Living Antiquity

~20~

"Duckin' an' a'dodgin', criiiissin' an'a'crossin', don't wancha ii-iin ma' wa-a-a~" I sing, weaving the Charger in and out of my newfound traffic, using a blade I snagged from a rope to swipe the legs out from under a Charger that tried to pass me.
"Hah! And she's brave enough to sing on the track! Alright, outlander, let's do this!" One of the kids yells over the wind, going for my mount's blaze container.
"Oh no ya don't! Let's go, bud! All the way to fuckin' victory town!" I whoop, charging down the hill and out if their line if sight, grabbing something shiny and new from a passing rope, and activating it, leaving electric mines all over the track behind me, listening to the chaos pile up behind me, "Whoooooo!!" I yell, reaching the flats again and taking off with one final Blaze boost, screaming across the finish line with a ten second lead as the kids finally pile in behind me.
"Uuuugh... How did she win?!" The kids groan.
I laugh, reaching for a helmet on my head on autopilot before groaning as I realize that no, I didn't have one. "Damn. Miss the old days," I laugh, sitting on the ground and letting out a breath, "You kids- whoo! You'd love hovo-bikes. I used to be a racer in the old world, and I used to rac the streets for cash- that was local old world money," I grin, seeing them turn to stare at me.
"I was frozen for a thousand years cause someone close to me was part of a big project that re-greened the world and made it liveable," I say, "But before I shed even more secrets, you were gonna tell me why y'all're out here?" I ask, curious.
The one that kept being called Pekka sighs, rubbing her head, "Well.., We used to run with the rebels. Thought we'd get to run in a real war, earn real marks... but we never thought we'd be attacking our own... So after the battle at the Embassy, we ran off with our mounts in the night, never looked back," she frowns, folding her arms and looking away.
"I see. You don't think the tribe would let you back. And you don't like the rules, so you just haven't gone back. And you're also adrenaline junkies," I laugh.
"Adren... huh?" Another kid, Haxx asked.
"The rush when you're at speed and having the time of your life? Fighting to get to the front? That's caused by adrenaline mixing with some happy chemical or another in your brain and blood. You're also speed demons, with how fast you're able to tear around the track on these guys," I jerk a thumb to the Chargers.
"So, what's a hovo-bike?" Pekka asks, folding her arms.
I grin, and grab my spear, drawing in the sand, "Looks kiiinda like this. Ah, who'm I kidding, easier to show you," I pull some Focused from Piglet's saddlebag, and hand them out, "Head, on whichever side you use the hand more. And I'm help you through it."
"Whoa- it uses the same glyphs as the visions at the Grove!" Another kid says, perking up.
"Amazing... ah... I guess theze visions teach us hlw to use it..."
I watch as they work, them guide them through lookup menus to holos of some of the more official races I did, "Keep an eye on the f/c and s/f/c racer. That's me. The brat in yellow and black behind me is Nisha Visser," I all but spit her name, and sigh, "We were both underage, and neither if us had parental permission to be in the race. Watch..."
"Your hovo-bike is so fast! You made it yourself?"
"Yeah. I was better with high tech stuff and lower tech stuff," I smile, "I win that race, and Nisha threw a hissy fit and ratted me out. My parents kicked me out for going because they thought it was too dangerous. Guess they didn't consider leaving me alone in the street to be worse," I sigh, "After that, I raced for cash. She came to a few of them and tried to bust us, but the cops didn't really care- they were busy with other crap," I lean my head back, looking at the sky, "I had a serious rough patch when I was homeless... Nisha took great pleasure in bragging about how she made me lose my family, then told anybody that got mad at her that her daddy would keep her from getting hurt or in trouble."
"You said Nisha Visser... Erik Visser's daughter?!" Drakka tenses, eyes widening.
"Yyyep. I pray that twat made it to the ship before NEMESIS destroyed their world. I have a few special toys to try on her face," I deadpan.
Pekka looks at me. "How are you here?"
"A man adopted me off the street three years after I became homeless and family-less. Travis Tate- you'll find information about him, and others, in the Focus' data. I don't expect you ti comb through it much, but just know, all the Commanders, Chaplains, and Chief Hekkaro have a Focus, and I've been broadcasting. They heard your story, but I'm noticing some suspicious silence."
"They're welcome in the Grove with their mounts at any time, but I can also see their lust for the race is likely to get in the way of any duties they would receive... Race to your hearts' content, and your squad will be under protection for as long as you need," Dekka says as I watch the kids tense.
"C-Chaplain Dekka, how-"
"Long distance communication. You can connect or disconnect to anyone you wish in an instant- keep the Focuses. Its a way to reach us all should you need help," I grin.
"And hey- if you're ever looking to make shards off this, try racing out in in the Stillsands. There's an Oseram settlement there that's part of our network," Drakka points out, "Those holos you showed, people were placing bets, buying food and drinks and stuff, right?"
"Yeah, and people could buy tickets to watch from good seats," I point out, "But that might drain the fun from the races over time."
"Huh... We'll think about it." Haxx says, watching us, "But I guess that also explains how you won so easily."
"Wish you could'a seen my street build. I had a damn good hovo-bike that ran like a dream even though it was built from crapscrap," I stand up, smiling.
"You should go see our second track sometime, out last Thornmarsh." Pekka says, grinning.
I smile, "I'll definitely think about it."
Drakka follows me as we get a distance from their camp then starts laying on the questions.
"Yes, I've always done stupid shit. No, not quite always your level of stupid shit..." I say, poking fun.
