(AN- WHHHAAATT! SilverWolf is writing a story that isn't Alpha and Omega based! The sky is falling! No, really, just to all the A&O people out there who happen to read this, if you have never read the book series Tunnels, find a way to do so. I am making this because as soon as Elliot was introduced into the story, I instantly knew there would/could be a connection between her and Will, even though nothing was implied. This story takes place in the third book, Freefall, as Elliot has fallen ill from fever in Martha's little place, then the story goes as follows. Sorry if things aren't all right. I do not own, nor am I affiliated with the authors of the book series Tunnels. Wow, horrible wording, of course I dont own the authors. I don't own the books either.)
Will's POV:
I click my tongue against my teeth as I slide my bishop into a well known check position. "Horrible move" I scold the empty space where there should be a second player. While everyone else is sleeping, I am on 'Elliot Duty', and my shift has only just begun. Three more hours of re-dampening Elliot's fever-reducing wonder flower and criticizing the chess form of someone who doesn't exist. I seriously think the fall closer to the center of the earth caused me to lose some sanity. But of course, every event leading up to it should have anyway. Watching Tam die, shooting Drake, meeting my dying biological mom (proving that this isnt a twisted fantasy, but I was in fact colony-born), and worst, watching Cal's body get lit up with rounds from the limiters. And the command was from my SISTER!
"Sisters" I mutter to myself, still unable to grasp that there is, not only one, but two evil brats wanting to destroy topsoil. "Look at me," I say to myself, which is better than the silence of the pore, and the shallow rasping of Elliot's breath. "I'm becoming more of a colonist each day. Topsoil." I repeat, the word means different things to me now. But I mainly see it as home, and with the twin's Domminion plot, home could just be another hollow phrase if what they say is true, and everything I know will be wiped out.
Grabbing my knight and lifting it to send my imaginary opponent's king to the grave, I hear soft words being muttered from Elliot. I lose all interest I had in the chess game and, almost knocking all the pieces over in the process, and I find myself by Elliot's side in a heartbeat, grasping her uninjured arm. Rubbing my hand up her scarred arm I comfort her as she mumbles illiterate words, almost as if ment to be said urgently. "Shh. Elliot. It's ok. It's me Will, you are safe here." I say, trying to project my voice as smoothly as possible.
Not knowing if I had imagined it or not, I hear her croak "Will-", barely more than a whisper. I get excited, wondering if this is a sign of her healing and eventually becoming the usual, commanding Elliot she was before the tumble down the pore.
I let my hand slide from her arm to her hand, and grasp it gently. "I'm here. It's ok." I gently sooth her, and I can feel her loosen up just slightly. I feel her hand grip mine, which is the greatest thing she has done in terms of realizing there is actually a world still around her. The grip escalates to a firm squeeze, then back to slack. I talk to her some more, but she apparently has slipped back into her unconscious state. Not wanting to let go of her hand I decide to remain by her for the rest of my remaining shift, only to leave to wet her forehead with Martha's prized sickness-busting flora. As of right now, I have not seen any change, if any a change for the worst, in Elliot's health. Her skin tone only gets paler, and she lost some weight. That's why Martha changed her from her usuall renegade gear into more loose and lighter clothes. Staring at the sad image of Elliot, I feel overcome with grief, not wanting to see another person close to me die. By some impulse I lean up and kiss Elliot on her cheek. Almost as soon as my lips touch her skin I reel back. It feels as if she is burning from the inside out. "No.." I say, realizing that something must be done. I sit there holding Elliot's hand and waiting for my shift to be over.
I sit for what seems like hours, which in fact it probably was, untill I see Chester walk in with a sympathetic look on his face. "I got her, you go get some sleep." he says.
I yawn, "Ok." I don't cease to notice the fact that he is instantly by Elliot's side. I sigh and hand Chester the imaginary baton of responsibility, and walk out of Elliot's cabin, although I have no intentions of getting some sleep. Not yet at least. With one solitary object on my mind I rush to the warehouse.
I yank open the door and it responds with, louder than intended, wretched creaking. Frantically digging through mountains of crates I desperately search for it. Without realizing it I start whistling through my teeth, muttering to myself, "It has to be here somewhere."
What I am looking for is a bottle with a clear liquid that, at a first glance, can seem like water. Already scavenged through three I find the small bottle in the fourth crate I look in. Popping off the top I sniff the contents. "Whew! Definitely not water." I say, as the pungent aroma peirces my nose. Turning the bottle around hands, I look for any sign that this is what I am truly looking for. I feel bumpiness in the glass and I pull out my Styx lantern and focus the beam on the letters. Reading them I smile, unable to contain my joy for how perfect this turned out. "Maybe fate wants Elliot alive." I say, leaving out 'for now'. I am too overjoyed on this turnout to be negative.
