Look Out Below

[birthright_npc]

The night was clear and cold. A weather front had blown through the day prior and dropped the evening temps into the thirties. A pale sliver of last-quarter moon hung over the desert, its edges sharp, and only a few wisps of clouds obscured the stars. Into this stark landscape a meteor streaked just before midnight.

It landed on the outskirts of town at the end of a dirt path. The land was part of an old horse ranch, abandoned in the early 1970s, so no family emerged from the cabin to investigate the fiery hole in their property, and no animals paced nervously along the fences.

A cactus sizzled and popped as it caught fire near the crater.

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[wolfs_daughter]

Echo growled when Daniel seized her, but the spins slowed down when he dragged her away from the crater. She gulped in oxygen as she lay on her stomach in the dirt, then shook her head to clear it. The alien's small form was a few feet away. She couldn't tell if it was still alive or not.

She scrambled up on her hands and knees and darted back towards the hole, then grabbed the demonness by her shirt and hauled her backwards. They had to bury that stuff and quick, before it escaped from the pit and tried to make a meal out of them next. she didn't know if the unknown female was in any shape to help, but she was going to make her best effort.

Dirt flew into the pit as Echo used both hands to cover the sentient goo. She was back to giggling. The world was spinning in a slow circle, making it hard to focus. But the hybrid's hands continued to work mechanically, trying to bury whatever that stuff was. To bury it deep.

[daniel_stacy]

Giggling he could deal with, so long as they kept shoveling. The loose dirt began to weigh down the gelatinous creature and impede its sinuous movements. After a couple more moments, it looked more like a puddle of antifreeze with cat litter thrown on top than an alien life form. The more they kicked, the less fumes rose from it, which allowed the wind to clear out the cloud that hung over the area.

Daniel gave one final, aggravated shove of his foot. Then he turned around to point at Echo and said, “Congratulations. That little guy is your— your— Oh man.“

The tiny alien was gone. A row of itty, bitty footprints led into the darkness.

"Y'know what, forget it. I'm no Captain Kirk. That guy is someone else's problem."

[primordial_visitation]

Sabra, for her part, looked like a dirt-covered junky. When you hadn't laughed in an age - or possibly even ever - and were assaulted by the world's biggest giggling fit, it was difficult to control your limbs. In fact, she still hadn't been able to properly stand after collapsing in drunken laughter and was only just crawling out of where they were throwing as much dusty soil into as was physically possible.

Well, at least the ooze was no longer seeming to be a problem. Might even starve to nothingness now.

Sabra, though? As weird as her behaviour was before, she was still only just about able to drag herself to feet, dazed with a smile - and burst out in laughter, yet again. "You...! It...! We...!" And then more giggles, trying to walk off in a straight line and... More or less... Failing. The woman was high as a kite and slurring something about wanting to mate with a car. "A really fast one..."

[cian_oneill]

Cian stood, brushing his hands against the seat of his jeans as he stared first at the crater, then at the giggling woman. He shook his head, thinking Daniel had a fairly good idea.

"Echo, we should probably get out of here. Do you need a ride?" he asked the hybrid. He hadn't noticed her vehicle when he'd scouted around the area after tucking his bike behind the rocks earlier.

[wolfs_daughter]

When Daniel pointed at her, Echo hunched her shoulders defensively. The burial seemed to be complete, and she wobbled to her feet and kicked more dirt in the direction of the filled crater. The giggling had stopped, but she had the grandmother of all headaches.

She squinted into the darkness, picked out the little footprints. She didn't know if she felt relieved or sad that it had gotten away. But Cian was right, it was time to get the hell out of there. Being on a run, she'd walked from town, so her van was back at the trailer. Could the pounding in her head take a ride on the back of a motorcycle?

She was willing to risk it.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like a lift. I need to sleep. For days."

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel grabbed the tire iron and got the keys out of his pocket. “Yeah. Heh. You’re welcome, by the way!” he called as he walked to his car. Never before had he conducted quite so thorough a search of his backseat and trunk before getting into the vehicle. The car kicked up dust as it made a U-turn and picked its way back to the highway.