Yay! A comment! Sorry for the delay but major storms=major power-cuts!
Hopefully this chapter will answer your question 21 is Awesome.
/
The lyoko warrior raised his head slightly upon noticing the other group. He didn't speed up however, if anything he slowed down slightly. Now that he had found them, he could afford to take it easier. His horse needed rest. Aelita and the children felt a swell of relief wash over them as they saw the familiar figure draw ever closer. As did Yama as he saw his old horse friend approach, he had sensed them a while ago and called out. That was how Kai had known, that it wasn't X.A.N.A approaching but rather an old friend.
Aelita began to walk towards Ulrich. Her gun still clenched tightly in her hand. Ulrich got off of his horse as soon as he was a little closer. The way that he dismounted (very stiffly) told Aelita that he hadn't stopped riding in a while. His face was blank as he approached; showing no signs of joy at encountering them once more. There were dark lines under both of his eyes; she doubted that he had slept last night.
He paused a couple of feet in front of her. Without hesitating, Aelita pulled her pistol up and aimed at his forehead. Behind her, the kids gave her confused looks wondering just what she was playing at. The gun was very much loaded and only too capable of killing him.
"Prove that you're not a spectre!" She told him keeping her finger on the trigger "What was the name of the woman you love?"
"Yumi Ishiyama." Ulrich replied bitterly, Aelita still didn't lower her weapon "That's a bad question. X.A.N.A knows the answer to that. After all, he killed her."
"But X.A.N.A wouldn't have pointed that out." She lowered her weapon, offering him a smile "Good to have you back."
"I thought I told you never to bring up Yumi?"
Aelita let out a sigh and watched as he walked past. Perhaps the question had been too close to home for him and had hurt him but it was the only thing that she had been able to think of to ensure he wasn't a spectre. They had more sophisticated ways of telling of course but it required hours of interrogation, at a time like this, she only had a few moments. Her question had caused her old friend to slip into one of his grim moods once more but considering that he was almost permanently in such a state these days anyway it was hardly a change.
"Aren't you going to ask me?" Aelita asked walking after him
"X.A.N.A wouldn't have pointed a gun to my face." Ulrich replied
"Point taken." She agreed, Ulrich walked past his son and the children without so much as a second glance. "How did you find us?"
"I was going to head towards the mountains when Dominique told me that he'd seen you guys turn tail and head west. I took me three hours to find your tracks. I haven't stopped riding to catch up." He walked forwards a couple of steps, his tired eyes fell upon each of the children as if he were taking note of their existence for the first time "Good, you all got out."
"Looks like it could rain soon." Chip noted looking up at the dark clouds "That should wash away the tracks."
Ulrich nodded in agreement. Taking advantage of the situation to stretch out his tired muscles, Ulrich paced up and down a couple of times. Sure enough, just as the youngest of the children had predicted, it soon began to rain. At first, it was only a few fine droplets but it soon turned into a downpour. They weren't unusual here in autumn. They presented a great threat back at the camp, it wasn't infrequent for the heavy rains to cause mudslides, not dissimilar to the one that had separated Jeremy from the rest of his family…
Despite the rain, within a few moments, he was back on his horse and they were riding along as if they had never been separated. The heavy rain drenched through their clothes which were hardly waterproof. They had scavenged what they wore, occasionally patching it up with pieces of mismatching fabric. The end result was neither warm nor necessarily comfortable but it was all they had.
Ulrich was his usual quiet self, he seldom talked openly nowadays; it was rare but sometimes he opened up a little to her but never in front of others, especially not the children. He only spoke when someone asked a question. His somewhat grim presence caused the little group to cease talking completely for a good hour and a half. Eventually, it was young Marie who finally decided to ask the question that was on all of their minds:
"What happened to the others?"
"At least twenty of them are dead; Michel, François, Amandine…" He listed each of their names but didn't go into any detail on how they were killed; there was a tone of distance in his voice which was almost mechanical "I don't know about the others, they fled further into the mountains."
