(OOG: Another co-written post, for your reading enjoyment. ^.~ Thanks Rune! Sorry I was so slow with the other posts.)

Shaina stared at the battlefield in muted amazement, an arched eyebrow all that betrayed her surprise at finding such whoesale destruction strewn in her path. Standard assault and arachnid-class gears littered the shimmering dunes in a loose circle, some still smoking, others as cold and dead as their pilots. The red of the sunrise reflected from the metal hulks, giving the impression of running blood.

"Well, now we know what happened to all of Kislev's patrols, don't we?" She smiled grimly, accepting the seeming gift. After all, now she would be free to worry about finding Elanore without having to bother with the Lambs.

But...... Shaina directed her gear forward, pausing when she reached the inner edge of the circle to scan the remains. She wanted to know who -- or what -- had destroyed such a large force of Kislev soldiers; they were Lambs, true, but even she would be buried under so many enemies, without reinforcements.

Her eyes flickered swiftly over the scattered ruins in the eye of the 'storm', searching, searching.........

There. Her eyes fastened themselves to one of the shadowy forms, recognizing the lines, the sillohette against the brightening sky, though she couldn't quite place the shape. She pushed forward again, using her thrusters to speed herself to its position.

The form resolved itself into the shape of a gear, one unlike anything that she had ever seen. Almost completely black in design, in knelt in the sands as if proclaiming its reverence to the setting sun. A pair of massive thrusters rose from its back, sweeping into the sky like a tiny pair of wings, as black as the rest of the gear.

Shaina approached slowly, circling around the gear at almost a mile out and examining it with her scanners. At this point it was powered down, less than a trickle of energy being produced by its fusion coil as it rested on the sands. Shaina thought for a moment that it looked as if a man, weary from his battles, was simply sitting there, only enlarged to gear size.

As she swept closer, more and more details became distinguishable. The scuff and scratch marks on the gear's armor. Several large dents in its breastplate. But most disturbing of all were the small rivulets of blood dripping from its fingers, the blood of the defeated Kislev pilots.

It was almost -- almost -- enough to chill her. But not quite.

It seemed safe enough, in her opinion, to approach the machine. But as she stepped closer, she magnified her sensors to full output, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. She despised the necessity, but she could clearly see that a fight with this machine and its pilot could very well end in her destruction. And she wasn't quite ready to die yet - certainly not while in Mordon's service.

The scanners locked on to the pilot's lifesigns, and she tensed, running her eyes over the readouts quickly so as to keep her eyes fixed on the viewport, and the gear.

The pilot was sitting in front of his machine, his back resting against it and his head lulled forward, blonde hair falling over his eyes. The loose shirt that he wore was mangled, parts of it either shredded or torn away by some powerful force. He didn't look threatening at the moment. Bearing that in mind, Shaina opened the throttle slightly, allowing her gear to slowly approach him.

Darius shook his head, trying to clear the last motes of light from in front of his eyes. That had been an... interesting fight. He had been surrounded by Kislev battle units... escape had seemed hopeless. He'd managed to ditch his passengers before they had attacked, and then...

And then...

Nothing. Just like Lahan, all over again.

Darius glanced up as a shadow passed over him, watching as Shaina's gear slowly stopped in front of him.

Powering down into ready mode, the gear settled into the sand as if it meant to stay there forever. But Shaina, muscles tensed as if ready to do battle, set the gear for remote pilot, just in case she was forced to attack the Lamb.

If this battlefield was anything to go by...... she had severely underestimated Elanore's friend. A mistake she did not plan on repeating.

She reached over and opened the hatch, stepping into her gear's offerend hand, and remaining there, on high, gazing down at Darius with as neutral an expression as she could muster. "Exciting night?" she called down, raising both eyebrows at his apparent condition.

He raised his head slightly, glancing at her through his hair. Shaina stepped backwards, a reflex action to the gaze she sensed appraising her from beneath that mop of blonde hair.

A moment later, Darius shook his head, as if awaking from a dream. "Where... wha..." he asked, glancing around the battlefield in shock.

