Chapter 19: Tag-a-long ---------------------- Tucker began to sneak around the corners of the old castle. Hiding wasn't very easy since his cloaking field was on the fritz but it was good knowing that he had his shield generator working. That way, if someone wanted to sneak up on him and slash his throat, they would have to go through an energy barrier first. He sighed. There were guards everywhere. Why did he stick his neck out like this? Was there a reason? He shrugged and begged his mind to shut up so he could find out where he was. He quickly sprinted from corner to corner, trying to find a safe way to hide. Then, he stepped where he shouldn't have. The floor beneath him gave way, crumbling beneath him. Grabbing at whatever he could, his fingers slipped between deep growing roots, slowing his descent, but not stopping it. He landed on the ground, his back slamming against the floor, and his head rebounded, hitting the hard rock with a sickening thud. Then the world went black. He wasn't out for more than a few minutes before he woke up again. His computer had shocked him a few times, forcing him to wake up. He rubbed the back of his head and groaned in pain. A pale light shone in from the hole above, but the light did not reach the depths of the cavern. "Where am I?" he whispered. The walls echoed his words back, almost distorting them, making them sound evil and vicious. "Computer, light amplification." he said aloud, as his visor came down. The whole area lit green as the computer chimed and repeated, "Light amplification." He surveyed the area, but seeing was still difficult because there was very little light to amplify in the first place. The cavern was an old cavern, probably here for ages. The castle was probably built over it. The walls dripped with liquid, formed by years of decaying dirt. The humidity was high and beads of sweat began to form on his face. "This isn't helping me any." he said to himself. "Computer, overlay present view with heat amplification and infer-vision." he said. His world faded from a green and became a bright red, with heat sources outlined in purple. He looked around, spotting several plots of purple and yellow on the cieling, more than not, probably bats. He surveyed the area, trying his best to walk. He took no more than four steps before he tripped on a nearby rock and landed face first into a small pool of muddy water. "Computer, enhanced imaging." he growled. The computer enhanced the view he had and made navigating the darkness easier. Now why didn't he just bring a light? he asked himself. He wandered around in the cave, underneath the surface. He knew there must of been a way out. He looked at the hole he came from. Too high up for his grappling arm to reach. Most caves have connections leading to the surface. All he had to do was find another one. He surveyed the chamber. There was a slight slope to his east. It was the best hope of a passage back to the outside world. He began heading east when something caught the corner of his eye. He spun around and located a massive heat source, humanoid in shape, before it darted around the corner. He quickly followed after it, following the heat patterns on the floor formed by it's feet. The small figure retreated quickly but gave a girlish grunt when it tripped and fell on the ground. Tucker quickly ran to the creature side, drawing his sword incase of attack, but was surprised to see a little girl, sitting out the ground. She backed away slowly, eyes wide with fear. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you.." he said quietly, reaching out for her. As his hand approached the girl to help her up, he grabbed his forearm and bit down, hard. Tucker screamed in pain and the girl broke into a dead run. Cursing in some languages not to be discovered for another few hundred years, Tucker rubbed the sore on his arm and looked around for the girl who was not to be seen anywhere. He sighed and continued on his search to find a way out of these catacombs. After a few minutes of walking, he knew that the girl was still around. He walked silently, using a technique for stealth he learned from a ninja friend he had not so long ago named Edge, and easily made out the sounds of this girl's shuffle. Not to mention he used the visor's sound enhancement. Using echo-location, he pinpointed where she was coming from. Noting that she wasn't much of a threat, he shrugged it off and kept walking. After a few more minutes of travel, still no way out in site, he realized that maybe this kid knew a way out. He spun around, but the girl immediately hid into the darkness. He took a few more steps and spun around again, noting she had taken a mimicing of a few steps. "Look, kid. It don't want to hurt you. I just want to get out. Do you know how to get out?" he asked, as harmlessly as