Ep. 1 - The House of Stone and Light - Closed - Finis

[Deleted]

"They woke early," said Maximus. "Got a small fire going. Think they've been moving quietly, to avoid disturbing us. Can hear movement on the beach."

He spoke in a low tone, his head turned towards the entrance of the cave. Oddly, he did not look around when she stood. His own position had not shifted one inch during the course of the night; he still leaned back against the wall with his rifle against him, his arm wrapped loosely around it.

Only his voice was different. It was ragged now, exhausted. A new, bitter odour clung to the crumpled rent that carved through his midriff. It was the scent of fouled oil and carbon, left to thicken, blacken with crust on hot metals and insulators. It was raw fuel and voltage that, during the night, had burned through layers of softer mesh with acidic ease as it seeped unchecked through perforated internal systems, which in turn had spilt their contents into the crumpled abdominal cavity. All in a matter of hours.

Beneath him the sand was slick and dark with polluted fluids, fuel and oil and contaminated energon. It blackened his flank from arm to hip, where it pooled inside his armour to drip in rivulets around his upper leg, a reservoir of pain. The metallic stench of it hung over him.

Maximus didn't move. He merely coughed, turned his head, and spat. He worked his throat, trying to clear it.

"Better start moving," he rasped as he laid his head back against the wall. "Not a good idea to delay. Haven't heard the Vehicons in a while. One good thing, at least. Switch back to your avatar. I'll be with you shortly."

[Dart]

Dart's nose and optics were focused on the big mech.

The scents sparked a memory of Australia; Thermal lying dead in the middle of the salt flats. No one had picked him up for days - why bother, they were all greviously injured or wounded. It had been ordered days later, and she'd gone with Siphon to help him cart the body. It had been that same type of smell now curling from the mech across from her. A horrible concoction of coolant and fuel that burned her throat every time she drew air past her intakes. There had been coagulating strings of purple and green that had stuck to her hands and even wiping them in the sand had not been able to scrub it off.

The reek of mechanical death.

It was creeping in on the other odors in the cave; slinking forward and curled around the mech, settling across his frame.

She stared down at the sand. There were ribbons and swirls of softly glowing color mixed into the oily goo. It would have almost been pretty if it didn't tell her that that his injury was getting worse by the second, and while sure, she might crash down due to overheating, he-

"No," she said quietly. Her tone too had changed, there was a bit of determination slipping through her words. "No, we're not delaying. We need to get you out of here. Switching now. Be careful, take it easy."

With that, the courier shifted her weight again, leaned against the wall. Dart braced her spoiler back on the rough stone and kept her nose towards the entrance of the cave.

It took a moment to sort of push her thoughts back towards that camp. It was a long one- and it felt like reaching your arm down a hole to grab some object at the bottom. Twice, it didn't quite seem to connect, but on the third, she had it; she shook herself out of her position and sat up. Ugh, that was a bit of vertigo - the fabric of the tent above them was glowing in the sun, but everything had suddenly pressed in.

Dart shook the feeling off, and then worriedly glanced at the mech's avatar.

[Deleted]

After a moment the man opened his eyes.

He sat up mechanically and looked around. The human face revealed more than the Autobot's had; in the dim light within the tent he looked haggard, disoriented, his skin drawn and his eyes hollow. Even his hair and jeans looked greyer, more washed out, as if he had aged overnight. He reached for the rifle he did not have, then laid his hand over his chest. The bloodstain was wide and dark.

"Testing hard-light fidelity," he said.

He rubbed his fingertips together, then glanced to the side of the tent. It bowed when he laid his hand against it.

"Still holding," he said. Relief coloured his voice. He shakily climbed to his feet and glanced at the courier.

"I hear a fire," he said. Sure enough, the soft crackle of flames could be heard through the flimsy walls of the tent. Human voices rang outside. They spoke quietly, but every now and then someone laughed. "We should help them break camp. It is in both of our best interests to get underway as quickly as possible."

[Dart]

The courier's avatar chewed her lip as he struggled to his feet. A tiny sound curled out of her throat, a low pitched and worried whine. It wasn't quite mechanical, but nor was it human. Automatically she leaned forward, to reach out a hand just in case he fell back to the blanket on the floor of the tent. Almost immediately she caught herself, reset herself, and let her hands fall into her lap.

