A/N: I am glad to see that people like my story. I am really am not sure how long this is going to be… *nervous laugh* I don't want this story to drag endlessly but at the same time I should not allow this to just end.
Remember, that I am open to ideas/suggestions. So you can always PM/Review it me. You don't have to be signed in to review my stories.
Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy than I would not be on FANfiction…So I sadly do not own it.
WARNING(s): slight Language, Violence, Death, and Blood.
You've been warned.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashback/Dream
Chapter II: Plunging into the Wilds
"I look ahead to all the plans that we made
And the dreams that we had
I'm in a world that tries to take them away
But I'm taking them back
Cause all this time
I've just been too blind to understand
What should matter to me"
- Not my Time, 3 Doors Down
(SUBMIT)
There was blood; too much blood. Cars came to a hard screeching halt. Bullets sprayed and hit anyone and everything in its way. Claire stared at the site. People fearfully ran out of their cars as they held their children in their arms. Others took their chances by jumping in the cold water below the huge bridge she stood on. Everyone is dying while she just there stood. She was frozen in her spot, in fear. Her eyes were wide in horror. After all, a fifteenth year old should never witness such a horrible event taking place. What was she to do? The only thing she did do was take the bullet that mercilessly pierced her left shoulder. Right near her heart.
(SUBMIT)
Her heart pounds hard against her chest and Lightning shoots up from her bed. "Not again." Her hands shake violently from the dream. No. Not a dream; a memory. She feels disgusting with the cold sweat covering her and she decreases her breathing to a normal rate. Once Lightning relaxes enough she took a glance at her clock. It was four in the morning. Waking up like that she no longer feels the need to go back to sleep. Unfortunately for her, she did not need to report to the Guardian Corp. for another four hours. So it was not a necessity to get ready at that time. The former L'cie throws the cover off her and walks out of her room. The house feels strangely cold and eerier than it should. Lightning creeps quietly in the hallway. She slows down when she sees Serah's room. Now is not the best time to talk to her. So she passes by it and travels downstairs. Why did she even go down there? There was nothing interesting on the first floor. Her living room did have a nice TV, but nothing would be on at this hour. Then she figures if there was something good on she could not even watch T.V. When she reaches the bottom, Lightning looks at the small sleeping figure, which belonged to Hope, on the couch.
With nothing good in the living room, Lightning enters the kitchen. 'Might as well drink something.' After she grabs a glass of water, the Farron takes a seat at the table. It is dark and dead quiet. The silence was something that would only be in a horror movie. Yet, it did not bother her the slightest. In fact, it is almost comforting. What did catch her off guard was the sudden footsteps walking about. Did she wake up Hope? No. The footsteps are too loud for the kid. Even so, they were nothing compared to Snow. The steps are not in any rush so that put the soldier at ease. Anyone could have woken up. Lightning finally looks up when it comes closer to the kitchen. She stiffens but relaxes when she recognizes who it was. Fang.
Her hair is messier than usual and she drags herself to Lightning. She warrior grabs the closest chair and pulls it next to Lightning. The chair makes a lot of noise when it was carelessly being pulled. Lightning shakes her head. She should have stayed in her room. "Hi." That's it? Out of all the things that can be said, she simply says "hi". 'Does she even know what happened?' Lightning pondered on that for too long. "Not going to say anything? That's fine. I can talk all day then." Fang stretches and yawns at the same time. No doubt she is still tired. So why is she here then? "Why are you here, Fang? Shouldn't you be asleep right now?" She laughs. "I could say the same for you. You know. I heard what happened upstairs." Lightning turns her head away from Fang. She did not need to be told what she did was wrong. That is the last thing she needs to hear at the time. Fang notice to atmosphere change and treads on with caution. "I am not here to judge you about your actions." Lightning faces Fang again. There is a flicker Lightning's eyes. Fang sees the sadness, anger, but mostly saw regret.
