So hey guys, and thanks for tuning into the next chapter of Revenant Wings!

*hides behind my moogle plushie* I am so sorry about the lateness of this chapter; university has been hectic and between that and the general chaos that surrounds my life, I haven't had much time to write at all. I've been working on this chapter on and off since last Sunday—not that things've been easy for Light and Hope to begin with, but... you know... Forgive me?

Much love to: 2 lol (and oh yes, school does that—and well, yes, I get a lab coat. That I have to pay for, isn't that lovely?), Lieutenant General Sora Hikaru, LawMan (Yeah, I'll admit, I don't go easy on her, but if Hope makes her happy...), That One Reviewee (aha, school—the bane of us all, don't we all wish it was still summer?), H-thar (oh yes... *pets her* I so wish I could elaborate on "my Light" but that would make this too long—and I think it would delve into fangirling somewhere down the line, so... *coughs* But yes, that is indeed the case though I don't think I address it this chapter; you're right though—on more than one count. :3), GKMader (oh yes, Snow... Light just never gets tired of making a jab at him, you know? And *coughs* aha, future projects will come... eventually), Mylaervain (thank you very much—and yes, running and fighting get tiring after awhile, no? Everyone's gotta sit down and think once in awhile), and ChileanGuest (I probably should—would make things easier on myself to begin with, but for me, personally, a fight isn't meaningful if there isn't emotion behind it. ;D Thank you, though, and yes, damn right!)! You guys really know how to make a girl smile and it makes me feel worse that I had to make you all wait. *droop*

So hopefully, hopefully, the length of this chapter makes up for the lateness of it—enjoy as always!

Chapter 35: Against the World

Hands slipping on the slick, smooth surface, Lightning tried to keep her grip on the edge of the precipice… but her fingers were gripping at thin air and she knew it. There was no easy way to climb back up and there would be a long way for her to fall; desperation consuming her actions, she tried, once again, to pull herself back up.

Claws rested on the back of her hands—both of them—and the gesture might've been gentle had it not been for the fact that the sharp nails were digging into the skin near her wrists, drawing blood. "Let go of me!" she spat, trying to wrench her palms out from underneath the unwelcome force. But struggling didn't work, nor did digging her feet into the surface below where she was hanging, trying to kick herself away. And for some reason, she couldn't see who was holding her in place: every time she twisted her neck upwards, it was like she was trying to look at something with neither form nor body.

But it was speaking to her.

She couldn't hear the words, but it was moving its mouth, forming syllables she couldn't discern. In one fluid movement, she wrenched her right hand free, mindless of the scarlet droplets that splattered the ground in the wake of the movement, using the momentum to finally push herself upwards; scrambling up onto the precarious ledge, she came face to face with the formless figure, its shape constantly shifting as though given life by an unseen breeze.

Phantom fingers curled around her waist, the force of it arching her lower back. The name was carried on a ghosting whisper, brushing by her right ear. "Claire."

Hope was jolted awake by the sound of a scream knifing through the cool night air, its pitch terrifying and chilling when his body registered whose tones it was in before his mind had; for a moment, fear seized him—what if she'd run off again while he'd been asleep?—before the warmth still pressed against his right side brought that thought to a grinding halt.

His heart knowing what it was before he'd even had the chance to turn around, Hope was still unprepared for the almost frantic way Lightning's eyes snapped open the moment he gripped her by the shoulder. Trying to disregard how badly she was shaking and the dark pink locks plastered to her temples with damp sweat, the look in her eyes honestly scared him; for a moment, it was like she didn't know who he was.

Panic and anguished desperation clouded the aquamarine gaze that had been filled with a tranquility he hadn't seen in them in a long time just a few hours ago; for a moment, he was scared that she didn't know who he was, the fear of that fueling directly into his unwillingness to croak her name out aloud. Thumping footsteps heralded the arrival of Snow, but the big man stopped short once he realized what was happening. Mouth frozen and at a loss of what to say, he glanced over at Hope, who was, in all honesty, feeling just as helpless at the moment.

Snow took a hurried step backwards, mouthing words as he stumbled over a rock in the process. "I'll leave this to you?" Staring helplessly after the retreating beige trench coat, Hope almost didn't want to turn back to her, afraid of what he would find. I've never seen her like this before… Even when she'd had nightmares before… she knew who he was when he'd woken her up—the Lightning in front of him was staring at him as though he wasn't there. "What's wrong… Light?" Why're you… please don't…

She closed her eyes; slender hands suddenly balling the front of his shirt, a short cry leaving her lips as she did so. "Light?" He couldn't tell whether the sounds she was making were sobs or dry heaves; nails closing around the fabric, the only thing he could do was pull his arms around her lower back, hoping the gesture would calm her.

