[Miusu] Finding Deorio

Rin exited Cashier’s shop looking rather irritated. A roughly drawn map to the Underground was crumpled up in his hand. He’d only been on this planet for a couple of days and he was already disgusted with a large number of the inhabitants. Many of them walked around with large weapons like Neanderthals waiting to bludgeon the next thing to look at them funny. Hardly any of them had tails, or even a second set of eyes. It was a wonder these foreigners could survive at all.


Of course, he probably counted as a foreigner as well now. He was an aruetii to his people now, an outcast. This land was not Lunca, and he would probably never see his home again. Not that he really cared anymore. Those nadrins, while deeming themselves to be an intelligent race, were so very ignorant of the big picture. They were all idiots in reality, and it disgusted him that he had to be grouped with them. Yes, it was he who wiped out the next generation of offspring that could potentially lead the already dwindling population of nadrins to extinction, but they were heading towards that fate anyway. Everyone dies in the end; he was just speeding up the process a bit. That was all in the past for him now anyway. This was a new start for him and hopefully the dooms eye that he now kept carefully concealed at all times under a scarlet cloth wouldn’t bring him anymore hardship.


He was hungry by now. The sun here provided him with little nourishment and none of the derpy inhabitants in this city would give him food without a stupid offering of shiny coins in exchange. He had little choice but to listen to the yammering human called Cashier. Carefully studying the map he was given, Rin wandered Marotropolis, all four of his eyes scanning the colorful clusters of life forms.

After over an hour of searching, and one wacky chase scene with a large, fuzzy individual that might have mistaken him for a "kitty cat," Rin finally arrived at the entrance to the Underground. He stood affixed at the very top and peered downwards into the large tunnel of stairs that dug deeper and deeper into the earth until eventually disappearing into darkness.


It wasn’t that he was afraid of the dark; his extra set of eyes could sense heat. He had no problems navigating shaded areas. It was the idea of willingly entering a confined tunnel under miles of dirt and rock that made him tense. He recalled the stories he was told as a child of the vicious blood vipers that inhabited the earth below. Nadrins only entered these serpents’ enormous burrows if they sought a quick death. The snakes were able to glide through the ground effortlessly and they could smell blood from over fifty miles away. One cut on the fingertip and you would be in pieces before you could even scream. To a nadrin, underground was a place to avoid.


Nevertheless, he needed to find the something that was called Deorio, and hunger outweighed his natural instincts at this point. Sighing deeply, Rin began a cautious decent into the Underground. The extra set of eyes fixed on top of his head extended outward in a tentacle-like fashion and began quickly scanning his surroundings like a radar. No carnivorous snakes were going to eat tonight if he had anything to say about it.

A decent amount of time had passed before Rin finally made it to the bottom of the stairway. The city was far deeper underground than he had realized. Everything was blanketed in a permanent blackness that was broken only by the light of an occasional lamp; the small orbs of light revealed decayed buildings and dirty streets. Rin assumed this town was meant for the poorer classes.


The sooner I find the nasty thief, the sooner I can get out of this pit of death and never return, Rin thought to himself.


It didn’t take long for him to get the dirt on the whereabouts of Deorio. A simple mention of the man’s name to the first life form Rin spotted led him straight to a rundown bar nestled in a corner of the city. Apparently Deorio had quite the reputation amongst the Underground’s inhabitants, though not exactly a good one. Several of the people Rin spoke with asked if he was an assassin, and offered to give any help they could if it led to Deorio’s demise.


What stupid creatures would want to kill their own? Thought Rin as he stared at the mossy, illegible sign that dangled above the bar entrance. He couldn’t comprehend any sense to the idea. On Lunca, the nadrins were constantly bombarded with the onslaught of death on a daily basis. Their priority had always been on survival; they never had the luxury of murdering each other.

There was a brief moment of silence when Rin strolled through the door-less entrance to the bar. The patrons eyed him suspiciously before returning to their drinks and gambling. The open room was well lit when compared to the utter blackness outside, and he counted seven customers sitting at various, makeshift tables. His eyes darted across each individual until finally resting on a scruffy looking man sitting at the front of the bar area on the other side of the room. Rin took the empty seat that was next to him.

“What’ll it be, Mac?” the bartender asked Rin. He was a rather large creature with orange eyes and scaly, gray skin.

“I have not now, nor ever been a ‘Mac,” Rin answered the creature with a scowl, “Is it true that you retail liquids here for consuming?”

“I sell drinks if that’s what yer gettin’ at,” he replied dryly.

“Then do you have any larva juice?” Rin asked.

“We serve beer here. Buy some or git out,” the bartender said, now clearly irritated.

“Fine, just get me some of that then,” Rin said angrily.

