited.” She swallowed and stepped just a little closer to Richard’s side. “I’ve never been much into camping, there’s too much that could go wrong out here, too much to think about, too many unknowns. How long are we going to have to survive out here? Is it cold at night?” She shook her head with a deep sigh. “I think I prefer cities, at least then I know what to expect.”

“Hey, at least there’s no one here to worry about.” Richard leaned out in front of her, hoping to distract her before she worried herself too much more. “How about we start by having a look around?”

Volt sighed. “Fine.”

She let him lead the way through the undergrowth, watching every stick and leaf and rock with distrust. Sure, she was probably right about some of the things she was worrying about. Neither of them really had a whole lot of outdoors experience, neither really knew how long they were going to be stuck out here for, but for now at least Richard was more focused on how springy the dirt was under his feet and trying to figure out what noises were birds.

He glanced back over his shoulder. “Hey, do you think we’ll see a bear? Like a grizzly bear? I saw some on an old TV show a few weeks ago and they were pretty cool, I hope we get to see one here.”

“What?” Volt shook her head. “No, I sure hope we don’t see a fucking bear. Do you know how big those things are?”

“But they looked so nice just hanging around that river.” He grinned, wide and teasing. “Wouldn’t you want to just go and sit with them? Just hang out with them and—”

Volt gave his arm an exasperated smack. “No! Do not go sit in the fucking river with a bunch of fucking grizzly bears Rick.”

“Okay, okay,” he held his hands up before breaking into another grin. “What about cougars? How about—”

“No!”

“But they look so soft!”

Volt huffed, though by the tiniest tugging of a smile on her lips, she wasn’t as frustrated as she pretended to be. “You know what?” She pointed at him. “Sure. If we see a cougar go right ahead and pet it, see what happens.”

“I will!” Richard gestured dramatically towards himself with a smirk. “I’ll pet it and it’ll purr and it’ll follow us around and fetch—”      

“I think you’re thinking of dogs now.” Volt shook her head. “But why not? Go hang out with a pack of wolves while you’re at it.”

“Wolves come packaged?”

Volt sighed again, but this time couldn’t hide an amused smile. Her steps seemed a little less stiff, and her shoulders a little looser. Richard smiled as relief spread sweet through his chest. It was nice to see her starting to relax again.

“Very funny Rick.”

“Thank you. Though I guess by now I’ve scared off most of the wildlife anywhere near—”

Shouts.

Richard snapped his head towards the sound, antenna by the side of his head fanning out and quivering as he tried to find the source of the noise. Volt fell silent by his side. She glanced between him and the direction of the noise, waiting.

“We’re not alone,” Richard whispered. “Something’s happening over there.”

He hurried forward as quickly as he could without noise, Volt following close behind. The shouts got louder, yelling, screaming, snarling, human. The trees thinned out and they crouched behind two side by side trunks, peering out at the edge of the forest.

Crumbling ruins of what might have once been a settlement stood covered in moss and writhing with people fighting inside. Looked like humans, humans fighting against…

“What are those?” Volt stole his words.

They looked like people, but with wings on their backs covered in black and white feathers. A lot of them, fighting against the humans in the ruins.

Volt glanced at Richard. “Are those, are those the beings everyone’s talking about? They aren’t supposed to be here.”

“There aren’t supposed to be people here either.” Richard murmured.

He leaned forward, shifting his weight to one arm and trying to see more of what was going on behind the ruined walls. Something to make sense of the noise and the fighting and the wings. Something wasn’t right.

“Whatever it is,” Volt continued, “It’s none of our business.” She started to turn. “Come on, lets-“

A flash of a dark ponytail caught Richard’s eye and he froze, staring with wide eyes and a quickened heart.

“Will’s in there.”

“What?”

Richard watched, eyes locked on as much as he could see of Will as he fought against the winged people. He looked different, and fought different, but it was him without a doubt. Out of the corner of his eye, Zero was there too.

“Zero too.” Richard’s voice dropped to a growl, something whirring faintly as systems started to activate. “I can’t tell if they’re outnumbered. We can’t leave them.”

“Are you sure about this?” Volt whispered. “We don’t know how long you’ll have to recover between now and when we get sent back home. They could return, whatever they are.”

“If we win now that won’t matter.” His claws dug into the soft dirt, tensing to charge, eyes locked on the ruins ahead. The skin of his arms flushed with blood shunted to the muscle. “We owe them don’t we?”

Volt nodded. “I’ll find somewhere to scout. Watch for me.”

Richard returned the nod and sprung forward, tearing across the short clearing towards the ruins. He leapt the wall and slammed into one of the winged people that knocked Will to the ground before she could attack again. He landed hard on top of her but she slipped out of his grip just in time, escaping with only a gash across her shoulder.

