I came to a stop just at the edge of the water, looking over the large river while taking a deep breath of fresh air. "Well, here we are." Lilac and I had followed the stream to the river after gearing up. Since her camp was in that direction, I would have had to cross it anyway to get my place. So it all worked out.
The river meanwhile, was a lot bigger than I had originally thought. As far as I could tell, it seemed to stretch on for miles in this portion of the city, breaking off into a few other rivers or waterfalls. Where it then ends inside a large building.
I glanced over at Lilac, who still looked completely disheveled, her clothes wrinkled and hair still a mess. But I was glad to note that she seemed to be doing a bit better than before emotionally. And she was much more awake and alert.
"So." I groaned out tiredly and sniffed, making her look at me. "You think we can get across?" I asked her, nudging a rock into the water with my foot.
Lilac hummed and squatted down, picking up a stick and idly poking it into the water. "It should be possible for us to cross it." She said, running the tip of the stick through the mud, creating a smokey effect in the water. "The river's a bit bigger than usual, but that's because of the storm. And the water doesn't seem to be all that deep in some parts of it though and the current is calm for the moment. But…" She trailed off and gave me a look. "We spent a whole night sitting by a fire to dry our clothes. And I ain't planning on getting soaked again." She grouched, the girl still obviously feeling a bit miffed from when she had run through a waterfall. Making me chuckle and hold my hands out to placate her.
"Alright, alright. No going through the water. Got it." I said, before looking at the river again. "So how do we cross without ah… getting wet?" I asked cause I was drawing blanks since there wasn't any bit of dry land that was above the water that we could walk on. And most of the water was more than ankle deep.
Lilac raised a finger and opened her mouth, only to say nothing and slowly lower her hand back down. "That is the question isn't it?" She mumbled, tapping her chin as she stared at the water.
I huffed in amusement and crouched down next to her. Pulling up my sleeve slightly before dipping my hand in the water and running my finger through the mud as I thought about it. Getting my clothes soaked again was definitely something I did not want to deal with again either. But it probably wouldn't matter, because the storm was still lingering around on the outskirts of the city, which meant it could come back at any time. Though, ah… With Lilac's current opinion on water? She'd probably sooner chuck me into the river than wade or swim through it.
I snorted at the mental image of the small android lifting me over her head and throwing me into the water.
Shaking my head, I glanced at her only to frown when I saw her finger flicking at a cut on her left hand, again. "Lilac, I told you to cut that out." I chided the girl.
For some reason, she just wouldn't stop poking or picking at the damaged skin on her hands. Though I guess I couldn't really blame her. Something new appears on your body, and some people just can't help but poke at it. Even when they aren't supposed to or even know not to, almost like a child.
She sluggishly raised her head. "Huh, what!?" She blinked at me and followed my gaze down to her hand. Where her finger was still flicking at the cut. "Oop!" She smiled sheepishly at me and placed her hand down against her thigh. "Sorry, I can't help it!"
I shook my head with a sigh. "Just don't mess around with it okay? And don't pick at it! You'll just make it worse if you do." I told her. She nodded and made a sound of agreement. I saw her hand twitch, but she thankfully kept it down so she couldn't mess with it. I eyed her right for a moment but she seemed to be preoccupied with poking at the fish and avoiding messing with her left hand to do anything with the right.
Turning my attention back to the water. I moved my hand to scare off some tiny fish that had gotten near my finger. Probably thinking it was something edible.
Lilac hummed and swirled the stick in the water before pulling it out and shifting a bit on her spot, the gravel scraping under boots as she turned herself to face upriver. "Hmm? Hey, can you see that!?" I turned my head to the right as Lilac began shaking my shoulder, to see her pointing ahead of her.
Looking over her head, I saw her pointing somewhere past a patch of small trees and foliage. Where I could just barely make out what looked like the top of a collapsed building lying on its side, resting on the roof of another smaller building. But I couldn't see much else due to the trees blocking the view.
I pulled my hand from the water and shook it, the water gliding off the leather material with ease. "Think it's something worth checking out?" I asked her.
Lilac turned back around to face me and scratched her nose. "Hnn, might as well. If it's what I'm thinking it is, It could be a way across." She explained while standing up. I mimicked her as she threw the stick she was using into the river, slinging her rifle on her back. "I'll go on ahead." She then gave me a concerned look. "Are you gonna stay here or meet me halfway?"
