So all throughout the silent night
She must her tireless vigil keep -
Untouched by sorrow or delight,
She knows no need for mortal sleep.
And weary on the road below
The lonely travelers trundle by
Toward worlds the Maid can never know,
For she cannot her fate defy.
- "The Knight of the Tower," lines 103-110
Axel quickened his steps, black-gloved hands tensing slightly. He hated this mission, scouting alone on a backward little world while the others were no doubt doing something interesting. There were strange energy readings in this area, and the Superior had wanted it thoroughly checked, but Axel had seen nothing out of the ordinary. A few villages and a seemingly endless forest – that was about it. By now Axel was bored, and tired, and he wanted to go home.
Home. The spiky redhead briefly stopped in his tracks at that word. He hadn't thought of the Castle That Never Was as "home" before. Maybe he was starting to get used to the incessant night and frequent rain, the vast, near-vacant castle and the seven others he shared it with. Maybe he minded being the new guy less than he'd thought. Maybe it was better, for now, just to have somewhere to belong.
He started walking again, still following the narrow deer trail that snaked through the tangled brush beneath the trees. The forest was old, and most of the trees were giants compared to anything Axel had seen before, rising so high that from his vantage point it was impossible to see their tops even in daylight. Now, an hour before dawn, only the massive trunks were visible in the twilight, tendrils of mist curling about their tangled roots. Half-hidden in the fog, a blanket of tree seedlings, leafy ferns, and various plants he couldn't identify surged with the new life of spring, masking the rich earth of the forest floor. Even the trunks of the trees were crusted with clumps of verdant moss; the place was so green and wet that Axel knew he couldn't burn it even if he tried.
He knew because he had tried the night before, in a moment of utter frustration when the fallen branches he'd found proved too damp and rotten to burn even by magical means. The forest was cold at night, and though Axel was generally unfazed by cool weather, the damp air was enough to put a chill in his bones. When his campfire plans had failed miserably, Axel lashed out with his power, building a ball of flame a good twenty feet in diameter around him. The living carpet of the forest floor had crisped to ash in an instant where he stood, but the great trees were too green and vital to burn. When the outburst was over, the flame could not sustain itself and died quickly as it had come.
So Axel had spent the night curled in the hollow formed by an ancient tree's roots, the damp earth cold beneath him. He'd managed to summon a little ball of self-sustaining magical fire, basking in its heat, but as Axel's mind turned to sleep his concentration wandered and the wisp faded away. The redhead had awakened a short while ago, stiff from the chill, to find the forest thick with clammy fog. Now he hated this world more than ever.
Axel was jarred from his thoughts by the splashing of water at his feet. He hadn't seen the narrow creek hidden in the mist, and now his boots were soaked, the cold water seeping through at the laces. The tall Nobody cursed as he stepped onto the bank and continued along the deer path, deciding that no matter what, he wasn't going to spend another night in this forest. He knew the Superior would be angry if he returned without discovering the reason for the unusual energy patterns, but the detector in his pocket hadn't clicked even once since he'd arrived. Maybe that smug little Zexion had made a mistake in flagging this world for scouting. Then again, knowing the Cloaked Schemer, maybe it had been a deliberate sort of mistake, just to give the new recruit a few nights of misery in this wretched forest.
The job certainly would have been easier if he'd been given his lesser Nobodies yet. Vexen had promised they would be finished soon, but Axel knew the project wouldn't be a high priority. For whatever reason, Vexen didn't seem to like the Organization's newest member, glaring at him with almost palpable distaste whenever the two crossed paths in the hallways of Never Was. Axel wondered if the scientist was taking his time with the task just to cause the pyro a little more frustration, knowing how much harder missions were without the aid of the lesser Nobodies.
Axel had seen a prototype in the Chilly Academic's lab weeks ago, and had been impressed by its lean, agile form and the bristle-pointed arms that complimented his own spiky hair. Vexen had asked him to spar with the creature – he called it an "Assassin" – and Axel had pushed the prototype to its limit, whereupon it had suddenly exploded in a final destructive blast. The scientist was furious at the loss of his model, but Axel had convinced him to keep that attack in the final version, knowing it'd be the last thing an enemy would ever expect. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to change Vexen's mind about the Assassin's color scheme; the blond had just smirked and said the purple would stay, no matter how much Axel might prefer red-
Axel stopped again, peering down at the ground as best he could in the fog. The deer trail had vanished: either it had dwindled away or Axel had simply lost the path as he walked. He cursed again, angry at this world for being so damned unmanageable, and at himself for being so caught up in memories that he couldn't keep an eye on the trail – but when you can't feel emotions, what is left to define your being except memories?
Click.
Axel froze. He could have sworn he heard-
Click.
The redhead hastily pulled the detector out of his pocket, staring intently at the blue needle that dominated the face of the small device. Right now the needle was resting at 0, but-
Click.
The needle jumped a quarter of the way up the scale, then relaxed to its original position. Axel pressed a little red button on the detector's side and a lesser window beneath the main face lit up, displaying a digital readout: a small arrow, trembling like a compass needle, pointing off to his left. The source of the strange energy patterns was definitely here, but it was a fair distance away. He'd better get walking, then.
