Brothers in Arms

Eclipse: When Past and Present Collide

"Is there a hallway parallel to this one?" I ask, pointing down the turn with my tail. Shadow follows my gaze, then glows blue. Before I can even exclaim, he's teleported, and I hear his voice echo from the wall.

"There is," he calls, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I teleport to join him, not enjoying the expenditure of energy but deciding it's necessary.

"Chaos, I thought you were going to tear yourself into atoms or something," I shudder, appearing next to him with a sharp crack.

"You can't teleport into solid objects. If you try, you just get hurled out. Didn't you know that?" Shadow inquires, looking surprised.

"Um, no, I didn't, because I was never stupid enough to try," I reply, and he grins.

"Well, now you know. Why did you ask about the hallway?"

"Because I don't think it's possible to walk to the corners of this building. The hallways aren't on a grid, so there's got to be space where they're not next to the outer wall." I stride to the next corner, where the hallway turns off to the right like the last one did. Getting a good stance, I stab with my tail and puncture through the wall next to the turn, feeling emptiness on the other side. Dragging it down, I cut through the metal, continuing until I have a large slit. Shadow, catching on quickly, helps me yank it to the side, exposing a sort of crawl space.

"I knew you'd be good at this," he smiles, the praise making me tinge green slightly.

"Of course," I reply, turning to hide my flushed cheeks. "I don't know where their entrance is, but we don't need it now."

"Let's check it out," he suggests, peering through it. He puts at hand on the bottom sill and hops through, with me following a moment later. It's dark, but my infrared night vision makes do. I can tell Shadow is having some trouble seeing as we run forward stealthily, and I give him access to what my eyes are taking in.

"Remind me to never fight with you at night," he comments, his astoundment at my sight clear through the hivemind. It's not the easiest system, as he keeps mistaking where he is and whacking into me, but it's better than leading him, so I tolerate his occasional bumbles.

"Do you think it matters which corner we go to?" I ask in a low tone, not wanting to mess up his tenuous vision by sending a thought.

"Probably," he replies, glancing back and forgetting he can't see by himself. "Darn it, Eclipse."

"It's not my fault," I say, but I check our rear for him. "Maybe you should have better eyesight."

"Maybe you should have better instincts for when to be serious."

"Touche," I grin, bounding forward as I see a light glowing faintly ahead.

"Wait!" Shadow hisses, hurrying to keep pace with his limited senses. "Be careful!"

"I am being careful. The scent of humans is faint; no one seems to be in any of the attached corridors."

"Still... There could be traps or ambushes," he worries, gliding along as quietly as he can. I wait for him to catch up about twenty paces from the light, which I can see now is a reflection from around a corner.

"Don't remind me," I groan softly, grimacing. "Maybe we should be farther apart."

"Not a bad idea. Do you think you could recognize a covert entrance?"

"Of course," I reply, miffed.

"I'll wait here, then," he nods, slowly sinking to the floor as his shoes whir to a quiet halt. "If you don't find anything, we should move locations."