"That's the biggest damn cup I've ever seen in my life," Domino barely breathed, finally acknowledging the truth and successfully staying composed despite the cacophony of sirens flaring in her head. "That, or we're small as all hell, but I'm going to go with the former for my own sanity's sake."
Turning back and forth from the cup itself to the brick wall on which it sat to the abyssal forest of a grassy yard way too far below and way too wide for her comfort brought about feelings within her she hadn't felt since she was a bad seed. A sour seed she was that flowered into a prickly plant she is, but she was once a sprout just as they all once were... to which they currently felt their psyches regressing out of sensible fear.
"Mm-hmm," Jigsaw hummed in agreement, halfway thankful she couldn't see the space at its full expanse and quality. "So, whatever put it out here is probably much, much larger than it... and us. We've come across some big adversaries over the years, but they were generally that way just in number or mentality."
Glyph checked in. "Speaking of number, don't you think it's a bit weird that we haven't seen anyone around, person or animal, other than Curio?"
As it was such a beautiful day - they, too, could see that despite the circumstances - it was unlikely that no soul wouldn't and/or couldn't embrace the incoming twilight and night for what fun they were sure to be. Plus, at this size, there wasn't much that could be missed, except for themselves.
Jigsaw reluctantly agreed, "Yes, but maybe the Gods are working in our favor for the moment. Heavens forbid that the training technicalities are true here, too: a possible enemy's quantity and mindset being off the charts knocked even more askew now with presumed size."
"The latter on its own is already statistically a suicide mission," Domino declared through a shameful sigh.
"But, is it not one worth taking?" Domino and Jigsaw almost considered that someone else had somehow snuck into the copter, but that wasn't the case. Glyph, out of nowhere, bubbled up some moxie. "Yes, I shouldn't have shown my tattoo, yes, she shouldn't have tried reading a rune, and, yes, we shouldn't have been inebriated doing both, but Curio is our clan mate, isn't she?"
"G, I know where you're going with this," Domino announced, sourness singeing her words once again, "and you are not going to pull me into a damn trolley problem."
"Why can't I?" Glyph questioned with an accusing, pointed hand toward Domino, pressing literally in her chest. "Why shouldn't I?" she then threw to Jigsaw. "Why are you two so set on letting her die so quickly!?"
"We're not!" both elder ladies barked, their directed force nearly sending Glyph out the side of the copter. They, noticing their own veins bulging and Glyph starting to breathe heavily, lowered their demeanors as rapid as possible. Jigsaw, with a sigh, spoke for herself and her slightly younger, saucy friend.
"Do you really think we would've done all of this and come so far if we didn't want to get Curio?" she commenced, using her commanding, commander's tone and her just-as-intimidating appearance to her advantage. "Would we still be on autopilot right now, taking the shortest and fastest path possible to her if we didn't care?"
All of the elder's inquiries got apprehensive nods out of Glyph, but the puzzled look on her face showed that she still didn't get the hesitation.
Domino spoke up, being rather calm for once. "It's not that we don't want to help her, G. We just want to make sure the three of us are alive to do so. You see this place. You can probably feel how off it is."
"Heh, yeah," Glyph managed to chuckle, composing herself. "The sensors sure do, too."
Along with the temperature and altitude faults (or lack thereof), the hub now appeared to detect another force almost magnetic in nature, perhaps being that which attracted Curio aside from her pronunciation problem. It, in every regard, seemed familiar or, at least, similar enough to be manipulated given time they didn't have, yet here it was flared as resistant and restricted.
"Right," Jigsaw agreed, "so if we do this, then we have to make sure we do it right, and I... won't be able to dive and bring in Curio like I thought I would."
The two young-bloods shot her a look of maintained confusion, but after a moment, particularly Domino seeing a sliver of regret surface itself on Jigsaw's face at her stare, the pouty pilot finally understood to what Jigsaw had been referring this entire time, making an 'Oh' expression on immediate realization. It made sense as to why she wasn't at the party but was come across later for the rescue squad. Domino never thought her bold buddy would actually do it, yet it was a most private matter with which she hoped she didn't interfere too much. If they were lucky, then they all would be able to get back before any (more) concerns occurred.
