Walk the Dinosaur (Danny and the Axe Knight)

DEEP IN THE AMAZON FOREST, SOUTH AMERICA

When walking into a ruins filled with recently slaughtered soldiers, the sensible thing to do would be very quickly leave and never come back. Doubly when those soldiers had the advantages of barbed wire and mine fields, high ground, entrenched machine gun nests with overlapping killzones, attack helicopters, light tanks and infantry fighting vehicles... now all left as broken and shattered wrecks, still fresh and burning. The Templar warriors were a mostly sensible lot, and suggested waiting for reinforcements.

"Who ever did this, seem to have godzilla on their side." Rosa the Axe Knight deigned to mention a large footprint where a crushed jeep was located. "Or Smaug." added the Pop-culture-reference Knight, seeing all the flaming wreckage around.

Baron Frederick Frederickson Castor however, was not the most sensible character. The eccentric English explorer, complete with an outdated expeditionary get up, dismissed the lot as "incompetent, the whole lot". He had come to find a "treasure of a lost civilization" and had the credentials to back his claim, not to mention connections to hire a retinue of six South American Templars, plus their German counterpart the Axe Knight, plus a museum curator / adventurer Danny, who could tell them that a shiny thing was valuable.

"By jove, I'll make wealthy gentlemen of you all, you'll see! And famous. More famous, in miss Tamamoa's case. Like my great grandfather, Friedrich Von Castor." He assured the group, though the SA Templar did not like the situation, and it showed on their tan faces.

"Man I'm gonna go take a long vacation in Maldives once we get through this. Gonna get me all the ladies. Hehe. You want to come with, Lucia, mi Amiga?" Said Diablo, a large, tattooed and cocky bandana wearing jock who carried the squad's machine gun, as well as a traditional Macuahuitl, reflecting his strong ties to his aztec heritage.

"Shut up... Carlos. and It's Witch on mission." Replied Witch, a tomboyish sniper who carried exotic katars as her Templar weapons of choice.

"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter heaven, Carlos. remember that." Said Priest, the Templar's older chaplain said in a most reassuring way, carrying a mace and a shotgun. The other three Templar carried machetes and assault rifles, and spoke little.

"Eyes front, Templar, and keep our expert safe." Rosa reminded them quickly, the Axe Knight preferring her namesake, not even having her handgun drawn. She stood close to Danny, her charge for this mission.

That was when "they" made their move. At the treeline, like an undulating serpent, scaled figures moved in unison through the cover of heavy vegetation and ruins. The movement did not go unnoticed, as Carlos's beeping motion sensor was kind enough to point out. "We got company." The lizardmen emerged as a line all along the western treeline. They carried only stone clubs and spears, and bore stone studded shields... but in the arms of seven foot tall, muscular crocodile men, one could imagine such weapons would deal terrible damage. They beat their weapons on their shields in pre-battle ritual, then stopped.

A smaller lizardman, like a big frill-necked lizard wearing an azteci headdress, addressed the group as they reached the temple. It spoke aloud in some bizarre hissing language, repeating the same message three times again and again.

"Sage?" Rosa turned to a petite brunette woman wearing tactical glasses and carried a submachine gun and a machete, light weapons for a small woman. She placed two fingers to her head and looked psychic.

"Return... the slab... or suffer... our curse..." said Sage, and she spoke in unison with the little lizard boss.

"Slab? what slab? we don't have a slab..." Rosa replied in confusion, seeing that they'd just arrived and carried no artifacts. She looked at Danny. "...What slab? Do you know a slab?"

Frederick though, saw the challenge and immediately thought himself as the officer at Rourik's Drift. His detachment from their situation was now only fully apparent. "Oh dear. The natives... Well then. Form ranks and meet them shoulder to shoulder, I say! We'll show them the power of the British Line! Gentlemen, Affix bayonets!" The mere act of the Englishman drawing his saber riled up the reptilian humanoids, and the large saurian warriors broke into a charge. As they crossed the large open space between the temple and the trees, it was apparent just how big those stone clubs were, the closer they got.

Axe Knight was not about to get them all killed. "Get inside. GET INSIDE! Miss Danny, stay close and guide us through the temple!"