I shrugged. "I'll meet you halfway." I looked around us. "Not much point in me staying in this spot anyways."
She nodded. "Alright then, I'll see you soon. Stay safe okay?" She then bolted off towards the trees, leaving me in the dust, literally.
Squinting my eyes, I waved the small dust cloud away to see her disappear behind the foliage. Leaving me to myself. Sighing, I reached up and wiped my eyes to make sure there wasn't any dirt in them. Satisfied when I didn't find any discomfort in them, I then folded my arms behind my back with a sigh.
Looking up at the mostly clear sky. A few birds fly overhead. "At least it's not raining." I mumbled as I spun on my heel and set off in the same direction as Lilac.
(-)
(-)
Gravel and dirt crunched under my boots as my legs carried me forward as I followed the small narrow dirt path between the small grass field and the river. The collected scrap in my backpack from yesterday making clunking noises with every step.
Meanwhile, the branches and leaves on the trees above me swayed in the morning breeze. With a couple of leaves even falling off.
Humming a tune to myself. I reached up and plucked a fallen leaf off the top of my head, and started pulling it apart, tearing off little pieces and letting them fall to the ground as I kept up my stride. Occasionally glancing to my sides watching for any movement in the dense foliage.
Stepping under a low hanging branch, I barely managed to avoid walking into an old rusted fishing boat that had run aground. With ivy and all other kinds of plants wrapped across or growing on its hull. I stopped and took a peek inside to see if there was anything of use or value, but there were only just some broken wooden crates and busted metal boxes in the back. Tapping my fingers on the hull and humming in slight disappointment, I stepped away and walked around it. Taking care not to trip on bits of metal and ivy sprawled along the ground, getting back onto the dirt path.
The trees and vegetation then started to clear up as I neared the edge of the mini forest. Pushing some vines out of my way, I found myself staring out at a large open plain of dirt and gravel that led straight to the building Lilac had run off to investigate.
There were more fishing boat hulls and wrecks out here. Looking to my right, I saw what looked to be a concrete dock in front of the buildings, with cracks running through it and large chunks missing. I could only guess this used to be a much larger river… Who knows how long ago? Could've been a thousand years for all I know.
"Hmm, gonna need to remember this place," I mumbled, stepping around some barrels. "Might be able to find a fishing rod in these boats." A very old and broken one most probably, but shouldn't be too difficult to fix if I do find one.
Turning my head forward, I got a full view of the building Lilac had spotted. Its lower half had been destroyed, causing the rest of the building to fall over and land on the other side and right on top of the roof of the shorter building across from it. And, it was sitting right above the water.
"And there's our way across." Throwing what little was left of the leaf aside. I yawned again, stretching my arms behind my back before folding them again, taking a deep breath through my nose as I made my way over.
I looked out to the river as I kept my pace, A few more boats sat a bit under the water, along with their cargo scattered along the bank. My feet then slowly came to a stop. Squinting my eyes as I found myself looking at something peculiar. In the water on a little island with a tree, were two dead Machine lifeforms. Both of them small bipeds types.
I noticed that one had a black scorch mark on top of its head, its eyes completely shattered. While the other didn't have any signs of visible damage on it. I could only guess the former must have been struck by lightning last night while it and the other were sitting in the water. With the latter probably being killed via electrocution from proximity. The odd thing though that caught my eye. Was how they were leaning against each other. Their hands clasped together while sitting against the small tree. A frown tugged at my lips as I stared at the machines connected hands. The breeze gently brushed against me as I stood there, my jacket fluttering.
"It's weird isn't it?" I flinched violently at the voice and snapped my head forward to see Lilac standing in front of me. Her head faced the two machines' direction with a solemn expression.
"O-Oh…" I voiced as I sucked in a deep breath and loosened my shoulders. "Hey kid," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. "When did you get here?" How the hell did I not notice her!?
She tilted her and frowned while she glanced at me. Her hands fiddled with her rifle as she kicked the dirt. "About two minutes ago." She said, "I… I've been trying to get your attention this whole time. But, you never reacted and just kept staring blankly at those two machines." She pointed at them.
