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Light Desire
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> intervene and save them
> hide underground
"We can hide them underground," says Calliope, "but we need to act fast."
"What? Why are we helping these--" says Zu, before Scanner 3 cuts in. "I'll check them for traps, someone get digging fast!"
Render looks at his claws, more suited to cutting through vegetation and chopping wood, and shrugs, trying to dig with his scythe-like claws.
Zu looks at Render, shakes its head, and raises its front two limbs, shifting them into flat, shovel like structures and burrowing into the earth, chunks of sod and turf flying behind it.
Scanner 3 flicks its antennae around the pair, who squeeze up together shaking in fear. Aside from some unusual enchantments on the bindings and some trace residual something on the useless blindfolds, Scanner 3 can't find anything that would cause a problem. "Render, no traps, slice their--"
Render rips through the arm restraints and the two creatures stagger back as Render slices down through the cable connecting their necks. It is surprisingly strong, and Render ends up needing to hold it steady with one claw, awkwardly, while sawing through it with the other.
Calliope is busy scattering the loose earth around to try and make it less obvious that a hole was just freshly dug, as well as preparing a fine mesh of foamed ichor to support a ground cover.
Scanner 3's antennae prick up. "Quick quick get in the hole!" it says, hushed and urgent.
Render wrangles the two runaways into the hole, surprisingly large for the time Zu was given to dig it, while Calliope ushers Scanner 3 in, pulling the ichor mesh with dirt and grass covering it over the hole and adding blown struts beneath it to keep it held.
It is dark, cramped and tight, and before the pair of creatures can start panicking, Calliope and Scanner 3 grab and wrestle the two with hands and tendrils keeping their beaks shut.
Above, a more muffled but still loud call booms over the open plains. "YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM HER BRILLIANCE FOR LONG!"
Scanner 3 pokes an antennae up through the mess of ichor mesh and supported earth, flicking it around.
"They're searching," says Scanner 3, quiet as it can whisper. "They don't know where to look."
Their sudden captives stop struggling as fiercely, still terrified, but clearly more afraid of whatever they ran from in the first place.
"We're friends," says Calliope, loosening her grip a little. "We're trying to hide you both."
"Ssh," says Scanner 3. "They're talking amongst each other. I can't see or here what they're discussing, but... they're going the other way. They're going the other way."
"Give it a few minutes," whispers Zu. "This could be a trick."
"You would know all about that, eh?" whispers Scanner 3 scornfully.
"Yes," says Zu, earnest. "Yes I would. When the prey is greater than you in any way, use trickery and treachery to even things out. They lack knowledge of where their quarry is, they need their prey to make a mistake and reveal themselves."
"Zu isn't wrong," says Render. "We need to wait longer before we can be sure we're safe."
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