2020-08-13 Armageddon Highway and The Stupid Vespa
Armageddon Highway and The Stupid Vespa
Location: Armageddon Highay
Date and Time: August 13, 2020 Before Sunset
Summary: Returning to Armageddon Highway to retrieve the stash Vespa, they realize they're now at war
Mood Music: Edwin Starr - "War (What Is It Good For?)"
Who still drives a stick-shift? Who still drives a 1970s Datsun with a stick-shift for that matter? If Luu’s Chantrymate was a bit more normal in her vehicular choices, this whole operation would be a lot easier, and require a lot less effort; and yet without those little quirks and flourishes, she wouldn’t be Jinny, and so Luu puts it out of her mind and works on alternate plans for retrieving Jinny’s Vespa.
Let’s not even get started on that stupid Vespa. The moped was introduced to Luu by Jinny back months ago when they were actually briefly dating. This of course caused all sorts of thoughts of cute adventures through Los Angeles traffic; it made her actually interested in experiencing Los Angeles traffic. Those trips never really happened, though, as they hit the brakes on their relationship before it even really began. A higher calling sure has a way of kicking a girl when she’s down.
No longer looking forward to holding on for dear life during twee low-speed adventures, the object of transportation for her romantic daydreams, took on an almost mocking feel. Stupid Vespa, and now it’s demanding a rescue from them like some sort of damsel in distress, which admittedly is a bit their fault for abandoning it during a previous adventure. There are enough things that Luu blames herself for right now and enough things on her mind, that she has no intention of finding her own fault in the current stupid predicament of the stupid Vespa.
Admittedly, the totally non-romantic trip they had taken on it, complete with holding on for dear life and a suction-cup Garfield turned zip-tie Garfield, was quite nice and comfortable. That’s exactly why her views on it have grown quite dim, as that comfort ended up leading her astray. Leading them astray. None of what happened was in the plan.
At first when they had ended things for the Chantry, it was a bit awkward, but they were making it work. Then thanks to their trip to Armageddon Highway on that stupid Vespa, they ended up succeeding in some of their goals well beyond what they had imagined. Their own node. That made it real, made the Chantry real, at least in her eyes.
It was of course a bit of a traumatic trip, thanks to strange portals and other dangers of liminal spaces, not to mention the earlier trauma due to the Curse of Terpsichore. Looking down at the roller skates on her feet, Luu thinks about that trip to the roller rink to prevent the Curse from striking again.
Of course Luu was a bit anxious and Jinny was there to help her through that, and at the time everything seemed so simple. Holding Jinny’s hand for that first lap around the rink, and then neither of them thinking to let go. There’s no denying their feelings for each other were complex, but it all felt so simple then, holding hands in an inadvertent couples skate. Perhaps this was some previously unknown additional Curse of Terpsichore embedded in those skates. The Greeks of course are quite fond of ironies.
They started to get too comfortable with their situation, forgetting it was something that needed to be managed. It became too easy to share with each other, be close to each other, and ultimately wind up in bed together.
That afternoon still makes Luu blush a little when she thinks of it, but that doesn’t last long before she begins to dwell on what actually happened. What actually happened? Luu’s not quite sure, and that’s part of what eats at her, makes her a bit frazzled, makes it hard to meet Jinny’s eyes.
What she’s sure of is it started to happen, but it also didn’t happen. The simultaneous appearance of lost rocket bunny and Alison turned forbidden moments that almost went too far, or maybe, just maybe not far enough, into some manic slapstick routine that she still hasn’t processed. Luu spun a story and Alison nodded along, but she could tell she wasn’t buying it, and the rocket bunny? What the fuck is up with the rocket bunny. Something did that, skates don’t just do that.
Looking down at her Seven League Roller Skates, Luu gives a little sigh, and puts it out of her mind. A little adventure to save that stupid Vespa might be just what they need for her and Jinny to start figuring things out again. Not by some long discussion, but just by getting back into action -- the kind of action they’re supposed to be doing.
Pressing play, the sounds of oOoOO’s ‘Burnout Eyes’ begin to play through the speakers in her home, her Sanctum, her Chantry. Taking a moment, Luu begins to let her body feel the beat, subtle movements at first. Her outfit is almost a high fashion parody of outdoor gear, her hair dyed orchid and held in double top knots, her skates both blessed and cursed by The Muses get her ready to take them where they need to be. At least physically.