There is only one factor missing. I thoroughly search every first aid kit I stumble across and eventually find a syringe. Making sure not to disturb anyone inside, especially Martha, I grab the nearby plants from the garden to make Aniseed Fire. Using my water canteen I hold it above the flames and stick the syringe in the now boiling water. 'Wouldn't want Elliot to recover, just for her to get sick from an infection from a dirty syringe, now would you Will' I tell myself. After what seems like forever I conclude the sanitation boiling and pull it out of the water. Taking the bottle, I fill up the syringe all the way with the liquid. "Hope this is enough." I say. Then a haunting thought digs it's way into my mind. 'Hope it isn't too much either'. Conflicted if I should even attempt, I rule that it is worth the risk. "It isn't like she is going to get better herself." I say aloud, reassuring mysalf as I walk to Elliot's shack.
Storming into the room, amused by a surprised and confused Chester, I almost shove him too the side. I hurry and proceed in my risk, not giving Chester the time to ask questions, this is hard enough as it is. Without thinking I swiftly puncture Elliot's arm and squeeze.
"What in the bloody-"
"Shut up Chester, this could save her life." I interrupt. He seems to be quiet after that.
"Do you think it will work?" he asks.
I remove the needle. "Only time can tell. Can you hand me one of those adhesive bandages." I point to a small box in the corner of the room. He hands me one and I peel of the covering. "Hello kitty." I chuckle, looking at the design. "Not something you would expect from a sea-bearing vessel with trained units, right Chester." he forces a small laugh, still clearly concerned on the result of the medicine. I press the bandaid onto the spot of injection. "I feel like I could qualify as a doctor, don't you think?" I turn to Chester.
"As long as I'm not one of your patients." he laughs, and I join in.
"Well, I am going to rest. Keep an eye on Elliot, hopefully she will get better." I stumble out to my room and lay in a heap on the uncomfortable cot. Based on the fact that I am ultra tired, it doesn't matter, and I fall asleep instantly.
I wake up to loud rapping on my cabin door. Rubbing my eyes I get out of bed, pop my neck, and open the door. Chester stands there, obviously excited. "You have got to see Elliot." he says, then without checking if I'm following he takes off in a giant low-gravity leap to land next to Elliot's door. I leap also, but tiredness clouded my judgement and I find myself careening into the wall of Martha's place. I peel myself off and walk the rest of the way.
I stand behind him and he pushes open the door. We are greeted by a loud shriek, for Elliot is topless, and in her hand is her renegade shirt. Chester stands there, apparently too stunned to move, so without thinking I reach across him and pull the door closed, but not before we both receive a furious glare that could kill from Elliot. "That's what you wanted to show me?" I demand, half joking in an attempt to rid of some embarrassment, half furious for being put in that situation. But either way I cannot help my cheeks grow hot and I know my pale skin now has a nice scarlet tone. Chester still stands there and I pull him away from the cabin.
"Explain." I tell him, really wanting to know how he managed to pick the wrong time, or right time, depending how you look at it. I tell myself wrong, but something tells me otherwise. I push that all to the side and press Chester. "Well?"
"I don't know how that happened. She had her eyes open, gazing around the room when I left to get you, I didn't know she was going to be up and about when I came back, and I especially didn't know she was going to be changing." he looks down, suddenly interested in his feet.
"I see." I say, sparing Chester any more uncomfortability by stopping him from saying more. "Now we need to decide what we are going to do in terms of leaving or staying, because I want to continue the search for my dad." I tell him.
"I'm in favor of leaving, and as soon as possible." Chester immediately says. "Martha's company was nice at first, but now it is creepy. She has already been alone here for so long, I think it wouldn't change a bit if we abandoned her. She has everything here."
"I agree. So it's settled then. Elliot is in condition to travel, I'll get anything that can be of use to us, my dad's journal, and you get some aniseed for the trip outta here." I silently slip through Martha's cabin, gathering our stuff and my rifle. Without a noise, which is easier with the low gravity, I meet back up with Chester. "I'll get Elliot." I say. He nods, relief on his face, which I infer that he is glad he doesn't have to face her.
Walking up to her door I knock slowly, hoping she won't bust out and perform some freak karate move on me she learned in the deeps. The door slowly opens and Elliot stands there, eyeing me. I am surprised to realize there isn't much hostility in her brown eyes, they are just searching for truth. If the previous incident had affected her any, she definately doesn't show it. I quietly clear my throat, force all images out of my head, and begin. "We are going sneak out and be on our way. Are you fit for travel?" I shuffle my feet, but I do not break eye contact with her, in a way telling her there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
"Of course" she says softly. she walks to the back of the room and grabs her bag. "Let's go." she says, her face truly unreadable as she slings her rifle on her back.
