An Engineer's Oath

Still no witty comments, but my photobucket now has shots of Rafe and Ralian. The link's in chapter 4 of Shadows.

I'll do the reviews up here for once, just to see if I like it better.

Viva_Rose: Well, glad you enjoyed it... but I refuse to be held liable for you laundry bill.

Yusari: *twitch* Owchies... That's not nice!
Well, I had to look over what my plan was for this, and I (hopefully) gave Eleam a sizable character flaw to humanize/humble her a bit. But, I do appreciate the heads-up, as I probably might not have noticed it had you not said anything.
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Rafe woke before dawn, stemming from an old habit and too much coffee. He stretched widely, untied the loose knots in the cords of the sleeping bag, and stood, moving to the sconces. He gave one of them a half-twist, turning on a dim light, and reached for his rifle.
The Goblin tied a pouch of ammo to his belt and tucked a dagger into it, just in case, then walked as quietly as he could to the mouth of the cave. He was about to move the faux moss away from the entrance when he heard Eleam bolt upright and shuffle around.
"Rafe?" the Gnome asked with a hint of panic in her voice, not seeing the humanoid's silhouette in the entrance. As he moved back down the walkway and into view of the room, she pulled up into a sit, now looking frantically around.
"Rafe?!" she called out again, the worry in her voice palpable.
"Hey, calm down, Eleam. I'm still here," he said, trotting over to her. The light tan of her skin was now pale with a sheen of sweat over it. Upon hearing his voice, the Gnome almost slung herself around to face him, her eyes wide with fear.

Rafe placed a hand on her shoulder, steadying her shaking frame. "Woah, there," he muttered, "what's got you in a twist?"
The woman swallowed hard, wiping her brow reflexively. "Where're you going?" she asked, her voice quiet and wavering.
"Hunting," he told her. "I hafta get something for us to eat, right?"
The Goblin took a step back, but Eleam's hand shot out to his ankle. "No!" the Gnome shouted, taking a few heavy breaths.
Rafe turned his head, utterly confused. "I'm going with you," she declared, getting up and grabbing her hammer and shield.
"Suit yourself," he sighed, shrugging. "I take it you've got a problem with being alone in the dark, huh?"

"Yeah, I do!" Eleam blurted out angrily, but she shrunk back as soon as the words left her, a rueful expression on her face. "I... I get really nervous if I'm not with a friend," she said in a voice so small it was nearly inaudible.
In the pale light, Rafe smirked. Well, she trusts me, at least. "Hey, if it means I can help, that's no trouble at all," he said kindly, extending a hand. "Let's get going, while we can still get a few sleepers."
The woman nodded, a ghost of her usual smile returning to her face.

After a half an hour of fruitless searching, the pair found a raptor nest a little ways south of the Gurubashi Arena. It was small, with only a few of the lizards guarding it; most of them would either be asleep or hunting. Rafe hoped it was the latter of the two as they crept towards the beasts.
The Goblin didn't bring his backpack, but the large bag at his side still had a bunch of gadgets that he kept at all times. Reaching in, her pulled out a steel disk with a pair of large knobs on one side, and twisted one of them several times.
"Noisemaker," he whispered to the Gnome's tilted face, looking around the area for a good place to put it. Even though the two of them were concealed in a patch of brush, there wasn't much cover near the nest. "Allright," the Goblin whispered, "here's the plan."

"I'm gonna chuck this into that clearing there," he pointed off to the east, "and we make a run for the nest, grab a pair of eggs apeice, and run for it Simple enough, eh?"
Eleam nodded. "Too simple. What's the catch?" she asked.
The green creature grimaced slightly. "Run faster than them."
The Warrior sighed, a sound of resignation rather than annoyance. "Okay, then," she muttered, putting her weapon away. "Let's do this."

Rafe pressed the second knob three times, then hurled the disk like a frisbee, watching it sail a good twenty-five feet away. It landed with a heavy "thud," causing the five raptors nearby to shift towards it. A few seconds later, a medium-pitched bleating sounded from the disk, drawing the lizards towards it.
Without a word, Eleam and Rafe ran out of the brush, hustling to the nest. Rafe jumped the small lump of vegetation that served as a barrier and began handing eggs off to his partner. As the Goblin was crossing the partition again, the sound of ripping metal was heard from the east.
"Shit," he breathed, making a forceful glance to the south. They needed to move, and fast. The Warrior wasted no time, already knowing his intentions, but lagged just enough to make sure Rafe had cleared the nest.
The Engineer ran forward, but the raptors returned just before he reached the safety of the bushes. He tilted forward, trying to gain more momentum as he crashed through the foliage, moving the branches aside with his shoulder to avoid damaging his precious cargo.