Catching the beat, Luu pushes off and begins to skate in a circle around Jinny. As the music declares I wanna stay, just like this, Luu claps her hands along with the snare, and at the close of each loop, she declares, “Armageddon Highway.”
When the loop is closed a seventh time, it’s clear they can no longer stay, just like this. What was in is now out, as the portal opens and changes their location like last season’s fashion.
Outdoors now, at the base of the mountains just north of Los Angeles, Luu glances at the familiar sign that says ‘Off Limits’ and then to Jinny, not meeting her eyes.
Over the past few months….has it really been that long? Over the past few months, Jinny’s heart has been tugged, twisted, battered, bashed, and broken more times than she could have imagined. Escaping by way of the back door when Alison arrived a few days prior was bad enough, but being confronted in the parking lot the next day with accusations of toying with Luu’s heart was...well, it was painful at the absolute least, and certainly devastating to her sense of well being and compassion. Love was never something that she wanted to ignore but, with the promise she made to Luu and the confrontation that brought a ton of emotional baggage into the terminal, Jinny was doing well to keep it together at the first sight of Luu after that meeting in the parking lot. The first few hours were on pins and needles - had Alison said anything? Luu certainly would have said something in that regard but, if Alison didn’t, then Jinny wouldn’t have to and, while keeping secrets from Luu was utterly horrible, it’d just be put on to the very short list of things she’s keeping from Luu. Right at the very tip top, circled in gold and with a little star next to it, the simple missive: 1. I love Luule.
Who’s decision it was to come out here was unclear - they knew that they needed to do it but something always ended up coming up to prevent it from happening. The large frame Vespa was from the 1950’s, and probably would have survived in the dry heat of the desert without too much trouble. A mouse might have gnawed something, sure, or maybe a hose would dry rot, but chances are whatever it was, it wouldn’t take too much time to fix. There was time. They could go pick it up whenever they had a chance without too much trouble, and the reward for the trip there would be a trip back into town with Luu’s arms wrapped tight around Jinny’s waist. She finds herself dreaming of the thought of Luu’s chest pressing close to her back as her chin rests on Jinny’s shoulder. They’d stop and turn to each other and the sun would be setting and they would lean in at the same time and bump each other’s noses and smile and then...no. No. None of that, Jinny. Don’t think of such things. With a soft sigh, Jinny let her eyes slip open and watched as Luu laced up her skates, taking a deep, centering breath, making sure to keep her hips forward and her back straight.
The whole situation in the bedroom was wild, but the reappearance of the Rocket Bunny skate, disassembled, reassembled, cut, marked up, and torn, was something not brought up until a few days later. There wasn’t enough food in the place for rats, and the house was kept relatively clean along with the regular visits by an exterminator that put down traps and baits as a preventative measure to keep hungry critters from making inroads into Luu’s closets. God help the rodent that makes a nest in the shreds of a Gucci or Dior dress. The skate was left at the Chantry on a dresser downstairs while Jinny pleaded with Miura-san to make her another one. Whether or not she’d get one is still up in the air. She’s hopeful, though!
Whether or not it’s still there when they get back? Still remains to be seen.
The red-haired woman sits in the lotus position in the middle of the Chantry’s ballroom, and turns her head to follow Luu as she begins her orbit, clapping along in time with the song as she goes. While Luu may be dressed in a mockery of outdoor gear, Jinny’s dressed in something that wouldn’t look entirely out of place on a hiking trail. Sure, the biggest brand she is wearing is the button-down shirt from The North Face, but even then, it’s probably nothing compared to the designer power Luu has assembled for this little trip. Her boots are sitting on her lap along with Luu’s, and two backpacks - one on her back, the other on her front, are strapped tight to ensure that in the event they do end up inadvertently travelling again they’ll have important things like water, food, flashlights and the like. The other backpack has stuff to get the Vespa running in case it’s not, a small air pump in case the tires went flat, a patch kit, a little can of gas and starter fluid….basically a travelling ‘get this thing going!’ kit. She slows her breathing as the loops come quicker, and closes her eyes just as the world twists around them and deposits them safely at the foot of an abandoned road in hills north of Los Angeles..