Glyph, on the other hand, wasn't as knowledgeable of Jigsaw's intimacies - knowing that of one's superior would be weird, after all - but was willing to home in on her usual essence and take up the role of supreme savior in her place.
"Then, let me," she offered selflessly, hand over her heart. "If Curio can't climb in here if we get close enough or she can't scale the rope ladder, then I'll get her, either way. If that acid or whatever messes up my tat, then I don't care. I probably deserve it at this point. Just make sure you two keep everything taut and level for us, okay?"
Jigsaw slowly considered it, rubbing a hand over her chin, trying to ponder any other possible idea but coming up with nothing. "I suppose that could work. I can definitely pull up the both of you, need be."
"And, I'll do my thing here," Domino decided, gripping the cyclic and collective controls harder than ever to lock in her place. "I wish I had anything close to J's gains."
The last thing Jigsaw expected to get was a compliment from Domino, but those little nuggets of love along with the secrets they shared were why they were so close for so, so long, after all. She would've shown a smile if she didn't know how it just would've sparked more nosiness in Glyph. She'd be the one asking questions, yet she'd probably end up being railed... again.
A shared look of agreement shot between the trio reflected a quiet contract confirmed, and soon they were on their way. Domino initiated the aircraft's main descent, lowering herself and the preparing pair in the center of the cabin toward the doused damsel, and Glyph and Jigsaw walked toward the wall of tools to get ready for their part of the plan.
Not being as skilled as her elders, Glyph began to question her abilities as she began donning herself in an overly complicated floatation vest and gripping gloves. Jigsaw, finding her own fitting gloves and the unfolding the ladder for which they'd be used, saw her scrunching, pensive face and quickly gave her subordinate a supportive pat on the back before returning to search for a breathing mask that would fit her.
Domino took glances at their exchanges whenever she could, but her mind tended to drift elsewhere. The best-case scenario was directly on the cup and Curio inside of it, using the helicopter's signals and sounds as a guide; however, her eyes focused on their surroundings most of the time. Glyph's lashing out allowed for Domino's general concerns to pass, but the expansiveness of everything that wasn't them still kept the captain on edge.
Perhaps that was a good thing as they finally reached the rim of the colossal, Curio-carrying cup and its tonic tides nearly took up the entire horizon on their own. If Domino wasn't expecting bad things to happen at every moment, then rather than halting the copter smoothly on sight, the elephant-sized insect that wanted to say 'Hello' probably would've sent them into the watery depths to join their drifting friend.
From the encroaching darkness and Domino's taking heed to not flash any lights and not spook their unexpected visitor into attacking back, it was impossible to directly tell whether the multilegged newcomer had wings to combat the copter's flight ability (and Domino's piloting of it). Still, all of those legs were intimidating enough on their own, only made more fearsome by the creepy crawler's beady, prismatic eyes and clamping mouth. With its size competing with the copter, it wasn't hard to determine exactly the type of animal at which she was directly looking, and she only hoped, as rare of a chance as it was, that it was a placid herbivore.
"Six legs, wandering antennae, eyes I could probably fit in if I curled up tight enough," Domino speculated to herself, scanning every visible bit of the biter ahead. "This is punishment for all those snuffed ant hills as a kid, isn't it?"
She was so grateful that Jigsaw and Glyph were too caught up in gathering their goods. By doing so, there was no way they could see the immense insect. Plus, missing out on all the damages its exposure would've caused was probably a good thing. Domino wouldn't have to take Glyph's place as a diver from her resulting, probably freezing in fear, even though it'd be simple, and Jigsaw wouldn't have to take the reins and pilot the helicopter, despite probably being better at the job. The same couldn't be said for the awaiting damsel in distress.
