Pitch Black Cyn
Chapter 4
Animals run off primal instinct, survival instinct, and that was something that could not be put to sleep.
Al had learned this early on when she was a child, before escaping the circus.
So she dozed in the compartment of metal and glass, only able to ‘see’ the small space surrounding her like a cocoon.
The lightest of taps and bangs pulled Al from her half-sleep, bat ears twitching in awareness.
When the sound of ripping metal and hissing air floated into her new prison, she knew something was wrong.
Curling in on herself to make a smaller target, the bat-girl took a deep breath to prepare for a distress-shriek.
Something could go wrong at any moment, and she would need to signal Cyn for help if necessary.
It sounded like chaos outside, so Al covered her too-sensitive ears and bit her lip to keep from shrieking at the pain.
Then the entire world exploded in a cacophony of sound as gravity seemed to stop long enough to slam Al into the glass door of her cryogenics chamber.
Once everything in the universe stopped hating her, Al let out a soft, self-demeaning chuckle.
“We had to get on the ONE SHIP that crashes while on autopilot…”
Taking a moment to catch her breath, her ears twitched to find the best position to listen.
It was relatively quiet outside, besides the hiss of opening cryo-chambers, so Al deemed it safe to call Cyn.
Letting out a short, high-high pitched screech, she waited patiently for the cat-girl to find her amid the possible debris.
The sharp sound of Cyn’s claws slicing through the pod like hot knives through butter was comforting in its familiarity, and Al smiled as the door yanked off.
“Enjoy the flight?” Cyn joked, prehensile tail showing her worry by checking Al over for injuries.
“I’m fine-.”
Stepping out of the chamber was like exiting a bubble of silence, and an overwhelming wave of foreign sonar crashed over her.
“Al!”
Grabbing her arm to keep Al from falling, Cyn curled over her protectively and covered her ears.
The maelstrom wasn’t as intense then, and she relaxed as Cyn pulled a bandana out of her pocket to tie tightly over the sensitive ears.
“Better?”
Nodding after a moment, Al stood, testing her ‘sight’ with an experimental half-screech.
There was no need, since the interfering sounds, now dulled through the cloth, made everything clear without her wasting breath.
“There’s something underground, making that noise…”
Feeling Cyn’s tail twitch while wrapping around her forearm, Al knew that she wasn’t the only one to notice.
“…Come on, there are other survivors. Don’t want to seem suspicious just yet, do we?”
Agreeing, Al allowed herself to be pulled through the wreckage of the vessel, heaving a sigh.
“That’s old Lady Luck for you, always giving us the short end of the stick…”
“Are you kidding?”
Al could practically sense the sharp grin on Cyn’s face…
“This is gonna be fun!”
‘For YOU, maybe…’
Al had learned this early on when she was a child, before escaping the circus.
So she dozed in the compartment of metal and glass, only able to ‘see’ the small space surrounding her like a cocoon.
The lightest of taps and bangs pulled Al from her half-sleep, bat ears twitching in awareness.
When the sound of ripping metal and hissing air floated into her new prison, she knew something was wrong.
Curling in on herself to make a smaller target, the bat-girl took a deep breath to prepare for a distress-shriek.
Something could go wrong at any moment, and she would need to signal Cyn for help if necessary.
It sounded like chaos outside, so Al covered her too-sensitive ears and bit her lip to keep from shrieking at the pain.
Then the entire world exploded in a cacophony of sound as gravity seemed to stop long enough to slam Al into the glass door of her cryogenics chamber.
Once everything in the universe stopped hating her, Al let out a soft, self-demeaning chuckle.
“We had to get on the ONE SHIP that crashes while on autopilot…”
Taking a moment to catch her breath, her ears twitched to find the best position to listen.
It was relatively quiet outside, besides the hiss of opening cryo-chambers, so Al deemed it safe to call Cyn.
Letting out a short, high-high pitched screech, she waited patiently for the cat-girl to find her amid the possible debris.
The sharp sound of Cyn’s claws slicing through the pod like hot knives through butter was comforting in its familiarity, and Al smiled as the door yanked off.
“Enjoy the flight?” Cyn joked, prehensile tail showing her worry by checking Al over for injuries.
“I’m fine-.”
Stepping out of the chamber was like exiting a bubble of silence, and an overwhelming wave of foreign sonar crashed over her.
“Al!”
Grabbing her arm to keep Al from falling, Cyn curled over her protectively and covered her ears.
The maelstrom wasn’t as intense then, and she relaxed as Cyn pulled a bandana out of her pocket to tie tightly over the sensitive ears.
“Better?”
Nodding after a moment, Al stood, testing her ‘sight’ with an experimental half-screech.
There was no need, since the interfering sounds, now dulled through the cloth, made everything clear without her wasting breath.
“There’s something underground, making that noise…”
Feeling Cyn’s tail twitch while wrapping around her forearm, Al knew that she wasn’t the only one to notice.
“…Come on, there are other survivors. Don’t want to seem suspicious just yet, do we?”
Agreeing, Al allowed herself to be pulled through the wreckage of the vessel, heaving a sigh.
“That’s old Lady Luck for you, always giving us the short end of the stick…”
“Are you kidding?”
Al could practically sense the sharp grin on Cyn’s face…
“This is gonna be fun!”
‘For YOU, maybe…’