It’s a cruel mockery when Jinny looks up from the teleportation across worlds. This isn’t the first time she’s taken a trip like this, but this is the first time that the object of her affections was so blatantly declared to be off limits by the seemingly random placement of a weather beaten road sign. You said it, sign. You said it. Luu’s off limits to Jinny and, really, that’s probably for the best, isn’t it? Sacrifices for ascension are necessary and ordeals are part of both of their practices. It’s been said that Gandhi, after the death of his wife, had women sleep next to him naked so he could test to see if he had achieved brahmacharya, a Hindu concept of self control. Yes, it’s creepy and weird, but this might be the less bizarre version of that, right? Even if she’s not Hindu, the practice of self control and willpower will almost certainly be something useful in the coming months and years of being in the chantry.
At least, that’s what she keeps telling herself as she shrugs out of her packs and stands, little bits of gravel falling off of her shorts, her boots crunching on the road as she stretches. Wordlessly she crouches down and rummages for a skate case, passing it over to Luu along with whatever shoes she brought with her to hike in. It’s fairly simple and not too terribly bumpy. Something they can walk in an hour, more or less.
It’ll be faster heading back, that’s for sure.
“Thanks for coming with me this time. It’d suck to have to have taken an uber up here by myself.” she finally says, looking over at Luu.
“Of course, we’re --” Luu begins to respond, her reply a bit terse, but not unfriendly. A lot of the tone could easily be chalked-up to the effort of the portal they just travelled through, or the fact that Luu is being a bit foolish, trying to undo her skates while still standing so as not to mess up her outfit in any way; and maybe those are the reasons, but the other day still lingers.
A sigh is given as Luu stands up, turning to Jinny with a friendly smile and notes, “ -- we’re in this together.” Clicking the strap of her messenger bag, she unhooks it from her back, slowly lowering it to the ground. Taking a seat on the bag, she begins to unlace the thick rainbow laces through the sky blue eye holes of the gold patent leather Seven League Roller Skates that were there means of conveyance for getting to this spot, thanks to Luu not knowing how to handle a Vespa or a stick-shift on her own.
Putting on a pair of patent leather Doc Marten look alikes, but really designer boots that pair well with the sparse and slightly ripped fishnets that go with her trail hiking the catwalk look, Luu then places the skates delicately in the custom made black leather back that obfuscates just how special they are and then rises up. Hands on her hips, she looks around at the sign, the gravel roads, the dense flora around them, and then to Jinny. Her eyes lingering on the woman, looking as if there’s something important to be said, and yet communicating nothing.
“We came all this way,” she notes, glancing up the road, “maybe we should check out what’s been developing without the care of the Shaman? I mean, it might be nice to view our mural in the light of day and perhaps figure out what exactly that was that took us to that cave. If it’s still there, that’s either a convenient route or a dangerous backdoor to be aware of, and if it’s not -- “ Glancing back to Jinny, Luu says, “-- and if it’s not, maybe it’s just one of those things that happen. Something that can’t really be explained or repeated, a gift or a blessing, but one that moves you forward to where you need to be.”
The suggestions come as if it was made at that moment, but the boots and the outfit suggest that Luu probably had this on her mind for a while. Reaching down, she lifts up her red-red Hello Kitty messenger bag, strapping it to her back once again; it’s obviously been packed with supplies in a way that’s not too bulky, but has what’s needed. Another glance at the ‘Off Limits’ sign, before Luu looks to Jinny for her thoughts on the matter.
They are in this together, aren’t they? Luu getting ready for the journey down the road has Jinny doing the same, checking to make sure laces are tight, zippers are zipped, and straps are going over and around the right parts of her body. Ever had a strap chafe your cleavage? It’s not fun. It only took a short hike in a bikini top for Jinny to learn that valuable lesson. Looking down the road, Jinny takes a sip from her bottle of water, the ice still rattling around inside, the liquid still pleasantly cool. Considering this was the desert, having water was an important thing, and the sun-parched terrain surrounding the gate leading down Armageddon Highway was clear - if you didn’t belong here, you shouldn’t be here. Good thing they belonged, wasn’t it?
She looks over as Luu stands, catching the other woman’s gaze and holding it for several moments before glancing away, down the road, the things that she wanted to say left unsaid. But when Luu does talk? Oh, sure, it’s natural sounding at first glance, but when you can read people decently enough (and you’ve spent quite a lot of time with the one person you’re reading), a person can pick up things. Those suggestions came so effortlessly, so nonchalantly, with the right timber and cadence that this was something Luu had thought of ahead of time.
