Chapter Text
A shimmer of glittering wings blurred past, and settled on a leaf. Dragonfly, huh? Well, it WAS summer now, even if mornings were still cool. Zephyr admired the sparkling blue being while brushing his fur for the day.
The uncharacteristic restless feeling that had plagued the grimalkin all night still persisted, something deep in forgotten instincts warning him of something to come, and so he had chosen to pack up camp earlier than usual. The clouds were moving fast, shadows gliding across the distant cliffs as the cat crested a lush hill. Was a storm coming?
The wind wasn’t all that rough yet, but carried hints of petrichor and ozone. Usually, when faced with a risk of rain, he would set up a nice viewing spot in a cave and brew a tea to enjoy the pitter-patter, possibly mend a broken seam or patch his tent cloth. This was different, somehow. The thought of a cave had his mind reeling, shying away from the usually comfortable dark, and Zephyr wasn’t one to dismiss his gut feeling. No going underground or even near the craggy cliff faces, the forest felt risky too, and the direction of the coast gave him bad vibes. Deep inland was the direction his paws took him, toward safety by the feel of it.
As the sun reached its zenith, obscured by dark purple clouds if not for the traveller’s sunfinder crystal, the wildlife quieted as the skies rumbled a warning. Static charged Zephyr’s three-coloured coat, and he sped up, shifting his violin case to his chest before the first rain could fall. There, safe shelter! An umbraan structure, left abandoned after the majiri war.
As always when entering such places, the wandering bard wondered what fates, what stories it might hold. But this one was barren; the walls would not tell, its secrets had fled with the inhabitants. Hopefully, their story had a happy ending.
A spider got busy tightening its net up in a corner; the rain was close, and by the whistling melody of the roof it would be advisable to put up the waxed tent tarp as well. Lunch was overdue, but if the wind truly took hold like it threatened to then a campfire might end badly in the dry building. The cat got to setting up between bites of dried fish, building his cozy nest of blankets in a sheltered corner. Expertly tied down and fortified, it finally felt truly safe, so he curled up around his prized instruments for a nap. The day had been exhausting.
The ruin piece under her palm, wait no, the ground itself shook! Jina was rattled out of her musings, but before she could even process what it could mean, the true quake hit. Pebbles and dust hit her from above, then familiar cold metal grabbed her tightly, and the world became a blur. The air itself trembled, the wave of deafening noise as the ceiling collapsed painfully loud. Jostled and overwhelmed, trusting Hekla to keep her safe, the researcher focused on breathing.
Hekla was sprinting flat-out, Jina bundled on her chest as she did her best not to stumble. Falling here might lose her another charge, and unlike the baby she’d been built to care for, she could save this one. Switching modes felt like the logical thing to do, from caretaker to emergency helper. It would render her impersonal until reactivated, but surely Einar remembered the procedure. It would increase her chances of getting her Jina to safety by increasing her calculation power and reaction time, nothing else was important.
The exit was still far, but she was confident her body could reach it once the handicap of powering her software was reduced. Leaving her consciousness in her friend’s hands, with a flicker to dim red ocular circuits to signify her state, Hekla switched modes and faded out.
Tish yelled again until she had to cough from the gritty dust filling her mouth, but there was no answer. She had been finishing a dragontide chair in her workshop under the furniture store when the building collapsed in the sudden upheaval, and her arms were now painfully pinned under a beam. This had to be an earthquake, she thought, like the eastern islands occasionally had, but unlike their bamboo huts Palian houses were constructed to withstand cold winters and not with natural catastrophes in mind.
Trying to wiggle her legs up to ease the pressure off her arms made the rubble shift in worrying ways, and another section of wall crumbled. Best hold still, yell for help, and hope for the best. Hopefully, Reth and the rest of the village was safe.
Awoken by shaking, Charybdis of the Western Maelstrom was enraged to sense another leviathan encroaching on its territory, rattling the ocean floor in challenge. Kraken of the East! Roaring into action, the beast of swirling tides whipped up a new current, commanding the ocean to do its bidding. The calamitous cephalopod answered in kind, churning the skies above and chapping the waves, but Charybdis was sure of its dominion over the western sea. Pulling its saline power off the coast, it reared the water into a mighty column, crushing the intruder’s shell with pressure.
Battle won, the beast of legend released its hold on the water, letting it flow as it pleased. Charybdis had a good meal, and returned to its slumber.
Cautiously uncurling from his brace position after the quaking stopped, Einar recorded the strange scene; the lake was emptying, water receding fast, leaving sparkling fish splashing in the muddy puddles as the bowl of its bottom was revealed. This had happened before, thousands of years ago, and he knew what would come next. Deploying his long legs, the fisherman hurried off to alert his biological lifeform friends; it was time to seek higher ground, and fast! Evacuation took a while, some buildings were standing but most were heavily damaged with the notable exception of the sturdily built inn.
A while and a lot of communications later, feeling time was almost up, the galdur had Ashura stop helping him with their efforts in digging out the last villager. He asked him to instead carry the injured up towards Embra’s altar. The furniture shop seemed empty, but she had not been in the ruins of her house, she had to be in- there! A familiar hairpin, he picked it up and lifted a section of roof.
Relieved to have found the last one, he scooped away the rubble near the wood holding her down, and carefully extracted Tish. She was attempting to communicate, her face flaps moved, but he could process that later. For now, the rumbling was getting closer, so he secured his grip on the majiri and fled for the hill.
Roaring thunder, a wall of water was surely not far behind. Einar chose not to look back, instead focusing on the group ahead, safely clustered on the path and walking slowly toward the sanctuary of Embra. All present, even Najuma after her father’s mad dash to get her, good, but a few majiri were bloodied and Hekla moved oddly.
His attempt to converse with her only resulted in a strange message; “Tsunami Warning! Take Action, BEEP! Danger! A tsunami that may cause widespread flooding is occurring. BEEP! Dangerous coastal flooding and powerful currents are possible. BEEP! Evacuation is recommended. Move to high ground or inland! BEEP!” she was not sounding like herself, which was worrying, but her understanding of their situation was impeccable.
Chayne appeared in Tish’s field of view, a piece of cotton stuffed awkwardly under his glasses. Must have gotten a smack to the face during the quake, she hazily reasoned, Jina had mentioned getting hurt by her glasses after dropping a book on her face once. He offered her water, she spit the first mouthful back out to wash out the debris dust.
Attempting to grab the flask hurt, and he stopped her, gently lowering her arm back down. Ah, right, that throbbing was probably bad. A few more sips, she tried to talk but coughed instead, throat raw. The priest and apothecarist rummaged through an overstuffed satchel, brought out a dried twig of some plant, and she dutifully chewed it knowing it would probably help somehow. A numbing sensation spread through her mouth, and she tried again; “Reth?” His mouth moved, but her ears were still ringing too loudly.
Einar, still carrying her, turned and thankfully her brother was right there looking at her with concern wrinkling his forehead. Relieved, Tish finally gave in to her body’s demands and closed her eyes. Her brother was safe, they could deal with everything else later. She still had some clarity as she was ever-so-gently lowered to the ground, and her head was laid on a warm pillow that smelled like soup.