Damn it, not again. I closed my eyes and sighed, resting my palm over my face. "What did you mean by weird by the way?"
"The Machines. We've been getting reports of machines who have been… acting really strange for a while now. And I don't mean the ones that wander around staring at nothing." She paused, a complicated look appearing on her face. "I mean machines trying to act or pretend to be like humans."
My thoughts drifted back to the machine from earlier, which was looking for its sibling. "Yeah, I've noticed it too."
She pursed her lips and stared at the ground, nudging a rock with her foot. "Do you hate them for it?" She asked suddenly, her tone somber.
What? I slid my hand off my face and gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Does it anger you to see them do it? You know," She gestured at the dead machines. "Trying to pretend to be like our creators?"
I stared at her hesitantly, before sighing and closing my eyes with a frown. "It used to, a long time ago." I confessed. "I used to think they were doing it to just mock us." I leaned my head back and opened my eyes to see a dark cloud passing overhead. "But over time, I realized they weren't doing it to mock us, but…" I paused and blinked as I thought hard about it. But nothing came to mind.
"Huh, you know? I still don't know why they do it. Either they don't understand why they're doing it, or if maybe… maybe they're actually trying to be like us in some weird way." I mumbled.
I shook my head and looked at her. "Anyways, now?" I shrugged and crossed my arms. "I just feel indifferent about it. They are still the enemy to me, I do hate them somewhat for what they are and what they've done for the last thousands of years. But I can care less about them imitating humanity."
She nodded and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, I feel the same way too." She rested a hand on the stock of her rifle. "There are still a lot of others at the camp who hate them for it though. And I can't really blame them. But..." She faltered and brought her hand up and lightly bit down her finger. "I just can't bring myself to be angry about it anymore. It's just… It's so exhausting." She sighed and looked up at me.
I nodded in agreement and took one last look at the two machines. I then noticed something on both their chest. Where each had a flower painted on them. The left had one on its right and the one on the right had one on its left.
Looking away with a sigh, I turned my attention towards the ruined building. "So did you manage to get a look inside the building?" I asked her, wanting to get away from the current topic.
She nodded and shouldered her rifle, gesturing for me to follow. "Yep. I checked it out. Or what's left of it at least." She muttered, brushing off some dust and pieces of rubble off her shoulders before she perked up. "Anyways, we can get through it with little trouble. There isn't much rubble in the spot we can safely go through. The only real concern is balance."
"Balance?" I asked hesitantly.
She nodded and kicked some rocks. "Mhm. Since the building's on its side, that means we have to walk on the walls to get to the other side. Which means-"
"We have to walk alongside the windows." I finished for her with a groan, my head slumping while I pinched my nose, and dread welled up inside me. Of all of the things I feared the most, heights was still up there for me. "Joy…" I breathed out, my shoulders sagging.
Lilac looked at me and nudged my arm with hers while managing to give me a smile. "Ah come on, it's so not even that high. Plus I checked and the wall we can walk across is stable." She turned away and mumbled that I didn't catch, but it almost sounded like she said sort of, which didn't help.
She looked back at me. "B-Besides, there's water right underneath. So that'll at least break your fall somewhat. If the wall crumbles." She said with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, I suppose so," I replied quietly before straightening up and pulling on the straps of my pack. "Come on, let's do this before I decide we just swim over." I said aloud, getting a panicked squawk from her. As she quickly caught up with me.
(-)
(-)
"Oof!" I grunted as I dropped to the ground below and onto my feet. Unfortunately, I lost my balance. Causing me to fall over and end up rolling along the ground with the momentum from the fall, before coming to a stop when I was facing down in the dirt. Groaning quietly, I blew out a puff of air in irritation.
The collapsed building was thankfully stable as Lilac said, and hadn't crumbled under or around us as we passed through. Though, I ended up going a little fast at the end as my fear of heights kicked in and started nipping at my heels. Leading to my current position of laying in the dirt.
Behind me, I heard Lilac land with a quiet oomph, before she slowly approached me.
A pair of boots entered my vision and blocked my view of the river. Glancing up, I saw Lilac leaning over slightly to look down at me. Her lips pressed together in a poor attempt to hold back a grin. "That was uh, s-smooth." She commented with a hint of laughter seeping out.
