Team Shift Happens
Team Information
Previous Chapters:
The Plan / Getting the Truck / The Email
A Trick and a Wager / I Hate Scorpions!
Let’s Get This Party Started / First Arrivals - Starting Party 6 AM
Making Friends? - Starting Party 7 AM
A Moment in Time - Starting Party 7:30 AM
Shitbox Rally Starting Party, 8 AM Local Time
Malavera looked up as he heard the sound of another car arriving. This time, it was a sun-faded orange Anhultz Dione VIII B, owned by Team RK Series Racing. They cruised into the camp, parked next to Team Witchlight’s large sedan, and got out of the car. Connor got out of the driver’s side rear seat first, followed by Redwood from behind the wheel, and Valentin towering over the car once he unfolded himself from the passenger seat. Malavera gathered up his clipboard and paperwork, heading over to the team. “Good morning,” Malavera said, before gathering the information he needed from each of them. Once he had their team name written down, the names of the team members, and made sure they had at least one driver and one navigator, he switched the sheets on his clipboard and started inspecting the car. Unlike some of the others, the Dione was still fairly low to the ground, low enough that Malavera wasn’t going to be able to just slide underneath the car and lift it up that way. However, after measuring the ground clearance and verifying that the Dione was RWD, he concluded that it was, if only just barely, capable of handling some off-roading. He handed Redwood a Shitbox Rally sticker and said, “Put this on the upper corner of the passenger side, on the windshield, please. It’s not permanent, but it’s a badge of honor for participating in this event.”
Given that Kivenaal and Rukari had both finished their drinks, they were talking quietly between each other about an old song the two knew quite well. After pouring themselves another mug of rum-laced tea, the two Valraadii stood up and walked to the middle of the camp.
“It is a tradition,” Kivenaal said, “for our people to sing on the eve of battle the songs of those who fought before us. While we do not go to war, we will be battling our cars on this trip, fighting mechanical issues, waging a war against time and breakdowns on an unforgiving battlefield.”
Rukari, speaking slower so his English was less broken, joined in with, “Our song is from a long time ago, a battle fought in Crugandr by the mother of one who fought alongside my father. We have spent many days to translate this from our language into English, and reworked some to be closer to how songs are here.”
With that, the two of them waited for most of the camp to quiet down, before they started their song together with Rukari singing the odd verses and Kivenaal singing the even ones, the two of them having similar voices with Kivenaal’s only a touch lower than Rukari’s, though Rukari carried more of a gruff growl to his as part of his accent.
It was an early morning, the battle-call was sent,
and off to war in Crugandr the bunch of us now went.
We got there three weeks later, the enemy was entrenched,
and the weather turned so rainy that all of us were drenched.
The battle had turned brutal, the ground had turned to mud,
slippery from the rainfall, and scarlet from the blood.
Spells and blades crashed loud and hard as day turned into night.
My fellow soldiers watched for trouble in the dying light.
A heavy mist obscured the ground, all now held their breath,
for all who fought there knew the signs, here came the Hound of Death.
From the forest came a Dyre, a proud and savage beast,
drawn to the sounds of battle, our bodies his grand feast.
We stared out through the mist, eyes locked upon the Dyre,
a wolf with fur as black as coal, and eyes as bright as fire,
Our battle brought him running, our blood called him to hunt,
and then he came to look at me, a mean Valraadi runt.
I knew then what I had to do, though my hearts were full of dread,
I had to face the beast in battle, I had to take his head.
I drew my blade and left my trench, and felt a sudden chill,
when the beast threw back his head, howling his need to kill.
My fellow battle brothers watched as I stomped across the mud,
taking care to mind my step in boots now slick with blood.
I knew my blade could kill a man, but could it kill this beast?
I only knew that I was now the one to end his feast.
I stared out through the mist, eyes locked upon the Dyre,
a wolf with fur as black as coal, and eyes as bright as fire.
Our battle brought him running, our blood called him to hunt,
and then he came to look at me, a mean Valraadi runt.
