Fallen
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
Chapter 1: Awakening
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Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is not mine, but instead belongs to
Gainax and Hideako Anno. The text of this fanfic is mine, however, and
may not be used without permission, or you might be eaten by a grue.
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She awoke.
An instinctive gasp for air instead brought an overwarm, foul-
tasting liquid past her lips. She suffered a brief moment of panic
before her scattered mind placed the oily sensation filling her mouth.
LCL. She calmed herself, taking a few deep 'breaths' of the liquid.
After several moments, her fast-beating heart began to slow, returning
to a less adrenaline-fueled speed.
Her eyes flickered open, and she ignored the burning sensation
as they met the LCL. Indeed, it was a feeling she found somewhat
comforting, reminding her of the familiar, chlorine-induced pain she
recalled from her countless hours in various swimming pools, one of her
few true pleasures. She set the memory aside, taking in both another
'breath' and her immediate surroundings.
She was floating slightly above a rocky bottom that stretched as
far as she could see - not that that distance was very far in the half-
opaque LCL. To her sides was nothing but LCL, though she felt she could
make out some sort of a shadow in the distance. Above her lay more LCL,
but also a light - the sun, possibly, and also the surface. It took
less than a second for her to decide that this was likely to be the most
profitable direction to investigate.
She allowed herself to sink slightly, touching down on the
bottom. She then kicked off, propelling herself upward. As the initial
momentum began to die off, she added to it with powerful, practiced
strokes of her arms and legs. What she assumed to be the surface drew
nearer surprisingly slowly - she had been far deeper than she had
expected.
Despite this, her head broke the surface in no more than half a
minute. She coughed out the LCL that remained in her lungs, then took
in a breath of real air, with no small relief. Even if she was not so
likely to voice such as opinion as others, she had no love for either
taste or feel of LCL. That taste still filled her mouth, and her
memories told her it would for some time yet, unless she could find
something to wash it out with.
Not that that was particularly likely, given her present
situation. She slowly spun about, discovering that the sea of LCL was
bounded by a somewhat distant, fog-shrouded shore on three sides. The
fog hid whatever might or might not block off the final direction.
Perhaps about halfway between her and the closest shore, a rocky
outcropping thrust out from the yellow-orange sea. There was something
disturbingly humanoid about its shape, perhaps marking it as a weathered
statue of some sort.
Without further delay, she began to swim in that direction. By
the time she reached the small island, her limbs were already sore.
This fact caused her some irritation, as she knew she ought to be able
to swim much farther before she tired. A slight frown on her face, she
forced herself up onto the outcropping to rest.
The stone was warm to the touch, too warm even. She shook her
head at the stray thought, and settled into a slightly more comfortable
crevice in the rock. As she did so she caught a glimpse of her
reflection in the LCL. A frown creased her face as she turned her head
and took a closer look.
Red eyes stared back at her from a pale face, framed by
unearthly, light blue hair, which was currently wet and plastered to her
skin. It was her reflection - the same she remembered seeing in mirrors
every day of her life. Yet something seemed wrong... unfamiliar. She
had seen this face countless times before, yet it was as though she was
now observing it for the first time.
Shaken by the strange feeling, she closed her eyes and settled
back to rest. The tiredness in her limbs seemed to spread throughout
her body, and a moment later she was asleep. She awoke, well-rested,
when the sun was almost directly overhead. The stone beneath her was
now quite hot, and her body was now covered in equal parts sweat and
crusted, dried LCL.
She rose, and as she did, she noticed that the sun had burned
away the fog that shrouded the shores. A small gasp escaped her mouth
as she saw the skyline that dominated the one farthest from her present
position. It might have been Tokyo-3, but if so it was not the Tokyo-3
she knew. It was the shattered shell of a city, dark and silent.
She once again pushed disturbing thoughts away, choosing instead
to focus on her present task, gracefully sliding back into the LCL and
resuming her progress towards the closest shore. The going seemed
easier this time, more in line with what she knew herself to be capable
of, though still slightly beneath her standards.
Before too much more time passed. she finally reached the beach.
