They spent months traveling through the wasteland until they found a glen. Luckily, there was a source of water, well sludge was more like it, but Io had prepared well. She clicked her tool and blue light emitted from the end. One slow crossover and the debris was obliterated.
They settled into the valley. It had taken them a while, but they'd been able to construct a house out of the mud and rock. Life was slow, mostly just them scavenging for food, while Io would explore the area. As far as she knew, the Inner City was the only place where humans still lived, but what if they'd lied to her? There was so much out there that they did not know.
As isolated as they were, by the time they heard the storm, it was too late. The thing crested over the snaggle-tooth mountains, the green and purple bolts of light lashing at the land as it stampeded towards their small haven.
With nowhere to run, Io clutched two terrified children to her chest as she took in the raging over the mountains towards where they huddled.
Ten: "Don't turn around, just hold on tight to me."
Nine…
Eight…
Seven: "Shh, shh, it's going to be ok."
Six…
Five…
Four…
Three: "Close your eyes and count to ten. It'll be all over then."
Two…
One: "I love you both."
The last thing Io heard were the screams of the two children, the little hands fisting her clothing tightly. The last thing she felt was the terror of trying to protect their frail bodies right before the winds slammed into them and the Earth opened her maw and swallowed them down whole.
Zero: Nothing.
.
.
.
.
And then the Io woke up.
The weight of the earth was crushing. Io briefly opened her eyes, only to shut them as they stung and watered from the dirt. She tried breathing, only to hack on the dirt that encased her body. As Io shifted, she struggled to keep her breaths short and shallow, enough to get oxygen but not so deep a breath that she choked on dust. She wriggled enough to bring her arms up around the earthen tomb that encased her and cursed groggily. Her body felt wrong, her mind was groggy her body, and Io just hurt.
Io maneuvered awkwardly as she dug through the dirt that kept her captive. Her lungs screamed as she hacked up dust, tears streaming down her face, while Io frantically shoved dirt to the side. The space made from her panic-induced efforts resulted in a two-second gap in the dirt, where she could hear strangled cries.
Luckily, they were relatively in the same position they'd been in when the storm hit. The girl quickly hooked one of her arms under both children and started slowly making their way up to the surface, based on how the soil was landing on them. Through every pocket of air, the sounds of gasping cries tortured her ears. Tears of fear streamed down her face, turning the dirt into mud, her mind awhirl with doubts and fears of being unable to get them out of this tomb. Each breath was more difficult than the last, and Io could feel herself weakening.
Lack of air, the weight of the earth above them took its toll on her and Io could feel her breathing speed up as her exertions slowed. If it had been just her, that would have been one thing, but then what about Dagan and Sorcha? They needed her. Between the kids, getting themselves out of this place, and trying to breathe? The pressure was akin to being crushed by giants yet being unable to snap for fear of breaking the golden goose's egg. How long it took, she had no clue. The climb was exhausting and the smell of blood from wounds caused by the jagged rocks hung heavy in the air, causing the girl to tremble.
The kids had gone silent a few minutes ago, and their hands loosening their grasps. Io could feel her sanity retreating with every second that tic by as she doggedly dug upwards. She had to be quicker. Then she stopped and cocked her head. There! There it was again! Io tensed and she subconsciously dragged the little ones closer. Tension vibrated through her frame and she pushed upward with all her might in a violent bid for freedom from their earthen tomb.
Rich, black earth exploded upwards as three figures burst through. Io had enough strength to pull the kids out before she fell. The sounds of their irregular breathing brought comfort to Io, as her muscles relaxed and her breathing evened out and eventually, sputtered to a stop.
One full cycle passed and the still organ pumped once, twice, before ascending back into existence with powerful beats. Io let out a soft moan and slowly covered her ears to block out the weird screaming noise that vibrated through her body. Io ran a misshapen hand over her eyes, brushing the muck away so she could at least see what had caused that noise. Gradually, the murky shapes and colors were blinked away, leaving behind a dazzling display of colors. However, any awe or wonder of her surroundings was eclipsed by the two little creatures standing before her.
Awe held the girl spellbound for a moment. "If fire and ice were given form," was the first thing that came to the girl's mind. The two little beings were the size of five-year-olds, one like a living flame while the other reminded her of glaciers. As different as they were, the scales, claws, and even their cat-like eyes and sweetly pointed ears indicated they were of the same species.
The scales that decorated their body also rendered them androgynous, not only covering where their gender would be, but adorning their legs, back, arms, and neck defensively. On the sides of their faces, tiny scales graced in gentle curving patterns, not too feminine or masculine, bold enough to make a statement, but not enough to give a definitive answer to which gender. Yet as lovely as they were, glimpses of shark-like teeth shoved any possibility that they were anything but predators aside.
The little flame on the left had skin the color of charcoal, yellow cat-like eyes, and shoulder-length wild red hair. The scales that decorated its body gleamed a bold orange in the setting sun. While small delicate black claws on its human-like hands and feet created a dichotomy between dainty and ferocity.
On the right, the little ice cube had skin as pale as snow, fathomless grey-colored eyes, and a waterfall of waist-length cyan hair. The little ice cube's scales shimmered like frost-covered opals, the light reflecting off them gently like sleepy rainbows. Like the little flame, this one also had delicately clawed human-like hands and feet, only its claws were a pale wintry shade of grey.
Beautiful little monsters.
Said monsters were also the ones that were making those wretched, ear-piercing noises, Io realized. She winced and further pressed her arms against her ears in discomfort. That was all the duo needed to shriek again. Distractedly, the girl noticed the two little monsters' shark-like teeth and idly she wondered if like, sharks, they never stopped growing and losing their teeth.
It wasn't until the monsters backed away from her and each other shrieking desperately as if calling for a parent, that the girl snapped out of her daze. Predators themselves, these two were likely the offspring of a bigger predator.
"Focus," she told herself. "Have to find the kids so we can the hell outta here before mommy or daddy predator finds us." However, as Murphy* would have it, that's when the girl's day went from bad to the crapper. Now that the girl was alert and not being crushed by a mountain of dirt, for the first time she realized wrong her body was.
The two in front shrieked, causing Io to flinch at how shrill it was. The girl's eyes narrowed as a thought crossed her mind. Where were Dagan and Sorcha? The little monsters took another breath and Io absentmindedly let out an abrupt snarl, not even noticing the duo shut up and cling to each other. Surely the kids were nearby? Were they okay? What if they're hurt or if they'd been separated from each other as well? It was bad enough that she wasn't there with them, but if they were not with her or each other. Io winced. There would be colossal fits and snotty tears for her to deal with.
The girl opened her mouth and tried hollering for them to come or if she could at least get a general location of the brother-sister pair, only to hear an 'awoo' come out. The little predators froze, Io froze, and eyes wide, the trio stared at each other like petrified statues. Uh...