Finally got this one done. I know it's been a while, but I've been busy. Sorry for any mistakes, I've been having problems with Word. Anyways, here it is, I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 10
Lightning looked at the large, fur covered beast before them. She knew it wouldn't be a problem. She glanced at her allies in this fight, Vanille to the right and Fang to the left. Her biggest problem now wasn't the presence of the Ochu, but rather of the group's complaints. On telling her fellow l'cie of her plans for the day's trials, she had received a number of moans. As if reading her mind the woman to her left gave her another example.
"How many times we fought this thing already?" Fang asked.
"Don't go there again, Fang." Lightning responded, not wanting to have this conversation again. "You know we can't just jump straight to the last fight, that's part of the test.
"I'm just sayin' can't we mix it up a little, I'm gettin' tired of fighting these guys over an' over."
"Well if you don't want to fight it then you can go wait in the back and send Snow to take your place."
Fang's face dropped at the idea of being replaced, even fighting the same thing twice was better than waiting it out all day. She was a huntress, she wanted to fight. "Nope, I'm good." She said. Lightning turned her attention back to the monster, but Fang was sure she heard her say "That's what I thought." Before she could get off another snide response, however, Vanille interrupted her.
"If you two are done bickering, can we kill this thing? I'm bored and I haven't gotten to kill one of these yet." The smaller woman said.
Lightning gave a single nod, said "Right" and ran at the large beast. They quickly fell into their usual pattern of using fire spells and strikes to deal heavy damage to the creature. Between the strength they had gained and the experience of fighting it so many times before, the Ochu fell quickly. With the larger beast down Vanille cast a powerful fire spell on the mirochu, which was followed by a blitz move from Fang, and then one from Lightning to finish the smaller creatures.
"That just gets easier every time." Fang said.
"Yeah," Vanille agreed, "it barely took any time at all."
"Of course it's easy, nothin' can stop us!" Snow said as he punched his right hand into his left, "We are the hero's after all."
"Easy for you ta say, I didn't see you fightin' this one." Fang retorted.
"Ow, right in my pride." Snow responded as he grabbed his chest as if he had been wounded. After a few seconds he stopped and added, "Oh wait, I've already killed one, never mind."
"Real funny. Now let's see, how many? One when your magic fused with the others? I'm up to two and I did it with muscle. Well, I guess I'm winning." An arrogant grin spread across Fang's face as she finished.
"Yeah, well Light's up to three, she's fought them all!" Hope said, wanting to make sure his idol's victory wasn't overlooked."
"That is true, ain't it?" Fang said. A questioning look then suddenly came over the huntress' face before she asked, "Come to think of it, when was the last time you sat out of a fight?"
"I don't think she has." Snow answered.
"Damn, Sunshine. You really snuck that one right by us, didn't ya?"
"I didn't sneak anything by anyone; I just didn't point it out." Lightning responded, "Now let's get going. We're wasting time." As usual Lightning finished by walking off in the direction of the next cie'th stone. The rest of the group followed her and, upon her activating the stone, found themselves in a new location.
The new area appeared to contain all three kinds of goblins: goblins, munchkins, and borgbears. It didn't take long for the l'cie to fight their way to the end of the path were they found their target, a borgbear hero. This time, however, it was guarded by the larger version of both other goblins, as well as a more basic version of all three kinds. The skating creatures spotted them almost as soon as they were within line of sight, removing any chance at a surprise attack. The three women of the group were ready to jump into battle anyway, and met the creatures halfway.
Fang immediately went to work on attacking the goblin chieftain while Lightning and Vanille targeted all of the smaller goblins. The combination of the two smaller women proved to be effective, as before Fang could finish off the chieftain, all of the smaller targets had been killed. After the smaller ones were defeated Lightning quickly moved to help Fang finish off her own target while Vanille healed whatever small wounds they had sustained. The weakened chieftain fell quickly and all three women immediately focused their attention on the next enemy, the borgbear hero.
