Together we Fall

Chapter One: Why Me?

Vanille's POV

It was a moonless night, the world wrapped in a thick cloak of complete blackness. The stars were scarce here, spread out across the darkness like a God had thrown them up in their mighty fist at random, not having a clue as to where they should go.

I smiled nonetheless. To me, it was peaceful, calming, and it was times like this, in the middle of the night, just outside of my village on the great hill, that I enjoyed being alone.

No longer were they children laughing at my inability to read or write, no longer where there snickered remarks behind my back by the adults. Behind the trees that stood behind me in the little wooden huts I knew that I had not a single friend. They slept with no worries of their own, only good, happy memories, no thoughts spared for the lonely girl with the bright red hair who had to shut herself out from the world as they refused to let her in.

"I don't care," I said to the sky, to the stars, to the only one I knew I could trust. "I don't need anyone else other then myself."

Little did I know that somewhere in a very different world, someone shared the same exact thought, yet they were two completely different people.

Lightning's POV

Lightning. That was my name, and quiet a fitting one at that. It warned people away, let them know that as it suggested, I would strike them down where they stood.

Never did my gunblade leave my side. The glinting metal was always there in the corner of my eye, and that was what comforted me and left me feeling in power.

An enemy had me in their sights. I knew that before I saw them, and with little effort I raised the weapon from the sheath, smiled at the sound of the familiar metal sliding, and I locked the gun barrel into place and fired three fast shots.

It was as though his death was in slow motion. Blood exploded in crimson clouds where the bullets had driven into his flesh. One shot his him in the chest, stopping him in the tracks, then he was spun around with a forceful impact to the left of his neck, and the final bullet, my favourite, found itself lodged in the back of his head as it turned completely to me. His fell onto his side, still in the rotation, but now he was still, and to me, that always meant death.

With a bored sigh I prepared for the next enemy. It came in less than five seconds, and fell in even less than that.

Again I was left thinking. Is this how things are going to be forever? Fighting enemies that snap like twigs? If so, than I might as well be non-existent. But why did they force all of this pathetic practice upon me, hardening me up and strengthening me… for what?

Why me?

Vanille was a smart girl despite her lacking ability in some things the other villagers consistently progressed in. She knew exactly where the best places were for survival, and led the village to these woods where there were no enemies, and she was an expert tracker, finding food after it has left days before… but her favourite skill was that of the bow.

The arrow whistled through the air as she sent it from the bow like a bird being released from a cage. It was a shining sparkle as it sailed over the cliff, and she watched it keenly as it caught in the flesh of a fair sized brown animal that was barely a blur from where she stood.

With a whoop she jumped up in the air. "Deer tonight!" she shouted out excitedly.

"Wow, Vanille. Do you ever actually miss?"

She turned to see Treyvell, one of the friendlier boys from her village. He approached with a broad smile on his face that he wore whenever he was near her.

With reddening cheeks she turned away, knowing full well that he liked her much more than a friend. She wasn't quiet sure how she felt about him, but he was definitely a handsome boy with wild brown hair lightened at the top into a brown-blonde, and he had a well muscled body. With eyes of the sea he liked to watch her from afar and wave whenever she turned, friendly by nature with a pure heart.

"You're beginning to do that every day," she said without facing him, not wanting him to see her blush.

"Do what?" he asked innocently, stopping just behind her.

She turned with a fake glare on her face. "Startle me! You do it all of the time now!"

He burst out laughing. "Well, when you're hunting you just seem so… distant. It's not my fault that it makes you easy to scare."

"Startle," she corrected quickly. "You don't scare me."

"I'm not surprised," he said, eyeing the thick wooden bow in her hands. "I would never cross you when you never let that thing out of your hands."

Now she was smiling and forgave him for the third time that week when he had caught her off guard.

Together they descended to retrieve the fallen deer.

There was anger in Lightning's eyes as she dragged one of the soldier trainees into the doors of the building and all the way up the stairs, heading for the main office.

"Please, I didn't mean-"

"Didn't mean to what? Attack another trainee and nearly sever his arm off!" she interrupted him furiously.

"I lost my temper!"

"And your about to lose a lot more if you don't shut the hell up!"

"I'm sorry! It won't happen again!"

She stopped at the top of the stairs and whipped around to face the man, trapping him in her icy glare. "No, it won't, will it? Because when you leave from your punishment, whatever it may be, and I hear of another little 'mishap' I will find you and make sure you are taken out of this training course and your dreams are crushed into the ground. Do you understand this, boy?"

He whimpered and nodded, a tear rolling pathetically down his sweaty face.

She rolled her eyes and pulled him up roughly, her arms growing tired of dragging him along the flor, but she kept a strong grip on the back of his shirt.

Once they head reached the main office she knocked and waited for a reply, then threw him through the door and left him to deal with the damage on his own.

To release her anger at the idiotic man whom did not belong among the other she taught, she headed straight for the gym facilities where she pounded the stuffing out of every 'safe target' she could see.

"Stupid… trainees… don't… know… ANYTHING!" she cried out with each punch that sprayed wool and stitching over the floor like blood. There were no other targets for her to fight, so she sat upon the cold hard wood beneath her and stared at her hands that were still bloody from the earlier fighting.

She did not understand it, but more and more real targets were being used. People condemned to death were brought here for a fighting chance, but usually only a handful at a time. However, in the past week she had seen at least fifty.

There was only one reason for this: The government were tightening their grip upon the people of Cocoon.

She wanted out.

No longer did she question the thought. It was as though the leaders were possessed madmen and women who were sending people who so much as sneezed to the medical labs to be tested for diseases. More and more people were being attacked by them, and now there was fear spreading through the entire city like blood through veins.

"I don't want to fight for them," Lightning thought sadly as she closed her eyes and tried to do what she always did: Think of a better life.