When he touched the side of the tent, she just watched, peering out from under the tangle of her dishwater-blond bangs. "It's holding," she breathed, and she too sounded relieved. She rose slowly to her feet as well and cautiously did the same herself on the side away from him. "That's good, sir."

Then she nodded. "I do too," she murmured. "Agreed, but..."

Dart trailed off. "It- it looks worse than it did, sir, to be frankly honest," she said finally. "When Sarah sees that, they're going to want to help, to look at it... I'm just going to tell them that we bound it up last night, and don't want to peel anything back, because we're worried it's going to bleed even worse. Incentive to hurry, for all of us."

She puffed out a bit of air towards her bangs and then reached to grab the hot dog off the floor. "Right, we've got to get moving, I need to get rid of this, sir. Even more questions if they ask why it's still here. I'm sorry, what with everything that happened, I forgot to toss it last night."

[Deleted]

Max glanced down at the stain across his chest. He grimaced, but merely covered it with his hand again.

"Do it," he said wearily. His limp was more pronounced as he stepped to the tent flap and threw it back. "Do whatever you need to do to maintain our cover."

Outside, the sheltered cover still lay in dawn shadows. A narrow band of sunlight had crept over the wall to the east, spilling bright rays across the surface of the river. It sparkled, bubbling and rippling cheerfully with the play of the current. In the western distance the great canyon walls were radiant with light. Already the air was warm, scented with mesquite and wood smoke.

The other tent was rolled tight and lashed back into its carry bag. Further down the beach a tiny fire danced in the firepit, sending a thin column of smoke rising steadily up the gully. The humans were busy throwing their packs into the raft. Veronica stood nearest, barefoot, a paddle held upright in her hand like a tribal spear as she surveyed the river. Mark stood inside the raft while Sarah passed their gear to him. When she turned to grab another bag she spotted the two avatars.

"Hey!" she called out. She waved to them, one hand to her mouth. She wore a hoodie and shorts now, her dark hair tied back into a ponytail beneath a red baseball cap. "Good morning! Oh man! Hope we didn't wake you! We figured you guys would want an early start."

[Dart]

"Will do, sir. I've got it," Dart replied, and quickly slipped out in front of them both.

She'd no sooner ducked out then the sun dazzled off the river. The courier stood and blinked in the warmth, and simply just had that one moment of pure amazement again. How pretty was that, red and gold stone, interspersed with bands of grey, rising up around them. Again, she felt small, and then nearly chuckled. Still felt small when she was a lot taller too.

They'd already packed up... Dart sniffed at the air, eyed where they all were in relation to the tent itself. At first it was automatic, pick a path to dodge through them and take off at a dead gallop to -- okay, whoa, it's a hot dog, not a missive. Just a hot dog, which you better go get out into the bushes. She took a few steps towards the brush and then realized they were waving at them. She waved back with her free hand, tucked the other sort of down next to her leg, and...
Dart shifted her weight, doing a credible job of dancing from one foot to the other and eyeing the scrub up behind them. Sure, there was a place to hide behind that. Good thing she'd watched a lot of nature shows as well as a lot of backpackers in the Oregon wilderness. Also, she was glad she was not a mech right now, because at least she had an excuse to run behind a bush instead of standing up, whew. Well, she was pretty sure that's how that worked, heh. "Morning - ah- one sec!" she called.

It didn't take her much to hurry to trot up in the bushes and find a place to duck down and toss the slightly burned offering off into the wilderness. Have at, coyotes. Breakfast on me.

After a short moment Dart slipped out, reknotting her sweathshirt tied around her waist. She jogged back to Max and stood a little bit in front of him, as if she was concerned he might need to lean on her.

"Morning!" she called back and couldn't keep the note of worry out of her voice. "No, no you didn't wake us, just-- it was hard for him to get up this morning, and..."

She trailed off and then shook her head. "We need to get going, guys, he's in pretty bad shape. Can- can we get him into the raft so he can lie down?"

[Deleted]

Both Mark and Sarah stopped loading the raft and turned to face the pair as they approached. Mark stood on the thwart of the raft and shielded his eyes from the rising sun with one hand. The floppy boonie was crammed back over his head.

Max followed the courier silently, trailing a short distance behind her. Sarah's puzzled gaze lowered to his chest.