"Y/n, come on... Now I wanna see more of your races..." He groans.
"Pn the note of your hovo-bike, Y/n, iMI have managed to crack the firewall on some extra data from the room where you were found... it appears Travis 'Prettied Up your Ride' and stored it away in a place 'only you would think of'." Gaia offers.
"I. No way. Travis, you animal..." I stop, eyes wide ing, "He hid it in my hidey hole where I used to try to hide from him after he took me in. It took a couple years for me to stop hiding, and then it became storage... but would that area have even survived the fallout?..." I blink, Piglet slowly to a light walk.
"Somewhere near your old home?" Drakka asks.
"Yeah. He had a house along the state line between Colorado and Nebraska for hiding equipment at. My hidey hole was in the bunker he had under it," I sighs, "It's even further East than the Nora lands. I'll get it some other time... Maybe I'll even get lucky and it'll be intact."
Drakka chuckles, "That'll be a sight."
I groan and reach over, pushing him off his Charger.
"Wha- ow, hey!" Hey yells.
"Whoops, guess the kids were a bad influence..." I say innocently.
"I'll mark the location for you for when you decide to go find it." Gaia chuckles, before disconnecting.
Drakka grumbles as he scrambles back onto the Charger, who tosses their head. "He doesn't like listening to me ever since you rode him," He huffs.
"Oops." I laugh, watching the Charger amble along slower than he used to, "May have also accidentally damaged him. Hang on," I get down and check it over.
Drakka watvhes as I circle him and the Charger, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, here, hang on..." I dig in my parts bag and work on removing and replacing a seriously dented section of the carapace that was digging into the front leg kneecap, "Okay, see how he likes that..." I say, sucking my finger where I'd gotten myself shocked, and watch as the Charger dances circles aroumd me with Drakka on his back.
"Whoa- whoa!" Drakka fumes and relaxes once his Charger slows down again, "Yeah, that did it." He huffs, "Ya know, maybe I'll name him.." he laughs, "Racer sounds good."
I grin and hop back on Piglet's back, "Remember, once they're named, you're emotionally attached and thats your buddy."
"Yeah, I can deal with that," he smirks, "In fact, race you to Scalding Spear?" He smirks, raising a brow.
"Oh you're on-" I take off after him as he charges down the path, Piglet only marginally able to keep up as the smaller, lither machine takes shapr bends easier than him.
Damn, oh well... Won't be winning any races on Piglet's back...
I groan as Drakka fades into the distance, "Come on, bud, gotta catch up. Knowing Drakka, he'll be insufferable if he wins this..."
Piglet squealed, managing to find the same burst if energy from a few days ago and plowing down the trail, following after Drakka and Racer, closing the distance as we bear down on the solar panel rings.
Come on, come on-
"Hah! Beat you, desert flower!" Drakka whoops, only to groan as I pass him and skid, spraying sand over the guards as Piglet comes to a halt.
"Sorry guys!" I grin, and look back as Drakka poutily slumps his way off Racer's back.
"I had it!" He groans.
"Piglet is a born racer!" I grin. I stand corrected on Piglet's abilities, that's for sure.
Drakka pouts, but leads the way into the village, taking me up to the Commander's lookout and just sitting, taking a breath, "Well, that was an eventful day..." he groans, looking out the open wall over the village, and the fading sunlight.
"Yeah, nothing like a good race ti get the blood going," I relax and take a breath, then see him grin, "What?"
"There's a lookout higher up that we call the Ten's Overlook. Wanna see?" He grins.
I chuckle, "Oh? You still have energy after all that?"
He grins and leads the way outside, showing me the climbing holds and leading the way up.
All the way up to the top of the tower, here in the middle of the desert, mountains on all sides, darkening sand as far as the eye could see, with greenery on the distant mountainsides...
"Nice, isn't it?" He grins, sitting down and pointing out in different directions, "Arrowhand's that way, Salt Bite's somewhere over there, Bleeding Mark is up that way by the mountainside..."
I relax and sit next to him, just relaxing and letting him chatter.
Its been a few days since I was physically able to just relax... Not since before running into the Quen...
I yawn, and start to doze, listening to him talk about a bit of the history of the desert clan.
"-and then the Raid of Stars, where Ritekk gained the mark of Commander-" he grins.
Finally, it was enough, and I let myself flop over, not even feeling how pointy his armor was anymore, just dead ass tired and relaxed.
"Oh, did I bore you to death?..." he mumbles.
"Nuh-uh..." i mumble, "Just tired... St'l l'snin.." I yawn.
"Sure you are, desert flower..." he chuckles as his arm wraps around me.
--
She passed out quick once I started talking about the history of the Tenakth... I mean I know I'm no Chaplain, but damn...
But she seemed to need it, and she was still mumbling whenever I'd try talking to her.
"You can sleep, you know..."
"Buh yer talkin'..." she mumbles so quietly I could barely hear her.
Guess you can't win them all.
"Fine, fine..." I sigh, but adjust so she was laying across the furs that made ip the top of the floor, head on my leg as her breath evened out.
That's what I thought.
...
I know damn well how selfish it was to chase her, especially as far as Lowland territory...
But I guess only time's really gonna tell how good or bad an idea it was.

---
The self criticism is kicking in bad, so I'm making myself write even though I feel like pushing the relationship this soon is a mistake, or even if I picked the wrong match due to my own preferences as I can see the possibilities for Kotallo, Erend or even Nil if I really push it.
But I know that if I let that put me off, I won't come back to it and keep writing.
Maybe sometime I can do alternate versions, or even oneshots, but for now, more cringy Drakka and Y/n!
Hope you guys continue enjoying the story!