The sky was cloudless and clear, lit only by the light of the crescent moon and stars.

Fang took a deep breath of the frigid air, and even though the scent of incense was still quite strong, she could tell how close they were to the towering pines, even without seeing them. Her blankets were splayed out over the grass, above all of the snow. For a just moment, all she could see was the wide, inky sky, and then all the stars, until a soft set of eyes peered down at her in the dark.

Lightning knelt against the blanket, perched right beside where Fang was resting. "It's getting late."

Fang kept very still for a while, watching the glow of the fire flicker across that smooth, pale face, into the blue of her eyes. "It is..." She reached up to touch at the nearest edge of Lightning's neck, easing her fingertips down over to her jacket, towards the curve of her shoulder. "You want to rest here for the night?"

Lightning relaxed against the touch, and her eyes slowly began to slip shut, leaning forward when Fang moved back up to stroke along her neck, so gentle and soothing. "We could try to get in a few more hours of travel..." She stifled a yawn, and her arms almost buckled beneath her, pleading with her just to lay down and take a cozy nap against Fang's chest, but she merely tightened her fingertips against the blanket. "And I'd rather not sleep out in the open."

Fang moved to stroke her thumb over Lightning's jawline. "We'd be safe here."

Lightning slowly shook her head. "It's not about safety. Not exactly." She opened her eyes again, before she reached up to cover Fang's hand with her own. "Believe me, Fang, I've slept outside more times than I can count... I'd just rather find somewhere else in case it snows again."

"I could melt it away..?" Fang smiled at the sudden look on Lightning's face, that silent sort of turmoil that struggled between simply laying down beside her companion or packing up all of their belongings to find another location near the coast.

Lightning almost seemed to sway, before she steeled herself, gradually leaning back. "Help me pack up?"

With a gentle sigh, Fang shrugged against the blanket. "Alright." She waited for Lightning to let go of her hand, before she rose up as well, sitting there among the grass and chilly winds, beneath the tall, swaying pine trees. "Dinner was nice, by the way."

Lightning had already stood up to walk back towards the fire pit. "I'll teach you how to make griddle cakes tomorrow." She lifted a large canteen from her backpack, before she poured out some of the water against her hand, slowly scattering it down against the glowing coals. "Serah used to make them so much, that one day I just threatened to buy us a cow; you need milk to make them, and we were going through it at an insane rate."

"A cow, eh..?" Fang stretched her arms out above her head, before she slowly back rose back up to her feet, walking over to help pack away their supplies. "Sounds useful."

"I just didn't want to add another chore to the list." Lightning kept tossing water onto the coals, dousing them down until they were completely dark, but even then, she used one of the fire pokers from the grill to turn them over, extinguishing every last hint of flame. "Every day, I have to wake up in the morning to feed the horses and mules, and then the chickens, which also have all of their eggs to take care of... I do take a short break after that, unless something needs to be cleaned out, or repaired, but the stables need daily cleaning."

Fang began to stack up a set of plates and utensils, which were still a bit greasy from the chopped onions and potatoes, the meal that Lightning had cooked for them both. "Busy days..."

Lightning scoffed under her breath. "And that's just the early morning; the horses take turns out in the field, grazing and running around if they like, unless it's a training day, and in the spring, if my neighbors need help with planting crops or furrowing out the fields, I know how to hitch up one of the mules to a plow." She picked up the griddle from the ground, before she stashed it back down inside of Fang's satchel. "I do get help with the morning chores, and everyone does something every day."

Fang took a moment to think over what Lightning had said. "Are the horses aggressive? Why do they have to take turns?"

Lightning stifled the barest hint of a laugh. "No, it's just because we have Shiva around... The rest aren't gelded."

Fang tried to think back to the last time she'd heard that specific word, and when she finally began to remember what it meant, she almost let out a low laugh as well. "Oh."

"Yeah." Lightning stepped over to pick up both of the blankets from the grass. "That's not to say that I wouldn't consider buying a mare to raise a few foals someday, but right now, we just don't need more mouths to feed." She began to fold up the woven blanket sheets, careful not to let them get wrinkled. "But once the chores are done, I can take some time to relax or patrol the valley... At least until dinnertime."

"Well, once you teach me a bit more about cooking-" Fang watched while Lightning put the blankets away. "I could help out with it."

Lightning smiled a little. "You'd have to be invited over for dinner, first."

Fang grinned as well. "Would I get invited if I helped out with the chores?"

"Only if you left the chickens alone..." Lightning strapped down the opening of Fang's satchel, before she stepped away to lift up her own backpack. "And you'd also have to wake up earlier than Hope to take care of the horses; give that kid a job, and he never stops."

"A good work ethic?" Fang smiled when Lightning sat down beside her. "Sounds like you'd have less chores to do."

"He's just a kid... I can't let him take it every day." Lightning looked up, using the moonlight to see where Fang's face was, for the glow of the fire was long since extinguished. "He deserves time to relax."

"Early teens, you said..? It'd be good for him to have a job like that." Fang watched the way that Lightning's eyes had to keep refocusing within the dark, and for a moment, she wondered what it might be like to have lessened eyesight like that again, unaided by her dormant dragon form. "Responsibility and all."

Lightning took a moment to think it over, just sitting there, resting so silently upon the ground. "I just remember what it was like at that age; he gets so closed off sometimes, and I don't want to push him before he's ready for it."

"You are a very good sister..." Fang reached out to hold one of Lightning's shoulders. "Family isn't always blood, Light, and I bet he's just glad you're looking out for him."

Lightning went silent again for a while, listening to the sounds of the wind, to the creaking trees, even the way that the grass rustled back and forth, before she finally spoke again. "Before we left home... I had to make sure Serah didn't turn out like I did."

Fang frowned slightly, but she kept quiet while Lightning spoke.

"We'd spent a year trying to rebuild, to bury all the ashes... And then, when the world just-" Lightning paused, straining, and Fang could see the sudden swell of tension in her eyes, even within the dark. "We just left... We left almost everything behind, and at first, I didn't even feel angry." She leaned forward slightly, trying to hide away the look on her face. "I was empty... I felt empty, all up until I got it back, years later."

"All that trauma, Light..." Gently, Fang squeezed her shoulder. "It shocks you, doesn't it? When you get distant, it brings you back to that moment?"

Lightning nodded, still gazing at the ground. "Serah and I, we don't talk much about home." She looked down at herself, at those hands, the ones that had once held her sister down beneath the waves, keeping her away from such deadly flame, the same hands that had once blistered within the heat of boiling blood and fire, yet they just kept stabbing down upon that scaly neck, rending it apart. "Serah... For a while she wouldn't even talk about how they were gone; she'd just sit there on the sand, like she was sleeping with her eyes open."

Fang didn't even move when Lightning suddenly crept forward, but when she felt her body sink down, resting atop her own lap, it was all she could do to just hold her, wrapping her arms around Lightning's waist.

"I took it all, all for myself... I worked it off, helped everyone get their houses back up, and I took care of her." Lightning pressed her forehead against Fang's shoulder. "I let myself take it all so she wouldn't have to... And when we left, she wasn't empty for it."

"You let her heal." Fang smoothed her hand along Lightning's back, even if she could barely feel much through the thick fur of her jacket. "You... Don't feel empty now, do you?"

Lightning closed her eyes. "Sometimes."

Fang let out a deep breath, and she tipped her head back, gazing up at the sky. "I try not to mince words, Light... And things like that, they aren't just going to heal right away; they might even stick with you for the rest of your life." She held on to Lightning a bit tighter, breathing against her hair, keeping her close. "But these past few days, I've seen you look so happy... We can chase that, Light, we can grab it by the horns to keep you from feeling so down."

Lightning curled herself into the embrace, and she held on just as tightly, hooking her chin down against Fang's shoulder.

"No single person is going to heal this." Fang nudged at Lightning's neck with her mouth, though she didn't move to kiss her, only nuzzled. "But we can sure as hell try... And I will try, Light, so you just tell me if there's anything else I can do."

"...Okay." Lightning took a long moment just to revel in the strength of Fang's voice, and the shelter it brought along with it, how each word made her feel like such a thing might actually be true, like she could do anything just as long as they were sitting side by side.