That’s good, because Jinny had been doing the exact same thing.
Being alone with Luu on a trip that wasn’t very planned out could introduce all sorts of intimate entanglements that neither of them were capable of easily resisting, so having an itinerary, as limited as the one suggested was, is still better than having no itinerary at all and leaving their fates up to the whims of whatever current moved them. “That actually sounds like a good idea. It never hurts to check up on a few things, and I think I could use a good hike to work off a little energy. We might be able to pinpoint that hole that sent us to the node. Hopefully whatever the Shaman was taking before he transitioned wound down itself without too much trouble, or perhaps he’s still around, spiritually, watching over the place his bones turned to dust. Whatever the case…” Jinny glances at her watch - yes, a wristwatch in the time of Cell Phones. “We’ve got about eight hours before sundown, and if you need to go ahead of time, you’ve got your skates and I’ve got enough stuff to get the Vespa running in the meantime. So if you don’t want to ride with me, I think you’re okay..”
Yes, Jinny’s saying that she can go it alone, and that Luu could leave whenever she wanted, but an unsaid thing is hinted at by the quaver in her voice. An indication that she probably doesn’t want to.
Reaching for the water bottle, Luu assures Jinny, “Don’t worry, I’ve got more packed.” Taking a big sip, she closes the bottle again and hands it back, before once more glancing at the ‘Off Limits’ sign. A shrug is given, as Luu looks back to Jinny with a small grin, saying, “Looks like it’s time again for another good ol’ fashioned dyke hike.”
Stepping forward, Luu moves towards the sign and the surrounding fencing. Looking for where the fence had been broken long before they ever found it, Luu pulls it to the side holding it open for Jinny to pass through, before stepping through the threshold herself.
On the other side, Luu takes a few quick steps to catch up with Jinny to walk side-by-side. She doesn’t reach out, but instead her hand instinctively opens and closes ever so slightly. This would be ordinarily where she might take Jinny’s hand, and it’s not that she doesn’t want to, she’s just not sure that she should. It might not be the right thing to do, for either of them, not right now at least.
There’s a small tension between the awkwardness of doing something and not doing something, thanks to a few days ago when they came quite close to doing something much more. It’s not been spoken about, though Luu at times considers saying something to broach the topic. Somehow, but how? While there’s definitely a subtle difference, she still feels at ease with the other woman, and it’s possible this will just pass into nothingness, but really, the memory is there. Seared into her brain, and perhaps it’s just too raw to speak on.
The gravel crunches beneath their feet as they begin to make their way up the switchbacks towards the tunnel entrance. Going through it the first time they visited, Luu hadn’t paid much attention, instead caught up with stories of failed cold war follies, failed ghost hunters, and the territorial and superstitious Cartel members that make these mountains their home. This time, though, she has reason to be much more careful and observant.
Neither that portal nor that car should have been there, and part of Luu wonders if that applies to them as well.
Dipping low to step beneath the held-open fence, Jinny reaches around to hold the fence open for Luu, letting her step through without danger to her tights or any of her outfit. While ‘distressed’ is certainly a thing in fashion, chances are the wrong kind of distressed is almost certainly a negative when it comes to outfits like hers. Once Luu is through, Jinny takes a few steps forward, adjusts her bags so they’re spreading their weight across her shoulders and hips, and looks to look as she takes her few quick steps to catch up before they start to walk, Jinny on the left, Luu on the right. Almost instinctively, Jinny’s fingers twitch, her right hand twisting slightly towards Luu before she catches herself. In certain cultures, holding hands is a way you show friendship or companionship, but between Jinny and Luu, it’s a connection that means so very much more. So, instead, she reaches up and grabs onto her backpack’s strap, holding it tightly in order to not reach for Luu, as she very much wants to. And the silence? The silence of the desert and the crunching of their feet on the gravel road is omnipresent, the echoes of their breathing returning, faint, on the breath of the world surrounding them. It almost feels like they’re being watched from all sides, the unseen audience wondering why they’re not holding each other’s hands while they walk. It’s the right thing to do for the story, after all…
The road winds up the hill, the grade steadily getting higher, but not so high that a car or a fully loaded semi couldn’t make it out with a cargo of stone from the blasting. “It’s pretty out here.” she finally says, looking over the valley below from their vantage point. “It’s quiet. Completely unlike the city. No cars, no horns, no people. Just the world and the things that move through it.” She hikes with Luu a bit longer. “I see why the Shaman chose this spot, or chose to live here after the City asked him to. It’s a rugged place, but with its own beauty that’s not easily seen. And if you like being alone? The heat and the thorns will certainly keep people back.”
