Sound was absent, darkness holding everything within her world captive. Shallow breaths were all she felt, until she began to realize that something was nudging her head. The contact caused her to grow more awake and conscious of how little shallow breaths did for helping her desperate lungs. When she inhaled deeply to break more normal, water was aggravated in her lungs, causing her to suddenly choke and cough.
Acxa rolled over onto her side, coughing and feeling like she'd go unconscious before she was able to breathe again. The taste of dirty water and iron lingered in the back of her throat and mouth, but she finally found that she was able to breath. Her hearing had begun to come back after she rolled to her side as the water leaked out, and so now she heard water moving fast from somewhere nearby. Her eyes were still flooded with water when she opened them however, and she whipped them clear to see. Her Dark Vision allowed her to see the tall and steep walls of rock surrounding her and stretching up for the sky, a muddied bank beneath her and the river running fast at her feet.
The air was cold, and even more so as she was completely soaked in her suit. Shivering, Acxa heard a whine from nearby but out of sight. She looked to see Kosmo standing beside her, his coat still dripping from the water. He came to her face, whimpering in seemingly happiness to see her as his snout touched her cheek. Acxa instinctively rubbed his head in comfort as she looked again to the racing river at her feet. While not as wild, rapids still churned the water in a few places, and seeing them suddenly crashed Acxa's mind from the clouded memory and confusion; a single thought ran through her mind.
"Keith!" She barely knew how gasped of a breath she had taken while saying his name, and her head whipping around, looking for any sign of the paladin. Acxa scanned the river bank on both sides, frantic and feeling fear lock around her heart as she began to stand up. Kosmo gave a whimpering bark, sounding almost distressed beside her. Acxa turned and saw him prancing in the mud, whimpering and seeming restless. She didn't have to think twice before knowing why. With stiff limbs, she followed after Kosmo as fast as she could, the wolf running further downstream.
Acxa could see her own breath coming in large streams of fog as she ran, slipping and almost falling a few times because of the muddy bank as she trailed behind Kosmo. The wolf was running at a reasonably swift and urgent speed, but he ensured she wouldn't be left behind. She saw things on the bank, shadows or pieces of wood her mind wanted to imagine as her missing friends, but she was forced to run past them and accept that it wasn't them. A mixture of hope and dread would rise at seeing every shape, only to fall and leave her afraid as she forced herself to trust that Kosmo knew the way. It wasn't even a minute however before Acxa saw something on the bank and felt her heart freeze the rest of her body to a stop.
Kosmo came to stand by two figures that lay on the bank, one larger and the other far smaller. Acxa could already hear Violet's sobs, seeing the tears falling from her eyes as her short, blue bangs clung to her cheeks. Keith lay still in the mud, unresponsive to Violet's urging as she shaked him weakly. Violet heard Acxa approaching, and her face only further melted into a sob. As Acxa came within arms reach of Keith, Violet came towards her in near blind tears.
"Awca!" She cried as she fell into Acxa's arms, Acxa instantly kneeling to catch her. Violet squeezed her waist, her arms barely even making it all the way around as she clutched onto her and sobed, trembling fiercely. Acxa was unsure of who to tend to for a brief moment, Violet in such shock and terror in her arms that it made Acxa melt. Her concern turned to Keith as Voilet clutched onto her. Keith's head was turned away slightly, and while Acxa could see her own heavy breathing, she was suddenly terrified to see not a single puff of air was released from his mouth. Kosmo came near to Keith's head, dabbing Keith's forehead with his tongue and whimpering. Acxa had to knock herself out of the unnamed emotions she could already feel pulling at her.
"Here Kosmo." She called, and the wolf ruefully pulled away from Keith to come to her. Acxa gently directed Violet to Kosmo, having her hold onto him as she came closer to Keith. Kosmo sat down, letting Violet cuddle close to him and whimper into his fur; watching in concern as Acxa inspected his companion.
"Keith?" Acxa called to him as he lay there. She could tell even as his face was turned away from her that he was pale, and his cold skin still had water droplets clinging to the surface. Acxa leaned down and put an ear to his chest, blocking out all other sounds to hear. His chest was still and hollow; no rise and fall of breath, and no echoing beat within.
"No." Acxa suddenly wanted to deny reality itself as she sat up to look at him, "Keith? Keith!" Acxa cupped his face in her hands and turned his head to see him better, looking for any sign that he was still in there somewhere, but he was unresponsive to her calls. "Keith, wake up! Please!" She shook him, almost forcefully, and his eyes remained closed. Acxa feft something larger than a lump form in her throat. "Come on! Together. That's how you said we'd make it out of here! We're not together unless you're here with us! You're not going to let something like this kill you, right?!"