Yet it still clung to her, dragging her limbs back to the ground, for Lightning had taken all that venom, stolen it right from her veins whenever she'd let Serah cry herself to sleep against her shoulder, letting it fester there within her own mind, until it grew thorns as sharp as her sword. Though Serah was no wilting flower, no delicate thing who wouldn't dare grow again; she'd seen that spark in Lightning's eyes and followed along in her footsteps, a proud hunter in her own right, only she was still cast out upon the waves, struggling to cling against the one solid surface that remained, the only thing that hadn't yet crumbed into ashes.

But those teeth hid just beneath the surface, the venom that only Lightning could harness, to let those thorns grow even longer, darker and sharper to protect Serah from the cruel, murky world, and from those who might seek to kill them.

And in that moment, feeling that same familiar hatred as it boiled in her veins, Lightning suddenly realized that she hadn't even told her new friend, that she'd never truly spoken about the other side of that coin. "Fang?"

Fang kept staring up at the stars, stroking her hand over Lightning's back. "Right here."

"Remember when I told you that not everyone is so fond of Etro..?" Lightning leaned away slightly, still resting upon Fang's lap. "There's more than one reason why we live out in the woods."

Fang tried not to frown. "...And why's that?"

Lightning started to tug off her gloves, before she reached for both of Fang's hands, holding them tight. "Back home, no one ever minded when we wore the symbol out in the open, but things were... Different, after we left." She let her mind sweep back those first few days of delirium, when she'd nearly stumbled out across the sand with Serah trailing after her, waterlogged and somewhat timid, for her little sister had only been fourteen at the time, with Lightning herself nearing her sixteenth birthday.

Fang could feel the world all around her start to shift, until it swirled out into her vision from the depths of Lightning's mind, that beach beside the dark blue waves, coated in both driftwood and shells.

Serah's clothes looked rather ragged and torn, and Lightning barely fared better, rather tanned by the sun and speckled with salt from the sea.

Fang's thoughts echoed out into the memory. Is that really you? Scraggly...

Lightning looked up from where she stood upon the sand, and she rolled her eyes at the 'voice', though Serah didn't seem to take any notice of it. You try living on a boat for almost year, see if you win any beauty contests...

She could practically feel Fang chuckle. Never said you didn't look beautiful.

Lightning thought back to the way that her hair had grown so tangled and dry, and how she'd simply hacked off the longer parts with her pocketknife, just to keep it manageable out on the sea. When she looked back over her shoulder, watching the way that Serah's eyes flicked back and forth, she could see that her hair was rather the same, only not quite so jagged.

"Are we-" Serah lowered her voice, before she paused in place, gazing around at the wide new world, the new land she'd stepped upon, so far away from the island she called home. "Are we really here..? I didn't just die out on the boat, right?"

Lightning suddenly gripped at Serah's shoulder, holding it as gently as she could manage. "You are not dead... I'd have slit my own throat before it ever happened."

"Then what if we're both dead?!" Serah's voice went a bit high, but she kept her limbs under control; she'd never bolt in panic, not if Lightning was there. "What if this is-"

"We are not dead." Lightning released Serah's shoulder, reaching for her wrist. "...You still have a pulse, and so do I."

Serah glanced down, before she slowly reached out to check both of their wrists as well. "We... We should find water, that's what dad would say."

Lightning's mind slipped back to the time that her father had spoken to them both, to how he told them to always look for a river if they ever found themselves lost, for humans would almost always settle near a source of fresh water. "Right."

The sky shifted hues with the passing time, light blues for the height of day, indigo evenings, and then dark, pitch black at night.

Lightning struck at the side of a strange, knobbly fruit with her pocketknife, before she nearly shivered with relief, handing it over to Serah.

"Wow." Serah's fingertips were trembling; dehydration would always take its toll far faster than any hunger. "Sort of like a coconut, isn't it?"

"Drink." Lightning helped to steady Serah's hands, holding them still. "The birds are eating them, probably not toxic..." She felt her own voice crack, hoarse from the lack of water. "Just drink."

And Serah drank, though she quickly paused, pushing the fruit back over to Lightning's hands. "I just need a minute..."

Lightning frowned when Serah tried to keep herself from retching, for the liquid had such an unfamiliar taste, and once it mixed with the effects of her not having more than a few sips from their canteen within the past day or so, the result was nearly enough to make her poor stomach just give up the fight.

"Serah?" Lightning's eyes went wide when her sister suddenly slumped to the side, so frail and skinny that she could barely even remember what she'd looked like just a year ago. "Serah!"

And the memory surged, fueled on by the sheer haste in Lightning's mind, the need to find help, anyone to keep her only living family from drifting away in the night. She found herself clutching her so tightly, carrying Serah in her arms while she raced off across the sand. Lightning could feel the cool metal of her pendant, how it jingled so quietly while she ran, so much like the long metal wind chimes that had once sang to them all back at home.

Serah twitched, breathing so softly, yet each little rhythm grew more and more ragged, like a gull she'd once seen out on the beach, utterly broken by one of the feral cats of their island.

Lightning grit her teeth, and despite the sharp burn in her legs, the swirl of acid in her stomach, the flashing signs in her mind that she should stop, that she should rest, despite all of it, she just kept running, up until she caught sight of a tiny, lone settlement beside the sand.

Wide eyes, strong, yet pleading, she might have even prayed to Etro if she'd still believed. Lightning found herself running from house to house, hoping that language she spoke would somehow make it through to such strange people, yet most of them took one look at her, at her tangled hair, gangly limbs, even the pale, limp body in her arms, before the door clicked shut in her face.

"Serah, hold on..." Lightning kept racing from door to door beneath the dark of night, knocking at each and every one she could possibly find. "Just hold on."

Serah's eyes fluttered open for a split second, before she let out a hoarse cough, low and wheezing.

It was only when Lightning reached the little stone hut on the outskirts of the village, one that sat near a thin, burbling creek, flowing out towards the sea, only then did the door not close after a moment or two.

The old woman stared at them from beneath a dark hood, but Lightning could see that her face was grizzled and rough, almost like the bark of a weathered tree. "Well, now."

Lightning suddenly felt very small, clutching Serah against herself. "I... We need help." She truly expected the door to slam right in her face, for Serah's breath to finally go still and her body to fall limp, but when the haggard old woman suddenly stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter, it felt like she might just have just been imagining it.

"Gods." The old woman tapped her cane against the floor, and when Lightning moved to step inside, she pushed the door shut behind them. "There's little time..." She urged Lightning forward, towards a small bench with a few flat pillows. "Get her there."

Lightning walked over to the bench, before she gently helped Serah down into a sitting position, but when the weight of her body sagged against her arms, she had to lower Serah down on her back, to lay against the bench itself.

"Light..?" Serah's eyes kept shifting out of focus. "Lightning..."

"I'm here." Lightning reached for both of Serah's hands, holding them tight. "Don't you leave me, okay? Don't you dare leave..."

"Severe dehydration." The old woman suddenly returned with some strange contraption in her arms, and Lightning almost balked at the sight of a long needle. "What else could this be?"

Lightning felt a prickle run down her spine; it was the first person she'd ever spoken to aside from her island people, and even back home, the occasional foreigner didn't seem quite so alien, so very blunt. "We... We came here from overseas."

The old woman knelt down, tugging her hooded scarf away, before she held out a bottle of some odd concoction, dark and swirling. "Hold this."

Lightning let go of Serah's hands to hold the vial, but once the old woman lowered the needle, she might've just snapped out with those honed teeth, those sharp, gnarled thorns, if only she hadn't seen that silvery pendant flicker in the candlelight, so suddenly revealed when the old woman moved to swipe a damp rag over Serah's arm, before she pressed the needle down beneath her skin.

"You..." Lightning felt her breath grow very hoarse. "You-"

"Do not just sit there like a gaping fish." The old woman held out her hand for the bottle. "We have very little time."

Lightning held the vial out, thought she almost recoiled at the way the old woman snatched at it, snapping the top down against the end of the needle's tube.

"Did you speak to anyone else before you came here?" The old woman watched as the liquid slowly traveled down into the tube, suctioned down to Serah's veins by some sort of unseen force. "Come on, girl!"