"I'm not asking for your pity." Fang adjusts in her seat. "I was not planning on giving it to you. I was making sure you were ok. Are you?" Lightning sits in silence. Of course she is not fine. Everything is going down hill like on her twenty-first birthday. It's like fate loves messing with her on the day she was born on. Then again, it could have been avoided if she kept her cool and she knows it. "Fang." How is she going to say this? "I can not rewrite the past. It is stuck with me forever to burden alone." Fang shook her head slowly. "You're wrong there Light. It does not have to be like that. We are your friends you know. Stop shoving us out of your life. I want help you. What happened?" Lightning snickers. "I thought you said you already knew?"
"I want to hear your side of the story." Her voice sounds concern. "You want to know? Fine, I will tell you." She stands up from her chair. "We argued because I told her I was going on a mission. Then it got out of control when she…she brought-It does not even matter." The words rush out of her mouth without a care and that is when she realized she was saying a bit too much information about her personal life. Fang, though, wanted to keep hearing more. "No. No. Please continue."
"I'd rather not." With that Lightning passes Fang as she walks to the door. Fang too follows her way out. "I hear you, Light. I'm not going to dangle you over a cliff just to get ya to talk. Just know that I'm here for you." Lightning by now is making her way back to her room by going up the stairs. Fang sighs softly when the other female replies with a, "Whatever."
"Typical Lightning."
(SUBMIT)
The sun finally rose from the horizon and the older Farron gets out of bed once again. After her talk with Fang, a couple of hours, she forces herself to go back to sleep. It worked pretty well, actually. So with the extra sleep, she feels better physically. Then a quick shower helped her even more. Once she was done getting dress, Lightning makes her way to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast. The moment she enters is when she senses the awkwardness in the room. By the looks of things everyone beat her to the cook food. It did not bother the older Farron at all but what did bother is everyone's worry glances. Serah is sitting the furthest away from where Lightning usually sits. Her plate is empty and she assumes that she is done eating. On Serah's left is snow, who is still eating, but also conversing with Sazh. Lightning assumes the man arrived when she was still getting ready. Across the oldest man is Vanille. The girl looks slightly distracted by a magazine on the table. On her right is Fang. She gives Lightning a look. The kind of look that goes, "Say-something-to-your-sister-before-things-get-more-weird" look. Lightning instead looks to see that Hope was the one in Serah's usual spot. She did not mind though. Her house will always be his second home.
Lightning walks to the where the dishes are kept and simply got a bowl of cereal. It is not the greatest food she eats but it is something. As she continues eating, Snow keeps breaking the silence by talking about random things. He asks stupid questions and it was starting to annoy the soldier. "I'm leaving." Everyone shut their mouths and hope to hear their leader say more but she did not. Lightning stands and place the bowl in the sink. 'Say something, Serah.' She did not care if Serah is willingly to argue with her or call her names. Lightning may not even mind a fake "Take care." Unfortunately, the younger sister did not even acknowledge what Lightning even said. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Serah drifting off to space. Who knows what she is thinking about? Kindly, everyone else say their goodbyes. Still, it is almost nothing to Lightning. 'I should talk to her about what happened yesterday.' She really did not want to talk about the matter in front of everyone. 'I'll do it when I get back from the mission.' It seems like a good idea. Both of them can cool their heads down during that time.
With the last goodbyes, Lightning leaves. Just like that, her sister Lightning is gone. It's not like she will never see the older Farron again. 'Things are just weird between us. I felt sca-terrified of my own sister! The one that raised me when mom and dad died.' Serah did feel guilty for not saying anything, but she could not find it in her to let the words slip out. 'Pride must run in our family.' Serah gives her head a massage. "You should have talked to her when you had the chance." The voice is almost taunting. Serah turns as Fang walks closer to the girl. "What was I supposed say?" Fang shrugs her shoulders. "You tell me that, girly. She is your lovely big sister." Serah walks to the window and looks out of it in some false hope that Lightning would come back. "I was so scared. The look in her eyes was murderous! Like Claire never even existed in her. Not even Lightning was that mean. She took the lead when many others would have given up." Her voice cracks on the last couple of words.