Keith was still and cold, her words deaf to his ears. Acxa could feel herself losing control, and she had to fight to push aside the emotions flooding to the surface. Emotions that suddenly felt out of nowhere; like they sprang upon her in a moment of weakness, stronger than anything she could have expected. She shook her head a little, trying to regain some control so she could think. Shouting at him wouldn't help him; she had to actually do something to keep him alive, because he couldn't be dead. He couldn't.
Acxa interlocked her fingers and began to push in short bursts on his chest, counting under her breath as she did. So long as she kept his heart going, he'd be alright. He'd wake up, she just had to give him time. Time to get himself together and come back to them. A round of thirty finished, and she went on to the next, leaving no room for rest. She barely heard Violet sobbing nearby, sitting now between Kosmo's forelegs as he warmed her and holding Lizzy close for comfort. Acxa barely even heard the rushing water anymore, felt the cold, and because of the water flooding and getting trapped in her eyes, she couldn't see all too well either. She could only count, and push over and over again on Keith's chest, waiting for him to move, cough, or do anything that would let her know that he was okay. He remained limp however, every push falling onto a hollow chest.
Acxa could feel her own arms beginning to get weaker, her hands sore from the constant bursts of pressure she was forcing on them. Her body trembled from the cold, and her teeth chattered as her breath came in short puffs of white air. She couldn't keep it up forever, but she'd rather go unconscious from the exhaustion than just give up. After everything he had done for them, for her, it didn't feel right. More than that, it felt like a knife through her chest at the thought of giving up on him. She didn't even know how many rounds she had gone through by now. She just knew she couldn't stop, and the emotions in her chest and throat were only getting stronger and harder to control. They weakened her, not just in thought, but in body as well; as if they were sucking the strength from her body just to fuel their own useless power.
She wanted to push them away, to rip back her strength from them, but they were stone walls that would not crumble. They filled her mind with thoughts that made her sick; thoughts of walking on down the bank without him. Thoughts of being alone. Waking up and finding it all wasn't a nightmare. Acxa fought, but the emotions that sprang from those thoughts only became stronger as she became weaker. She could already feel the tears falling unbidden from her eyes. Despite her efforts, Keith remained motionless; caught in a cold sleep nothing she did woke him from.
"Come on, breath!" Acxa grinded out through an unsteady voice, her strength failing her as her efforts slowed against her will, "You're stronger than this Keith… you can pull through! Just… please... don't leave me alone…." She watched his face with half blurred vision, and saw he was just as cold and unresponsive as before. Nothing she pleaded would call him back, and as her strength began to fall apart, herself with it, something deep within began to pulse and grow. Something which almost fed off those emotions, but instead of devouring them, it built with them. It rose higher and higher, becoming a kind of foriene presence which was somehow part of her. It was something Acxa neither knew, or was stranger to.
Locked within her own emotions, she could only feel it grow and pulse through her, spreading like a strange warmth almost. From somewhere deep within every bone and muscle, she felt it begin to move towards and soon concentrate in the palms of her hands on Keith's chest. As she gave one last hard push in a dying strength, Acxa saw in sudden alarm a glowing light pulse from beneath her palms, whitish blue in nature. It pulsed into Keith's chest, momentarily illuminating the still as stone heart within the ribcage.
Acxa paused, feeling that pulse and warmth was now absent; like it had left her body in that last push. All the emotion she had felt from before was suddenly gone, as if it took form in that pulse and was now out of her. Her confusion didn't stop her from looking to Keith's face, waiting and hoping beyond reality that there was change. She couldn't stop her hand from touching his cheek, whipping his brow and searching for any kind of sign; as if her touch might stir him. Keith remained still, seconds passing like agonizing minutes.
Acxa could feel the hope in her chest dying, until she saw Keith's closed eyes wince. He lurched, then tried to cough, water beginning to spew up from his lungs through his throat and mouth. Being too weak to even move on his own, Acxa rolled Keith onto his side, and the water came up more easily. He was limp and couldn't even hold his own head, but the gurgling coughs soon became less full of water, and more of Keith's own breaths as he soon found air reaching his desperate lungs.
