{"sf1_id":1056753,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Indigo Fire: Rescuing the Royal, P1","author":"Venturing Viper","words":8661,"posted_at":"2016-08-06T09:34:00.000Z","tags":["Action","Anthropomorphic","Guns","Princess","Viper","car chase","explosions","indigo","kidnapping"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1056753-indigo-fire-rescuing-the-royal-p1","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/1056753","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=1056753\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Indigo Fire: Rescuing the Royal\n\n                Indigo\nstood amongst a crowd of people observing the coronation ceremony in the grand hall of the Alabaster Palace. His mission,\nto kidnap the princess before the true conspirators can take her. He was not\nalone though. He had people surveying from balconies, and a few others\npatrolling halls. The main team however, was on stand-by, ready to make an\nescape as soon as the royal was liberated from the threat.\n\n\n               His\ntarget, Princes Dahlia.\n\n\n           He\nwatched the fuchsia scaled serpent walk down the aisle to the throne, going\nthrough the proceedings of the coronation. She had elegantly trimmed dress. It\nwasn't overbearing and flashy. Nor was it too basic and common. It suited her\npersonality. Young and simple-minded, yet woven in the complexities of royalty.\nIt fixed on to her like a silken drape.\n\n\nIndigo was sure the assailants would\nspring at any time. He just had to be aware of what exactly they were planning.\n\n\nIt was quite bright in the grand\nhall. The open sky shed light through the reinforced glass ceiling. The room\narced in a wide circle several hundreds of feet in diameter. There were so many\npeople, and the space left for any threat to possibly assault the princess\nseemed absurdly large. No one could set so much as a foot toward her without\nbeing spotted and taken down in the open area.\n\n\nBut in almost all defenses, there is\nusually some exploit lingering inside. The room was bright, a little more light\nin the expanse and it would have been almost blinding.\n\n\nHe looked up toward the highest balconies\nthat hung on the storied observation decks built into the palace's pillars.\nThere were a good many guards standing watch with sniper rifles primed to fire\nat any would be attackers.\n\n\nA threat could not possibly be going\nthrough the crowd. The enemy would have to eliminate the snipers first, or find\nsome way to distract them. The snake looked even higher above the balconies.\nThere were more supports above the observation decks. Those supports held the\nglass ceiling aloft. There was just enough room to hide people on them. He\nsuspected that is where the assailants would be, if they had access to such an\narea. Which in such a case, they should if they were to have any chance at\nkidnapping the princess.\n\n\nHe squinted to drown some of the\nrays from hurting his eyes, the open air and radiation made the entire palace\nfeel warm as a clear summer day. It was such a grand area to view. The enormity\nand magnificence of the Alabaster Palace was ancient feat one could marvel at\nfor days. What a shame that some horrible plan was taking place in the midst of\nsuch a home.\n\n\nPrincess Dahlia took her first step\nonto coronation platform. She was full of tension, yet remained outwardly calm.\nShe thought she was too young to usurp the position of a Queen. She had grown\nup in the palace all her life, and not one thing was hidden from her, except\nfor the responsibilities that she was about to take. They were the only\nmysteries that she had yet to know.\n\n\nHer escorts stepped a bit further\naway, taking the ceremony in all seriousness. They sternly eyed any person who\nso much as leaned a little too much forward into the open. With guards like\nthese around, the princess was definitely as safe as she could possibly be.\nBut, even that level of security was just not quite enough.\n\n\nIndigo fixed his eyes on the\ntowering supports of the ceiling. He caught a faint shifting in the solar rays\nabove. The assailants were ready to begin their plan. But he was going to foil\nit.\n\n\nHe saw several of them carrying\nweapons. He stepped forward in hesitation. Were they going to kill her? Before\nhe could dread the thought of the princess being murdered in front of so many\npeople, a giant flare shot down from the supporting arc. The flare blinded\neveryone in the building with a sphere of burning star light.\n\n\nIndigo shielded his eyes and turned\ntoward the intended target. A grappling hook shot at the wall beside the\nthrone, the thin thread was scarcely visible in the glaring light. Three\npersons zipped down the line. No one could tell what was happening with that\nflare lighting up the room like a second sun. The snipers could not aim their\nweapons with that flare searing their eyes.\n\n\nIndigo raced toward the throne,\nbarely making out the figures of three people incapacitating guards and making\noff with the princess. One of the assailants turned around in surprise. His\nface was covered by dark tinted snow goggles and a hood. The kidnappers could\nsee clearly while everyone else struggled to keep their eyes open.\n\n\nIndigo threw an elbow to his chest\nand wrestled him upwards. He then drove the criminal to the floor with an\naudible crack. That should slow him down for a couple of days. The other two\nfired their thruster packs and floated up a balcony along their exit route.\nIndigo leaped up the wall and gripped up the smooth stone. He vaulted over the\nrailing and chased after the kidnappers.\n\n\nBefore he could take down the duo, a\nlarge henchman rammed him off course. The force of the impact sent him into the\nwall, breaking a rather expensive desk and dropping an even more valuable\npainting. The bulky henchman charged again, attempting to ram the snake into solid\nstone, but the snake quickly clambered over him and kicked at his head, forcing\nthe henchman headfirst into the alabaster wall. Forget the painting and the\ndesk, that wall must cost a fortune to repair.\n\n\n\"Not my fault!\" Indigo remarked as\nhe scrambled after the two fleeing suspects, leaving the henchman there to pay\nfor the priceless artifacts.