So hey guys, and thanks for tuning into the next chapter of Revenant Wings!
Oh my god... Unwritten is being a pain in the rear end to write. I was all happy with the way Chapter One of RW came out yesterday, so I sat down in front of my laptop, opened up Chapter 12 of Unwritten, and said "Let's do this!" with an air of confidence... An hour later, I've deleted and rewritten the same segment three times, with no end in sight. ._. All I can say is, I blame Serah and Snow for being so goddamn hard to get right - Serah sounds too timid and Snow's trying to hard to be a hero. *sighs* So I closed the file, and cracked my knuckles for Chapter 2 of RW, and this wonderfully, blissfully easy (relatively speaking of course) to write chapter came into being. 8D
Enough self indulgence and ranting - my love for my supporters is eternal: Berl (awh, thank you!), VengeanceUpholding (ohmigosh... you are too kind; thanks so much), H-thar (I know right? I share her anger at killing trees...), GunMetalX (I'm glad you think I got them right! Being in character is something I try very hard to maintain n_n), Crowley (and no, it won't. I'm afraid I'm a little too angry at XIII-2 to include their characters), That One Reviewee (haha, surprisingly, the ending is already planned, and NO, it will NOT be a XIII-2), thewhitespirit (Oops, should've cleared that up last chapter, sorry! - Hope is 18, and Light is 25), Lieutenant General Sora Hikaru, Mylaervain, and Zapper90! Oh my god, you guys are amazing, and I hope not to disappoint you all - thank you all so much for the well wishes; it seriously makes my day.
Without further ado, I present to you - Chapter 2. Enjoy as always! (:
Chapter Two: Bared Fangs
The streets were ominously silent as Lightning set off at a run through the paved roads, past caring about the sound her boots were making when they came into contact with the rough, hewn stone. Omega weapon drawn, she made for the Corps Building, her mind reeling with possibilities of what the unknown could be.
It could be anything, really, anything from a monster to- No! The instant backlash of memories from four years ago crowding her mind was like a physical blow had slammed into her chest. No... Not that. It can't be. She wanted to deny it, she wanted to reassure herself that it wasn't possible, but she didn't know that. Not without hard, cold, fact. Sure, she thought she'd killed the bastard - But I passed out right afterwards. I don't know how long it was before Hope and Snow came... Anything could have happened. Swallowing against the sudden onslaught of thoughts, Lightning tried to focus on what she had to do. It doesn't matter who, or what, it is - it's got to be dealt with.
She found herself at the front entrance a mere fifteen minutes later, breathless as she pushed pink bangs out of her face. The place was a blaze of activity as backup squads were being sent out to reinforce the city; quickly finding a harassed looking captain who looked like he was in charge of the pandemonium, she crossed her arms as he glanced at her. "I need a status report... immediately."
The man's eyes had widened when he realized who it was; hastily pulling a salute, he pulled her through the crowd until they stood at the top of the steps, overlooking all the soldiers who'd been called back to act as reinforcements. "Yes, ma'am. We've sent out five squads so far... communication's static after they've gone in, no messengers sent back to find us. The commanding officer's just left with the sixth."
"Any idea what it's supposed to be?"
The captain looked down at his boots. "No ma'am. We've got a rough position, but that's it. The perpetrator seems to have moved towards the southern hills, we've got troops evacuating citizens that live in the southern districts in case he comes back."
Before she could reply, a harried shout came from the very back of the main entrance hall, rapid footsteps accompanying it as a corporal waved the radio frantically in the air. "We've just lost contact with Com. Smith! Sir, if this keeps up-" Holding up a hand to silence him, Lightning pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think.
Whoever it was, it was dangerous... that much was obvious. How it was disrupting communications, she didn't know, but that was thinking on the bright side; the radio and other communication devices could have been just as easily crushed underfoot when its owner was no longer alive to use it in any way.