The Templar began firing into the Saurian warriors, but their arms were not meant for reptilian supermen. Bullets grazed off their thick scales or fragmented their stone shields, but to little avail. They make a tactical retreat into the ruins, their psi-powered melee weapons drawn.

Axe Knight had to forcibly pick up Frederick and carry him on her shoulder. "Put me down! I'll have you flogged for this insubordinatioooon! FLOOOGGED!"

One of the oddest and most superficial abilities Danny possessed was knowing how to pair an Instagram filter with the Amazon. She came down here a few times a year- never all that pleasant, and typically left never wanting to come back. She still came back though.

Wearing a pair of black yoga pants, pink hiking shoes, and a pink and black Nike dri FIT shirt, Danny pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. Whatever happened here looked bad. It really should not surprise Danny she kept getting roped into these expeditions, but she did have to think about why she kept saying 'yes' to them. Every one. Maybe if she received pictures of a destroyed military base ahead of time, she would say 'no'. She likes to think she would. She really does.

"Any clue who these guys were?" The smoldering impact left behind when a giant foot trampled a jeep opened up a gap through the trenches. The order to keep Danny alive did little to preserve her confidence, but the sentiment helped. More so since it complimented her skill as a tomb raider more so than not being a templar. "And, what exactly are you guys hoping to find in there. Not that I'm wanting to pry into what you are wanting to do with it, just curious as to why there was an army here- and why something crushed an army to get in there?"

A low rumbling began to move through the treeline. "I think we got our answer." A turquoise shield grew around her forearm before the first creature pushed through the foliage. "Rocks? Vs tanks? Really? Gotta be something else."

The Englishman brought forth a good idea, but Rosa quickly dismissed it as brash. Danny agreed enough to increase the size of her shield and form a spear, but it did not seem as though Rosa would be joining the line. Holding the line while bullets ricocheted off of lizards began to lose its appeal- plus she did not come on this adventure as a phalanx, but a guide.

Guide she would. Once she moved up the stairs, beyond the lines of broken military, Danny made a turquoise barrier to bar up the entrance. It was not guiding, but it did make it a little easier. At least she made an educated assumption the lizardmen would mess everything up. "Calm down, Fred! While I'm not entirely against the fight all the lizard plan. I do think finding somewhere that isn't dangerous is a good idea for the mean time." Danny remembered her job and the location she found herself in. "Actually hold on, I need to actually make sure this place is safe. No one touch anything or step on anything that looks like a trap."

The identity of the armed force was easy to discern by the flag patch on their arms, being the Brazilian army. Apparently a battalion had decided a fortune was to be made plundering ancient sites. A fortune... in death.

The barrier at the temple entrance proved critical in buying the ragged group more time. Frederick and Company watched as the Saurian warriors beat against the barrier in vain, stone and wood weapons no match against the energy wall. Soon enough they seemed to just give up and walk away, or more likely, find another way.

"Ha! Good show, good show. That'll teach you cold blooded louts..." Frederick put himself together after the Axe Knight put him down. He turns to Danny and the Templar. "Anyway m'lady, I have in good research and faith... that in these ruins lie a series of tablets possessing mystical power, such as the ability to open corridors in space and time! Connecting pyramids around the world. And they also happen to be made of solid gold, if that magical talk is hogwash. You see the ancient Aztec empire's construction was said to have had... outside assistance...

As Frederick explained in a bombastic, Brian Blessed voice, the Templar were more concerned with securing the area and finding their escape route. Sage was already contacting their airbase for an airlift to evacuate them, but it would be at least fifteen minutes away.

The ruins had fallen quiet save for Fred Blessed's voice. Then a low rumbling, as the ground

"Earthquake?" Priest supposed, but was countered by a more astute observations.

"Triceratops!" Axe Knight's watch on that barrier proved pragmatic, as the saurians beings decided to bring a battering ram.

An actual living dinosaur seemed to have come out of the wikipedia and was barreling towards the barrier. Charging at its full speed, the energy barrier buckled and cracked as it took the full blow, only to stagger the creature aside. The creature howled, but its mounted handler soothed his pain, and had him move back for another attempt.

Frederick was more excited than frightened at the great beast. "Great scott! A living, breathing dinosaur! If we could capture one of those... just imagine... we could... we could open a park... with a Jurassic theme..."

At which point the Axe Knight rolled her eyes from beneath her helmet. "Miss Danny, which way? Somewhere defensible."

