Chapter Text
The scent of salt stung Twinklette's nose harshly as she stepped through the portal, allowing the rip in the atmosphere to close behind her. She had put off leaving the Clan until the last minute, a fact only confirmed by the gathering of various individuals at the beginning of the closest dock. After only a quick glance she decided where she would best fit in, and that was nowhere. Littered with friendly faces that had already formed social clicks, the expedition team was exceptionally normal and there was no place for her amongst normal. She couldn't wait to be trapped in a cave with these people... Wasting no more time than she already had, the Gnome rushed over to the group and immediately sought out the coordinator of the coming endeavour, Gerriden Wallace. An older man with gently greying chestnut brown hair and affectionate green eyes answered to her beckon.
“You must be Twinklette Glimmerbot, no?” He briefly squints at a thick stack of papers in his hand before leaning down to address the small pink haired woman. “You're the last one to arrive, but right on time.” With a warm smile, he adds “I appreciate your punctuality! Consistency is key for my team-”
It didn't take long for her to tune out his useless prattling, her mind wandering back to a certain farm with a comfy Inn and a beautiful pond out back. Go home. Something inside her urged, but she promptly squashed down the tiny voice upon the lack of Gerriden's yapping pulling at her ears. She had no idea what he had gotten to talking about, but he seemed to give up on the Gnome responding rather quickly. He instead gazed over his shoulder at the ship looming at the end of the dock and turned back to addresses the research team as a whole. “If everyone is ready to depart, we will make our way to the ship and set out while the wind is in our favor.” Several heads turned to eye the dark clouds in the southern sky, and as if suddenly agreeing, the whole team began moving at once. No one was really a fan of being caught on the open sea in a storm, after all.
Being the last one to board the ship, Twinklette found herself a comfy spot up on the quarterdeck and watched the Harbor slowly fade away. The waves lapped at the edges of the ship, threatening to swallow her whole were it not for the safety of the craft carrying her across the open water. A sinking feeling in her gut told her she was officially past the point of no return, and instead of finding comfort in her new direction, she felt dread. Never known to be a superstitious creature, Twinklette shrugged the nagging despondency off as a nasty case sea sickness and refused to acknowledge that she had made a terrible mistake.
~OoOoOoOoO~
Stormpeaks was as everyone had warned her it would be: Cold. She mentally applauded her decision to pack heavier clothing than she had initially planned and it was greatly paying off in effort of keeping her alive. The excursion team took to residing in a large, open cavern a fair distance from the mouth of the cave and had established a rather sophisticated base camp inside the protection of the rock walls. Setting up a base of operations took the majority of their first full day, and at their impromptu dinner, Gerriden announced the next day's plans.
“Early rise tomorrow, folks! Breakfast at sunrise and after that we'll man the stations. Dig Team One is on first shift and we'll start two miles in from our southern most terminal.” He points at a small map as he scratches at his beard. It hadn't taken long to grow in, but was currently at that god awful itchy stage and he was beyond ready for it to pass. “Now if I can have the communications team gather with me for a moment, we have a few things to review in the blueprints for the portable communicators before the night ends.”
Twinklette sat by herself on the outer edge of the gathering, reviewing her notes silently as a plate of conjured food remained untouched to her left. Tasteless biscuits and mystery meat, her favorite. Even when she lived in a cave alone she had managed better food than this. She blandly wondered to herself who the so called 'cook' is around here was and why they were failing so horribly in their conjuration. Perhaps she would need to extend her knowledge and give them lessons on how to provide sustenance that actually resembled the food it was attempting to be. The sound of someone beside her pulled her attention back to reality and she looked up to see a fair haired Dwarf with a deep set brow seated next to her. “Can I help you.” She deadpans at the man to her right, her words more of a statement than a question.
“Nae Lass. Carry on.”
He pointedly kept to himself through the duration of his meal, seeming content to simply sit in silence. It wasn't until his last bite that the pink haired woman spoke again. “Was there a point to sitting in silence with me?”
The Dwarf laughs and stroke his beard. “Well, I could tell ye' there were bets on whether or nae yer a robot, an' that I'm the only soul that cared enough te come find out the truth. Or, maybe all these buffoons babble too much an' yer the only one here who knows the value of peace an' quiet.” He smirks and perks a brow, side glancing at the socially challenged Gnome.
Twinklette smirked back. “Finally, someone on this team who isn't a complete idiot.” She made no effort to lower the volume of her voice and gained glares from all different directions. Deciding she'd had enough of the tiresome day, she pulled herself from the hard floor and excused herself. “See you at breakfast, Bromell.”
Bromell grinned as all his theories about the quiet woman were proving right. “Is that an invitation?” He called after her, unable to hide the smile that laced his words. “Do not make me retract my previous compliment.” Are her last words before before rounding the corner and putting herself out of sight.
The Dwarf snickered and shook his head, mulling over their brief conversation on repeat. Pausing momentarily to eye the Gnome's abandoned dinner, he at last shrugged. 'It would be a waste not to?' He nodded slightly, accepting his own reasoning and reached for the plate. This stuff was great, how could she just leave it here?