Between the three of them the creature never stood a chance. Fang attacked the beast in full force while Vanille supported with fire magic and Lightning hit it hard with flame strikes. The monster fell in moments, leaving only one target left, which got the same treatment and fell almost as quickly.
Lightning wasted no time after their victory before moving on. She walked over to the next cie'th stone and activated it. Now at Titan's Throne they all knew the battle was going to be difficult, Lightning decided to switch things up. "Okay, Sazh, you're up. Vanille, you can move back."
"Hey!" Vanille complained, "Why do I have to stop?"
"Because we're going to need as much firepower as we can throw at these things as quickly as possible, and Sazh's guns work for that."
"Wait a sec. Things? As in, more than one? What are we fightin' here, you didn't tell us." Fang asked the soldier.
"Verdelet." Lightning answered with a serious expression. Fang immediately burst out laughing.
"Verdelet? Seriously?" Fang asked through her laughter, "Those tiny little things made it to the throne?"
"Verdelet are summoners, Fang. They can call out something really big to protect them, that's how they made it here." Lightning said, looking upset at Fang's casual attitude, "Besides even if they weren't, you should know, never underestimate your enemy."
"Yeah, I hear ya." Fang said as her laughter subsided, though she was still smiling like it was the funniest thing ever. "I just couldn't help myself."
"Well if you can handle yourself again, we should move." Lightning said as she walked forward, once again leaving the others to follow. They arrived at the battleground in just a few moments and Lightning surveyed it. As she looked at the precarious drop she felt the need to say over her shoulder, "Oh and Fang. Stay away from the edge." Without waiting for a response she was walking into the arena.
Lightning, Sazh, and Fang took the lead as they entered the open area and waited for the massive Fal'cie to make his move. It was just a moment and the gigantic hand moved in front of them to deposit a literal handful of imps. As soon as the hand was out of the way it started. Sazh laid down blanket fire, hitting every one of his targets. As soon as they were sure they wouldn't be hit, Lightning and Fang rushed in. Fang jumped forward into the middle of the fray and spun around three times, hitting most of the Verdelet with each spin. Lightning performed a similar action when she was in range, finishing off a few of the small creatures with her blitz. One Verdelet that had survived was already attempting to summon something stronger. Not wanting to find out what it was they would have to face, the two women attacked the small creature. Sazh focused his attacks on the few other remaining targets as Lightning and Fang jumped, twirled, spun, twisted, and otherwise danced around the other small creature whose defenses seemed to have risen dramatically during its attempts to summon an ally.
Despite its surprising boost in defenses, the two women managed to overpower the small beast. After a few good hits from both women the creature dislodged from its spell and lifted about head height into the air from Fang's last blow. As it came back down Lightning spun around and kicked it, sending the small imp flying off the cliff with a force. The pair then turned to face the last Verdelet, however they barely had time to lay eyes on it before another shot sounded and the creature died. They both looked over at Sazh who twirled his duel pistols before putting them in their holsters.
"Well, it looks like I was right, that was a piece of cake." Fang said, smirking.
"For once I'm thinkin' I agree with her. That wasn't too hard." Sazh said.
"We had a plan; that helped." Lightning responded, not wanted anyone to get overconfident, though she was pleased because she happened to agree with them.
"Yeah, Snow's plan." Fang added, "Rush in and hit 'em as hard as we can."
"That's always a good plan. Hasn't failed me yet." Snow said.
Lightning was looking up at the sky when she spoke next. "It's still early. If the next trials are as easy as these we should be able to knock down another set by the end of the day."
"Well that's not exactly what I meant when I said these were easy. I was thinkin' more like gettin' some free time 'cause of our good work."
"Careful what you wish you for Fang. You said it was easy. You said you wanted to fight some new things. Well if we start now we can be fighting something else fairly soon. Let's go."
