Seraphimus veered left and right, wings spread wide. Starstorm glided closely beside her.
Both griffons pierced the clouds, in search of the source of the echo that brought them there. The mists came in rolling vapors, parting ways only to reveal more humid puffs of pea soup obscurity.
Seraphimus' beak tightened. She glanced to her left—but suddenly jolted as her wing struck something.
Scrkkkk! With a shower of sparks, the guardian's right armor plates dragged across pure rock. She retracted them with a loud clack, exposing her natural feathers. Craning her head to the right, she traced the cliff-face until she found the remnants of a precarious, craggy path leading north. Following the ridge, Seraphimus discovered that it jutted straight out into the open, connecting with another land bridge.
The Commander exhaled sharply. She looked over her shoulder, then signaled at Starstorm. Starstorm nodded, and both griffons descended, skirting over the stone surfaces... until they stumbled upon a plateau of converging paths.
They slowed down, hovering in place. A brief opening in the mists allowed them a space in time to investigate the scene.
Rainbow had slowed her pace—if only to silence the clopping of her hooves. With panting breaths, she shuffled along the rightmost path. It ascended, its floor ascending in sudden steep steps without much warning. Rarity waved her hoof at varying frequencies, indicating when to remain cautious and when to increase her speed.
Fluttershy looked behind at the merging clouds. Her brow furrowed as she got a fix on the Commander and her sergeant. Clearing her throat, she float up to Rainbow's side and whispered in her ear.
Rainbow heard the ghostly pegasus' update, and she nodded.
All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie's right cheek twitched. She rubbed her muzzle, squinting curiously at Rarity.
Rarity blinked. She turned around... then grinned. Waving at Rainbow Dash, she gestured for her to approach the right edge of the path carefully.
Rainbow did so. As she pierced the mists, she found a series of ancient wooden stakes chiseled into the granite surface of the platform beneath her. At last, the remnants of a wooden support beam coalesced. It was rough and splintery at first, but soon came together with a varnished coat. What's more—a countless number of rusted rivets and nails had been hammered into the body of the railing at regular intervals.
It presented a consistently notched texture, skirting the right edge of the path as it ascended into the higher altitudes.
Twilight Sparkle smiled at Rarity, then at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow smirked back. However—at the sound of Fluttershy's earnest whimpers, the mare swiftly picked up the pace. Her marefriends followed along as she followed the railing up and in between several looming pillars of rock and sandstone.
Starstorm touched down, squirming where she stood on the plateau of converging paths. She swallowed a lump down her throat, then looked back at her Commander.
Seraphimus flew close to the surface of the earthen platform. She stared at the path leading to the northeast, the one sticking due north, and the one angled northwest. She stroked her feathery neck in thought, armor rattling as she hovered in circles.
At last, Seraphimus stopped in mid-air. Her eyes did the work, tracing every square inch of the landscape beneath her.
“... … ...”
Starstorm watched, waiting breathlessly.
Seraphimus looked left, then looked right. At last, she touched down, talons grinding into the stone... anchoring her. Then—with her breath held—she flapped her wings fiercely towards the north. Fwooosh!
Some of the mists parted. But—more importantly—a fine layer of soil and dust blew away from her... except in a few key places.
Starstorm blinked.
Seraphimus immediately locked her eyes on the spots of soil that hadn't moved. She scrambled over, crouching low. Her hawkeyes followed several round shapes where the weight of an equine body had applied pressure, sticking much of the moist dust and grit to the stone surface of the humid environment.
There weren't many hoofprints, but they were most certainly fresh. In addition to that, they all headed up the northeast path.
Seraphimus' brow furrowed. She stood up, signaled Starstorm without looking, and short northeast like a bullet.
Starstorm followed swiftly behind.
Fluttershy gasped. Eyes wide, she looked behind them.
The world was a narrow slit of gray mists lingering behind a cleft of tall rocks.
Gulping, she rushed ahead, phased through the walls of the narrow corridor around them, then flew right in front of Rainbow Dash. This caused the group to halt in place. Twilight and Rainbow's other friends looked at Fluttershy curiously.
Fluttershy leaned in, murmuring in Rainbow's ear. She pointed behind them—down the cleft through which they had ascended.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie exchanged worried looks.
Rainbow gnashed her teeth. She looked behind her. A narrow chasm lingered, devoid of mist, giving an open view to where she was positioned. Rainbow looked straight ahead. There was at least a good fifty meters of rising steps before she was clear of the narrow niche she was traversing.
Fluttershy bit her bottom lip. She constantly glanced behind the group, shivering in place.
Twilight paced around in circles while Rarity squeezed her hooves anxiously together.
Pinkie blinked. She looked straight up, her eyes tracing several jutting branches and oddly placed trees. With a gasp, she signaled Rainbow and pointed straight up.
