Patin's Chore PT 2

Posted on Fri Feb 23rd, 2024 @ 3:35pm by Patin

Mission: The Beginning of the End
Location: Bajor
Timeline: Current-ish

Half an hour and a hover-mobile ride later, Patin arrived at the ranch, her little hovel in the snow. It was a small cabin, plenty for one, surrounded by trees on three sides and nestled at the base of a mountain ridge. She had a nice little barn and a grass covered paddock out back. Never to be a sentimental one, this was the closest thing she had to represent a life of turmoil finally come to peace.

Of course, she wasn't at peace and she had come to terms with that. After so many years of fighting it was all she knew. She had gotten comfortable with the routine and the idea it was who she was. As she entered the house she paused to take one last look around.

In the dust and clutter she saw the stark contrast to the path she was currently on. Everything here was old and gray compared to the bright shiny star filled sky outside her cabin on the Sunfire. She moved into her bedroom and packed a few tactical accessories before moving into the kitchen. She took one last look around before grabbing the gas line and snapping it off at the source.

Next she left the house to fill with gas and headed for the barn. There rose the smell of a rotten corpse where one of her horses once stood. This, made Patin happy. It meant her babies were eating. Before entering she grabbed a stick and an oil covered rag and lit them to create a torch. Then, without hesitation, she entered the barn and was immediately greeted by over a hundred skittish palm sized baby Blondis. This, made Patin happy.

They avoided the fire in her hand and therefore moved away as she approached. In the shadows of the barn she was looking for one thing, "There you are momma." She said as she sat down on the hay pile next to a spider the size of her chest and began conversing with it. "You've been busy."

The spider responded, clearly not afraid of Patin or the fire, by moving closer and touching Patin's arm with one of its feelers as a cat would nuzzle its owner. "I'm going to have to go away for a while, maybe a long while. You can have the horses but you should avoid the house and," she paused as if contemplating. "You probably shouldn't go into town. They aren't too fond of you and your kids there." The mother spider moved away as Patin stood.

"Just take care of yourself Lilth, and your new babies too, they're wonderful. " Patin bowed to show respect, treating the creature with respect and intelligence before backing out and exiting the barn.

She made the trek back to the hover-mobile, donned her helmet and gave one look back at the barn. Despite never having children of her own, she felt like she was abandoning her young to fend for themselves. Swallowing her guilt, she activated the bike and rode away. Moments later, the house exploded in a large ball of fire before collapsing in on itself where it would burn down to the frame leaving no traces she was ever there.

Patin had come to say her goodbyes to the people that new her and the creatures she cared for and now that chore was at an end. She was preparing to move on in every sense of the term.