Lightning nodded mutely, still trying to catch her breath.

"Then you'll need to leave before sunrise... You need to go far away from here." The old woman finally turned to stare at the pendant on Lightning's neck. "Hide that, in these lands."

Lightning watched the black lines traveling down beneath Serah's skin, how the liquid slowly spread out along the pattern of her blood, deep within her veins. "...Why?"

The old woman paused, still holding the bottle in the air, letting the dark mixture work its magic, before she lifted her head to look Lightning in the eye. "How old are you, girl?"

Lightning felt that gaze burning inside her mind, acidic and strong. "Almost sixteen."

"There are no 'almosts'." The old woman paused again, and then she let out a sigh. "There's a basin of water in the next room, go have a drink."

Lightning shook her head, still kneeling beside the bench. "Not until she's better."

At that, the old woman crooked an eyebrow. "Oh..? A selfless soul is always the first to die." She almost seemed to smirk at the look on Lightning's face. "We live by no masters, but such a thing is only true because we are wise enough to not need them... And you, girl, you are no sheep."

Lightning looked up at that matching symbol, at the eye she knew so well, only the old woman's necklace was quite close to the skin of her neck, tight enough to conceal beneath her scarf within just a moment's notice. "Why do we have to hide it..?"

"Because we walk among sheep." The old woman kept holding the bottle, but she did glance down when Serah murmured something, curling up against the bench. "We walk among those who would run this girl down if only they saw that mark by her weapon, there..."

Lightning looked at the decorated bow near Serah's back, beside the pale leather satchel that their mother had given to her for her tenth birthday.

"Or that symbol on your neck." The old woman sighed. "You said you came from overseas?"

"A village called Bodhum..." Lightning leaned back against the bench, sitting against the cold, stony floor. "We left."

"Then you must listen, and you must learn." The old woman finally set the dark bottle down, before she rose back up to her feet. "To the people of this land, if they should happen to see your sign... You'll be seen as mere rats that the sea coughed up, beasts to be slain, if it were not for the weapons you carry." She set the end of her cane back down against the floor, using it to help her walk across the room. "They will kill you if you let them... Do not let them."

Lightning kept very still, just listening to the sound of Serah's shallow breaths, to the tap of the old woman's cane, even the distant sound of the burbling stream. Rats? They were hunters, not vermin; how could that possibly be true?

She could hear that same tapping even in the other room, but it wasn't long before the old woman returned, carrying a small mug of water in her hand. "Drink."

Lightning accepted it, slowly drinking from the cup.

"...You don't look fifteen." The old woman almost seemed to scowl again, but Lightning could see the veil in her eyes, the gnarls that hid away a strange sort of kinship. "That could be used to your advantage."

Lightning watched the old woman glance at the sheathed sword on her hip, at the belt she'd worn all the way across the ocean.

"Not much of a talker... That's good too." The old woman slowly sat down upon the opposite bench, relaxing against the cushions. "Is your friend the same?"

"My sister." Lightning held the mug with both hands, watching the way that the water rippled in the wake of her mouth. "She talks more."

The old woman glanced at where Serah was resting. "The quiet mouse is hardly ever caught."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "We aren't mice... And we aren't rats."

"That has yet to be seen." The old woman had her cane resting atop her lap, and Lightning suddenly caught sight of a rather hidden mechanism near the bottom; it was a slim, folded blade, concealed within the wood. "I tell you this so you won't have to see her pretty head upon a pike, so you won't feel your own neck caught in the grip of a hangman's noose."

Lightning grit her teeth, glaring back at the old woman, at the crone who just kept speaking about death like it was common, of pure murder, as if it was just as simple as stamping an ant down on the floor.

"Have I upset you? Good." The old woman peered off into the distance, staring at the dried bunches of herbs that hung upon the walls, at all of the unusual medicines that she'd likely never use. "You'll find that the world holds little comfort for our ilk."

Lightning steeled herself, taking a breath through her nose in an attempt to keep her anger down; her sister was near to dying already, how could the woman just go on and on about it?

"And if you don't want to live like a rat..." The old woman leaned forward to look Lightning right in the eye. "Then grow out your teeth; be a wolf."

Lightning still kept silent, staring back at her, and it was a long while before she decided to speak again. "This place... Is everywhere else like this?"

Slowly, the old woman's gaze began to soften. "No, but true refuge is rare."

Even as Lightning heard those words, she didn't quite feel them sink in, not until many months had slipped by, not until she was far, far away from that little hut near the river, standing tall within a city plaza with Serah at her side. She wore a new shirt, new trousers, new everything, just to replace the torn clothes she'd worn for nearly a year, with only saltwater to wash them.

Serah had new clothes on as well, and she was slowly turning in place, gazing at the sight of such a strange city, one with so much stone upon the ground, and streets that weren't made furrowed sand or dirt, even houses built completely out of bricks, without a palm frond to be seen. "Light, what's this?" Serah stepped over towards where a small animal was tied to a metal pole, and she knelt down, approaching it just like the tamed house cats she'd known back upon the island.

Lightning looked down at the little creature, one with a collar, with short ears and an even shorter tail, before she reached out to hold one of Serah's shoulders, just to keep her away. "Serah, it belongs to someone..."

Serah frowned a little; the animal didn't look aggressive in the slightest, and even then, she could just ward it away with her pocketknife if it tried to bite her.

"Serah, this isn't-" Lightning looked around at all of the passing faces, at the people of such a large village, so much more foreign than any of others she'd seen. "This isn't home, okay? We don't know these people."

Serah just stood there for a moment, as if she was suddenly remembering that there would be no more ocean sands to follow, no lush tropical forests to hide beneath, just the walls, the roads and even the buildings, and then the dense wilderness that awaited beyond.

Lightning kept holding Serah's shoulder, but her eyes went wide when she realized that the pin from the ribbon on her bow, the one with Etro's crest, that Serah had fastened it down upon the collar of her new shirt instead. "Serah, you need to put that away."

But Serah only frowned at her, reaching up to hold the silvery little emblem. "...Dad had it made for me."

Lightning tried not to hiss her next few words. "I know, but maybe you could just wear it under something? Like mine." She looked down at where her own pendant was hiding beneath her shirt. "For safety."

"Light, you're overreacting." Serah smiled at her, gently, before she stepped over to stand at the edge of the street, beneath the overhang of a tiny storefront. "It's just a symbol."

Lightning felt those thorns flare up again, those prickles running down her spine, and she fought the urge to snarl at the sheer sensation, to demand that Serah just hide the damn thing, that Etro wasn't watching over them, nobody was, and that it was only them now, but she stifled it all, holding it down, even if she might later wish she'd done otherwise.

In the back of her mind, Fang's thoughts reached out into her own, still so gentle and calm. You really did stop believing in Etro, didn't you..?

Lightning closed her eyes, and she felt her jaw tighten. I was angry, like I said before... Just a pissed off teenager.

And she remembered it clearly, that feeling in the pit of her stomach when a cloaked figure suddenly stared back at them one dark night, and then the sensation when Serah suddenly had a blade pressed up against her neck, only seconds away from rending into her skin, before everything within Lightning's gaze went scarlet.

She soon sat perched atop the fallen form, staring at the way his ravaged face was no longer even recognizable, at the way each line of blood dripped down across the edge of her knife, trickling off to land against the dark, stony street.

Never piss off an already angry teenager... Lightning's mind swept back to the way she'd seen the same red liquid upon Serah's fingertips, how the rest of their attackers were already twitching against the ground, gutted like a pile of fish. Especially not a hunter.

This is why you left the cites? Fang tried to move through the vision to examine the efficiency of the kill, before she looked back at the memory of Serah, who sported a thin, bleeding cut along the curve of her neck, and she could see the sheer anger in her eyes, gleaming with just a hint of fear and disbelief. They'd attack you over an emblem...

Serah dropped to her knees, gripping at the handle of her pocketknife, and she suddenly buckled down beneath the weight of it all, beneath the price of taking not one, but several human lives, lost in the haze of bloodshed and the urge to protect her kin, something that Lightning's stance mirrored quite heavily.