~OoOoOoOoO~
It had been a particularly long day and the blankets on Twinklette's bed beckoned her, longing to wrap her in warmth and carry her off to sweet dreams. Nothing had gone right since this morning. Someone once again ate her leftovers that she had been saving from the previous night. What little food she did get that morning did nothing to satiate her hunger. Her sock had a hole, right at the toe, and now she was forced to wear a replacement sock of different color. No one would know of course, but she knew and it had drove her crazy all day. One of the communicators broke and borderline exploded when some imbecile spilled a mystery liquid onto it, apologizing only with a halfhearted “Uh-oh.” before running away. Dinner had been her least favorite of all the conjured food she experienced on this damn trip, and to make matters worse, Bromell was held late at his station and was unable to join her for the meal. Twinklette had grown accustomed to the Dwarf's company and found herself missing her friend more than she had thought. No witty banter for her intelligent mind to compete with, no warmth radiating on her right side reminding her that she was alive in this frozen hell... Just icy glares from multiple team members across the cavern, reminding her once again just how unwelcome she was without Bromell serving as her social ticket to the conversation.
She sighed deeply, more than ready to call it an early night. This expedition was beginning to wear on her and she found the desperate need to visit her family nagged at her incessantly. Throwing up a mental wall to block the feelings, she climbed into the covers and sunk into her pillow, allowing sleep to engulf her and hopefully steady her mind.
The Inn was mostly quiet, everyone having retired for the night or taken to their respective spots to relish in the privacy of the moonlight. The bag hit the floor by the entrance with a gentle thud. Twinklette thought she had acquired a greater number of possessions that she cared to bring with her but was evidently wrong. She surveyed the relatively empty holding that had been her home for the past few years. So many memories, both good and bad, resided within these walls and the sentimental feelings rising within her were making it hard to leave. 'You have to leave.' She trudged up to the bar and placed letter addressed to the Matron of the Clan on the counter top to be found in the morning. 'Coward.' She scolded herself mentally, knowing the loving family she had acquired within the Clan would be sad they didn't get to say goodbye. 'I know... I know.' As she answered herself a wave of guilt took over her mind. The walk back to the door felt like an eternity, and as she turned to say goodbye, a lone tear slithered down her cheek. 'It's not forever, just for now.' The words echoed in her mind as Twinklette emerged into the night air, setting a brisk pace for the road.... for the road..... for...the...ro-
A violent vibration ripped Twinklette from her dream. Her vision was unsteady and refused to focus as she realized the whole cavern was being plagued by seismic activity. Screams of alarm and sheer panic erupted all around her as the expedition team ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Frozen in shock from being jarred awake, her mind finally registered the terrifying scene unfolding in front of her. Gerriden was already half way to the entrance of the cave and stood in place nimbly batting away debris falling from the cavern ceiling. “GET OUT. EVERYONE OUT, NOW!” He assisted those who scrambled past him, their footing thrown unsteady by the murderous quaking of the mountain around them. This was the last thing he had expected to happen, much less in the dead of night.
Pure, sickening fear flooded her veins like ice and fire combined, springing her body into motion. She leaped off her bed, grabbing her bag in the process and began running for the entrance. Her groggy delay had cost her greatly as earth matter the size of her head began falling around her bed. An alarming realization hit her as she noticed that she is one of the last of the team members making a break for the open mountain side. Fatigue and weariness were weighing her down, however she forced herself to muster her focus and in the blink of an eye propeled herself several meters to the front of the last cluster scrambling to escape.
Next to her now, a Dwarf reached down and vice grips Twinklette's bag, the fashionable item creating a lifeline between the two escapees. 'Bromell...' Memories of her now good friend flood her mind from the past several weeks. Nights spent eating dinner together, verbally flinging dry jabs at each other as the tinkered on equipment, that time Bromell saved her from lighting herself on fire... again. 'Ye know, fer a bloody genius ye sure are accident prone in a borderline supernatural way.' His voice echoed through her mind as she fondly recalled their conversation on the matter. 'Nonsense. There is simply a price to pay for a mind as brilliant as mine, and if that means freak accidents that nearly kill me then the world is better for my genius existing.' 'Is there nae end te yer damned ego, woman?!' That night he had sat with her until the early hours of the morning sharing stories of their accomplishments, past, and their family, and Twinklette found that the white wonderland of ice and snow that surrounded her was no longer quite as lonely as she had once thought.
Now the world was literally crashing down around her.
It seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion and Twinklette could see with complete and utter clarity. The debris cascading from the mountain's cavity was now clumped in the size of large boulders and growing increasingly difficult to dodge. All around her screams were being abruptly cut off, and she could only surmise that those behind her had met their end. Bromell attempted to haul her along with him, the distance to freedom growing close, but not quickly enough for both of them. Then she saw the large chunk of rock that had aligned itself to land right on top of her.
'I'm not going to make it.' In a fraction of a second she knew the truth and knew what she had to do. Her fingers unwrap from their grip on the bag and her Dwarven friend barely noticed the lack of resistance on the other side of the accessory, focused solely on living. Time halted in a complete stand still as the proverbial moment slammed into her like a brick wall. Still images of events all throughout her life began flashing to the forefront of her mind, revealing every moment of significance in her existence. 'So this is what it's like when your life flashes before your eyes...' She watched with fondness as her time with the Clan played over in her mind and is surprised to find how truly happy she had been. 'Why did I ever leave my family?' Time slowly began moving again, building up to proper speed, and the threatening mass of earth was approaching quicker than she wanted it to. 'Of course I find my will to live right before I die. How ironic.' Several faces flashed behind her eyes and she mentally named them all as if their memories could hold the weight of the earth threatening to crush her.
'Copper.
Maggie.
Aubrynn
Shock.
Anna.
Bix.
Matron.
...Bellatryn.'
The warmth spread throughout the Gnome's body, bringing one last twinkling moment happiness as the first of the rock's weight pressed down upon her.
'I love you all.'
The pressure rapidly increased to an intolerable level and for a split second Twinklette felt an insurmountable pain before her world turned black.