"Oh my gosh!" She dropped the bag she was holding and jogged up the beach towards them, her bare feet sliding in the sand. With concern she reached out and touched his elbow, mindful of his reticence when he frowned through his exhaustion at her. "Oh, god, it got worse overnight, didn't it. Geez, yeah, it did. Oh, I'm sorry - yes! Yes, come on, we've got a spot you can rest in the raft. We're almost ready to go, we can push off as soon as the other tent is down and the fire is off. Can I take your backpack and stash it somewhere for you, Mr Freeman?"

"No," said Max shortly. "Thanks. I'll hang on to it."

Veronica came to stand beside Dart as the dark-haired girl led him down the beach. Even Mark's eyes got wide when he saw how the man staggered on his feet, and he quickly jumped out of the way to make room aboard the raft. Veronica hefted the paddle and spat the stem of grass she was chewing into the sand.

"Man," she said. "Your prof looks like a packet of smashed crap."

She pointed back to the tent with her thumb. "Come on, we'll tear that down and douse the fire. Should only take a few minutes."

[Dart]

"I think he feels like it," Dart winced, even as she stood and made sure he was settled in and settled down before she turned back to Veronica. The courier chewed her lip again and shifted her weight. She started to rock back on her heels and stuff her hands in her pockets, then caught herself. "I knew it was worse than he was letting on, but that's just how he is, you know? Back to that military thing. I know he's bad when he's willing to lie down."

She hurried back towards the tent once he'd been settled; she knew, she was not only nervously watching to make sure he was all right, but more that he didn't phase through things, that he didn't try to get the humans away and out of his space. She didn't want them touching him either. Sure, it looked like blood. It moved like blood. But you put your fingers on it and it came away dry? Not blood. All it would take and their cover would be blown.

At least they seemed to be very respectful of his 'don't touch' body language. Even more so than most Cybertronians would have been.

A sigh. "I'm so sorry, guys, we've sort of ruined your trip," the courier paced and spread her hands, and then headed for the tent. She eyed the way it was set up and then remembered they'd left the blanket and lifejackets in. She ducked in to grab them and gently tossed the two jackets out, then picked up the blanket and was out and folding it up to set it on top of the nearest one. The avatar seemed... stable at the moment. Start of a long day though.

"Let's get this torn down, faster the better. I'm- but... I'm so glad you were here. I don't think this is good. I just- ugh, I'm really worried about him at this point. How far do we have to go? How many hours do you think it will be?"

[Deleted]

Veronica chatted affably to the courier as together they took down the tent. Unlike the other two, she seemed to regard the entire situation with a good deal more aplomb.

"Well, we've got another eight or so miles to go, I think," she said. She threaded the poles from the flysheet one by one with deft fingers. "There are some decent rapids a bit further down, so that should speed things up a little. The Ranch is just past that. So maybe, I dunno... an hour or two? We made pretty good time last night."

She threw down the tent and began to stomp it down with her bare feet. "Suck it, tent! And oh man, don't worry about ruining our trip. Are you kidding? This is the best one yet. We've never done cool stuff like this before. Usually we just get sunburnt and take lots of pictures. I'm going to Facebook the crap out of this whole escapade when I get back to my laptop. Uh, if you guys don't mind, that is."

When the nylon sheet was flat Veronica looked back up at Dart again. She grinned.

"So seriously, don't worry about it," she said. "How about you take those jackets and the blanket down to the raft? I'll finish up here. I'll get the fire on the way down. Go check up on your prof. He looks pretty wasted."

[Dart]

An hour or two.

Dart was all about speed. Normally an hour or two to a place would have meant a long running jaunt that could actually carry her across states. An hour to go eight miles was completely out of place unless she had a flat tire, was stuck in rush hour traffic, or had a hole shot through her.

Right now an hour or two sounded absolutely amazing, quick and efficient, and for the first time since late last evening the courier's spirits began to lift. "An hour or two..." she repeated and reached for the other section of poles. She hesitated and gingerly settled her fingers down - oh, okay, it was holding, and she had no sooner popped a few out when Veronica beat her to the flattening aspect.

"Aw, thanks," Dart mumbled, even as she tried to pull the corners of the nylon sheet a bit straighter; but by then Veronica had done the hard work. "Oh... Facebook? Er, well, I don't have an account. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have one either. Heck, I'm not sure he has any idea what Facebook is. Then again, for all I know he might belong to eHarmony."

