Chap 9 – Wheels on the Road; Part 6

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩 𝟗 – 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝; 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟔:

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(𝑨/𝑵: 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒚; 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒊𝒄 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑴𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒊 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 10𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆.

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒋𝒐𝒃. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕, 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔.

𝑺𝒐, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 1𝒌 - 2𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘-𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂 - 𝑺𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 -, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒄 𝑻𝒂𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒀𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆.

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, ' 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚 '.

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒊𝒕, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔. :D )

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  { 𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝟐/𝟑 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞; 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐯; 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞; 06:42 A:M }

After Sumass left, Kaela slowly finished her own drink while walking around the house and seeing if there was anything she was leaving behind.

And besides the upper floor that she was sure was about to fall apart, the only other place she hadn't looked was the stairs going down.

The stairs on the way down were made out of concrete, and it was just a dozen of them so the basement wasn't one of the deepest ones.

Now walking back to the living room she could see that the sun was shining almost above the trees, illuminating almost everywhere her eyes could land on.

" Gonna need to see what's down ther'...Hm..*nods*" - Already having her backpack secured and strapped onto her back, she walks outside.

Luckily she learned from her mistakes about not having her goggles on in places that were too bright, something she would have to work on later.

As she exited a bright ray of heat hit her face forcing her to flinch and raise an arm to be able to see better as her eyes adapted to the brighter environment.

  Squinting her ruby-like eyes she was able to locate her father right in front of the front entrance balcony, making sure their vehicle was in pristine conditions so they could continue safe and fine.

Seemingly humming in his grumpy voice while tinkering around some parts of the bike. 

" Papooooo… The stuff I told ya about…." - Slightly pouting now that she could see fine, Kaela crossed both arms watching the bald man visibly flinch.

Taking his attention from the motorcycle and now turning his head towards the blonde tapping her foot down the old wooden floor, only to beam her a rough laugh.

" Ey ey, jus' spare me a secon' won't you, Kukla?" - Shaking his head, he still kept that goofy smile while finishing maintaining the bike, not being able to shove his daughter's pouting face away as it was too cute in his eyes.

Sighing from the balcony knowing it would take a minute, Kaela watches her dad while supporting her back wall beside the entrance door.

She could walk down there and give in a hand, though from just giving a quick glimpse from up there she could tell the vehicle was fine. 

But, giving a second or third check is always good. That was something she learned the hard way.

Not even a full minute later, Sumass who was kneeling stretches himself up. - " AHHH!!! My….back….*looks at Kaela*... Hey Kukla, make this' old man a youthful potion for his birthday~…"

Playfully asking out in the most pitiful sounding voice he could make, the adult man puts both hands behind his back while copying what a shaking old man would look like.

Holding in her laughter by biting her cheek's insides, Keale mouth twists as tries to hold in her smile seeing her father's impersonation.

" Yeaa... I'mma blacksmith and inventor… not one of those comic's alchemists 'nd mages....." - Succeeding in holding her laugh in, she takes a proper stance away from the wall.

Quickly reentering the house like a fast rabbit given how rapidly she walked. 

The dad was left there, only a deadpan and wide smile stamped on his face as watched the girl stroll away.

" Uhum… Ya can produce a' damned functional mechanical arm at this end' of the world's hellscape…. Not really far from a fantasy blondey in mah eyes…" - Sarcastically pointing out before pulling out the keys from the bike and following her inside with his heavy steps.

Inside it Kaela had made her way directly towards the basement's door, pulling down her goggles and activating a small flashlight it had on its upper right edge so her father wouldn't blind her using his own in such a cramped space.

Giving a few peeks down the stairs, she soon hears a couple of steps come to a stop behind her.

" Ther'… The boxes I told ya 'bout yesterday…" - Pointing towards her index at the few pretty nicely locked up wooden boxes downstairs, hearing an affirmative grunt before the one behind her took the first step.

Cracking his knuckles, Sumass walked down not caring if there could be anyone or anything hiding there.