The bartender gave him one last scowl before going off to pour him a glass.

The man sitting next to Rin suddenly let out a light chuckle.

“Has a fizzlebeast spit on my face without my knowing?” Rin commented coldly, one of his eye stalks turning in the man’s direction, “because I see no other humor in this situation.”

“You must be new to this place,” his voice was slightly grainy and deep, “the way you speak makes it painfully obvious, my friend.”

Rin turned to face the stranger with a frown. The person looked to be a human that was slightly older in age with bits of gray hair showing on parts of his scalp and beard; ratty, sour clothes covered his thin frame. He was staring intently at the drink he clutched in his hand, avoiding Rin’s angry stare.

“We are not friends, primate,” he snarled at the man.

“I apologize,” the man said with a grin, “so when did you get here?”

“Two moon flights ago,” Rin told him, “I believe you humans call them ‘nights’ correct?”

“That we do; you’re learning the lingo pretty fast,” he chuckled again, “So, what brings you down here? Not many people just pop into the Underground just to admire the scenery.”

“I am in search of a scoundrel by the name of Deorio,” Rin answered him. The bartender reappeared as he said this and slammed the full glass on the counter, foam and beer splashed everywhere. Rin grimaced and wiped off his soaking face with the back of his hand. The bartender flashed him a nasty smirk before leaving again.

“...and the sooner I can find him the better,” he muttered with a look of disgust.

“Ah, then you must be one of Cashier’s ‘wet behind the ears’ lackeys, sent to reclaim his pointless junk.”

“What did you just call me, monkey?” Rin shot back.

“I might as well tell you since you obviously won’t figure it out on your own,” he turned to face the angry alien. His skin looked pale and worn, but his eyes were a vivid, green color, “I’m Deorio.”

Rin’s face scrunched up in annoyance at how overconfident the man seemed.

“Good for you,” Rin said coldly, “Now give me the item you took so that I may return it to the boring, Cashier human and get on with my pointless, banished life.”

“I have no intention of giving back the item,” Deorio replied calmly, “Cashier has plenty of weapons and money to keep him occupied. Why would he miss just this one thing?”

“The bag of currency he’s offering for its return proves otherwise,” Rin told him.

Deorio let out another chuckle, “Of course, it always comes down to the money. That miser just needs to flash a penny and all the newbies are at his feet.”

“Your rambling is irritating to me,” Rin growled at the man, tapping his claws on the wooden counter, “I am probably moments away from having a panic attack from being underground for such an extended amount of time and I’m about ready to start gnawing my legs off because I’m so fraking hungry. Give me the object or I will be forced to take it from you.”

“Beat on me all you want, alien,” Deorio said stiffly, “I’ve hidden Cashier’s treasure in a spot only I can access. Lay one hand on me and you’ll never see it, however, if you were to make me an offer, I might consider telling you the location of it.”

Rin cocked an eyebrow at the older man. “That would be pointless. Why would I need to barter with you over information I already know?”

“What?” Deorio said, confused.

“You’re carrying the item, probably under your clothing,” Rin said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“How would you know that?”

“Because it reeks in the scent of that Cashier human; I smelled it the moment I entered the building. Why else would I ever bother speaking to you?” Rin scoffed at the old man, “Give it to me, primate. My patience is becoming exceedingly thin.”

“Heh, impressive, you saw right through my ruse,” Deorio said, clutching his drink tightly, “I’ll admit that I have it. Just calm down a bit and I’m sure we can reach some sort of agreement-”

Immediately after finishing his sentence, Deorio smashed his beer mug directly into Rin’s face. Rin screeched as the shards of glass sliced into his softer skin and immediately clutched his dripping face. Taking advantage of the opening, the older man dashed by the wailing alien and out the doorway. Rin brought away his hand in time to spot him disappear into the dark. Ink black blood ran down his angry, blue face. In one, swift movement Rin was on all fours speeding after him.

“HEY! YOU LOUSEY THIEVES! GET BACK AND PAY FOR THIS!!!” shouted the bartender after them.

Deorio sprinted down the narrow road as fast as his skinny legs would take him. Rin charged after him like a lion to its prey, driven mostly by blind anger. His heat-seeking eyes locked onto Deorio’s every move, mimicking the slightest change in the man’s direction. The older man knew that there was no possible way for him to beat the alien in a simple footrace; he had to be crafty. He knew he had the home field advantage and his only possible hope of getting rid of the snarling creature would be to lose him in the maze of passages formed by the closely knit buildings.

He swerved down an adjacent alleyway and began zigzagging in and out of numerous paths. Rin kept at the man’s heels as best he could, but it was difficult for him to run accurately on the ground. He slammed into walls a few times as he attempted to turn quickly. Eventually Deorio had gained quite a bit of distance between him and his pursuer. A few more minutes and Rin had completely lost sight of him.

