Borrowed Time

Embargo coughed, a ragged sputtering sound, as he came fully to consciousness on the riverbank. He pushed himself up, feet sliding on mud and the algae-slick gravel. His chest and the back of his neck ached, bleeding where Sagittarius’s claws had scratched him and where Deerlegs’s beak had pierced his hide. It was the least of his worries. He was alive, which was more than he’d expected when he jumped into the river. He knew he had Deerlegs to thank for that.

Deerlegs who was exhausted, and bleeding badly from the wounds on her tail and hip, and couldn’t push herself to her feet enough to get out of the water. She lay motionless, eyes half-lidded, and breathing roughly. Embargo pulled her up the bank, enough that they were at least on the grass now, and she wasn’t at risk of inhaling any water if a wave from the river washed over her muzzle.

“We can’t stay here,”  he rasped, not even sure if Deerlegs was really awake enough to hear him. The water hadn’t taken them far, just to where the river had started to bend around the Court’s central island. He could still faintly hear the sounds of chaos - of murder - from the banquet hall. Soraya would be close, and likely looking for them to finish them off. They were still in great danger and the glowing points on his hide and long, glowing quills on his back would draw attention quickly.

“Come on, on your feet.” Embargo’s voice was gentle, but firm as he tried again to get her up. She needed to stay awake for now, even as much as she wanted to rest.

“The courtiers will be coming.”

His words cut through the haze of half-consciousness that Deerlegs was floating in. Move or die. Those were their options. Slowly, with Embargo’s help, she managed to become upright and then stand.

She leaned against him like he was the only thing that could keep her standing and, for the most part, he was the only thing that could keep her standing. She was so tired. With her feathers plastered to her body and her crest feathers drooping and ragged, she was in a piteous state. Embargo felt for her. From what he had seen, Highcliff had experienced very little in the way of hardship, at least not to this degree. This was probably the worst thing that she’d ever been through, and they hadn’t even made it safely out of Atlantis yet.

Every step was painful. Mud and gravel had worked into the cuts on the bottoms of Embargo’s feet, and Deerlegs’s gait was hitched with a heavy limp. They had made it only a few staggered steps from the water’s edge when Embargo stopped them entirely, wishing not for the first time that he didn’t glow in the dark. Deerlegs blearily raised her head, looking for whatever it was that had stopped them, only to awaken more drastically when once again, adrenaline started to pump through her veins. As if the presence of the murderous courtiers wasn’t bad enough, a pair of carnotaurus were charging towards the banquet hall. They hadn’t seemed to notice the all but defenseless pachys, though, and both were relieved for it.

Embargo glanced around, looking for shelter. They needed to get off this path before they were found, by either the courtiers or the carnos or any other malicious dinosaur that might be roaming the streets tonight. They needed to find a place to rest and to tend to their wounds.

The building he had originally been intending to move them towards he now considered to be far too close to the banquet hall. There was too much risk of running into Soraya again. Even running into another oviraptor could spell trouble for them, if they alerted the other courtiers the way that Sagittarius had. He could see even more courtiers making their way towards the building, either to join their fellows in their cruel sport or to hunt down potential escapees. At least the river had made it so that their blood trail was now harder to follow.

He made a quiet sound under his breath, wordlessly mentioning to Deerlegs that they would be moving again. She limped alongside him towards another building, relying on his guidance now.

It was surprisingly easy to get inside. Whatever guards might have usually been posted outside were apparently… preoccupied tonight. Embargo could only grimly imagine what they must be so busy with.

It was pitch dark inside the building, but their eyes had long adjusted to the artificial, underwater night. The interior didn’t look like much, at first. They’d entered through an old loading bay, and already, there was stuff everywhere. Some of it was old things that the humans had left behind: empty wooden palettes rotting away due to the dome’s high humidity, trash bins that had lost their stench long ago, cardboard boxes that had all but melted and spilled their unknowable contents onto the concrete. Some things the Atlanteans had clearly put here to be moved further into the building when they had the time, or when they could use some poor islander for manual labour and make them move it for them. Metal and leather pieces and components, dried plant scraps, piles of pebble-like shapes in bowls, and other things Embargo just couldn’t quite identify.

All of it to be taken into the storage space that lay beyond, which was a vast, open room full of metal racks, with no windows on the walls (they were likely underground, then) and something that he could tell just by looking at it was an elevator of some kind. He’d seen similar structures in the Alpha lab, though he never trusted it to actually function. He doubted that the one here would, either.

At first glance, the tall metal racks that filled the storage room were full of what appeared to be long-abandoned crates. A second glance suggested that some of them had been broken into, likely by the Queen’s entourage of apes as they looked for useful materials. He didn’t understand how she could have any sort of relationship with them. It wasn’t his place to know, or even care at that exact moment.

Water and blood dripped onto the floor as they limped through the hauntingly empty corridors, echoing quietly through the storage space. He found a suitable place for them to hide - several of the metal racks had empty spaces underneath where a crate would have likely once lived - and helped Deerlegs to the floor so she could finally, finally rest. Silently, he worried for her. She didn’t even have the energy to argue when he turned to explore the building by himself. But worry was a paralytic, and it wouldn’t be helpful here.