But it didn't—Lightning arched her back against the touch so swiftly it was like he'd stabbed her with a knife; muscles tensing instantly, the motion tore another cry from her lips. Hope let go of her with excruciating swiftness, fear pushing through his bloodstream in time with his pulse, irrational terror was beginning to gather at the back of his mind. Was it something I did… or said? For some reason, that thought hurt—and it scared him. Hope wanted to back away—this was something he didn't know how to deal with and just like before… it scared him that she was in obvious pain and there was nothing he could do about it.

Lightning's fingers were still tangled in the collar of his shirt, preventing the movement and he didn't want to pry her away from him, for fear that that would make it worse. Shoulders slumping, Hope was unprepared for the moment her forehead came to rest on his throat, the top of her head against his jaw. "I'm sorry," came the hoarse whisper. "I didn't—I didn't mean to…"

Swallowing thickly, Hope was afraid to touch her again, scared that it would elicit the same reaction from her. Trying to compromise that fear with the want to reassure her—or was it himself?—that things were okay, he hesitantly reached for her again, hands gripping her slender arms, finding to the increasing relief inside that she was no longer fighting it. "What happened?" He was surprised to find that his voice sounded stronger than he felt inside. Light… don't scare me like this.

"Nightmare," she breathed out, the syllables riding on a pained breath—before something snapped. "It was her—it was her voice!" The words burst out in a hoarse rush; heavy with pain, it was a moment before Hope cottoned on to what she was saying.

"W-who?" The question slipped out, even though Hope knew he already knew the answer. So that's why…

Lightning raised her head slightly; relieved that her aggravated blue eyes were calmer and the pain in their depths looked much more controlled than the anguished panic that had decorated them earlier, she pulled back a little before replying. "Serah." Shaking her head, raking her hands through sweaty, tangled locks of hair, she bowed her head slightly. "I'm sorry," she repeated, "I didn't mean to react that way… and I didn't—"

Hope bit down on his bottom lip. It's not her fault that you didn't try to help her earlier… There was a faint flare of guilt at the way he'd knelt there, honestly unsure of what to do, thoroughly terrified of the blank look in her eyes. I didn't mean to react that way either. "Do you want to talk about it?" he offered; to his intense relief, she seemed to be calming down; the hoarse pain in her voice was gradually being replaced by a low tone that denoted forced control, though her fingers still held their fine tremble even though Hope knew she was making an effort to control it, clenching them into slender fists.

"I just want to forget," she mumbled quietly, drawing away from him to pull her arms around her knees. "It—I don't want bother you with it. It was stupid," she admitted softly, "I knew it couldn't have been her, I just…" Forcibly taking in a deep breath, she dropped her head to her chest, pastel pink hair falling into her eyes. "I'm pathetic," she mumbled quietly. "Here I am; I just told you I knew I had to keep going, and all it takes is one nightmare to…"

Hope shifted his weight uncomfortably. The fear that had gripped him a few minutes earlier was beginning to recede now; relief was instilled by the fact that she seemed to be coming to terms with what'd happened—that she knew who he was, for starters, and that she seemed to know what was going on, even though he somehow knew inwardly that the shadow of lingering pain in her eyes wouldn't be easy to assuage. But I already asked… Gently resting a hand on her shoulder, relief heightening when she didn't pull away, Hope held her gaze when she lifted her head again. Let's try… something else.

If he was honest with himself, Hope wasn't sure if it would work—but anything would be better than if she went down that lane again. "D'you want to talk about something else?" Maker, please tell me this'll work.

"What?" She looked up at him sharply, but to Hope's intense relief the remaining vestiges of panic seemed to be fading from her eyes, being claimed by curiosity akin to amusement. Shifting again under her gaze, but for completely different reasons that he was more than satisfied with, he felt a little sheepish.

"You know," he started quietly, feeling a prickle of pain stab through his own chest at the memory. "When I was growing up, I was always told that talking about something else made you forget what you were thinking about."

She laughed quietly—it didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was enough, for the moment being. Brushing the back of her hand across her face, rubbing at her eyes, Lightning shook her head a little. "You're ridiculous," she murmured, a hint of amusement entering her husky voice. "But… thank you."

