XXI. The First Step

The grass under their feet was wet with morning dew that glistened in the pale morning light. The world existed in a precarious still silence – one that neither of them wanted to ruin with their words. The last insects of the deep night mingled with the first ones awake for the morning; flowers slowly unfurled, some of which glowed with faint blue-green light. Their footsteps were measured and silent on the grass, on the stone, on the sand as they entered town – over the stretched wire, into the town square. None of the residents were awake yet, of course – or, if they were, they were enjoying the sunrise from their homes. They made short work of the path from their house before descending to the Winding Way, discarding the shade of trees. The sandy stone from there was just lined with grasses that struggled to survive, struggled to find a foothold in an environment wholly unsuitable for them. But this was Gran Pulse, and nothing on its surface was exactly known for just giving up.

Yeul's breath was soft, slow, and even – even in his arms; Caius made sure that his footing was sure and that he didn't handle her too roughly so that she didn't stir. He'd walked this path with her so many times recently – it had almost become second nature. His heart ached when he thought of this time as the last time.

The sun had only started to peek over the water by the time Etro's l'Cie ascended the steps into the NORA house. Snow could be heard snoring in the master bedroom but Serah was up and about, still in her nightgown, and she acknowledged them with a nod. Noel greeted them with a smile before bringing a mug of coffee to his lips and attempting to blink the sleep from his eyes. Lightning returned the gesture, and Caius – Caius tried to. It wasn't a very successful effort, and he knew that everyone could tell, and so instead his gaze fell to the seeress in his arms, curled into his chest, fast asleep, and almost unbearably warm. She looked so damn peaceful, a soft smile upon her lips, and… Caius swallowed hard before taking her over to the couch and gently laying her down. It would have been simple – she would remain asleep and they would leave and get this done and… His heart leaped a bit when she stirred, opening her eyes a bit and reaching for his hand.

"You're leaving?" she asked softly as Caius enclosed one of her hands in one his. He hushed her softly, goading her to close her eyes once more before brushing some stray strands of hair away from her face with his free hand – his fingertips just barely grazed her cheek, and when his touch fell away completely she squeezed his hand as best she could in a silent, though far from decisive, plea to stay. But he knew that she knew he couldn't do that, not if the integrity of the future were to be preserved. If he faltered, if he changed his mind – she would be forced to see the new future. Her life would be shortened even further. And Caius… Wasn't sure which part of him would win out – the part that desired to protect Yeul at all costs and free her from her ultimate fate, or the part that couldn't stand to see her unhappy or alone.

He drew in close and whispered, "I'll be back soon." She seemed to relax a bit, loosening her grip on his hand as he pressed his lips ever-so-softly to her forehead. "I promise." He hesitated, lingering a bit longer before drawing back and away, letting his hand slip away from hers.

"We'll take good care of her," Serah said with a smile once he turned away from his seeress. "Promise."

He forced himself to meet her gaze. "I know."

Lightning offered him a reassuring smile, crossing her arms over her chest. Her good-byes to Serah already made, the two sisters seemed to be at least… at peace. He wished he could say the same for himself, but he knew that his resolve would shatter in an instant if he turned and allowed Yeul a chance to beg him to stay. "Ready?" she prompted, voice so uncharacteristically gentle that it actually caught Caius off-guard for a moment.

He cast his gaze to the ground. 'No.' That was definitely the answer. His lips parted briefly, but knowing that his voice would betray him, he nodded in confirmation instead. He adjusted the way the backpack sat, hanging off his shoulder, before stealing a glance to Noel and following Lightning after she bowed her head in a solemn good-bye before descending the steps. And the Guardian followed suit, squaring his shoulders and setting his jaw. Their footsteps stirred the sand as they departed.

For whatever reason, the path away from the town was far more difficult than the path to it. His feet felt unbearably heavy, and despite all efforts to quiet his mind and focus on the road ahead, his thoughts kept wandering to Yeul behind them, how happy she'd be if he returned and scooped her up in his arms and just… Carried her away, Focus forsaken and whatever future she'd seen that had brought her to tears forgotten. Held her close and pressed soft, soothing kisses to her forehead as a parent might – stroked soft circles on the smooth skin of the back of her hand with his thumb as he told her all of her favorite stories in a hushed voice. He focused his gaze ahead, to some undetermined point beyond the rose-haired warrior whom led the way. She practically marched ahead, and he made sure to follow her example – well, he didn't march exactly seeing as keeping up with her was a fairly easy feat, but he focused on keeping pace, maintaining a steady distance.