He stopped and stood up, frantically searching in all directions and swearing under his breath. There were several people scattered about in the streets and his eyes couldn’t differentiate between all of the heat signatures. At this rate, Deorio would slip right through his claws.

Not having time to think, Rin latched onto the building closest to him and began scaling it up to the top. The old, outdated structure was difficult to grip, but climbing complex terrain was what his kind had been designed for and he had reached the top in no time at all.

Since his eyes were of no use he had to resort to locating Deorio via his scent. Thankfully from Rin’s first impression with him, it didn’t seem like the human showered that much. He trotted from one corner of the building to another, sifting through the numerous scents that were burning his sensitive nose.

“Have none of these lousy Neanderthals ever heard of a decontaminant grid?” Rin muttered as he hurried along the edge, “they could at least use their own primitive, waste disposal cans instead of just dropping their crap on the ground like a herd of fatheaded hoofbeasts.”

He couldn’t find anything on the building he was on so he leapt over to the next one. That one also turned out to be a bust as well as the one after that. He was just about to lose hope when a familiar stink struck his nose. He leapt into the direction of it, gliding effortlessly over the rooftops. His tail acting as a sort of grappling hook by locking onto higher edges and enabling him to scale walls a normal human could never dream of without some sort of equipment. The scent guided him to an abandoned building a few blocks down. He peered into a broken window and saw the present bane of his existence sitting in front of a small fire. He held a beer in one hand and what looked to be Cashier’s item in the other.

Rin scaled over the side of the building to a small opening in the shadows, “Nowhere to run now, cretin,” he whispered maniacally.

“Stupid newbies are always so easy to fool,” Deorio chuckled as he took another swig from the bottle, “That dolt is probably wandering around the other side of the district by now completely lost-”

“The ‘dolt’ is actually standing right here, deciding whether to break your nose or your legs first,” Rin muttered into the drunken man’s ear from behind.

Deorio shot up and whirled around, startled. Rin gave him no time to speak and quickly grabbed the man by his shirt, pinning him to a nearby wall.

“You humans sicken me,” Rin snarled in his face, “So much effort over a stupid item. It’s probably not even useful in any way; just some more of the smelly garbage you hold on to for the sole purpose of keeping others from possessing it.”

“Then why do you want it so badly?!” Deorio shot back.

“I need your stupid currency!” Rin howled, “Or would you rather I start nibbling on you instead? I’m really not that picky when it comes to meat.”

“Don't taunt me, alien! You're not getting that item! It's mine now!”

In desperation, Deorio whipped out a small knife from his pocket and swiped it over Rin’s face. Thankfully, Rin noticed the movement in time and was able to lunge backward. The tip of the knife still managed to graze a side of his cheek. Fresh, black blood oozed from the cut, mixing with the dried blood from earlier.

The two suddenly became locked in a rough scuffle. Deorio jabbed relentlessly with his small blade in an attempt to penetrate the softer skin on Rin’s face. Rin blocked the man’s frenzied attacks with the rock-hard, bone plating covering his hand. He took notice of Deorio’s exhausted breathing and after spotting an opening in the man’s attack pattern he sprang forward and bit down on Deorio’s wrist in an attempt to get him to drop the knife. Deorio howled in pain as Rin's long, sharp teeth sank into his skin. He immediately began beating down on the alien’s head in order to get him to release.

When Rin showed no signs of letting go, he reached out and grabbed the scarlet blindfold on the alien’s face to try and pull him off, but he only succeeded in removing the scarf. Rin tensed up at the loss of the cloth and bolted away from the man, covering his once concealed eye with his hands.

In a flash, Deorio knocked him off his feet, pinning him to the floor with one knee while pressing his knife against the alien’s throat. In an automatic reaction, Rin moved his hands in order to grab Deorio’s knife bearing arm, revealing the eye he had been so carefully trying to conceal.

The entire eye was pitch black minus the bone-chilling, blood red color of the iris. Webs of blackened veins were clearly visible surrounding it as if the body was rejecting the eye completely; Deorio looked surprised by the sight of it.

The eye was haunting. It sucked any gaze toward it in an almost hypnotizing manner. To Deorio, it gave the appearance of being... empty, like it was completely void of all sense of life.

Rin remained completely silent. He stared directly at the man as if in a type of trance, unmoving and unblinking.

Deorio was taken aback for a moment, but he immediately pushed his feelings of uneasiness aside, pushing the knife still closer on Rin’s neck. It nicked the skin and small amounts of blood began to trickle out onto the floor. The sensation seemed to jolt Rin back to reality as he began to blink frantically. His eyes darted back and forth from the dagger digging into his neck, to Deorio, then to the man’s knee that was pressing down on his chest in an attempt to assess the situation.