After a brief glance around the space, he concluded that this lower level was mostly old human storage. The crates were too large for the Queen’s primates to move, or too high up for her courtiers. They were better left where they were, to be picked through as needed. Some of it was material storage for the courtiers as well, but the real wealth of the Court resided on the floor above.

Embargo climbed the stairs as quietly and carefully as he could, leaving a spotty trail of bloody, muddy footprints behind him. The bright green glow of his bioluminescence glinted off of metal and plexiglass surfaces, and reflected dimly off the dirtied tile floor. Even having barely gotten to the main level, even having barely seen the place, he had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew exactly what this building had been used for when it was still populated by humans. He had fortunately hatched after humanity had gone extinct, but he’d still heard the stories, which still haunted his dreams.

Shallow trenches lined either side of the smooth concrete hallway, and beyond that: cages. Uniform in size and evenly spaced apart. Perfect. Unnatural. Confining, cruel, wretched. This space had once been used to contain and study live specimens. He could almost feel their eyes on him, pleading for escape, and it sent a chill down his spine that made his quills stand up.

Now it was used by the courtiers for storage, which raised his hopes for finding something to pack Deerlegs’s wounds with. That was what he would focus on, or at least try to.

It seemed like most of the cages here housed large, clunky objects or glittering things that were of no use to him now. He left this room to pass through a large doorway into another room, and another, which eventually brought him to somewhere peculiar.

Another large, open space, but rather than storage racks or cages this room had many metal tables with short rims around the edges, several sinks around the outer edge of the room, shelves, cabinets, counters. Pieces of half-finished armour and weaponry lay scattered about on the different metal tables, with materials and tools appearing to be haphazardly strewn around the same space. The whole room smelled of the Queen's loyal primate companions. What had once been a place to take apart the dead was now a workshop to make something new; something for the Atlanteans to wear and make them stronger and more deadly.

For the time being, he wasn’t interested in most anything that the workshop had to offer, save for what appeared to be padding to soften the inside of a piece of armour still being constructed. He didn’t want to spend any more time up here in the open than necessary, so he took the whole piece with him and brought it down below to where he’d left Deerlegs.

While he was gone, the hen had gathered enough of her wits and remaining energy to sit up and try to tend to her own wounds. She tried to clean the area, but even her most careful, tender attempts felt like the wounds were being ripped open anew. Several feathers had been ripped out and the ones closest to the damage were tender and broken. Debris from the water and mud from the riverbank clung to them, but trying to remove it just felt like it tangled the debris into the downy feathers of her undercoat even worse. All the while, her wounds continued to ooze blood. Worse where she had agitated it. She’d given up again by the time Embargo returned, resting flat on the ground with blood on her muzzle.

He set his gathered prize on the ground as gently and quietly as he could. Although they seemed to be alone in the building for now, they wouldn’t be forever, and he didn’t want to prematurely call attention to their presence. Deerlegs watched silently with exhausted eyes as he used one foot to hold the partially-completed armour piece steady against the ground and used his mouth to rip the padding out and shred it. He’d rather use something he was familiar with and that wouldn’t leave evidence of their presence, but he had to work with what he had for now.

His murmured apology was the only warning that Deerlegs got before he pressed the shredded fiber into the deep wound on her tail. She had to bite her tongue to stop from calling out, her body stiff and eyes shut tight at the horrible stabbing, burning sensation. It came again and again as he worked along the length of the wound. It wouldn't be pretty, and he’d prefer the wounds be cleaned before packing them like this, but stopping the bleeding was his priority right now. They could always treat it better later when they were somewhere much safer than this.

The repeated seizing of her muscles and the tremendous effort to stop from shouting left Deerlegs even more fatigued than before. She couldn’t even open her eyes anymore, and when she felt Embargo settle down beside her and tell her to rest, she let unconsciousness take her fully without a second thought.

He would keep watch while she slept. In this manmade environment, surrounded by enemies, it was a task that was all too familiar to him.

A jolt of fear woke her, rather than the harsh light of an artificial dawn. It was still dark in the storage room when she opened her eyes in a panic, save for the soft glow of the many suns under Embargo’s skin. The sudden motion of trying to force herself to her feet made her involuntarily snort and huff, and Embargo hurried to soothe and calm her. They were still alone. Not that much time had passed, maybe just a couple hours. He’d been listening and watching for the presence of courtiers all the while, though she could hear in his voice that he was just as tired as she was. A twinge of guilt started to replace the slowly receding feelings of panic. If he wanted to rest as well-

Embargo huffed quietly, a gentle but stoic decline. They couldn’t stay here forever, and he wanted to leave before morning came if she felt able to walk.

Deerlegs raised her head to look at her hip and tail. The bleeding had largely stopped, thanks to Embargo’s efforts, but left an ugly mess in her feathers where the white stuffing had turned red and was further oxidizing into a dark brown. She clenched her jaw and tried to find her way to her feet - only to grimace and rest the tip of her muzzle on the ground, panting. Her body ached from the beating she’d received, but it was worse that her hip and tail had gotten stiff as she slept.