\n\n\nIndigo traced the scent of the two\nkidnappers making swift progress in catching up to them.\n\n\nHis communicator began to ping. He\npressed the button to answer.\n\n\n\"Indigo, come in Indigo!\" a voice\nspoke, \"What happened? Where's the princess?\"\n\n\n\"I'm in pursuit of the kidnappers. We're\nheaded down the southern section of the palace. Can you make it to the\nsecondary extraction point?\"\n\n\n\"Yeah,\"\n\n\"Good, I'll meet you there!\"\n\n He made a few turns down some corridors and\nfound the assailants dragging their victim. Apparently they had put a bag over\nher head. That was no way to treat royalty.\n\n\nIndigo hit the assailant on the\nright, elbowing him in the spine and causing him to fall forward onto his\ngoggled face. He then skipped over the fallen foe and spun around to uppercut\nthe other in the chin. The second assailant jerked into the air and fell back\nto the ground. It was a clean knock out. They didn't even see it coming.\nPerhaps their disguises limited their perception of their surroundings.\n\n\nIndigo removed the bag from her\nhead. She immediately began struggling with him. \"Unhand me you fiend!\"\n\n\n\"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down.\" He tried\nto hush her. She then threw a punch straight to the side of his jaw and ran. He\nrubbed his cheek as he watched her take off in the direction they had just come\nfrom. \"Ow. - Hey! Hold on! You don't want to go that way! There could be more\nof the-\"\n\n\nShe screamed and immediately\nretreated in the direction of where she was being taken. She ran past Indigo,\nfleeing from something he had yet to see.\n\n\nIndigo turned around and saw the\nhulking henchman slump around the corner. They made eye contact. The henchman\nscowled at what he saw and charged for revenge. There was no way Indigo could\nchallenge that beast. He turned and ran as well.\n\n\nThe princess was running for her\nlife. She had no idea what was going on, but if anyone, other than her own\nguards, was looking for her. She was going to keep as far away as she could\nfrom them until she made it back to safety.\n\n\nIndigo outran the tank that trained\nafter him and caught up to the princess. Seeing that she was going too slow to\noutrun the bulging bad guy, he chose to pick her up instead. He scooped her up\nfrom her legs, carrying her like in the same manner as a storybook hero.\nHowever, she resisted being carried around so he quickly switched from cradling\nher in his arms to hunching her over his right shoulder.\n\n\nShe pounded her fists on his\nbackside, yelling. \"Let go of me! I am the princess! You'll be sorry that you\never laid a finger on me! It's against the law! I said let me go! Let me go\nthis instant!\" Her screaming hurt Indigo's sense of hearing. No wonder the\nothers put a bag over her head.\n\n\nThe princess finally looked up to\nsee the charging titan barreling down the hallway toward them. \"Let me- go... Go.\nGo. Go. Go! GO!\" her cries to be unhanded were replaced by pleads to speed up.\nIndigo glanced back and saw that the henchman had picked up an unstoppable\nmomentum. \"Doh!\" Indigo hasted to a full sprint.\n\n\nThree palace guards emerge further\ndown the hall.\n\n\n\"Stop right there, criminal scum!\"\nthey commanded.\n\n\n\"Get out of the way!\" yelled Indigo.\nThe guards aim their weapons at the blue snake, not heeding his words.\n\n\n\"Let us pass!\" ordered the princess.\nThe guards withdrew their weapons and made way. They were unsure of their\nactions, but compliant to royal command. Indigo charged passed by them.\nFollowed by the henchmen bulldozing through the three guards.\n\n\n\"*Krshh* Indigo, have you\nintercepted the princess yet?\" the communicator asked.\n\n\n\"Kind of worried about being\nintercepted myself!\" he replied.\n\n\n \"Uhhh,\" the princess interjected, \"I think\nhe's gaining on us!\"\n\n\nIndigo glanced back again. The train\nwas running on full steam, barely maintaining its momentum without tipping\nover. Indigo couldn't outrun him with the princess slowing him down. At least\n\n\n\"I hope you could forgive me in\nadvance!\" he stated. He then swam his right arm at the next tall statue he\ncould find. The statue tilted just enough to make it into the henchman's\ntrajectory. The clumsy criminal couldn't avoid the obstacle. He tripped over\nthe statue, and his entire body fell to the floor with a rumbling thud.\n\n\nIndigo smirked at the sound of the\nhenchman's fall. That sounded quite painful, he must have face planted after\ntripping over the block of stone.\n\n\nThe princess picked her head up.\n\"Well, I'm glad there's some use for those worthless pieces of rock.\" Indigo\nface puzzled. That statue was worthless? He zoomed past a few more corridors\nand noticed exact replicas of the statue placed across from each other in even\nspaces. Just how many sculptors did they hire to make all of these things?\n\n\nIndigo navigated his way to the\nrendezvous, located at the southern end of the palace.\n\n\n\"Excuse me!\" the princess shouted,\n\"Where are we going?\"\n\n\nIndigo had almost forgot. The\nprincess was almost completely unaware of the situation. \"We're taking you some\nplace safe,\" was all he could say. Though, he knew that was probably too vague\nfor her liking.\n\n\n\"We? You mean that there are more of\nyou? And let me rephrase that first question. Where\nexactly are you taking me?\"\n\n\"Yes, there is a whole team ready to\nescort you out of the city to an undisclosed location. We will get you to\nsafety. The people who tried to kidnap you are probably everywhere right now.\"\n\n\n\"Aren't you kidnapping me?\"\n\n\"Well, not for any ill intent. We're\njust trying to-\"\n\n\n\"Unhand me at once! My guards will\nkeep me safe!\"\n\n\n\"And they did a marvelous job, but\nthere is a conspiracy against you and we can't allow you to remain in such\ndanger. If you can be assaulted in your own palace then you are not safe here.\"\n\n\n\"Where else could possibly be more\nsafe than my own palace! I have an entire army protecting me here for cry it\nout loud!\"\n\n\n\"Judging by that army's failure to\nkeep you from being kidnapped, I don't think they're\nall doing their jobs. Those who conspired against you are probably\namong the ranks of your army.