"Book it!" he shouted to the Gnome, not stopping to glance over his shoulder. He didn't need to see them to hear the jungle brush being torn apart just a handful of paces behind him.
"Oh hell!" the Warrior spat out, trying to will her legs to move faster.
They ran through the green, the raptors chasing them far longer than normal. And with good reason; this was provoking a rage much like any parent when their children were kidnapped. Eleam had to change the course of the run slightly to avoid leading them into Bloodsail territory, so now they were hauling cross the dirt road.
Rafe felt them gaining on him. "Heads up!" he shouted, hurling his right-hand egg into the air towards the Gnome and reaching into his pack. Eleam looked up and freed one hand just in time to shakily catch the large ovum, barely managing to balance their future meal in her off hand.

Now that the Goblin had a hand open, he pulled out a crate and casually tossed it behind him. The wooden top popped open, the Advanced Target Dummy springing to "life" in the midst of the raptor pack.
The lizards quickly switched priorities, laying into the machination with savage fury and quickly forgetting the two small humanoids now making a clean getaway. The Goblin cackled gleefully, glad that his hair-brained idea had actually worked.
The Warrior slowed down, if only to keep from dropping one of the eggs, and sighed heavily when Rafe's patting footsteps came up behind her. "What's so funny?" she asked him, handing back the egg.
"I thought they would ignore it and keep chasing us, honestly," he admitted with a grin. "Glad I was wrong."
"Same here," the Gnome puffed.

The walk back to the cave was leisurely, considering the situation they had just gotten out of. Rafe set up a campfire in front of the entrance, piling a few planks of spare wood beside him just in case.
"Anything I can help with?" Eleam asked quietly.
The Goblin looked over his shoulder briefly. "Yeah, could you get me the big skillet and a couple'a plates from in there?"
"Sure thing," she said sweetly, moving the fake moss.
Rafe looked down at the fire and smirked, poking another plank into the blazing base. He was about to relax when a tall, wiry shadow fell over him.

It wasn't hard for Eleam to find the pan or the plates, but as she gathered them up, a pair of voices caught her ears. One of them was the Goblin's, but the other was alien, and both spoke in a different language. A shiver of dread ran down the Gnome's spine as she quietly sat the items down and crept to the mossy drape.
The Warrior stepped lightly, peeking out from the gaps in the fake vegetation. Rafe was still sitting, but his rifle was now in his hands, if only as a precaution; she couldn't tell what he was thinking, as his back was still to the cave.
Eleam looked up at the other figure- and choked back a frightened shriek at the figure. They haunted her dreams, a primal fear she had carried from the Second War, a mixture of terror and pure rage. If Claris and her cousin Beldan hadn't showed up when they did, Greygear wouldn't have lived to see the next sunrise.
Torn between fight and flight, the Gnome steeled her resolve for the inevitable fight. Even if she didn't know what Rafe was saying, he certainly sounded irritated. She grit her teeth and moved away, back to her armor, and strapped it on as fast as her body would let her.
Eleam Graygear despised Orcs with every fiber of her being.

"Look, I know she's in there, chump. Don't think I don't have eyes."
Rafe's glare deepened at the Rogue. "I could care less what you want with her, but she's my charge, so go fuck yourself," he growled.
The Orc smirked darkly, taking a few steps back. "You're gonna wish you never said that, bitch," he snarled.
The Goblin whipped the rifle to his shoulder, but his target had already disappeared. He didn't lower the rifle, but he did creep back towards the stone face behind him.
Best way to fight 'em is to not show your ba-

Eleam saw the Orc, and, to a degree, the Goblin- dangling several feet off the ground and kicking wildly. Primal fury rose in the Warrior's chest, building into a low, feral growl in the back of her throat.
Without hesitation, the Gnome roared and catapulted herself forward, the heavy mace finding its mark on the lower portion of the Orc's spine. He howled in surprise and pain, the leather barely slowing the impact, and dropped the Garrote line; Rafe flopped to the ground, gasping for breath.
The Rogue managed to turn halfway around before the mace landed again, bashing into his hip, and he responded quickly, pulling the twin swords from his belt and striking in a single motion. Eleam tucked down into the Defensive Stance, angling one blade away with her shield, but the other managed to slip past her guard and open a cut on her left arm.

Now that he had gotten his breath back, the Goblin scooped his rifle up from the grass, aiming high and pulling the trigger. The bullet burst forth, flying out and burying itself into the Orc's shoulder. The Rogue growled in pain, but didn't turn around.
Instead, he lashed out with his left blade, the tip of the sword raking across the Gnome's cheek, stunning her easily. In the seconds it took Rafe to reload, the other sword had found a weak point in the woman's armor, punching through the chain mail near her waist.
Eleam screamed, the Sinister Strike wracking her body with pain twice over- the Warrior felt her limbs trying to shut down. Crippling Poison! she thought in a panic, fighting down the frightening similarities from her past. The Orc smirked coldly, raising the swords over his head.
They came down suddenly, but not in a strike. The Gnome saw that one of his knees had buckled, blood flowing freely down his leg, some landing on her as Rafe jammed his dagger as far as he could. Quickly shifting his hands, his right hand gripped the butt of the gun tightly and snapped it upwards, clubbing the Orc square in the head.