Trying to muster the 'soldier sense' was easier here, when she was away from Hope - because when she was with him, her first instinct wasn't to do her job, it was to make sure he was safe. Lightning still wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about that, but it was the undeniable truth that the desire to protect him had never left. Here, where she knew he was safe, and where she was thrust right into the face of the situation, those feelings, whatever they were supposed to be, were much easier to push away. "Okay," she finally breathed out, trying to make the words as flat and professional as she could. "How many reserves do we have left? Assuming Eden isn't going to make it on time."
The captain did a quick head count. "Five squads, ma'am."
Clenching her left hand into a fist, she strode towards the very edge of the stairway platform that overlooked the plaza. "I want two of them to go over to the northern hills, just to make sure there're no enemy reinforcements there. I want another going in Cocoon's direction, same thing. The fourth's staying here."
"And the last, ma'am?" The captain's voice was hesitant and she thought she could detect a note of fear in it.
Whipping around to face him, she drew her omega weapon, fingers gripping its handle, another old habit of hers to relieve both stress and frustration. "The last one's coming with me. I'm going. You're staying here; I'm putting you in charge until Eden gets back to us. Got it?" She saw him open his mouth before closing it rapidly, clearly thinking better of arguing with a superior. Still, he walked forwards a few hesitant steps, closing the distance between them a little.
"Lieutenant-Colonel, surely you don't have to go yourself-" he began timidly.
"Are you disobeying my orders?" It was a little harsher than it had to be, but Lightning didn't want -or need- to waste time arguing over petty things like that. And yes... of course I need to go myself. I want to see exactly what is so successful at attacking this city. I have to make sure it's not... them. The captain flinched visibly at her words, hastily taking several steps back as she glared at him.
"N-no... I'll give the order." Quickly backing away from her, it wasn't long before she found that the squad she'd requested was behind her, weapons silently drawn.
Right... whatever the hell you are, you won't be messing with me.
Hope passed Snow a coat hanger, which the bigger man refused with a flourish, making his way over to the sofa and sitting down with a soft groan of the springs underneath. Arms draped over the backrest, Snow grinned at him, skipping right over the formalities when he opened his mouth.
"So. How's living with Sis going?"
Turning slightly, not wanting Snow to see him beginning to blush, Hope cleared his throat. "Alright." Maker, I sound exactly like how I told myself not to sound.
Not fooled, Snow let out a shout of laughter. "Ha! You can't fool me; c'mon, I've heard the way you talk about her... it can't be all innocent like the two of you like to pretend." Louder footsteps approached him from behind -Hope had pointedly turned towards the dark window- as Snow stopped right beside him, wriggling his fingers devilishly in his face. "Asked her out yet?"
Shoving his hand away, Hope turned to glare -unconvincingly- at the blond. "None of your business, alright, Snow?"
Unfazed, Snow pretended to look scared as he took a mock step back. "Real scary, kid. Looks like Sis's been rubbing off on you." His gaze took on a more serious look as he continued, voice now noticeably less exuberant. "She sounds alright at any rate... good job."
Looking away embarrassedly at the unexpected compliment, Hope found his hands trapped on the wooden frame of the cold window. "Yeah, well..." He didn't want to tell Snow that there were still days where the old mental demons clawed away at her - she disappeared all too quickly up to her room, and he'd learned soon enough it was wiser to just let her be when it happened. Admittedly, those days were becoming less and less, but there were still things that she snapped so easily at he wondered if she would ever be 'alright', in the perfect sense of the word. But better Snow not know that... I think I know her well enough to know she'd kill me if she knew I blabbed.
A hand clapped on his shoulder unannounced - Hope looked up to see Snow gazing out the window at the moon-washed back lawn, the shimmering crystal of Cocoon visible just beyond the dark silhouettes of trees. "I know she can't be perfect... Hell, even I-" He cut himself off roughly. "There're things you don't forget. Ever," he finished awkwardly. Looking slightly more cheerful, or perhaps he'd made the effort to, Snow gave him a watery grin. "But still... I don't think anyone but you could've pulled her out of that like you did." Looking unusually serious, Snow kept a straight face as he continued. "She'll figure it out eventually. But I must say... I don't want to be waiting to be an uncle forever, alright?"