\"\n\n\n\"I will not question the loyalty of\nmy own servants! Now let me go!\"\n\n\n\"Sorry, Your Highness, but I'm not\nat liberty to do that.\"\n\n\n\"You are a subject of this nation!\nYou must comply, or I'll charge you with treason!\"\n\n\n\"Uh, no, I'm not from this country.\nI was employed by someone else. You have no authority over me, or my\naffiliates. Speaking of which, you will meet a few of them shortly.\"\n\n\nIndigo stopped at the southern end\nof the palace. The palace had been built atop a plateau and they were standing\non a balcony next to the very edge. Indigo deployed a rappelling line off the\nedge of the balcony.\n\n\n\"How is this keeping me out of\ndanger?!\" Dahlia asked as she peered down the two-hundred foot drop.\n\n\n\"What, you don't trust me?\"\n\n\"No!\"\n\nIndigo rolled his eyes. It didn't\nmatter if she trusted him or not. He had a mission to complete.\n\n\n\"You're not making me go down that-\nWHAAA!\" Indigo grabbed hold of her and made his way down the line. \"You maniac!\nYou're going to get me killed!\" she blared at his head as they rappelled down\nthe cliff face.\n\n\nThey made it to the bottom safely.\nThere was no need for the princess to get all hysterical about it. It's not\nlike they were going to fall to their deaths.\n\n\nAn armored van was waiting for them.\nTwo agents stood outside, ready to take the princess into the van. However, Dahlia\nwas becoming less cooperative by the second. She saw the unfamiliar faces and\nimmediately began to struggle. \"You can't just shove me into a van and take me\noff to who knows where! I am the Princess! There is no way you are going to get\naway with this! No, let go of me! I will not be taken hostage!\" Dahlia kept\nsquirming around until the team had finally managed to get her into the van.\n\n\n\"My court will not stand for this-\"\n\n\"Hey!\" Indigo blared out, \"We are\nnot going to hold you for ransom. We are not going to extort you. We are not\ngoing to do anything to belittle your royal name.\nWe are simply trying to get you as far away from danger as is\nreasonable to do so. Now until the threat is dealt with, we are going to keep\nyou safe. After that, we will return you to the palace unharmed and you can\nreturn to ruling your kingdom.\"\n\n\nThe Princess fell silent. She hadn't\nbeen addressed like that by anyone else but her parents, when they were around.\nShe had no control over this situation and her best option was to simply follow\nthrough and hope for the best. She climbed into the van and took a seat.\n\n\n\"Sorry,\" she said \"It's just... I'm\nscared.\"\n\n\n\"Don't be. We'll keep you safe.\"\nIndigo said as climbed beside her.\n\n\n\"Are you done yet?\" the driver\nasked, she was a wolf, \"We need to get going, and I need everyone inside. I\ndon't want to get arrested because someone decided to stay and take in the view.\"\n\n\nThere were six passengers in all.\nThe driver, the shotgun, Indigo, Princess Dahlia, and two reinforcements. The\ntwo reinforcements sat in the back with Indigo and Dahlia. They were Komodo\nDragons. Indigo had served among their ranks before.\n\n\nHigh above the van, overlooking the\ncliff face, the hulking henchman saw the vehicle pull out from the cliff's\nshadow. He pulled out a radio and informs his accomplices. \"They're headed into\nthe aqueducts. We need to cut them off!\"\n\n\nA voice emitted from the radio,\n\"Forget about taking her alive. We can't afford her to capture her anymore. The\nmission has failed. Destroy the vehicle. Whoever decided to interfere with our\nplan will take full responsibility for her death. See to it that it gets done.\"\n\n\n\"Understood.\"\n\n                The\ndriver looked into her left mirror and saw some lights approaching. \"Umm, I\nthink we've got company.\"\n\n\n                Dahlia\nsat up, \"It must be a palace patrol. Pull over now!\"\n\n\n                \"That\ndoesn't look like a patrol unit to me.\"\n\n\n                Several\nshots sunk into the back door of the van.\n\n\n                \"That\nis definitely not a patrol unit!\" exclaimed the driver, \"Havoc! Take him out!\"\n\n\n                The\npassenger riding shotgun pulled out the assault rifle from his side and stuck\nhis head out the window. He brought the gun to aim and tried to hit the tailing\ncar. A few bullets flew by the right side of the van, startling Havoc and\ncausing him to drop his gun.\n\n\n                The\ndriver, Neda, saw Havoc's slip up. \"Really?!\" she skulked, \"You have pads on\nyour hands and you dropped the gun!\"\n\n\n                \"He\nwas shooting at me!\"\n\n\n                \"That's\nno excuse for dropping your weapon!\"\n\n\n                Another\nbarrage of bullets dented the back doors of the van. Dahlia ducked her head,\nscared out of her mind.\n\n\n                Neda\nlooked at her right mirror. \"Oh, great! Now there's two of them!\"\n\n\n                \"Let\nme deal with them.\" Indigo imposed, grabbing a rifle from behind the passenger\nseat. He then squeezed onto Havoc's lap and peered out the window. The\npassenger from the pursuing car fired a few shots, but was terribly off target.\nIndigo tried to get the gun out of the window but found that he would not be\nable to wield it effectively.\n\n\n                \"Keep\nit steady! I'm going on the roof!\" He then plopped the rifle on top of the van\nand climbed out of the window.\n\n\n                \"You're\ngoing to fall off!\" shouted Neda.\n\n\n                \"Actually,\nI'm more likely to get shot!\" replied Indigo gripping himself on the roof of\nthe van. He kept his belly to the floor and aimed his rifle. The van swiveled\nas it drove through the aqueduct tunnels. He kept in sync with the swaying van\nand aimed at the tires of the pursuing vehicles.\n\n\n                Bang!\n\nA shot went out of the rifle and\npopped a tire of the first vehicle, causing it to spin out and crash into a\nbarrier.\n\n\n                Bang!\n\n\nAnother shot punctured another tire,\ncausing the remaining vehicle to flip. Just then, a line of armored SUV's burst\nfrom a maintenance tunnel, bringing more formidable targets into view. Indigo\nshifted his aim toward the new threats. He fired another round, but it did\nlittle to the vehicles reinforced tread.