The road levels out and, at the end gapes the mouth of the tunnel - their next obstacle to see what lies beyond. There’s no graffiti on this end; the art that they painted was on the other side and, as they approach, the air cools, the shadow of the mountain chilling the air inside. Not enough to see their breath, of course, but at least ten degrees cooler than the desert outside, and there, in the shadow, where they parked it out of sight? Jinny’s Vespa, still hidden behind a bush.
“There she is.” Jinny sounds pleased at the sight, clapping her hands as she jogs over, stepping over a rut in the road, taking the handlebars and muscling the Vespa out from behind the bush and out into view, crouching down to start checking it over. The tires seem okay - one needs a little more air - and the engine turns over when she twists the kickstart, the engine sputtering, so it’ll probably make it down the mountain without too much trouble. The gas tank is almost empty, but she’s prepared for that, adding about two liters of golden petrol to the nearly dry tank, closing the cap with a twist. The Garfield plush? The one zip tied to the front? It’s missing. Odd.
“Pretty quiet,” Luu jokes back, and if she saw the almost grab of her hand, she didn’t let on in any way. “I mean -- “ Luu starts to say as she looks around the space, hands resting lightly against her hips. “If that’s the way you wanted to live -- “ she starts, before pausing again, tilting her head as she thinks about this. “ -- I’m torn, honestly. I mean, ‘Armageddon Highway’ is like totally a great name for a place to live, and kinda makes me think of my own ‘Laurel Canyon Mummy House’?” Glancing to the tunnel, she adds, “and yeah, shoe storage for days, but -- “ Tilting her head from side-to-side, Luu takes a moment to decide, but finally shares, “ -- I’d get too lonely. It takes a special person to make that kind of -- “ Stopping before finishing that though, realizing all the implications she finally switches to saying, “ -- they’ll be missed.”
Giving a little sigh, Luu continues to look about the area, not really searching. Jinny calling out after discovering the Vespa finally gets Luu’s attention to focus, and starts her on a slow trudge over. Looking at it, Luu confirms it’s still the same stupid Vespa it always was, but she has no real expertise to add in evaluating how road worthy it might be.
As Jinny’s attention goes to the front of the Vespa, Luu too clues in on the missing Garfield. “I guess that’s what we get for trying to make an indoor cat into an outdoor cat,” Luu comments dryly, her joke managing to take her mind away from any idea that this might indicate some larger issue that they might need to deal with.
“Come on,” Luu finally says after a moment, gesturing back to the road with her head. “Vespa is Vespa,” she articulates, before noting, “but it’s not going to be light forever. While I’m curious what exactly we hit last time, I’m not curious about checking it out after nightfall, and we still don’t know what to expect on the other side.”
The first few steps back to the road are the same slow trudge for Luu, before she gives a slightly energetic hop, and takes a moment to do a few stretches. “My thoughts,” Luu begins to say, still bending over, “is we head through the tunnel, looking things over as we go, but saving the real search of that area for after. We head through -- “ Standing up, Luu points at the tunnel for emphasis, and continues to say, “ -- we check out the situation there, see if there’s any real differences to note, check out our mural by the light of day, maybe snap a couple photos, and then with what’s left of the day we can figure out how we want to divide for searching the tunnel for spatial anomalies, checking in the trees for our cat, or maybe just heading back to the Chantry where you can give me a foot massage.”
There’s a grin, before she reiterates, “Come on,” and begins to make her way towards the tunnel entrance.
Leaving the Vespa in the open this time, but out of the way, Jinny re-shoulders her pack and follows along behind, watching Luu bend over and taking her time doing so, then taking on a sedate, trudging pace to start but then jogging to catch up. Vespa is certainly Vespa, and it won’t be going anywhere, thanks to her having the key and knowing how to start the cantankerous old girl. Her backpack is swung around and a pair of the Ridiculous Flashlights are pulled out, one passed to Luu, the other one taken by Jinny, and when they’re powered on, a vast portion of the tunnel is illuminated. And now that they’re looking and paying more attention, they can see truck tracks and footsteps in the dirt on the floor of the tunnel, going in both directions, through the tunnel and, although Luu may not detect it, the tell tale smell of paint chemicals on the breeze coming through the tunnel.
