My extremely late submission for NaLu week 2015, day four! Set in a post-apocolypse world AU. Kudos to anyone who can guess what band/album some of the themes came from :D This will be a three chapter ficlette using day four, five, and seven.
Let me know what you think!
Day four: Smoke
Lucy choked as the smoke assaulted her lungs.
She tripped on the uneven ground, losing a white shoe to the harsh terrain. But she had to keep going, to keep running. She kicked off the other heel, which allowed her to put on a burst of speed. Why hadn't she done that sooner? Running in heels is stupid.
Her hair streamed behind her, the white dress billowing around her legs. Her eyes took in the desolate terrain. The ground was dusty and dry, the trees nothing more than bare skeletons trying to stretch to the sky. The sun burned red as it descended over the horizon.
What had happened to the world?
She was too young to remember how the world used to be, back when clean rain fell from the sky and people farmed the land. But she had read it in books. Now, all the rain was poisoned with chemicals and the water needed to be purified. She assumed that her home was the closest thing to the old world that existed now. Though there was no green on the ground, 'grass,' she recalled, it was landscaped with colorful rocks and statues. Now, she knew that it was all chemically dyed. Her father's wealth had surrounded her in false, fake beauty. She longed to see the world as it once was, as she had read in books.
Outside her property, she found the moment she crawled under the barbed wire fence, the world was desolate. It needed to be loved, to be nurtured back to life. It needed some true light.
She almost got blasted by one of the natural hot-geysers, caused by the chemicals that had ruined the land, bringing her back into the present. She coughed, the smoke filling her pure lungs. This was hell, but it was better than the hell her father had her in.
Her pure white dress was stained by the smoke and the dust in the air, causing patches of it to turn grey. All the better; she hated everything white stood for.
She used to think that it was pure and innocent, believing that everything her dad, as one of the leaders of the government, stood for.
They told her that white was the color of a clean start, like the world was getting. They would use the white canvas to paint a new life in color.
What a load of bullshit.
All they were doing is trying to quell the rebellion that was occurring.
The Runaways, as they called themselves, donned the color black, hiding their faces with bandanas that had a skull painted on in white.
She hadn't seen any of them, only heard of their deeds. She had secretly read enough of her Father's reports in his study to know exactly what was happening.
The government was corrupt. They were using what they owned for their own purpose. They were going to paint a new world, but a world where the few choice people ruled over all. There was to be no individuality, no uniqueness. Everyone would follow orders.
There was even talk of a new chemical that would be injected into a person that would take away their inhabitations to think for themselves. They would be machines.
Lucy knew this was wrong. She couldn't just stand there and watch as the world fell apart. She had to do something.
When she tried to talk to her father, he had hit her, telling her she wasn't allowed to think for herself. She was just a piece of his property.
That had been the last straw.
She would find the Runaways.
She wanted to be no part of the corrupt government who had donned white. She wanted to be black.
For black was now the color of humanity, of individuality.
So she relished in the smoke that stained her dress grey, for it was one step closer.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Natsu kicked a little rock that was at his feet, it clattering away. The sound rang out in the silence of the night.
He hated patrol duty.
Nothing ever exciting happened! The government was too prissy to dirty their hands in the darkness of the night. They already ruled the world, so they could do it in the light of day and not worry.
Besides, darkness was the Runaways' time.
Natsu huffed, figuring he was just upset because he was missing the impromptu party they were throwing. Gildarts, a father-figure to Natsu, had just returned safely from infiltrating the government. He had spent all afternoon in Makarov's tent, telling the master of all the things he had heard.
And then there was a party.
But Natsu was stuck watching the boundaries of the camp. He huffed, looking up at the tall walls of rock that towered over him. It's not like anyone could get into their camp without them knowing anyways. The only way in was through the split in the tall rock wall. The tiny, natural valley provided them protection and hid their camp.
Besides, that's if anyone even wanted to storm across the natural hot-geysers. Those things were dangerous! Only those who knew them well, who understood the timing and the signs that occurred before they blew, were able to make it unscathed.