Even though she knew he was breathing again, a trembling still lingering in Acxa's bones, and the cold wasn't responsible for something that deep. Keith's eyes only found the strength to open when he was breathing normally again on his back, and Acxa never thought she'd be so relieved to see his navy blue eyes focus on her directly above him. Seeing his eyes open was what finally enabled her to relax.
"...Violet?" He asked weakly as he looked with a drowsy gaze up at Acxa, voice sore and quiet from the coughing.
"Keef!" Violet answered his question as she came up to him and into his field of view, smiling bright and happy. She wrapped her arms around his head, and Keith smiled weakly to feel her embrace. He felt Kosmo's whiskers on his face as well and his smile widened, a light chuckle actually escaping him.
"Well at least everyone is alright after all that." Keith remarked. Violet soon let go to reach into a pocket. She retrieved the lizard from her pocket, and Lizzy shuddered in the cold air.
"Look Keef! Lizzy okay too!" She told him as if he'd been worried about it.
"Oh yeah, that's great." Keith tried to say in his most sincere tones, but he couldn't help but eye the lizard dryly as it looked at him from the safety of Violet's palms. Behind Violet however, who was now at his side, Keith looked to Acxa just as she was quickly whipping her face, rubbing her eyes and cheeks mostly, and a brief wave of confusion passed over him at her rather unusual composer. Was she just clearing water from her face, or was the sniff that came from her nose as she rubbed her eyes due to something else?
"What's wrong?" He asked, a sudden concern in his voice, a little too weak to sit up just yet.
"Nothing." Acxa quickly replied, "You were just unconscious for a long time. That's all."
"For how long?"
"I don't know. I wasn't counting." Acxa regained her composure and was able to look at him, a stone mask settling over her face to cover her true expression, and he wondered if there was more behind what she said. It was the same mask she used to block away the pains of her past with the Shunti, before she had told Keith what had happened. Did she use that stone cold expression to hide from the things that affected her, or hide them from others? He honestly wasn't sure, and was too cold and tired to really linger on it for long.
"Well, what matters is that we're all safe." He responded, finally making the effort to sit up. A sharp pain made him wince and grunt, however, halting his efforts. Acxa noticed immediately and came a little closer to investigate.
"Where are you hurt?" Her tone was serious and firm, and Keith was more than willing to comply.
"Shoulder." Keith grunted, barely able to use his left arm. He saw Acxa's expression turn to a kind of recollection and she urgently rolled him over onto his other side, investigating his left shoulder and back which were thankfully closest to her. Along with mud, Acxa saw there was red that stained Keith's suit, and she saw a deep puncture wound between his shoulder blade and spine.
"It feels like there's something still in there." Keith rasped weakly, fighting the pain movement caused him.
"There's nothing sticking out any more." Acxa remarked, "The feather from that bird probably snapped off when we hit that rock back in the rapids."
"Makes sense, and explains why I can't remember anything after that." Keith commented as he worked himself over, making an effort to sit up. Acxa did her best to help him without irritating his shoulder, but he couldn't hold back the wince that came with the movement.
"We need to get you patched up. A wound like this will be the death of you out here." Acxa remarked, placing a hand on his wound and pressing to halt any further bleeding. Keith gasped and grunted a little more loudly at the pressure, nodding however in response.
"Yeah, that or hypothermia." He commented through the pain as he shivered, his breath coming in puffs of white fog from his mouth. Neither he or Acxa were very cheerful when the rolling of thunder reached their ears, and storm clouds began to block the moon's light. An already difficult situation turned further challenging as the downpour approached like it was intending to make their lives miserable.
IXXXXXXXXI
"Great Scott, what is that over there!?" Henry asked in both marvel and slight uneasiness, a hand coming to grasp Shiro's arm.
"It's just another alien, Dad." Shiro replied, a little dry in his tone.
"It has four arms! How is that normal to you?! Are there always these many aliens around?!" Henry couldn't take his eyes off every inhuman thing they passed in the halls of the Atlas in extreme fascination and shock.
"Yes, we have a lot of alien allies and crew members." Shiro told him, having long past the urge to laugh at his father's uncharacteristic behavior, "They can also hear and understand english, so keep your voice down a little more."
"Oh yes, forgive me." Henry regained his normal, collected composure, calming his tone and adjusting his glasses, "I'm just not used to seeing such, out of the ordinary things. I mean, it's a dream come true really. I just can't believe it's real. And it's also been quite a while since I've really seen many people in general, so…. Oh look over here!" Henry diverted from their path to inspect a hovering cart on its way to pass them, confusing the Atlas crewmember pushing it as Henry got quite close to inspect the device. The young woman saluted however at Shiro's approach, and Shiro dismissed her with a nod and a bit of an awkward wave, still not quite used to having almost everyone on deck address him in that manner.
