My goodness it's been awhile since I've done anything on this sight! Anyway I hope if you read this you'll like it!
I don't known when it happened. It was just supposed to be another take over mission, you know? Land on puny Terra, grab a few inhabitants to take back; then the Master and Dark Ace would take charge of everything from there.
But this time it was different. This time something happened. This time… There had been a girl.
It was completely bizarre! This had never happened before! Every other time had been the same. Go in, declare the Terra was now under the command of the Cyclonian Empire, round-up some of the folks come to see all the hubbub and head home in time for dinner. Yet this girl had managed to mess with that: without even trying!
I don't even know why it had been her. There seemed to be nothing special about her. Dark eyes, round face, average height… the usual girl parts; all topped off with a mop of mousey coloured hair. But the more I think about it, it wasn't the fact she was in hysterics or defiance of the take-over (as any normal person would be) that had caught my attention… it was the fact that she wasn't.
The moment the Terra had come in close sight the flock had begun to form; but it certainly didn't help that the other men liked to put on quite the show to draw out the fear in the people, along with help gather a crowd. So down we came, descending like a gaggle of geese to the hard soil below. All eyes became transfixed in fear at us weapon wielding soldiers and our bear like, blue haired leader.
The large man in front gave a guttural cough and grunt, which informed me it was now my time to shine; Snipe wasn't a man of many words anyway. Taking two large steps forward so I was beside yet still behind the beefy man I began the usual speech of invasion.
"People of Terra Parva," I began, like reciting a well-rehearsed speech. "This Terra is now and forever more under the control of Master Cyclonis: ruler of the Cyclonian Empire. Surrender now and those that will be taken back to Terra Cyclonia will not be harmed." Before I had even finished the other men had swooped in around the crowd to gather certain people.
I too joined the others as there was meant to be one captive for each soldier on mission. Don't ask. I began looking for anyone with a hint of defiance in their eyes, as leaving someone who could stir a rebellion would lead to trouble for me. Scanning the mass my head stopped dead in its tracks. That's when I saw her. Even through my red-tinted goggles I couldn't see any striking physical appearance. In her arms she held a smaller looking woman in complete hysterics, most likely her mother gathering from the graying hair and what looked like the beginning of wrinkles.
It was none of this that stopped my movement, however. She just stood there, head held up but not high, back straight but not defiant, holding the woman in her arms but not consoling. She looked as if she just didn't care. About the invasion, about panicking, about anything.
I hadn't known how long I'd been staring but it apparently had been long enough for me to be the last person to get a "collateral damage payment", as some of the other men would say. Before my brain even registered what was happening, I began moving towards the girl. She must have heard me coming as she and the elder woman both turned to look my way. The elder began to stutter in panic at my presence, grabbing the younger's plain brown sleeves tighter. The girl kept her blank expression throughout and starred directly at me. Her eyes bore into mine, making my skin crawl. It was as if she could read my soul. She gently pried the woman's hands away and began to walk closer. In a last futile attempt to stop the girl the fragile thing grasped her hand, causing the young woman's arm to bend back slightly until contact broke.
She moved calmly forward, past Snipe, who let off an inpatient snarl, to the only unoccupied skyride: my skyride. Lifting her knee length skirt a tad she positioned herself on the back of ride, waiting patiently to be taken away and locked up. Sitting in front and starting it up, we lurched forward until the edge came to greet us. With the flick of a switch my ride soon became airborne, ascending us into the clouds. At this point I feel a pair of arms snake around my waist, and let me say, I was glad to be facing away from her; for if I wasn't, she would have surely seen my blush.
And now here I am, no more than five feet away from that girl I can't seem to shake from my mind. I look over my left shoulder into the cell on board. She's not near the others, close to the bars looking out, her soft face still holding its blank expression. As if she's reading my thoughts her head snaps in my direction, stealing into my soul yet again. Just as quickly I turn back to my front, again hiding my blush from her. Glad that no one else is on guard duty with me.
