The red-haired maiden finds herself in a grand hall, leaving the slim passage behind her. Her greenish-blue eyes marvel at this citadel of turning wheels, cogs, and rods. Most are colossi in contrast to her young damsel of a stature.
Darkness is kept at bay by spots and stripes of yellow lights placed in nooks and crannies to guide and give light to anyone servicing certain parts of the monolithic machinery. The symphony of hardened steel, brass, and copper is rich as a roar of the open sea. The path ahead, a long bridge with guard rails on both sides, seems to lead to a distant wide landing and branches into different shorter bridges and even staircases going up and down.
Her friend has been onward for half an hour who she is in pursuit of. The spirited fellow is dutiful to give the big cheese of this place a stern talking, even if it means awakening his steel to make a sharp point. While he can keep fending danger on his own, he will still need all the help he can get to bring into life a noble goal.
This sky fortress they are both in is bearing on a kingdom that had just recovered from a harrowing assault by land. The same head minds of this astonishing modern marvel were the cause of much grief that led to ruined properties and lives lost. This maiden and his friend are among the band of brave souls who must infiltrate and disable this hovering island before it can be used to usher in the worst for the good folks below.
The clap of metal on leather is crisp as she goes for a brief stroll further into the long narrow path ahead. Her eyes wander left and right, high and low, searching for the respective path her friend took. A gloved hand is holding onto the highest rail to ensure her balance and safety. A fall into what distant darkness is underneath her feet would be nothing short of horrifying.
He did say early on that he will leave a clue of sorts for her team to see, so they can catch up. Those who need or want to, of course. Her eyes narrow at the sight of something protruding from a platform two stories above going into a doorless passage. The lights on top of the doorway give enough for her gaze to understand that it is some sort of broken piece of machinery. It lets out a rather rhythmic spark, making nearby walls glow every several seconds. The sides of the door frame seem to have been licked by fierce swordplay judging from the lengthy slash marks on the left and right of that entry. And she knows how ferocious her friend can be if he is given time and focus to unleash his skill with a blade.
How curious. And she, a wandering cat on a dire quest, must be fed with such a curiosity. The red-haired maiden goes onward further into this long narrow bridge, carefully treading with a hand on the rail. She tries not to get distracted by the big moving pieces and their deep grinding noises and sharp squealing. What manner of help she can actually give him, she has to first catch up and be by his side again.
Behind her, several stories up and coming out of a different passage meant for smaller things to come in and out of, something is watching her. Six pairs of red eyes and faint skittering of something inhuman. Through those round rubies, they feed information to be sent away, bouncing off from walls and into other apparatuses. Surveillance in a different part of the fortress is at work, doing well to assess the level of threat this other intruder may bring. The former is indeed formidable. And so, what about this lone doll in slimming leather?
The feeling of being watched embraces her. The maiden stops to look around, minding the wheels and cogs, the large spinning rods connecting one portion of machinery to another. Steam hisses once in a while, adding more noise for her ears to drink. Her eyes are nearly lost from all this hustle and bustle of inanimate objects. Alas, the watchers are too far from her and they are able to easily crawl away from direct sight if necessary.
Deeming that she is wasting precious time with her wandering eyes and glued feet, she snaps her right out of her spellbound pause and takes a deep breath. The large patch of metal landing where staircases and smaller bridges meet is getting closer; the former which does go up being is something she would want to follow to be with her friend. The spies also pursue this wandering doll. Given time, other odd assets will arrive to greet her, perhaps even capture her. It would be such a blight to her noble quest if she fails to realize too soon and act accordingly that her presence is in this sky fortress is quite unwelcome.
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