Oh sure, make fun of your elders. I rolled my eyes and grumbled. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You could at least help me up, you know?" I waved my arm at her. She nodded with a small smile and grabbed it, hauling me up with ease.
I huffed and looked down, only to grimace when I saw my clothes were coated in dirt and other particles from the rubble. Just as I was about to start dusting myself off. Lilac caught me by surprise when she beat me to it and started doing it for me.
Lowering my arms, I watched in silent amusement as she proceeded to walk around me, dusting me off like I had done to her, a look of pure concentration and determination on her face. Her arms reaching up to wipe some dust off my shoulders. It took maybe a few minutes before she was done. The final bit was when her hand reached out somewhere behind my head, and I heard something crinkle. She pulled her arm back with a leaf pinched between her fingers, which she inspected for a moment, before throwing it aside.
"There." She took a step back and exhaled with a grin. Looking pleased with herself. "Now just give me a minute and we'll be on our way." She said before she turned around walked over to the small building next to us.
Heh… Thanks kid. I thought with a small smile as she leaned against a wall and lifted her right leg up to take her boot off, shaking it violently. Causing a few pebbles and some dirt to fall out. She shook it a few more times before peeking inside. Nodding to herself, she put her boot back on, before doing the same with the other one, with just as many pieces of rocks and dirt falling out.
With both her boots on, she walked around in a circle, most likely trying to make sure there weren't any stragglers in her boots.
"You good?" I asked humorously as I sauntered up to her as she lightly stomped a foot on the ground.
"Mmm," She hummed and stomped her other foot before looking at me. "Yep! All set. Come on, the camp is pretty much just a straight shot from here!" She said as she walked past me, stepping around a car wreckage.
I quickly fell in step with her as we traversed through the old narrow city streets. In what I could only guess was a commercial district, if the old worn out signs on the buildings were any indication. But I wasn't really in the mood for any window shopping at the moment. Given how on edge I was at the moment.
The reason being that the Machines in this area were much more active than in the last spot we were in. Not that I'd seen any, thanks to Lilac's surprisingly adept reconnaissance skills. Which from what I could tell, was just her basically moving around in a wide circle perimeter around me. So she could find where the Machines were and set me on a path to avoid them.
Something that she was currently doing right now. After pointing me down an alleyway, she had jumped her way up onto a roof and disappeared from sight.
Slowly inching my way forward. I held my breath and peeked my head out, looking down at both ends of the street. Seeing no signs of movement. I slowly stepped out and stayed as close to the buildings as I could. Keeping my head on a constant swivel.
A loud thump going through the air made me stop and look around just as another thump filled the air. The buildings and windows were shaking just a bit. I grimaced when I realized they were footsteps.
"You have gotta be kidding me!" I groaned, stepping away from the building next to me a bit to try to see if I could see Lilac on the rooftops. "Of all the things we have to deal with right now, it just has to be a goddamn goliath biped!?" Especially when only one of us has a weapon and it isn't a melee one either. I wetted my lips and stepped out a bit out in the open.
"Damn it Lilac, where are you?" I murmured with a bit of worry. My eyes still scanning the rooftops for any sign of her.
A loud crash caught my attention, coming from down the street and around the corner. I waited for a tense few seconds. Before Lilac came running into view, huffing and puffing as she sprinted down the street I was on. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on me. The relief was visible in them as she ran towards me.
"Hey!" She said before leaning forward, resting her hands on her knees as she sucked in a huge gulp of air before looking me in the eye. "We need to hide, now!" We both flinched when the remains of a car went flying through the air where she had just come from. Crashing into the second story of a building.
She whipped her head around all around the street before focusing on the building next to us. "Quick in here!" She hissed, grabbing a fistful of my jacket and pulling me forward, making me grunt. She quickly threw the wood door open and dragged me inside, before shoving me against the wall next to the door. She managed to softly close the door shut before quickly taking position on the opposite side of me. Almost blending with shadows, panting as she held her rifle up and waited.