It was several very long heartbeats before Hope grasped the implication of the last sentence. Blushing furiously, he turned to splutter indignantly at the blond brawler who was doubled over, howling with laughter at his reaction. "Snow, I don't even - Wow, it's not even like that..." Catching the unconvinced look in those ocean blue eyes, he turned, burying his face in his hands, letting out a groan. "Not funny."
Leaving Snow still chortling with laughter, Hope turned to sit down on one of the couches. "Seriously, Snow, I'll tell her you said that," he snapped, his irritation finally getting the better of him when the laughter showed no sign of stopping. Most of the colour instantly drained from the blond's face.
"No you wouldn't." Wow. I didn't expect him to react so quickly to the threat of telling Light.
Putting on a slightly reproachful face, but feeling triumphant all the same, he rested his chin on the back of his palm of the hand that was lying on the armrest. "Yes I would. I know you're not scared of me, but I do know you're scared of her."
Snow shot him a rather angry look; his expression really wasn't all that hard to read. Hope could tell he was balancing the desire to continue the blatant teasing with an angry Lightning who would no doubt be in no mood for jokes when she returned. Finally, it appeared that his instinct to preserve self won out - muttering that it was inevitable anyways, the bigger man sat down with a flop on the unoccupied couch, turning on the television and claiming he'd watch a spot of news before going to bed.
Sighing tiredly, Hope made his way up the stairs - Snow knew this house well enough. Passing by Lightning's empty room that was flooded in both moonlight and shadows, unwanted memories were dragged to the forefront of his mind by the sight that was all too familiar, compounded by the worry that she had still not returned.
His hands clenching into fists at the thought, he tried to convince himself that she was past that stage.
Unused to the now unfamiliar mattress, Hope turned onto his side, trying to get comfortable. It had already been two weeks back in her house, and he was trying to adjust to the new pace of life; admittedly, it was harder than he expected, with unforeseen awkwardness when it came to living with her again. Lightning often left the house at the crack of dawn, slipping out quietly, clearly not wanting to wake him, and returning late in the afternoon, sometimes well past dark. She had told him, quite firmly, that he was free to do whatever he wanted and that she was in charge of the housework, so long as he didn't burn down her house or something, but the thought of sitting around all day doing nothing wasn't exactly appealing.
So he'd taken upon himself to do the shopping and the cooking. Smiling ruefully at the memory of her reaction when he'd first made her dinner, Hope felt a twinge of content at the thought. At first, she'd been angry - she'd snapped that he didn't have to do that before he'd quietly cut her off with "I want to, though. You don't have to work so hard... you know."
She'd frozen on the spot, surprise crossing her aquamarine gaze before she looked down - it was only then he noticed she was shaking slightly as she held a hand up to her mouth, pressing it over her lips and nose. He'd been about to apologize before she stopped him with her other hand, pushing back at his attempt to reach out to her.
"Sorry... I didn't mean... It's just... that's something Serah said to me once."
This time, she didn't refuse the gesture as he draped his arms over her shoulders, waiting for her to continue. But she didn't, instead choosing to rest her forehead on his shoulder. "Sorry," she apologized again, voice subdued.
"Don't be... it's okay," he breathed quietly, startled when she looked up. That motion had brought them to the awkward position in that their noses almost touched, with her looking up as he looked down on her. About to apologize again, he was stopped by the small embarrassed smile spreading on her lips. He didn't think he missed the faint blush as she turned away with a soft snort, slim fingers pulling at his hands.
"Come on... let's eat."