Walking out of the cabin I motion to Chester, who already has his gun out and is scanning the horizon through the scope, for what I do not know. Successfully catching his attention I point outward and we all start walking, silent, hoping we have just escaped a confrontation with Martha. I flip Drake's eyepiece on and watch as the static dissolves and my surroundings are shown to me in an orange glow. As if I were holding my breath the while time, I exhale deeply as I think we have left a comfortable distance from the house, and because we managed to slip by the spiders without any battle.
Continuing in the same direction for what seems like days, taking water from streams, killing the pore wildlife for food. (See what I did there?) We encounter a large river too big and fast moving to wade across, so we walk alongside it. Surprisingly we spot a bridge to get to the other side. Elliot steps out on it first and I follow close behind. Now I have no idea what actually happened, but as we are almost to the other side Elliot started swaying as if she was extremely dizzy, then pitches headfirst into the murky water. Without thinking, I dive in after her. As the current thrusts me under I realize when it comes to Elliot, I do a lot of things without thinking.
I open my eyes and to my surprise the environment around me is clear as looking trough orange glass. I realize that I am still looking through the eyepiece. "Waterproof, nice touch." is what I would have said if I wasn't under water and fighting for air. Resurfacing I take one large breath then dive under. I spot Elliot with no problem and I swim down to her. Securely grasping her waist I kick with all my might to bring us to the glorious oxygen the water cannot supply to our aching lungs. Our heads bob above the surface and I swim to the shore and set Elliot down. With a jolt I realize that she isn't breathing. "Crap!" I start pumping on her chest, trying to rid her lungs of the water.
Pressing my mouth to her's I push air to her. I repeat the process a few more times until while my mouth is to her's I feel water being coughed up into my mouth and face. Then without warning I am violently flipped over with Elliot's knee painfully crushing my ribcage and her elbow against my neck. "You like taking advantage of helpless girls huh?" she screams. "Thinking I can't do anything while I'm down. You are sick!"
"Its CPR, and I was doing something called mouth to mouth-" I squeak, terrified.
"Oh yeah! Well here's something called knife to throat!" she presses harder on my neck until I cannot breathe, then wields a long knife that was in her boot. I am scared out of my wits, a few tears slide from my eyes, but I still do not struggle. I have a pleading look on my face, and I hear Chester running up to us.
"No! Elliot! He just saved your life." he says, and I feel the pressure relieve, just slightly. "You almost drowned. He had to pump the water out of your lungs."
Elliot gets up off of me and I wheeze, filling my lungs with air. She hesitantly extends a hand to me and helps me up. "I'm sorry Will." she says, clearly ashamed.
"It's ok, I really thought you were going to kill me." I admit, still recovering from the attack. I wipe my eyes and I feel Elliot hugging me. I am caught of guard, but come to my senses when she whispers "Thank you."
"No problem." I rub my neck. "Why don't we rest." I say for all of us. "And dry our clothes off." just directed to me and Elliot. I yank off my shirt and shimmy out of my pants. I open my bag and pull out my extra change of clothes and a small towel. I walk far enough to where I am covered by the darkness and I change out of my britches and dry myself. Then I put all the extras on, and walk back to where Chester sits. Elliot is not around, and I don't check through my lens, well, for obvious reasons.
"That was some quick thinking back there." Chester tells me. "See, in situations like that you react, whereas I freeze. How do you do it?" he asks me.
"I really don't know." I say. "Sometimes thinking about the best way to do something is the worst way to approach it, I guess."
"Spoken like a preacher." Chester smiles. I smile back and push the luminescent orb to the side and try to start a fire. With a few faulty tries some flames spring to life and keep burning. By the time the fire is at a reasonable size Elliot walks up from the darkness, back to wearing the loose clothes from the cabin. Her grown out, our hair is a perfect contrast to mine, because mine is white and hers black. Her bold brown eyes search around, soaking up her situation from every angle.
"Why don't we try our luck and search for something to eat." I say, already picking up my rifle.
"Sure." is the simple response from Elliot. Not much of a speaker, but when she does talk it is about some survival training or how big the explosion is about to be. Yup, that girl is definitely not your usual girl. She is a survivor, who doesn't care about the way her hair looks, or who was dumped over the weekend, or what flicks are new at the cinema. She cares about how to get food, how to find water, and explosives, explosives, and more explosives. I smile and follow her, leaving Chester to sort through our supplies. _
(that was part one of this very long short story ;))