Embargo waited quietly and patiently, turning his attention instead between the dock and stairway. She already knew that time was of the essence and she was moving as quickly as she could - there was no point in rushing her.

“Where… did you get that?” she hissed through gritted teeth as she struggled to find the strength to stand.

Embargo humoured her, his voice kept to a quiet whisper. “There’s another floor above this one. The Atlanteans have been building armour there.”

There was a hint of familiar, fiery determination in Deerlegs’s eyes as she glared at the dismantled piece that Embargo had brought with him. Anger bubbled in her stomach. The courtiers had taken so much from the islanders already - what did it matter if they took something in return? If the Atlanteans wouldn’t give her answers, she would take what she needed from them instead.

“We’ll have to climb stairs,” Embargo murmured. Not to put her off from what she’d already made up her mind to do, just to warn her. This wasn’t going to be easy for her.

Deerlegs pushed herself to her feet with a knowing, determined grunt. She was unsteady, but she could move, and she made her way to the stairs with Embargo by her side. Between their injuries, their ascent was slow and awkward. Embargo had at least managed to stop his feet from bleeding and was no longer leaving a blood trail everywhere he walked, but each step was painful still.

They paused when they reached the ground floor, Deerlegs taking in the abysmal sight that Embargo had already seen. They didn’t have long to dally here, though. The clock was ticking. It wouldn’t be long before Deerlegs would need to rest again, and there was little doubt in either of their minds that they wouldn’t be alone forever.

Embargo was prepared to lead her to the room that he’d found the pieces in, but Deerlegs stopped them in front of one of the cages. There was stuff inside of them, and the doors were open. Embargo kept a hesitant, healthy distance from the cages as she snooped inside one. It was a bit of a disappointment, poorly organised with only things that the courtiers deemed precious and little that they could actually use. The next cage wasn’t much better. She fought every impulsive, brash thought, every instinct to destroy what they had found. It would take energy that she didn’t have, and make needless noise.

Maybe it would be better to just leave, after all, and she was prepared to - until something caught her eye. A glint of bright green where Embargo’s glow had reflected off of something metal inside a cage on the opposite side of the hallway. It seemed about as disorganised as the others, but at least here she found the object of her desires: armour. If not for now, then for later when they had the time to figure out how to fit it properly. Something more to help defend themselves against the invading force of the Atlanteans on the surface.

“We need something to carry this stuff in,” she whispered. It felt dangerous to speak very loudly up here, even more so than when they were on the floor below. Embargo grunted; a sound of agreement. It didn’t seem the wisest course of action - they’d only be taking things that would slow them down even further - but this might be their only chance to steal from the courtiers, and this didn't seem like something Deerlegs was going to let go of.

There wasn’t much in the way of loose fabric in the containment room (or armoury, as it was used now), so Embargo lead Deerlegs to the workshop. There, they had plenty of material to choose from. More than that, Deerlegs decided that they could use some of the scrap material and unfinished pieces as well, and added it to the bundle that they were building. Neither of them knew exactly what components they were gathering, but they at least looked important.

Deerlegs even considered, for a moment, adding one of the glowing cores that rested beside an unfinished piece of armour on one of the metal tables. Halberd and Raya both had armour that had glowing components, it seemed useful. Embargo warned her against it. He had glowed for all his life and little good had come from it. He didn’t trust it, either. Though it was only a small thing, he could almost taste the headache that he got from venturing too close to Zone C. Something wasn’t right about that material. They were better off leaving it where they found it, and letting the Atlanteans rot themselves from the inside out.

They took their small, gathered haul back to the armoury and loaded it with as many seemingly useful pieces of armour as they could. The determined look never fully left Deerlegs’s face, but faded slowly as they worked. She had only had a couple hours to rest, not to fully recover.

“We should go,” Embargo quietly prompted when the pile on their stolen fabric seemed substantial enough. The longer they spent here, especially now that they were making more noise, the more likely they were to be caught. He wasn’t sure that she had another fight in her.

Deerlegs was gazing at their pilfered goods, trying to concentrate and think through the fog of exhaustion that was trying to creep back over her brain and in front of her eyes. Where were they going to go? Across another bridge and into the jungle whose roots thirsted for their blood? In truth, it was really their only option. There wasn’t another way outside the dome except to go through the jungle. Maybe it would be easier getting out than it had been to come in, by some great and improbable miracle.

She sighed deeply, then made a quiet sound of agreement. They had to first get out of Atlantis. They could figure out how to get out of the dome afterwards, when the threat of death didn’t loom quite so immediately overhead.

She stooped to gather the corners of the fabric in her mouth, to make a sack, but Embargo gathered them for her instead. She almost protested. This was something she wanted to bring back with them, not a burden for Embargo to bear. But it… would be faster for him to carry it, she knew, and their time here was running out.

As evidenced by the jagged shadow that stood in the doorway, steely grey and gold helmet shining on his head.