Dragon Nest Family
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Rain
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The Rain.
It always has been a symbol to Aoshiro. Positive or Negative, he doesn't know.
It rained on the day he was born.
It rained the day his biological mother disappeared.
It rained the day his father remarried.
It rained the day when his step-mother revealed her hate for him.
It rained the day when his step-brother revealed his jealousy towards him.
It rained the day when his father abandoned him at the harsh boarding school.
It rained the day when he came of age.
It rained the day when he first entered the monastary.
It rained the day when he and Brother Jacob initially became friends.
It rained the day when he and Hilal first met.
It rained the day when he became a cleric.
It rained the day when he killed Brother Jacob.
It rained the day when he lost his will to live.
It rained the day when he returned to his old self.
It rained the day when he left his siblings behind.
It rained the day when he found them again.
It rained the day when Gerrant was killed.
It rained the day when he met his mother again.
It rained the day when Vestinel's forces appeared.
It rained the day when the war started.
Yeah, the rain was a symbol in Aoshiro's life.
and now...
Xxxxx
Aoshiro blinked through the haziness of his vision, trailing his right arm to his hand only to find another hand wrapped around his wrist. This caused the Guardian to blink once.
Whose hand was that? And why was it wrapped around his?
"Shiro! You're awake! Thank the Goddess!"
The voice, it sounded so...familiar. Why?
"Hang on Shiro! I'll get us both back up! Just...give me...a second..."
Aoshiro felt himself being lifted slightly before abruplty falling, most likely several inches below form where he had began.
Blinking several more times, the Guardian started to feel the sensation of being in the air, slowly realizing that the hand holding onto his was somehow keeping him aloft.
Oh, so that's why, he thought delirously, shaking his head side to side roughly, struggling to straighten out his vision.
"Don't move Shiro! Otherwise, we'll both fall!"
Fall? What?
In response, the white haired male glanced downwards towards his feet, only to feel his head spin as his eyes saw nothing but the abyss below them.
"Look up Shiro! Look up!"
Though he doesn't know why, Aoshiro obeyed the voice of the owner of the hand, looking up at the face of his supposed savior.
His eyes met with heavy turret of rain, obscuring his vision completly even though he blinked wildly. Eventually, he was able to get a clear look of the person holding onto his wrist.
White hair. Blue eyes.
So familiar but yet...
Wait
"Hilal?" he asked, shaking his head once again, feeling the fogginess clear in his mind.
"So you regained your senses as well? Good," Hilal didn't even wait for an answer, "Can you move?"
What an absurd question, of course I...
Aoshiro paused as he attempted to move his arms, only to see no response.
"...Uh..."
"...I'll take that as a no?"
"...Yeah..."
"Great..."
The Guardian was terrilbly confused. How did this come to happen? All he remembers was-
Oh.
It was coming back to him now, how they ended up here, with Hilal hanging on the side of the rocky abyss while holding onto Aoshiro with one hand.
The four of them, the family, made the decision to split up into two teams. That way, they could cover more ground and eradicate Vestinel's forces faster.
That was the plan anyways.
When Hilal and Aoshiro finished killing off one of Vestinel's army, a Traitor, a warrior who's loyalty lies with the jealous goddess, had appeared and challenged the two clerics. In all honesty, it wasn't a hard battle, since the Traitor was a specialist in bombs and explosives. All the Guardian had to do was block all the attacks meant for them and Saint Hilal could easily heal Aoshiro of the scratches while raining down relics upon their enemy. It was easy but, Hilal and Aoshiro underesimated their opponent.
They thought that they had killed him when Hilal released a bolt of lightning upon the Traitor, turning the male into a pile of burnt crisp. So the two of them turned around to leave, thinking that they have accomplished their mission.
The two clerics should have completely burnt the body to ash.
