[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/QB3E6kd.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/Yl768nr.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]Morning   ·   A TLA Collaboration[/color]Morning   ·   A TLA Collaboration[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=9f9f9f][sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[color=white]”Hello again, Reman. I have found a source to quench your thirst.”[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f5cbcc]Theyra   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[color=yellow]”Ahhh, Mova.”[/color] Reman turned around quickly to the unexpected drone. [color=yellow]”Mova, you are back.and that is nice to hear.  I am betting it is water but, as you can see we are busy with a sandworm.”[/color] Reman taking a moment to watch how the others were faring against the sandworm and saw that while they seemed to have the upper hand. It was still touch and go. Turning back and speaking to Mova again. [color=yellow]”Right now, I need you to stay safe and away from the worm. So just keep your distance and stay out of its way, okay Mova?”[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[color=white]”I have brought the source here.”[/color] Mova responded.

[color=white]”Does that thing have a gun?!”[/color] Sumire asked, taking aim at the worm again.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Sand filled Chu’s mouth as the worm slammed her into the ground, attempting to bury her. In that moment of sheer terror, all she could think of doing was to just keep holding on. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to breathe, although her ribs were screaming in pain.

… Maybe this had been a bad idea.

Just as Chu thought she was for sure going to suffocate, the worm suddenly brought its tail up once more, bringing her with it. Her fingernails were dug so firmly into the carapace that they were starting to hurt more than they already did. Chu  screamed, this time in terror rather than exhilaration. [color=firebrick]“SOMEONE FUCKING KILL IT!”[/color] It was rather reductive, but it was all she could think to say while being swung around.

The worm fell onto its back with a bang, nearly throwing Chu off of it. She saw her opportunity then. [color=firebrick]“Weiyuan! Don’t let it get up!”[/color] she yelled, and, from the tail, vaulted off, landing on the worm’s exposed stomach. She had lit the stadium on fire earlier, right? Chu lit herself up much like she had done then, closing her eyes and forcing the fire out of her in a spherical space. Then, she directed a blast of flame at the exposed skin on its neck.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
The sphere of fire created around Chu was small and dissipated quickly, but was enough to light some of the weaker plates on its belly on fire. However, as a poor source of fuel, the fire here too quickly died. The blast of fire directed toward its weak point under its neck easily charred the exposed flesh, burning it away and further damaging the tissue underneath. It screamed again, thrashing about wildly with Chu on its belly and its legs flailing about. The plating around the opening began to crack further as pressure from the heat caused the boiling material underneath to expand.

In retaliation, it curved its tail into itself as it tried to position its pinchers around Chu.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f1c231]KillamriX88   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Weiyuan could hardly stand to watch. All he had was sand to deal with a giant worm that… lived in the sand. If he was better at bending, that might not have been a problem, but as things stood he couldn’t hurt it and he could barely slow it down. Meanwhile, watching Chu try to physically wrangle the beast at point blank range was putting his blood pressure through the roof.

That said, it seemed they might have actually gained the upper hand. The worm was taking more and more damage and becoming more and more frantic. This was not necessarily a good thing for Chu who was still on top of the worm. The worm that probably hated her more than anything else right now. As it flailed, she was bound to lose her balance at any moment… so Weiyuan decided it might as well be sooner than later, while she was still free of its pincers. 

With the worm on its back and her on its belly, it wasn’t a long fall, so he gathered up a ball of sand and took Chu’s legs out from under her, sending her tumbling to the ground where he turned the sand into a makeshift conveyer belt, dragging her away from it.

Once clear, he would help her to feet, but kept a firm grip on her wrist even once she was standing… not that he would have a say in the matter if someone like her insisted on making him let go. It was times like this he cursed his inability to speak properly.

All he could do was try to get across to her that they needed to get to the solid rock where everyone else was. The worm, presumably, couldn’t tunnel through rock to chase them… and, if it tried anyway… he might have a way to deal with it then. It and maybe whatever else he felt coming, but he didn’t have time to pantomime that information as well.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Chu briefly panicked as she was forcefully pulled off of the worm and towards Weiyuan. She hadn’t seen the sand ball coming and hadn’t had much time to react, so by the time Weiyuan pulled her up, she was sputtering, incensed. [color=firebrick]“Kid, what the actual [i]fuck[/i]-”[/color] she started, but then noticed his frantic gesturing and piped down, trying to figure out what he was trying to get her to do. Her heart was still pounding and she was breathing heavily. She didn’t try pulling away, instead letting her wrist hang limp. Her lips pursed- she was clearly upset.  He wanted them to… go to the rock?
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
From the rock, Sumire fired off another round at the worm. The bullet missed the already created hole but managed to crack another portion of the same plate. After some thrashing about from the still upturned creature, that section too fell away exposing more flesh.