"Er, don't tell him I said that," the courier laughed, and ducked her head with a bit of embarrassment. "Also, thanks, I'm really worried. I'll grab the jackets and the blanket and head down, if you're sure you're all right to finish. If you need me, just whistle, I'll come back up and drag stuff back too, promise."

With that she turned back to the lifejackets and blanket, gathering them carefully up across her forearms. Okay... are- are you going to hold? Please hold, nice, nice generator. Dart just stood stock still, eyes squinched slightly, waiting for a skip, a fizzle- nothing. Absoutely nothing. In fact, it was possibly as solid as it had managed to be this whole time.

The courier started to trot back down the beach, carrying the gear back to the raft, where Sarah and Mark were waiting. She set the things down on the sand and looked over at them, then let her worried gaze drop to wherever Max had settled. "Here. Veronica's breaking down the tent and putting out the fire. She says it's about an hour or two to The Ranch, right? Hopefully?"

[Deleted]

Mark picked his way across the raft and jumped down onto the beach.

"Yeah, the way we figure it," he said. "Two at the very most, like if we get hung up anywhere. The river's pretty high though, so I don't see that happening. It's mostly just a straight shoot to the Ranch."

He smiled at her, though his manner was tense. A sense of worry had fallen over the small campsite now that the humans had soberly learned of the necessity to make for the Phantom Ranch lodge with all due haste. Sarah already sat at the bow of the raft next to Max. Despite his flagging strength the man retained an iron grip over his pride; he warded off her offer to to check his injuries with a shake of his head and a firm, distant expression.

Veronica came tromping down the beach as Mark picked up both life jackets and the blanket and slung them into the raft.

"Here's the tent," she said. "Fire's out. Want me in the stern again?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," said Mark. "Hey, Rachel? Sarah and I got the oars - do you want to grab a paddle and jump in the front with the Prof? We'll need someone up there watching for rocks, and then you can keep an eye on him."

[Dart]

A nod. The courier was staring down the river, squinting in the sun. She was glad right now that it hadn't gone to the pure summer lows and that they weren't being forced to paddle along and try and make better time. Even as Mark was speaking, Dart betrayed her frustration, her worry; she was shifting from foot to foot, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and then tucked them behind her back.

Finally, she shoved her toe of her worn running shoe into the sand and was idily pawing a bit of a hole. She shifted again, stopped herself, picked at the knot of her sweatshirt, and then hooked her thumbs in her jeans pockets. It was a waste of power, a waste of motion, and she couldn't stop herself at all.

"Yeah, I can do that," Dart instantly agreed. Her smile back felt forced, even to her. She blew out a puff of air to shift her bangs out of her eyes. "I'll watch for rocks, I'm good at the whole rock thing - oh gosh, right, I can do that, paddle up in front." She trotted forward and reached for the life jacket. The first time, she missed the strap entirely, the second, she was able to lift it and put it over her head and it dropped into place. She belted the straps absentmindedly but perfectly, cinching it in the right places, just so.

The paddle was in her hand a second later and she was hopping lightly into the raft. It barely moved under her weight. "Where do you need me to sit?" she asked Sarah.

[Deleted]

"Oh, hi, up here!" Sarah climbed to her feet and clambered back over the packs. The raft sloshed beneath her weight, lightly shored upon the beach by little more than its stern.

Sarah beamed at the courier as she drew near. If she was worried she hid it well; only a few lines at the corners of her eyes betrayed her nervousness. She grabbed her oar and pointed towards the bow of the raft, where the man sat slumped next to Mark's pack.

"Just over there is great!" she said. "There's a bit of space left beside the Prof - sorry it's so crowded with all of our junk! It might be a little damp too. Not all of the water from the rapids yesterday dried in the raft overnight. I hope you don't mind a soggy butt."

On the beach, Mark and Veronica stood side by side at the stern of the raft. They bent to put their hands on it and, with a heavy, pushed the yellow craft down off the sand. It's bottom scraped against the silty bed of the river and a moment later it was bobbing on the surface of the water, already gliding downstream with the gentle current. Above their heads the sun crested the peak of the canyon wall, spilling bright daylight over the sand.