\n\n\n                He\nfired another round at the driver, but the bullet only cracked the grass. The SUV's\nwere too heavily armored for his rifle, and the attackers were only getting\ncloser. A henchman popped out of the sunroof of one of the vehicles and began firing\nan automatic. Indigo ducked, and let bullets fly above him. He quickly aimed\nhis rifle and shot the henchman in the shoulder, causing the attacker to slump\nback into the hole he came from. A window from another SUV cracked open and a\nrifle muzzle pried out of the opening. The weapon fired, but only hit the wall\nto the side of the targeted van. Whoever was aiming the weapon did not have\nmuch room to do it properly.\n\n\n                The\nSUV pulled up and rammed the van, causing the van to veer left and loose grip\non the tarmac. Indigo freed an arm from his rifle to keep himself steady. The\nSUV rammed the van again, causing it to hit the side wall and almost causing\nIndigo to fall off.\n\n\n                The\ntruck pulled away and the window began to roll down for the gunman to have a\nbetter view. Indigo saw the threat and moved to neutralize it. He quickly let\ngo of his rifle, trusting it to stick to the van for just a few seconds, and leaped\nacross to the hostile truck. He landed opposing roof just as the gunman aimed.\nThe gunman fired a few shots, making a trail of dents in the side of the van.\nThe bullets didn't quite penetrate the van's plating.\n\n\n                Indigo\nsnatched the protruding firearm and fired it at another vehicle attempting to\ngun him down from behind. The bullets fractured the glass windshields until\nthey were almost impossible to see through. The clip ran out and he tossed the\ngun aside to deal with the vehicle currently underneath him.\n\n\n                The\nSUV swerved and rammed the van again, almost accomplishing its goal of crashing\nits target and shaking off it's the unwanted passenger. Indigo jumped to the\nfront of the windshield and kicked at it, drawing the driver's attention to the\nmore imminent threat. He then slid to the driver's door and opened it. The\ndriver tried to close the door, only to find himself lose some control of the\ncar. The passenger riding shotgun fired a pistol in an attempt to ward off the\nblue snake. \"What in fat Albert's name are trying to do!\" yelled the driver to\nhis passenger. Indigo backed up to the second door and opened that one, for some\nreason, these knuckleheads didn't locking them.\n\n\n                He\nmade quick use of the opening and caught one of them by surprise. He pulled a\ngunman out of the backseat and threw him down to the road. He then closed the\ndoor just in time to block the pistol fire from the shotgun.\n\n\n                Indigo\nrolled over to the other side of the car to take out the remaining gunman. He\nopened the back door. The gunman turned and fired at the blank space, not\nknowing it was a distraction. He sees his door open up and turned to shoot the\ninvader, however, Indigo caught his elbow mid spin and drove the gunman's arm\ninto the driver's face.\n\n\n                The\ngunman pushed back and fired the gun at the windshield. The bullet ricocheted\nand broke the side window as well, leaving the driver disoriented from the sharp\nblast and cracked visuals.\n\n\n                Neda\nand Havoc watched from across the gap, as the three fought over control over\nthe vehicle. The SUV swerved toward and away from the van, muffled shouts could\nbe heard as their heads knocked around in the confined space. It was unclear\nwhat was going on in the quiet cab, but it was expected that Indigo would be\nthe one to win the fight. The driver's head pressed against the window causing\na hilarious disfiguration as his check went flat and eye squeezed tightly\nagainst the glass.\n\n\n                The\ndriver's door opened and Indigo leaped back onto the van. His chest landed on\nthe hood, barely clinging on. He pulled the rest of his body to safety. The\ndriver of the SUV tried to steer the vehicle after the attacker had left, but,\nto his surprise, the steering wheel was gone. He cried out as the SIV gently\nveered to the right before abruptly making a sharp turn away from the van. It\nthen crashed into the wall and skidded on to its side.\n\n\n                Neda\nsaw the wreckage in the side mirror and then turned to see Indigo give a cheesy\nsmile. Havoc couldn't help but look surprised at the feat.\n\n\n                Indigo\nraised his head above the roof. One SUV down, two more to go. He saw his rifle\nstill fixed where he had left it. He was glad it didn't fall off, otherwise he\nwould be in trouble.\n\n\n                He\nleaned on to the roof of the van once more and readied the rifle. Before he\ncould do any damage, the van hit a rather large bump in the road and sent\nIndigo airborne. The sudden jolt caused him to both lose grip on the gun and focus\non not falling off. He fell back down to the back of the van, but the gun\nbounced off. His head hung over the far end with his hands keeping him from\nsliding any further.  He pushed himself\naway from the precarious edge. It would have been very painful to have nose-dived\ninto the tarmac at that speed.\n\n\n                He\nsees a gunman pop out of the nearest SUV window with yet another assault rifle.\nThis time the gunner didn't need to worry about being shot. Indigo turned\naround and clung his head near the passenger window of the van.\n\n\n                \"Hey,\nHavoc. I need something to fend them off!\"\n\n\n                \"That\nwas our last gun!\"\n\n\n                A\nfew bullets sprayed onto the side of the van, hitting the mirror and almost\nhitting Havoc and Indigo.\n\n\n                \"Here,\nuse one of these!\" yelled Havoc as he handed a grenade over to the roof.\n\n\n                Indigo\nreceived the explosive, a bit confused as to why they were carrying these\nthings in the first place. Indigo rolled a bit more onto the van as another\nspray of bullets sparked into the van's frame. He pulled the pin and allowed\nthe grenade to cook for a few seconds. At just the right moment, he chucked it\ndown to the road. It landed precisely under the SUV and exploded, lifting the heavy\nvehicle a foot into the air and blowing all four tires.