He turned to face my naked blade, his face and claws were red,
stained with blood from enemies, both live and truly dead.
He howled out a warning, I stood and roared my own,
though in the mist and fog I knew that I was all alone.
He charged with sudden fury, I made my move too late,
His claws across my belly warned me of my fate.
I knew then that I must die, such would be the price,
as rain beat down on both of us, as cold as winter ice.
I stared across the mist, eyes locked upon the Dyre,
a wolf with fur as black as coal, and eyes as bright as fire.
Our battle brought him running, our blood called him to hunt,
and then he came to look at me, a mean Valraadi runt.
The battle fell to silence as friend and foe now watched,
a brutal fight unfolding that carried a great cost.
One would live and one would die, they knew that much at least,
but who would live to fight again, the beauty or the beast?
I blocked his strikes and dodged his blows, but I feared I could not win,
I felt my body slowing down, I saw his wicked grin.
With grim determination, I raised my sword at last,
I would not join his feast tonight, even if my life had passed.
My blade struck true, the wolf went down, he howled a mournful call.
I fell right down there at his side, my wounds now bared to all.
I stared across the mist, eyes locked upon the Dyre,
a wolf with fur as black as coal, and eyes as bright as fire.
Our battle brought him running, our blood called him to hunt,
and when he looked right back at me, I felt less like a runt.
We laid out there together, the wild and untamed beast,
and the bloodied battle maiden who had ended his great feast.
I watched the light leave his bright eyes, I feared the same for me,
another soldier lost to battle, another fading memory.
Rough hands pulled me to my feet, my head began to spin,
They pulled me from a battle I had no right to win.
“You’re not dead yet,” a voice called out, a healer on my right
who tended to the many wounds I’d gathered from the fight.
And I stared across the mist, eyes locked upon the Dyre,
a wolf with fur as black as coal, his eyes once bright as fire.
I’d met the beast head-to-head, I’d fought with him and won,
and now our foes in battle were leaving at a run.
Legends told me later, I’d killed the Hound of Death that day.
Those we fought had bled enough, a heavy toll to pay,
for all of those who now believed that Death now favored me.
Death was now on our side, a sign of victory.
The healers say I will be fine, my wounds will heal in time,
so long as I am careful and I keep them free of grime.
Luck that night was on my side, a thought now turning grim,
for how things would have turned out then if fate had favored him.
Now I stare back in time, eyes locked upon the Dyre,
a wolf with fur as black as coal, his eyes as bright as fire.
I remember him for who he was, warrior-of-the-moon,
who met his end in battle fierce, many years too soon.
Kaylie and Kayden smiled as they watched Rukari and Kivenaal walk back to the campfire after their song. “Couldn’t have paid me enough to do that,” Kaylie said to her brother.
“Yeah, no, I wouldn’t let you either. Last time you sang in the shower, I thought you closed the door on your tail,” Kayden teased. He ducked under Kaylie’s attempted swat at his head, chuckling as he moved just out of reach, only to catch a surprisingly vicious kick to his thigh.
Kaylie started swearing in Tigrilan after her shin met Kayden’s hard composite armor, hopping around on one foot for a moment. After she regained her composure, she scowled. “Twin Suns, that was stupid,” she muttered.
“I believe the humans would call that a ‘brain fart.’ A moment of stupidity anyone could have,” Kayden replied.
“That just sounds disgusting and awful. Then again, so do many human phrases, so I suppose that’s normal,” Kaylie said, grimacing.
(OOC: So, yeah, had that one kicking around the archives. What Rukari says is accurate, the person who’s mother that song is based on did fight alongside Rukari’s father. And yeah, it’s rough, not very good, but I wanted to have the two Valraadii do something unusual in the camp. And it is a Valraadi tradition to sing the day before battle. And what is a rally except a battle against time?)
. Highly energetic and joyful. Doesn’t want anyone to be hurt during this. Good with tools but a complete dumbfuck when doing stuff himself. Admires Connor for intelligence and capablity to stay calm under stress.