The comment—instead of discouraging him—reassured him, in some odd way. She will be okay… right? I have to believe it. "So talk," she commanded, rocking back on her heels to lean against the stone wall again.

Swiveling his head around, Hope was speechless for a moment. "W-what?"

"You suggested it," came the reply. "So… start."

It was his turn to chuckle. "Who's being ridiculous now?"

Rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hands, Lightning tried to suppress the unease in her chest. Inwardly, she knew she was both frightened and embarrassed about what had happened the previous night—she'd barely noticed it at the time, but the fear in Hope's emerald gaze was hard to forget and she knew she'd scared him. I didn't mean to… She was quite sure he might've gotten up and bolted the moment she reacted to the touch that she knew was meant in comfort if she hadn't been holding onto his collar, an act that prevented that. I'm sorry.

And in retrospect, she knew the way she'd reacted was irrational—it was a nightmare; it wasn't supposed to make sense and it was only fed by her own fear of her past. I told myself I wouldn't let that happen again. A faint flush made its way up her neck and throat when Lightning thought back to the way they'd ended up; the weaker moment hadn't allowed for her inhibitions—when sleep had finally clouded over the fear and panic that the nightmare had brought, she'd leaned her head against his shoulder—the fact that they were in full view of Snow didn't even register—warmth wrapped around her shoulders, and when she'd woken up, Hope was gone.

For a moment, she'd felt confused and curiously abandoned; before Lightning remembered that Snow would've woken him up sometime in the night to swap. Pale morning sunlight staining the rocks with pearly blotches that didn't quite reach the very back corners of the corridor they'd picked, she'd found him perched on a rock, arms held loosely at his sides, milky morning sun touching golden highlights to his silver hair. "Hey." Glad to hear that the barely-controlled panic was out of her voice, the calm serenity in his emerald gaze when he turned to face her had helped push down the lingering vestiges of the dream.

Hope scrutinized her for a long moment; trying to maintain some aspect of composure, Lightning raked her hands through her hair, pulling out the knots in the unruly curls twisted over her shoulder. "You sound better." The tone in his voice was carefully neutral, as though he was testing the waters.

She shrugged, before turning her gaze on him in earnest. "Listen, Hope. About last night… I'm sorry."

Hope raised an eyebrow—it was something she often did and for some strange reason, it amused her that he was choosing to employ it just now. "But… you already apologized." Confusion decorated his tone as he shifted slightly to fully face her.

She breathed out a sigh; Lightning could admit that the perplexed expression in his viridian gaze looked cute, in a childish way. "It doesn't—it doesn't change the fact that I scared you," she mumbled quietly, picking at a stray thread on her uniform with her nails, fighting the desire to reach for her weapon as a source of a reality check. I really didn't mean—

"Is that what you're worried about?" he queried gently. "Don't be. It's okay—it wasn't… I wasn't…" Moving over, she took the discreet offer for her to sit down beside him.

"You're sure about that?" It's not that I don't believe him, it's that I just don't think he's telling me the whole truth.

Hope heaved a sigh—perhaps he'd sensed that she wasn't going to give up so easily just because he'd said so; a terse look of acquiescence slipping into his gaze, mixed with an exasperated sort of amusement at her refusal to believe him quite so easily. "Okay," he clarified quietly. "You did scare me, at the beginning," he confessed, "but once you'd figured things out… it was—don't worry about it, alright?" Ducking his head sheepishly, their foreheads brushed; feeling the scratch of platinum bangs against her own, Lightning exhaled through her nose, finding that the contact calmed her significantly more than it probably should've—and sent fingers of warmth down her back with an almost painful swiftness. "But you're okay now, right?"

"Relatively," she supplied; it was probably better that she gave him the honest truth. "It's probably going to come back at some weaker moment, but for now…" she trailed off, unsure of what to expect. A rough thumb bumped against her jaw, prompting her to look up in surprise.

She met Hope's anxious verdant gaze equally, finding the quiet relief instilled in their depths something she could focus on to keep the resolve she'd just made—along with something else. It wasn't an expression she was unused to nor was it unwelcome; it was an expression that she still hadn't quite come to accept from him just yet.

But whatever qualms or uncertainty that she still had about it mentally, her body gave into it with an almost fluid ease; her hesitation melted away like fire on ice when Hope ran his tongue across her bottom lip. Mouth parting instinctively, Lightning let herself relax for a few heartbeats, willing for the moment to take away the past for the seconds it would last.