It only required a few people on patrol. Natsu didn't even get to do the fun part! He was stuck watching the entrance to the crack, while Gray got to scale the wall and watch from the top of the rock monument.
And so he sulked.
It was going to be a boring night…
He looked down at the ground, allowing his well-trained ears to do the work. He would hear something before he saw anything in this pitch-black anyways. The moon had been covered by the smog that surrounded their world in a haze for the past few nights. Even at its brightest, it only provided a little bit of light.
And don't even talk about the stars. Those were rarely seen anymore.
Natsu stood there, his arms across his chest, his lip hanging down in a pout for a while.
His head suddenly shot up. He had heard something, a clutter of a rock not far off. He tucked his ever present bandanna over his mouth and nose. If there was going to be trouble, he had to be prepared to fight in the smoke of the geysers.
Then he heard it; the hiss of a geyser and the scream of a young girl.
He heard Gray, above him whistle twice, signifying that the commotion was to the east. Natsu ran a hand over the edge of his coat, his belt, and his thigh. All his throwing stars and knives were in place.
Then he took off.
In a burst of speed, he darted out of the ravine and into the hot wasteland. The smoke filled his already –covered nose, but he was used to the feeling. After all, this was his turf. He had been tearing across these hot-geysers since he was a kid.
The tell-tale signs of a geyser caused him to dash slightly to the left, avoiding a hot burst of flames. He smiled at the light of the fire.
He kept his eyes peeled, listening for the girl again. He had no idea if it was just her, or if there were others with her. He hadn't heard any other commotion, which told him it was the girl alone. If there were others with her, they would surely be talking if the girl had gotten hurt, as hinted by her scream.
Natsu stopped, holding his right fist in the air and baring the reflective neon on his glove to the sky. He waited, listening for Gray to give him more directions to where the geyser had gone off that had caused the scream. He heard one whistle, signifying that it was north, and Natsu was off again.
He knew that Gray was standing ready with his crossbow, waiting for Natsu's signal that there was danger and he was to shoot.
Then, Natsu saw her.
A white patch on her dress reflected against the geyser that shot off merely ten feet away.
White. The color of the government.
He almost turned around and left the girl on the hot wasteland. She would surely be dead before morning.
But then he looked down at the innocent looking, grimy face. Her dress was covered in filth, turning it almost grey. Her feet were bare and bloodied. Her blonde hair looked almost grey from the smoke.
Her troubled face, screwed up in pain, pulled on his heartstrings.
He sighed, mad at himself for being a softy.
Natsu whistled three times, giving Gray the all clear. He knelt down next to her, inspecting her for any bad injuries. Other than her bloodied feet, which told him that she had been running barefoot for a long time, the only thing he could see was a scorched arm. She must have been too close to a geyser when it went off, but nothing too serious.
Honestly, he assumed that the pain of the burn had pushed her past the point of pain and exhaustion. Her panting breath told him that she was in a lot of pain.
His fingers gently touched her arm.
He was startled back, causing him to fall on his butt, his hand flying to one of the many knives on his belt. Her eyes had flown open and she had violently flinched.
She probably didn't know that he was there, as the only noise he had made was the whistles to Gray.
Her eyes stared at him, and he stared back as the girl pulled herself up into a sitting position.
"Who…" her voice croaked, "Who are you?"
He was about to answer when he heard the hiss of the geyser beside him. He threw himself at her, causing them to roll out of the way of the fire that shot to the sky a few seconds later. He caged her in his arms, taking the brunt of the hard ground.
As they laid there, her tucked into his arms, he could see that her eyes were brown, a beautiful chocolate brown, that held kindness and passion, in the light of the fire that shot to the sky.
And then they rolled back into her head, her eyelids fluttering shut, as she lost consciousness.
"Shit," Natsu cursed. Now he knew that the damage to her body was probably more than what he could see in his brief examination in the pitch black of the night. He would need to get her to Wendy.
He stood up, cradling the girl in his arms, and started walking back to the crevice in the rocks. He whistled four times, to let Gray know that he was returning.