She rested a moment there, trying to decide what to do now that her
first task was finished. Her half-formed plan had been to get in
contact with Nerv, but the ruins to her north suggested that would not
be possible, or at the least be more difficult than she had expected.
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she did not know when she had
last eaten.
These thoughts were driven from her mind by the sound of
approaching footsteps behind the row of dunes that followed the shore,
created by what she guessed was at least a half-dozen people. She
frowned, trying to decide whether or not to attempt to hide, but the
decision was taken from her as a man appeared atop one of the dunes. He
stopped as he noticed her, mouth gaping.
She frowned at the odd reaction. She was fairly certain she did
not know the man. She studied him for a moment. He seemed to be around
twenty years old, with both eyes and hair brown. As she watched him, he
suddenly blushed and averted his eyes. She blinked, then remembered
that she was not presently wearing any clothing.
"What's wrong? Why have you stopped?" The female voice came
from the other side of the dune, reminding her that this man was not
alone.
The man stuttered a moment before saying, "Suzuhara, you need to
see this." She frowned. She knew that name.
"Aw, this better not be another wrecked tank, man. We only have
a thousand of those." This third voice was soon matched to another face
as its owner too appeared on top of the dune. This face too was
somewhat familiar to her, and she guessed this might be the father of
the Suzuhara she knew. On closer inspection, though, the second man
seemed to be much the same age as the first - far too young for that to
be the case. Two oddities also revealed themselves to her - a pistol
holstered on the man's left side, and what appeared to be the hilt of a
sword poking up from behind his back.
He too stared at her in surprise a moment, then spoke again.
"Ayanami?!" he asked.
Strangely, she had to think a moment before she was able to
answer. "Yes. I am Ayanami Rei."
Less than a half-hour later, Rei frowned a moment as she stared
around the small tent she found herself in. The man called Suzuhara,
obviously in command, had ordered the group to set up camp for the night
shortly after finding her, apparently to search for any more 'new
returns', whatever that odd phrase meant. This tent had been the first
to be set up, and he had ordered her to go inside and change into a set
of clothes borrowed from the group's only female - Rei had gathered her
name was Himiko.
She plucked at the fabric of the dark burgundy t-shirt she now
wore. Both it and the denim shorts that had been provided were slightly
too large for her, but they fit well enough to suffice for the moment.
The same regrettably could not be said for the underwear she had been
given, which now lay crumbled in a corner of the tent, next to a
discarded wrapper from a candy bar she had also been given. It was not
her habit to eat such food, but she was hungry enough that it had not
mattered much.
Rei wondered what she should do next. This... patrol was
obviously not from Nerv, or likely any formal organization. The members
bore no uniform, and no group she was aware of equipped its agents with
archaic weapons like swords - of which she had seen several already.
Her goal, she decided, had to be to get in touch with Nerv or some other
appropriate authority. The first step in that had to be to assess both
the identity and motives of the group she found herself in. The most
plausible hypothesis was that they were refugees from the nearby city,
though that still left a number of things unexplained, and reminded her
of the question of what might have destroyed the city.
Rei's already pale face whitened even further as a memory came
to her, suggesting a possible answer, if that city truly was Tokyo-3.
Though the memory raised even more questions, not least among them how
she had found herself in the middle of the bay of LCL. Or alive, for
that matter. She shuddered briefly at the thought, then forcibly pushed
the matter aside to focus on more immediately important matters.
She rose, and was about to exit the tent when she heard a voice
from outside. "Ayanami? Are ya decent?" The man called Suzuhara. How
did he know her name?
Rei answered in the affirmative, and a moment later both
Suzuhara and the man who had first seen her entered the tent. "Sorry
fer takin' so long," Suzuhara said as he sat on the ground. "I know ya
must have a lot of questions."
Rei frowned, seating herself as well. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Don't ya recognize me?" he replied. "I'm Suzuhara. Suzuhara
Touji."
Rei crossed her arms. "Do not lie to me."
"What?"
"Your claim is impossible. The Fourth Child is the same age as
myself, and you are quite evidently not."