Pulling away reluctantly after a few minutes, she wanted to chuckle at his childish whine of protest. "We should stop before Snow wakes up," she mumbled against his throat. Hearing Hope's quiet laugh in response, she pushed herself to her feet, oddly self-conscious about the faint flush she knew was still on her cheeks.

His gaze followed her as she stood, amusement still glimmering his gaze. "You really care about that, don't you?"

"Tell me this after you're the subject of one of his tactless jokes," she challenged him, flicking her cape over her shoulder in a motion to make her way towards the brawler in question.

Breathing hard, Lightning found herself growing more and more uneasy the further they progressed into the ruins. The sameness of the walls was getting to her—and even keeping all of her senses on alert for any sign of danger, there was nothing there. Silence as thick as the stone around them was the only thing that was dominant, and even Snow's flippant jokes died out after a while.

But the swift pace she was forcing her body to adopt kept her mind off things—Hope aside, there'd been the issue of the dream she'd had last night. I feel okay now, but… It was like she'd told Hope earlier—it would no doubt come back to haunt her at some weaker moment and she could not—could not—let that particular moment come in the midst of a battle… like she'd done so stupidly once before.

Something brushed by her arm; Lightning snapped before she even turned around, exhaustion and frustration at herself for the things that had happened fueling her irritation. "Snow, if this is your idea of a joke, it's not funny. We all have better things to do and—"

"Sis, I wasn't touching you!"

"Light, he's right, nobody was—" Whipping around, Lightning had fully expected Snow to be standing just behind her, but to her annoyance and confusion, for once, the big man had been telling the truth: he was standing a few feet back, even further away from her than Hope, who she trusted had the common sense to not be grabbing her out of the blue. So what the fuck…

Rock exploded into her face as the wall facing her crumbled under some unseen pressure; instinctively moving her hands up to shield her face, Lightning felt every muscle in her body tense when an unearthly wail came from the pile of rubble. It wasn't the paralyzing screech that accompanied a Cie'th: it was low, guttural, and reminded her of a behemoth.

But there was nothing there—the expanse of space revealed by the crumbled wall held nothing but dust and chipped stone, and for a moment, Lightning wondered if she'd been imagining things, as ludicrous as that thought was. The moment she'd been about to back away to move on, claws erupted from the floor beneath them; twisted, spindly grey flesh that morphed quickly into claw shaped scythes far, far larger than her own body. Leaping out of the way, she couldn't contain the hiss of surprise when the grey, slimy tentacle slammed into the wall beside her, missing the skin of her exposed right shoulder by a few inches. Writhing masses of grey flesh snaked onto the path of the corridor before them, crushing the stone like it was nothing more than chalk dust. Raising a hand to cover her mouth, Lightning aimed the weapon in her hand at the flesh of what she could only assume was a monster—the bullets stopped the advance of the tentacles… but just barely. "Run!"

Thick columns of grey matter slammed down onto the stone around them, but what she couldn't discern was where it had come from—the tentacles were about as wide as her arm and there wasn't a source that she could see… apart from the path that was underneath her feet. But that's not possible; what could be— Snow's shout distracted her from the thoughts teeming in her mind; Lightning looked up to see grey-brown figures explode onto their way back; twisted, headless figures with skin the same consistency of the tentacles they'd just barely avoided, she had to fight the disgust that rose at the back of her throat once she noticed their arms—octopus-like and extended like whips, it took her only a fraction of a heartbeat to connect them with the attack they'd just evaded.

"Cie'th?" Hope's voice was beside her shoulder; a swift glance at the expression in his emerald confirmed the subtle fear she felt. How are we supposed to win? With flesh as resistant to the bullets as they were, the only other option was to go in for a direct attack. Not the smartest plan on a good day. It didn't matter if the Cie'th were blind and their movements sporadic and uncontrolled; they'd already located them and that only spoke to their ability to track. "I don't – know." The words came out in a hoarse rasp as Lightning hesitantly took a step back, warily keeping her eyes on the three mutant Cie'th heading towards them. They weren't fast; limbs jerking in directions that they couldn't seem to control, the tentacles protruding from their arms ripped gouges in the wall that happened to get in their way. Letting out another shriek, one twisted its body in Snow's direction; the blond brawler was standing several feet in front of them—fists raised, he raised his thick right arm in the motion of a punch, knocking back the slimy grey flesh extended in his direction easily.

But the Cie'th wasn't done; retaliating with a speed that she wouldn't have known it possessed just by watching it move, the lashing grey flesh came towards Snow again; ducking backwards, the tip of the tentacle dug into the stone behind him, writhing as it missed its obvious target. Closing her free hand into the back of Hope's shirt, Lightning pulled him back along with her as the grey flesh slithered towards them with unnatural speed; slimy, scaly skin glimmering faintly in the morning sun. "Let's go!"