Rainbow tilted her head. Blinking, she tightened her muscles and stood up on her hind limbs.
Seraphimus and Starstorm followed the path with the notched railing. Ahead of them, a series of sandstone pillars loomed, overshadowing the path. They saw a narrow pass forming, and they drifted until they were flying single-file with Seraphimus in front.
The Commander's trained eyes followed the granite surfaces of the craggy steps below. Her vision darted from hoofstep to hoofstep, set deep and fresh within the narrow layer of dust and sediment.
She and her wingmate were about halfway up the pass...
...when the hoofsteps suddenly vanished.
“... … …?” Seraphimus flapped her wings, hovering at a stop.
Starstorm stopped behind her. She craned her neck curiously.
Seraphimus blinked. She looked once more at the ground, drifting ahead slightly to study each step. Sure enough, the hoofsteps had completely disappeared.
With a muffled growl, the Commander looked left and right. It was very claustrophobic in that pass, and the looming pillars of rock were layered with solid granite faces.
Feathers ruffled, Seraphimus looked straight up.
Starstorm's vision followed her superior's.
A thin layer of green vegetation clung to the pillars on the left side. High above, bent tree branches stuck out of the rock, swaying with lotus blossoms in the breeze. The boughs were naked, exposed, with no room for any pony-sized body to hide.
Starstorm blinked curiously. She looked at Seraphimus with a gawking expression.
Seraphimus fidgeted where she stood. She paced back and forth, shuddered, then flew north up the pass at a brisk pace.
Starstorm flexed her wing muscles to follow. That's when she noticed a slight hint of movement out the corner of her helmet. Curious, she glanced to her left, spotting a thick vine dangling in the humid mountain breeze. Her gaze started traveling up the stringy vegetation—
Seraphimus whistled shrilly from ahead.
Obediently, Starstorm flapped her wings and followed after her. Both griffons exited the north end of the canyon, split up, and followed both the east and the west edges of the next layer of pillars.
Meanwhile...
Up above, several lofty feet along the length of vine and hidden in a tiny... narrow niche of rock was a fuzzy blue figure, obscured by shadow. Rainbow Dash waited... waited... then finally protruded her body outward from the narrow space so she could breathe. Her lungs expanded and contracted as she wheezed, wincing. She squinted at the pass ahead of her.
After several seconds, Twilight and Fluttershy came floating back. Phasing through the rocks, they smiled and nodded at Rainbow, signaling that the coast was clear.
Rainbow nodded back. She looked at Pinkie and Rarity. Both mares calmly motioned up the rockface with gentle motions of their hooves.
Holding her breath again, Rainbow leapt upward with a muffled grunt.
Twilight and Fluttershy tensed—
Thwpp! Rainbow grasped ahold of the vine. Her bandaged wing twitched, and she grimaced slightly. Recollecting her senses, Rainbow slowly... carefully climbed up the dangling vegetation until she reached the jutting trees up above. Then—navigating one branch at a time—she ascended until she was perched against the very summit of the topmost pillars.
She hung there for a while, panting, trying to calm her heartbeat. She waited for a shift in the clouds. Then—very cautiously—she shimmied northeast, hugging the face of the pillars. Up ahead there was a dip in the rockwork, allowing a spot where Rainbow and her friends figured she might be able to climb onto the very roof of the columns.
Climbing up high, where the Talon least expects you but where you're very exposed without the craggy rocks and mists to hide you?
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/14/59/d9/1459d9fc35a635b489c0d6f5fc37718b.jpg
A close call. A very close call. Every time they get close, it seems like the combo of Rainbow's skill & ghosties and Seraphimus's ineptitude keeps the Talon from being able to capture her. I wonder how long this luck will last... there's gotta be a final showdown eventually.
Damn, both sides are good at this.
Using their skills to enable them to stick together and search more effectively, very good.
But a combination of her friends and a ton of experience (Windthrow, Darkstine, Silvadel, Ledomare, Val Roa, and likely other places) have given Dash an edge when it comes to evading detection. Eventually her luck is going to run out however, the only question is when.
I am quite enjoying the lack of dialogue. I don't think it has to be pointed out so often with "...", though.
tooclosetooclosetooclosetooclose
Daaamn, that was close.
I was half expecting Dash to have left a false trail, galloping up the north path for a bit before sneaking up northeast, a little misdirection and all that.
But I guess vanishing into the mists is a good trick too.
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
Heh, been reading this series for months and finally caught up to the current update
Feels good man, looking forward to reading this with the rest of you guys
When they get to the other end of this path, Rainbow is probably going to scream just for the sake of making sound.
....so the girls arent talking so that Dash can hear the Talons coming?
6811643 Welcome to the Noble Jury/Lunar Ninth.
Your sandvich can't save you now. The feels are too strong.