\n\n\n                The\ntruck skidded on its bumper and tripped over to its side. Flames and sparks\nflew out from beneath the wreckage.\n\n\n                Indigo\nleaned over the window again. \"Hand me another one.\"\n\n\n                \"That\nwas the only one we had!\"\n\n\n                \"What!?\"\n\n                Indigo\nthen looked under his shoulder to see another henchman emerging from the\nsunroof. This time it wasn't an assault rifle. Neda looked at her remaining\nmirror and saw the figure as well. \"Is that a-?\"\n\n\n                \"RPG!\"\nshouted Indigo, confirming that it was, in fact, a rocket propelled grenade.\n\n\n                Neda\nswerved the van to the right, evading the flying fireball that would have\ndestroyed them. The rocket exploded onto to the road, sending chunks of rock\ninto the air in fiery blast of searing shrapnel. Neda's side window shattered\nand she screamed at the near death experience.\n\n\n                The\nhenchman withdrew into the van to reload. The SUV was too far to jump on to.\nIndigo climbed back into the van. \"Excuse me. Coming through!\" He stated as he\nshuffled over Havoc and into the back cabin. Everyone was clearly holding on in\nfright. Poor Dahlia had curled up into a ball, terrified to the core.\n\n\n                He\nwent behind Neda's seat and found the crate he'd spotted earlier.\n\n\n                \"What's\nin here?\" he asked, already trying to figure out the answer as he opened the\nfloor bin.\n\n\n                \"Those\nare just supplies. They're for the setting up our encampment.\"\n\n\n                Indigo\nopened the crate, perhaps there was a pistol inside. He lifted the door and\nfound something that was definitely not camping equipment. \"What the heck is\nthis?\" He lifted the heavy object out of the container and set on in the center\nof the van. It looked like some sort of artillery cannon.\n\n\n                Havoc's\neyes went wide. \"That's a mass driver!\"\n\n\n                \"How'd\nthis thing get in here?\" asked Indigo as he looked the weapon over, trying to\nfigure out where the trigger was.\n\n\n                \"We\nmust have goofed up on the labeling the supply crate.\"\n\n\n                Indigo\nturned his head, \"Quick! Open the door!\" The two reinforcements obeyed, pulling\nback the handle and swinging the back doors of the van open. Indigo leaned back\nagainst the floor, gripping for the weapon's trigger.\n\n\n                Right\nbehind them was the black SUV. The henchman that wielded the RPG stood through\nthe sunroof, carefully aiming his firearm at the back of the van. The two heavy\nweapons specialists froze as they both realized for a second that they were\npretty much staring death in the face.\n\n\nThey both cringe as they knew that\nthey could not afford to waste another second being idle. It had to be done. They\npulled the triggers.\n\n\nThe rocket flew from the top of the\nSUV, sending its payload toward the underside of the van.\n\n\nThe mass driver blasted from within\nits lair. Sending its 75 mm shell straight through the SUV's engine block. The\nfront end of the SUV caved into itself, as if the vehicle ran into an invisible\npole embedded in the road. The shell screamed out the other end while the\ngasoline ignited and engulfed the remains in liquid flame.\n\n\nThe RPG detonated beneath the van,\ncausing the vehicle to kick upwards into the air. Every one of the passengers\nwent weightless. The driver and the shotgun were secured in their seats. The two\nreinforcements fastened their grip to the railings. But the two remaining,\nDahlia and Indigo weren't secured to anything.\n\n\nIn that moment, Indigo knew he wasn't\ngoing to remain inside for very long, as soon as the van made contact with the\nground, he could quite easily fall out. He noticed Dahlia was not secured as\nwell. He could see the terror in her eyes. He knew that no one else was paying\nattention. They were too focused at the prospect of dying in a fiery crash. But\nIndigo didn't forget his mission - rescue the princess.\n\n\nHe reached out and pulled her into\nhis arms, shielding her from the harsh impacts of the crash. The van's bumper\ncaught on to the floor and the vehicle somersaulted. The passengers were thrown\nviolently around in the barreling container. He held her head in his palm,\ntaking the hard frame to his bare knuckles. He used himself as a cushion,\nprotecting her back from injury with his own.\n\n\nThe vehicle tumbled a few more times\nabout to fall over a barrier that blocked the fall into an old filtration\nsystem. The van caught on to the metal stripped barrier, pounding the feeble\nframework like tinfoil. Indigo felt the force pushing him to fall out of the\nvan. He could have prevented himself from falling. He could have brought both\nof his arms to grab hold of the van. But it would be at the cost of the\nprincess's life. In order to save himself, he would have to let her fall to her\ndeath.\n\n\nBut he wasn't such a self-serving hireling.\nHe was a soldier. A soldier that fought for the lives of others. A warrior who\nknew the value of an honorable name. He held on to her as they both were shaken\nout from cabin. There was nothing to keep them from falling out. The two fell\nforward into the abyss. Dahlia saw the dark pit below her and let out a\nhorrible scream. This time she was sure that she was going to die.\n\n\nIndigo didn't share that perspective\nthough, true, the fall would kill both of them, even if there were water at the\nbottom. He saw a sort of stairwell across the gap, used long ago by those who had\noperated the aqueducts. He reached for the grappling hook he had kept tucked\naway and pulled it out.\n\n\nThe two plummeted down the pit,\nfalling about a hundred and fifty feet. Indigo adjusted his hold of Dahlia,\nwrapping his legs around hers and readying for a sharp turn. He fired the\ngrappling hook at the wall. The spear point anchored into the stone, and the\nwire provided some resistance to their rapid descent.\n\n\nDahlia could feel the speed\ngradually decrease and the gentle whizz of the line. She looked around and\nnoticed Indigo had been there the whole time, keeping her safe. She was not\nalone. She was not going to die. At least, that was what she hoped.