The expanse of floor that the larger tentacles had ripped out of the ground before them loomed ominously ahead of her as Lightning let go of Hope—he was better off without her trying to half-drag, half-lead him across the hallway and the larger, slate-grey columns of sickly flesh had vanished, leaving the chasm open just beneath their feet. Skidding to a stop, she winced when the echoing wail of the Cie'th sounded painfully close behind them; though they weren't fast, the reach in their arms were long and one blow would be powerful enough to knock someone out. Scanning her eyes quickly over their surroundings, she had to appreciate just how fast things had gone from under control to hellish—within the span of five minutes; chased by Cie'th and now short on time, things couldn't have looked worse.

Shifting dust came from above her head, flakes of stone settling in her hair and making her want to cough more badly than ever, the gouge ripped into the ground before them was wide—she could've probably made it in terms of a jump, but whether everyone else could… And there's no way in hell I'm taking chances now. The only way forward was to slip through the hole in the wall the Cie'th had created in its first attack and hope that that would throw the mutant ones after them at the moment off their trail for a few minutes; enough for them to catch their breaths and formulate some sort of new plan.

Motioning silently, she hoped that Hope and Snow would take the cue to remain silent; stumbling forwards into the abrupt darkness, it was suddenly hard to see. Rubbing her eyes with aggravated hands as though it would help them adjust to the dimness faster, the scent of rotting wood and mold hit her nose as Lightning reached out a hand towards the walls, trying to find some form of support while her body adjusted to their new surroundings.

Moss and other plant material carpeted the ground, muting their footsteps—but that worked both ways: they wouldn't be able to hear the approach of an enemy either. But they'll make noises… right? Safe for the moment being, counting on the blindness of the Cie'th to conceal them, she could hear her heartbeat hammering in her throat as they set off at a run down the new pathway; past caring about where it led to. Every foreign sound made Lightning feel like she was going to have a heart attack—every single corner that they took sent a surge of adrenaline through her system not unlike the anxiety she'd had the very first mission she'd been sent out on as a rookie. Get a grip, Farron; you're a professional. Heart leaping into her throat the moment a mutant Cie'th launched itself into their way, scythe like claw on one hand swiping furiously at the air, its odd gait carrying it forwards with a speed that didn't look possible in its gnarled, deformed body, her fingers tightened on the trigger before she was even aware of what she was doing.

Fear spiked in her system when Lightning realized that one bullet wasn't enough—it didn't matter that she'd shot it in the throat; it had no blood to begin with and the attack only seemed to aggravate it as it swiped it clawed forearm at her head. Leaping backwards, she was pulling the trigger as fast as the mechanism would allow her to; it was only when she'd sunk three bullets into its chest that it finally stopped. Keening over backwards, it let out a shriek as it twitched a few times before falling into a limp, shapeless mass of grey flesh on the ground.

"That… was close," Snow panted behind her; folding in her weapon—but not loosening her grip on it—Lightning turned to see that the brawler had relaxed slightly, though his fists were still tensed in an attack posture. "So what's the plan? We need one, don't we?"

Pulling in a breath, her erratic heartbeat still pulsing wildly in her bloodstream, Lightning leaned against the cool stone of the inner wall, trying to think. Plan… Right. "We still need to get it," she rasped out. "It doesn't matter if there're Cie'th out there after us—we need it."

Snow grinned at her. "Was hoping you'd say that, Sis. So, full steam ahead?" He took a step forward in the direction of the turn in the corridor before she snagged the elbow of his jacket in her hand.

"Not so fast," she growled at him. "If we do this your way, we'll be fighting for days." Snow looked confused for a moment, a mixture of hurt and amusement decorating his face before he decided on the former, ocean blue gaze taking on the look that had always worked on Serah.

And the moment that thought crossed her mind, it was like something had hit her in the chest like a physical blow—struggling to keep her face and expression neutral, Lightning slowly clenched the fingers of her left hand into a fist, hoping that no one had noticed the momentary change in her expression and the slight tremble in her fingers. I'm scared to turn around for that very reason.

So when she heard Hope approach her, she knew that he'd noticed. Please don't call me out on it… Her attempt at trying to suppress the flare of sudden pain in her chest coming out as a forced sigh, Lightning gave her head a half shake, hoping that that would be enough to deter Hope from whatever he wanted to do or say; muted gratitude unfurled inside when she realized he'd taken the hint, she tried to focus on the matter at hand.

