"What do you mean the flyer's broken?"

Spatter stared up at Splash, blinking disgruntledly, wrench held in her tail. "I mean it's broken."

Nova flicked Splash lightly with his tail as Noodle stepped in. "How broken…?"

"Well, you technically could fly it. But it's a coin toss about how far you'd get before you go crashing down in flames."

Noodle and Nova exchanged a look, and even Splash seemed put off by that.

"How long will it take to fix?"

"If you want to not go up in a ball of flame? Day or two. Need to order the parts."

"A day or two? We need to be there tomorrow!"

"You could walk."

"Oh!" Splash threw up their hands in exasperation and stalked off, but Noodle was eyeing Nova who had a thoughtful look in his eye. Spatter eyed them then turned to get back to work on the flyer, leaving Noodle free to ask Nova what he had thought of.

"You're thinking about something, I can tell."

Nova shuffled his feet in embarrassment. "Maybe…"

"Thinking about how we can get this package to them in time?"

Noodle gave Splash a 'shush' look where they had stuck their head back into the room, but the aquatic glared back unapologetically. Ze sighed and turned to Nova, giving the startled tark'ee a 'go on,' motion.

"Well… we could walk."

Splash snorted derisively. "Across the mountains? No thanks."

"Not over - under."

Noodle and Splash both blinked at that. "There's a route through?"

Nova, seeming relieved that his idea wasn't being dismissed out of hand, nodded. "Yeah. I was talking to Mitro a bit back, and they mentioned it. It won't be as quick as a flyer, obviously, but it'll be faster than not taking it at all."

Splash still looked disgruntled but it was more the cursory disgruntlement they kept as their resting face rather than anything with any real feeling behind it. Noodle was nodding, tilting zir head thoughtfully.

"Do you know the way?"

"The landmarks were described to me so… yes, I think. I'd prefer to have Mitro around, but they're off who-knows where."

"Well, sounds like a plan. Meet back here in an hour or so after getting prepped?"

Nova and Splash nodded, and then the three were off to prepare. Food, water, lights, supplies for the night, and of course, the all-important message. They met back by the flyer, which Spatter was disassembling, and then Nova lead them to the tunnel entrance.

It was outside, entrance covered by vines that hung down the cliff face. As they stepped through, the rest of the tunnel was revealed. Sunlight shone through the veil of vines, tinting it green as it splashed onto the floor and walls of grey stone. Subtle veins and strata wove through the stone, and a clear vein of glowing bone followed the wall. It seemed as if a crack in the stone along the bone had been widened by many hands, forming this route.

Splash and Noodle looked to Nova, who glanced around, then began to lead them into the blue-tinted depths. Nova had talked earlier and said that Mitro had told him it was about a two day journey at a reasonable pace, and if it was any other news they wouldn't have bothered. But with this news, and the high data making it nearly impossible to transmit through the mountains… well, it seemed back to the age-old fall back: hand delivery.

Splash still grumbled, but Noodle could tell it was their normal baseline, while Nova seemed both anxious at leading them down the right path, and relieved at having been listened to. They talked a little the first hour or so, but they soon became more quiet as the sounds of life faded with the light from the entrance. It seemed almost wrong to disturb the silence under the mountains.

And besides, who knew what was down here?

But, in the end, they made it through to the other colony, message intact and delivered. Seeing their reactions, they were glad to have rushed it… even if now they were happy to wait until the flyer was repaired to come pick them up. None of them had any desire to repeat the trek.