Lightning gazed at the emblem on the neck of her victim, that little marble token outlined in gold, at the diamond pattern with so many golden wings, the symbol she'd soon grow to recognize at a glance.

Be a wolf.

She'd seen the blood drip down, watched her blade rip through human flesh for the very first time, yet in the back of her mind, she knew those people hadn't been sheep.

Serah had wept such bitter, silent tears for the ones they'd both slain, but somehow, Lightning knew that she'd do it all again if she had to, for the two of them, they were the only family they had left on the face of the earth. Yet Lightning's stomach grew sicker and sicker at the sight of human blood, of her own slain, distant kin, and it was only when she was gripping at Serah's hand yet again, leading her away from another city with a building that had that golden symbol, it was only then that she realized; those words could take on a whole different meaning entirely.

Yes, she'd be a wolf... She'd guide herself and her sister out to the wilds, into the woods, where all of the smart wolves lived, far away from anywhere with that blinding crest, from the world that wished them both dead.

And yet, even as their home grew more and more solid, she strayed away from the wilds, stealing glimpses into the villages to obtain supplies. But she always paid for them, as her parents used to claim that theft was a terrible thing to commit, that the goods she could buy with her own earned money would always be more satisfying than ill-gotten gains.

She kept on hiding her past faith, hiding away the symbol of a god she barely believed in, if only because her father had gifted her the silvery trinket, and she'd rather have cut off her own fingers than stop wearing it for more than a moment or two. And whenever she'd venture out of the wilds again, back into the villages, she'd often catch the sight of paper postings in the inns, of wild, unyielding beasts, creatures she knew she could slay, and whenever she tested her luck, wearing her silver necklace into town without fear, it was only when she was bringing back proof of a kill that they looked at her with untinged awe.

They don't complain once you've done things for them... Back in her own world, Lightning could feel Fang's hands upon her own, squeezing them tight. And not everyone even recognizes it... I can wear it around without worrying much.

Lightning closed her eyes within the memory, but when she opened them again, the world was pitch black, only lit by the starlight, for the moon had long since disappeared behind the trees.

"This is weird, Light." Fang slowly shook her head, and her eyes narrowed down into almost a glare. "Etro's people... At least, back when I used to really hang around human places, there just wasn't that level of hate."

Lightning shrugged. "Times change."

"I don't like it." Fang's grip tightened slightly, yet she kept it gentle enough not to hurt. "I want to figure out the root of this... Find the cause." She leaned forward just to catch Lightning's gaze, so much that there was only a mere breath of space between them. "They treated you like an animal."

Lightning slowly stroked Fang's hands, trying to soothe down that temper. "Is it any different from how they'd treat you?"

"I could just fly away from it, but this..." Fang thought back to the droplets of blood upon Lightning's face, the spatter from when she'd slashed out at the one who'd been threatening Serah, the one who'd made that first cut on her throat. "If you hadn't known how to kill them-"

"It's... Not hard." Lightning's voice went very low, though she spoke without anger. "That's the thing, it's not even hard; all you have to deal with is getting past their weapons, or even their armor, and then it's over." She could still remember it, that sheer revulsion she'd felt when the old woman spoke of killing, of murder in the streets all due to a simple sign, just a symbol of their faith, but it grew easier and easier to manage beyond each thwarted attempt on her own life. "Humans die pretty easily... That's why I know how to evade."

Fang kept silent for a long, lingering while, and she just held on to Lightning's hands, gazing off into the distance.

"But it doesn't happen everywhere, Fang." Lightning squeezed at her palms. "And now that I'm older, better with my sword... People don't tend to mess with me."

"That's good." Fang spoke with just a hint of teeth, almost a low growl. "...And they'll have to go through me, too." She closed her eyes tightly, thinking back to that memory they'd shared, and the image of a knife against Serah's throat, it stuck against the edges of her vision, nearly driving her down into the same sort of rage Lightning had felt, the instinctual need to protect her kin, as if it was really Vanille in her place.

"Fang?" Lightning felt that swell of anger, the racing thoughts that Fang's mind cast off like roaring waves. "She's alright... Serah can take care of herself."

"I know." Fang carefully hissed through her teeth, before she let her eyes drift open again. "But seeing her like that, it just-"

"Makes you want to stab someone?" Lightning would've chuckled if she hadn't remembered it so clearly, the blood that dripped over her own arms, the sight of Serah ripping her knife down through the belly of one of their attackers, sending him into a crumpled pile against the ground. "You just can't think in a moment like that... You act, and the next thing you know, Serah's alive, all because you stabbed someone in the forehead before they could pull the knife any deeper."

Fang glanced over at where her satchel was still resting in the snow, before she looked up at the distant stars, trying to calm herself down with just the sight of them.

"Fang." Lightning reached up to hold Fang's wrists, and she could feel that thrumming pulse, hearing the way her breath grew so short. "Walk with me?"

Slowly, Fang nodded. "Yeah."

Lightning rose up to her feet. "I only showed you that so you'd know..." She waited for Fang to stand as well, before she reached out to hold one of her hands again. "So you'd know what it could've been like today."

Fang looked down at her satchel, and with a quick flash of transformative magic, it turned back into her smaller bag again. "The way that woman spoke back there, all class until you didn't decide to cooperate..." Fang picked up the bag, slinging it back over her shoulder. "Believe me, if they hadn't had all of those weapons up in our faces, she never would've gotten away with calling you that."

Lightning smiled against the dark, breezy night, feeling the wind brush down across her skin. "I've been called worse."

Fang grumbled a bit, before she stepped over to hug Lightning close. "You're not a bitch."

Lightning felt Fang's body move against her from behind, all pressed up and snuggly, so she slowly held up her own hands to touch Fang's arms. "Well, I can get pretty cranky..." She traced along Fang's wrists again, over where they were resting so gently against her upper stomach.

"Still not a bitch..." Fang mumbled each word into Lightning's left ear. "And everyone gets cranky."

Lightning slowly began to turn in Fang's arms, facing her again. "We should find somewhere to rest."

"We should..." Fang felt her lips brush against Lightning's cheek, so warm and soft. "But if we fly again, you might just fall asleep."

Lightning tried to fight back against the way her eyelids were drifting shut, yet her own mind could scarcely even find the will to disagree with such a statement, so she slowly gave into it, leaning forward to press her face against Fang's shoulder.

"Hey, I've got you." Fang knelt down a bit to hook one of her arms beneath Lightning's knees, and she used her other hand to hold Lightning up from beneath her back, lifting her, carrying her, until they were both moving between the snowy trees, beneath the pale light of the stars. "You're not very hard to carry, are you?"

Lightning mumbled something under her breath, though she was swiftly dozing off, resting the side of her head against Fang's collarbone.

"'Light' is a good nickname." Fang smiled to herself, and she just kept walking down into the forest, into the wilds; even with all of the distant, glowing eyes, those nocturnal creatures of the woods, they were of very little concern to one who could simply become a dragon at will. "Sleepy little bird..."

Lightning snorted quietly. "Thought I was a mouse?"

Fang narrowed her eyes. "No, it's like you said back then; you're no mouse." She hugged Lightning a bit closer to herself. "And you're no wolf, even if you fight like one."

Lightning kept her eyes shut, all nuzzled against Fang's lower neck. "What am I, then?"

"You're Lightning." Fang traveled against the wind, against the cold winter night, walking over the snowdrifts and the earthen hills, deep within the thick scent of pines. "You don't need to be anything else but that."

"Glad you think so..." Lightning's eyes fluttered open when her sense of momentum suddenly paused, but a soothing hand down her spine made her go limp again, relaxing against Fang's body. "Where is this?"

"A hollow tree." Fang kept her voice very low, and she pressed a brief, gentle kiss to Lightning's forehead. "Can you see it?"

"I can't see in the dark." Lightning closed her eyes, before she turned over, settling down against the loamy soil. "Not like you can."

Fang looked out at the snow-covered earth, at the little drifts of frost beside the hollow trunk, and she slowly settled down as well, laying against the earth. "...Luxerion."

Lightning mumbled, pressing herself back along Fang's body. "What?"

"Luxerion, they have the most detailed historical recordings of religion anywhere in the world..." Fang let out a gentle sigh. "See, I used to keep tabs on this sort of thing."