The two men exchanged glances, then 'Touji' spoke. "Ayanami...
what is the last thing you remember, before you woke up in the bay?"
Rei blinked at the sudden change in subject. "That information
is classified."
'Touji' sighed, while the other man chuckled. "Just tell her
Ikari's cleared us for it, Touji" he suggested in a jesting tone.
"Commander Ikari?" Rei asked incredulously. She did not believe
that these two could possibly be in the Commander's confidence.
The second man chuckled again. "You could say that."
"Aida." The other man's voice was flat. "You're here to
observe, not to make an idiot of yourself.
The object of his ire, whom apparently the two wanted her to
believe was Aida Kensuke, shrugged. "Sorry," he said in a not-quite
apologetic tone of voice.
'Touji' turned back to her. "Ayanami... Ikari Gendo has been
dead for over six years."
"Impossible," she replied flatly. Who exactly did these two
expect to fool? "I spoke with him less than twenty-four hours ago."
'Aida' groaned. "Listen, Ayanami. You might not remember it,
but it's been years since the Third Impact-"
"Another impossibility," Rei said, irritation almost evident in
her voice.
"And what makes you say that?" 'Aida' asked, his own irritation
plain.
"Third Impact has not occurred."
'Aida' threw up his hands. "Enough. I give up already." He
rose and left the tent.
'Suzuhara' silently watched Rei a moment before speaking.
"Let's start this over. What do ya remember last? Was it the SSDF
attack? The mass production Evas?"
Rei allowed her puzzlement to show on her face. "The SSDF has
not engaged in offensive operations since the Korean Crisis, and the
Evangelion Mass Production Series is still under construction." How
could this person know of them?
'Suzuhara' frowned, and shook his head. "Let's see. You
remember the Seventeenth Angel, right?"
"Why do you insist on continuing this charade? The Seventeenth
Angel has not yet arrived."
The man buried his face in his hands. "Lord, nobody's ever
forgotten that far back." He sighed and rose. "I'm sure yer hungry.
Dinner will be in an hour." Shaking his head, he left the tent,
muttering under his breath.
Dinner, which took slightly more than an hour to be prepared,
was an awkward experience, awkward enough that even Rei felt somewhat
uncomfortable. Everyone ate clustered around a small fire, but there
was a noticeable gap between her and the other people. No one seemed
willing to talk in her presence, and Rei was not displeased with that.
When she had cleaned her bowl of stew, save for the small number of
chunks of some unidentifiable meat, she silently returned to the tent
that had been given her, and began to plan.
This task was not as easy as she might have hoped, given the
paucity of information she had to work with. She was no closer to
finding a way to contact Nerv than she had been when she first awoke,
and she had no insight into either the identity or the motivations of
the group she had found herself with. It would be interesting to see
how they would react if she attempted to leave their camp, but she was
not sure if she wanted to risk the possibility of violence.
How likely was violence? These people obviously did not intend
to kill her out of hand - they had had a number of opportunities already
- but their armament, however archaic it might be, indicated they were
no strangers to fighting. They seemed content to feed her false
information, but what could possibly motivate such a course? And why
pick such an unbelievable story?
Was it possible they were telling the truth, however impossible
that seemed? No, she decided with a shake of her head. Even if she
somehow had suffered loss of memory, her body would still show the signs
of six years of aging if their claim was true. It was far more likely
that somehow the aftermath of the last battle had transported her to
where she had awakened. She knew enough about the Evangelions to know
that no one understood more than the smallest fraction of their
complexity, and what she had done was unprecedented. Her mere survival
was indication that something unexpected had happened.
Rei shook her head. She was avoiding the issue at hand. Should
she, or should she not, attempt to escape? Nerv, assuming it had
survived the last battle in any sort of functional form, was sure to be
searching for her, or at least for proof she was dead. If she merely
waited long enough, assuming her - they were not quite captors, but that
was perhaps the closest word - did not try and take her out of the
immediate area, they would find her. There was therefore no need to
risk a confrontation with the people who had found her at the moment,
she decided.
