A/N: Chapter 20 of Howling Star: Dance in the Shadow of Light. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. FFXIII belongs to Square Enix.
Special thanks goes to those who have reviewed so far and has given this story some love and attention.
Chapter 20: Life on a farm
Lightning's POV
My mind was really reeling, not only did Star leave the group but she ACCUSED me of putting a bullet through her leg. I didn't believe her and I actually pointed my gun at her head. Damn my life doesn't come easy. I looked at everyone trailing behind me and sighed. Somehow, without Star everyone's mood became disgruntled and despair like. Vanille and Hope were together in the back, talking amongst themselves. Fang, Sazh and Snow were looking somewhere else, their minds wondering off in different directions. With a disarrayed group of troops, there was NO way we can defend Cocoon not to mention defeat Dysley. I caught Fang's eye and inclined my head, silently asking her to take the lead for once. She nodded though she gave me a skeptical look before she took the lead. I trailed behind everyone, letting my own mind wonder off. Frankly what was on everyone's mind, was the fact that Dysley shattered the trust between us. Without trust, we are just a rag-tag team of l'Cie going against the Sanctum.
"Look out!" Hope shouted, shaking me out of my thoughts and we ducked as a group of PSICOM soldiers and fliers zoomed overhead. They disappeared a few seconds later, their droning noises still audible.
"Looks like they're on a hunt or something." Vanille spoke, tilting her head.
"Yeah. Probably something huge if it requires that huge group of numbers. Well as long as they aren't hunting us, I'm not complaining." Snow muttered. Hope and Fang nodded but, I glanced in the direction the PSICOM soldiers disappeared. Half of my heart felt pain and the other half felt relieve. I felt as though I was torn in two. Sure Star had been with us for a while and though her departure hurt us all, it cut me deep...really deep...deeper than the rest of us. However, it wasn't as deep as when Serah left me.
"Hello? Earth to Light? You ok?" I snapped and saw Fang giving me a really curious look.
"What is it Fang?" I asked and she lightly tapped my forehead with a knuckle.
"We're leaving and you're standing there like a stupid oaf...oh sorry that's Snow. You're more like a stoic soldier who must have had something stuck up––"
"If you finish that sentence, I'll make sure you would never live to see the lights of day again.." I growled angrily as Fang tried to keep a straight face but failed at it. She wrapped an arm around my shoulder to support herself since she was laughing really hard as she finished the sentence in her head and I had to drag us both to the others who waited patiently.
"Let's go. I'm taking the lead for awhile." Laughing subsided, Fang regained composure as she announced boldly and walked in front, everyone else following her.
Star's POV
"Grrrrrr God Damn it!" I growled with frustration as I patched my leg the best I could. After a few days of limping and not gaining much distance to wherever I'm going, the leg got infected and it hurts like hell. I learned the basic medical skills from Vanille and Hope when Lightning wasn't watching but, none of them taught me how to clean up an infected wound. I applied gauze and wrapped my leg with rags, the bloodied ones littered on the ground. I figured that working my way slowly on three limbs was better than hopping on one. Luckily in my wolf form, the bindings fit perfectly around my right leg. I carried my backpack full of belongings in my mouth as I limped along. Unfortunately, luck was never on my side and I heard PSICOM drones closing in before I saw them. Quickly I dove into some thick shrubs and transformed back into human form as they hovered to the ground. Some of the troops looked around, searching for signs of their target which was me. They found my wolf prints on the ground, those things are not hard to miss.
"Look around, she couldn't go far with that leg wound." One of the soldiers ordered.
"Lucky for us, she was wounded by one of her own so hopefully she'll be a little bit easier to capture. She wouldn't last a year out here anyway." Another one exclaimed as the men continued their patrols. They never suspected the bushes and after a few minutes of searching, left for another area. My head popped up and I made sure they were completely gone. Dragging myself out, I quickly transformed and left with my belongings. I made some stops along the way...I don't even know where I'm going and I think I might be lost. One of the rest spots was this spring I found. The water was sparkling and I gently dipped a paw to test the temperature. It was warm and slowly I allowed my whole body to slip in, tail and all. The water worked it's wonder because my wound infection lightened up a bit, it didn't hurt as much but it still hurts. I sighed as I rest my paws on the bank, allowing the water to sink into the pores of my skin. I felt bliss and I felt as though I was in heaven but, I know I am far from it. I got out before I started pruning and limped away, looking back at the spring with all of its majestic beauty. I call it the Magical Springs and I was sure to return when I'm done with my journey.
Now about those PSICOM soldiers...they caught up with me and now I'm running for my life, limping for my life. With my infected leg wound, I used the rest of my limbs to get me somewhere...anywhere. Even if I have three limbs, I'm still pretty fast. The only thing I hate is that...I'll be frank here, I'm freaking HUGE. Remember how I said that I was almost as tall as Barthandelus himself? Yeah, I'm not that hard to spot. I had two options here: One is being the way I am, huge and easily spotted. Two is going human and allow myself to be slower and literally drag my foot. I spotted a farm up ahead and decided to go with option two and immediately shrunk in size, disappearing within the tall canopies. The PSICOM group flew overhead and missed my hiding place. I smiled as I heard their droning disappear and quickly made my way to that farm I saw, night time was falling fast.
At the farm...
The family I met at the farm were friendly and frankly I'm surprised that they live out here by themselves. Their daughter Emily is only 8 and the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Her mother Susan helped me patch my wound, she was a veteran in the war so she knows her things. Her father Robert, was a farmer/ business man. He works in the fields on the weekends and goes to the city which was a few miles away for some business and leaves his wife and daughter to tend to the animals and such. Since I had to repay my debt because Susan fixed my leg, I spent my days on their farm: weeding, plowing, planting, shopping, playing with Emily and cooking. I had to show the family who I really was, which was hard because they the parents, shrieked when I morphed in their house, not a lot of space and my back almost damaged the ceiling. Emily didn't mind, she would giggle and grab my fur. She started calling my name, then changed it when I'm in wolf form and so she mingled them both together and now she calls me Star Wolfie.
"Star Wolfie! Star Wolfie!" She would call out as we played together, don't worry my paws were sheathed so that they won't hurt her. We would play horse, hide and seek or peek-a-boo. I felt as though I belonged here, life on a farm was much more rewarding than I ever thought possible. At night, I would sleep in the hayloft in the barn and crack open the window to stare at the stars above me. Sometimes, I wish I could stay here forever. However, I began to feel a little homesick. Being with this family brings back memories of my own and I really want to get back as soon as possible.
A/N: Done! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please take my poll on this story, it would really help in the development of future chapters. :D