They went on to defeat the chaos in an overgrown Sunleth Waterscape and in the Bresha Ruins before they were ruins without any major disasters or new visions. The biggest challenge in the Bresha ruins was the frozen people. It was terribly eerie and sometimes tricky to fight around them, but luckily the monsters were relatively weak.
When they reached the ancient Archylte Steppe, however, things got a lot harder. The monsters there had always been strong, and the ones born of chaos were no different. They cleaned up the village first, hoping to get the tough job over with first, but the monsters on the plain were so strong that the plan backfired. They were on their last legs by the time the boss showed up, bringing with it the annoying ability to move incredibly quickly and shoot stingers that, judging by the green ooze dripping from them, were poisonous. They had been able to avoid its attacks so far, but they could not land a good hit. They were out of breath and would be out of energy soon. They needed to finish it at once.
"Noel, I have an idea. Pay attention to it and don't miss your chance."
"Okay." Noel didn't know what Hope was planning or if he'd explain, but he focused his attention on the monster and didn't take his eyes off it. In his peripheral vision he could see Hope jumping up and down and waving his arms in the air.
"Hey! I'm the one you want! Over here!"
Noel wanted to yell at Hope and ask him what he was thinking when he saw his opening. It took him more swings than he'd like to admit, but he was able to hack through the distracted creature's thick skull and spill its brains in the grass. He retrieved the artefact before his adrenaline came down enough for him to realize he wasn't sure what had happened to Hope. He turned to see Hope coming towards him, clutching his shoulder and wincing every step of the way. There was one blood covered stinger on the ground behind him and another one still sticking out of his side. Noel felt another rush of adrenaline.
"What were you thinking?"
Hope caught Noel' eye and tried to grin, but he couldn't hide the pain he was in.
"You beat it, didn't you?"
Noel was starting to think that if he could still be that cocky then he must be all right when Hope passed out.
Noel didn't reach him before he hit the ground and he couldn't get him to wake up for more than a few seconds at a time. He quickly gave up on the idea that Hope would recover on his own and started carrying him back to the village as fast as he could. Time would be flowing again and surely the people in the village would be able to help. They would have antidotes or some way to help him. He just hoped they would. He was a stranger after all and they probably didn't even speak the same language. As he neared the village Noel figured that the more desperate he seemed the more likely they would be to help him. Luckily appearing desperate wouldn't be a problem. He picked up the pace and started yelling.
"Help! He's badly hurt. Please help us!"
Noel could only image what kind of scene he was making. Most of the villagers just stared at him as he charged through the center of town. Eventually a woman and a boy, who Noel guessed was her son, came out of one of the dwellings and flagged him down. The little boy ran out of meet them.
Noel was right about the language barrier. He couldn't understand a word the child said, but he followed him back inside nonetheless.
The building had two sections. One room appeared to serve as the village hospital and the boy and his mother seemed to live in the back. The woman pointed to the bed in the first room and Noel carefully set Hope down. The woman and the boy stripped Hope to his undergarments so they could inspect and clean all his wounds as Noel watched. The woman used some sort of device to draw the poison from the two stinger wounds, taking a lot of blood and pus with it. When she was satisfied with her work the boy retrieved a salve that she rubbed on the wounds before dressing them. As she did that the boy came over to Noel and started cleaning the cuts and scrapes he had received. Noel was taken aback by their kindness and knew right away that he could never repay them.
Hope has woken up towards the end of the process. He was disorientated and in pain. The woman gave Noel a cup of something and gestured for him to give it to Hope. Noel took the cup, guessing that in his current state it would probably be better for Hope to get it from someone he knew.
Noel sat on the bed and propped Hope's head up with one hand, holding the cup to his lips with the other.
"It's alright, Hope. Please drink this. You're all right now."
Hope searched Noel's face for more reassurance, and after Noel nodded he did as he was told, drinking the mixture and swiftly falling asleep. Noel set his head back down and got up.