The ancient carvings on the wall meanwhile, provided easy directions to those who could speak the ancient Aztec language. Here, from the great hall which could easily fit the beast between the grand columns, there were three main areas to go- the Sun Courtyard to the left, the Sacrifical Chambers forward or the more enclosed priests quarter on the right.

Rocks beating against the shield echoed through the spacious hallway. Danny took some pride in her ability to keep things more peaceful for the time being, but knew the shield would not last forever. She thought it would last longer than it did though...

"Triceratops?" The mere mention of the beast shook Danny. Just how far back her bracelet would go now seemed a little more perplexing. She took a moment to try and remember what age the triceratops would have been alive and what comparable creatures warriors from the past twenty thousand years would have fought on that footing, but nothing came to her. "Jurassic? That's not even the right age. Also, it's a war machine!"

"We need to split up so the lizards can't flank us when we head out. Rosa you and me are going to the Priest's chambers. Priest, Diablo, and Lucia take the Sun Courtyard. Redshirts, you guys go with Fred to the sacrificial chambers and try not to die." Danny tossed up another barrier to try and both slow down the advance and also mask the movement of the group as they parted ways.

With the blocking put into place, Danny headed off towards the priest's chamber with her ax wielding counterpart.

"Wait split up? they'll pick us off one by one... I say we make a stand, what kind of soldiers of empire are you? Shame! Dishonor!" Frederick ranted once again, though visibly shaking at the coming triceratops with horns long enough to impale half the Templar in one go.

"The kind who are gonna keep your wrinkled old ass alive, Pendejo." Diablo had just about enough of Castor and flipped him off. Priest laid a hand on his companion to calm him.

Axe Knight looked around at the directions Danny had given them. Not her assessment, but she'd defer.Plus, a triceratops. "Everyone should make for the LZ then. This mission has become too hot. Try not to die, all of you. If you come across the relic, grab it only if it won't slow you down. Templar Aeternum!" She gave one firm beat on her chest and the Templar responded in kind. "Templar Eternal! Awoo!"

SACRIFICIAL CHAMBER

The three Templar accompanying Frederick spoke among themselves as they entered the sacrificial chamber and secured the perimeter. "What's a Redshirt?"

"Yo man, like, those nameless characters who get killed on a show. For any reason. " Another explained.

"Not funny." The third chimed.

"Eyes front, we are not alone in here, gentlemen." Frederick drew his saber once more.

A single saurian warrior emerged from the shadow of the large, stone altar that's seen alot of warm blooded sacrifices. The warrior moved in a slow deliberate manner, reptilian eyes unblinking as they looked on the intruders. His bronze armor and accessories and glowing obsidian bladed halberd spoke of his much elevated station. His entire left arm was replaced with some prosthetic, and appeared to be made of pure gold.

"I must say, this lizard has some refined taste." Frederick joked nervously as the Templar put themselves between the Saurian leader and the Englishman, their psionic machetes drawn.

A stone embedded in the Leader's golden arm glowed, and he spoke to them clearly. "Warm bloods deceived. Greed made you blind. You do not see the skin changer. Find no treasure here. Find only death."

The Templar looked among themselves, as the Leader's attention fell on Castor. The Englishman broke into a grin...

PRIESTS' QUARTERS

Danny and Rosa made their way to the priests' quarters, a series of rooms adjoining a common hallway. However, several broken spotlights and cables littering the quarters, as well as improvised desks with broken and smashed communication equipment. The floors were littered with bloodstains but no bodies to be found.

As they proceeded a single dead body in battle dress was splayed across the floor, his path leading him towards an exit. "...Looks like the army's leader managed to get this far at least."

Rosa turned the body over, and the Knight's expression, even behind her helm, spoke of surprise. She was taken aback, and stood away from the corpse.

The dead man was Frederick Castor, pale and lifeless, blowgun darts riddling his back. Clutched in his hands was the golden tablet wrapped in a camouflage cloth. Unlike the armed forces outside, he had died only very recently.

"...Frederick?! How... who..."

The plan Danny began ran into some snotty retort. Danny was having none of it. "Oh really? There's a fault in the plan? I rubbed my bracelet and Trajan told me an Oblique Order would be the best course of action, but I'm sure your plan will be great too!" The level of discourse put Danny behind time on retreating, but she made her point none the less. Hold each chamber and allow the strongest of the chambers to force their strength out. From her vantage point moving towards the chamber, the plan sounded perfect.

