Disclaimer: I do not own Xenoblade Chronicles X. The game is the property of Nintendo and Monolith Soft, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Warnings: Some fighting and a little bit of gore near the end of the chapter
A/N: Replaying Xenoblade Chronicles X again, I was inspired to make fanfiction. I wanted to make a story that plays with all the unanswered questions that the game has left us, all through my OC (who isn't Cross). This is why I'm calling my story an AU since the theories I have aren't canon. Also, I have a tumblr account (teddyspade) where I will also post this story, along with other things like character information and such. So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy reading!
Heavy rain in a place like Noctilum was absolutely horrible. Primordia, that was okay, if not a bit annoying. But in the thick forests of Noctilum, where it was already hard enough to navigate through the winding pathways and vicious indigens without the aid of rain? It was a Pathfinder's nightmare. You would think that the natural canopy of branches and leaves high above would act as an umbrella, but apparently not. It just made things a lot worse.
"This damn weather. Somebody fix this already," Lao bitterly complained in his head as he lead his team deeper into the colorful thicket in silence. The team leader knew he was professional enough to not let a hindrance like the weather get in the way of a job, but he gave off an air of annoyance that kept the rest of his team at a distance. Not like they need to talk anyway, it would only slow them down. Besides, the faster they got out of this damn weather, the better.
The group snuck by a couple of simiuses at the mouth of a cave, across a stream of poisonous water. The enormous creatures were locked in a violent struggle, making it easier for the team to walk by unnoticed. Suddenly, one of the ape-like animals slammed the other onto the side of the mountain, cracking the rock beneath it and shaking the ground from the force. Lao could just barely make out the sound of heavy metal groaning from high above, but couldn't see anything past the glowing mushroom caps.
Then, without warning, a large metal pod came crashing down the mountain. It ricocheted off the simius holding the other, flattening the beast under its weight in a sickening crack that resounded throughout the forest. The pod eventually lost momentum, tumbling in the rust-colored stream. And not a moment sooner, the doors popped open and a young girl was forcibly ejected into the air. Judging by how high she bounced from the ground on initial impact, the Chinese man could say that she was probably not okay.
Without waiting, he and his team immediately ran to her. Lao knelt down and carefully maneuvered the girl onto her back, looking for any signs of injuries. Getting a better look at her, he noticed that she wasn't wearing the standard White Whale uniform that they all had when they were put in their pods. Instead, all she wore was a sleeveless white dress that was getting soaked in the rain.
A guttural growl from up ahead caused the men to snap to attention. The simius still alive was dangerously stalking towards them, glaring at them with a predator's intent. Lao cursed under his breath, hastily lifting the girl up as he stood and shoving her into Shingo's arms.
"Get to the base camp! We'll hold off the indigen!" the leader shouted over the raging storm before turning his attention to the indigen, equipping his sniper rifle. The other two members followed suite, readying their own weapons against the ferocious simius.
Shingo, though fumbling with the extra weight, didn't hesitate to dash back the direction where they came from. He hurriedly navigated through the wet terrain, being as careful as he could to not slip across the grass. The young man silently prayed that the storm covered the sound of his pounding feet.
Before they could reach their destination, Shingo felt the girl beginning to stir in his arms, her head gently bobbing against his shoulder. Her eyes, as dark as her hair, fluttered open and she lifted her chin up and stared at him in distorted confusion. The man offered a brief smile, one he hoped was reassuring, and opened his mouth to reply.
But before he could even get a word out, something shot him in the back, right between his shoulder blades, sending him and the brunette sprawling on the ground. Shingo rolled onto his back and tried to get up, but the sharp roots of a lake mortifole descended upon him. Had he been any less of a fighter, Shingo wouldn't have been able to catch the ferocious claws right before they pierced his eyes. The young man forced the appendages further back from his face and lifted his chin, searching for the girl.
"Run! Get out of here!" Shingo frantically ordered her at the top of his lungs. He couldn't keep his attention on her for long however, as the mortifole fought harder against him, keeping them locked in their struggle. The young man hoped that the girl could at least make it to the base camp where she would be safe and call for help. With the mortifole pushing against him harder, Shingo didn't know how long he would last.
It was supposed to be a simple mission for Team Belisarda; go into Noctilum and set up the first data probe. It would've been a lot easier if they had a Skell, but bringing precious resources into unknown territory was a bad call. Now complications were arising and Shingo wasn't sure he would make it.
Ah, if only he had the guts to confess to Dorothy earlier…
Suddenly, the mortifole shrieked in pain, stumbling backwards and away from Shingo. The youngest of Team Belisarda lifted his chin and saw the mysterious brunette, firing at the flower indigen with his sniper rifle. It must have fallen when they have, he figured.