As they reached the horizon just barely beyond the crater, neither of them looked back once.

By late morning, New Bodhum had disappeared from even the furthest horizons, and Lightning's legs were beginning to ache, but she was more than capable of dealing with it and continuing onward. Her brand burned between her breasts – and she brought one hand up to cover it as they hiked. The cover of trees had long been left behind, leaving only rocky, elevated pathways and grassy plains below. Some shrubs jutted out of the gravel – some of them bore fuchsia berries. After looking to Caius for any sign of approval (which eventually came as a nod, once she managed to get his attention), she plucked some of the best-looking, cleanest ones – then bubbled them in a Water spell before she popped them into her mouth and ate them as a snack. They were juicy but a bit tart – although after chewing slowly, they started to show their natural sweetness. Not too bad, really.

They traveled in silence for the most part, which suited her just fine. There wasn't really a lot to say, was there? Few battles they had to get through (most monsters seemed content to leave them alone, although Lightning's hand lingered by her gunblade and Caius's hand rested on the grip of his within the sling at his hip that attached handily to where the belts at his waist already attached. She caught herself casting a glance over her shoulder to make sure Caius was still along for the ride, and he followed a few feet behind her, keeping pace easily with long, smooth, quiet strides even when there were gaps to jump or rocks to climb. The growing heat of the day didn't seem to bother him for the most part, although given the fact that he dressed in black leather – not exactly the most suitable summer attire – she suspected that that wouldn't be the case forever. She donned her Guardian Corps uniform for this trip; it proved to be absurdly comfortable to travel in during her time as a Pulse l'Cie.

By the time the sun reached its apex of its path across the sky, they reached the height of their climb; Lightning paused to look out over the vast, plain below; the way the wind stirred the tall grass just about made it look like there was nothing but green water below. Darker green trees poked above the horizon through gaps in the cliffs and faults that lead to rolling hills beyond. Her lips parted and her breath escaped her with a sigh; before she'd even noticed it, Caius had taken a few steps past her and paused, staring her down and patiently waiting for her to continue. In due time, she did, and the vast expanse was left behind in favor of a rocky path reminiscent of a wider, more spacious Vallis Media with walls that didn't make it feel anywhere near as claustrophobic on the inside. Cave systems opened up at some points – but despite gnawing curiosity, she continued on track.

"In the past, this route was one favored by various nomads making their way to Oerba."

"Perfect for us, then."

"If only. The useful tunnels caved in centuries ago after heavy rains made it impossible for them to support themselves. They're all closed off now – by the earth itself and no doubt the support beams that buckled under the weight of mountains."

"… Guess nothing's easy."

"Unfortunately. But if you'd like, we could delay our journey further and clear the way. It should not be hard for two l'Cie and their eidolons."

Lightning snorted. "That'd probably take too long – and if it caved in once, it could cave in again."

"You don't want to find out what it feels like to be crushed to death?" He actually laughed a bit to punctuate the statement; Lightning didn't think it was very funny, quite frankly. "Or to suffocate? Or be buried alive?"

"Hardly. You can just tell me all those riveting stories over a camp fire."

Pause. "I've been crushed – thanks to you – but never buried alive and I've never suffocated, either." He cast his gaze downward. "I'm not keen on finding out what they feel like."

A chill ran down Lightning's spine. "That killed you?"

"Were you not expecting it to?"

"No, I just – I kept track of your deaths for a while. Checked your pulse and everything." Admittedly it was easy to jump to conclusions; she hadn't seen any blood then and after a while he reappeared no worse for the wear and ready to leap into battle once more. So she assumed he'd just been stunned. Apparently not.

"You would draw so close to an immortal enemy?" Tsk, tsk. "How reckless." A smile teased at his lips, and he pushed his headband up a little.

"Call it morbid curiosity—" she cleared a tree's roots and the tall stack of rocks that they were embedded in in a few bounds, then took a breath before continuing—"I… Wasn't convinced that the Heart actually brought you back."

"My body can only take so much. Even if my limits are… Far beyond normal." Pause, in both speech and step. "Let's stop talking about this."

She hummed in response. "Sure."