So he'd been unprepared for the moment, as he lay there in the darkness, that she cried out, her voice carrying through two closed doors and a hallway. He was out of bed in a flash, throwing open the door to her room with unnecessary force. Closing his hands over her shoulders, suddenly, he was desperate to wake her up before the dream she was no doubt having could claw further at her delicate emotional balance she was struggling to maintain.
"Light, wake up!" He didn't think he was imagining the panic in his own voice. She fought his grip, still clutched in the realms of sleep, for a moment before she seemed to realize where she was, her struggles stopping the heartbeat she realized who he was.
"Hope," she croaked, pulling herself into a sitting position. "I woke you up... didn't I?" she mumbled, looking away, but not before he caught the flash of pain in her eyes.
"I wasn't asleep," he reassured her softly. "Light... are you okay?"
She shot him a look with a hardened expression as she shook off his grip. "I'm fine." But her voice caught on the last syllable, despite the obvious strength she'd forced into it, and he knew she knew he wasn't convinced.
"No, you're not," he countered, slightly abashed that she would choose to continue hiding things from him after everything that had happened. "Remember? You have to tell us if you're in pain." At that, her hands closed around the fabric of the covers - he saw her knuckles whiten in the moonlight before she looked down, pink bangs obscuring what he could see of her face. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, and several heartbeats stretched on in silence.
"It's just..." It was a long time before she continued, but he didn't press her, wanting her to say things without being pressured. "Bad dreams," she finally murmured quietly. "But... see, this is why I didn't want you to stay with me... I didn't want you to see this, I didn't want to..."
Hesitantly, he rested a hand on her shoulder again, not daring to make any other physical advancement in the gesture of comfort. "I'm not bothered," he replied softly. Hope tried not to let his own feelings show on his face; the fact that she'd distanced herself from him because she didn't want to hurt him was both heartbreakingly painful and impossibly warming. "But Light... stop worrying about me. I won't be bothered... alright? I want to help you, not stand there at the sidelines doing nothing... okay?"
It hurt a little that he'd have to tell her that, after what they had gone through - he'd seen her at her worst already-, but he pushed it away - it was selfish and he knew it. A soft wetness on the hand he'd left lingering on her shoulder surprised him for a moment before he hastily brushed it away with his thumb. "I'm sorry..." Her apology was barely audible. "I'm the most selfish person I know."
"No, you're not!" His denial came so fast he wasn't sure whether he'd actually processed the words before he said them or it was just a reaction. It didn't matter - it was the truth he wanted to say. "Light, it's okay. I just want you to tell me when it comes back... I want to help, alright?" She didn't pull away this time when he tightened the grip on her shoulder, his hands brushing the ends of her cherry coloured hair as he pulled her closer. It came as a warm surprise when she relaxed slightly against him, slipping her hands under his and clasping them at his back.
"Thank you."
Their lips had met for the briefest heartbeat the moment after the last words had been breathed quietly by his left ear, before she rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes again and murmuring that he ought to go back to bed now.
Resting his head against the doorframe of her room, Hope tried to shake off the clinging fragments of memories of that night. She'd finally fallen asleep afterwards, but he'd only left her room when he was sure she wasn't having another nightmare. Maker, back then, I didn't know it was still... that bad. I thought she would have gotten better... Pushing away those traitorous thoughts, he made his way to his room, flicking on the bathroom light as he reached for the toothpaste.
As he spat out the minty tang of the thick goo, Hope tried to reassure himself. She is better now, and Maker knows I'm not giving up. Shutting off the bright yellow of the bathroom light, he was greeted by the darkness of his room as he slowly padded to his bed, sitting down on the covers before he laid his head on the pillow, still painfully aware of her empty room and the snores that had replaced it coming from the couch somewhere downstairs - it sounded like Snow had fallen asleep while watching television. The images came to his mind as he stared up at the blank ceiling, trying not to imagine the worst, before he could even prepare himself mentally.
Light... I really, really hope that you're okay out there. Please tell me... you'll be okay.