"Come on Dad." Shiro had to grab his father's arm and redirect him down the hall, Henry's attention still captured by the hovering craft.
"I wonder how that works. Gravity manipulation? Magnetic pulse maybe?" Henry rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Dad." Shiro tried to get his attention as they walked, trying to prevent his father from running into anything.
"Or maybe it has something to do with the ground beneath it?" Henry continued.
"Dad." Shiro tried a more blunt tone.
"Or perhaps it's two opposite energy sources pushing against another to create lift. That would be interesting. But to do that you'd need a third energy to-"
"Dad!" Shiro's slightly louder, firm tone earned a surprised look from his father, no doubt shocked his son would take such a tone with him. Shiro sighed to calm himself and his growing impatience. "Are you sure you can really help?" He had to ask as respectfully as he could, facing his father now as they stood, "Everything you've been seeing around here is pretty basic stuff for us."
"There's a difference between alien technology and alien energy sources, Takashi." Henry reminded, correctively, "What I've been seeing so far is technology, but give me time to understand the energy, and I'll understand the technology as well. Even so however, I meant what I said about not missing this for the world. And besides, I wouldn't be the scientist I am now if I couldn't find connections between all kinds of different energies and sources of power, would I?" Shiro sighed again, easily recognizing the tone in his father's voice and remembering how it was always the one he used when lecturing him as a kid.
"No sir." He replied to his father out of old habits of response, knowing his father would stare him down until he responded, "We just need to stay focused and not get sidetracked by every, single, thing. Time isn't really on our side."
"Then let's find this friend of yours." Henry nodded in agreement, and Shiro began to walk once again. They continued down the hall for about a minute before Henry gasped slightly. Shiro glanced at his father, and saw that Henry was looking at someone rather than something.
"Margret?!" Henry asked, eyeing a woman down the hall in almost disbelief. The older woman he spoke to responded to the name, and seeing him, she gasped, a smile coming to her face.
"Henry!" She replied in delighted greeting, and Shiro almost wanted to sigh in further impatience of his father's sidetracking. Seeing the woman come closer however, and hearing her voice, made him think twice about how to respond, as she almost sounded familiar. Henry and the woman he addressed as Margret came and greeted each other with friendly smiles, returning a quick embrace.
"Margret my dear, you haven't aged a day!" Henry told her, holding her hand with a bright smile on his face.
"Well when you get old, you can't get any older." Margret jested, merry blue eyes filled with delight as she and Henry shared a chuckle; her laugh was sweet and soft, and somehow relaxing. "When was it I last saw you?"
"Not for a long while, I'm sure." Henry replied, and he glanced back to Shiro, and saw the lost look on his face, "Takashi, you remember dear Margret, don't you?"
"Uh…." Shiro wasn't quite sure what to say, having both no recollection of the woman, but also feeling like he should know her.
"Oh I doubt he'd remember me, Henry. It's been a long time." Margret smiled sweetly to Shiro, coming closer as to involve him in their group.
"Oh yes, I suppose it has been." Henry recalled, his gaze dropping only for a moment in knowing a deeper reason to Shiro's memory, "Takashi, this is Margret Baker; she was practically your babysitter for twelve plus years, not to mention a good friend of the family." Henry reminded. Upon hearing more backstory to it, a foggy memory of a younger Margret came to Shiro's head, and his eyes brightened.
"Oh yeah, hey." Upon hearing her full name and that foggy memory fading back, older memories of fondness and care for the woman came back as Shiro came closer to Margret. He instantly put his arm around her in a warm embrace, feeling an old familiarity in her gentle hands and voice as she laughed at his tender response.
"Oh you're still just as sweet, my dear." Margret patted his back, and her merry eyes met his as he stepped back, "It's good to see you."
"Good to see you." Shiro replied more earnestly, a smile of his own spreading warmly on his lips as an excitable tone spread to his voice, "I didn't even know you worked here."
"Well I work mostly in the Atlas nurse area." Margret shrugged, "Probably why you haven't seen me until now."
"Have I walked past you and didn't even notice?" Shiro asked in dread, wishing his scrambled memories and mind would just operate to his benefit for once.
"Oh no, I've only heard about you up until now. No worries." Margret smiled at him and patted his hand and he held her's.