They continued on, and eventually trees sprouted at the top of the cliffs, providing them with some much-appreciated shade. They passed by heaps and piles of rock and gnarled roots and each obstacle was passed clearly, but around mid-afternoon they saw fit to rest. They must have traveled around fifteen miles, give or take, and Lightning's legs thanked her immediately when she took a seat against the back of the cliff in the shade. Caius let the backpack drop; she fished through it until she pulled out a still-ice-cold thermos and popped it open before taking a nice, long sip of water. Some mostly-melted ice cubes bumped against her lips momentarily before she closed the thermos and returned it to the bag.

Caius took a seat beside her after a few moments, and she gave his shoulder a pat. He grunted and looked at her, but she only offered a smirk in response. After a moment, his breath left him in a sigh and he looked away, folding his hands in his lap.

And they just sat like that, quietly. The air around them wasn't as hot as she'd expect given that it was a clear summer day – but perhaps the elevation and the shade helped to keep them cool. That didn't stop Caius's armor from radiating heat – and she was fairly sure that if she touched his ornate chestpiece she would probably burn herself. She almost felt sorry for him, but she supposed that the armor held up to the test of time well enough that anything else would just be a waste of time. He took deep, measured breaths and let his eyes slip closed after a while; while the idea of a nap was appealing to her as well, she took it upon herself to keep him from dozing off with a decidedly less gentle pat on the shoulder.

He grunted and she rose. "Let's stop here for today," she said, and he nodded. "I'll collect kindling and wood – and scout the area for danger. You take a moment to cool off then look for food and water."

He gave a somewhat stiff nod before pulling pulling a thermos back out of the backpack, searching Lightning's eyes for permission – approval? – and taking a few small, though drawn out, sips of water. She took this as an agreement and after a moment, she set off farther down the main path.

The few monsters she encountered were fairly easily dealt with, and other than them, everything was quiet, calm. The branches of trees stretched above her, apparently intent to compete for sunlight, and before she progressed too far from the area they'd chosen as a stopping point, the foliage blotted out most of the light above and where once the grass had been bright green underfoot, dead foliage gathered. The walls of the cliffs to either side only got steeper, until it was clear that where they had been walking along a mountain path before, they would be headed into a ravine even if they followed one of the side paths. In the distance, she could hear flowing water – good, they didn't have to search too hard for water and didn't have to worry too hard about saving it for the moment. She shifted her Blazefire Saber into its gun form and cocked it, pausing and scanning the shadows of the clearing around her. Rocks jutted up sporadically, providing cover to any potentially hostile creatures, and bioluminescent lichens called them home; gnarled roots blocked off a pathway and the maw of the obviously-caved-in tunnel that she and Caius had discussed earlier in the day was clearly visibly off to her right. Large, heavy rocks plugged the entrance enough as it was – but then, soft earth had gotten into the cracks over the centuries and acted as the mortar to the stone's bricks. There was no way they were going to clear it easily, so it was a damn good thing a detour.

Once she was satisfied that the coast was clear, she returned the weapon to its sling and approached the slowly-rotting remains of a fallen tree. Lightning let her hand trail over it for a moment before she started snapping twigs off of it – just the ones large enough to be used as kindling, until she held a thick bundle of twigs and slightly-fatter sticks in her hand, plucked from what formerly comprised the upper echelons of the tree. She snapped off some fatter sticks as well and slipped the bundle into the red pouch at her thigh before stretching and testing a few branches. A few of the smaller, shorter ones would be simple to snap off, and in short order they were separated from the trunk – but there wasn't many of them, and Lightning soon had to get creative.

She tried her namesake first, and the reaction when the bolt of electricity struck the tree was instantaneously – the wood splintered and cracked and exploded, sending fragments of wood flying everywhere. She yelped, and kicked herself for having not expected it – but at least the tree was split open. She tried Blizzara next, letting the large ice crystal form in the air above her before she drove it into the crack down the middle of the trunk, splitting it further and almost separating the long tendrils of fragmented wood from the rest of the mass. Satisfied that this would work well enough, she released the spell and the ice melted instantaneously – then she drew in a deep breath, cleared her mind, and conjured a new spike of ice.