Noel faced their two saviors and tried to figure out how to show his gratitide. He clasped the woman's hand in his and brought it to his lips, lightly kissing her fingers. He couldn't help saying "Thank you" out loud. Even if she couldn't understand it she would certainly feel the emotion behind it. She smiled and patted Noel on the cheek. Then she said something to her son and they left the room.
Noel assumed that meant they had been given permission to spend the night. He pulled a stool up to Hope's bed and sat down, watching Hope sleep.
He did seem to be getting better. His breathing was no longer distressingly shallow and he wasn't looking so deathly pale anymore. Noel brushed sweat soaked hair from his forehead. He was still hot, but he wasn't burning up like he was when Noel first carried him into town. Maybe he really was going to be okay.
Serah had told him a little bit about Hope after they'd first met him. She was upset by how lonely he sounded. At first Noel didn't understand. He was surrounded by people. He had Alyssa, and the entire Academy for that matter. Serah had to explain that just being surrounded by anybody doesn't count. He had lost his real family, both his parents died in the events leading up to and resulting from Cocoon's fall, and then all the members of his newfound family slowly slipped away from him one by one as well. Most of them taken away by forces beyond anyone's control.
Noel took Hope's hand and squeezed it tighter than he probably should have.
"I don't want to be alone anymore either."
The words were spoken before Noel realized he was even thinking them. They were true though.
It felt like Noel had just resolved to stay up a little longer to make sure Hope was really in the clear when he was woken up by the floor shifting beneath him - except it wasn't the floor at all. Somehow he slipped off the stool and had fallen asleep kneeling next the bed with his head resting on Hope's chest. His eyes popped open and he quickly placed himself back on the stool.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
Sometimes Noel could not get over how polite Hope could be.
"No - well, yes, but don't be sorry. How are you feeling?"
Hope may have been up and talking, but he still looked and sounded ragged.
"Alive. Thanks to you."
"Don't thank me. I just got you here. Thank the woman and her son who did all the real saving."
"I'll thank them too when I get a chance. I'm assuming 'here' is their place then?"
"Yeah."
Noel fidgeted with the edge of the blanket as the room filled with awkward silence.
"I'm glad - "
"What time is it?"
Instead of finishing his sentence Noel just looked around the room pretending to look for an answer even though he knew it wouldn't provide one. In the end he could only shrug.
"I think there are still a few hours before daylight. Don't push yourself. Get some more rest. I'm going to get some fresh air."
Noel began to get up when Hope grabbed his wrist.
"Wait."
"Is something wrong?"
"No. I just...," Hope averted his eyes before continuing,"Would you mind staying?"
"Not at all."
"Thank you."
Hope sat up and patted the space next to him on the bed, inviting Noel to have a seat. Noel took him up on the invitation and they sat together, talking about various things, like their lives before time travel, in hushed voices so they didn't wake their hosts. Soon, Noel found himself telling Hope more about his grandmother.
"She always said you could tell a lot about someone by the reading the lines on their palms."
"Really? Did she ever teach you how to do it?"
"A little bit. Here, give me your hand."
Noel grabbed Hope's hand and starting tracing the lines he recalled being important. Hope leaned in to see what he was doing until their foreheads touched.
"So what do they mean?"
Noel felt his cheeks get a little warm. He realized that he hadn't paid as much attention to his grandmother as he thought he had and felt more than a little silly.
"I don't actually remember."
"Oh."
They both laughed quietly but Noel didn't stop tracing patterns or let go of Hope's hand, and Hope didn't pull away.
They sat like that until Hope's head drooped on to Noel's shoulder and Noel knew he had fallen asleep again. He gently laid Hope down on his uninjured side and settled down next to him. Hope had asked him to stay, and he didn't really want to sleep on the floor, so he figured it would be all right. Then in a moment of boldness, he also took the liberty of lightly wrapping his arm around him, being careful to avoid his injuries, and burying his face in the nape of Hope's neck before he, too, fell asleep.
A/N: Yes I did make Hope a sentinel and that is pretty much what he did and it was awesome (not the getting part but the waving part). Thanks for reading! I'll try to have another update in a week.