A spray of bullets ended up in a resounding crack in the wall opposite as Lightning flattened herself against the rock of the hills, her slender frame pressed against the rough stone. Tightening her grip on her gunblade, she fought the urge to hiss out loud as she saw another soldier drop dead in the crevice only a few yards away from her.
They started passing the bullet riddled bodies at the edge of town, strewn in various forms of death; she'd had to close her eyes at some of them, at the unnatural way some of their limbs were bent. Slow footsteps were nearing her, and she wanted to shout out an order, but that was impossible - she would not only give away where she was concealed from the unrelenting rounds of shots, but she'd be giving away the place where her soldiers were hiding too.
So far, she hadn't actually seen who exactly it was that was behind all of this - she'd caught the flash of a shadow as they passed into the hills, but it wasn't enough to discern a face or a name. The shadow had definitely been humanoid though, and she'd felt her stomach twist at the thought. The moment one of the soldiers had stepped into the shadow of one of the canyons that the hills concealed, he'd been sniped. From where, she didn't even have the time to analyze the shot before more bullets had started to rain down on them.
All order had broken loose then, as every single soldier had scrambled to find some sort of cover lest he be the next one to be sniped. Luckily, a crevice with a slight overhang had been only a few feet away from where she'd been, just behind the scouters and Lightning had dived for it as a bullet drilled into the ground where she'd been just a fraction of a second before. Some of the other soldiers hadn't been so lucky, and the scarlet stains still spreading on the rock face was tantamount to that.
"I know you're there." The voice was guttural and cold, but relief gripped at her chest - it wasn't the one that threaded all too often in her dreams, haunting her with the nightmarish images of Serah's death. "Come and play... unless you're too scared. Afraid I'm going to do you in like I did with everyone else who was sent to dispatch of me?"
Pulling in controlled, even breaths, Lightning knew better than to fall for the provocation. Some of the surviving soldiers, however, didn't seem to think so, and those who did were quickly dropped by the unforgiving fire of a gun. How... Of course. He's been taking weapons from dead soldiers.
Shit.
Biting her tongue so as to not say the curse word out loud, she glanced around, finding one, two, three gleaming pauldrons in the darkness, half hidden behind the crevice after hers. There was no way to issue an order, and Lightning knew she'd have to make a move soon. Goddamn, I didn't come here to watch them all die!
The moment the bright moonlight was tainted by a dark shadow, she moved, clicking the omega weapon into gun mode. Her first shot caught whoever it was by surprise, but he reacted too quickly for the motion to be, well, human. No one... can move that fast! Avoiding the first shot aimed for her shoulder, she knocked away the gun with a swipe from her gunblade.
That had been a dire miscalculation on her part - assuming he was only armed with one weapon. His other arm flicked out towards her, an army knife clutched in thick fingers. She moved back enough to avoid the swipe meant for her throat, but not far enough - the serrated blade dug into her forehead just above her right eyebrow.
The motion tore a short cry from her lips as she landed on her side, sudden gunfire echoing in her eardrums as she struggled to get up. Hastily wiping away the scarlet warmth that had collected too quickly on the cut, Lightning knew she had perhaps a few minutes before the blood loss would get to her, at which point she would undoubtedly be a sitting duck. One that's just begging to be killed.
She hoped at least that her move would grant her soldiers the time window to perhaps get in a good shot or two.
That wasn't the case, however. Whoever it was had sniped two of them who'd stumbled out blindly before they could even raise their weapons to shoulder height, again reacting too quickly to be human, and the third was fighting a losing battle. The officer had managed to only land a shot into the ankle of the figure before the figure had gotten ahold of his head - she heard the sickening crunch as it collided with the rock face of the cliff.
Her gunblade had dug into his side the moment he was on her again, but whether that was enough or not, she wasn't able to tell - a thick hand closed around her wrist, twisting it until the weapon clattered to the floor.
