Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Two (section)

===Homesickness===


Remilia Dorn sat cross-legged on the roof of the castle, slate in hand.  The night was a good thirty degrees colder than the day here.  She was actually chilly.

“I don’t want to come off like a neophyte Warp-traveler, you two, but this planet is crazy,” she said.  The little recording icon on her slate took down her words and transcribed them.  “I’m on the roof now, and the stars are so bright it’s uncanny.  Is this what old Earth looked like?  Dad, is this what Inwit looked like?”  She stood up, staring at the high walls of the city.  “Venus tells me that the walls here see use all the time.  The city would be under siege from monsters if it weren't here.  And the ash drifts have to be burned off with a multi-melta, they get so big.”  She craned her head down and stared at the city below.  “The people…the people are strong, but insular.  They dislike foreigners, except when we’re spending money.  But then, who doesn’t?”

She hopped down from the roof to the balcony from which she had climbed, ten feet below.  “The place is built like a fortress, even the houses are reinforced all to hell.  You’d approve, Dad.”  She looked at where a thick column of smoke was rising from a structure built into the distant volcano.  “Venus says we can’t go see the Forges of the Mountain.  I’m disappointed, but I understand.  She’s going to spend some of tomorrow there, though.”  She lowered her voice a bit, conspiratorial.  “I think she’s making a birthday present for Jake.”

The door behind her opened as someone came to see what the impact was.  Remilia turned to look at him, still talking, and the serf who had guided her up there nodded when he saw that she was all right.  “The Salamanders are gracious hosts.  They treat their serfs…well, not like true equals, but as kin.  The people here, too, they treat them nearly as well.  There are Salamanders on the streets below.  That sense of solidarity is incredible.  I wonder if the Wolves will do it too?”

She continued as she set the slate down on the ledge.  “The speech Venus gave was amazing.  Truly amazing.  She improvises public speaking better than I can do with a script.”  Remilia tapped her finger on the ledge.  “You should find a copy of the speech if you can.  It’s worth a watch.  Maybe ask Uncle Vulkan, I’m sure he’s got a copy.”  She changed gears, moving on to schedule discussion.  “Well…tomorrow we’ll be wandering the city a bit while Venus is out.  I’m looking forward to exploring the rest of the Castle, too.  Apparently the whole city was built vertically; every few hundred years or so they’d tear part of the castle down and make it taller so local structures could expand.  The walls of the city look like geologic strata in places, it’s beautiful.”

She looked back to the sky.  “Have you two ever been here?  You didn’t say if you had.  The sky is terrible here.  It’s as red as a gaping wound, and the night is as black as the depths of space…but it’s so beautiful.  The aurorae from the radspike earlier today are magnificent.”  She reached her hand out to the blue ribbons of light, dancing above the horizon.  “Did Earth have these before the beacons on the tops of the hives drowned them out, and a million ships in orbit obscured them?” she whispered.

In the distance, a horrific roar echoed over the walls.  Remilia started.  “I…I think I just heard drakesong.”  She listened, very carefully.  The noise repeated, even louder.  “It’s terrifying...is a Salamander out there earning his admittance to the Fire Drakes?”  The noise sounded again, louder yet…then cut off halfway.  “That answers that.”  She shivered.  “Breathtaking.  I don’t know if you can hear that, but a drake totally got its ass kicked a second ago.”

Her slate beeped.  “Looks like I’m approaching the Astropathic limit.  I’ll write again soon.  Bye.”  She flipped the recorder off and transcribed the message with a button, then sent it off to the Astropathic station in orbit with another press.  As she lifted the slate to leave, however, it beeped again.  She blinked.  “Oh, it sent already?  That was fast.”  She looked up at the invisible station overhead and smiled.  “Maybe I’ll hear back soon.”

Venus’ eyes opened.  She glanced at the clock-

0455.  A quarter hour early …but she didn’t feel tired at all.  Venus smiled to herself.  “Radiation…gotta love it, apparently.”  She glanced down at Jake, still fast asleep in her arms.  “I doubt you’ll see me before lunch…”  She leaned over and gently kissed his forehead.  He didn’t stir.  “Happy birthday,” she whispered.

Ten minutes later, she was dressed, cleaned, and in the gym, gingerly testing her balance in the higher gravity.  Ten minutes after that, she was working away on the leg weights when her cousins wandered in and walked on over.

“Morning,” Venus said.

“Hey.”  Remilia selected a leg lift and started to set the weights before pausing.  “Right…1.3Gs…”  She stopped to remove some weights before starting the lift.  “How are you feeling?”

“Awesome,” Venus said, flicking a sweaty hair out of her eyes.  “You?”

“Apprehensive,” Remilia said.  “The weather holo scared me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.  Boiling hot and bone-dry,” Freya said.  “Thermos for me.”  She glanced over Venus’ stack of weights.  “Good for you.  Keeping track of your gains?”

“No, because they’ll vanish as soon as we leave,” Venus said.  “Trust me.”

“Ah.”  Freya selected a pair of free weights and began lifting.  “Your core catch the breeze?” she nonchalantly inquired.

Venus’ weight stack slammed back into the bottom of the machine.  “How the hell did you know about that when I didn’t?” Venus demanded, eyes wide and bright.

“I didn’t.  You confirmed it,” Freya replied honestly.  Remilia glanced from one to the other.  “I overheard a Salamander ask about something like that on Prometheus.  I swear that’s the extent of it.”

“What?” Remilia asked.

“Salamander geneseed was tainted by radiation exposure,” Venus murmured.  “Apparently when Salamanders are exposed to specific kinds of solar radiation, we become stronger.”

“Cool.”  Remilia removed a small weight from her stack.

“That’s it?  Cool?  It freaked me the hell out,” Venus said.  “I could FEEL my eyes getting sharper.”

“Really?  That’s actually…pretty intense.  Did it hurt?” Remilia asked.

“No, it feels amazing.  But it makes me nervous, too.  What will it feel like when I withdraw?” Venus wondered.

“Probably not bad, if your father’s done it a thousand times,” Freya pointed out.

Venus nodded.  “True.  Thanks.  This doesn’t weird you guys?  Is there a parallel for the Wolves and Fists?”

“Nope.  But hey, if it allows you to approach my infinite athletic ability, rock on,” Freya casually said.

“Die in a fire,” Venus deadpanned.

“That seems likely, actually, given the day’s itinerary,” Remilia worried.