Her rage mounting, Eleam rose up to her full height, now only having to incline her head a few inches to see the greenskins' eyes. Her right arm moved almost of it's own accord, the hammer unnaturally light in her hands as she rained blow after blow on the Rogue's skull and shoulders.
In a fit of Bloodrage, the Warrior dropped her shield, hefting the mallet with two hands, and brought it down with crushing force on the Orc's collarbone, toppling the wounded creature and essentially Rending it with internal bleeding.
The Rogue tried to strike again, but she easily slid the feeble swing away from her with the hilt of her hammer. Snarling, Eleam exacted a bit of Revenge, slamming the weighted head into her foe's gut, then quickly bashing down on his left wrist. There was an audible crack as the bone was broken, his hand going limp and dropping its weapon.

Rafe stared at the scene, somewhat aghast. He reached to her shoulder, but pulled back quickly when she growled directly at him, her face contorted in blind hatred and set into a mask of psychopathic fury; the mad grin on her face was impossibly wide, and certainly would have been comical in any other situation.
She hefted the hammer again, bashing it into the already punished collarbone, and probably shattering it as the metal sunk several inches down and did not rise back up. She began to laugh uncontrollably as she sat on the battered Rogue's chest and balled her tiny hands into tightly mailed fists.
The Gnome proceeded to pummel the Orc's face with little else but her gauntlets, spraying blood in alternating arcs across the lush carpet of grass. If the Goblin had to guess, he didn't think that their assailant was going to live; his head was rolling limply from side to side with each unusually powerful blow, sometimes so forcefully that he though even the Orc's thick neck should have snapped by now.
Rafe felt fear creeping up his spine as the Gnome's face began to turn pale, even though she wasn't stopping. A thick green film glinted in the firelight from the Rogue's left-hand blade, and the Goblin's brain sparked, a horrible thought shaping in his head. She's gonna kill herself if she keeps this up!

The Gnome raised both blood-soaked hands over her head, and the Engineer took the only chance he knew he was getting. With a burst of adrenaline-fueled speed, he threw himself at the enraged Warrior, knocking her onto the grass.
"GET OFF OF ME!" she bellowed, pounding her fists against the Goblin's shoulders. He felt his bones screaming in protest with each heavy blow, but he pinned her shoulders down and caught her furious glare.
"ELEAM, GET A FUCKIN' GRIP!" he shouted back, forcing her to lie down, and, hopefully, calm down.
It seemed to be working; her hands unrolled into a resting state, and her bloodshot eyes began to return to their normal color.
"Rafe," she croaked, he hands shaking as she pressed them against his shoulders, her eyes now wide with fear again.
"It hurts," was all she said before passing out.

"Shit!" the Goblin spat as Eleam went limp. He needed to work fast if she was going to come out of this in one piece. Rafe hefted her with some difficulty, and shot into the cave, grabbing the half-full bag with a red cross stitched into it, and made a quick detour to get her hammer and shield.
He had set her down on his sleeping bag, and without really thinking about the repercussions, pulled the chainmail breastpiece off with a small struggle, and lifted the light blue shirt to just under her bosom. The wound was bleeding steadily, and she had ripped it open further while thrashing the Orc.
First and formost, he grabbed a bottle of water and wet a spare rag, cleaning as much of the wound as he could, then applied a dose of Strong Anti-Venom to the wound. The green paste bubbled slightly, drawing the poison out of her system as the Goblin unrolled a few Heavy Mageweave Bandages. Rafe sighed, hoping that she'd forgive him when she woke up for this.

Formless images swam in her mind, splitting and joining, then morphing into something else before dissolving completely. There was no feeling, no emotion, just a long, empty expanse of rambling thought. Slowly, over several eternities, is began to thin, letting in faint sounds.
Bolts being scattered on wood. Metal landing on stone. Grunts of exertion and gears grinding together. Two voices talking together, heavy with worry.
Then, it parted enough to feel. Cold and damp just above her waist. Warm and cozy all around, beyond the smooth wrap over the wet and pain. A hand brushing across her brow with a cool cloth.
Then the Light peeked through the veil. Slowly, unsurely, Eleam's eyes opened.