\n\n\nIndigo managed what length the\ngrappling line had, he knew it wasn't enough to keep a safe pace. He swung into\nthe wall at precisely the right moment the hook hit its limit. A snapping jerk\ncaused them to swing on to a stairwell with the force of the fall. Indigo spun\naround, limbs aching from the strain of the veer.\n\n\nDahlia felt the force of the swerve.\nAll her weight pressed upon Indigo during the tight swing. Before she could\nregister where she was headed, she felt a sudden impact behind her. They\nstopped. Indigo took the brunt of the impact, colliding with the stone ceiling\nand saving the princess from a grievous injury. Had Indigo not been behind her,\nshe probably would have been crushed.\n\n\nIndigo discharged the hook and the\ntwo fell to the floor. They collided on the ground, landing on their sides.\nThey barely survived.\n\n\nDahlia could feel the trauma. She\nmoved out from Indigo's limp hold and shakily stood on her feet. She leaned\nagainst a wall, trying to cope with the situation. She almost died... She almost\nDIED! Not once, not twice, but three times!\n\n\nShe could have been assassinated by\nher throne. She could have been hit by a stray bullet. And she could have\nfallen out of a van during a crash! She felt so fragile at the moment. So\nvulnerable. She had never in her life been in such a life threatening situation,\na situation where she had absolutely no control whatsoever, where her life was\nforfeit and nothing seemed to care.\n\n\nShe looked over at Indigo. He wasn't\nmoving. She kneeled down and tried to wake him. He didn't react. She moved away\nas she thought something terrible. They had fallen more than a hundred feet and\nhe took the weight of it. He saved her life. And now he was...\n\n\nShe tried to hold back her emotions.\nNo one had ever done that for her. Not anyone she knew. He was a stranger who\nhad come to save her life. He wasn't even one of her own people. He had no allegiance\nto her. He was a mercenary who held no obligation to anyone. Yet, he was\nwilling to die for her.\n\n\nAt last the sorrow burst, she began\nto cry. She motioned a little closer, wondering if she should dare touch him.\nTo let him know that she grateful for his sacrifice even in death. Before she\ncould place a finger on his face, a fiery heap of metal crashed against the\nstairwell and shook the foundations of stone. She fell\nback at the loud crash. It broke the tender moment into a million pieces,\nshattering what empathy she was feeling. It reminded her of her helplessness.\nShe shouldn't be alive right now. She shouldn't be breathing. People died because\nof her. Were their sacrifices worth it?\n\nGuilt and\nshame flooded her mind. She had enough of all the extremities. She couldn't\nhandle the stress of her trauma and the fear of her life. She needed to get\naway. She needed to break free from whatever chaos driven spirit that now followed\nher. She hasted up the stairwell to find some way to escape. Someplace where\nshe could be safe. Somewhere she could be alone until her head cleared.\n\n\nMaybe her\nguards would find her. Maybe everything would return to normal. Maybe this was\nall just a dream. Or maybe she no longer wanted to be a princess.\n\n                Indigo's\nvision blurred back. He could feel the cracked bones in his body. He hoped none\nof them snapped. As dense as they were, they were still breakable, and that\nfall must have damaged something.                He\nlifted his head. A sharp pain seared his skull causing him to hiss. He looked\ndown and saw a dried blood stain. He must have cut himself against the ceiling.\nHe looked up, but failed to find a red spot in the stone. He got back up,\ntrying to recall what he was doing and how he got there. Right, he was escorting a princess\nto safety, but danger didn't want to be left behind. Wait, where was the\nprincess? He looked around, double-checking if she was still around. He didn't\ndrop her did he?He flicked his tongue and tested the\nair for a scent. He smelled the silly snake. She left without him. She probably\nwasn't very far. He just needed to keep a brisk pace to catch up to her. How\nfar could a young princess possibly go?He checked for his communicator, but\ncouldn't seem to find it on him. He must have dropped it during all the action.\nHe glanced around for it, but it too had vanished. Looks like he was on his own\nfrom now on.He glanced up the outside of the\nstairwell to see if his allies were still by the wrecked van. But the van was\nno longer there. If they survived, they must have either escaped by some other\nmeans, or have been captured. He assumed that he and the princess were presumed\ndead. From any other perspective, it must have looked like they fell down a\nthree-hundred foot drop without anything to break their fall. Wherever his friends\nwere then. He hoped they were safe.He turned and ran up the stairwell,\nwanting to catch up to the princess before she wandered too far. He skipped up\nthe steps at a swift pace. Dahlia must be very tired by now, it was about\nthirty flights of steps until the end of the stairwell, and even then, there\nwas probably a whole complex to navigate above that. She could probably get\nlost down here. (The aqueducts were built over a\nnatural spring under the region's underground.)He hurried up the stairs, legs\nburning from the climb. He followed her scent for quite some time, passing door\nafter door, hall after hall. How long was he out? She had already gone quite\nsome distance. Perhaps he underestimated her tenacity. For a princess, she had\nquite the spirit.He finally found her, hunched over\non the floor, crying.\"Princess Dahlia...\" Indigo spoke\nsoftly.She looked back wide eyed. The\nhallway was dark, the electrical wiring for the lights had long since burned\nout. She didn't know who it was. She backed away in fear.\"Princess Dahlia, it's me, Indigo.\"She motioned to get up and flee, but\nthe voice sounded familiar. Her eyes adjusted, and she recognized the shady\nfigure. She ran up to him and gave him the tight hug of desperation. \"Oh, it's\nyou! Thank heavens, you're alive!