The next minute was tense as the faint thumps of the machine got closer and closer to us, becoming louder as it slowly approached. The building and furniture shaking with every step.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled at my shirt nervously. If there was one machine I would always be terrified of, it would be the goliath class Machines. Practically immune to small arms fire and can really only be killed by melee or heavy weapons. None of which I ever used. Melee? What could I hope to do with a sword? All I'd do is scratch the paint. As for the heavy weapons? It's in the name. Too freaking heavy for me to constantly lug around. Especially the ones the Androids used. Most of which I'm fairly certain were just vehicle mounted weapons they had torn off their mounts and started carrying around with them.
I was brought out of my thoughts when the door shook violently, signaling the machine's very close presence. My breathing came out a bit faster as the machine started walking down the street. Leaning forward just a bit, I stared out through the window on the door.
Waiting for a moment, I flinched and ducked down away from the door immediately when the goliath's arms and legs entered my field of view.
Wincing I crouched down as the shadow of the machine filled the doorway. While Lilac tightened her grip on her rifle.
My breath hitched when it stopped moving. Its shadow still blocking the sunlight in front of the door. I looked at Lilac and pressed a finger to where my lips were. She nodded while quietly moving a bit in her spot. Biting her lip as she kept her gaze locked on the door. I don't know how long it was, but it must have been maybe three or at least four minutes of tense anxiety inducing silence. While the machine continued to just stand there in front of our building.
Then, without warning, it started moving again, thankfully away from the building we were hiding in and walking down the street. Once its footsteps began to fade, I heaved out a sigh of relief and slid down onto the floor. Unraveling my shawl a bit, so I could wipe away the sweat from my forehead.
Lilac blew out a breath and also sank to the floor, dropping her rifle on her lap and massaging her face with both hands while letting out a loud groan. "That. Sucked." She stated, her voice muffled by her hands.
I chuckled and flicked the sweat off my hands, resting my head against the wall. "That it did." I mumbled.
She groaned. "Oh man, I thought for sure we were done for!" She exclaimed as she stood up and stiffly walked over to some cushioned seats. Plopping down face first on them with a tired groan, causing dust to go flying in the air, her fingers loosening around the grip of her rifle and gently laying it on the floor. "I just want this day to be over already." She whined, which came out all muffled.
"Me to kid. But let's wait a few minutes before leaving. Give that big bastard some time until he's gained some distance." I sighed and stood up, stumbling my way over to the wood countertop. Getting a muffled okay from her.
Taking a look around. The building had quite a cozy feeling to it with its wooden walls and furniture. Even with the only lighting in the room being from the small window in the door. Looking behind the counter, I was surprised to see cabinets full of coffee mugs and plates. Along with some coffee makers sitting on the countertops underneath.
"Anything interesting here?" Lilac asked, her voice muffled by the seat as she stayed face down.
I hummed as I stepped behind the counter to inspect the cabinets. "Not really, all that's here is some cups and plates." I answered her as I carefully opened one of the cabinets and lifted up one of the mugs, when it didn't crumble in my hand I held it in front of me, looking over it before closing the cabinet door.
"Huh…" I heard the cushioned seat shift under Lilac from across the room. "Any idea what this place could be?" I heard her ask. Her voice sounding much clearer now.
"Looks to be a cafe.'' I told her while looking over one of the coffee makers. There was a cord and plug in the wall, but I doubt it would work. Since I don't think there was a functioning local power grid in the city.
"A cafe? Hmm, y'know…" I turned and looked at her to see her laying on her side so she was looking at me, resting her head on her left arm. "I think I've heard of that before. It was…" She paused and nodded her head. "Yeah, yeah. I was talking to a civilian model android while we were getting a shipment of supplies."
"Oh?" I asked idly as I opened a drawer, only to blink in surprise when I saw a bunch of packets of coffee in it. Grabbing one and flipping it over, I grimaced at the expiration date and slowly put it back in the drawer, closing it gently before stepping away and out from the counter towards Lilac.
"Mhm. He mentioned how he used to be stationed somewhere that had something like this, but he said he didn't know what the purpose of it was."
That wasn't really surprising. The few Android 'towns' I had visited back in North America all had stuff like that, stores, cafes, bars, you name it. But only a few of them actually kinda used them? While the rest were too focused on doing their jobs, or just didn't care for anything that wasn't work related.
"Hmm, well, a cafe is sort of like a small restaurant. Humans would come here to eat food or get their morning coffee before going to work. Or just hang out with friends. Talking about whatever." I explained as I squeezed past a table.