"You seem to be their leader... At least, you're a cut above those weaklings you call soldiers." Her back was pressed against the rock surface of the cliff - there was absolutely nowhere to run. She heard his foot crunch the radio that had fallen from the lapel of the dead soldier just behind them. "Still no match for me though..."
It was then, when he shoved his face into hers, that she saw him clearly for the first time. If his figure was humanoid enough, his features weren't - with slitlike nostrils and overly large scarlet pupils, the mane of greyish hair behind him might have resembled a lion's. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized the hand clenched around her wrist was multi-jointed.
Fighting the tiredness and lightheadedness that was no doubt being brought on by the wound to her forehead, she locked gazes with it. "So kill me, and be done with it," she hissed slowly. Hope...
"No." The growled voice held, if it were possible, amusement. "You see, I need to send that capital of yours a message. And a living messenger is better than a dead one... you seem worthy of that task. I will only say this once: your people are not welcome here."
What?
He cocked the gun he'd picked off the ground at her, the barrel gleaming in the moonlight. Lightning could feel her heartbeat pushing through her temples and throat, all instincts screaming at her to move, to do something, but she found that she was frozen to the spot, unable to come up with a reply and unable to formulate some sort of plan to force her body into action.
The cold metal of the weapon was shoved against her knee, and with icy claws of dread, she realized there was absolutely nothing she could do about it; one hand was still twisted in his grip, the other hanging at her side - she wouldn't be able to reach the gun before he fired it with her back was pressed against the stone.
She wouldn't even have had the time to attempt at some sort of knock away before the bullet was driven into her leg. The support keeping her upright fading instantly, he let go of her wrist as she sank to the ground, fighting the overwhelming urge to scream. Her left hand found warmth contrasting the icy cold of the canyon floor, fighting the blackness that had nothing to do with the new wound that was crowding her vision and pressing cloths over her mouth and nose.
"I trust you'll be able to pass on my message." Unable to raise her head, Lightning fought the darkness eating away at her consciousness as the sounds of sharp cracks sounded in the figure's motions to walk away. But fighting back was like trying to claw apart water - there was nothing to hold onto, nothing to grasp. There was nothing to stop her from being pulled into those icy depths.
The familiar buzzing was pulling at the edges of her consciousness. For several moments, unsure of what it was, Lightning forced her eyes to stay closed, trying to pull in only shallow, even breaths that were all too easy to let spiral out of control into some form of hyperventilation. Just shut up... let me sleep...
But the sound persisted, slicing through the miasma of tiredness and pain, until her mind finally worked around it to what it was. Phone... the goddamn phone... Shit! Where is it? Raising a hand groggily to press against the gash on her forehead that still seemed to be bleeding, her other hand trailed down to the red pack on her left thigh.
Pushing back the urge to throw up as her stiff, clammy fingers brushed against the radiant pain that seemed to be all that was left of her knee, they finally, finally closed around the plastic that sent what felt to her like tremors through her entire body. Pulling in a short, pained breath, she drew her left hand up, flipping open the cover as she finally opened her eyes to what seemed to her to be an unnaturally bright milky dawn that was threading its fingers through the inky black sky.
"Light? Light, where are you?" His voice sounded too loud, crashing into her eardrums, and Lightning closed her eyes, fighting the thrash of nausea that rose like bile in her throat.
"H-Hope..." Her voice was a raspy croak, barely audible even to her, and she heard the hoarse, sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.
*buries face in hands*
I know you guys know about my penchant for cliffhangers, if this is what this is classified as, so I really, really hope you guys won't hate me until I get around to Chapter 3. *hides behind Snow's Steelguard* NR and Unwritten had sort of a slow building pace so I wanted to get right into things for RW; I just hope it won't backfire on me, haha!
I've told myself I must now work on Unwritten, having delved quite deeply into the beginning of RW already (probably more than I should have), so I shall have to cross my fingers and hope that Snow and Serah cooperate with me this weekend. *sighs* Leave love if you wish, and I'll see you guys soon! :3
Hearts!