"Awh, but Sis…."

"Don't argue with me," she snapped, the words coming out harsher than she intended them to in her desperation to conceal the panic that had taken over all too easily. "We can't spend our time fighting them—we'll never make it."

"They're strong," Hope murmured beside her—whether he'd said it as a general statement, or as a musing thought, Lightning couldn't tell.

Flicking her gaze up towards him for a moment, his expression was concealed in the dimness of the corridor they were currently in. "Yeah." We can't afford to take them all on the way Snow has in mind. "So—"

A howl close to them—much, much closer than she would've wanted—interrupted her; breaking into a run instinctively, she let Snow take the lead. Pushing Hope ahead of her, she kept an eye on his back while constantly checking over her shoulder to gauge the distance between them and the Cie'th that had erupted out of nowhere. She wanted to think that they'd been there all along—that their entry into the ruins had triggered the attack—but somehow, Lightning didn't think so; it was so, so convenient to just push a bunch of monsters into the place that they were all headed and hope to wipe them out. She didn't want to believe that there was someone else out there pulling the strings… But what other explanation would there be? Our luck can't be that bad.

She would've liked to voice those particular theories out loud, but the quality of the air around them was starting to decrease; between that and the effort it took to keep the pace needed in order to keep a safe distance in between them and the Cie'th, it didn't leave any room for talk.

Breathing and heartbeat erratic, she'd been about to suggest a break when the rumbling began again, quaking the floor underneath their feet and dislodging clumps of mossy plant material from the walls and ceilings. Shrieks mixed with shouts of surprise grating into her ears, the only thing Lightning managed to do was to find a grip on Hope's wrist, pulling him backwards, when thick grey tentacles erupted from the ground beneath them, twisting and spiralling into angry contortions.

Pushing him behind her, ignoring the quiet whimper of protest that came from his lips, she raised her gun at the very tip of the tentacle—it had paused, as though the Cie'th it belonged to was trying to decide which one of them to attack first.

The bullets that she fired at it didn't seem to have any effect; the impact was there, but the small metal projectiles didn't seem to stop the advance of the steel-grey flesh as it suddenly lashed out towards them. Reacting on almost total instinct, she used her body to push Hope to one side. Both of them ending up on the ground, gunblade pressed into the stone underneath her hand, the thick tentacle punched through the section of wall behind where they'd just stood, shaking the foundations of the entire passageway.

That was when more tentacles exploded from the ground beneath them, splitting the ancient rock and widening the chasm that the first attack had already created in the ground; Snow was rapidly backing away from the edge it formed, obscenities leaving his mouth in shouts he didn't seem to care to control, when another, piteously human yell caught her attention.

For a moment—one heart stoppingly terrifying moment—Lightning thought it was Hope; she'd turned her attention away from him the moment Snow had let out his first yell. Fear seized her heart and chest like ice, before hands closed around her shoulders, trying to pull her upwards. "Light, get up!" Allowing herself to be pulled up, she met his gaze, trying to find the comfort she almost always did in his emerald gaze.

But that didn't happen today—the viridian irises were shadowed with a fear she knew to be inherently mirrored in her own—that they wouldn't make it out alive—when the second yell distracted them both. "Light!" Turning her head around, she saw what he was trying to warn her about the moment the syllable left his lips.

The yell hadn't come from Snow, who was backing away from where he was standing a few feet away from the base of the mass of writhing tentacles, but what took her a few heartbeats to discern as someone held tight in the grips of the tentacles far above their heads. It took her a few seconds further to recognize the man as a soldier—recognition flickered in the depths of his mud brown eyes as his panicked gaze met hers.

And for a moment, it was like the world stood still; the shrieks and howls far off in the distance all stopped at once—silence consumed the air around them. The man might've made an attempt to reach an arm out to her; Lightning wasn't sure of the meaning of the twitching movement of his body, with Hope's hands still gripping her upper arm and free hand—before his form was swallowed by the writhing flesh of the giant Cie'th.

Warm, scarlet drops suddenly sprayed into the air, landing on her hair and face. Her mind hadn't quite processed what had happened—but her body had. She didn't need the motion her body automatically took—raising the hand not trapped in the confines of Hope's to touch the liquid left on her skin—to know that it was blood.