The golden glow faded as Greygear's eyelids fluttered open. "What in the name of Gnomer-" her mild oath was cut off when she recognized her mysterious benefactor. "Claris? How'd you get out here?"
The Paladin thumbed toward Rafe. "This lad 'ere came runnin' ta find me afta ye were patched up, Eleam," she informed her friend.
The Gnome nodded, moving to sit up. She noticed that the Goblin had turned away when she did, and soon found out why- her shirt was gone.
"Gah! Who- Rafe, what were you doing?!" she blurted, covering herself with the sleeping bag.
"Well," he protested, "the shirt was a little in the way, and it was tracking blood all over you!"

The Warrior glared at his back, but found that she didn't mean it as much as she usually did. "Well, where'dja put it, chuckles?" she asked hotly.
The Goblin reached over his tools and grabbed the cloth, tossing it over his shoulder without a glance. "I took the liberty of washing it for ya," he said. "Blood stains do not come out easy, lemme tell ya."
She unwrapped the now pointless bandages from her body and pulled the shirt over her head with a smile. "Well, I do appreciate it, Rafe. Really."
Even though neither of the women saw it, the Goblin blushed slightly. "Eh, it's nuthin', really," he said casually, shrugging.

"Well," the Dwarf said, standing, "I do beleiv mah work 'ere is doon. I'll joost leave ye two 'ere ta stew for a bit. They've been tellin' us tha the ports won' be open fer another two or three days," she informed them, "so yeh migh'tas well get coomfy."
Eleam nodded at her friend. "I'll check back in a couple of days, then," she repeated.
"Don' 'ave to much fun, now," she said with a wink and a grin, and left the cave.
"I won't ask what she meant by that," the Engineer muttered, turning to his partner, "but I do have one thing I want to ask you."
The Gnome cocked her head quizzically.
"What's you problem with Orcs?" he asked bluntly.

Greygear swallowed hard. "It's a holdover from the Second War of mine," she told him, stiffening up.
"And, that would be...?" he asked, trailing off.
The Gnome took a deep breath. "I was out on patrol one night with some friends, and we got ambushed." She shook visibly as she pictured the sight. "Most of them got killed. I... I got raped."
Rafe's eyes widened, and he got up from the stool to sit down next to her. She quivered a bit, her resolve shaking from her inner demons. "Jeez, I'm sorry I brought it up, if that's the case," he said softly.
"No, it's okay," she responded with a sniff. "You have a right to know."
The Engineer smiled. "I know something that'll get your mind off that," he offered.

"Tight enough?" she asked.
The Goblin tested, sliding down easily, and scrunched his face. "Not yet," he replied, pulling back up.
"Damnit," she woman muttered, shifting her legs and weight, and giving a grunt. "Okay, try it now."
Rafe inhaled and tried again, but this time the shaft just wouldn't budge. Even with all the leverage he had, it wouldn't move. "A little too much this time," he said, looking down at her.
"Are you sure?" she shot back, her eyebrow arcing. "This is where you told me to be. Maybe you just need some more lube on it," she offered.
"More?" he sighed. "How many bottles have we gone through in the last ten minutes?"
"I guess not enough," Eleam giggled as she handed him a glass vial.
"Well, I still need a little room to work it," he commented, looking at her seriously.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Duh," she muttered, shifting herself again. The Goblin pulled the rod back and smeared the glistening substance on it. "You sure look like you're having fun," she jibed.
"Loads," he puffed, tossing the vial aside. "Ready?"
"One sec," she echoed, moving under him again. "Okay, Rafe, hit me."
The Engineer grunted and shoved down, meeting just as much resistance as last time, but he kept pushing. Finally, something gave, and the shaft plunged neatly down, if a little noisily, and they both gave exhausted, slightly content sighs.
"Now, was that really so difficult?" she asked.
The Goblin gave her a playful scowl. "Hey, I was doing all the work," he shot back.
"This time, sure. What about earlier?" she challenged.
He shook his head gingerly. "Nuh-uh, you insisted on that one, girl."
The Gnome's face drooped. "Oh, fine. Hand up?" she asked.
Rafe extended his arm, pulling the Warrior from the floor and looking proudly at the results. "Nice work, huh?"
"Nice? It's wonderful," she sighed.
They both stared at the slick area on the floor. "That's still gonna be a pain to clean up," Rafe admitted.
"True," the Gnome said, wiping her hands on a rag, "but if there's no mess, there's no work. Even if we were at it for almost an hour."

Nodding, Rafe picked up a rag of his own, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Jammed pistons still suck," he commented, looking at the construct.
"Oh, I concur whole-heartedly, bub," the woman said, laying the spanner down and giving the troublesome bolt a vindictive glare. "But hey, it works now, right?"

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Yes, I HAD to put that in there. If you figured it out in three lines, good for you. You get...

Nothing. =P