With her mind made up, Rei settled down to sleep. She was tired
from the exertions of the previous day, and hardly noticed the lack of
any sort of bedroll in the tent or the noises of the others from
outside. She was fast asleep within minutes, and if anyone came to
check on her, she could not say.
Then she woke up. Her mind was scattered, desperately chasing
the fragments of a dream, a vision she was somehow sure was dreadfully
important. A terror gnawed at her gut, a shadow of a nameless horror
that she could feel reaching toward her. A moment later the feeling
vanished, leaving behind only an illogical fear and a churning feeling
in her stomach.
Rei slowly sat up, ignoring the protests her stomach made at the
movement and wincing at a few slight aches left from sleeping on the
hard ground. She discovered that someone had covered her with a blanket
while she slept, and she pushed this covering aside before standing.
Despite the fact that she felt only slightly more rested than she had
when she had fallen asleep, she knew she would get no more sleep this
night.
From outside she heard the muffled sound of a quiet argument.
Acting almost without thinking, Rei slipped out of her tent. Her night
vision had always been good, and the full moon's light provided more
than enough illumination for her to see by. The sounds came from the
camp's periphery, and she headed in that direction, past the dormant
ashes of the campfire. As she neared, the sounds resolved themselves
into first voices, then words.
The first she identified as Suzuhara - she might as well call
him that until she discovered his true name. "Listen, Himiko, I'm sure
not gonna get more sleep tonight, so ya might as well-"
He was interrupted by an irritated grunt. "At least let me take
your watch tomorrow night, then."
Suzuhara sighed. "Alright. Now get ta sleep, and that's an
order."
Rei was now close enough to see the woman draw herself up and
deliver a mock salute to Suzuhara. "Aye, aye, sir." She turned about
and began to stomp into the camp, muttering unkind things under her
breath about male chivalry. Rei froze as she passed, and this was
evidently enough to avoid her notice.
For a moment, Rei was unsure what to do. The safest course
would be to return to her tent, yet something told her not to. She
could feel a strange anticipation hanging over the night, as though
something was waiting to happen. She was not usually prone to such odd
feelings, and obeyed them even more rarely, but this one seemed somehow
more insistent.
After a moment, she took a hesitant step forward, almost against
her will. Suzuhara looked back over his shoulder, and his eyes widened
slightly as he saw her. "Ayanami." A slight smile appeared on his
face. "Ya can't sleep either?"
After a moment, Rei nodded. Suzuhara pat the ground beside him.
"Come and sit with me a moment. I think we still need ta talk."
Rei did not see what harm this could do, so she complied after
only a few seconds' silent hesitation. It was after a much longer
silence that she spoke. "You said you wished to talk."
"I suppose I did." Despite this, Suzuhara did not speak again
for almost a minute. "I'm not sure what ta say to convince you I'm who
I say I am."
Rei did not respond, and after another silence Suzuhara sighed.
"Do you remember before the... accident with Unit-03? We talked on the
school rooftop. I remember I said you were worried about Ikari, and you
said you didn't understand."
Rei frowned. "That is true," she said slowly.
"And nobody coulda known that but Suzuhara Touji, right?"
"The conversation might have been monitored," she replied.
Suzuhara laughed. "Who the hell's gonna bug a high school
rooftop?"
Rei had to admit he was right. But then... if this man really
was Suzuhara Touji, how was he now older than her? After a moment, Rei
asked the question out loud.
Touji shook his head. "I can't know where ta start explainin'
if you don't tell me how far back you can remember."
Rei hesitated, but eventually answered. "I remember the battle
against the Sixteenth Angel. I engaged the self-destruct, then found
myself in the LCL."
"Ah." Touji paused a moment, then began to speak. "I don't know
that much, but here's what I know happened. You survived the battle-"
"That much is apparent," Rei interrupted.
Touji waved his hand. "No, not now. Then. After that, there
was another Angel, and then the SSDF attacked Nerv. They somehow got
their hands on the mass production Evas. Souryu fought 'em to a
standstill, and then... Third Impact happened." Touji shrugged. "And
after that people started wakin' up."
"That does not explain the difference in our ages."