"Shiro!" A voice from down the hall drew Shiro's attention, and he spotted Sam approaching.
"Oh, excuse me for just a second Margret." Shiro squeezed her hand a little and let go as he moved towards the man approaching them, "Sam, this is the scientist I was telling you about, Henry Shirogane."
Sam's brow raised as he saw Henry, noticing the resemblance between father and son and registering their actual relations. He soon smiled broadly and held out a hand.
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Shirogane." Sam greeted as Henry shook his hand, "Your son has been one of my closest friends for years, not to mention an outstanding leader."
"Very good to hear." Henry replied with a broader smile of his own, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I must say, the technological advancements here are quite outstanding. I simply cannot wait to see what powers it all."
"Believe it or not, we're actually at our lowest power conditions at the moment." Sam's gaze fell a little, "Our backups have just barely been keeping us afloat. The blast from the robeast wreckage hurt us pretty badly."
"Robeast?" Henry was both at a loss and very much intrigued. Sam paused a little, realizing there'd be much to catch the older man up to.
"We'll need to bring you up to speed on some things, since there's a lot of alien technologies that are coming into play here." He admitted with a shrug, "I think, knowing your reputation though, we might not have to explain it a thousand times like the first time I had to explain it to the Galaxy Garrison."
Shiro listened in as Henry asked question after question, Sam being all too happy to answer in as much detail as Henry wished. Despite wanting to listen, Shiro found himself zoning out of the conversation. A sudden wave of something began to drown out the voices and situation, darkening his vision at the corners a little as a strange deafness began to grow. While he felt completely awake and aware, he couldn't ignore the presence which felt close enough to tap his shoulder; graze the back of its cold hand on the back of his head, awakening a kind of uneasiness that something was watching him from every corner. The gentle and warm hand that touched his arm in the real world shattered him from his state as he looked to Margret.
"So, Shiro the Space Explorer. The character has survived all these years?" Margret asked with a touch of humor to her tone. Shiro's brow furrowed, her sentence coming as strange to him; if there was a joke here, he didn't get it. She could tell within seconds.
"That name, 'Shiro'; you used to pretend you were a great space warrior named Shiro, when you were a young boy." Margret gently enlightened him, a merry remembrance in her eyes, "You always had such an imagination. Pulled me along on a few adventures of your own quite a few times when Adam wasn't with you."
Shiro's eyes brightened when he heard the name. "You knew Adam?" He asked in almost shock.
"Of course I did. He was a sweet boy, even when he was all grown up like you. You two were inseparable since the day you first met in kindergarten." Margret spoke with the same tender kind of tone she used with Shiro, and a soft look formed in his features.
"It feels like so long ago. I can barely remember anything from that time." He was unaware of how homesick and rather lonely he sounded, making Margret look to him with a kind of broken look. "My memory, more around childhood and life before the Kerburose mission… it's all in scattered pieces now. I don't think I'll ever find all of them again, no matter how hard I try."
"Be that as it may, you've found some." Margret encouraged, and Shiro raised an eyebrow to her in slight confusion, unsure of how she'd know that since she hadn't really seen him until now. Margret looked silently in a gesturing kind of way to the man speaking in deep, scientific terms with Sam, the men invested in their conversation. Shiro caught on to her meaning as he looked back to her, an enlightened look now in his expression.
"You are the one who called him, isn't that right?" Margret asked in an encouraging kind of question. Shiro nodded a little.
"I mean, a friend helped me in the first place, but-"
"A friend." Margret emphasized the word, drawing Shiro's attention, "When you lose something, and you can't find it, there's always someone close enough to help you look and find it. Don't search for lost things all by yourself, my dear, that's how you yourself get lost. I'm sure it isn't quite as lost as it seems either. You remembered Keith, didn't you?"
Shiro nodded in agreement once again, then paused at realizing she knew someone he hadn't grown up with or mentioned. At his further questioning gaze, Margret chuckled.
"Yes, I know Keith as well. You weren't the only little boy I took under my wing." Margret shrugged a little as her eyes drifted off slightly, memories coming back as she continued with a smile, "I had known Keith's father, Joseph, for a few years, and while he wasn't directly in contact as much, he kept me updated for the most part. After Joe died in the fire, Keith came to live with me. Since day one, he wanted to shut out the world and everyone in it; you were very much the same when your mother passed." Margret's gaze fell a little as she said that, as if old pains still lingered, "Just like you however, his true, sweeter side came through when he got to know me better. Despite how much I wanted to though, I knew I couldn't reach him in the ways he needed to be rescued. He needed someone to believe in him, fight for him; just as you needed someone to stand beside you, and push you onward towards the impossible. Someone who understood his pain, and the dark place it puts someone when they're alone. As Adam was there for you, you were there for Keith; maybe someday, he'll be the same kind of rescue for someone else, thanks to the example you've put for him."