"Damn. This is my fault, ain't it?" Fang asked.
"Sure seems like it." Sazh answered.
"I guess there's worse things than havin' to fight through Titan's trials. This is kinda fun."
Lightning waited for the others to wrap up the conversation before she called out to Titan, who sent them back to the start of the Faultwarrens. After doing a quick head count to make sure everyone made it back, she walked over to the cie'th stone that started the trials. Though she wouldn't admit it to the others, she was starting to agree, some of these battles were just getting annoying.
…...
Lightning was crouched low so as to avoid being seen while she eyed her target. Just a moment more was all she needed. She held back the group with an outstretched arm to keep them from moving too early. Then her target moved, turning their backs on her position. She rushed them, quickly followed by Fang and Snow. The verdelet never even knew what hit them. A rush of weapons and fists was all that was seen, and then the three l'cie stood over the small creatures.
"I've said before and I'll say it again, too damn easy." Fang said as she lightly kicked at one of the dead imps, "How did these things get to be a final test? This time they couldn't even see us."
"The others were obviously stronger." Lightning responded, "Besides, I told you to be careful what you wish for, one of these days you're gonna ask to fight something big and it will too much for us to handle."
"Oh I don't know about that. I've been able to handle everything I've gotten so far." Fang looked at Lightning with a sly smirk as she said this.
"Yes we have." Lightning responded, looking Fang right in the eye as she spoke, "But that doesn't mean that something big and bad won't be around the corner."
"Alright, alright, I get it. You don't have to lecture me. I'm not sayin' I want something to come chargin' out of nowhere and leave us hurtin'. I'm just sayin' I like things that got a bit of fight in 'em. It's more fun that way."
"We already knew that part. All Iwas saying was that you can stop repeating it, or you may get more than you want."
"Okay then. Maybe we should be movin' along." Sazh said in an attempt to diffuse the situation, "Ya know, give soldier girl something to hit before she starts throwin' blows our way."
"Yeah, let's get moving." Lightning responded, her eyes not leaving Fang's until she turned and walked away. Fang smirked as she moved to follow the soldier. Despite the apparent irritation in Lightning's voice, there was no threat. Fang knew the others hadn't seen it, she would have missed it herself if she hadn't been looking the woman right in the eyes. Lightning had been a good actress, but Fang had seen through, even if only because Lightning wanted her to. She hadn't been issuing a threat, but rather a challenge. One that Fang would be more than happy to take her up on. However that would have to wait.
A few moments and one cie'th waystone later the six l'cie found themselves in an area they that looked a little too familiar. Sure enough it proved to be the same area they had fought the goblins in earlier that day. Fang opened her mouth to say something about that but the look Lightning shot at her clearly said "Don't even think about it."
They worked their way towards the goblin pack easily and found themselves crouched down and hidden out of sight just a few minutes later. "Alright, I have a plan for this." Lightning said in a hushed voice.
"Well what do ya know?" Fang said, interrupting though she kept her voice down as well, "This time she has a plan. So are we gonna rush 'em, or are we gonna try and sneak up, and then rush 'em.?"
"Hope," Lightning said, while ignoring Fang's remark at her strategies, "I want you, Vanille, and Sazh to through the biggest fire spell you have at them before they see us. As soon as you do Fang, Snow, and I will use the surprise to run in and take out as many as we can before they can regroup. Everybody got that?"
"You can count on us." Vanille said, followed by nods from Sazh and Hope. Lightning then turned to look at Snow and Fang. The large man gave her a thumbs up and said "We got this, don't worry."