Kaela simply gaps at him going down so nonchalantly. - " All my worries 'bout possible threats…."  - Soon she sighs and follows after him, giving a few looks around.

Seeing there were only some old rusting tools around the small squared basement beside the few boxes stacked up close to one of the walls.

' All in' bad condition… No use….' - Finishing walking down, supporting her hand on one of the metallic handrails on both sides.

She walked up to Sumass's side, he was waiting for her to come down right in front of the boxes.

And was about to comment on how she was scared… However, a side stare from the smaller one was all it took for him to gulp down a lump that had just gotten stuck in his throat.

Smartly choosing his words, he coughs a few times in fist. - " Ahem…. Kukla wh- * 𝑪𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑲!! * …..Uhh.... Was I even needed here…."

Frozen in place he watches as Kaela grips the box's upper part, and as soon as she grips it her metallic fingers dig into the wood, using her Mecha-arm and just yanks it after the thing makes some weird screeching noises from the parts inside it to deliver an explosive strength.

" I've adjusted the grippin' force a bit over the night before starting to draft around…" - Tossing the piece of wood to her side.

  She looks at the arm nodding at the few twitches she did in the finger's connections between one joint to another seemed effective even if she didn't really add anything new.

While she was focused on her creation, Sumass whistled getting a first glimpse at what was inside the box.

He is quick to lower himself and pull out one of the other various pieces that was inside.

" Da smell is somethin' else…. Although… their condition seem' pretty nice…" - Stretching it apart, he is holding a red shirt in front of him using both arms to stretch its fabric so they can have a better look.

Not planning to use it, he throws it aside.

" Hmm….*nods*….. Maybe there's something mor'…." - Now getting her attention back to the main topic, Kaela digs her arms into the box.

Tossing away anything that didn't fit her taste, while anything too big for her she would throw at Sumass's face.

" Ugh… Could' jus' let'me sear- Oh!" - Complaining got him nothing more than yet another yellow shirt to his face, pulling it away he frowned at how the old scent would now be stuck to him until he took a bath.

The culprit smugly pointed her mechanical thumb at a box to her side, also motioning her eyes toward it. - " There's still a lot mor', Pap- PUh!" - Only to receive the yellow shirt back to her face.

" I know." - And akin to Kaela, the old dad now also sported a smug look while making his way towards the other boxes.

" It…. Stinks…." - Pulling the piece of clothing away from her face, she eyes her father who was now pulling the upper wood apart from his own box.

Her eyes darted toward the side where she was leaving a small stack of clothes that she was going to give him to try.

A strange small calm yet devious smirk sparkled at that moment, her calm eyes didn't lose their shine… Only shined even further.

* 𝑪𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑲!! * - " Okei! Now lez se- UGH?" 

Hit by a wild white shirt, Sumass was about to say it was enough play… However, he wasn't given the chance as Kaela put her exoskeleton into max performance and started to toss one piece of clothing after another toward the man.

Accepting his destiny, the father was lying on the ground under a mountain of clothes that covered his whole body.

All he could see was darkness until a light came to be, the youngest pulled the shirt that was on his face.

Her flashlight illuminates it enough for Sumass to see the winning smile on the girl's face. He could only sigh and admit defeat… - ' Sometimes… I forget this girl's childish side….*smile*..'

" Ya won… happy?" - Even though he could just stand up fine with all these clothes above him, there were times when losing a battle was the best of choices 

"Hmm…*nods*... Yea." 

As smug as ever, she pulls her goggles up for a second to shoot her father a proud look before putting it back on and starting to get the clothes to the side, all while asking if there was any Sumass himself liked.

A funny scene, as Kaela showed all the pieces that were on top of the tall man who stood on the ground thoughtful, wondering if he liked or not the clothes the girl presented.

This continued for a few more minutes before they got back to actually searching the boxes, Sumass having to bring out his flashlight to see his own…. 

But not before promising to not take revenge in blinding the blonde….