Danny filed in slightly after the Axe Knight. Everything she said sounded more grim and lifeless with the helmet on, but a few cracks of emotion broke when she found the body in the room. "Another Brazilian?" Not another Brazilian. A very familiar face. "How did he get in here and- is he dead!?" A few connections in Danny's brain started to try to make sense of this action, but nothing about his case made sense.

"Then, who is that guy who kept yelling at us?" Danny moved the cloth away from his torso, lifting the plate. "And, what is this? Okay, bracelet, give me a clue or two."

SACRIFICIAL CHAMBER

The Templar fought bravely and honorably, but the Templar were skewered one by one by the enchanted obsidian halberd and golden claw of the Saurian Leader. He yanked his halberd from the chest of the last Templar and turned towards the fake Frederick.

"Reveal your form, skin walker!" The Leader waved his golden arm and forced Dabbler into her real, little four-armed-mutant-witch form.

She visibly struggled with the pain of the forced transformation, her flesh knitting itself back into place. "EYAAGH-Uhhh I just wanted to ride some dinosaurs mister scary crocodile man, sir...!"

"RAAAAAGH!" panicking, Dabbler opened a portal and had it sweep forward to take the violent leader away...

PRIESTS' QUARTER

Rigor mortis meant that Frederick had a death grip on the object he had so coveted in life. After prying the tablet from his cold dead hands, Danny got down to identifying the magic item while Rosa looked around.

A spirit of an ancient aztec priest picked up Danny's call. "An Ancient tablet, ancient even when my grandfather was a young man. Scaled ones guard them, for they are the bridge of the gods across space and time..."

At around the word 'space', a Dabbler portal deigned to open up before the duo, depositing the Saurian Leader about twelve paces from the real dead Frederick and heroes.

Axe quickly interposed herself between Danny and the threat. The germanic knight sized up the Leader, and knew he was not a common threat. Her eyes went to the obsidian halberd slick with Templar blood, and the jewel encrusted gold arm.

Rosa couldn't help but make a comic book reference in her unease. "Who ordered lizardman Thanos?"

The Leader's reptilian eyes fell upon the relic they carried. He used his own magical stone to speak to them. "Surrender the relic and your skin changer kin. You have one chance, Warm Bloods. Choose quickly." He warned Danny and Rosa, the Axe Knight completely taken aback by the Saurian's request.

A voice entered Danny's mind just as it had many times before, but a sense of unnerve always came when the voice entered without a question. A barrage of senses she could not control or predict, and then an answer. "A bridge across time and space? That doesn't sound good." Danny lowered the tablet. "Things might get complicated. Those lizards are protecting a bridge across time and space. Makes you wonder what they are protecting it from or what is on the other side?"

Just as she contemplated the bridge across time and space, a portal ripping through the same fabric opened before them, dropping out a lizard adorned in gold with an obsidian halberd. His manner of speak rang out in all of the threatening quotes normal villains would deliver to unsuspecting heroes of any caliber. "If we give you the relic, we're free to go?"

"No. We grant you a clean death befitting a warrior of respected caliber." The lizard choked the grip of his halberd. "We shall take your skulls as trophies and our warriors will dine upon your hearts to gain your courage. And, your brains to gain your knowledge."

"Okay." A turquoise blade formed around Danny's forearm. "Well, you're not getting it, and you need to work on your people skills. You're coming across as way too hostile right now."

Danny lifted the shield to block the blow of his halberd, throwing his momentum to the side to allow her a clean jab between the joint joining his golden arm to his body. Her plan revolved around the concept of him being unable to swing the halberd with one hand- and also loosing an arm again might be a massive kick in the lizard sack.

Rosa listened as the Aztec lizardman described exactly what the aztecs did to their enemies. With the eating and killing. "That's... horrible! Do you really think people would settle for that?" It was a rhetorical question at this point, seeing that the Leader wanted to give them that honorable death now.

The fight starts with a halberd being deflected by Danny's energy barrier, while Danny went for the 'disarm'. Such a tactic would not have been a surprise for this ancient warrior, and intercepted with the hardened forearm instead, the energy blade causing a singe and a shallow cut in the metal. The Leader would then throw in a tail lash into his combos, trying to sweep the female warm blood off her feet.