Sarah sat down beside her oar and yanked on her life jacket as the other two humans leapt aboard. She tossed Dart a thumbs-up as she did up the buckles with one hand.

"You're on rock duty!" she said. "Don't worry, it's not too hard. Just call out any rocks you see and push the nose off them if you can. Just like yesterday!"

[Dart]

"If having wet underwear is the worst of what happens today, that's nothing," Dart replied. She scrabbled over the raft, carefully climbing over the gear, holding onto that paddle in her hand for dear life. "It's just water, it dries."

Not much space between all the gear and everything else. Far less space than the tent had been, that was for sure. Dart was careful folding up next to the other mech's avatar, she tucked herself into the spot just so, shoulders up, resting on the side of the raft and her knees. She looked down at the mech who was slumped against the side of the boat and the other pack. He still hung onto his own pack; he'd not let it down once.

Then she turned her nose back in the breeze coming up the canyon, lifting her jaw as if to sniff. She wished she could, it was frustrating and nerve-wracking not to be able to. The lack of it had her constantly eyeing everything; tiny motions on the riverbank, the way the water lapped against the sides of the raft. Even the gestures of the humans right now set her on edge; she was drawn back to the little things, Mark's hands, the way Sarah shoved off her right foot first. Even the sweep and bob of Veronica's hair in the wind.

"Got it," Dart immediately answered, turning back to offer Sarah a serious, earnest nod. One hand came off the paddle to touch her brow in salute and then settled back down. The breeze caught her collar and it ruffled it slightly; the lavender horse rippled. Her ponytail blew back, the tangled ends slapping against her pale neck. "Rock duty. Call out the rocks and push the nose off. Like yesterday. Not a problem, Sarah, I promise.”

She repeated the instructions again to herself and shifted her hands on the paddle, one up top, one down below. A soft, determined huff of air escaped her as she focused on the river in front of them. Beneath them, the raft slid forward in that strange motion that had no other comparison at all. There was no mechanical equivalent to this, none that she could think of.

Oh wait, yeah, that time she'd hit black ice on a back-road and nearly spun herself into oncoming traffic. That's what the raft felt like sometimes. No brakes, nothing but that eerie sense that her rear end was now where her hood normally was, ugh.

Dart shook herself slightly to get rid of that thought and focused in front of them instead.

"Just an hour or two, sir..." she murmured quietly to the mech next to her. "Almost there."

[Deleted]

He barely stirred.

Unlike the previous day he did not cast his gaze forward over the river, keeping a wary lookout. Instead he had sunk low against Mark's pack, his own backpack jammed in beside him. He seemed to pay little attention to the goings on around him, even when the raft ploughed downstream with a lurch. When he heard the courier speak he merely opened his eyes and blearily grunted.

"Good," he said.

He closed his eyes again, his arms folded over his chest.

The air warmed as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Soon it shone down into the canyon, spreading a dry heat with it. It radiated from the stone, coaxing flowers into bloom and chasing insects back into life. They darted over the water, pursued by tiny birds. The sun beat down on the gnarled trees that grew up and down the switchbacks that climbed the red rock walls, flashing off their smooth green leaves.

It beat into the raft as well. Only the cool spray from the river warded off the worst of the heat as dawn gave way to a bright and sunny morning. As the raft bounced through the whirling current it tossed a fine mist over its bow, most of it sheeting over Dart and Max before hitting the two humans on the oars. Bedecked in dark sunglasses to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun off the water, Sarah had to pause and wipe her shirt over her eyes now and then just to see where to steer.

"When it gets calm again we'll pull up the paddles and eat something!" she sputtered once, over the sound of the rushing water. "We have- ow! Granola bars!"

The river did not calm right away, however. A bellowing roar echoed up the walls in the distance, a great cataract of sound. When the raft swept around a hard bend in the river the source of it immediately became evident: where the river narrowed between two sharp cliffs the water was white and fierce, waves leaping and plunging over a bed of rough rock.

"This should be the worst it gets before the Ranch!" yelled Mark as the raft swept forward, turning sideways with the current. He pulled hard on his oar as it hit the first rapids broadside, waves smashing over the rubber gunwale. "After that it'll be a lot smoother! I hope."

"Keep a lookout for rocks!" said Sarah. She was drenched already, but still flashed Dart a thumbs-up.