Lightning's nose wrinkled a bit, though she didn't open her eyes. "I've heard the name before... The Order of Salvation has headquarters there."

"That's the point... They might be a big bunch of snobs, but they're book smart." Fang wrapped her arms around Lightning's waist and upper back, holding her close. "They'd know why Etro's followers were suddenly being targeted."

Lightning shook her head. "Fang... They're Bhunivelze's people." She slowly held up one of her hands, pressing her fingertips against Fang's cheek, before that sharp diamond emblem, the many wings and bright golden hues, the image of it drifted out between them.

Fang's eyes went wide in the dark. "They're-"

Lightning nodded, nuzzling her cheek against Fang's neck. "They hunt us... But I've always been able to throw them off our trail." She almost chuckled, though her voice was steadily drifting away, already starting to doze. "They might fancy themselves as hunters, but they're the worst damn trackers I've ever seen."

Fang murmured into Lightning's hair. "This is why you keep your identity hidden, isn't it?"

"I'd still be doing it, even if this problem didn't exist." Lightning yawned quietly, before she reached in to hold Fang's shoulder, squeezing it against her palm. "Privacy is valuable."

Fang kept silent for a while, thinking over the possibility of taking a short detour just to calm the rigid tension in her mind, that unsolved mystery. "...Remember when I told you about the island, Nova Chrysalia?" She could only see the top of Lightning's head from where she'd since snuggled down against her neck, but Fang quickly realized that she must have already fallen asleep. "I'll tell you later."

Fang stared out at the world, at the forest that stood beyond the shelter of their tree, at the starlight upon the snow, even at the dry grass rustling so softly in the wind; she looked on with those dragon eyes, sharp and keen, before she slowly let them slip shut.

She dozed, half-awake, but when her mind swiftly tumbled down into a world of endless dark, the land of such deep dreaming, she heard a voice, one who she prayed might hold the answers to all of her problems.

The rain glimmered against the dark pavement, thick and damp. Slowly, Lightning poked the end of her shoe against a puddle. She could see the tiny, echoed ripples, but when she looked up again, gazing around at what looked like a world straight out of the mind of a madman, she felt quite sure that she was merely dreaming.

Flashing lights, paintings that moved, and then even spoke, chattering on and on, and then all of those strange metal wagons, only there were no horses to been seen, no beasts of burden to drag them onward. When one had first zipped past her, making that soft pink hair fly back within the air it gave off, she'd nearly bolted away from it, to flee away from the wide street with such strange, noisy contraptions.

But since then, since so many more had rumbled past without much incident, Lightning looked down at herself, at the clothes she couldn't even recognize, before she reached for the hem of her shirt. Such perfect stitching, and those unusual designs in the fabric, it must've taken someone years to create it, and yet, when she looked around at the veritable ocean of people, the mass of humans who swarmed around the city streets in what felt like millions, her clothing was hardly even remarkable.

A voice called out above the din. "Oi, Light!"

Lightning kept very, very still, and her heart began to beat so quickly when a deafening noise seemed to shake the world itself, yet nobody else even seemed concerned; they just kept walking, loitering, or sitting inside one of those odd horseless wagons.

"Light?" She felt something touch her shoulder. "What's gotten into you?"

Lightning swiftly turned, gazing back at the face she'd fallen asleep to, only she could see such sharp piercings on her ears, even a tattoo along her bare bicep, curling around her muscles like a clawed, leathery wing.

"Hey love..." Fang kept holding onto Lightning's shoulder. "You look a little spooked."

Lightning blinked when another loud noise blared out, and she fought the urge to shiver. "What are those sounds?"

Fang, such a different Fang, one who wore such strange, detailed clothing, she slowly tilted her head to the side, trying to gauge Lightning's expression. "Who are you and what did you do with Light?"

Lightning almost froze in place, and her rapid heartbeat suddenly felt even more painful, but when Fang suddenly barked out a laugh, reaching in to hold both of her hands, she felt herself relax ever so slightly, though she still stood heavily on edge in such a strange, foreign world, one with so many colors and sights.

"Car horns, from a car." Fang nodded at the next blare of noise. "...Are we playing a game?"

Lightning kept herself almost motionless, trying not to simply race away when one of those contraptions went rushing past again, fast enough to crush the both of them to pieces, but the fact that this Fang, this other version of the one she knew, that she seemed so very calm, such an emotion was positively infectious. "Yes."

Fang began to smile, and Lightning realized that her lips were slightly stained red, tinged with something that smelled both sweet and tangy. "Ooh, what kind of game..?"

"I'm... I'm from another world." Lightning looked up at the towering metallic buildings; how they hadn't simply fallen over in the wind, she'd never know. "A world that doesn't have anything like this."

"Okay..." Fang leaned forward to press their foreheads together, and Lightning could nearly smell the source of that red color, almost like fruit, but far sweeter. "What's this world like, then?"

Lightning stared at the thin little braids upon the side of Fang's head, all wound up with beads and dark strings, and she almost felt the urge to reach out and touch them. "This place is so loud."

"It is." Fang glanced over when a yellow taxi rumbled past, and the crowd beside them unanimously shouted at it for spraying out a bit of water from a puddle. "You want to go home?"

Lightning looked up when a raindrop hit the top of her head. "Home..?"

"Are you-" Fang paused, still holding Lightning's hands in her own. "This is still part of the game, right?"

Lightning could feel the noise of the crowds closing in upon her eardrums, and the sheer lights from those strange, flashing things on the buildings, they almost made her just want to drag Fang somewhere else, somewhere dark, just to get away from so much utter chaos... But her stronger nature, the part of her that could keep perfectly calm even with the steel of a sword swiping towards her own neck, it overpowered all the rest of it.

"Light?" Fang let go of one of her hands to check the temperature of Lightning's forehead. "You feel a little warm."

Lightning felt that same shiver run down her spine when yet another sound blared away, though she scarcely had time to think when Fang began to lead her forward, off into the mass of traveling people, down over the sidewalks and streets.

"Here..." Fang rummaged into the pocket of her jacket for something small and very red, wrapped up in a translucent material that Lightning had never seen before. "Cherry."

Lightning felt Fang press the little rectangle into her free hand, but when she looked down to see what it was, the little thing almost looked like colored glass, nothing remotely like a cherry.

"Candy." Fang gestured at her own mouth with a smile. "...Man, it's like bringing home a stray kitten." She squeezed at Lightning's other hand, still holding it in her own. "Either you knocked your head pretty bad on something, or this is a very convincing act."

Lightning felt a sharp frown crease her features, and she quickly looked away.

"Hey, hey-" Fang paused, turning to face her again. "I didn't mean to say it like that... Sorry."

Lightning squeezed her eyes shut, and she tried as hard as she could to just wake up, to get away from the world of bright lights and so much loud, clattering sound, so much that she felt like she might just go deaf if she stayed there for even a moment longer, but when she suddenly felt Fang lean forward to hug her, holding her close...

It was as if all of the noise suddenly drowned out, fleeing away from her ears, filled in with that gentle, thudding heartbeat, even the soft, sweetened breath upon her ear, and then the sound of Fang's voice, rumbling deep in her chest.

"We're almost home, okay?" Fang felt much so less heated without her inner dragon fire, but she still gave off such warmth. "What sounds good for lunch?"

It was only then that she realized Fang was speaking in another language, a very different kind, yet every word rang clearly in her mind, and Lightning found that she could speak it too. "I don't know."

"C'mon, Light..." Fang took a step backwards, guiding her on. "You've gotta give me more to work with than that."

And Lightning followed after her, watching as the city moved on beside them. All of the roaming people kept on walking, and the horseless 'cars' kept speeding around, blaring and rumbling, making a mighty racket. She listened to the crowds, though she could barely pay much attention to them when Fang began to rattle off everything that they had left in the 'fridge', even if Lightning had no earthly idea what that might have been.

"And I know you were saving the fresh mozzarella for when Serah comes to visit, but we could always use a little for pasta." Fang reached into her pocket for another piece of candy, which she promptly unwrapped with her fingertips and the edge of her teeth. "What, don't like cherry anymore?"

Lightning looked down at the little red object in her hand, which had grown just a bit softer against the heat of her skin. "It's not a cherry."