The instinctive cry of shock and disgust leaving her lips before she could stop it, Lightning wanted to slap herself; Hope had let go of her with a hoarse gasp the moment the sound had left her lips—the abject horror clouding his gaze speaking all too loudly that her cry had confirmed what the sticky warmth splattered down both their fronts was. Swallowing against the surge of nausea that instantly attacked the back of her throat when she turned to face him; the sight of blood streaked down his face and hair—even though she knew it wasn't his—clawed at the fears she'd been struggling to contain. Stop it, stop it, she ordered herself.

"Sis, over here!" Snow's shout was barely audible over the unearthly sounds the mutant Cie'th was making; the beige, ridiculously tattered trench coat was barely visible in the gloom, half hidden underneath a twisting mass of grey-brown flesh. Boots making a squelching sound on the worn stone of the corridor's floor, Lightning tried not to think about what she was actually stepping on—it only made the barely-suppressed nausea worse and she didn't have time to think about that: between trying to make sure that the tentacles didn't snag her next and making sure the same thing didn't happen to Hope, she couldn't allow herself to focus on that.

Ducking under flailing Cie'th limbs, remembering that it was blind, Lightning found her fingers unconsciously reaching for his wrist; pulling Hope down the crumbled stones of rock into a trench created by the Cie'th itself. Snow was crouched on the opposite side, scarlet stains blossoming down the front of his trench coat and shirt. And even on him... I can't— The sound of a thick tentacle slapping the ground made them all wince; clearly, the gigantic Cie'th was trying to find out where they were... and it was only a matter of time before it did. "Now what?" she rasped at him, trying keep her voice down and maintain a passive face at the same time, even though she could feel the blood beginning to dry on her face and hair. Resisting the urge to scratch at it, Snow pointed a finger down in the direction where the Cie'th had sprouted from the floor.

Through the constantly shifting grey limbs and the crumbling dust that promised an imminent cave in sooner or later, the open space that they'd first traversed through was visible—it wasn't exactly a better place to be than they were right now, but it was better than the death they'd just witnessed. Snow mouthed the words at her. "Let's go?"

We don't exactly have much choice here. Still slightly shaken, she tried to banish the images from her mind—they weren't exactly making it easier for her to concentrate on the matter at hand and right now, she couldn't afford to get distracted. Just get yourself together—you'll be fine. It only took one glance at Hope for that resolve to weaken, but Lightning fought it, determined not to let it take over for his sake if not for her own.

Snow had already crept ahead on his hands and knees; taking his cue to follow suit, Lightning looked up to meet Hope's gaze. The earlier indecision and fear gone—replaced by a grim sort of determination that she wasn't unfamiliar with—she found that she could feel slightly more reassured at the fact. The loud thump and the subsequent crack made her jerk her head up; the erratic motion of the Cie'th slowing down in the same instant, as though it had cottoned on too. The tips of the grey tentacles nearest to them paused, as though unsure of which direction to move in now, before she gave Hope a rough shove in Snow's direction. It didn't matter how loud they were now—Snow had just about given them away. "Go!" she screeched; stumbling after him, keeping a wary eye on the grey flesh that had resumed its aggravated movements.

Using his foot, Snow had punched a hole through the worn and already damaged ground of the corridor beneath them; the gaping fissure he'd created was now wide enough to fit a fairly average sized human—squeezing himself through, she watched the brawler let go of the edge of the rock, dropping easily onto the stone far beneath them. Idiot; and I had a Grav-Con unit right here. But it wasn't him she was concerned about and if he wanted to risk his neck doing things the dangerous way when there was a safer one, then she wasn't going to stop him. "Jump." Nudging his back with her shoulder, she was surprised to find the that determination that she'd seen in his eyes just a few moments ago was evaporating.

The Cie'th's howl, coupled with the angry thump of a tentacle spearing into the ground, breaking apart rock, was close.

Suddenly unsure of what had brought on his abrupt hesitation, Lightning raised a hand in his direction. "Hope, what—?" He caught her arm before she could raise it completely; in the fraction of a second that their eyes met again, the demure fear in them screamed more loudly to her perception than anything else. Grey flesh ripping another gouge into the ground, she stopped him just as he was about to open his mouth. "Save it. Just go—I'll be right behind you." Giving him a none-too-gentle shove with her shoulder towards the opening in the corridor floor again, Snow's shouts to hurry up were just barely audible over the sound of the Cie'th's angry screeches.

Pulling her wrist out of his grasp, she nudged him towards the crack again; weapon out and in hand, Lightning didn't expect the shots she fired to so much damage as to delay—the tip of the tentacles aimed in their direction hesitated, recoiling back from the impact of the bullets, but as far as she could tell, she wasn't harming it.