It took a bit, but before long she had a nice stack of wood to carry back; she couldn't carry it all and had to make two trips, unfortunately, but what she had gathered would probably last them the night. She returned to their clearing and shoved the wood aside before takign a moment to catch her breath and gather herself. She was a warrior, yes – but she just wasn't built for heavy lifting. She would have had Caius gather the wood but surely he was better for more than just lugging heavy things about; he'd lived off of what the wilds of Pulse had to offer him for centuries, and even before she took a shining to the NORA gang for whatever reason, she seemed pretty well put-together. Even fresh out of the Dying World, when she and Caius first met in Valhalla, he seemed pretty well taken care of.

She cast her gaze to the sky – the sun wasn't anywhere near setting, but it had already disappeared from sight behind the trees. She was already hungry again – but she could wait for the time being. Caius was nowhere to be seen, but she assumed he'd slipped down a branching pathway from their little clearing.

There were only three ways in or out of the area if one didn't want to climb the cliffs – the way she'd come and that path's continuation, then the path formed from a partially-blocked fissure that tree roots attacked with glee. The clearing itself was roughly circular and the soil was dark and harbored bright green grass, although a fair bit of the ground was exposed. Rocks gathered toward the bottom of the cliffs – some big, some small, and among the rocks was the backpack, apparently left there by the Guardian even as he struck out in search of food for the evening ahead. And in the center of the clearing, Lightning started pulling up grass and exposing the dirt underneath in an effort to construct a small, makeshift fire pit – just enough for light and warmth during the night, although the warmth they could likely do without if they really wanted to. But they would, at least, need a way to boil water if they were going to collect more before the day was out – and cook, if meat happened to be on the menu.

She hummed a tune as she worked.

It was fairly late when Caius returned (the sky's bright blue had begun to mellow out), but when he did so it was with a canteen full of small fruits – barely bigger than the typical strawberry and encased in what appeared to be a thin, bright orange skin reminiscent of a grapefruit's rind – and a few damp leaves tucked into the side of the container. But he didn't linger long before he set off again – after removing the decorations from his headband and setting them aside and telling her to get the fire started. After he was gone, Lightning took a moment to curse him – though not seriously. But where did he get the nerve, ordering her around? She took a moment to put the small string of beads and the feathers from his headband into a somewhat safer place atop the backpack before rummaging through the canteen. She bit into one of the fruits in a fit of curiosity after failing to peel back the deceptively thin skin – and they were so sickly sweet that she was tempted to toss them and scold Caius for even thinking about bringing them back. She told him to get food, not fruit which seemed to provide a mouthful of saccharine in lieu of actual nutrition.

Then she turned her attention to the fire she was supposed to be building and, after digging some fire starter out of the bag, she started putting it together. The kindling found its purpose and caught nicely, but much of the main fuel did not until she dried it out a bit with a brief Fire spell – but by the time she'd gotten the larger chunks of wood dried out, much of the kindling and tinder had turned to ashes and the embers were beginning to fade away, so she had to start over with another small chunk of fire starter and a bit more of the kindling she collected.

But by the time the fire was started properly, Caius returned with three large, black fish with shiny, thick, bony scales that made them resemble reptiles a bit more than fish. Her mouth watered a little at the sight – though they were raw and cleaned somewhat sloppily and skewered through the eye with the long, long stick on which they were carried and would likely be cooked.

At least for tonight, they were going to eat pretty well – between the fish and well, if Caius wanted the fruit he could very well have it.

He turned over one of the fragrant, green leaves he'd collected earlier in the day several times in his hand. The sun's light had already mostly faded away and night was warm, so he kept his distance from the fire – he'd done enough sweating for the day. Lightning cast testing gazes over to him a few times as she picked apart her fish, eating the meat off of the bones. He'd already downed the other two and several of the fruit – and he wished he'd listened to Lightning when she turned down his offer and complained that they were way too sweet, but he didn't and he ended up tossing the rest away. What a shame.

"Thanks for dinner." Lightning's voice pierced the silence suddenly when she had picked the last of the meat from her fish and cast what little was left into the fire to turn to ash with the other two cleaned skeletons.

"You're welcome." He forced a smile before slipping the leaf in his mouth – the taste wasn't too pleasant, but it cooled his palate and after a few moments he got used to it. Lightning cast him a questioning look, to which he readily replied, "Mint."

"Ah." Pause. "Could I have some?"

"If you're willing to come get it."

The blue-eyed woman snorted and stayed precisely where she was for a moment before rising and walking around the fire to join Caius on the other side; he slipped one of the remaining leaves into her hand and she wrinkled her nose at the taste but kept chewing. "Blech. Nothing like actual breath mints."