Fang can hear the others standing near by as they try to listen in on the conversation. It did not hassle her the slightest though. "How did your parents pass away?" The warrior knows she heading for uncharted waters but that is the core of the problem. If the Farrons weren't going to solve it on their own then she will! Serah hesitates but looks thoughtful. "It was so long ago...and I was so young. Claire always told me that PSICOM killed mom and dad." "What?" Both girls turned around as the rest of the gang came out from their hiding. Snow looks the most concern one out of the group. "PSICOM? Why would PSICOM do that?" He thinks for a moment. "There was a reason, right?"
"That's the weird thing about it." Everyone's curiosity perks up. "There was no reason. They came into our house one day and..." She swallows hard. "They killed them." Sazh saddens at the thought of a child seeing their parents die. "I am sorry you had to see that." Serah waves her hands in front of her body. "No. I did not see it. Claire did. Then they tried to kill her next."
"How did they not kill her," Hope asks. Everybody wants to know. "Yeah. It's kind of odd on how trained soldiers could not stop a kid." Hope raises an eyebrow at Snows comment but said no more. It felt foreign to talk about her parents. After their death, they never brought it up. Lightning did not see the need to. "They're gone and we can't bring them back. There's no point in talking about them." Serah saw it in her sister's eyes that she was deeply hurt. That Claire was not gone. That always stayed in Lightning until she joined the Guardian Corp. After that, there was not even that emotion in her eyes anymore. Claire died with their parents; which caused Lightning to be born.
"I don't know."
(SUBMIT)
"Good to see you are on time for once," Amodar opens his arms friendly. Lightning always wonders how the older man can be so laid back in a job so serious. The younger one of the can barely hear over the sound of the helicopter's engines. Both of their hair, mostly Lightning's, swishes wildly due to the helicopter's main rotor* spinning. "I'm guessing you are never going to let that go, are you?" Her superior laughs. "You know I mean well." Amodar glances at his watch. "Well, we can't be wasting time. Here's the plan. You will be going to three settlements: Nettage, Rohab, and Colrick. In Nettage you will be investigating the murders there. When you are done with that, then you be sent to Colrick. They are having hooligans burning and trashing houses and buildings there. Lastly, Rohab haves a major kidnapping problem." Lightning gives him a concerned look. "Sir, just one of those missions is time consuming. You me to do them all?"
"From our reports, they seem to be connected. If you solve one then you may have solved the other two." Lightning comprehends the reasoning and nods in agreement. Still, this mission was not going to be done in two days. It may take weeks to months. 'After I am done, I will look around and get something Serah will like.' Yeah. Nothing says "I'm sorry" than a gift. There are many shops and merchants in settlements. She can find a perfect present for her sister. 'I might as well get the others something too.' The back of her mind remembers the rest of her family. 'Except Snow. He can go screw himself.'
Amodar nudges her out her thoughts. "It is time for you to get going. Do not keep the pilot waiting." He hands her a helmet with a microphone attached to it. "Be safe out there." Lightning straps the object on as she makes her way to the helicopter. With one leap she seats in one of the back seats. The pilot turns to her and gives her thumbs up. Lightning nods her head as she feels them being lifted off the ground.
(SUBMIT)
Lightning tries to stretch as much as she could in the small helicopter. She feels her muscles stiffening and they desperately want to be out on the ground. She has been it for maybe a couple of hours already and it is starting to take a toll. "Why are we taking forever to get there?" The man glances back at her confusingly. He points to his ears, which are covered up by his headset. 'Oh.' How can she forget to use the headset? 'Come on Farron! That's what they are made for.' With a flick of a switch she asks the question again.
The pilot smiles gently as he turns his on. "We are taking a detour."Lightning glares at him. 'That's not part of the plan.'