"Did X.A.N.A follow you?" Aelita asked nervously looking behind her to ensure that there were no pursuers.
"He did for a little while, which is why I started off by fleeing south before losing them and heading out here." He told them "Don't worry, they're not following. After all, if we keep heading in this direction, we'll be in the glass lands."
Aelita's eyes widened as she realized that they were heading west. Of course, she knew which direction they were heading in. After all, she had a compass and was more than capable of navigating. It was more that she had forgotten what was out here…
What Ulrich referred to as the Glass Lands were about a 100km radius around where the city of Marseille had once stood. It had been one of the last strong holds in all of France and had met a rather bitter if instantaneous end. X.A.N.A had launched a bomb, a terrible bomb which had levelled everything in an instant. The heat from the explosion was said to have been so great, that the earth beneath their feet had been turned to glass. There was nothing there now, just death and bad memories…
Even X.A.N.A didn't go there anymore as there was no need. Nothing could survive for any length of time, no humans would be foolish enough to try and cross it: there was no food and no water. Yet it was where they were heading.
The rain finally stopped just as the sun was beginning to set. Leaving each of them soaked through to the skin, with their hair dripping wet. The horses had slowed down considerably from a mixture of fatigue and the reluctance to have to trudge through the rain.
Their discussions were brief and usually not about much. She imagined that the children were still in shock. Chip and Marie at least, had never really witnessed a true massacre. She had been lucky enough to get them out before they witnessed the one back at the camp. Aelita had witnessed the effects of post-traumatic stress on many a person following X.A.N.A's rise to power. For some, it had proved too much. Kai and Ulrich who had fought and survived through the destruction of Paris both carried their scars; they just never talked about them.
"We should stop soon." Aelita declared seeing the sun slowly begin to set.
"Yes, we need to find some cover first." Ulrich agreed.
They eventually settled down in a small rocky formation at the base of a cliff. There was very little change that night from the night before. Ulrich's presence brought reassurance to the children however, despite his coldness towards them as a general, for the past few years he had watched over them alongside her. Knowing that he was alive and safe would bring them some comfort. They lit the fire and once more cooked their food.
The kids eventually did begin to talk amongst themselves, chattering and giggling about various things. Aelita smiled warmly, it was good to see them with a little more life in them than last night. Kai was busy explaining something about how to make a snare trap to the two of them. Both Chip and Marie had been becoming more involved with the day-to-day survival back at the camp. When they were younger, they had been somewhat exempt and allowed to do what they pleased. Now, obviously that was even less of an option… They would have to learn to survive out here; just as she had, just had Ulrich and Kai had.
"Can we have a bedtime story?" Chip cautiously asked as time for sleeping grew near.
"You guys realize that I don't have Peter Pan, right?" She only had vital supplies; children's story's didn't really fit into that. "Besides, there's not enough light to read."
"You can make one up!" Marie insisted looking to her mother with pleading eyes.
"Well… I guess that I could try."
She hasn't made up a story in quite some time. Peter Pan had kept them going for a good month before and she had read them other stories beforehand. Sitting next to her children who were warmly tucked up in their sleeping bags, she began to invent a story. Why not start with Mr. Pück? She thought to herself remembering her old toy. Using her old dreams/nightmares as the starting point, she managed to create an entire world around the little elf. The children defiantly seemed to enjoy it, she was all too aware of just how tired they were.
It wasn't long before they were falling asleep, she allowed herself to stop telling the story. They didn't even notice as both of them nodded off exhausted. Kai offered her a slight smile before curling up into a ball and drifting off to sleep. Aelita watched them for a few moments, they looked so peaceful… As they should have been all the time, as they would have been were it not for X.A.N.A and the looming menace of extinction.