Fang's brow quirked up, and she gently licked at her own piece of candy. "Yeah, but it's cherry flavored."

Lightning stared at the little red rectangle, before she looked up to see an identical piece between Fang's teeth, and only then did she push the wrapper away with her thumb, easing it up towards her own mouth.

"So, this 'game', in this other world..." Fang kept holding Lightning's hand, gently squeezing it while she walked along, even when they approached a tall building with a very small door, at least compared to the giant glass mechanisms further down the street. "What's it like?"

Lightning followed Fang beneath the thin doorway, glancing around at the narrow, yet cozy hallway, one that led over towards a short flight of stairs. "Do you have forests here?"

Fang chuckled under her breath. "Yeah."

"And fields?" Lightning looked down at the carpet beneath her feet, all swirling and woven with flowers, something that would take months, or even years to create in her own world. "What about small towns, with only a dozen buildings? This place... It's gigantic."

"It's staring to sound like you aren't joking around." Fang stepped up to the stairwell, leading Lightning to the second floor. "Or maybe we should look into signing you up for acting school... Not that you'd need the lessons."

Lightning looked around at all of the thin wooden doors, and when Fang paused to open one of them with a key from her pocket, the urge to just tell her that she wasn't acting, that her story was real, and that she was real, from a whole different world, it became far too much to hold in. "I'm not kidding around."

Fang nudged the door open with the toe of her shoe, before she glanced over to look Lightning straight in the eye. "I think you've just been watching too much sci-fi..." Pausing, Fang narrowed her eyes at the sheer confusion in Lightning's gaze, the raw, real sense that she didn't quite belong in such a place. "Hell, Light-"

Lightning slowly let go of Fang's hand, and she took a step away, backing up into the hall. "This is a dream... Any minute now, I'll wake back up, and you'll be there, just like you were before."

"Light." Fang reached out to hold her hands again, tethering her there, just to keep Lightning from moving away. "Wait a minute, now..." She lowered her voice down to a much softer tone, gently chewing upon that piece of hard candy. "Let's go inside, alright? You must've just hit your head on something, back there."

And for a brief moment, while Lightning was being guided inside the tiny living space, the apartment that lay just above those bustling streets, she wondered if what Fang had said was true; that she might've just hit her head, hallucinating another world entirely, and the thought of it made her sweat much quicker than facing any dragon, no matter how fierce.

"Shh..." Fang began to lead her towards a cozy little sofa, all cushioned with pillows, a few folded blankets, and one extremely lethargic feline. "Just tell me what you can remember, okay?" She reached out to shoo away the cat, who merely mewed at her, inching over to rest upon the edge of the couch. "Do you remember why we went out today?"

Lightning kept standing, waiting until Fang had tugged her down to sit against the cushions of the sofa, which was clearly only large enough for the both of them. "I wasn't there, Fang." She could suddenly feel that strong heartbeat again, for with the way the seating worked, she was rather snuggled up to Fang, and it wasn't long before the black cat had crawled back up to warm itself against both of them. "This is all a dream, just a memory of who I was."

Fang reached over to rub the cat behind his ears, stroking across that soft, dark fur. "So... I'm also there, in this 'other world'?"

Lightning nodded. "You're there."

"Huh." Fang slowly moved her hand away, at the cat almost seemed to grumble, batting at where her fingertips had been. "So what do we do, out there? Same as here?"

Lightning shrugged. "What do we 'do' here?"

Fang suddenly grinned, before she leaned over towards the edge of the couch, reaching for what looked like a thin sheet of metal. But when she opened it up over her lap, Lightning realized that it must have been something utterly incredible.

"Freelance, at least for now." Fang tapped at the strange, flat pad on the bottom of the device to make the light at the top change shape. "Remember this?"

Lightning stared at what looked like a painting, at the image of a curling, twisted briar patch, only it had bright red berries growing out between the green vines, and a tiny pink bird was perched within the very center of it, gazing out from behind so many sharp thorns.

"Because if you don't remember this one, it might just hurt my feelings..." Fang rolled her eyes when the cat tried to climb up on top of the device. "Kitty, no." She quickly closed the strange contraption, stowing it back beside the sofa. "Shoo."

The little black cat mewed when Fang picked him up from beneath his shoulders, but when his paws touched the ground, he soon wandered off into another room of the apartment.

"So." Fang leaned back on the couch, stretching out her arms. "Doesn't seem like you've 'woken up' yet..."

Lightning began to concentrate within her own mind, to reach out for her own version of Fang, the one who hopefully still slept right beside her. Fang?

It was a long moment before she heard any sort of reply, and even then, Fang's 'voice' was much quieter than the last time they'd shared a dream. Yeah, Light?

Just making sure I'm still dreaming... Lightning glanced back at the other version of Fang, one who was nibbling away at the candy between her teeth. These memories are getting weird.

I'm still behaving, right? It almost felt like Fang had let out a sigh. You just smack me right over the head if I do anything stupid, okay?

No, you're being nice... Understanding, really. Slowly, Lightning let herself relax on the couch, before she pressed her forehead against Fang's shoulder, the one with the tattoo of a wing.

"Hey, little bird." Fang reached up to stroke along Lightning's cheek, moving to twine her fingertips into that soft pink hair. "Feeling any better?"

Lightning nodded, before she pressed her face forward, down into the curve of Fang's neck. "Yeah... I almost want to live like this."

Fang chuckled when Lightning crept over to rest on her lap, fully melded, feeling those strong lungs that just kept breathing away against her chest. "Well, you're in luck..."

Lightning shook her head. "A past me was in luck; I want this to happen back in my world."

"I'm guessing we're 'together', then?" Fang stroked her other hand over Lightning's spine, just above the soft, thin fabric of her shirt. "But we don't live together?"

Lightning shook her head. "I offered you a house in my village."

Fang massaged the curve of Lightning's back. "Why not your house?"

Lightning fought the urge to sigh, or rather, to hum at the way that Fang was so easily soothing the tension away from her muscles and skin. "It's small... Only a few rooms."

"So is this." Fang glanced around at the tiny apartment. "I don't take up much space."

Lightning slowly turned over in Fang's arms, gazing at the tattoo on her shoulder, and then at all of the hanging plants beside the windowsill. Some of them grew bright flowers, or even little vegetables, and when she looked over at the rest of the room, it was only then that she realized there were sketches and so many paintings upon the walls, even some forms of artwork that she had no idea how Fang might've managed to create. "What do I do, in this world?"

She could feel it when Fang frowned against the side of her head, resting against her hair. "You don't like to talk about it."

Lightning inhaled the scent of cherry candy, some of which was still thick upon her own tongue, but she could also catch the aroma of the soap Fang must have used, something rich and earthy.

"You really want me to say it..?" Fang hugged at Lightning's waist. "You have to be be telling the truth if you don't remember this."

Lightning closed her eyes with a quiet sigh. "Just tell me."

Fang leaned forward, gradually tightening her hold, before she whispered her words against Lightning's ear. "Well, the checks come in with lines like 'miscellaneous consulting'... But it's all much more of an elimination job, isn't it?"

Lightning suddenly felt herself freeze, listening to the gentle thrum of rain upon the windowsill.

"Not that I'm complaining... It keeps the rent paid." Fang kissed at the edge of Lightning's ear. "I just wish you'd be a little more careful, coming home with that broken nose, fractured ribs... But your hands, they're never bloody."

"What... What sort of elimination?" Lightning cursed the sudden high pitch in her voice, much more fragile than she might've liked. "Please, Fang-"

"You talk about rejecting certain jobs... Too little evidence, not enough to back the claim." Fang kept a tight hold around Lightning's waist, as if she might try to bolt at any movement. "You're the kind of woman who can afford to be picky... There's always a reason."

Blinking against the sudden swell, the emotions running rampant, Lightning shook her head back and forth. "Fang, what kind of elimination?" She could see those long, saltwater scales dripping down across the pale windowpanes, and then those yellow lights of the street, burning so deep within her eyes.

"Contract assassinations." Fang held Lightning close, still whispering against her ear. "But Light, those bastards have it-"

Lightning tore away, and she sat fully upright, alert and utterly wild again, taking in every possible inch of her surroundings at once, and yet, the space around her was so painfully cozy, so quaint and charming that she just couldn't deny it, this had to have been their home at some point.

