First time delving into writing for this fandom and I have to say, I'm extremely excited for this! This is just a short introduction chapter, the next chapter will be quite a bit longer than this one. :)
The sound of her own wet coughing roused her from her restless slumber. After traveling for days with the gaping wound in her side, Rona was sure that if blood loss didn't kill her, the deamons that roamed the area at night surely would. Either way, at least she would die a free woman. At least, that's what she liked to believe. Three days ago, she never would have imagined that her life would end up like this.
A traitor to her country, even if what she had done so long ago was the morally correct thing to do.
It seemed that the Niffs didn't feel that way though, but that was fine with her. She knew deep down in her heart that she would never know what true freedom was at long as she allowed the military power of her former home dictated her entire life. From the moment she could stand on her own two feet and hold a blade, she and many other children had been forced into cruel training that ended up killing them, rather than turning them into some kind of super soldier. She could never bring herself to try to understand their motives. Part of her didn't want to understand.
If at any point she started to understand, that would just make her as sick as they were. She had no plans of allowing herself to fall victim to their disgusting training tactics.
So, she had forced herself to survive. She had forced herself to stand on her own two feet, to do everything that was ordered of her, if only to stay alive.
Now, it seemed, was all a waste. No amount of training was going to heal that deep wound in her side. Training wasn't going to stop her life blood from staining the dirty ground beneath her. No, there was little to no chance of her surviving such a wound. With a deep sigh, she resigned herself to her fate. If anything, she could be proud that she had at least one something meaningful with her life.
For the last eight years, since she was fourteen years old, she had been smuggling children and infants out of the training facilities. No child deserved to parish within the walls of those buildings. They deserved to have their freedom. They were worth so much more than just a means to an end for the Empire. In the end, she would die doing exactly what she felt was her destiny.
Three hundred and seventeen children had been freed total over the years. How the Empire had never notice so many children missing from their midsts was beyond her. Sure, children died within those walls at a rapid pace, but didn't they notice the lack of bodies? Or did they simply not care enough to look into the disappearance of the children? With disgust, she knew that the latter was most likely closer to the true reasoning. Whatever the reason though, she was happy that she'd been able to do something purposeful with her life. Even if, in the end, it would be her downfall.
Black began to fade into her vision as her thoughts raged through her mind. A sad smile graced her scarred lips as one final thought crossed her mind.
Even if she had done something good with her life, her one true wish was to see her little brother one last time. The child that started her mission in life. At the age of twelve, he had been too weak for the life they'd been born into. His heart was too kind, too big for the life they were destined to live. So, on the eve of his birthday, she had risked her own life in order to save his. If she didn't get him out of there, he surely would have met the same fate as many children before him, and many children after his departure from the facility. Where he was now, she had no idea. But for eight long years, she had dreamed of a wonderful life for him. A life where he didn't have to live in fear for the days to come. A life where he could be free to have friends, to grow up, to find himself a family who would love and care for him in ways that she never believed she would be able to.
As the darkness took hold of her, Rona made one last plea to Astrals.
'Please...keep Prompto safe.'
Like I said up top, just a short intro!
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