Touji shrugged again. "When people return, they come back the
way they see themselves - that's why I've got all my arms and legs
again." He patted them as if to reassure himself they were still
present. "So ya came back the way you remembered yourself bein', just
like me. I just came back six years earlier."
"I see." Rei was not entirely sure she did understand, but she
was not certain he did either. Silence was all that passed between the
two for some time.
The silence was broken when Touji yawned. "Man, maybe I will
get some sleep tonight. How 'bout you? Gettin' tired, Ayanami?"
She began to shake her head, but stopped. Something was coming.
something she did not want to miss. She could feel it. It was more
than a little disturbing. She knew that such premonitions were worse
than useless, yet she could not bring herself to disregard this one. It
was foolish, but even though she recognized it the illogical feeling
still had a hold over her.
"Yo, Ayanami? Ya alright?" Touji asked.
She opened her mouth to reply, but whatever words she had to say
were lost as a roar echoed across the heavens. Both she and Touji
looked up in time to see a ball of fire streak across the sky. As it
passed overhead the roar intensified, until the ground seemed to be
throbbing in time with it. Behind them they could just barely make up
the sounds of the camp being unexpectedly roused and the resulting
confusion.
The fireball was losing altitude quickly. Rei saw what might
have been a piece of the object at the center break off. Mere moments
later, the ball of flame hit the ground. The ground shook, collapsing
many of the camp's tents - some of them with people still inside. There
was a flare of light from where the object had struck, and then darkness
and silence.
Touji rose. "That can't have landed more than a day's walk from
here."
Aida - Rei supposed he must really be her other classmate after
all - came rushing up behind them, only half-clothed. "Touji, are you
all right?"
Suzuhara slowly nodded. "Yah."
Kensuke rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Can't be more than a couple hours till dawn. Might as well get
everyone up." Touji turned and began to walk back into the camp,
Kensuke trailing behind. After a moment, Rei rose and followed.
"I think everyone's already awake," Kensuke said.
"Then let's get someone makin' breakfast and get ready ta move.
We're gonna check out that meteor." As they reached the center of the
camp, Touji yelled out, "Is everyone okay?"
A few minutes later, the entire group was assembled in the
center of the camp, and it was revealed that there were, in fact, no
injuries more serious than a bruise. Touji quickly relayed his plan,
and it was met with only a minimum of protest.
"We were supposed to be back in the city by now," one of the men
grumbled.
"Are you that homesick already? Finally found a girlfriend,
Aoki?" Himiko asked.
"Oh, shuddup, Yamada." The woman merely laughed in reply.
"Unless anyone else has any objections," Touji said, "we'll be
leaving at dawn, so whoever drew breakfast duty for today should get to
work on that. The rest of us, let's get the camp packed up."
It was in fact, about a half hour after dawn when the squad
finally began to move. Kensuke was once again slightly in front of most
of the group, along with another of the men. Touji was the first of the
main group, and Rei found herself walking beside him. Aoki and the
remaining man were close behind, while Himiko trailed several meters
behind them.
There was little conversation as the group began their march.
After perhaps a quarter hour they reached a cracked highway, and turned
to follow it north. A few rusted, wrecked automobiles littered the
road, driving home to Rei how different this world must be from the last
she could remember. It even sounded different, she realized. She had
never really noticed the constant background noise of machinery, but now
that it was gone its absence was disconcerting.
They made relatively fast progress on the highway, though Rei
found herself becoming unexpectedly winded. It was irritating that she
felt so unfit, but knew she should be in far better condition. After a
few moment's thought, she attributed it to the fact that, if she
understood what Touji had explained to her of 'returning', then this
body had never before been used. If that was the case, she should
return to her ordinary endurance within a few days, or weeks at the
most. That thought was somewhat comforting.
After perhaps an hour, they turned off the highway and onto a
smaller side road. This road was not in such good shape, and their
travel slowed, particularly when they encountered a high pile of rubble
strewn across it, perhaps the remnants of a collapsed building. Kensuke
and the other man in the lead were already near the top when Rei reached
the rubble, and Touji quickly scrambled up after them.