Shaina couldn't help a derisive smile. "Yes, I see you're quite in control of the situation."

She ignored his glare, swiftly appraising his gear, and then Darius, trying to estimate the level of damage he had suffered from the attack. **Impressive......** He seemed unharmed aside from the condition of his clothing, and the gear had suffered only superficial damage. She jumped down, landing in front of him.

"Well, you're alive. I suppose that means that everything went according to plan," Darius decided a moment later as he pulled himself from the ground in one smooth motion. "I'll be damned if I didn't have half of the gears in the Kislev army after me."

For a moment they stood there, regarding each other. There was something he was forgetting, Darius knew. Something horribly important, that had happened just before the battle...

"Gods!" he shouted, spinning towards Shaina. Before she could move, he latched a hand like a vice on her arm, pulling her close to him. "What happened to Elanore?"

She immediately jerked away, reflexes reacting to his suddden movement. But she refrained from attacking, cold logic telling her it would serve no purpose, though she -loathed- being touched by anyone, let alone a Lamb.

"I can only assume," she responded, relaxing a bit, "That Elanore is being taken care of. She's been...... captured...... by a non-political group of some sort, but they didn't appear to be hostile."

Darius swore. Rather, swearing wasn't an accurate term for it. He cursed for over a minute, before whirling to face Shaina again. "Are you telling me that she's been KIDNAPPED?" he replied, his voice as cold as ice. "And you're NOT trying to free her?"

A mocking eyebrow cooled his glare. "Why do you think I am out here, instead of following the others to the mountains? I'm supposed to protect the girl, after all......" Shaina clamped her mouth shut. -Why- was she explaining herself to this...... boy?

"Some protector..." Darius muttered, turning away from her. Damn it, how had this happened? Elanore was... gone. Kidnapped by a 'non-political group'. That elicited another curse from Darius. Non-political group? That could mean anything from pirates to slavers, all of which would probably do something horrible to Elanore...

Think, he had to think, Darius decided. Elanore was already captured, probably after that light show earlier over the dunes. If she could convince her kidnappers that she had any value, she'd be safe for a while at least... but for how long? Darius slammed his fist into the sand, not noticing the large cloud the force of the blow shot into the air. All that kept running through his mind was one phrase, like a broken record...

"I promised... I'd keep her safe. And I failed." He whispered, not intending for anyone to hear.

"Born a diplomat, I see," Shaina observed dryly, kneeling next to him in the sand. "So you're supposed to protect her?" She shrugged. "Then why not extend that to saving her as well? I'm sure it wouldn't kill us to work together in this case."

She rose, looking down at him with a more serious expression on her face, then glancing at his gear. "You'll get nowhere without me -- but I'm willing to share this time, Lamb."

-Lamb.- Aishou had used that term, and so had Ariath, once. But what did it mean? Darius shook his head, glancing over at Shaina. "Alright, to save Elanore. And only to save Elanore... after this, we're out of here," He added, not really thinking about what he was saying. "I'm beginning to dislike the desert."

"My sentiments exactly." Shaina dusted her hands off with swift, precise movements. She was almost sorry he had agreed -- no matter how powerful he was, he was still a surface dweller. And he seemed to be a bit dense in her opinion, though she could admit it might also be her perception of Lambs in general. "Are you up to it? Or shall we leave your gear here?"

"Weltall and I are good for it." Darius replied, dusting off his pants as he rose completely to his feet. This could be a suicide mission, for all he knew. But Elanore was trapped out there, and he had to repay her for the kindness she had shown him, if nothing else. She deserved that much. "And we're going to need a couple of gears if this is a large, organized group."

"I suppose so." Shaina shrugged, turning back to her gear. "If things get bad, I can always call in the other Elements. And I think Lord Ariath would be interested in intervening, if he heard Elanore was in danger."

Crescent knelt at her silent command, lowering its hand to the ground so she could step on. "Get ready then. We have to make good time before noon, and hide in the hills until dark, or we'll likely be captured again."

(Summary: Shaina comes across the ruins of Darius's battle, and they join forces to save Elanore.)