"VALHALLA!" cried the Knight, joining the melee, her psi-axe poised for a heavy cleaving cut into the creature's shoulder. He demonstrated centuries of battle prowess, moving ever so slightly to let the ax make a shallow cut in his steel-hard scales, turning it into a miss. Leader lizard's jaws clamped down on Rosa's armored arm, and she was tossed for her trouble into a nearby wall, splaying flat on the floor.

"Ow." Her armored glowed with energy moments before impact, and cracked the stone wall for her trouble. Rosa staggered up and moved to assist Danny, possibly giving her a flanking advantage.

She did not make contact with the creature's shoulder blade, but did manage to plant her sword in his forearm. Not the greatest of locations given its golden properties, but it did allow her to plan for his counter. Moving her legs back, Danny took a lower stance, pulling the blade from the creature's arm, and watching his hips.

Sure as she expected, the creature launched an attack aimed at her legs. Dropping the bottom of the shield to the ground, Danny blocked the tail completely. The reverberation in her arm wiggled her muscles around, but the lean but tough cheerleader held her resolves. Her feet slid back with the motion of the tail. Danny shot out from her stance and jabbed a solid blow with her turquoise short sword into the prehensile tail of the creature, hoping to sever something important in the general area.

Once she pulled the blade back, Danny would slam her shield forward, hoping he would attempt to counterattack with the halberd. If he did, Danny would be ready to slam his hands in an attempt to disarm him.

The melee dance continued, and Axe Knight's valiant charge provided a distraction and opening for Danny. As she came in with another strong overhead swing, Lizard Boss defended against the psi-axe with his massive polearm in a frightfully quick riposte, getting her in the face with the golden claw but provided an opening for Danny to stab him in the tail.

"RAAAAR!" The old reptile's muscle and scales were tough though. Instead of cutting through it just punctured halfway into his tail, and he angrily snapped at Danny's face with that very toothy maw of his. BITE BITE!

Being a total badass, he headbutted the incoming energy shield with his helmed horn and exhibited the strength and skill to wield that polearm with just the golden arm, but again Rosa proved valiant and used her Axe's shaft to take the gaudy prosthetic and disrupt Leader's terrific attacks. Taking the arm into an arm lock, Danny was provided a very brief window of opportunity to deal some real damage.

As the desperate fight dragged on, the snarls of more lizardmen sounded in the distance. The brief window of opportunity was also the opportunity for a second Dabbler portal to open, and for the witch to come through and look around.

"Now where is that big hunka aztec treasure..." Dabbler looked around and spotted the relic far off in a corner, kicked away in the fight. She looked over and waved. "Oh! Hey, Hi Danny! I'm going to ride dinosaurs now, kay?! thanks bye!" Another portal and the witch left as quickly as she came.

"THE KEY!" The Leader roared.

In the mist of preparing for the attack from the halberd, Danny overlooked the fact a reptile would still possess teeth sharp enough to devour her. Stepping back as quickly as she could, Danny momentarily abandoned her offense to take cover behind her shield. Two bites went into the turquoise cover, placing her arm in an odd situation to act upon. Forced to keep her stance or have her arm broken, Danny let her shield dematerialize. Rolling back, a turquoise pike would shoot forward with a rake at the end, keeping her foe at bay while she recovered.

The recovery did not need to take place as Axe Knight stepped in to deliver a blow. While it did not deliver an incapacitating strike to the lizard, it did allow her to initialize a grapple with the creature. Seeing her opportunity before her, Danny shot forward to deliver a blow with a turquoise blade at the shoulder blade again, hoping to dislodge the golden arm. As a follow up, Danny would create a turquoise jitte and drive it to the golden hand, dislodging the halberd from his grip.

With the battle continuing, Danny knew something else would come up. With lizardmen, dinosaurs, men who should be alive appearing dead, and magically portals opening with no warning, Danny thought she prepared herself for the worst of it all. Then another portal opened, revealing an old friend? Enemy? Frenemy? Naw, enemy, definitely enemy. It did seem Dabbler felt the same way though. "Ride a dinosaur?"

