True Moon

"Guah!"

Crimson blood splashed easily onto the rock face leaving no regards to its container.

The vessel that once housed it now hung suspended in midair with spikes holding her in position. Her extremities nothing but lifeless stumps twitching uselessly

"Here's your chance – Finish it."

Those worlds barely escaped through her pale lips. Another splattering of liquid painted the ground an unearthly purple. Gravity took hold of the sacrifice slamming her inelegantly back to earth, with her supports laying in pieces around her.

Her sense of hearing had already been lost. Her vision slowly fading and yet she saw the slim figure crouching over her. Her lips moving though none of the words spoken reached her –ah a goddess she thought. The guardian angel that had protected her. The blacksmith who repairs the shield whenever it returns broken.

Veronica smiled to herself as she willingly allowed the darkness to consume her.

When she awoke, long gone where the gray overcast skies that was notorious in these parts. What replaced it was bright sunlight that streamed through the gaps in the planks. A barn? She felt the straw that was used as her makeshift bed. Her mind a foggy mess of what had happened that day.

"So the sleeping beauty has finally awakened. How was your sleep?"

"Fine, thank you very much." Veronica replied casually to the voice beside her.

Number 14 or the warrior more commonly known as Cynthia dropped from her resting spot above a large stack of hay landing gently beside her.

As the thirtieth ranked warrior, Veronica was both her senior and superior. A position long held by the both of them.

How many years had it been since they had met? She could no longer remember but the ever cheerful Cynthia had constantly been by her side. Yes, it was since their first awakened hunt together that they had been bonded like sisters.

Cynthia had been chasing her ever since that time trying to surpass the warrior who had always stood a rank ahead. While Cynthia had failed times aplenty, Veronica suspected that her junior had always wanted to stay in their current state. From what she sensed Cynthia's latent abilities far surpassed that of her own and if she had pushed, she would have easily been ranked higher.

But for now Veronica was just happy to have her junior by her side.

"You're such a pain, you know that?"

Cynthia complains broke through Veronica's thoughts

as she slipped her hands into her senior's bodysuit, pressing her chest onto her Veronica's back. Her hands moved tenderly, caressing the skin, occasionally pressing or probing each part making sure that the skin apart from their "Stigma" was smooth and the muscles beneath it in their correct placements.

"As a defensive warrior it's my job to take the hits for the team. I believe I told you that before." Veronica retorted saying the same lines she had always said whenever she got badly hurt.

"At what cost Veronica? How many times can you cheat death? One of these days you might end up taking a blow you can never recover from. Also I'm rather sick of having to babysit you whenever you're recovering."

"So says the girl whose hands are nowhere near where my wounds are."

Veronica broke into a rare smile resting her head onto her partners arm.

"Don't be so stingy! Take this as punishment for making me worry about you all the time."

Cynthia snuggled up forcefully stealing Veronica's lips.

"After all until I surpass you, you'll always be mine."