Shiro's gaze drifted for a moment, seeing the other side of a story. "And, after I disappeared, what happened between you two?"
Margret's face became more or less grave at his question, but she answered non the less, "Keith was crushed, and lost, after he heard what happened. After giving up on the Garrison, he began to endlessly search in the wild, all on his own and for reasons I couldn't understand. I hated the thought of him being so alone all the time. He wasn't a child, but he wasn't an adult either. I couldn't stop him, but I took comfort in knowing that each night he'd come home... Then one day he walked through the door, and never came back... He had always made it a goal to at least call or leave a message every couple days so I'd know he was safe, but then, he stopped. A few days later, he was declared missing along with a few other kids who were from the Garrison. After that, days of worry simply blurred together, until suddenly the world changed…. Suddenly he was back, and doing things I would have never imagined…. He's grown up now, and he has his own wings to fly."
Margret's eyes dimmed, worry absent, but only to be replaced by a kind of sadness and missing of something deeply treasured.
"Have you two talked at all since he got back? Did you know about Keith's mother, Krolia?" Shiro wondered.
"We haven't had the chance to meet in the past few months. I don't think even Keith knows I work here now. I imagine being a paladin is busy, constant work." Margret replied with a bit of a shrug, a small edge of sadness in her tone despite how she tried to brush it off.
"I'm sure Keith would be overjoyed to know you're here, Krolia too! She'd probably be honored to meet the woman who raised her son. And I think you two would really get along."
"I wouldn't want to intrude. She's a woman in leadership after all." Margret shrugged again as she turned a little more inward.
"She'd take the time to hear anything that included her son, trust me. I can even introduce you!" Shiro looked at her with a sincere expression, and she couldn't help but chuckle.
"No need, Takashi. I'll see what I can do. For now though, I must say goodbye for a while; I'm sure you have your own duties to attend to as well." Margret glanced more or less behind Shiro, and when he followed her gaze he saw in sudden alarm that Henry and Sam were moving on down the hall, still in deep conversation, and unknowingly leaving him behind. With a quick glance back to Margret, he saw she was already beginning to part ways.
"I'll see you around again soon!" Margret told him as she waved with a sweet smile, her short, graying hair framing her face like it always had done perfectly in the past.
"Oh, yeah! For sure!" Shiro returned the gesture and began to turn around and go after Sam and Henry.
He hadn't even taken five steps down the hall before a sudden headache hit his head like a truck, making him suddenly dizzy for a moment and barely stumble. While it passed as soon as it came, Shiro was disturbed to have to question his own sanity for a moment. For a split second, he could have sworn he saw a dark, shadowy figure moving along the wall ahead of him, like a terrible phantom which whispered like a hiss within his mind. Shiro shook his head a little, finding the old feelings he had always felt when Haggar had been playing tricks with his mind returning. His mind instantly connected that to the robeast's energy pulse, and he remembered what Allura had said in their last debriefing. Shuddering and wanting the imagery of Haggar out of his head, Shiro forced himself to keep walking, denying that he saw anything more than a figment of his imagination.
IXXXXXXXXI
There hadn't even been a light drizzle before the rain poured down like a shower. The night air was freezing cold aftering being drenched, and then further soaked. Keith, Acxa, and Kosmo were forced to move on through the rain, Violet on Kosmo's back. The girl was mostly sheltered from the downpour thanks to the two large leaves her protectors had found along the gorge. The leaves, laid atop each other, created a kind of rain cover for Violet, but her small form could be seen shaking beneath. It was unclear how long and how far they'd been walking, but so far, their search for any kind of shelter had come up fruitless. Acxa walked beside Kosmo, checking on Violet constantly to be sure she was still covered. The makeshift tarp tended to slide off rather easily with no rope to secure it, and Violet's uncontrollable shaking didn't help to secure it.
For what felt like the hundredth time, Acxa readjusted the leaves to protect Violet. The girl lay flat on Kosmo's back, his body heat being trapped a little and helping her cope better from the cold. Violet's purple eyes looked to Acxa from beneath the shelter, miserable and hopeful that Acxa could make it all better. Acxa could only do her best, her shaking limbs and hands making the task difficult. She fiddled with the leaves, her breath constantly wanting to obscure her vision, as if it wasn't bad enough in the rain.