"It's not indiscriminate." Fang was suddenly holding her hand again. "Light, it's not-"

"Stop." Lightning felt those frigid, sharpened words, she felt them curl and slice right through her throat. "I don't... I don't want to know." The sweetness on her tongue suddenly felt so heavy, so very thick that she almost wished that the whole world would just go dark, to let her be dreamless again, but Fang's hand, it just kept holding her there, keeping her back from oblivion.

Lightning. Fang's outward voice mixed in with the rumble of a beast, a dragon, one who could sense the way she was rejecting it all, trying so desperately to escape. What's wrong?

What's wrong..? Lightning almost laughed at the sheer absurdity of it all, that no matter how many times she'd avoided a deadly encounter, spared a human life, that her soul had already taken away so many, had dragged them down to the goddess of death and abandoned them there. He was right, that's all...

He?

Lightning squeezed her eyes shut. The one I killed.

The dragon?

Lightning didn't even nod, she just sat down inside the shadows, curling one of her hands over the pendant on her neck.

Light, listen... Aubergine's been telling me a few things.

Lightning still kept silent.

And this dragon of yours... Something just doesn't add up. In your memory, the scales were green, right? And the eyes were yellow?

Lightning grit her teeth. What does that have to do with anything?

Let me show you.

She felt the darkness swirl away, and suddenly, out of nowhere, another presence moved to enter the dream, standing there as a lone figure in humble monk's garb, only he was shadowed by a dark mist, one that rumbled all around him.

"It is good to see you again."

Lightning watched Aubergine's every move, even when he sat down within the soft, cloudlike substance that drifted on beneath them.

"Fang and I, we've talked over a great deal of things... Including what you've shared about your village."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"You don't seek the reason behind it..?" Aubergine slowly began to shift, looking more and more like his draconic form with every passing second. "Well, then... I will tell you of something else, if that is acceptable?"

After a long moment, Lightning nodded.

The old dragon placed his head down upon the clouds, resting there. "Do you know why I go by this name?"

"Because your scales are the same color as the plant?" Lightning thought back to a deep purple vegetable, an edible species of nightshade, sometimes called an 'eggplant' in certain dialects. "It's not as impressive as Bahamut."

"That is most true, but I am not entirely Bahamut." Aubergine shook his head. "No, as I said before... I am an echo, cast aside from when Fang was reincarnated into this world; imagine a tiny caterpillar, crawling along the edge between death and an entirely new life, and the cover of silk that it leaves behind-"

Lightning almost frowned. "Just a shell?"

"Yes, in a sense..." Aubergine glanced up when Fang appeared in the distance, but he didn't lift his head from the clouded surface. "Bahamut's true spirit, it lives within her."

Fang soon knelt down on her wings, tucking them there beside her chest. "You okay, Light?"

Lightning didn't speak for a long moment, and she let her hands drift down into the misty floor, the hazy surface of the dream. "Not exactly."

Fang lowered her head, curling her neck around where Lightning was sitting.

Aubergine spoke again. "You've told her why our kind was all but exterminated, yes?"

Fang nodded.

"Then... I may have an answer for you." Aubergine's gaze flicked back over to stare at Lightning. "If you wish to hear it."

Lightning reached up towards Fang's silvery horns, feeling the warmth of her soul, the smoothness of her scales, before she slowly started to nod.

"Your spirit, your companion..." Aubergine lifted his head. "Odin, is he not?"

Lightning narrowed her eyes at Aubergine. "Odin is my horse."

"I can only speculate, but if a spirit of such caliber were to be cast aside, a shell of what it once was-" Aubergine tried to soften his tone. "And if it were to suffer the pain of so many losses, so many deaths... Of the time spent without his true nature, his nobility..."

Lightning squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden memory of a knight in green, of those golden hues and untarnished white, and she almost rose up to strike the notion itself.

Aubergine settled his chin down again. "It may have been instinctually drawn to your presence."

Lightning shook her head, still keeping her eyes shut tight.

"But again, we can only speculate." Aubergine exhaled, breathing a cloud of warmth into the dream. "Dragons, for all of our outer strength, that sudden surge of memories can drive us to try and forget, to wash it all away."

Lightning felt a sharp prickle in her eyes, yet she'd so rarely ever released it, not since she was a child; she couldn't let the venom seep away, no, she had to keep it in. "...I don't believe that."

Aubergine took a deep breath. "How exactly did you kill the beast?"

"I stabbed his brain, right through his skull, and I cut his throat open." Lightning could feel her fingertips start to twitch. "But I still don't believe that, it wasn't him... Odin's spirit is back home; he'd never do something like that!"

"That's what he's saying, Light." Fang gently nudged at Lightning's shoulder. "That this might've happened long before either you were born, you, or Odin the horse; that dragon, he might have just been a damn bitter echo, one who barely even realized what he was doing... That's why you cracked his head open so easily."

"We are-" Aubergine let out a long, quiet sigh. "Significantly less resilient than our peers." He closed his eyes for just a moment. "'We', I have never personally met another of my kind, a shade, a shell... A dragon in name only."

"Hey, don't put yourself down, old man." Fang blinked at the way Aubergine's snout looked rather like her own, narrow and rather elegant. "You had some pretty neat fire to show, yesterday-" She looked over to the side, before she held out one of her wings to hug at Lightning's body. "It's alright, love."

Lightning still had her eyes shut so tightly, as if to block away the dream, all of the sudden revelations, far too much for her to comprehend in only a single night.

Fang spoke in just a whisper. "Get some sleep, okay?"

Lightning felt Fang's wing on her back, so she slowly leaned down against it, letting herself rest within the clouds, the swirling mist, and only then did she let her eyes open once more, quite blurry with that clear, stinging venom.

Fang's face, so soft and human again, she peered down at her from above. "Just sleep."

Sunlight dappled the pale snow, the trunks of the trees, even the outer bark of a small hollow, where a slumbering figure slowly began to wake.

She first heard the sound of the wind within the branches, the creak of tall, mighty pines, and when she let her eyes slip open, she could see the tiny clearing beside the tree.

Fang was sitting out there, right beside a pile of branches, and Lightning realized that she'd almost definitely copied the shape of her own previous campfires, for it looked more than ready to be set ablaze.

Gradually, slowly, Lightning sat up, blinking against the strong morning light. "Fang..?"

Fang looked back over her shoulder. "Hey."

"I had a..." Lightning winced at the throbbing aches in her head, likely residual pain from the bruises on the back of her skull. "A really weird dream."

"You didn't forget, did you?" Fang waved for Lightning to walk over and join her. "I was having a little chat with Aubergine, but then, when I felt you getting stressed..." She trailed off, waiting for Lightning to sit down beside her. "We talked to you. Do you remember it?"

Lightning shrugged, before she sat down against the soil. "Bits and pieces..." She closed her eyes to focus. "Was that really a memory, back there?"

Fang held out her hand towards the pile of branches, before she let a single, flickering spark fall down towards the very bottom. "Describe it to me."

Lightning slowly let her eyes ease open again. "There was... More sound than I've ever heard before, but then you were there, and we were walking together." She rubbed at the ache in the back of her head, trying to massage it away. "And there were these things, you called them cars."

Fang nodded. "What else?"

"Buildings, taller than any I'd ever seen..." Lightning let her hands fall back down to her lap. "But we lived close to the ground, just the second floor." She narrowed her eyes as the memory grew clearer and clearer, until she remembered that single phrase, whispered so softly against her ear. "I was... A hired killer."

Fang just kept watching the tiny spark, gazing down at the way it tested the brittle branches, slowly growing in size. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Lightning went very still for a long, silent moment, wide eyed, before she almost let out a snarl, turning to glare at at Fang. "It's not nearly the same."

"...It's exactly the same." Fang's gaze suddenly darkened as well. "I remember that one, Light, they were monsters, humans who lived like wolves..." She turned towards Lightning as well, fully, staring her right in the eyes. "They... They took it all, you, and then everything else just-!"