possible. The girl peeked out from behind a crevice and stared at him blankly. "You must be hungry. Are you hungry?" he asked, slipping his pack off his back. "All alone down here, you must be hungry." he said. He opened up his pack and pulled out a piece of jerky and a stale roll, placing it on a cloth on the ground. He gestured her forward, trying to get her to eat, but she still stayed away, though he could tell she was hungry. "Okay, you can stay there if you want.. but I'll keep going. I'll leave the food here. It's yours if you're hungry." he said. He spun back around and continued his search for a way out. He took several steps away from the food and peeked around his shoulder. He saw the little girl pick the food up and began eating it slowly, deliberately as if she had not eating in a long time. He turned back around, and continued his walking, too tired to wonder about the girl. Filling his mind with all the memories he could muster of his past, he tried his best to keep it busy as he wandered through the darkness. After a few minutes of vagueness, his mind wandered and he turned around again. Instead of darting behind a wall, the girl stood a few yards away, staring at him. "Is she following me?" he asked himself. He turned back around and walked a few more steps before returning his gaze to the girl and sure enough she was following him. He smiled and began to approach her when she would draw back and make motions to run. Stopping in his tracks, he sighed in depression and sat down on the muddy ground. "Look kid, I'm tired. You can stand there if you want.. but I'm not going anywhere for a while." he said. He slipped his bag off and placed his head down on it. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. After a short nap, he awoke to find the girl, sitting nearby on a rock, her arms draped around her knees, arms cradles between them. She was sound asleep. Tucker tried to get up as quietly as possible but the girl shot awake and stared at him through the darkness. "How old are you?" he asked, hoping to break the silence. Shifting nervously, she scooted back, away from him. "No.. don't run. I just want to konw who you are.. I'm not going to hurt you." The girl looked at him blankly and shrugged. "Are you saying you don't know who you are?" he asked. She thought about it a second and smiled. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small folded piece of leather. Worn beyond repair, she unfolded it, and to her dismay, it fell apart. She scraped up it's contents which had fallen to the ground. There were a few dollar bills, a wadded up piece of paper, and a small plastic card. She picked up the plastic card and placed them on the ground in front of Tucker. He lifted the plastic card to his eyes and squinted. Much of it was worn away, but he could make out Kaiser Permamente, a hospital chain of the 20th century. He tried to read the imprint on the card for a name, but that too was worn away. He _did_ make out her age. She was 14. "You're pretty small for you're age. You should eat more." he said, taking off his pack. He opened up the front pouch and pulled out some more strips of dried meat and some more day old bread and handed it to her. She stepped forth and greedily ate it up. "What's your name?" he asked as she scarfed down her food. She paused in her ravenous behavior and looked up at Tucker with a blank stare. She shrugged and continued eating. "Do you have a name?" he asked. She nodded her head. "What is it?" he repeated. She quickly finished off her meal and held the front of her trench coat to Tucker's face. "Nekko Bauer!" she said proudly as she read the name off the label. It was an inspiration to hear her voice and to know she actually had one. "Hmm.. Nekko. It's doesn't sound like the name of a nice girl like you. Are you sure you don't have another name?" he asked, looking for the truth. She shook her head no. "Okay, Nekko. I'm going to try and get out of this place. You want to come along?" She looked at him and tilted her head in thought. She smiled and nodded her head, which Tucker assumed meant yes. Tucker smiled and resumed his trek in the darkness, carefully keeping track of the girl, just in case she tried anything against him. Stalking in the darkness, he turned slightly when a growl emanated from his left. "Look OUT!" Nekko cried as she pushed Tucker to the side. Landing hard against the rock, Tucker growled in pain as he tried to lift the small girl off him. Before given the chance, Nekko lept up and got into a ready stance. Tucker, getting the feeling something was trying to kill the two, turned on the heat-amplification on his visor. He spotted a very large, and very hot blob of.. something. He drew his sword and prepared to attack. The creature lunged at Tucker, close enough for him to see the droll dripping