Hey everyone, thanks for the continued support and reviews. I'm just going to put a barrage of stuff here because everyone can read this so here goes: Thanks to Cereza101 for the review: Yes having Sam around will mean more jokes and more bickering, I guess lol. Thanks to grandshadowseal for the review: Harrie reminds me of Sunny too haha. But this chapter might reveal s'more... Thanks to Axrel for the review: yeah I haven't updated since last year so... sorry :( But thank you for still reading this fic! -cries- Thanks to UltraVioletSoul for the super-duper long reviews and I think its great as to how much you have analyzed about this fic! Its amazing! Thanks for reviewing every chapter too :) I really appreciate it. Think you can do it again? Haha joking joking! Thanks to witch of blood for reviewing, there is more fluff to come! Thanks to The Predicate for reviewing- omg I forgot about that! Man my brain sucks :O Thanks for Valoja for reviewing: I'm so glad you are stil lreading my fics -cries- it means so much to me...
Anyhoo I got a quick update for you all today! Enjoy!
SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS
He'd been sent on another mission.
Tetsuo folded his glaive and stuck it firmly to one side of his small aircraft. It had a small compartment and grip especially built to carry the weapon. Once he seated himself, he steered the small flightship off the dock and in seconds, he had left the capital and was in the wilderness. A few Gekkos were patrolling the land whilst some RAYs hovered overhead, ready to take down any trespassers. Tapping at the dashboard, he drew up a map and there was a little blinking red dot on one side of the diagram. His lips curled into a snicker. It looked like the cyborg and the girl hadn't traveled far from Denver, having merely passed Shadow Mountain Lake. He wondered where they were heading.
You can run and you can hide as much as you want, but I'll find you, he thought, You can't escape, Harriet Emmerich.
MEANWHILE
"How old are you, chica?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"No. Do you know how old you are?"
"No. I lost track of the years." Sam replied, and Raiden made a noise and both Sam and Harrie turned to him. "You got something you want to say?"
"...Why are we having this conversation?" Raiden questioned.
"A little small talk can't hurt," mused Sam as he trailed beside them, his sword swinging from his belt. "And how old are you, Blondie?"
He felt uncomfortable, and as he fumbled to reply, Harrie tightened her arms around the cyborg's neck absent-mindedly. For the umpteenth time, Raiden tensed all over. "I think Raiden's more than a hundred years old."
"Then you were alive before this happened?" Sam asked.
It was strange hearing this. Raiden grunted, "You were alive too, Sam."
The Brazilian raised a dark eyebrow. "So the cyborg speaks in riddles." He murmured.
"Where did you come from, Mr Sam?"
Sam shrugged. "I came from here and there."
"Look who's talking." Raiden uttered under his breath.
And Sam let out a bark of laughter. "Fine, I get it. Me and you, Blondie. We will never get along, compreende? Although I don't know what I have done to deserve such hostility..."
"You just remind him of someone he used to know." Harrie said quickly. She was trying hard to diffuse the sticky tension between Sam and Raiden.
It had been like that for a few hours now. They'd left the vicinity of Shadow Mountain Lake, with no cyborgs or bandits in their way. At least two or three days had passed. It was easy to lose track of time and the timer on Harrie's neck was ticking down, fast. Once they left the woodlands they found themselves on a deserted road. Cyborg and MG-free for the time being, the trio made their way down this desolate path where they saw no-one, not even an animal or tree in sight, just mountains and dunes and sandy, rocky outlines. A rusted sign nearby said 'Idaho." and it appeared they were on a highway of some sort... and the sign also outlined the distance away in several kilometers. They still had a long way to go.
Sam didn't seem to be exhausted from their long walk. He was keeping up with them with no problem at all. Raiden hardly felt fatigue or exhaustion; he could go on for hours and hours and he could still continue, even if it was pitch black. On the other hand, Harrie was getting a little tired of being carried by Raiden. She appreciated his concern and she liked the thought of being carried (although it was a little embarrassing at first), but his metal arms around her were starting to bruise her slightly, and all in all...it was uncomfortable. To prevent herself from slipping off every now and then, she had to renew her grip around his neck. Everytime she did such a thing, however, she noticed that his pulse spiked somewhat.
"I have never seen you before in my entire life." Sam muttered, breaking her out of her trance, "But I have to admit, I am curious. Blondie, if you were really alive all those years ago, what was it like before all of this?"
Raiden glanced away to the downtrodden path before them. "...There were more people around, that's for sure. There were cars. Buildings. Television. Radio. Music. Internet."
"Oh!" Harrie suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "I know! I know! I know all about the internet. It was this amazing feature that computers used to have. They could use it to connect to people halfway across the world. People could look up anything and use it for anything."
"Sounds interesting." Sam commented.
"What happened?" Raiden asked.