"Listen. I do not have time for this nonsense. You need to take me to the settlements now." The man stays quiet for a while. He turns back to her with a look that she is familiar with. The same look you give a monster. "I do not give a shit of what your mission is! Mine is way more important than what you have been given. I will be viewed as a hero after this." Lightning can feel her heart thumping faster in fear as the helicopter started moving downward. "Are you crazy? You are going to get us both killed!" He smiles sadly. There are almost tears in his eyes. "I am leaving behind a family to kill you. You l'cie animals are going to pay for what you did to cocoon." She fumbles with her seat belt but it is not working. 'No. This can't be happening!' The man did not care and continues his rant. "Once you are dead the world will be a better place." He reaches into his pocket. Seconds later a gun is pulled out from it. "Who should I kill this gun with? You or me? I shot you then the damn government will arrest me when I land. I can shot myself and let this helicopter crash with you in it! Which is it going to be?"
It scares her on how calm he is. What can she do? The guy seems like a nut-job and feels like he is doing the right thing. "You don't have to do this! We can talk this out." She is not good with reasoning with people but Lightning gives it a shot anyway. He twirls the gun around in his hand. With the lack of attention on the helicopter did not ease her nerves. 'Stay calm! Just keep reasoning with him.' "If you have a family then you should not be throwing your life for me." His light laugh borders insanity. With the gun rising to her, Lightning sees her life flash before her eyes. Her parents dying, not going far in her education, joining the Guardian Corp, losing Claire, turning into a L'cie, saving Serah, and fighting with her baby sister. 'No. I can't die. Not now.' In a desperate struggle she scrambles to the gun. The man is startled by the action and jerks away from her. In doing so, he hits the cyclic* and the caused both of them to be tossed about harshly. Lightning urgently pulls the gun from his grip but the guy is not letting go.
"Let go!" Both of them keep a secure grip on the weapon. With one last tug, Lightning pulls the gun from the man. The man panics with the lost of the weapon. In a desperate attempt he aims the helicopter straight to a large hill. "Of course." Lightning brace herself as everything erupts in flames and metal hitting the ground below.
(SUBMIT)
She can not breathe. The smoke is consuming every corner of her. Her body is also aching badly. That is not the worse part. The rising heat from the flames made her instinctively pull away from the fire. 'Why is it so hot?' Everything was disorienting and her head was killing her. The lack of sight is not helping. It was then that she came to her senses. 'I need to get out of here.' Her fear of death aids her and forces her to take action to live. She cuts the seat belt with her survival knife. Once that was off, Lightning drags herself out of the crash. She feels grateful to breathe in the fresh air. Lightning stumbles, as far away as she could, from the crash site. The crackling fire rise up to her ears and the burning flesh of the pilot makes her sick to her stomach. It is getting dark but she had other problems to worry about. The flames started spreading in the near by grass but Lightning is at a good distance by then. At that point she thought it would be best to inspect her injures.
There was a thin cut going across her stomach but it was not deep enough to worry her. Her vision is blurry but she still needs to make sure nothing else is wrong. Her right wrist was killing her and she can see the bone slightly out of place. "Won't be using that anytime soon." A lot of bruises and cuts scattered everywhere on her body. Her inner organs are killing her, but Lightning is no doctor so she had no clue of the seriousness of it. Before Lightning can do more she starts swaying side to side. A wave of nausea comes over her but it did not bother her to much. What did bother her was that annoying ringing noise.
"Where is that coming from?"
(SUBMIT)
This can not be happening. Serah is in shock. She was sound asleep when a Guardian Corp officer came to her door, telling her that her sister was missing. "No. Why are you here then? You should be out there trying to find her!" Snow tries to comfort her but she only wants her older sister now. At least the officer was trying to be as careful as he can be in a delicate situation. He hated this part of his job. He needed to inform people about what happened to their loved ones and that was not easy. Serah does know that some did it callously, like when her mom and dad died.