"Hang on." Acxa said, a little louder so the one leading their group could hear. She saw Keith stop and weakly turn around to make sure they were alright. She tried to make their stop quick, folding and adjusting the leaves to try and make them more secure. Kosmo stood still as he could, his fur protecting him from the biting cold.
While her concerns remained with her group, Acxa's mind wouldn't stop drifting off in questioning thought. That whitish blue glow, the feeling deep within she had neither recognized, nor was stranger to. A powerful, kind of feeling. Like something having long been asleep was now suddenly awake. She couldn't explain what it was, but if it had the power to bring Keith back when his heart was still and no breath was in his lungs, what kind of awakening power was it? Should she be afraid of something that strong? Could she even use it to help them in this situation? With as many questions as she had, she also had no answers to any of them, but her mind still pressed on the topic as if she could find at least one.
The heavy, flopping kind of sound that made it through the rain to her ears broke Acxa from her train of thought. She heard Kosmo give a rather sudden whimper, and he moved restlessly as if wanting to bolt. His ears were perked forward, his eyes locked on something ahead. Acxa followed his gaze, and felt an uncontrollable feeling catch her breath in her throat as she saw Keith collapsed in the mud. She got up and ran to him, slipping a little but managing to keep her balance as she came to him.
"Keith!? Can you hear me?!" She demanded, holding his head and searching his pale face for any sign that he was still awake. His eyes were closed, but small puffs of white fog slid out from his pale blue lips, relieving her of the worry he had fallen dead. While alive, it didn't mean he was in the best shape. Acxa could feel his cold skin even through the gloves of her suit as she whipped away the mud staining his cheek. He was out cold, and Acxa's mind thought of several reasons why. She turned him over a little, trying to get a look at the wound in his shoulder. While they had stopped much of the bleeding early, the amount lost had been a concern from the start. With nothing to even bandage or keep from infection, the risk of catching an illness was far higher.
Acxa felt Keith shiver uncontrollably in her arms, muscles tense and body stiff; even his breathing was raspy and harsh. She had never seen him like this; weak and unable to lift his own head, completely dependent on someone else for strength. It scared her, making her think that if this could bring him this low, would it be strong enough to end him? That thought only made her more determined to get him and everyone else to safety. Putting his arm around her neck, Acxa began the struggle to stand up, Keith limp at her side. Acxa grunted as she finally was able to stand, and she began to walk, each step brisk and small as she fought to keep her balance in the mud.
Keith's weight, plus the rain, cold, and mud, were pressing hard on Acxa's already weak body. She barely took five steps before a foot slid painful in the mud, and she was forced heavily to her knees. Now breathing even harder, Acxa sat in the mud, holding Keith's upper body and trying to somehow shelter him from the rain. Kosmo came to them, whimpering and sniffing Keith's head as he lay in Acxa's lap. Acxa looked up to the wolf and the little girl on his back. At the moment, Kosmo was the only one who could walk efficiently, and Violet was the smallest of their group, leaving her a little more vulnerable to the cold alone. Acxa weighed their options, not liking what she was coming up with, but she had no choice.
"We'll just slow you down." Acxa told Kosmo as he looked at her, yellow irises glowing in the night's darkness, "Scout ahead and find some shelter. Come back for us when you've found somewhere safe."
Kosmo whimpered, coming a little closer in reluctance to leave her and Keith behind. Acxa rubbed the wolf's cheek in a kind of comfort and earnesty.
"Please, get Violet to safety. I'll look after Keith. Search." She told the wolf. Kosmo's ears lowered in a kind of grave response, but he ruefully complied. Slow and restraining from his instinct to stay, Kosmo began to walk ahead, Violet shivering on his back. Acxa watched them, feeling a pit form in her stomach which swallowed any and all thoughts of hopeful outcomings. She wanted to be right next to Violet, ensure she was safe and protected, but feeling Keith shaking in her arms reminded her that someone else needed her, and Violet wasn't alone.
After giving herself a moment to gain some strength, Acxa began to try and stand back up. While successful, she barely had the strength to drag Keith and herself to the more side of the gorge where the rocky wall stood. With something to prop her back against, Acxa sat down for good this time. She pulled Keith's upper body into her lap to the point where he was pressed against her. His head rested on her shoulder, his face somewhat protected as he faced her neck. Acxa clutched at his limp form, his chest pressing on her's as she held him in weak, shaking arms. She could only hope her own warmth spread to his core, keeping him from reaching a critically low temperature, and him in return doing the same for her. Exhaustion was quickly coming, and she didn't have much strength left to fight it.