\" She held him tightly, not wanting to ever be\nseparated again from an ally. \"I thought you were dead.\" She released him. A\nfrustration she had been holding the hold time had manifested in her and she\npunched him the arm. \"Why didn't you get up when I shook you around! I walked\nabout aimlessly for hours!\"\"Hey, I'm not a robot that can\nsimply pick itself up after falling eight-teen stories! I have a brain like\neveryone else.\" He said as rubbed his shoulder.\"I'm surprised you still have one\nafter all you've put me through!\"\"I wasn't the one who planned to\nkidnap you! - Wait, that didn't come out right.\"\"You did kidnap me! If it weren't\nfor you, and your band of lunatics, I would still be safe in my palace!\"\"Actually, if weren't for me, you\nwould be in the hands of a terrorist! You would have been held hostage and shown\nlittle kindness. In fact, I'm sure you would have been killed after they were\nthrough with you!\"\"How do I know you are not one of\nthem? How do I know you're not going to turn me in as soon as we get out here?\"\"Because almost died saving your\nlife!\"She stopped. Indigo had already demonstrated\nto her that he meant no harm. Why was she arguing? Maybe she just wanted to\nhave authority. Perhaps she just wanted a little control to ease her nerves. It\nwas something she was used to. He shouldn't be blaming Indigo for what happened.\nHe was right. He saved her from a horrible fate.\"Why did you save me then?\" she\nspoke softly, humbling herself, \"Why rescue me from them? Was it because\nsomeone ordered you to?\"\"I- Y- Yes. I was given orders to\nintercept you during the terrorist's operation.\"\"Then who?\"\"I'm not at liberty to discuss that.\nI actually don't know who gives me these orders.\"\"And you simply accept their\ncommands?\"\"I've never been given reason to\nquestion their judgment. Whoever it is. I've been content to serve him to the\nbest of my abilities.\"The two stared at each other in\nsilence. The princess finally knew more about her rescuer. He wasn't some\nruthless soldier that was simply following orders. He cared about he did, and\nwho he did it for. He held no question to the values he was fighting for. For\nhe knew in his heart that they were right. Indigo got to understand the\nprincess a little better. She wasn't a complete brat like he expected. She was\nwilling to learn. He had to give her credit for taking her situation the way\nshe did. Any other person who had been in her situation should have been\ncompletely shaken now. But she held her integrity. Maybe by a few threads, but\nthat was more than he would have guessed.\"We had better get going. The\nfacility could be quite expansive. And we don't want to be stuck down here.\"\nIndigo took point and gestured for her to follow. She followed after him, a bit\nunnerved by the bleak, empty complex she had found herself in. She was too\nemotionally distraught to take thought of atmosphere she was in.The two wandered through the complex\nfor hours. Indigo began piecing together the layout of the facility. The many\ndark corridors of the downed aqueduct proved challenging to navigate. There\nwere a majority of instances were Indigo had to lead the princess by hand as\nwell as a few instances where he had to leave her behind to access an area to\nfurther their progression.Eventually they made to a final\nstairwell, the princess was exhausted by all the hiking they did inside the\nfacility. Whoever built the place certainly did not consider revising the\nschematics to be less complex.Indigo kicked open the rusted door\nthat led outside. It was the late afternoon, the sun still shone brightly, but\nit would eventually set over the horizon in little more than an hour.\"Finally, I thought I'd never see\nthe light of day again!\" exclaimed Dahlia dramatically.Indigo was unsure what to make of\nthat statement. It sounded playful, but he couldn't help but feel the sincerity\nof it. Imagine being in her shoes, nearly dying from a car crash and falling\ndown a pit, only to survive, lost in an abandoned facility with no certainty of\nan exit.\"We should keep moving. There should\nbe an old lumber mill up that hill.\" He pointed to a rather dusty hill. A\nruined structure stood near the top of it. It was about a three-quarter mile\nhike, but Dahlia didn't feel like walking anymore.\"All the way up there?\" she asked.\"We could take shelter for the\nnight. After, we could move to the rendezvous point and get you the safe zone.\"\"Hooo,\" she exhaled her complaint.The two marched down the hill toward\nthe next one. They were in a woodland, but it had been blasted with sand and\nvery much dead. The lumber mill had been shut down because of the shift in\nclimate. The trees simply did not wish to grow, and the one's that still stood\ngave up nourishing themselves with water. Perhaps it had something to do with\nthe massive caverns below them? All the fresh water must have drained down to\nlower depths where the vegetation could not reach it, depriving the woodland of\nthe much needed hydration needed to sustain it.*Snap!* \"Ouch!\" yelped the princess.\nShe stepped on a rather brittle branch. The sharp break in wood kicked her foot\nand lashed out at her wrist, causing her to jump to side. She then tripped over\na rough rock, scraping her foot and falling to the dusty floor. Her jaw slammed\ninto the ground. The sudden pain and humiliation of falling prompted her to\nalmost let out a sob. She was further reminded of the current situation she was\nin.Indigo quickly stepped to help her\nup. \"Are you all right?\" he asked. He then thought to himself how stupid of a\nquestion that really was. She just fell to the ground and scraped her foot, of\ncourse she was not \"all right.\" She gave a nod. He extended his arm. She\naccepted the help. He lifted her up and examined her foot. It took a scrape,\nbut it wasn't bleeding much. It was just an average scrape, but it must have\nstung for her.\"Can you still walk?\" he asked.\"Yes, I can still walk,\" She stated.\nShe attempted to take another step with regal grace, but a sudden pain shot out\nfrom her right sole. \"Ack!\" she hissed aloud, falling over again.Indigo caught her before she fell on\nher knees. \"Here, I'll carry you up the rest of the way.