Lightning let out a small sigh at her sister's fiancé (that fact still bothered her, even if he did love Serah), and then directed the three artillery to their position. "On my mark." Lightning said and they all nodded. "Ready." All of the mages began preparing their spells. "Set." The red-orange orbs of magic appeared in their hands. "Fire." All three of the mages set their spells loose. The balls of magic collided with the unsuspecting goblins and created three massive explosions that made it hard to see. Before the magic could even begin to fade the other three l'cie were rushing forward. Lightning danced around the battlefield in between the panicking monsters, landing blows on all of them. Fang was just steps behind her, she slashed at two separate beasts in her way without slowing down before landing a powerful blow on a third. Snow trailed after the two women landing powerful hits on both of the smaller goblins that Fang had left in a daze. In just a few moments Fang finished of her target with a few powerful swings of her lance and turned to see Snow finishing of the second of the two she had started. Both sentinels then turned to see Lightning surrounded by the other three goblins, two chiefs and one average, and she was winning.
Lightning swung her gunblade up at one of the advancing chieftains to knock it back and then used the momentum to complete a half turn and bring the blade down at the gobbling that attempted to attack from behind. Three more quick strikes pushed the monster away from her and she turned to see the second chieftain raising its fist to attack her. In a move that surprised everyone Lightning dove through the goblin chief and landed behind it in a summersault. Faster than anyone could follow Lightning then turned and rushed the chieftain from behind landing a flurry of blows that shoved the large goblin at the smaller one. The smaller beast then had to move out of the way as the body of the larger one fell.
By this time Fang and Snow where arriving to assist the soldier who appeared to not need their help. Fang rushed past Lightning to score a hit that sent the smaller goblin high into the air. She then leaped up after her it and slammed her lance hard into its back to force it back to the ground, though it was dead before it landed. Meanwhile Snow was trading blows the other chieftain. After a moment's pause to enjoy watching the beast land a few hits on Snow's steelguard, since she knew it wouldn't really hurt him (well, not seriously anyway), Lightning began attacking the creature as well. Fang followed as soon as her feet hit the ground and between the three of them it fell in a matter of moments.
"Well what do ya know, that worked out pretty well." Fang said as she stood over the dead creature.
"You sound surprised." Lightning said, folding and storing her gunblade as she did.
"I am. But I ain't so much surprised that it worked as I am at how it worked." Lightning simply raised a questioning eyebrow at this. Fang decided to elaborate. "Well honestly I ain't ever seen anyone go and jump through a goblin. That was new, even for me."
"They're monsters with giant holes in them, of course I'm going to use that to my advantage."
"Well that may be an advantage for you, but it sure makes 'em harder to hit for me." Sazh countered. Snow immediately began to agree, "Yeah, I can hit them in the head, but it ain't as easy as if they had real body."
"Well you don't need to worry about hittin' 'em, do ya big guy?" Fang said to Snow, "You just use your steelguard and leave the real fightin' to me and Light. Ain't that right, Sunshine?" At the last part of her sentence she turned and shot a grin at Lightning, who replied with an eye roll. "Fang, don't argue with Snow, he doesn't always understand, but if he does it just causes problems."
"Yeah, what Lightning said." Snow cheered. A look of thought then came over his face, "Wait, what do you mean I don't always understand."
Lightning simply rolled her eyes and began walking away as the rest of the group hid their laughs from Snow while they followed. Sazh simply shook his head with a grin as he patted the large man on the shoulder. "That." Was all he said before following the soldier himself, leaving Snow the last to follow with a confused look on his face.
It wasn't long before they found themselves once again at Titan's Thrown. Lightning started speaking just before they entered the actual battleground. "Were facing a tyrant so here's what I want you to do. As soon as it arrives it will shield itself and summon a blade. Fang, I want you to try and give us a boost; you've been learning synergy magic haven't you?"
"Yep, but I still don't know many spells. Though the ones I do know kick ass." Fang answered, grinning as she said the last part.
"Right. I want you to focus on increasing our attack power. I also want you to give Snow a boost to defense if you can." She turned to face the larger man in question now, "You are going to draw its fire. Between the tyrant and the blade we will need to keep it distracted, so just do your usual steelguard and make sure they keep their attacks on you." Lightning then turned back to Fang before continuing, "After the blade is formed you and I will go after the tyrant while he takes the hits. If we don't take it down quick enough then we destroy the blade instead and then go back. If we do that then we'll need to kill it before it can reform the blade. Both of you got that?"