The girl didn't let up, continuously firing until she ran out of ammo. She lifted an arm to the side of the rifle, as if to grab something that was to be there, but all she grasped was air. Confused, the girl looked at the gun in shock and a little panic, as if she were actually looking at it for the first time. The lake mortifole, taking advantage of the girl's brief lapse in concentration, charged at her as it screeched in vengeance.
"Watch out!" he screamed out at the top of his lungs. He watched as the girl tensed up, her gaze snapping ahead and away from his sniper rifle. Right when he thought the adamant creature could stab her with its roots, the girl ducked out of the way and smashed the butt of the gun from below. Thrown off course, the indigen fell to the ground in a heap.
It tried to get up, but the unknown girl wouldn't let up. She nimbly turned around and launched herself at the mortifole, using the end of the gun as a melee weapon. Shingo was surprised to see her "stabbing" at it, holding the rifle at its halfway point, instead of swinging the weapon like a javelin. The girl ended the fight with a swift bash into the creature's mouth, caving its head in with a nauseating crack.
The forest was silent for a moment, save for the thunderstorm, as neither of them moved. But when the girl crumpled down to her knees, Shingo broke out of his stupor and scrambled onto his feet, cursing under his breath every time his feet slipped against the wet forest floor. He skidded to his knees beside her and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.
"Miss, are you okay?" Shingo wanted to sound concerned, but he needed to be heard through the rainstorm. Before she could answer him, however, guttural growls resounded through the trees around them. Creeping from behind the thick trunks and swinging from the winding branches, several simiuses surrounded the duo in a half-circle. Shingo quickly got to his feet, snatching his sniper rifle back from the girl and standing protectively in front of her.
"Listen to me! When I start shooting, I want you to get out of here! Run through the clearing and keep going until you reach a black bunker! You'll be safe there, I promise!" he quickly shouted at her over his shoulder. Inwardly, the young man's mind was whirling in worry and fear – Where is the rest of the team? What happened to them? Dear god, are they even alive?! – but he forced himself to stay calm for the girl's sake.
The brunette's face stretched in horror and worry, her dark eyes beginning to shine with tears. Shingo gave her a confident smile, or as confident as he could muster, before turning back to the simian indigens. He was touched that she showed so much concern for him despite not knowing him and vowed to give her enough time to escape at the cost of his life.
But before the simiuses could descend upon them, a deafening roar from the sky resonated throughout Noctilum, powerful enough to shake the trees and silence the thunder. The two didn't have time to react as a green blur forcibly broke through the branches and landed on top of two of the simiuses, holding them down in its claws. The others ran off in fear as the dragon lifted one of its victims and began tearing into its flesh with its beak-like jaw, ripping out its limbs and intestines and just spitting them onto the ground like trash.
The girl screamed in horror, screwing her eyes shut and covering her ears to block out the squelching sounds of living flesh being torn apart. Shingo fell back from the force of air when the creature landed right in front of them, frozen in fear and his mouth hanging open in shock.
The other simius tried to break free from the dragon's claw, scratching at the ground in hopes of slipping through. But no such luck as the powerful being lifted the gigantic indigen high in the air, like it was nothing, and sent it sailing through the forest and out of sight. When the other indigen had been desecrated beyond recognition, the monster merely tossed it into the rust lake behind them.
It roared once more, this time sending the other indigen in the area, like the scirpo and dilus, scurrying away in terror. When they were alone with the thing, it leaned down to their level and peered at them. Shingo tried to stand and defend them, but was cast aside like a ragdoll when the enormous creature reached forward and flicked its wrist.
"Shingo!" The mentioned man looked over his shoulder and saw the rest of his team running towards them. Suddenly, a strong burst of air came from ahead, forcing the group to stop and cover themselves from the flying branches. When the young man looked back at where the creature stood, it was no longer there and the gaping hole that it first came through was even larger than before.
He immediately got up to his feet when he saw the girl in a crumpled heap, unmoving. The rest of the team followed. Shingo knelt down beside her and gently maneuvered her so she faced upwards. Checking her pulse and breath, he was relieved to find that the girl was still alive.
"What the hell happened here?" Saiden, one off his teammates and his senior, asked, warily looking around the area for any hostile indigens.
"I-I don't know," Shingo stammered out, shaking his head in disbelief. He still couldn't believe, or understand, what had transpired in the past few minutes.
"We'll talk about it later. For now, we'll return to base camp and discuss what we're gonna do from there," Lao ordered his team, who all responded with their own affirmative words. Shingo slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder before picking up the girl in his arms.
In solemn silence, Team Belisarda made their way back towards the entrance of Noctilum where they had set up base. Luckily, the storm was starting to let up and the evening sun beginning to shine through the dark clouds.