One of its legs managed to find purchase in the sand and it began to roll back over in the direction of Chu and Weiyuan.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=c9daf8]vietmyke   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[color=steelblue]”Oh no you don’t!”[/color] Jin barked as he saw the worm’s legs connect with the stand and start to flip itself over. Continuing his general strategy of blasting the creature with bursts of air, Jin changed up his strategy a bit as it seemed the creature was too large to be adversely affected by something as simple as wind. Sprinting a bit closer to the creature’s side, Jin skidded to a stop as he exhaled and sent an intense blast of air at the leg that had just connected with the ground. With any luck he’d knock it off balance and send it back onto its back where the others could do more damage to it. 

He saw Weiyuan more or less pull Chu off of the creature, and saw the young man’s face turn towards the rock formation. Jin nodded to himself in affirmation, it seemed the two were on the same page. He called out to the two benders, hoping that he was getting across what the mute boy was trying to convey. 
[color=steelblue]It can’t burrow through solid stone!”[/color] Jin yelled as he loosed another blast of air. [color=steelblue]The rocks probably go deeper than what they show, we can use the rocks for cover while we keep hammering its weak points!”[/color] 

Sending one last blast of air at the worm’s ‘face’, Jin began bounding back for the rock outcroppings, where Sumire, Reman and Vasra remained. There was still the issue of getting the worm to reveal its weak spots to them while they were on the rocks, but it beat getting dragged under- not to mention it would be easier for them to move off of the loose and giving nature of sand.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Jin Wei confirmed it and explained the decision. It made sense. Chu wished she had come up with it.

She nodded and started to dash towards the rock, following close behind Jin. Running in loose sand was difficult, but she managed.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f1c231]KillamriX88   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
It was only the nature of the sand that allowed Weiyuan to actually keep up with them while running. On more solid ground, he’d have been left in the dust. As they ran toward what was hopefully safety, he was glad Jin had been able to translate his idea to Chu Hua, or at least that the man had been of a similar mind. 

Fortunately, it wasn’t too far of a run and the worm was still reorienting itself.

Once at the base of the rock, he once more grabbed Chu Hua, her shoulder this time, and forced her to look at him. They didn’t have time for him to be more polite. He hadn’t had the time for him to try and articulate why they needed to run to the rock, but now he could at least squeeze out two or three words that they all needed to know.

[color=white]“Something else… coming…”[/color] he wheezed the words out of his dry throat. He then looked to Jin nearby, hoping Chu would get the idea to spread the word. He couldn’t make himself loud enough to do it himself.

Maybe if they lived through this he could teach them sign language… then again, who was to say they’d be sticking together much longer? 

Well it wouldn’t matter one way or the other if the worm ate them, so he returned his attention to that. Just because it could swim through the sand didn’t mean it was trapped beneath it, clearly. It could still just walk over the surface to get them. 

That said, as big as it was, it was still just an animal. Would it really press the attack after taking this much damage? Or was it so frenzied that it would risk further injury? If it was the latter… he figured he had one shot to stop it if it charged them… if he could even do it.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=02ffff]Abstract Proxy   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Uncertain of the value of hurling more rocks from her rapidly dwindling supply, Vasra hurled a final medium sized rock at the worm, before moving to the edge of rock formation. Shifting low, she leaned slightly over the edge, keeping her weight centered, and hold out an arm for any of the others still trying to reach the safety of the rocks.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Air erupted around the worm in dust and sand as Jin blasted it with air powerful enough to push it away from him and once again pin it on its back. However, the rock that Vasra threw did fall short as when the others began to retreat to the rock, the worm retreated as well, carrying its new momentum forward into a roll. It recovered as everyone began to clamber onto the rock and as it reared into the sky once more, it let out another ear-splitting screech. However, this time, the sound was cut short. As the sands surrounding it began to vibrate, the damaged portion of its throat suddenly erupted. The weaker plates broke open and steaming flesh and sinew spewed from the gaping hole and piled onto the ground. The worm collapsed.
[/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color][table=bordered][row][sub]Prompt:[/sub][/row][row][cell][color=9f9f9f]Despite damaged sustained, the worm is still very much alive but is currently only writhing in pain. It seems to be trying to gather its legs under it so it can stand back up.

Across from the worm atop a rolling sand dune, a silhouette appears. Its features are somewhat obscured as it stands in front of a still rising sun. A high pitched whistle that cuts through the still air follows its arrival, and four more silhouettes join the first on the ridge.[/color][/cell][/row][/table]