These are some of the most intense chapters in a while that's for sure. I'm loving this; I'm basically on the edge of my seat each time.
Reference to the movie, Run Silent, Run Deep, which was about submarine warfare.
This is getting more intense by the minute!
I'm just waiting for her to accidentally step on a sharp pebble.
6811708 next chapter: Das Griep
Or you know to follow the 5 word trend. The Hunt for Rainbow Rogue
6811708 Wasn't there another chapter with a similar name?
I think the whole "Blows a gust hard enough to scatter dust, but not hard enough to scatter dust that has been stepped on" is ridiculous. Let's assume that it is possible that the dust that was stepped on can stick to the rock, which I find to be odd in itself. Then, have Seraph know and be able able to execute the exact amount of wind pressure to blow away any other dust, but not blow away the hoofstep ones. Just seems kinda odd to me, even given context of the crazy stuff that's happened through out the series.
Solid Snake... Sam Fisher... amateurs. Dash is the real stealth expert.
6811802 I think it's working from the logic that something that has had pressure applied to it will cling to the surface it was pressed to, and since a loose top layer had likely fallen and covered her tracks, all Seraph did was blow away the uppermost layer, leaving the pressure packed stuff behind.
Hmm, still no sign of Raptr.
Maybe she is supposed to get caught and no one knows it yet... They're not after her to kill her, whereas other parties are.
6811715 I think RD has bumped her injured wing a few time without making noise, but sharp pebbles may be as dangerous as Lego pieces, and painful as such.
Sheesh, talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
This perpetual chase scene has me on my nerves with every new chapter. Gah, I sure hope Rainbow manages to find her way out of this. However, with Keris and the other Griffon waiting at the far side of the pass, I think Rainbow's going to get caught sooner or later.
These are gonna be a tense however-many chapters, unless Rainbow gets some kind of break.
Clever girl.
0 dialogue chapter, I can feel the power of your ramble here. I hope a couple more no-dialogue chapters will follow
Dash low, chasers high. Gryphs low, Dash rises.
Blow all ballast tanks, engines all ahead flank. Prepare for breaching.
Metaphor of the day.
Oh man, that was close.
A risky plan Dash. Does the Talon already know what you're doing?
[Stress intensifies]
And it's nice to know that however much this story has evolved since Austraeoh, there's always going to be some room for extended scenarios that are entirely devoid of dialogue. Whether or not it ties in with especially mysterious goings-on.
6811816
Bet on him being the first of the three to encounter Dash, likely too weary to properly take her on and disabled after a brief scuffle, Dash leaves behind some of her supplies out of compassion as his superiors return later to find him battling the onset of a harmony infection.
The Talon are pack hunters. While you keep an eye on the one in front of you, another one you didn't even see jumps you from the side.
6811759 Personally, I'm waiting for the chapter title Tinker Tailor Solider Rainbow Rouge.
6811643 Welcome, brother. You have joined us on our eastward trek.
I honestly held my breath for a few scenes.
This is rather intense , i think the not talking part kinda contributes to the stress.
Although it is funny that the other 4 are not speaking, even if they could relay important information that way.
It kinda features the same psychological effect when you have a sore throat and are only able to whisper, people will often just whisper in return without having problem with their voice.. well until they start to realize that they just did that.
6812034
Same, I'm always apprehensive every time I go to catch up on this story. It's been that way from the start of Utaan for me.
Rainbow really doesn't have many options here, and it's only the small environmental advantage and Seraphimus's ineptitude that's keeping her from getting caught. The Ghost 4 help, but they can only do so much. She has to cross a bridge of some kind soon right? she'll be a sitting duck at that point...
Without Keris to lessen any inevitable confrontation or maybe give Rainbow one last chance to get away... I don't know how she'll get out of this one.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but this series has had enough explosions for a while. This cat-and-mouse is a lovely change of pace.
IC's saving up for the eighty-chapter boomfest with Verlaxion.
6811802 actually, they use a similar method in search and rescue while tracking missing persons. In loose dirt or fine dust, compression can often be enough to get the particulate to clump together. Is it as effective as shown here? No, but it does work. I've seen a man tracker follow a trail across a parking lot using this method
Close call Dashie
Dem chases are getting way too close for comfort now
Seems I was a chapter early with my last comment. Oh well.
Not sure leaving the path is such a good idea, Dashie.
Man, this is a lot of stress! I can't imagine how much I would be freaking out.
I think this set of scenes best showcases IC's amazing ability to construct sequential tense arcs without a hint of power creep.
I found myself holding my own breath at several points. Dang, IC.
I haven't been this tense since ever! Rainbow is one upping Sam Fisher at this point with her acrobatics!
Spidermare, spidermare.
I've said it many times. Your writing skills are top fucking notch, IC!! you have me tense as hell!