"Loud an' clear, Sunshine." Fang responded. Snow quickly answered with "You can count on me."
"Right." Lightning acknowledged, "As for you three, stay back and safe. If one of us falls we'll need some healing magic."
"You got it, Light." Hope said. Vanille then added, "We'll be cheering for you."
"Well you better not be cheerin' for the other guy." Fang countered.
"Alright everybody, move out." Lightning said; breaking up the conversation before it starts. She then walked towards the battlefield with Fang and Snow not far behind. She strode confidently onto the field and looked over at the fal'cie. Her eyes followed his hand and both she and Fang drew their weapons as it moved to the area in front of them. A moment later the massive fal'cie opened his hand and dropped the tyrant in front of them. The battle had begun.
As expected the mechanical beast immediately shielded itself and began forging the sentient blade. Fang threw Bravera and Faithra at all three of them. She then threw protectra and shellra at Snow, then Lightning, and lastly herself. Lightning and Snow had already begun small attacks on the massive target as she did so, attempting to find a weak point in its armor. By the time she finished her spells the blade was formed. Snow attempted to goad both the blade and its creator into attacking him.
Sure enough, Snow was soon being targeted by two different enemies at the same time. He threw up steelguard to keep from getting destroyed by them as he took the blows. Fang joined Lightning in her assault on the Tyrant and they began to make some good progress. Between her own powerful blows and Lightning's magically augmented strikes the mechanical beast was quickly beginning to show signs of weakness. Another set of attacks from both of them and then the two women pushed away for a moment. Lightning cast a quick cura that gave them all a boost and healed some of Snow's minor wounds. Fang looked over at her partner and caught her eye. With a nod she knew what they needed.
Lightning and Fang rushed towards the Centurion Blade as it hovered in the air. Two quick thunder spells struck the blade from each of the women as they ran forward. Lightning then put her electrical spells into her blade as Fang drew her spear back. Both strikes collided at the same time, sending the living weapon spinning through the air. Fang jumped after it, bringing her spear down hard onto the blade. Lightning then struck quickly, six thunder infused attacks landing on the machine. Fang twirled her lance and, before it could recover, brought the weapon down upon the creature with enough force to break the blade in half.
Before her attack was even done, Lightning was already moving. The soldier charged the giant machine that was their target without the slightest hint of fear. Fang took a second to admire the way that, even after having fought all day, Lightning was still able to pull of seemingly impossible feats of strength and speed, and still look good doing so. "Oh yeah. That's my girl." Fang thought, before rushing in to fight alongside her secret girlfriend.
Powerful blows and strong spells worked to slowly deplete the giant machines health. "We've almost got it." Lightning said as she took a few steps back to survey the situation. A few cure spells to herself and Fang kept them both in top shape, and a few more just for Snow handled the damage that had gotten through his defenses. "Hey Snow." She called out, getting his attention, "Are you tired of it hitting you?"
Snow smiled like it was his birthday at hearing that. He took one more hit from the large machine, and then drew back his fist. The punch had enough power to knock the machine back a few steps, but Snow didn't let up. He threw punch after punch at the machine, with Fang and Lightning each striking at a side. They almost had it beaten now, and they knew it. Spear in hand, Fang jumped back. "Ready." She called out.
"Set." Snow answered, pausing his attacks for a moment.
"Go." Lightning said just a second later.
At the word Snow rushed forward again. He punched once, then twice at the mechanical beast, and then finished with an uppercut that lifted the creature into the air. As it hung there for a moment, thunder shot down to strike it, Lightning's powerful spells hitting the creature midair. Finally, Fang jumped. Flying even higher than the target she brought her spear down onto the beast and sent it crashing into the ground. There was no way it was getting up from that.