\" He picked her up and\nbegan hiking up the rest of the hill.\"No, it's alright. I can make it up-,\"she\nthen saw how much further she needed to go. She decided that she had better\naccept his kindness. She didn't want to try walking up that slope with an\ninjured foot. She didn't know how much she had walked already, but she was sure\nthat it was enough to warrant being carried the rest of the way. If anything,\nIndigo didn't even mind.She relaxed in his arms. He was\nstrong for a snake of his kind. He had a sort of firmness and flexibility akin\nto a boa, yet condensed into a smaller frame of a viperid. He was almost the\nsame species as her, yet his internal traits seemed almost alien in mass. Just\nwho exactly was he? She wondered.Indigo made it up the rest of the\nhill, introducing them both to the broken building. It was yet another\nabandoned project of the Alabaster Palace Royals. It had been decades since it\nwas last used, but it still stood atop the dust blown hill. The building was\nchipped here and there and still was structurally sound.He entered into the pried door. It\nhad remained wide open ever since the last person to exit it didn't ensure to\nclose it.  Now dust was all over the\nplace.Indigo set the princess down, letting\nher stand for herself. \"You think you can walk now?\" He asked.She examined her foot and prodded\nthe tender part with her finger. She then placed it on the floor and tested her\nweight. It didn't hurt much. \"Yeah, I can walk around now.\" She felt her\nconfidence swell up a little more, but she sighed at the fact that she wouldn't\nbe carried through the building.There should be some furnishings\nleft over. I'll go check for a mattress or sleeping bag. Indigo hurried off to\nscour the facility. Leaving Dahlia alone to wander at her leisure. She began to\nwalk about. The placed looked a cleaned out when it was first abandoned. The only\nthings that remained were the machinery that the facility used to operate and\nvarious things that weren't considered of worth.She wandered for a few more minutes.\nThe sun began to glow a heated orange, touching the horizon. She came across a\nspacious room with large countertops. One wall of the room was completely made\nof glass, arching up almost a third of the way of the ceiling in a sort of skylight.  Surprisingly, the glass had remained entirely\nintact, none of it was broken or scratched. Once in a while, rain washed away\nthe dust and cleared the glass of dirt. Now it had only but a faint layer of\ndust. It reminded her of the skylights in the grand hall in her home. She was\nthere only hours ago, but it seemed such a long time already.Indigo emerged from a corridor, carrying\ntwo rolls on his shoulders. \"I found some thick rubber mats we can use. They're\nnot bed rolls, but they will have to do. He dropped one on a counter and\nproceeded to put the other one on the counter across.I think there a few tarps we could\nuse as blankets. I'll go get those.Dahlia couldn't help but smile. She\nfelt like she having a slumber party, though, she had never been to a slumber\nparty before. The rolled up mats looked like sleeping bags and the setting sun\nwas prompting stars to shine in the sky.Indigo came back with the tarps. He\nset folded squares on the counter and motioned to the second rubber roll. He\nripped the bindings off rubber mat and unrolled it on the counter. He then\naligned it to fit the tabletop just right. He grabbed a few of the tarps and\nplaced them on the second roll. He stacked two at the head of the roll for a\nmakeshift pillow and unfolded the third into a blanket.\"There you go, princess. Your bed is\nready!\" he said enthusiastically.She gave him a smile and limped\ntoward her knew resting spot. Instead of going under the covers, she simply\nflopped onto the mat. \"It's... kind of comfy.\" She shifted a bit, trying to get a\ngood position to rest, \"A little stiff compared to my mattress back home, but\nit's not bad.\"Indigo lifted the sheet to his mat\nand hopped in.It took a while for the two to get\nsome rest. They got to know each other a little better, conversing under the\nstarlit sky. Dahlia discovered more about Indigo, about the missions that he\nhad embarked on that were not classified. He had been all over the world, doing\ncrazy things. She was unsure if there were any one else capable of such feats,\nbut the way he put it. He wasn't the only one with such abilities. She had read about distant places, there\nwas a place where a vast unexplored jungle challenged cartographers to scour it\neven today, a place where the snowcapped heights of the tallest mountains\nscraped the sky, a place where mysteries lay beneath the dark caverns of a\nsecluded nation. He had been to those places. He had taken on daring missions\nto ensure a safer world. She had never been to such places, but now, she knew\none who did. By his own testimony, she had gained a better glimpse of the\namazing world she lived in, places beyond the barren outstretches of her petroleum\nrich homeland.Indigo learned more about Dahlia.\nShe was a few years younger than he, but there was more to her than being the\nchild of a wealthy royal family. She had grown under her parents and the\nteachers they assigned to her. She had been spoiled since her youth, yet she\ndid well not to engulf herself in vanity. Though she enjoyed being pampered,\nshe knew that it was not was she was too live for. Even then, she was supposed\nto take a mantle of responsibility from her parents. She knew that she had responsibilities,\nbut they were postponed at a moment's notice. She wanted to be a great ruler\nlike her father, but she had yet to learn. It was a burden few people in the world\nknew, and she was unsure if she ready for it.The two took one last gaze into each\nother's eyes. They were two different people, a soldier and a sovereign. Yet,\nthey were equals by universal law. A leader was nothing without follower to\nlead. A follower was nothing without a leader to follow. They both turned their\neyes to the sky. The stars lay scattered across an infinite expanse. How little\nthey all were in the midst of it. They were only dust among dust. How could they\nlift themselves above one another when they were only specs of dust?"}