Still somewhat tired, Rei paused a moment to catch her breath
before beginning the climb. This prompted Aoki to ask her if she was
all right as he caught up with her. She replied in the affirmative, and
began to make her way up the rubble. Aoki and the other man followed
close behind.
They were perhaps only a quarter of the way from the top when
Rei slipped. As she scrambled to find a foothold, one of her bare feet
landed on a sharp piece of rock. The sudden pain caused her tenuous
balance to falter completely, and she began to fall. Fortunately, Aoki
was close behind and managed to steady her. "What happened?" he asked.
Rei quickly related the incident to him, wincing in pain as she tested
her wounded foot.
"Let me take a look at that," Aoki said, and Rei complied. "It
doesn't look that bad. You're just sliced up a little. Hey, Hiruma,"
he called to the other man, "You think you can help me get her over this
thing?"
"Sure," the man replied, working his way over to where the two
were standing. Soon Rei found herself being half-carried up the slope
by the two men, and they managed to make to the other side without
further incident.
As the three of them and Himiko reached the bottom, they found
the other three men waiting for them. "What's the holdup?" Kensuke
asked, looking impatient to be off.
"The girl here's hurt her foot," Hiruma replied gruntly.
"Is it bad?" Touji asked.
Rei shook her head. "I will be fine," she said as she divested
herself of the two men's assistance. Her foot still hurt a little when
she put her weight on it, but the pain was far from unbearable.
"We ought to get her some boots," Aoki said. "Otherwise it'll
happen again."
Touji nodded agreement. "Does anyone have a spare pair?"
The one man whose name Rei still did not know grunted. "I have
one, but they sure won't fit a little slip of a thing like her."
"As I recall," Himiko said, "there's a crossroads not far from
here with a shoe store. It ought to have something."
Touji nodded. "Good thinkin'. I think I know where that's at.
Ayanami, you think ya can make it a mile?"
Rei nodded. "I will be fine."
As the group began to move again, Aoki chuckled. "You can
always trust the woman to know the local shopping, eh, Yamada?"
Himiko delivered a mock punch to his stomach, which was met with
mock pain. "Are you looking for another rematch, Aoki?"
Aoki threw up his hands. "Of course not, o mighty mistress of
martial arts!"
Beside him, Hiruma let out a throaty chuckle. "Still haven't
beaten her?"
"Beaten her? I haven't even touched her yet!"
It took the squad around a quarter of an hour to make it to the
crossroads. As it came into sight, Kensuke yawned. "I'm getting
hungry."
"Already?" Touji asked, glancing at the sun. "Well, I suppose
we did get started early. We can get lunch started while Ayanami gets
her shoes. Who has that duty today?"
"Nakamura, I think," Hiruma said as he seated himself on the
sidewalk. Rei surmised that this was the name of the one person who's
name she had not known, and was proven correct and that person started
grumbling and searching through the squad's packs, which had already
been strewn about the area.
"Who was carrying the food, anyways?" he asked, half to himself.
Rei started as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She
instinctively broke away from it, turning around to face her assailant
in a defensive stance. However, she relaxed slightly when she saw it
was Aoki.
Himiko snorted as she watched this. "Are you that desperate
now, Aoki?" she asked as she walked up.
Aoki threw up his hands. "I was just trying to get her
attention! Someone ought to go with her to get the shoes. Where is
that store, anyways?"
"On the other side," Himiko said. "This way." She began to
walk away, and Rei silently followed her. Behind them, Aoki shook his
head, then hurried to catch up.
They quickly reached the shoe store. Its glass door lay in
several pieces on the floor, and Rei had to move carefully to avoid
injuring her feet further. As the three entered, Aoki sneezed. "Yeesh,
it's dusty in here."
"Well, what do you expect?" Himiko asked. "It isn't like
there's a cleaning service." She paused and turned to Rei. "What size
shoe do you wear?" Rei told her, and Himiko nodded. "We should be able
to find that easily enough."