"I'm glad that one's done." Snow said as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "It hits pretty hard."
"It's a machine from Gran Pulse that's made to kill people an' train L'cie. Did ya really expect it to be soft and cuddly?" Fang asked.
"Well, no. I guess not. But I was just saying."
"We know what you were saying Snow. It was a rhetorical question. She's screwing with you." Lightning said as the others began to approach.
"You're kinda slow ta pick up on that, ain't ya." Fang asked the larger man as she grinned.
"Hey, I am not slow."
"Sure you are." Sazh said as they neared, "I'm not even sure what happened and I can say that."
"Don't worry about it. Everyone's got their slow spots." Fang said.
"Alright everyone calm down, I think our rides here." Sazh said; calling attention to Titan as the massive fal'cie reached towards them. A moment later and they were out of the Faultwarrens and on their way back to camp.
…...
As they arrived back at their current camp the group immediately began setting down. Night was already beginning to set in and they were fairly well worn out. Lightning however didn't even bother. She immediately approached a burnt ring of rocks in the center of their encampment. Throwing some dry leaves down as a base, she then pulled out a small stone and her survival knife. Using the back of the blade she struck the stone three times. A couple minutes of careful tending had the fire starting to burn fairly well and larger sticks were added. She really wished she could just set the sticks on fire with magic, but they had found early on that, like the other elements, the fire created by magic was entirely offensive and would fade soon after being cast.
"We still need to check around and make sure nothing came near while we were away." Lightning said as she stood. She was about to ask Fang to accompany her but stopped herself. Not only was Fang probably exhausted, but Lightning knew that with the older woman's personality they only had about a fifty-fifty chance of actually even looking for any monsters surrounding the camp. She did a quick survey of the camp and came to a decision. "Hope, you're with me."
"What? Oh, okay." Hope said. He jumped to his feet and moved to follow his mentor who had already started to walk off. Fang turned her head from where she was sitting watching the fire and instead watched the two l'cie walk away.
"Huh." Vanille said as she looked at Fang, "She usually goes with you."
"Yeah." Fang responded absently, she then recovered and added, "Well, guess she just wanted to take the kid."
"I guess."
"Hey." Snow suddenly said, "Am I the only one who hasn't spent any time alone with her?"
"I guess you are." Sazh said, "Unless you got to know her before we all met."
"No, I didn't. Serah was always there, and we never stayed for long. I still don't think she likes me very much. But at least she doesn't hit me anymore."
"Yeah, and if it helps, I didn't get to know her too much before she ditched us."
"So you haven't spent any time with Lightning at all?" Vanille asked.
"Well once. She sort of gave me her approval to marry Serah."
"Really? Well that's a good thing isn't it?"
"Yeah, but she did it while holding her gunblade and telling me not to hurt Serah. I guess that's as good as I'm gonna get though."
"Yeah, Soldier girl ain't exactly one for bein' nice. She ain't mean, but she sure doesn't pull any punches."
"I know what you mean there."
"Am I the only one she hasn't hit?" Vanille asked.
"I don't think she ever hit Hope." Snow answered, "But she sure pushed him around a bit."
"She's got a bit of a soft spot for the kid don't she?" Fang said.
"I think she sorta took him under her wing."
"He does look up to her a lot." Vanille added.
"She treats him kinda like she did Serah." Snow said.
"Maybe that's just her way." Sazh said, "I mean, she is a soldier, maybe she just feels like she's gotta protect somebody."
"That does sound like Light. She always seems cold, but I think we've all figured out she's just a big softie on the inside." Vanille said.
"Yeah, a softie. A softie with a mean right hook." Snow said.
"I'll second that." Fang said. Both sentinels reached up and rubbed their jaw.