“He couldn’t have gotten far.” Jinny says once they’re in the tunnel. “The suction cups would have made running difficult, and he probably would have been exhausted from chewing through the zip ties.” She swings the light around, keeping it at around Luu’s waist level, so as to not blind her with 60,000 candlepower before slowly moving deeper into the tunnel. “But, since we’re heading into the darkness again, I think you know I agree. Being out of here before nightfall is a good thing, and exploring after dark requires a bit more equipment than we have with us. These flashlights are good, but they’re not ideal for prolonged exploring. And I left my camera at home, so phones with weak flashes are what we have to work with, so no camera work after the sun sets. I’m kind of curious to see if those headlights left any tracks to follow, and if the fingers I was dragging on the side of the tunnel disappeared, or if you can see where we went through on the other side.” She knows Luu’s need for evidence and, seeing that, she’d know that it was really real, even though she’s been to the node in the desert.
Taking a flashlight from Jinny, Luu begins to make her way through the tunnel beside her Chantrymate. As she walks, she’s a little quieter this time, as her flashlight scans the sides of the tunnel. On the previous trip she had joked about the lack of urban legends and such attached to the area by Sleepers, simply noting these mountains were known to be active with the Cartels whose members were both territorial and superstitious.
What Luu ended up finding at Armageddon Highway was beyond what most Sleepers would even think existed in this world. A real -- well, former -- Shaman who had been guarding the place, and their transition to flowers, light, and spirit; and then on the way back an anomaly of some sort that made her feel like her very reality was ripping apart and in the ended had her directly confronting some of her deep-seated fears about the darkness within herself. In the end, they found a Node and formed their Chantry, but it was a hard won victory. That they both had Visions of such things the night before only added to the excitement and uneasiness she felt.
“Jinny, you’re going to give me a Garfield complex,” Luu responds to the possibilities suggested by the other Angeleno. It might be Luu’s dry sense of humor, but there’s definitely part of her tone that suggests some sort of living doll rampaging around might be capable of existing in her world. If she had more time to contemplate what had truly happened to Jinny’s poor Rocket Bunny then she might be certain of this fact.
Nearing the other end of the tunnel, the sun still shining somewhat, Luu begins to lay her eyes on the familiar nature on the other side of Armageddon Highway. It strikes her odd that her sense of a wild and almost forgotten part of these mountains is beginning to seem almost weirdly overgrown. When she had been here before it had not looked anything, but natural, and yet now it feels as if the area she sees has lost its grounds keeper. What that means in the long run, she is not sure, as she has only hints of what a Shaman might do in watching over such a remote space. How long before it finds a new tender or begins to suffer for lack? She has no idea.
Making her way out of the tunnel, she clicks off her flashlight and continues a few more paces before stopping and turning around to view the mural the two had made together. While she had only observed it in totality late at night by flashlight before, she instantly knows that something is very wrong here.
Someone has clearly been here since they were last here. New graffiti has been placed over their mural. Not an extension, but an attempt at erasure. Luu is not familiar enough with gangs or Cartels to know anything about what has been written, but it’s clear someone is marking their territory. Looking to the corner where they had signed their name, Luu sees the name ‘Luule’ so stylized that it could easily be mistaken for abstract squiggles, and it seems like that is what has happened. Right about it above it, the name ‘Jinny’ has been distinctly crossed off, a line of paint running straight across it.
A shiver runs through Luu’s body and she swallows hard. The mountain terrain juxtaposed with the tunnel begins to play with her vision. She becomes acutely aware of the fact that right now they’re almost in the open. That anywhere in these mountains there might be people carefully watching them. Garfield coming to vicious life would be a welcome reality right now. That’s something she could make sense of and maybe deal with, but all she can think of is the possibility of a sniper. Taking in a heavy breath, she becomes almost dizzy thinking about whether they would hear or feel the shot first; and that would of course depend on who it was aimed at, because one of them might experience neither of those things.