Lightning felt herself go very quiet again, very still, just to watch the sudden fierce glint within Fang's eyes, the unshed liquid that threatened to spill down across her face.

Fang's voice went so silent for a while, and she set her hands down, letting the frost melt beneath her fists. "...We've died, so many times." Her gaze flicked down to the bare forest floor, to the small, frigid space that stood between them. "We've died, we've lost each other, and anyone who dares to take you from me... They deserve to die, too." She slowly leaned back, blinking the swell of tears away. "Just look at me, what a mess... Haven't cried this much in my entire life!" Fang tried to bark out a laugh, but she could only breathe so sharply, leaning over with her hands braced against the ground. "That apartment, it was nothing without you there."

Lightning looked down at the fire. "We had a cat."

Fang sniffed at the warm scent of smoke, and she propped her legs up beside the flames, wrapping her arms around her knees. "We had a beautiful cat... And he'd always wait for you to come home." She closed her eyes for a while, just to try and breathe. "I gave him to Vanille, in the end."

Lightning slowly inched over to the side, carefully letting their shoulders brush together, and after a moment or two, she gently leaned against Fang.

"I never found anyone else... Not that I was ever searching." Fang watched the flames, that tiny flicker, burning away into the morning air. "Messed myself up trying to get back at them, and after that, I wasn't much to look at anymore."

Lightning shook her head. "You're always something to look at."

Fang scoffed quietly. "Not when you've got a whole missing eye, a big scar right under the other one..."

Lightning reached for Fang's hand, holding it from where it was curled so tightly atop her knee. "Always."

Fang started to lean against Lightning as well. "You sure know how to flatter a girl." She turned her hand over so that Lightning could hold it more easily. "Not after looks, are you?"

Lightning shook her head. "I... I do appreciate it, but I'd always rather you be... You, than beautiful."

Fang chuckled under her breath. "Okay, lovebird."

"You called me 'little bird' again, in that one..." Lightning stared deep into the crackling fire. "You had this painting... Do you think you could make it again?"

Fang shrugged. "Things are usually pretty different each time; sometimes I'm good at one thing, and then crap at it in another life."

Lightning lowered her voice down to a whisper. "Do you think you could try?"

After a moment, a long, quiet moment, Fang nodded. "...I can try."

As the fire grew and grew, they made no effort to stoke it, simply leaning against each other for warmth, until the branches had all broken down, turned to coals, low and white, burning away without much flame.

Lightning roused a bit, having dozed off slightly. "...Are you hungry?"

Fang yawned into the morning air. "Starving."

"Can you change your satchel back again?" Lightning moved over to examine the low fire, and she gently breathed out against it, building the heat back up with a sudden rush of oxygen. "I said I'd teach you to make griddle cakes..."

Fang smiled a little bit, and once she'd walked over to retrieve her shoulder bag from the hollow tree, shifting it back into a massive satchel again, she knelt down to unbuckle one of the straps. "What do we need for them?"

"A few of those bowls, measuring cups and a mixing spoon..." Lightning exhaled against the fire again. "Flour, baking powder, sugar-"

"Which one is the baking powder?" Fang soon held up a plain package of something that smelled rather like dust. "Is this it?"

"No." Lightning stood up to walk beside the satchel, before she knelt down to rummage around inside it, handing several things over to Fang. "Salt, butter, milk and eggs..." She held up a tiny bottle of something with a dark amber hue. "Syrup, once they're finished."

Fang rose back up to her feet, hauling the supplies over towards the little clearing beside the fire, where the snow had melted away by her mere presence alone. "Alright, what's the first step?"

"Dry ingredients go first." Lightning walked back towards the fire as well. "We have to measure them out." She soon set the griddle down above the fiery coals, before she placed a small iron bowl on top of that, one that held a bit of butter inside, which would swiftly melt atop the heat.

Lightning made quick work of teaching Fang how to scoop out the various powders with the steel measuring cups, and also how to scrape away the excess material with the edge of a knife, back into the package it came from. It wasn't long before a different bowl was filled up with all that they'd require, from the flour to the salt and everything in between, except for a cup of sugar, which was left to the side for later.

"Mix those together, and I'll get the egg..." Lightning reached for a square sort of paper box, one that had a half-dozen eggs inside. "You know, you were talking about some pretty weird stuff back when I was dreaming."

Fang began to stir the dry ingredients together with a mixing spoon. "What sort of stuff?"

"Something called 'mozzarella'? And things in the 'fridge'." Lightning shrugged. "It was just strange."

"Mozzarella..." Fang spoke the word aloud a few more times, testing the way that it sounded in her current language, the common speech of their world. "I don't remember it."

Lightning nodded. "Little things like that, you said..."

"Yeah, they just slip through the cracks." Fang watched how Lightning swiftly split the side of an egg, knocking it against the edge of a different bowl. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Lightning looked down at the egg yolk, at the way it was drifting around in the thick, translucent liquid at the bottom of the bowl. "We only need one... Maybe next time."

Fang frowned just a little, and Lightning could see the wry smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Don't pout at me." Lightning jabbed at Fang's ribs with her index finger. "I'm teaching you the basics; you don't need to know every step just yet."

"Yes, ma'am." Fang winced at a much harder poke to her ribs. "Yes, lovebird."

Lightning scowled a bit, stirring at the egg with the tines of a fork. "I actually like 'little bird' better than that one..."

Fang grinned to herself. "I'll keep it in mind."

"You'd better, or I might not even share breakfast with you." Lightning soon set down the bowl with the beaten egg, and she gestured for Fang to stop stirring the dry ingredients. "The milk goes in now." She helped Fang get the right amount into another mixing cup, before she helped her pour it down within the dry ingredients. "Stir slowly."

Fang did as Lightning asked, gently mixing the powdery concoction. "So, Light... Do you remember anything else from last night?"

"If you're talking about that conversation with Aubergine, I'm still not sold." Lightning picked up the bowl of melted butter, lifting it away with the end of a dishcloth, which protected her fingertips from the heat. "Odin and I, there's something there, something to do with our souls, and he'd never do anything like that."

"That's the point, Light, it wasn't Odin..." Fang took a deep breath. "Aubergine isn't Bahamut, okay? He's the little echo that got left behind, just an empty duplicate, one who could make himself into whatever else he wanted to be... And if Odin had an echo like that, it could have grown pretty damn twisted over the years; he could've just forgotten about us."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "Then why is Aubergine so docile?"

Fang kept quiet for a while, gently stirring at the bowl of batter. "I think he didn't try to find me immediately for a reason, Light... Did you take a good look at that cave? It looks like he's been there a while, meditating on that Etro symbol."

Lightning shook her head. "You're just speculating again."

"Hey, it's an educated guess." Fang looked back down at the bowl. "Does this need more stirring?"

Lightning held up the dish with the egg. "Pour this in, and stir it faster than before."

Again, Fang did as she asked, but after a moment or two, she spoke up in a quieter tone. "I've gotta thank you for showing me this... And you can count on me teaching you something, too."

"What sort of something?" Lightning lifted the bowl with the melted butter. "You still owe me a 'dragon dance'."

Fang chuckled. "I haven't forgotten it..." She paused when Lightning reached over to pour the butter into the mix. "Keep stirring?"

"Yes, for about thirty seconds." Lightning leaned back again, gazing over at the heat that rose from the griddle, before she moved to cut a small pat of unmelted butter with her cooking knife, spreading it out across the hot iron surface. "Then I'll show you how to pour them."

"Alright." Fang stopped stirring when Lightning gestured for her to approach, and she smiled again when those soft, yet strong hands helped her to pour the batter down, letting it collect in wide circles right on top of the griddle. "This is more fun than I expected it to be..."

Lightning felt a tiny smile creep over her face. "It's always more fun, cooking with friends."

Fang moved her hands back when the mixture was fully poured, but she still lingered at Lightning's side, staring deep at the look in her eyes. "You really do cope with this fast..."

Lightning blinked, before she turned her gaze back towards Fang, staring at the sheer need in her gaze, the need to remain as close as she possibly could. "There's just no point in dwelling on it..." She slowly reached up to touch Fang's nearest cheek. "It's all venom, you know, thorns; you can't hold onto it for too long."

Fang slowly closed her eyes. "I suppose it is."