The group was broken out of their conversation as they heard something approaching their camp. Looking towards the sound they soon saw Lightning and Hope coming back. Hope immediately walked over and sat down by the fire, while Lightning chose to stand, leaning against a nearby tree. Fang was the first to speak. "So, you two see anything out there?"
"A pack of goblins. Taken out easy enough." Lightning answered, her voice was her usual emotionless tone. After a moment she spoke again. "Alright everyone, we had a long day, but we got a lot done. I'll take first watch, everyone else can turn in." Fang watched the soldier as she moved to sit down while everyone else set down the mats they had taken from their crash site to sleep on.
Fang lay down on the padded ground next to Vanille. The smaller girl pressed up against her and Fang wrapped an arm around her. Sharing a bed was something they had gotten used to back at the orphanage. The war had left so many children without parents that they didn't have enough beds for them all. Vanille also liked having someone nearby when she slept, and Fang never minded the company. Now though she just wanted to sit with Lightning. They hadn't had any time alone together and she missed her, which she thought was weird since they had spoken to each other earlier that very day. Even so, she lay down and closed her eyes. It was easier to just go to sleep, and wait for tomorrow.
Fang awoke slowly, a warm body pressed against hers. A grin came to her face as she thought of Lightning, pulling her closer. A moment later her other senses started to wake up as well. It was the smell that gave it away first, it definitely wasn't the smell of Lightning. Opening her eyes she found it was still dark and that the person in front of her was actually Vanille. She shook her head to drive away the thoughts of what she had just been about to do to her sister.
Sitting up she looked around the camp. The fire was still going, and everyone was asleep. Everyone except Lightning that is, who was currently sitting at the very edge of the camp, away from the fire, staring up at the sky. Fang took a moment to stretch her muscles before she stood up and approached the woman.
From her position behind and to the right of her, Fang could make out a look of wonder on Lightning's face. Taking a moment to admire the expression, she then slowly got even closer, careful not to make a sound as she kept her eyes on Lightning. She was nearly there when she suddenly heard a voice that caused her to jump.
"You're staring again, Fang." Lightning said. Her gaze lowered from the stars to turn towards Fang, who sat down beside her. "What are you doing up anyway?"
"It's my watch now, ain't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Lightning, however, reached for her communicator to check the time.
"Not for another," She began, and then actually saw what time it was, "twenty minutes ago." Fang smirked, Lightning ignored it and put her comm away. Fang broke the silence before it could start.
"So what were ya thinkin' about so hard?" she asked. When Lightning simply raised an eyebrow she added, "Ya lost track of time and ya were staring at the sky. Why's that?"
"Oh, that." Lightning responded, looking back up at the sky. "I was just looking at the stars."
"Oh yeah, that's right. Ya didn't have those on Cocoon, did ya?"
"No, even the hole in Cocoon was shrouded. You could see where it was, but you couldn't see through it. We had the lights from other cities, but it's not the same."
"Yeah, I hear ya there. I remember wakin' up on Cocoon. I didn't notice at first, but when we finally went out at night, I realized they weren't there. I never really gave much thought to 'em until then. Surprisin' what ya actually miss when they're gone like that." Fang was now looking up at the stars as well, her eyes tracing paths, looking for constellations she might recognize. She grinned when she saw a good one.
"Ya see that group of stars right there." She asked, pointing up. Lightning followed the direction to find the group. "Well, back in my time, we had names for some of the groups of stars. They even had stories to go with 'em. Now if ya follow those this way," She moved her arm, drawing out a shape as she followed a line of stars, "ya can see they start to kinda form a shape. Almost like a person ridin' chocobo." Lightning raised an eyebrow and Fang chuckled. "Well ya do gotta use yer imagination a whole bunch."