“We should go,” Luu whispers, her hand instinctively reaching out to hold Jinny’s, and hope she gives it a squeeze back. Closing her eyes for a second, Luu almost feels like she could die in that moment. Opening her eyes again, she looks to Jinny to see how she is understanding this situation. Luu is capable of standing tall and facing death, but even with that level of Will, she still understands what death would mean.
Walking through the tunnel, the sunlight fading behind them into nothingness, the infinite darkness stretching out before them, their lights send spears of brightness into the void. Each footstep echo in the black, returning a few moments later, the sound distorted and magnified, almost an octave lower, making it seem like there are more walking through than really are. And as they walk, Jinny sweeps her beam across the walls and ground, picking up more signs that people have come through. Narrow tracks studded with bumps, close to each other, are on the right and, as she follows them, their tracks start becoming visible on the left. The trails she left in the finished concrete wall with her fingertips appear, and as she slows, she can see where they had been walking and, on the opposite wall just there, a body-sized smear in the dirt where they went through on their journey to their node. “Hey, look…” she says, walking over, watching for cars out of habit, hesitantly reaching out to touch the very solid, very impermeable wall, pushing her weight against it and then looking to Luu without a word. It looks like this doorway has closed and is locked in a way that they can’t open without a great deal of research, practice, and luck.
Light at the end of the tunnel is a metaphor for getting past the hard times and, in this case, it’s literally the case. Moving around the corner the sunlight pours in, and it sends a surge of relief through Jinny, the woman letting out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding. “See, I was watching for Garfield tracks while we were in there and didn’t see one. I think we’re safe from Orange Mayhem for the time being.” She walks closer to Luu, clicking off her light at the edge of the darkness, stepping out into the brightness of the outdoors with her Chantrymate.
Stepping into the wilds beyond the tunnel is a little disconcerting to Jinny. The last time she had been there, things seemed to be wild, but in their place, but now, with the Shaman’s work left undone, it appears different. While Luu’s attention is on the mural, Jinny’s is on the surroundings. She takes a few steps out and covers her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide. Grasses are growing wild and jagged, with some of the smaller trees starting to twist and gnarl around each other. Open ground is sun-bleached and bright, the grasses there pummeled by the heat of the sun and the lack of pure water, and the shadows seem deeper and darker, with some near the mountain having a lurid violet hue to them that, at a second glance, couldn’t be there, right? The only spot that looks somewhat pristine is the place the Shaman’s body lay beneath the tree, a faerie ring of flowers surrounding it to a diameter of about fifteen feet - just large enough for the tree and the root system below. And that’s not even looking at the spirit world! “Luu, are you seeing this?” Jinny asks, incredulous, turning towards Luu and catching sight of…
The Graffiti.
Where once a mural resided that celebrated Jinny, Luu, and their connection, signed to prove they were there, are now splashes of cheap tan paint thrown haphazardly to cover as much of the thing as could be covered. Someone even climbed up and poured paint over the triangle at the top, and, looking down, Jinny can see her name had been crossed out - an insult in the Graffiti community, telling the artist that their work wasn’t worth it. What’s been painted over are gang symbols, warnings in spanish and broken English, and a stylized crown with three stars glimmering on the points in blue. She takes a step forward, next to Luu, scanning the art and then, a chill, as she turns to look behind them, scanning the mountain ranges, her gaze moving past the little near-invisible house, feeling very much exposed in the desert. Feeling danger. Feeling fear.
She reaches for Luu’s hand and feels the other woman’s hand reaching for hers. They clasp together tightly, Jinny standing close, the flashlight still held tightly in her left hand, Luu’s in her right. She squeezes back and looks to Luu, almost panicked and looks over her shoulder. “Yeah, let’s get out of here before…” She nods towards the Graffiti. “Before they come back.”
But first….
Pausing before they enter the tunnel, Jinny does two things. First, she rummages in her pack for a can of white spray paint and climbs up, re-painting the triangle in quick movements. Girl can paint fast when it matters and she’s back down with Luu in less than a minute. The second thing? She covers over her name, leaving Luu’s squiggle, and re-writes her tag over the crossed out line. We were here, that says. And we will be back.
That done, Jinny tucks the can away, clicks on her flashlight, and looks to Luu, re-taking her hand like it’s the most natural thing in the world to do because, really, it is. She doesn’t even need to think about it - holding Luu’s hand is important for both of their well being and that’s what friends do. “Let’s go.” she says. “No dodging into interdimensional spaces this time.”
