Waiting for SERVERE's return

     Since heading the idea that the outpost may have been abandoned because of the loss of the obsidian plant, I had suddenly become obsessed with the idea that we would emerge from the Northern entrance only to be surrounded by hundreds of HoN Co. guards... Don't ask why, but that's all I could think about as we made our way back through the outpost. I had made a precautionary check over the side of the walls of the first platform before heading any further, but I still wasn't comfortable despite the total lack of any approaching threat from any direction. The most worrying part was yet to come; treading along the narrow corridor carefully, I expected an guard to jump from the shadows of one the cells and ambush us, although my next worry was the entrance itself... How were we to know that there wasn't a dozen or so HoN Co. guards lying in wait, ready to jump us the moment we emerged? If that did happen, it would suggest they had been watching us for some time; with nowhere to hide, they'd easily take us down as they would know before hand how many of us there are. As we ascended the steps up to the top, my heart-rate quickened, and I began to feel slightly light-headed. Natural light from outside burst through the open door, blinding me temporarily. I tried everything I could to avoid going into a full blown panic, and I almost physically flinched when we finally emerged from the entrance. Looking around, there wasn't a single soul around besides UOPETA and THEROS, and I let out a long, audible sigh of relief. I gave UOPETA an awkward smile as he turned back to look at me, a bemused look on his face. Thank goodness for that! Let's get back to base as quickly as possible!

----

     As we stepped into the lab, everyone working inside stopped what they were doing and looked in our direction. Immediately, I sought out Amie, and when our eyes met, her face lit up with elation. She began to run towards, and I opened my arms to receive her, embracing her in a welcoming hug that I had wanted to give her since leaving for the outpost. For a few moments, nothing around me mattered; I had no cares, no worries, no responsibilities... Nothing had any worth to me for those few short seconds I spent staring into her eyes. After a moment or two, I noticed her eyes take on a glistening shine, and it looked like she was beginning to well up with tears. But she smiled again and kissed me, likely because she sensed that I had noticed that. But I was brought abruptly back down to Earth with a thud by the sound of COLUS clearing his throat loudly, blatantly trying to get our attention, and not to void his throat of an obstruction...

"If you two love birds are done we can get back to the matter at hand. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for that later..."

Amie slowly slid her arms down from around my shoulders as her cheeks began to flush a brilliant scarlet. She went back to the desk she had been working at, looking down at her feet as she passed COLUS, seemingly sheepishly, as though she had been told off by a teacher. After finishing up in the lab, COLUS called a meeting including everyone to allow us to pass on what we found. Or what we didn't find in this case...

     COLUS didn't seem at all surprised when we came back empty-handed, admitting to knowing there was a chance that we wouldn't find anything there anyway. However, he was intrigued to learn that the outpost now showed signs of total abandonment. We told him that there wasn't a single guard anywhere near the place, and as well as from every cell door being open, there wasn't a single scrap of paper in the place. Especially nothing that would help us find these five Eyes of Ender...

"Was there anything else there that might suggest it's been abandoned? Or possibly being knocked down...?"

"There was no sign of life there at all, and everything we came across points to it being abandoned. I don't think it'll be destroyed."

"I was wondering if it would be worth possibly occupying that space if they can no longer make use of it, but it wouldn't be a very secure place to take shelter in. There are multiple points of entry and if you're trapped in the tower, you're pretty much done for..."

"What now then...? Short of either waiting for SERVERE to return or heading North and trying to find the HoN Co. headquarters ourselves, there's little else we can do..."

"Well, that seems to be the only available option really. If you three return to the wooden shack and wait for SERVERE there. He's most likely to return there than this base so you'll hopefully learn first if he's found anything. If he comes here, we can redirect him down to you."

"I'd like to go with them..."

COLUS looked at Amie, and then looked at me; I could tell from the look on his face exactly the reason she wanted to come with us, but gave her the option to explain her reasoning behind it.

"I can help THEROS document the layout of the old building we found with the portal. It might help for future excursions into that place, and reduce the time it takes to find it again."

I could see COLUS pretending to weigh up the usefulness of this excuse, but I could tell from his expression he was going to say yes. He eventually said yes and seemed incredibly excited about it. She quickly reigned in her excitement however, and joined us in getting ready. We headed down to the wooden shack where we were to wait for SERVERE. On the way down, Amie and I held hands, following UOPETA and THEROS.

"I could tell he was going to say yes too..."

Beautiful, intelligent, witty, fun and perceptive...

Syeonyx signing off