1. Ambush

They came out of nowhere. Seemingly out of the woodwork, if you ask me. Although Lightning would have begged to differ, since she was tackling me to the ground to avoid my head being taken off by an angry Pantheron before anyone else even knew what was happening.

"Thanks…"

She just stared at me for a second with those stony eyes of hers before getting back to her feet and stalking away in a huff.

"Fine!" I called after her, running to catch up to the fight. "But you did just save my life, ya know!"

2. Bicycle

I didn't think the Vile Peaks were good for anything. Until I found this thing called a "bicycle." I pulled it out of the wreckage of one of the mountainsides on the way down this hill. It had handlebars and two wheels on either end and a place to sit and I didn't know what it was called at first.

"It's called a bicycle," Hope chimed in as I was looking quizzically at the thing. "As you can guess, no one uses them anymore. We learned about them in History one day."

I shrugged. "I don't need to know it's name to know it looks fun."

"Well, yeah. They were used for a lot of purposes back in the 20th and 21st centuries, one of them being - hey!"

I was already halfway down the hillside, my legs brought up a few inches from the twirly things on the sides, so they didn't take my feet off. The wind whipped at my face, whirling my hair around my head, and when did Lightning get here?

Her pink hair hung in her face, which was pretty much almost touching mine, since the jolt of stopping suddenly had forced me halfway over the handlebars. Her hands were clamped down over my own, surprisingly warm for how cold she always acted.

"You're gonna get yourself killed, kid."

I scrunched up my nose. "…we're breathing each other's air."

Lightning groaned and let go, leaving me to fall over, the bicycle halfway on top of me.

3. Cavil

"You're definitely wrong."

"Nah, you're wrong."

"How can I be wrong? It's thing is right there!" Snow gestured wildly with his hands at the Alpha Behemoth only a few yards away.

"That's it's tail!" I shouted. "Only a chick can be that aggressive!"

"You're just saying that 'cus you're a feminist."

"Shut up and just admit that you're wrong."

"Only when you admit that you're wrong. 'Cus you are."

"You're both wrong." Lanille's strange accent met my ears, and apparently Snow's also, as we both turned toward her.

"The Behemoth is asexual. It's neither male nor female!" She did a little victory dance at finally ending mine and Snow's petty argument.

Something that sounded like a cough from my left made me look over. I expected it to be Lightning, glaring at all of us for wasting time and most likely alerting enemies to our whereabouts. Well, it was Lightning, but she wasn't glaring. If I had to guess, I'd say the smallest smile graced her features.

4. Discountenance

"So, you ever had a boyfriend?"

Lightning glanced over, but said nothing.

"Or let me guess: you were married, but your husband died, and now you're a widow, which is why you're always grumpy now?"

She looked away.

"How about this one? He was kidnapped my PSICOM, so now you're seeking revenge on them…which doesn't make sense, since you were rescuing your sister…hold on while I think of anoth-"

"I've never had a boyfriend. Or a husband."

My eyebrows raised on their own and I looked over at her. "Why not?"

Lightning sighed and moved her head a little to glance at me. Her eyes flitted over my face, her lips set into their usual stoic line. Then they flicked to my chest. And then back up. She stood then, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "Not interested."

I licked my lips as she walked away. "Sweet."

5. Elocution

Lightning doesn't have a particularly feminine voice. If anything, it's lower than most females. But the way it sounded saying my name as she pressed her soft lips to mine was probably the closest I'd ever get to Eden.

"Jak."

"Lightning."