Confusion took Danny's face first, then shock when Dabbler grabbed the key. "Follow that witch!" Danny swung a giant, turquoise pole to knock king lizard down, so Rosa and she could jump through the portal before Dabbler disappeared. "She doesn't get to do things she thinks are fun!"

Confounded by these canny and super-powered warm bloods, the Lizard Leader was eventually relieved of his weapon, the massive halberd falling with a loud clang to the floor. The golden arm was taking alot of heat, and the connecting joints eventually gave thanks to the energy signature of Danny's bracelet. Leader noticed the bracelet too.

The golden arm fell to the ground, and the Leader was now relieved of his magical power... or so it seemed. Rosa capitalized and judo threw the lizard leader to the ground. "Now take a nap, you giant reptile."

With the appearance and relic-thieving of Dabbler, all three combatants' priorities changed. The relic was being taken and Dabbler was going to have fun, her portal shutting fast. The Lizard Leader severely objected to such things as warm bloods having fun, and used the blue jewel in his golden arm to keep the portal open so as to allow Danny, Rosa and himself to follow the intruder. Yes, even detached, the arm still functioned. "THE RELIC!" Was all he could roar, chasing the warmbloods into the portal.

They exit the portal, the Lizard Leader unarmed literally and also his halberd. They were in another chamber, this one below ground, with only columns of sunlight reflecting off bronze mirrors lighting the area. It was a cavernous space, radial in arrangement and predominantly dressed stone in material. The center space was dominated by a large sun-patterned mosaic with a central altar, while nine stone arches were arranged equidistant from each other and the central pillar.

The relic was already placed on the central pillar, and the chamber thrummed with energy. The witch somehow had activated the ancient aztec stone calendar dais that controlled the Key mechanism. One of the stone archways resonated with the relic's energies, and Dabbler was so excited as to just be standing there clapping her four arms together, as a very large portal to some primordial forest was opening. "Dinosaurs gonna ride me some dinosaurs..." She muttered repeatedly.

Rosa was wary of witches, for many good reasons. She did not think it was prudent to attack immediately. "So.... you know this mutant sorcerer?" she asked.

Danny's foot went through the portal first, stepping into a very ornate and beautiful room full of pillars. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. I wonder if we're even on Earth?" The pillars of sunlight reminded Danny of something, but it escaped her. Or, maybe her bracelet knew but simply did not feel it was time for her to know. It really got annoying when it did that. "I know who the witch is. She's nothing but trouble-"

She hoped only her and Rosa made it through the portal, but the scaly hide of her old foe caught her attention. "She's the long term threat we need to deal with. This guy is the short term. So, let's make short term work of him." A crossbow formed around her wrist, firing off a quick shot towards the leader's chest with a blunt enough shot to try and knock the wind out of him. Just how many chambers lizards had in their hearts, and even if that mattered, spent more time in Danny's head than they probably should, but Danny still wanted to know her enemy.

Both of them. Mainly where one of them was going seeing as the second would follow like a puppy.

"We're going somewhere tropical." Danny took off for the bridge. "Again!"

"The moment we started fighting lizardmen I was already beginning to doubt this was the earth I knew." Rosa watched seconds later as they were caught between the witch and the lizard king. Danny deigned to blast him with the energy bracelet, but he simply flexed that giant lizard arm and took it in the biceps. He stood there blinking, observing the bracelet, and let out a hiss and a snarl, though without his gauntlet his meaning could only be guessed at.

"Trouble. That much I can see." A pause, as she glanced at the lizard septuamillenian amputee, still hot on their heels but having this deep, intelligent thinking going on behind those big sharp teeth. He kept a short distance between them and wasn't trying to eat them at the moment. "You don't suppose the big reptile believes in the enemy of my enemy, does he?"

The witch scampered off into the portal without much care for her pursuers. The intense action and excitement soon came to an abrupt pause once they crossed the rainbow bridge... and quickly fell into a quick sand bog.

Rosa had no ability to change her trajectory, and passing through a doorway in time somehow relieved her of most of her armor, leaving her in her metallic gray active wear, that thing millenial girls wear all the time. Her wooden axe though made it through just fine.

SPLAT.

Rosa struggled to right herself, just managing to landing in waist deep and free her arms and axe. The bog was pretty wide, and it was easily fifty feet to the nearest dry bank. "Uuuuugh. UUGH! Danny? Danny!" She called out, wiping quicksand from her eyes.