"Anyway, the story is about that person. Apparently, she was a great Gran Pulse warrior. She hunted down all kinds of monsters ta keep people safe. She was the best there was. Then, one day, she met someone. She was out huntin', ya see, and she heard a great beast roar. She ran towards it, thinkin' ta kill it before it could hurt anyone, but when she got there, it was already dead. Standin' by it was a person she had never seen before. Well as it turns out, this person was from far away. She goes up to 'em and talks to 'em, because she had never met anyone so skilled as to kill powerful beast on their own, except herself of course. She finds out that they're a hunter too, seeking out the best prey to test their skills against.
Well the huntress is always lookin' to protect her people, but she likes to have some fun too. So she makes a deal with them, they fight each other. If she wins, they come back to her village to stay and help protect the village beside her. If they win, they can move on, fully stocked on supplies from her village. Either way, they're gonna get a good fight. The stranger agrees and the battle begins. For hours and hours they fought each other, but neither could get the upper hand. Each blow was matched, each block expected, every step was equal. In the end they fought till neither one could stand anymore.
After they rested, the stranger spoke of who that was the first time anyone had ever matched them. They said they would take up the huntress' offer and join her village, if she would promise to do battle with them again. The huntress had also enjoyed the fight and agreed in an instant. They spent years together, fighting both beasts and each other. Eventually, they grew to love each other, fighting side by side as an unstoppable force. Unfortunately, neither of 'em was immune to time.
The stranger died first, old age and sickness taking them. On their deathbed, they promised the huntress that they would wait in the afterlife. When her time came, she could expect to find them there prepared for battle, a fight for eternity. And so, when the huntress' time came, she lay down in full battle armor. When she died, she passed through Valhalla with a smile on her face, ready to meet her lover again. When Etro, goddess of death and time, saw the joy on her face, and the way the two spent eternity together, she was so touched that she rearranged the stars in their image. For half the year, you can see the huntress on her steed, and for the other half, you can see her lover. So there is always at least one of them in the sky, watching over Gran Pulse."
As she finished her story Fang turned to look at Lightning, who was still staring up at the group of stars. "Wow." She said, "Do all the stars have stories like that."
"Not all of them, but a lot. If ya'd like, I can tell ya some of the others sometime." Lightning turned from looking at the stars at that point and looked at Fang. A small, almost unnoticeable smile formed on her lips. It was more than visible in her eyes though, and that was what held Fang's gaze now.
"I'd like that." She finally said, "I'd like that very much." Fang smiled. Then, slowly, she leaned forward. She tilted her head, leaning in towards Lightning. She could feel the other woman's breath on her lips for a moment. She closed her eyes.
All of a sudden a loud snore ripped through the air and both women immediately looked towards the others. Snow mumbled something as he rolled onto his side. Fang hung her head, the moment was gone now. "Well, I guess it's still my watch. Ya should probably try an' get some sleep." She said. She also decided to wake Snow with a good kick in the ribs when his watch came up.
"Yeah, I probably should." Lightning responded. She stood up and straightened her jacket, smoothing out her outfit. She turned to walk towards the others, but stopped for a moment. In one motion she turned around, leaned down, and pressed her lips to Fang's. The taller woman quickly recovered from her moment of surprise and brought a hand up to rest on Lightning's cheek.
When the kiss ended Fang sat for a moment shock. "Goodnight, Fang." Lightning said. This time she walked away, knowing Fang's eyes were following her. Fang couldn't stop the large smile that came to her face then. "Goodnight, Sunshine." She said quietly, not even realizing that Lightning could hear her. She then turned and starred up at the sky with a smile on her face, already trying to decide which story she could tell next.
As I said before, I know it's been a while, but I just couldn't seem to get this chapter to go. I've also been busy with RL (Finals are done! YAY!), and working on a few other things. As I also said before, I've been having problems with Word (even my error messages get error messages), so I apologize for any mistakes, I rely pretty heavily on Word to point those out. Please feel free to leave a review, any and all reviews help, no matter how big or small. Thanks to all who have review so far. Merry christmas to those who celebrate it, happy holidays if you don't. Hope you enjoyed the story.