"Really? Hah…" Lilac sighed in an almost dreamy manner. "Really makes me wish I could visit a civilian sector one day. To try and see everything the humans used to do." She sighed again, reaching up to play with a strand of hair.
I wiped off the thick layer of dust on the cushioned seat next to her, before I sat down, crossing my left leg over my right. "Well if you ever do get to visit one. Just be prepared for the culture shock." I informed her, running my thumb over the rim of the coffee mug. Going straight from interacting with military androids who only know about fighting. To a functioning town where the androids were all pretty much the closest things to civilian workers? It had definitely been the most jarring event for me the first time I ended up in one of those towns.
Lilac sat up, crossing her legs underneath her while brushing some hair away. "Culture shock?"
"It's essentially when you move to another place and everything is vastly different from what you're used to. Be it the environment or the personalities of the people there." Something I had noticed during my travels in a few interactions between military and civilian model Androids, was that they didn't really seem to… mesh. Barring a few outliers. They weren't hostile to each other, but... I guess their personalities were just too vastly different from one another to mix.
"Oh…" Lilac murmured softly before falling silent, turning her attention to the table in front of her as she then spent the next few minutes running her finger along the surface in a pattern, wiping away the dust.
Rubbing my eyes and holding back a yawn, I stretched out my legs and groaned, placing the coffee mug down on the table. "You think enough time has passed for the goliath to be gone?" I asked her.
She narrowed her eyes and hummed as she grabbed the cup and looked over every inch of it. Wiping her dust covered finger off on her pants as she scooted herself to the side to lean down and grab her rifle. "Yeah, we should be good now. It'll be easy to sneak past the others without having to avoid being chased by that thing." She replied as she stepped around the table and waited for me. Putting the mug back down.
I chuckled and stood up, and made my way over to the door, opening it and taking a step out. "Ain't that the tru-" My tongue stopped working as I immediately froze, the hair on the back of my neck rising while my body went taut as I found myself looking at a medium biped just a few feet from me. Its yellow optics stared back while it also stood completely frozen in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I heard Lilac whisper behind me, her hand pressing against my back as I stood still in the doorway.
"A-ah brother, scary android." I looked down at the voice and found myself staring at a stubby pointing at me, I could only guess it was the same one from before judging by what it said.
I heard Lilac hiss out something as she managed to squeeze by me and placed herself in front of me, shouldering her rifle and aiming it at the two machines.
The medium biped reacted, but not in the way I was expecting. Instead of attacking us, it placed itself in front of the stubby, shielding it. The stubby stared at me through the other machine's legs, opening and closing its hands nervously. I stared long and hard at the medium biped as it rapidly looked between me and Lilac. Not saying anything while it held its arms out.
We all found ourselves at a standstill, with no one really making any moves. Lilac was breathing harshly through her nose as she kept her rifle aimed at the medium bipeds head. While the only movement from them was their heads constantly looking back and forth between me and her. The machine's yellow eyes continued to look into mine. And I stared back with a frown and narrowed my eyes into a scowl as I started to think of a way out of this situation. It doesn't seem like it wants to attack us, so I wonder if...
I hummed quietly and placed my hands on Lilac's shoulders, causing her head to slightly tilt towards me as I slowly began walking us back. Inching away from the two machines. She let me do so, her eyes looking forward again. "Steady now." I whispered to her while I kept my eyes locked onto the medium biped, watching for any reaction.
Slowly, it began stepping to the side, grabbing the stubby's hand as it and leading it away from us. Once on the other side of the street, the medium looked at me for a moment. before tipping its torso forward, in what I could only assume was a nod. Making me glare at it. "Don't mistake my decision as mercy big guy." I muttered as it and the stubby disappeared into an alley.
Letting go of Lilac's shoulders, I stepped back and rubbed my temple tiredly, leaning against a wall. That was too damn close. First a goliath and then that? What shit luck...
"Can we go now?" Lilac asked with urgency. Her head facing the down street where the goliath had gone.
I grimaced and nodded my head, my legs already moving on their own as I stepped away from the wall and started making my way down the street. "Yeah kid, let's get the hell out of here before there are any more surprises."
She nodded quickly and caught up with me. "Y-Yeah, let's."