She spun to face him again just as he lunged. He tore at her outstretched arm and pulled her forward, raking claws deep along her side and catching against solid ribs. Blood smeared hot and bright against his skin as she stumbled back, light and dark patches swirling across her skin.

Richard rushed for her again until a flash of red hair and a shout made him whirl. Zero fought two of them, the winged people, his back against a solid stone wall. Magic whirled all around them, fast and violent and desperate.

He ducked around debris scattered from a collapsed roof towards Zero. One of the winged people turned just as Richard caught his elbow and thew her back. He turned on the second and his claws met skin just under her ear as he tore across her neck.

She staggered back, blood welling immediately at the wound. Snarling, Rick turned from her to the other but before he could attack the winged man kicked him back, thrust his arm and sent a shock of magic flying past his ear.

The stone wall collapsed on top of him.

Richard didn’t move, stunned under the weight of the ancient stone on his back. The rock across his shoulders pressed down on his ribcage. He gasped, head spinning when he couldn’t take a breath. The fans, why weren’t the ventilation fans kicking in? They were working just last week. He gasped, heart racing and frantic in his compressed chest.

He shook his head out and brought his elbows in, pushing up just enough to free up space to breathe. His arms shook and his shoulders ached as he caught his breath. Shit. This was going to hurt for a very long time.

His hearing came back loud with shouts and magic crackling through the air, and Will’s voice in his ear.

“—okay? Hang on, Zero! Come help.”

Zero appeared on Richard’s other side, magic swirling over both arms as he helped Will shift the stone enough for him to wriggle himself free. He got to his feet and shook off the dust and pebbles. Good, nothing seemed broken, structurally at least.

“Are you okay?”

Richard gave a thumbs up, scanning the ruins for more of those winged people. They must have been busy elsewhere, fighting within what was left of the building, because for now at least they were alone.

He glanced back at Will and Zero. “What’s going on?”

“The Chikara—those guys with the wings—they captured our friend.” Will answered. “And now they want to take our magic and use it to torture more innocent people and make them fight to the death for eternity.”

For a second he could almost feel cuffs on his wrists and the sting of cold water on broken skin. He growled, narrowing his eye as he caught a glimpse of one of the Chikara through the ruins. “They’re going to regret that when we’re done with them.”

#

Volt skirted the ruins until she found what was left of what was maybe a small tower, maybe not, but definitely tall enough to see over the rest with enough of a ledge to hide. She scrambled up to the top and ducked down behind what was left of the low wall at the top, watching the battle below through cracks in the worn wood.

Glimpsed through the cracks in the structure, there were humans, and there were people with wings, and they fought with what must have been magic. Well, most did. A few looked almost as lost as she felt, fighting however they could. It was messy, disorganized, and whatever it was they were fighting over, it must have been important.

She scanned what she could see of the ruins and swore under her breath. She couldn’t see Richard anywhere.

“Enjoying the view?”

Volt jumped, whirling to be face to face with one of the winged people. Black and white flowed beneath his skin like spilled ink and he tucked his wings behind him. She instinctively reached for her gun before remembering it was still laying useless at home.

She took a deep breath and steadied herself. “What’s going on here?”

The man glanced down at the fight below. “This? This is a fight for our world.” He nodded towards a group of the humans. “These people are traitors dead set on destroying this world with magic they don’t understand. If you help us take care of them, we can help you get home immediately.” He looked at her again. “What do you say?”

Volt kept her mouth shut and eyes locked with his. What was she supposed to say? She glanced down at the ruins below as a movement caught her eye. Will and Zero helping Richard out from under a collapsed wall. She set her jaw and turned to face the winged man again.

Maybe he was right, and Will and Zero and all their friends running around down there were evil traitors hellbent on burning everything to the ground, but what did she care if something happened to this world? Of the two sides, only one had ever done anything for her or Richard.

“I’m afraid you’re too late to win me over.” She took a step back towards the edge of the ruined tower, glancing back over her shoulder to make eye contact with Richard across the ruins. Turning back to the winged man, she held one hand behind her back and beckoned for him.

The man frowned. “Are you sure? Don’t you want to go home?” He took a step towards her. “We can get you there right away, and these are traitors. They’re dangerous.”

Volt backed away, the back of her calf bumping into what was left of the low wall. “In my world I’m considered a traitor too.” She grinned. “A traitor twice over.”

A quick whistle came from the ruins below and Volt stepped up onto the ledge, her heels backed up against the open air.

“Tough luck.”

Before the man could react, Volt dropped from the ledge. Her stomach lurched until Richard broke her fall, catching her from the side and rolling along the ground. They came to a stop and Volt shook herself off, glancing up at the rooftop. The winged man was gone.

“Thanks, Rick.” She turned back to him. “How are you holding up?”

Richard groaned as he dragged himself up but stuck out a thumbs up anyway. “For now.” He grit his teeth and glared. “The Chikara tortured these people. They’re going to pay.”