“Nothing to say now that the gun is pointed the other way, huh alien?” Deorio sneered at him, “I wasn’t planning on killing you, but you’ve proved to be more persistent than the others. I guess this is where we say goodbye—“

Deorio didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Rin opened his mouth and spit a stream of vile-smelling, green liquid directly into the man’s eyes. He was thrown back off of the alien and began rolling on the floor, screaming in pain. The slime burned his eyes like pepper spray and smelled worse than anything imaginable.

Rin calmly stood up with a look of grimace and spit out some of the remaining slime that had been left in his mouth. A natural defense of the nadrins was a gland located in their tongues that was capable of shooting a fowl, burning slime that would distract their enemies in order for them to make a quick getaway. Rin saved this ability only as a last resort since the sensation of shooting it was extremely unpleasant to him and the slime tasted absolutely disgusting.

Rin paused and silently stared at the wailing man on the floor for a moment before walking across the room and picking up Cashier’s item that Deorio had dropped at the beginning of their fight. He then grabbed his red scarf that had been discarded on the floor and turned toward the exit.

“Wait!” Deorio called out to him.

Rin stopped midstride. His eye stalks turned behind him to face the defeated man that now lay in a heap on the filthy, rotting floor.

“You’re... not going to kill me?” he managed to stutter out, trying desperately not to gag from the smell of the slime that now coated his face. His tone sounded more like he was in disbelief than afraid.

Rin’s expression grew fierce from the man’s comment and he suddenly darted around and grabbed the cowering Deorio by his neck, lifting him off the floor and against the wall. His narrowed eyes met the man’s red, watering ones. Deorio was sweating profusely and gasping for breath under the alien’s iron grip.

“No,” he said simply, his tone was harsh and direct; his still exposed, black eye ripping through the man’s gaze and right into his very soul, “I am not the one destined to kill you. Your own selfishness has sealed your fate and it is far better than anything I could have come up with.”

With that, Rin dropped the man. Deorio started coughing aggressively and rubbed his now red neck. Rin looked at the doorway again and then changed his route to a broken window.

“Enjoy the last few moments of you pathetic life, primate. We won’t be seeing each other again.”

With that final comment, Rin climbed through the window and was out of sight. Deorio just stared at the broken opening the alien had exited from in complete silence. It wasn’t long before he heard a noise from the doorway. He turned to face it. His sore eyes managed to make out the figure of the bartender. Behind him were several other Underground residents, he recognized all of them, many of them he had defined as friends.

“That alien I was with earlier just attacked and robbed me blind,” he said to them, “the scoundrel just took off! Did any of you see him?”

“We ain’t here fer the alien, Deorio,” the bartender answered him coldly, “We’re here fer you.”

Deorio sensed the malice that lined his voice. His eyes focused more on the other residents and he saw that they all had weapons and dark expressions. He suddenly grew tense.

“What is this about?” he asked, his voice quaking slightly.

“We’re done with you, Deorio,” the bartender told him bluntly, “the world is in bad enough shape as it is. Times keep gettin’ harder and harder down here and we don’t need yer constant thievery an’ harassment.”

“You’re banishing me from the city?” he asked them.


“We can’t!” another man said angrily, “the Underground is where all the banished people are kept in the first place! You’ll just be brought right back!”

Deorio broke out in a cold sweat, “Then what to you plan to do?”

The bartender clutched an oversized axe in his massive hands while the rest of the residents blocked the entryway.

“It’s simple,” the bartender said as he walked toward the shaking man, “when the rats start eating too much of the food supply, we grab a knife and go hunting,” he now loomed over Deorio, glaring daggers into the whimpering man, “And I think I see a big one right in front of me.”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid Neanderthals,” Rin mumbled grumpily as he fiddled with his scarf. He was sitting at the top of a muddy, brick building a little ways away.

“How can so many species on one rock all be so brainless-?!”

He paused when he heard the faint sound of a scream from a man in distress, looking back in the direction he had just been. The moment of silence was short lived however, and he quickly returned to readjusting his scarf. As he was moving it his eyes caught the few, small words that had been stitched meticulously into the fabric. They were written in his native language:

Rinnio Cua’coh.

He scoffed at being reminded of his full name and hastily tied the scarf back to its normal place across his left eye.

“The worst part is that those chumps will probably just bury the body instead of eating it,” he said, thinking out loud, “that’s perfectly good meat gone to waste... Now where the frak is the exit to this place, I’m not staying here a minute longer.”


--END

((Omg, it finally done!! D:))