The three began to search the store, and Rei quickly located a
pair of boots that fit well enough on a shelf near the back of the
store. They were somewhat uncomfortable without socks, but they would
serve for the moment. As she opened her mouth to inform her two
companions that she was done, she was stopped as a low growl sounded
from behind her.
She slowly turned around to see a large black dog. Several
long, jagged scars ran down its sides, and one of its eyes seemed to
have been ripped out. It began to advance, lean muscles rippling under
the dark fur, and she slowly retreated before it. Her eyes darted to
either side, searching for a means of escape and not finding one.
"Ayanami?" Aoki's voice came from behind her, but she dared not
risk turning away from the dog to look. He uttered a curse as he saw
the dog, and Rei heard the distinctive sound of a sword being pulled
from its sheath. "Yamada!" he yelled. "Get over here!"
Rei heard him approaching. "Get behind me," he said, and Rei
complied. Aoki swung his crude shortsword in a slow, low arc, forcing
the dog to back up slightly. It growled at him, and this time the sound
was answered by several other growls from other parts of the store.
"Great," he muttered. "We've found a pack's den."
The dog suddenly started and fell over, a thrown dagger
protruding from the back of its skull. Himiko appeared out of the murky
half-darkness and pulled the dagger back out. "You two all right?" she
asked. She hardly waited for Aoki's nod before continuing. "It sounds
like there's maybe six of them, but they're further back. We ought to
be able to get out of here."
Aoki nodded, and the three began to quietly head for the exit.
However, as it came into view, they were forced to halt at the sight of
an astoundingly large dog blocking the exit. As the dog spotted them,
it sat back on its haunches and let out a loud howl. Moments later
answering barks came from the rear of the store, and the three could
hear the other dogs moving towards them.
"Great," Aoki muttered as he tightened his grip on his sword.
"Just great."
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Author's Random Ramblings
1) Thanks of course go to my prereader Ryan Hupp for his (almost real-
time!) help in the writing of this chapter.
2) If you're familiar with my previous work(s), you might notice I'm
trying a rather different style of writing in this one. Specifically,
I'm aiming for a strictly third-person limited point of view (though
that point of view will change from chapter to chapter), as well as
avoiding the use of artificial scene dividers. I'm also endeavoring to
include a great deal more detail and description in this one, though I'm
unsure of how successful that effort has been. Any comments on how well
(or poorly, for that matter) I have achieved these goals are most
welcome.
3) In fact, any and all C&C of any sort is greatly appreciated.
Started: April 22, 2003
Draft Finished: May 02, 2003
Draft Released: May 02, 2003
Final Completed: May 05, 2003
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
Chapter 1: Awakening
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Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is not mine, but instead belongs to
Gainax and Hideako Anno. The text of this fanfic is mine, however, and
may not be used without permission, or you might be eaten by a grue.
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She awoke.
An instinctive gasp for air instead brought an overwarm, foul-
tasting liquid past her lips. She suffered a brief moment of panic
before her scattered mind placed the oily sensation filling her mouth.
LCL. She calmed herself, taking a few deep 'breaths' of the liquid.
After several moments, her fast-beating heart began to slow, returning
to a less adrenaline-fueled speed.
Her eyes flickered open, and she ignored the burning sensation
as they met the LCL. Indeed, it was a feeling she found somewhat
comforting, reminding her of the familiar, chlorine-induced pain she
recalled from her countless hours in various swimming pools, one of her
few true pleasures. She set the memory aside, taking in both another
'breath' and her immediate surroundings.
She was floating slightly above a rocky bottom that stretched as
far as she could see - not that that distance was very far in the half-
opaque LCL. To her sides was nothing but LCL, though she felt she could
make out some sort of a shadow in the distance. Above her lay more LCL,
but also a light - the sun, possibly, and also the surface. It took
less than a second for her to decide that this was likely to be the most
profitable direction to investigate.
She allowed herself to sink slightly, touching down on the
bottom. She then kicked off, propelling herself upward. As the initial
momentum began to die off, she added to it with powerful, practiced
strokes of her arms and legs. What she assumed to be the surface drew
nearer surprisingly slowly - she had been far deeper than she had
expected.