"Cyborgs hacked it and used it as a frequency instead." Harrie replied morosely.
Raiden gave her a jilted look. "Any way we can change that?"
"...You need to find the cyborg capital. Only then can we find out what's really going on and perhaps find a way to shut them all down. I have a theory, you know. The cyborgs, I think they operate on a complicated, hive-like intranet."
Sam suddenly laughed, eyes squeezing shut with mirth. "Ha! You two speak as if you want to rid the world of all cyborgs."
Harrie and Raiden exchanged glances before they averted their gaze to him. "...Don't you want that too, Mr Sam?"
"It's an impossible feat. Ridding the world of cyborgs is akin to ridding the world of cockroaches."
"Not really. We just need to find who's behind this war." Harrie replied, although she appeared a little sullen by Sam's surprisingly carefree attitude towards this. "...Do you know anything, Mr Sam? if there is anything you do know, please share."
"No, I do not know much." He said, shrugging casually, "I just know how to get by."
"You know...Raiden's the only cyborg known to assist humans."
Sam snickered. "So that's why Blondie is so special to you."
She blushed deeply in response and began spluttering. "W-well, I – Raiden – he is, um...well – " As she fought to speak, Sam only chuckled louder whilst Raiden decided to keep quiet.
The journey continued.
"Stop!" Harrie suddenly cried, and Raiden skidded abruptly on his metal heels, coming to a grinding halt. She had practically yelled in his ear and now she was pointing to the ground in front of him. "Raiden, look..." Harrie murmured, gesturing excitedly, and Sam followed Harrie's gaze, his eyes landing on the little green sprout which Raiden was about to trample over with his one-tonne clawed foot. Eyebrow raised, Sam watched as Raiden let Harrie down and she squatted beside it. "...Wow..." She breathed in amazement.
The cyborg was far from impressed. "It's just a weed, Harrie." Raiden replied, but he elicited no response. The girl was staring inquisitively at the plant; it was merely a few tufts of green leaves poking out of the ground, but she appeared fascinated by it. Glancing around, Raiden then noticed that it stuck out like a sore thumb amongst their surroundings. Amongst the barren wasted landscape, the gray and the brown dusty, chalky roads, was this little green shrubbery. He wondered where it came from and how it even managed to grow considering the deadness of the land.
"Such a pretty color..." He heard her murmur, whilst Sam scrutinized the plant with little interest that rivaled his own.
"Harrie, let's go. We can't stay here." He said. She made a noise of discontent, but Raiden picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck again as he held her. "Comfortable?" He asked, and she nodded a little weakly. "Hungry?"
"No."
"Thirsty."
"Nope. I'm fine, let's just go." She said, and he picked up their pace again, with Harrie throwing glimpses over her shoulder every now and then. "Do you think it'll be okay?" She asked.
"Yeah."
"How can you be so sure?"
A memory flickered into life from the depths of his mind and he thought about Rose. On some occasions, she would do the gardening in their rear garden...As much as she was a messy person, ironically she didn't like having messy gardens. He remembered when she would do the gardening; she hated those pesky weeds with a passion. They just kept growing back no matter how much she snipped or pulled at their roots or threw weed-killer over them. They just coming back with a vengeance. Eventually, she did give up. "They're weeds, Harrie. They grow quickly." He uttered.
"Okay, if you say so..."
A few hours later, it was beginning to get dark and Raiden suddenly felt her drooping over him, her arms leaving his neck. He stopped, turned slightly to her. "Harrie?" There was no response, but her eyes were closed and she was drooling slightly over his shoulder. He rolled his eyes at the sight, "Urh...Harrie..."
"The chica is tired." Sam replied, glancing around the empty path, "We should find a place to rest for the night."
For once, he agreed with their new travel companion and together, they found a small cave up ahead where Raiden lay Harrie down on the cold floor, propping the rucksack underneath her head as a makeshift pillow while draping the thin blanket over her. She was sleeping lightly, eyes closed. Sam sat opposite him, cross-legged and with his katana resting over one shoulder. He too, looked haggard and weary. Raiden almost pitied their current circumstances. The travel was difficult and he had no idea how much longer it would take to find the Resistance.
"Blondie." Sam began, and the cyborg flicked his eyes to him.
"Yeah?" He said, but Sam merely peered at him, inspecting him thoroughly, "What?"
"Nothing. I've just never seen a cyborg so close up before. Especially a human one. The craftsmanship and skill is impeccable. Aperfeiçoado."
Raiden threw his glance to Harrie next, knowing that she was responsible for all his enhancements. "I've still got a long way to go."
Sam grinned. "Yes, you swing your sword like it was a child's toy."
He grunted in response. "...Like I need you to tell me that."
"Blondie?"
"What now?"