Almost instantly, when their backs were turned, the Traitor stood up and in a last ditch attempt to kill them, turned himself into a human bomb, hoping to take the two clerics with him. Luckily, Aoshiro saw the last minute attack and placed himself between the explosion and his brother, taking the full brunt foce of the bomb. The blast was strong enough to carry the two clerics off their feet and into a abyss/crevice that was unfortunately located behind them. Aoshiro must have lost consciousness then, since the next thing he knew, he found himself in this predicament.
The Guardian looked up at the Saint, slowly absorbing the situation.
Hilal must have grabbed onto the side about 1/4 down, grabbing Aoshiro in mid-fall before the Guardian could fall to his death as well. Then the rest of the time when the older cleric have been out, the younger had tried to pull the two of them up, however, made no progression, looking like as though they had fallen further down than where they had started. It was easy to tell, from Hilal's bloody hand and the trail he had left where his fingers had attempted to dig to stop the two from falling further.
Aoshiro knew that they weren't going to make it at this rate. His inability to move his body thanks to fact that had taken the explosion full force was burdening his brother and it didn't help the fact that the Guardian was wearing at least two layers of armor.
Only one solution came into Aoshiro's mind.
"Hilal, stop for a moment."
The Saint paused at his attempt to climb, looking down at his older brother as he blinked several times, "What? Why? You want us both to die here?"
The Guardian smiled at the slight irony, "Actually Hilal, I want you to do one thing for me."
"Now?"
"Now."
"Well what do you want me to do here n-"
The Saint stopped suddenly, his eyes widening in realization as they locked onto his brother's.
"No."
"Hilal, the two of us can't make it, not like this."
"Yes we can! We just hadn't-"
"Hilal! Look at your hand! Do you honestly think you can climb in that kind of condition!?"
The Saint paused, his blue eyes showing hesitation, "But...no, no, I can't do it."
Aoshiro smiled softly, "Of course you can Hilal. Remember that time when you had trouble performing Paralyze Bolt?"
Hilal nodded.
"Just do the same thing except, loosen your grip as you count to 10."
Taking in a shaky breath, Hilal slowly closed his eyes, "1...2...3...," The Saint snapped his eyes open, "Damn it! I can't! I can't do it!"
"Hilal...please," Aoshiro pleaded, "if we both fall, they'll never find us and Khayru and Nabiha will think that we've been taken prisoner by Vestinel. And you know in that kind of situation, they'll do something reckless." The Guardian smiled, "But if one of us makes it out of this, at least...they'll know what happened to the other."
"No..No, no, no, I'm not going to do Shiro, there has to be another way."
Aoshiro sadly chuckled, "I wish there was too, Hilal but.." He looked up at him, "There isn't any other way. So please...just count to 10 alright?"
Feeling the tears form in his eyes, Hilal slowly closed his eyes once again.
"1...2...3..."
The Saint unwrapped one finger.
"4...5.."
another finger was loosen.
"6...7..."
Hilal could feel Aoshiro's hand slipping.
"8...9..."
Three fingers held onto his brother's.
"...10."
The Saint completely loosen his hold, refusing to open his eyes as the whistle of wind blowing through cracks of armor rang in his ears.
It was only when the whistling had faded when the Saint released a roar of grieve.
Xxxxx
He didn't want Hilal to see his death or even be the cause of it.
But Aoshiro didn't have much of a choice.
If Hilal had continued to hang onto his brother, the Saint will eventually tire and his mangled hand will lose hold and the two of them will plummet to their deaths.
So he had wanted him to do it, their eyes already reading each other minds the instant they had locked together.
Aoshiro released a sad smile as he closed his eyes, feeling himself continue to free fall.
The rain, it always had been a symbol for Aoshiro, being a witness to his rise and falls in his life.
And now, it rained the day of this death.
I wanted to incorporate a rain like theme into AU Aoshiro's death..somehow I managed. Dont' ask me how, it just came onto he screen and well...yeah :I
:::Edit: 08/23/2012 (Korea)
Made some changes to the top part cause I figured out some new things about the cleric XD
So yeah XD
:::End Edit:::
~123arcalas