I can still see those dark irises drilling into my back, it's starting to make me nervous. This is getting ridiculous. My hand comes up to my face, making my eyes and cheeks draw closer to my nose before pulling down.
"Pull yourself together," I berate myself in a strict whisper. With a harsh sigh I stand up straighter, lifting up my crystal staff from resting on my arm. With my now or never moment looming over me I casually but firmly walk my way up to the other end of the cell, desperately praying on the inside it looks like I believe I'll be able to keep watch better here.
I sense her eyes follow my walk and continue to rest on me once I've stopped. An empty silence falls over again with only the hushed talk of the other detainees, seemingly even worse now that I'm right next to her. I will myself to say something, anything, so I can satisfy my compelling desire of her. I jump a little at the voice that comes next.
"You're the one who did that speech, aren't you?" The feminine sound is soft but firm, like it's asking a question it already knows the answer to.
In my surprise I barely register what she's said, only noticing she's the one who said it, and how nice her voice sounds. I turn my head to face her.
"S-Sorry, what?" I hear a faint huff, yet it doesn't sound like it's annoyed.
"I said: You're the one who did that speech? Right?" I simply nod, feeling that if I talk I'll ruin the moment I heard her speak for the first time. Well, second really. I see her nod back, confirming her answer.
"You've got a good voice," she started up again. "Strong: clear." My eyes widen slightly. Did she just compliment me? A man who has taken her a prisoner? I go to thank her but my mouth betrays me. Opting instead to ask:
"That woman you we're with… was she your mother?" I hear the small huffing sound again, and see an even smaller upturn in her thin lips. It's gone as soon as it came, as if I imagined it.
"No," she stated simply. "No, she's not my mother, just some hysterical old woman who I buy food from. Every week." I hear another huff, but longer and lower. A sigh.
Another thought comes to my mind and before I can stop myself yet again I speak what I think.
"Why weren't you scared?" I question without missing a beat. She looks up at me, fully in the face. Her expression now changed. From blank to blank-ish with her thick eyebrows high on her forehead. Once again it's gone quickly but she hasn't looked away. We stare eyes locked for yet a third time, and what she says surprises me.
"Have you ever wanted something to change so bad you don't care what it is?" Now it's my turn to have eyebrows raised. I look at her still while my mind races back to an answer for her question.
"Yeah," I say calmly, almost like I'm sedated. "Yeah."
I run my hand not holding my staff over my torso and I hear her… scoff at me. I will admit it hurt a little.
"Hey," I said, "It's not funny." It wasn't. I looked down at myself and frowned slightly. I've always been a rather lanky guy, and don't have the height to make up for it either. 'All bones and no muscle' was what my mother used to say. Never had many friends and never had a date. That's me.
I look up again and see her starring again. A hint of something in her gaze.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. A give her a slight smile to assure her it was OK.
"That's why I became a talon. No one's gonna notice your build when you're wearing festive colours all year round."
For the third time I hear that huffing sound. But this time it's not just the sound, and not with just a small flick of the lips either. I realise now that it's a giggle. With her eyes squinted a tad and her lips curled up and her hand covering her mouth, it's obvious.
Before I can say anything else I hear a shout from down the hall. It's one of the other guys, coming to take the shift. I get into gear and start walking off.
"Wait!" The harsh whisper jolts my attention right back to the girl. Her head's down as she tucks a piece of her droopy hair back behind her ear.
"I'm Heidi." She looked away as she said this; she seemed shy in telling me her name. I gave a smile.
"Adam." Was all I said in return. Her lips gave another brief flick just before her face went back to the same blank expression as before. Following Heidi's example I did the same and turned to leave.
As if expecting me not to hear as I turned at the door, I heard the softest call of "Bye, Adam." I past the man replacing me and gave a small smirk. Keeping emotionless was never one of my strong points.
"Bye, Heidi," I mumbled to myself.
Just so you know, parva means small in Latin. Please review!