off it's teeth. The thing was too fast for Tucker to react. Before Tucker could raise his shield the thing was on him, going for his jugular. Struggling with all his might, he could not get the thing off him. The watched in horror as the thing loomed closer to his throat, going for the final blow. Before the creature got a chance to bite, there was a sickening crack and the creture fell limp. Tucker pushed the thing off him and stood up, and to his surprise, Nekko held the creature around the neck. It's neck was obviously snapped. "Uh.. thanks." Tucker said, brushing himself off. "You seem to know your way around in here." Tucker said. "Do you know how to get out?" Nekko smiled again and shook her head yes. Tucker slapped his palm against his head for his stupidity and shrugged in defeat. After a few minutes of trekking, the two were back out, in the sunlight again. Tucker sighed and turned to look at the little girl who helped him out. She was pretty, in a petite kind of way. Although slightly mature, she had a cute innocence to her. She had black hair and strange, yet normal for her, red eyes. She looked up at the sun as if she had not gazed upon it before and said laughed. Maybe for her, this was the first time ever being out. * * * It had been a while since Nekko had seen the sky, the sun streaming down through the trees, the gentle wind nipping on her face, playing with her hair. Of course, the time spent underground had taken it's toll. Tucker took a glance back at the little girl who was marvelling at the sights she saw as they made their pleasant little stroll towards the airship. Nekko was wearing the trench coat she had taken her name sake from, old and dirty yet remarkably, it had stood the test of time. Her boots looked like a normal pair of boots, standard issue from Doma guards, which meant she probably has been outside, but considering the shape she was in, she probably wasn't out long. Not like she would be able to beat a whole platoon of Doma guards. Her face was streaked with dirt and grime and she didn't smell too pleasant, which was why he was making his way back to the airship. Honestly, the girl needed a bath and her clothes could do with a little cleaning. He returned his attention back to the path and continued on his trek. He set a comfortable pace, but was unnerved by the unconfortable silence between the two. Less than two words were said on the journey to the airship since they got out of the hole. He decided to do something about that. "Hey, Nekko. Do you remeber anything about your past?" he asked. He waited for a reply but greeted by silence. "Nekko?" he echoed, spinning around, fearing the worst for the little kid. Again, he was alone. He made a quick sprint back and found the little girl crouched down peering at a bush. "What is it, kid?" Tucker asked. "Kitty." she said, pointing at a small ball of fluff rolled up deep withen the bush. The kitten was small, probably newborn. "I wonder where the mother is." Tucker asked, looking around. He scanned the area and soon spotted the mother cat a few feet away. It's lower body, however, was a few feet away in the other direction. Tucker growled. "Some people can be so inhumane." he said. He turned his attention back to Nekko, who was by this time plucking the furball into her arms. The small creature opened it's large, dark eyes, and meowed quietly, licking Nekko in the face, wiping a little bit of dirt off Nekko's face. The kitten curled back up and fell asleep in Nekko's arms. "In a world so filled with peril, rays of light still shine through." Tucker commented to himself, smiling. "Come on, kiddo. We'd better get back to the airship." * * * The trek went by quickly and soon the two re-entered the ship. Tucker, after trying to teach the reason behind baths to Nekko, left Nekko alone in the bathroom to bathe. Unsure whether it would be politically correct to show her how to bathe, he filled the bathtub with warm water and a bubble bath, hoping she knew how to do it on her own. He, meanwhile, had taken her clothes to the nearby river and with a bar of soap and a scrub board, began to do her laundry. Letting the grime and dirt which had collected on her clothes run down stream, he let the clothing dry quickly in the sun before heading back to the ship. When he got back, he found Nekko sleeping on one of the beds, wearing one of Setzer's robes, clutching the small kitten in her arms. She was fast asleep, clean and happy, just like the cat, which he assumed she had too bathed. He hung her clothes up on the clothes hanger and shut the door, letting the little girl sleep for the day. Tucker went out into the lobby and sat down in one of the chairs and propped his feet up. He took off his gear and began tinkering with some strange gadget, quietly awaiting the arrival of the rest of the troop.