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"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Lilac asked the man again. Holding her hands together in front of her chest as she shuffled from one foot to the other. As he checked over her pistol, pulling back the slide to check the chamber. She had originally wanted to give him her rifle, but he just wouldn't accept it. So she made a compromise with him. Either he takes her pistol or she shouldn't let him leave. He had quickly taken the pistol from her.
They were standing in a cramp and narrow alley near the back of the Resistance camp, the large and tall buildings surrounding them on all sides.
It hadn't taken them long to make it here. After the two scares with the Machine lifeforms, she had been extra careful in her scouting from thereon. And she managed to lead him safely through the city without any more complications thankfully. Weaving through the cramped narrow spaces between the buildings and rubble leading to the back of the camp, where she would sneak in and out without anyone noticing.
The man sighed tiredly and put the mag back into the pistol, clicking the safety on before storing it behind him.
He went to say something but blinked in surprise when she held out two more magazines for him to take, her eyes focusing on his chest while she pouted. When he didn't immediately grab them, her eyebrows scrunched together while she grunted and took a step forward, pushing her arms out further towards him.
A quick amused breath left his nose as he gave her a weary smile, taking the two mags from her and putting them in his pant pockets on his thigh. Before he knelt down in front of her, his green eyes looked into hers with a soft expression. "Lilac, look. I know you're worried, and I appreciate that I really do." He smacked his hand against his chest. "But I'm not made of glass. And I know how to handle myself." He reassured her before he grinned. "I've spent years on my own, I think I'll be fine for a day or two."
His reassurances did very little to ease her worry as she kicked a piece of rubble, glowering at the ground. "...Fine." She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. While she picked at the damaged synthetic skin on her right hand anxiously.
His eyes flickered down to her hand, instead of scolding her like earlier. He reached forward with his hand and took her own dainty one into his grasp, and gently squeezed it. The warmth of his hand was surprisingly comforting. Which helped further ease the tension in her body as she glanced at him.
"I'll be fine kid, I promise. Trust me, you'll either be seeing me in the camp tomorrow or at least the next day. After all, I now have something I have to return to you." He said, patting behind him where he put her pistol. "And once I've done my business in the camp, you and I can go exploring for some cool stuff. Just like you had wanted." He promised before he squeezed her hand again. "Okay?"
She huffed and looked away with a frown and waited for a few moments. "Okay." She muttered. Making his smile widen, causing some of the strange damage to the synthetic skin on his face to stretch and wrinkle.
"Attagirl." He said with a happy tone before he reached up and gently placed his other hand atop her head. Making her jump at the odd and foreign feeling. He then ran his hand back and forth through her hair. Her breath hitched and her eyes widened at the strange sensation that came from it, before it was over. He stood up, removing his hand from her head and letting go of her hand, leaving her standing there in shock.
What was that!? Why did it feel... nice? She thought with confusion, her processor working overtime while her hand reached up and brushed the spot in her hair where he had done... Whatever he had done. A tiny part of her wanted to experience it again.
"Alright," She was brought out of her thoughts by his voice as he adjusted his jacket and pulled the cloth back over his face. "I gotta get going. Take care kid, I'll be seeing you soon." He gave her a nod and turned around, walking away down to the end of the narrow space they were in00.
She chewed on her lip and clutched the sleeve of her shirt to keep herself from reaching out to him. She loosened her grip as soon as he reached the end of the buildings where he turned back and gave her a final wave goodbye before he was gone, leaving her alone in the narrow alley.
"Bye." She whispered.
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There we go, chapter four. I thankfully had a bit of an easier time with this chapter than the last. Kinda had a bit of trouble with Lilac's little part for some reason. But I think got an okay result in the end.
Also, not much longer till we get to see a few familiar characters. Promise.
And for anyone who's curious. The whole civilian sector thing is something I thought up, based on what Taro said during the dinner talk show. Where he mentions that the Androids are still running stores or something like them and that they're constantly restocking the shelves even with the war going on because they don't know any better. So I thought that would be something interesting to try and explore later on in the story.
I also changed one of the tags for the story cause uh… Wow. This story is going very differently than how I originally thought it was going to go when I posted that first chapter. But I'm quite happy with this direction. It is a NieR fic after all.