She could have spent hours like that but tonight she had other matters to attend to. Turning back to see her old friend, she let out a sigh. Despite their reunion, things were far from good. He was sitting a fair distance away from the camp; out of earshot of the children. Not that they would have heard the discussion, they were fast asleep and she doubted that a little chatter would have awoken them.
"So, we're heading to the Glass Lands…" Ulrich muttered as she sat next to him.
"Looks that way." Aelita replied. "We can't turn back and we know that X.A.N.A's got too many bases north for us to be able to slip through."
"Do you think that the glass lands will live up to their name?"
"I guess we'll see what they look like."
"What do you think we'll find out there Aelita?" Ulrich asked her standing up "Some great resistance? A secret weapon? Safe heaven?!"
Aelita narrowed her eyes, what was this about? She had been expecting a simple discussion about their next move and tactics. An argument, which is what this looked like it was going to turn into, wasn't something she was exactly prepared for. As such, she remained silent for a few moments, looking into the cold and tired brown eyes of the Samurai. She wished so much to see the same will to live course through them that she had known as a teen…
"I don't know what we'll find out there." She replied looking down at the mud beneath her feet. "But it can't be any worse that what we just left behind."
"Hm…" He paused for a moment, as if he were deep in thought. "A X.A.N.A laser or starving to death… A great choice you've got set up there. Maybe we should ask the ch-"
"Ulrich stop it!" Aelita commanded lowly, deciding not to even let him finish his sentence. "You were and are a lot of things! But you're not cruel."
Ulrich looked at her with wide eyes and a look of surprise on his face. He stayed starring at her like that for a few moments, before looking away down at his feet. His head hung low, as he tried to come to grasps with what he had just said. He wondered for a few moments, if he had actually meant it or whether it had simply been anger and exhaustion talking. He let out a deep sigh before turning to look back at his old friend, perhaps his only friend still remaining in this world, or what was left of it.
"I'm sorry Aelita…" He muttered quietly but sincerely. "It's just-"
"I understand." She spoke softly whilst placing her right hand on his shoulder, in that calming voice that she alone seemed to be able to produce. "I miss them too…"
"We've lost so much…"
"Yes but not everything. Kai, Marie and Chip are alive because of those who we have lost sacrifices. We're still alive."
"Just…" Ulrich replied in a hushed voice, taking her hand which had been placed on his shoulder and looking at it. "Only just…"
Aelita lowered her own gaze, to look at what was left of her right hand. Two years ago, she had lost her ring finger to frostbite. It had been a colder than usual snap in the mountains, a slight tear in her glove coupled with dealing with freezing water had led to her being forced to amputate it when some signs of infection had become visible. Or rather she had had to Ulrich to do so. He had objected fervently at the idea of hurting her and it had taken a god few hours of her insisting and explaining to him that it would be better than gangrene and potentially a lethal infection before he had finally agreed to help.
That decision still haunted him today, despite the fact that it had made very little difference to her life. Sure it was a tad unsightly and sometimes holding things with her right hand was a little more complicated than with her left but she had learnt to live with it and now took no notice of it.
"How many times am I going to have to ask you to forget about that?" She asked him with a warm smile.
"Jeremy would have killed me." He muttered looking away.
"If he'd have tried to stop you I would have killed him, now stop beating yourself up over it!" She commanded. "If we're going to survive this, we've got to stick together!"
"You're right." He agreed.
"And that means no more mopping, alright mister?!" She insisted slightly be elbowing him in the ribs.
"Ouch… Okay, I'll try…"
Aelita gave him a satisfied smirk. Just how effective this little talk had been remained to be seen, she knew that her old friend could be difficult to say the least. Still, she kept up some hopes for him. It wasn't long before the two adults were settling down near the fire ready to go to sleep themselves. Aelita gave each of her children a little kiss on the forehead to say goodnight as she always did, whilst her old friend contented himself with a glance to ensure that they were safe.
"Goodnight. Sleep tight." She muttered tiredly as she settled down in her sleeping bag.
"Goodnight…" Came the reply.
