Another between-games vignette. I write these to get a deeper insight into my character's motivations, whereas the main write-ups are more about the story, and reminding us all what happened at the previous session.
The Gambler holds out a hand, inviting you to roll the dice. To take a risk. To take a chance.
She'd taken a risk, going down that tunnel. She'd taken a Vulcan carbine too. But it had been going pretty well until they found the first corpse.
Was it the first dead body she'd seen? Right now she wasn't even sure. But it was definitely the first one she'd seen with a third arm, scaly and clawed, growing out of its chest. She'd hung back while the others investigated, and managed not to throw up, although if she hadn't been distracted by that damaged tabula, it might have been harder to avoid.
By the time they got to the third corpse it was almost a relief. Just a dead person, stabbed, with no abnormal appendages. And by now Lila had found something that interested her, and her infectious excitement was enough to keep Sayah going.
But then Tahir started acting strange. Cautious. And while Sayah hadn't noticed anything else untoward, Mr Reckless himself acting cautious meant something very bad was about to happen. She tried to stop Lila doing what she was doing and get her away from there. But what was the point of trying to get between Lila and portal builder technology?
And then the corpse started to move, and every instinct was screaming at her to get away, but it was already reaching out for Lila. And so she had embraced the Gambler. She took a risk. She took a shot.
Her hands were shaking. The gun felt heavy and unwieldy. She couldn't afford to miss now. At best, the thing would keep going, and at worst, she could hit Lila. She offered a desperate prayer to the Gambler, to let this risk pay off.
The shot landed. Not good enough. The thing was hurt, but still moving, and now it had Lila by the arm, teeth and claws rending through flesh and sinew.
Take a risk. She fired again, and this time there was no wavering. Her aim was true, and the thing collapsed back to the floor, even as Lila was going into shock as the blood poured from her ruined arm.
A voice, which turned out to be her own, screamed for Gurgeh. She didn't even care that there was another mobile corpse that the others were dealing with. It didn't take a medicurge to see that Lila was bleeding to death.
After a few of the longest seconds of Sayah's life, Gurgeh was at their side, staunching the flow of blood. She let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. Lila was safe, for now, so long as they could get her back to the ship straight away.
Which was when the first corpse made another appearance.
Her first shot went wide. But by the second she'd found her eye again. The others had weakened it, and her shot found its mark. The corpse fell, lifeless once more.
She had embraced the Gambler, and the Gambler had blessed her. But Lila had not been so lucky. Sayah wasn't strong, but Lila was slight enough for two people to carry her between them without too much strain. Blood spattered and sick with both worry and nausea, Sayah was already thinking longingly of the Aliya. The medlab, and the washroom, and the chapel. And her stash.
She hadn't expected to need it. This should have been a nice quiet archaeology expedition. It had been a moment's whim, while out shopping for an oud, that had sent her in search of less wholesome pleasures than music. Now she was grateful for that whim. Relief awaited them on the Aliya, in the medlab for Lila, and for Sayah, in the sweet smoke of the opor pipe.
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