"Something has been bothering me. The chica...she asked where I come from. I suppose it has troubled me on some occasions, but I do not dwell on it much," Sam replied; with a sigh, he rubbed at the back of his unkempt dark hair revealing a low ponytail that was beginning to fall out, loose strands of hair trailing over his broad shoulders. Averting his gaze to the mouth of the cave where the sky was darkening, he murmured, "When I woke up, the world was already in this state. And I was unclothed and in a peculiar place."
"Huh?"
"I do not remember my childhood. I do not remember my family. Like the rest of my men, they do not remember either. This peculiar place... when I woke up, I climbed out of a large...this large..." He struggled for words, eyebrows furrowing, "...large bacia, and I found and picked up my sword. And then I just left and came here, to Shadow Mountain Lake, where I simply started...living."
The cyborg was steely silent for a few moments. "That's weird." was his comment.
The Brazilian grinned. "You think so too, Blondie?"
"You...really don't remember me? At all?"
Sam squinted his eyes at him. "No. I do not. Your face is not familiar to me." Then, he chuckled, "Well, that's enough about me...Now, about you and the chica. She likes you a lot. It's kinda cute, no?"
He bristled all over. "Harrie and I are close. I made a promise to someone; I'm looking after her from now on." He murmured. It was true, he could say they were close to a certain extent.
"I once knew a chica." Sam replied, "She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life."
"Oh yeah? And what happened?"
It was then Sam shuffled slightly and inhaled a short breath as he reminisced. "One winter, it got so cold that we lost five men. I did everything I could, but the days were harsh and unforgiving. One by one, my men dropped dead like flies, just like that. She was...well, her sickness, it did not improve. I stayed with her until the very end; I held her in my arms and I watched the life escape from her eyes."
"I...I'm sorry." Raiden murmured, only for Sam to chuckle weakly under his breath.
"I was kidding." He said; and then his lips spread widely but in the darkness, Raiden couldn't tell if he was smiling or grimacing, "She got caught by those bastardo you slaughtered and after they took their turns raping and beating her, she killed herself."
Harrie opened her eyes, and blinked.
Raiden was before her.
Looking left and right, they didn't seem to be outside or anywhere in general. Sam was also nowhere to be seen. "Is this a dream?" She murmured, and when her gaze landed on Raiden's form, her eyes widened at the sight. She reached forwards, her hand landing on his bare, ivory arm. He was soft to touch, his flesh pale and lined with some thin, bluish veins. "Raiden? You're...human."
He glanced down at himself before he lifted his head, met her gaze. "Yeah."
"But how?"
"Does it matter?"
She placed her other hand on his chest where she could feel the rhythmic pulse of his beating heart. "So this is what you looked like when you were human..." Leaving her sentence to trail, she looked up and his light, blue-gray eyes locked with her own. "...You're so warm." She muttered.
"Harrie." He said, his mouth moving. He also seemed to have closed in, stepping closer to her.
"Your chin." She pointed out with an astonished gasp. No longer was his lower jaw one of cold, hard metal. "This is...this is...I can't believe it...!"
He nodded. "I know."
Entranced by his intense gaze which seemed to pull her in deeper and deeper, Raiden's face was suddenly close to hers; she swallowed down the apparent lump in her throat, her body trembling slightly as she raked in his form. He was so beautiful. She had always known he was. He was too beautiful to be human, to be a cyborg... to lead the sad, lonely life he had led for the past few decades as outlined in his log. To have witnessed his loved ones pass away whilst he remained without a cause. What a waste.
"My parents." She whispered, with her lips millimeters from his, "The day my parents died, they showed me a picture of you. Since then, I knew I had to find you. I looked everywhere and I never gave up. You don't know how important you are to me. I've been so scared...but now I'm not. Because you're here and it's all because of you. And I trust you and I know you're the one. You're the one, Raiden."
"Harrie." He said again.
"Y-yes?"
He took hold of her arms; his grip on her was strong, firm but gentle. Raiden was closing into her faster now, and she didn't know how to react. But wait... he had a wife...he had a child... he was older than her...all that seemed to vanish from her mind when their faces lingered even closer and closer and as their lips met, she closed her eyes, her heart fluttering –
Harrie woke up, eyes jerking open.
It was pitch black.
Night-time.
Just a dream...
She could see a silhouette opposite her – it was Sam. He appeared to be sleeping, sitting upright and with his katana beside him. He was however, gripping the holster tightly. A rather unsettling habit of his, she assumed, to sleep but to still have a weapon beside him. Raiden was beside her, although he was moaning and grunting something inaudibly under his breath, eyebrows furrowing, arms clinching, fingers scraping into his palms. The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, she thought, as she glanced at him worriedly. She ran her hands over her face, brushing her hair back as she contemplated the vivid dream.
Am I...am I in love with Raiden?