He looked down at the girl, admiring her beauty beneath the grime. She had been through a lot in the past few hours. And even though she was from the government, she was obviously running from something.
Something that made her push through the pain of bloodied feet and brave the hot-geysers.
And any enemy of the government was a friend of theirs.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lucy awoke, attempting to peel her eyes open. After a couple tries, she succeeded. Her eyes took in the top of a tent. She felt the throbbing in her feet and an aching pain in her arm.
Where was she?
The memories came crashing back, images of a dark night, fire shooting into the sky, and a man in all black with pink hair and dark eyes holding her.
She sat up with a start, causing something to fall off the edge of her bed onto the floor.
A small "eep!" came from the other side of the tent, startling her and causing her head to whip toward the source.
A small, blue haired girl was looking at her with wide eyes. They softened, and then the girl smiled at Lucy. "You're awake!" the girl chirped, "Though, you startled me when you sat up so quickly." The bluenette moved across the tent to her bedside. "How does everything feel? Your main issue was merely exhaustion, but your burn had to have hurt. It's not bad though!"
Lucy stared at her in awe, taking in her tiny frame clothed in a black dress, the bandanna tied around her neck but not covering her face. A Runaway.
Then her words sunk in and she turned to look down at her bandaged arm and allowed herself to take inventory of her body. "I…" she croaked out, then cleared her throat, "I feel fine. Much better, thank you."
The small girl giggled slightly, "Good! I'm glad." She handed a glass that had been sitting on the table to Lucy, which she gladly pressed to her lips and drank. The small girl watched her, a small smile on her face. "My name is Wendy, what's yours?"
Lucy tilted the glass down, trying not to guzzle the water. "Lucy. Did you take care of me?"
Wendy grinned, "Yes, I'm the medic at our camp. I know I'm little, but I've been trained by the best!"
Lucy smiled at her, "Well, if these bandages are any evidence, then I would say you do a very good job."
The girl beamed back at her, "Thank you!"
Lucy looked down and then raised her eyes once more, "Who brought me here last night?"
A commotion outside interrupted Wendy's answer. Shouts filled the air, a sound of a smack resounded through the air, and then a man slid through the opening of the tent on his back.
He sprung up from his back, using his hands to launch his body back onto his feet, his pink hair flying through the air. "I'll get you for that Ice-breath!" he shouted, about to tear back through the tent opening to the outside.
"Natsu, she's awake," Wendy said, causing the boy to whip around. Dark green eyes met Lucy's brown ones, causing her memory to awaken. Pink hair, dark eyes; she could feel his body holding hers.
He was the one who had found her last night.
A grin split his face, and he took a couple steps to her bed. He looked down at her with probing eyes. She felt as though he was staring into her soul, evaluating her. Then his face split into a grin and he crouched down next to her bed and cocked his head to the side. "I found ya outside our camp last night. What were ya doing running through the hot-geysers at night, silly? You coulda got yourself roasted."
She tried to move back from his gaze, both playful and calculating. He was testing her.
She huffed. No way was she dealing with this crap. "What, don't you like to go for runs through the geysers?"
Natsu's laugh rang through the tent. "Yes, in fact, I do. But I have been running through them since I was little. I know the signs of the geysers, as you found out last night when I saved your ass."
Wendy gasped and smacked him across the head, "Language, Natsu!"
Lucy recalled the man springing at her the night before, caging her in his arms and rolling them away from a geyser.
Natsu sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry, Wendy."
Lucy giggled a bit at the exchange, seeing the love the two had for each other. Obviously, Wendy was dear to the man.
Natsu's eyes flashed to her at the sound of her laugh. It sounded like musical bells ringing through the tent and was the prettiest thing he had ever heard.
She met his eyes and grinned at him, "Fair enough, thank you for saving me last night."
Natsu grinned back, his eyes meeting hers.
They both could feel it. This was the beginning of something great; it was like light breaking through the smoke and darkness.
The age of a new life was dawning.
Look for the next chapter coming soon! Drop me a review and let me know what you thought or you could go on tumblr and reblog it :D
Thanks!