The disappearance of the warmth at her back reassured her that Hope had, indeed, jumped—intending to follow suit, she caught the glimpse of the scaly flesh bury itself into the groove that it'd created before a blast of wind hit her body. Throwing out the Grav-Con unit ahead of her, the bubble of antimatter blossomed on the ledge beneath them, the small figure that was Snow growing larger by the heartbeat.

Hope hit the ground before she did; cushioned by the reflective quality of the small device, by the time she'd gotten there, he was already scrambling up, scanning the area around them with an expectant verdant gaze. In the motion her hand made to push her bangs out of her eyes, Lightning's fingers brushed against the now completely-dry blood splotches left on her cheeks and forehead. Disgust instantly rising at the back of her throat, she tried to resist the temptation to rub her face with her hands—for some reason, the thought of the soldier's blood on her hands made her stomach churn. Okay, Farron—deep breath; there's no reason for you to freaking out like this and losing control now will only make things worse. The self-disciplinary thoughts helped her readjust her grip on reality: by the time she'd straightened herself up, Hope and Snow were already a few paces ahead of her, though Hope had turned back to wait.

For some reason, the sight of blood on his face and neck made her want to wipe it off—it didn't belong there and it didn't sit well with her. Safe for the moment being, Lightning had to resist the dire urge to—she had a feeling that it was something he wouldn't appreciate at the moment; having barely taken a step forward, Snow's strangled yell startled her. What did I do this time?

But it wasn't her—whipping around, she saw what she thought he was looking at. The mutant Cie'th that had been attacking them had anchored itself to the wall behind them; writhing tentacles still trying to search for them in the floor above, it would only be a matter of time before it realized that they weren't there anymore. This particular Cie'th had grey flesh with the consistency of a snake's; with deformed tentacles and no distinctive 'face' that she could see, it reminded her of a lopsided octopus... albeit one that was three times her size. "So let's get out of here," she hissed back, not seeing that the problem was, "before it figures out what happened."

Hope gave her a tug on her upper arms the moment Snow's hoarse croak reached her ears; turning her around, at first, Lightning couldn't see what they were both looking at past Snow's bulk. "No, Sis, it's not that... That." Pointing a thick, gloved finger past him, she caught the sight of the copper-brown flesh of more Cie'th coming towards them, obviously having been attracted by the noise they'd made, screeches echoing painfully off the walls of the much more open cavern.

Stepping forwards, Lightning pulled out her weapon as she drew level with Snow—the blond brawler's usual grin was absent from his face; replaced by a serious expression, he gave her a slight smirk as she raised her weapon to shoulder height. "Ready for some hero action, Sis?"

She breathed out a soft snort through her nose, earlier emotional grievances forgotten in the face of the mutant Cie'th drawing closer with every heartbeat. You're not—getting anyone else like you just did! The death she'd just seen fueling the determination not to let it happen again, it overrode her erratic heartbeat fueled by lungs burning for an adequate amount of air and the exhaustion that hadn't left her limbs since the previous night. Hope's presence was suddenly just behind her; subtly encouraged by his relatively-steady breathing just behind her shoulder, she wholeheartedly believed the words he breathed out. "We're going to make it."

Lightning spared a heartbeat to flick her gaze back at him, ice blue meeting viridian. "Right."

Oh goodness, this chapter was long... *sighs* It took me at least three or four sittings to get the later segments down, and even then... Well, it took me awhile. ^^;; But hopefully it sounded alright to you all and that it made sense—I think I'd cry if it doesn't at this point. *hangs head*

I gotta love my awesome LadyAlaska's comment when she read the unfinished product of this chapter; when Light says [she and Hope] should stop before Snow wakes up: "Snow should walk around with a bucket over his head all the time so he can't disturb them". I think I just about cracked up—at that point I'd just finished that segment; we were discussing our plotlines for our stories and fangirling about Hoperai in general—because I honestly could not continue with this chapter; I proceeded to spend the rest of my night thinking about how Snow would look (and fight) with a bucket on his head. Umph...

Anyways. Weird conversations with best friend besides, erm, I honestly don't know when the next chapter will be up. I will say, once again, that the latest will be next Saturday—though there is a chance I might actually finish before. If it's not up by next Saturday though, you are welcome to go give me a kick on whatever site some of you have added me on... So leave some love please (donations go to said bucket), and I will see y'all soon! c:

Hearts!