Star Dust (A Paladin Adventure)

The lap of luxury

"It's not much farther," Thor said wearily, and we followed him as he walked further into the cave, a small amount of light provided by a very productive lichen. Gradually it seemed to get warmer, and with one final turning, we arrived in a cavern that smelled sulfurous. We stopped; there wasn't any light in here until Thor uncovered a lantern. Then he passed out other lanterns to each of us, and we were able to look around. The sulfur smell came from hot springs. I almost cried, I was so grateful to see them.

"Wash off in the spring there," Thor directed, "then soak in the hot pools. They have slightly different temperatures, the hottest ones are in the center and are too hot to relax in. There are clean clothes over here, and supplies." He directed our attention with his lantern.  I marched over, found the smallest sizes (which would still probably be too big, but at least they were clean), towels, and soap. There weren't separate facilities for men and women, but we'd gotten accustomed to this at the Grandmaster's facility. I I peeled off my suit and dropped it into the water to wash first; there was still slug goo, sand, and who knows what else on it. Then I washed myself; the water was pretty cold,  so I was grateful for the hot pools waiting for me.  I found one that was not as hot as initially I'd like, because I knew I'd warm up fast and I just wanted a little time to unwind and relax without having to move around much. Steve joined me shortly, and without comment, massaged the tension out of my back and shoulders and hands; he kept his tension in his shoulders, arms, and hands (and his butt and thighs as well, but I didn't feel it was appropriate to relax those parts), so I focused my attention there, finishing with a kiss to his shoulder and snuggling up. When I was in danger of falling asleep, I got out, dried off and dressed.

Yep, the clothing was huge. "You ought to stock the smaller sizes," I said to Thor, smiling.

"Why?" he asked, smiling back. "We do not allow infants to join the guard."

I put my hand over my heart. "A hit!"  I chuckled as I turned away to examine the food situation. Now that all the excitement was over, I was ravenous. What I found was things with long storage life but not much flavor; still, Sam said they were better than some of the MREs he'd had. We boiled some water for drinking since I could see some bacteria in the water; there was a small stone hearth in the corner with a heating element so we didn't have to worry about having a fire detected. We ate quietly and went to sleep early.

I felt a lot better the next morning. Funny how knowing you'll be fighting for your life every day engenders stress. "So what's the plan?" Steve asked Thor during breakfast.

"I am not certain," Thor admitted. "I must find Sif, and we need information about what is happening in the citadel."

"Do you know where Sif is likely to be?" Bucky asked practically.

"I have a few ideas," Thor said. "Two of the areas are not far from here. I will go there and see if she has taken shelter."

"Want some company?" Steve offered, but Thor shook his head.

"I can travel faster alone," he said, which was true. Plus, I suspected, there was the whole reunion thing. "Stay here and recover," he instructed us. "There is a lighting system that is disconnected when no one is here, but Tony should be able to fix that. This is a guard outpost in case of invasion, so I do not think it will be visited. However, if anyone should appear, there is a fissure in the wall--" he pointed it out "--that is too small for adult Asgardians to fit through. Beyond it lies another cavern. You can wait them out there." He gripped his hammer tightly and with a swirl of his red cape, he was gone.

"If there's unrest in the kingdom, maybe we'd better check out our bolt hole," Jim said, and we put away our bedrolls and arranged things so that what we'd taken wasn't obvious. The cave beyond the fissure was pretty nice, for a cave; there was even a place by the far wall where the stream from the main cavern rushed through. The floor was rock, but there were no signs of any cave-dwelling creatures. Given that if a patrol arrived, they might stay awhile, we made a cache of bedrolls, lanterns, food, and other necessities where it couldn't be seen from the fissure. We also stored the weapons we weren't wearing there for safekeeping, then did a little light exploring. It appeared to be an extensive cave system, so we didn't go too far. We also familiarized ourselves with the area outside. Then Tony found the lighting system Thor had described and a disconnected sentry alarm that would produce a warning tone in the main cavern if something passed in front of the sensor and hooked it all back up. It would save us the trouble of posting a sentry and give us more time to evacuate the main cavern if necessary. You never knew; Hela might be paranoid and sending out patrols if she was concerned about the stability of her reign. It went without saying that we would be keeping the cavern tidy, so that we could scramble for the bolt hole at a moment's notice and not have to worry about leaving evidence that it was occupied behind.

We were all still fairly fatigued despite the good night's rest, so we took it easy most of the day, wary for the alarm tone. We lounged around in the hot pools after dinner. Thor had not returned by the time we were ready for sleep, so we decided to sleep in the bolt hole for added security.

We woke up sometime in the night when the warning tone sounded. I could hear Tony, who was closest to the fissure, move over quietly. Then lights came on in the main cavern, and a little light fell on him; he moved into the shadows. "Friends!" Thor called out, and I relaxed. We all got up and filed out into the light. Sif was with him; her pregnancy just beginning to show. He looked at us in approval as we filed into the cavern. "They are sending out two man patrols," he told us. "This is still the safest place to be; not everyone knows about it and it provides shelter and sustenance. It is good that you have taken refuge, however. We can take care of any intruders here, but it is best to do it on our terms. Sif and I will stay in another chamber, since I can no longer fit into that one." He eyed our bolt hole.

Yawning, I went over to Sif and touched her arm. "It's good to see you again. Let us know if you need anything--" and by that I meant the other women and myself "--and we'll catch up later." She smiled back and nodded.

"I am weary," she admitted, and with that, Thor picked up a couple of bedrolls and a lantern and they left. We went back to sleep.

The next morning,  Sif and Thor joined us for breakfast and to determine what to do next. Sif had been in hiding in an old, small hunting lodge that wasn't even on any newer maps, and had no more new information than we did. In order to plan, we needed current data.

"What are you doing here? You are not members of the guard," a young, stern voice said. What? What happened to the sentry buzzer? I looked up to see two big young men in the doorway to the cave. It looked like a patrol had found us. 

Thor unfurled from the floor. "Uh-oh," one of them whispered, and turned to flee. There was the zing of a bowstring and the kid in retreat tripped and went down clutching his calf.

"You, stay," Thor commanded the other kid, who looked rooted to the spot in fear. Clint went with Thor to the other boy to retrieve his arrow, and Thor hauled him to his feet and back into the cavern. "How did you get here?" he asked, and the uninjured kid pointed out a different entrance to the cave system. Son of a ....gun.

"Well, here's our source of information," I noted, and Thor turned toward them.