"Our reports say they never made it into any of the settlements. An hour later it was confirmed that it crashed a while ago. I am sorry ma'am. We are doing our best to…recover her. Everyone understood what he was referring to. They all think she is dead. "We have trouble locating them. We sent search parties out to find them but they are not on the path they were supposed to be on." Serah was already crying her heart out. Seeing that he finished his job here, he took his leave. Snow hugs Serah as he gives her hope that her sister was alive. "Don't worry Serah. We will find Lightning and bring her back safely." His voice failed to match his words but she still appreciated the gesture. "I will send NORA out to find her." Serah calms down and her eyes lit up slightly. She leans on him and mumbled a "thank you" to him. "Plus, she is Lightning. I am sure she is perfectly safe right now."
(SUBMIT)
"I am in deep shit." Looking around, the land she takes note of the lack of familiar surroundings. 'Must be in some forest.' Lightning leans against a tree for support. She can feel the lack of coordination. "What's wrong with me," her words slightly mixed together but it can easily go unnoticed. It is dark and the wild animals of Gan Pulse are coming out. 'I need to find civilization.' Lightning had been wondering around aimlessly for hours now. She could be going in the wrong way for all she knows! Nothing was going right at the moment. She is injured, lost, alone, and completely in a horrible situation. Lightning navigates blindly in the forest. Plans start forming in her head until a low growl is heard. Lightning freezes rapidly and hope it was just her head injury playing games with her. The shuffling sound breaks that suggestion.
The noise comes from her left. The creature creeps up on her. Even with her blurry vision she can tell it is a Gorgonopsid*. It looks smaller than most and Lightning assumes it was not fully grown yet. Instantly, she reaches out for her gunblade but a shock of pain runs through her arm. 'I forgot I hurt it.' The animal crouches as it looked ready to pounce and it did. It jumps high and aimed at her throat. In a swift motion, with her left hand she pulls out her dagger and swung it diagonally. It cries out in pain when it connects with the right side of its body. That makes it even more aggressive. The recovers and lashes again but Lightning jumps back in time. Her head begins to spin even more at the sudden movement. The Gorgonopsid somehow sensed it. This time it targets her leg. The sharp teeth wrapped around her left calf. They feel like blades cutting into her skin. Lightning tries to hold in her show of pain as the creature tugs on her leg. Her hand tightens on the dagger. She raises it high and shoves the weapon it to the wild animal's head. It twitches slightly before dying and the mouth loosens on her leg.
"That could have gone a lot better." Lightning places the dagger back in her pouch and looks at her leg. It was cut up badly and will more likely get infected if it was not taken care of soon. With one final grunt she walks away from the dead animal. Lightning pray that she is going the right way, but her lack of coordination makes her trip a few times before she gives up and decides to rest.
"Look!"
The voices. 'Who is that?' Lightning never recognize it.
"Who is that? An outsider?"
"She must be….We need to help."
Are her scenes fooling with her? 'Maybe I was going the right way after all.' The thought brings comfort to her. 'I just may get out of this alive.'
"Yes, and then afterwords we can show her our perfect society."
'Wait.' The way they were talking sounded…strange. There was a peculiar tone it was said in. It was said in a way that you would hear in a horror movie. With Lightning lacking her full consciousness, she could not do anything as they help her up.
(SUBMIT)
* main rotor- The propellers on top of the helicopter.
* Cyclic- Usually located between the pilot's legs and is commonly called the cyclic.It is used to change directions.
*Gorgonopsid- An animal on Gan Pulse. H~tt~p:/~/ima~ges~.wik~ia.~co~m/finalfantasy/images/0/07/FFXIII_enemy_Gorgonopsid.p~ng
Remove the "~"
I had a slight Writers block for this chapter but I broke it pretty darn fast.
I would also like to thank my new Beta XTAIGAX. I think this story can be a great success over time!