As he turned to follow the detector's prompt, Axel noticed for the first time that a biting wind had sprung up. The wayward breeze stirred the fog like witch's brew in a cauldron, darting between the trees with a faint, ghostly whistle.
Llanys couldn't help but smile as she watched the spiky redhead trudge through the misty forest. If his sense of direction was any indication of his abilities, this would be far too easy. As it was, once she had picked up his trail it'd been no challenge at all to follow him. She glided beneath the trees like a phantom, keeping a safe distance behind just in case. Llanys was in no hurry; as long as she made her move before the morning sun burned away the fog, she would still be at the peak of her power.
When the black-clad stranger nearly fell into the narrow creek cutting across the path, Llanys briefly wondered if she should call the whole thing off. He certainly didn't seem to be much of a threat – but she sternly reminded herself that this new recruit was the Organization's number eight, meaning that Llanys and her comrades were now outnumbered two to one. Then her mind flickered back to the huge swath of charred ground in the clearing where the redhead had spent the night, and Llanys pushed the last doubts from her mind. It had to be done, but she must be careful not to be seen.
If she were to fail – if the Nobody struggling through the trees twenty yards ahead of her were to prove tougher than she anticipated – even that wouldn't be as terrible as if he got a good look at her. After all, the Organization didn't know that they had survived. Llanys was reasonably certain their Queen would forgive her for acting on her own, but if she were to be discovered, the consequences would be severe indeed.
The girl waited patiently behind a particularly large tree as her quarry stopped in his tracks. Apparently, he finally realized that he'd lost the trail. The twilight had lightened somewhat, signaling that the sun would rise soon, but in the deep shade of the forest, the difference was barely noticeable.
Llanys used the moment of rest to adjust her brown cloak, thankful for the cover it provided. Her long hair was pale as moonlight, and her skin nearly as fair, which would make her far too conspicuous among the earthen tones of the wood.
Click.
Llanys paused, slender white fingers frozen in the act of adjusting a brown leather glove. What on earth was that?
Click.
She pulled on the other glove, covering the exposed skin, and peered out cautiously from her hiding place. Through the heavy screen of fog, the redhead was a dim shape bent to stare at a small device in his palm. Llanys sent out a little gust of wind to get a better look.
Click.
It was a detector of some kind; it seemed that the spiky-haired Nobody had located whatever he was here to find, but it wasn't terribly close by. Llanys watched him set off again, now seeming certain of his direction. She still had time.
As she glided forward through the trees, careful to keep her distance in the veiling mist, Llanys found herself wishing she could have brought Aeden with her. Despite her slight frame, the girl was a skilled fighter, but she would have felt better if the odds were weighted in her favor. Besides, Aeden was the one who tipped her off to the new recruit's whereabouts – one of the benefits of having space as his element was that Aeden could sense without much difficulty when a portal between worlds was opened. Her black-haired comrade loved a good fight; it was a shame he couldn't be here.
Still, Llanys knew it would have been very unwise to bring Aeden, given the circumstances. She was well aware that she was the only one who could pull this off without being seen, and the fear that the Organization might discover them was more important than soothing her nerves with the strength of numbers. Besides, the Queen was more likely to forgive Llanys for acting on her own than a neophyte like Aeden. No, it was better that she was alone.
It wasn't like she couldn't handle this new recruit by herself, anyway, Llanys reflected as she continued to stalk her prey. She trained every day with an almost religious fervor, determined never again to be caught off guard as she had been the day her world fell to the darkness. She was strong now, and she knew that when she went into battle, her weapon would move like an extension of her being.
Llanys smiled to herself as she thought of her weapon, the seven-foot glaive that she'd dubbed Thunder's Call. She'd made one modification that she was very proud of, adding a javelin point on the butt end of the shaft, which allowed her to throw the heavy glaive like a spear. Llanys permitted herself the luxury of imagination for a moment: the feel of the wooden shaft smooth beneath her grip, the sharp whistle of the blade as it cut the air in the silver arc of a swing. Soon she would summon the polearm to her hand, and the battle would begin.
–
The approaching sun was only a pink light on the eastern horizon when Luca left her family's cottage, her green cloak pulled tightly around her to block out the morning chill. The girl stopped to admire the sky as she turned her steps toward the nearby forest; the waxing moon hung low in the west, going to its rest just as the day began. Luca had always loved the early mornings: rising before dawn, when the village was quiet and still, walking through the misty forest with only her dog for company. These journeys had a practical purpose in gathering the herbs used to dye the yarn from her family's sheep, but they were also Luca's favorite part of the day.
Running out ahead of his master, Luca's dog, Blaze, stirred up a flock of small birds picking through the young grass at the edge of the forest. Luca felt a wordless rush of exhilaration pass between them and reflected that her dog enjoyed these trips as much as she did. Blaze returned to her side almost seeming to smile, though his pointed, heavily-furred ears remained alert to every noise of the wood. Luca stopped for a moment to run her fingers through the dog's shaggy red coat, and his fox-brush tail wagged happily.
After a moment, the girl continued along the narrow path into the forest, humming a wordless tune as her dog trotted by her side.
Please read and review! I'm posting the first two chapters together so we can hurry up and get to the action ^_^ Any input is appreciated, since this is the first part of a story that's been bouncing around in my head for a long time.