As she sat there, shivering and weary, all she could do was wait. The more Acxa sat silently, the more she became aware of Keith's weight which made it feel like she was sinking. She could feel his warm breath faintly make it to her neck. She could feel each breath he took into his lungs, his chest expanding and deflating almost in tune with her's. His heart beat reached her chest softly, as if trying to reach her own, and something about it made her hold him a little closer. Feeling his breath, his warmth, his beating heart, made everything else around her fade to background noise she didn't care to heed. He felt so cold, and each breath felt shallow against her neck and chest. She wanted to somehow let him know that she was here, protecting him while he slept. Sleep would have come to her herself, and with a welcome at that, if the fear that suddenly grew didn't keep her awake.
Acxa found herself constantly drifting off, but would suddenly feel his breathing cease and his heart go still. When she woke however, he was still with her, within her arms; alive. The fear that he'd slip away when she wasn't paying attention grew and constantly kept her in a state between sleep and paranoid wakefulness. He never stopped shaking, even in the weak attempts Acxa made to warm him, and he never stirred. The thought of being alone, his body in her arms but he himself gone, constantly haunted her, and as the thought repeated without stop, it soon made her eyes sting.
Losing control of it all, Acxa was glad Violet wasn't here to see her break. She hated to cry, but with not even Keith able to see her, she felt she finally could. She buried her face in the crook of Keith's neck and shoulder, and let herself sob. It had been so long since she had cried, and she hated how weak it made her feel, but why keep it in when there was no one there to see? Acxa let herself cry, let the fear and stress run down her cheeks with the rain. She wanted to speak to him, not just to tell him to stay with her, but to hear his voice. Out of the people chasing them, her past, her failures returning to haunt her, it was the fear of going on without him by her side, or leading the way, which made Acxa break harder than anything else. Her sobs went unheard, the rain being the only noise which stood above all others in the lonely gorge.
Acxa hadn't even known when the rain had stopped, but all she knew was that against the overwhelming darkness, a soft light was growing. She barely had the energy to fight the sleep in her eyes, let alone move her head to get a glimpse of what was causing the light. Her ears heard footsteps, heavy and slow, approaching with the soft light. A lighter and quickers set approached far quicker, and she heard and felt a sniffing nose touch her face and cheek, whimpering. A wave of relief washed over her to know Kosmo was here, and in her exhausted mind, she trusted anything that gave a familiar sound or touch. She barely felt the hands that came to gently lift her from the ground, but the second she felt Keith slip out of her arms was the second she panicked. She reached out almost blindly in the mix of darkness and soft light, and felt like she had searched for minutes until she felt his hand in hers. She held on tight, determined even in her sleep to never let go, and sleep only came when she felt the fingers she held slowly tense to weakly hold hers.
*note to readers* So I got a new computer, and the games which now work so perfectly on it have been soaking up my time, thus why its been a while. But anyways, I finally finished another chapter and thus was able to post this one! If you haven't figured it out by now, that little schedule idea I had for posting has been thrown out the window at this point XD Also some good news! Remember that idea I presented about Beyond the Stars one shots, or shorts as I call them? Well, the set of shorts for chapter one is posted! If you find yourself bored and itching for more of the actual story, you could also read the shorts to get some sweet behind the scene moments from previous chapters! Just sayin' XD I'm planning to do more shorts for all the chapters, but I'm all ears if you have questions you'd want to see answered or just moments you think would be cute. You might inspire a moment in the shorts that'll be cannon to the story, and expect some easter eggs in there as well! Also, I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but I have Pinterest, so you can simply type in Melody Bryte in the search for messages to talk to me! If I see it, I'll probably respond in a manor of minutes, or seconds.
But anyways, time to mention some peeps who made my day by favoring or following this story! Many thanks to BardofWorlds for following this story and sticking with it on the wild rollercoaster it is! Also thank you , LikeMywww-writemenow-fun, and Gracie Wiser for following or favoriting me! As always, I am very grateful and hopefully I'm getting these names right (I just write down what the email alert tells me in my list and hope I don't forget anyone)! Thank you all for reading this far and hope to see you if not on Discord, in the next chapter! oh yeah, and MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!