Along with being the youngest and weakest of the foursome, Curio's wet skin - as much of it that could be seen - practically glowed white like any headlight could have simply from paling due to being relatively within reach of the thing. Unlike her - well, all of them, really - the enormous ant could traverse tides with ease, without or without wings, due to its diminutive dimensions made for the world surrounding it. Yet, Curio being shocked into stillness raised the stakes of her dense, dense self irreversibly sinking to the bottom of the cup-lake every second.
Luckily for them all, the danger appeared to find them not worthy of any pursuits and eventually went off back down the side of the plastic precipice, leaving them alone to finally do what was meant to be done.
"Target within lateral range," Domino belted, hiding any previous signs of fear and locking the other girls' attention on herself as Curio resumed her paddle pacing. "Lost soul in sight... and somehow safe."
Jigsaw wasn't a fan of Domino's bluntness, but her taking heed in not sugarcoating the scenario was appreciated, sparking a small smile. Glyph, on the other hand, was too caught up in the seemingly sure security, quickly dropping her end of their just-assembled scaling harness complex and running over to the front of the cabin to see it for herself. Her eyes wasted no time building up tears at the sight, though whether it was from her being happy to see Curio alive or her being distraught at the treading tiny unexpectedly looking like a corpse at the same time.
"Oh, my gosh," Glyph whimpered, at a loss for any better words for the distant damsel. She gripped the back of the co-pilot's seat so hard that Domino thought she was going to need to make Jigsaw charge her for a cushion replacement. Luckily, she eventually released, realizing there was no time to waste. "We have to get out there. We have to get her out of there!"
Jigsaw took her chance in Glyph's brief, focused silence to make her approach, almost sending Glyph into the ceiling when she made her new closeness known. "And, we will," she interjected, now right behind the duo up front, "once you lock in."
Jigsaw pressing the dropped harness into Glyph's back signaled that it was truly go-time. Glyph retook her straps and intertwined herself with them, watching the elder go back to the ladder and get ready. It looked like a web was being weaved: Jigsaw donning her end of the multi-armed harness like a belt, another rope connecting it and her to the walls of the copter, and the last tip dangling from Glyph's vest.
The elder stood with her feet pushing into the metal floor, one hand on the side door, ready to yank it open on the mark, and the other gripping the ladder, all the while bracing herself for Glyph's and hopefully later Curio's added weight on said ladder. Before, she believed that Glyph would plan her moves carefully, following the same guidelines she knew Domino had been giving her over the years as her team leader. The sassy air surfer wouldn't have been or currently be so hard on her if the young souls - her and captive Curio - weren't so driven to circumvent 'seemingly unconnected' directives so much. However, as Jigsaw looked to her strap-sharing associate, noticing a new light in her eyes, she knew that something clicked.
Domino's tendencies had finally been absorbed into Glyph's psyche, ignited by the acceptance of her faults.
Domino had run to the captain's chair of a copter and took the helm as soon as she found one available. In hindsight, it was probably the best decision because she was perfect with her own proficient and deciphering others', i.e. Curio's terrible, rune casting, able to get them where they needed to be in the blink of an eye. However, Jigsaw still felt some sort of way about it.
On one hand, she was a top-ten flyer in all of their massive, secret clan despite being monocular, but Domino currently held the role. On the other hand, she was the most athletically adept out of the trio, let alone most people she knew from all backgrounds, with the best rescue record, but now Glyph was taking that place. She knocked herself out of being Curio's direct savior by her own poorly done, previous privacies that were probably not even necessary given the people with whom she settled. Yet, there was a reminder in the back of her mind that she wasn't totally selfish.
Her achievements allowed her the trust and privileges to have access to the helicopters in the first place, even if normal procedures said that she should've run it through to a superior first. Moreover, Domino wouldn't be able to pull up or translate both of the juniors in a timely fashion if the supremely dire need came up, no matter how stubborn or perseverant she was. She said it herself.
All three ladies had their place to be and job to do, ready for whatever would come their way and whichever ways it decided to happen. Everything seemed relatively calm - the outer breeze, the inner demeanors of everyone, and the currents in Curio's cup. However, in order to get their jobs done, all of their smooth serenity had to have an eventual expulsion.
In a flash, it did. With a splash, it did.