An amused hum. "Artificial flavors are often misleading."

"Mm. I know." Pause. "You've been awfully quiet today."

He let out a quiet sigh. "There is… a lot on my mind."

"Yeah? Don't start getting any ideas."

"You needn't worry, Lightning. We just need to keep moving..."

He could feel her eyes on him, scrutinizing every last detail of his visage – and he shifted a bit uncomfortably before donning a mask of grim neutrality. How easy it was to let his guard down after a long day on the road – after he'd grown accustomed to the comforts of the peaceful lives of Cocoonites. But it was too late, he knew; she'd already discerned far more than he would have liked. Caius cast his gaze away, into the fire, as the woman beside him spoke – "You're hung up on something. Spill it."

"I'd prefer not to."

"And I'd prefer not to push it, but I'm not going all the way to Oerba with you all melancholy." Long road ahead of them, with the direct route blocked off; they'd have to detour out to Taejin's Tower unless they wanted to blaze a path of their own through the mountains, which would likely take longer than strictly necessary. He'd given Yeul his word that he would return as soon as possible – and that word he intended to keep; in his mind, then, their route was set. And it would be a while… Still, Caius kept his eyes focused on the flickering flames, chewing the mint slowly with his arms crossed over his chest and his back against the cliff. Lightning was silent for a long moment, apparently waiting to see if he would speak, before she pressed him once more: "You'll feel better if you do, you know."

A thoughtful pause, and he swallowed his mint. "It's not about me," he mumbled, just barely loud enough for Lightning to hear, and in the corner of his eye he could see her contented smirk, as if she considered those four words to be some sort of victory on her part.

"It never is, is it?"

"… No." He frowned a bit. And they were both silent for a long few moments – but he knew that Lightning would just press him to go on, so in an effort to save her the trouble, he continued, hesitantly: "I miss her."

"She's in good hands."

"I know. Noel – and the rest – are all more than capable. Still, I… Her various incarnations have been by my side for centuries." He met her eyes then, briefly, and Lightning let her hand rest on his shoulder with a smile. Rather than a verbal reply, his words were instead met with silent understanding – and after a moment, he brushed Lightning's hand away, though not without a grateful smile. "Dwelling on it won't bring her to me, I suppose."

"At least you realize that much." Pause. "I'm in the same boat as you, y'know."

He gave a curt nod. "Your sister."

"Yes. And Snow – as hardheaded as he is. And the rest of them." She swallowed and turned her gaze to the sky – clouds obscured some of the stars overhead, though the sky wasn't near as wide and open as it would have been had they been out in an open field instead. But this… This was still nice. "I've missed them all for a long time, actually," she continued quietly, and perhaps if she hadn't been within an arm's length of Caius, he wouldn't have heard her at all. "It feels like we only got to spend a few moments together before parting ways again."

He offered a slight smile, though it didn't seem that she noticed. "You have quite a few people to welcome you home."

"They're not opposed to welcoming you back, either. And Yeul's waiting with them."

"Depending on how this works out, Yeul and I won't be able to stay for long. But… It'll be nice, to be welcomed somewhere, just once, I suppose." Pause, then a low chuckle. "Look at us. The first night, and we're already looking forward to returning."

Lightning laughed softly along with him for a moment. "It's natural, I guess. We got so used to seeing them every day that now that we've left…"

"It feels empty."

"Yeah."

The flames flickered before them, turning all that was within it to ash. After several moments of comfortable silence, Caius rose and fed the fire with four more pieces of splintered wood – whatever Lightning had done to it, it had certainly been effective enough… The fire welcomed the gift, licking at the wood readily until it, too, was up in flames. "Do you want to rest?"

"Huh?" She cast her gaze over to him after a moment of surprise – apparently, she'd been either captivated by the night sky or lost in her thoughts. "I'm not actually all that tired. You can sleep if you want."

He nodded. "Keep feeding the fire then; the light will keep most of the monsters at bay." And it was a bit difficult to keep watch effectively in the dark when in a space as closed off as this, wasn't it?

"Night, Caius."

A/N: There's not actually a good reason why this took so long... I'm not sure myself! My buffer's been good for quite a while... Anyway, merry Christmas! I made a fan appreciation post on my writing tumblr, Two-Pair, and it can be found here! [ post/134879406014] I know that links aren't clickable here and there's no copy paste, but hey. :)