Despite this, her head broke the surface in no more than half a
minute. She coughed out the LCL that remained in her lungs, then took
in a breath of real air, with no small relief. Even if she was not so
likely to voice such as opinion as others, she had no love for either
taste or feel of LCL. That taste still filled her mouth, and her
memories told her it would for some time yet, unless she could find
something to wash it out with.
Not that that was particularly likely, given her present
situation. She slowly spun about, discovering that the sea of LCL was
bounded by a somewhat distant, fog-shrouded shore on three sides. The
fog hid whatever might or might not block off the final direction.
Perhaps about halfway between her and the closest shore, a rocky
outcropping thrust out from the yellow-orange sea. There was something
disturbingly humanoid about its shape, perhaps marking it as a weathered
statue of some sort.
Without further delay, she began to swim in that direction. By
the time she reached the small island, her limbs were already sore.
This fact caused her some irritation, as she knew she ought to be able
to swim much farther before she tired. A slight frown on her face, she
forced herself up onto the outcropping to rest.
The stone was warm to the touch, too warm even. She shook her
head at the stray thought, and settled into a slightly more comfortable
crevice in the rock. As she did so she caught a glimpse of her
reflection in the LCL. A frown creased her face as she turned her head
and took a closer look.
Red eyes stared back at her from a pale face, framed by
unearthly, light blue hair, which was currently wet and plastered to her
skin. It was her reflection - the same she remembered seeing in mirrors
every day of her life. Yet something seemed wrong... unfamiliar. She
had seen this face countless times before, yet it was as though she was
now observing it for the first time.
Shaken by the strange feeling, she closed her eyes and settled
back to rest. The tiredness in her limbs seemed to spread throughout
her body, and a moment later she was asleep. She awoke, well-rested,
when the sun was almost directly overhead. The stone beneath her was
now quite hot, and her body was now covered in equal parts sweat and
crusted, dried LCL.
She rose, and as she did, she noticed that the sun had burned
away the fog that shrouded the shores. A small gasp escaped her mouth
as she saw the skyline that dominated the one farthest from her present
position. It might have been Tokyo-3, but if so it was not the Tokyo-3
she knew. It was the shattered shell of a city, dark and silent.
She once again pushed disturbing thoughts away, choosing instead
to focus on her present task, gracefully sliding back into the LCL and
resuming her progress towards the closest shore. The going seemed
easier this time, more in line with what she knew herself to be capable
of, though still slightly beneath her standards.
Before too much more time passed. she finally reached the beach.
She rested a moment there, trying to decide what to do now that her
first task was finished. Her half-formed plan had been to get in
contact with Nerv, but the ruins to her north suggested that would not
be possible, or at the least be more difficult than she had expected.
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she did not know when she had
last eaten.
These thoughts were driven from her mind by the sound of
approaching footsteps behind the row of dunes that followed the shore,
created by what she guessed was at least a half-dozen people. She
frowned, trying to decide whether or not to attempt to hide, but the
decision was taken from her as a man appeared atop one of the dunes. He
stopped as he noticed her, mouth gaping.
She frowned at the odd reaction. She was fairly certain she did
not know the man. She studied him for a moment. He seemed to be around
twenty years old, with both eyes and hair brown. As she watched him, he
suddenly blushed and averted his eyes. She blinked, then remembered
that she was not presently wearing any clothing.
"What's wrong? Why have you stopped?" The female voice came
from the other side of the dune, reminding her that this man was not
alone.
The man stuttered a moment before saying, "Suzuhara, you need to
see this." She frowned. She knew that name.
"Aw, this better not be another wrecked tank, man. We only have
a thousand of those." This third voice was soon matched to another face
as its owner too appeared on top of the dune. This face too was
somewhat familiar to her, and she guessed this might be the father of
the Suzuhara she knew. On closer inspection, though, the second man
seemed to be much the same age as the first - far too young for that to
be the case. Two oddities also revealed themselves to her - a pistol
holstered on the man's left side, and what appeared to be the hilt of a
sword poking up from behind his back.
He too stared at her in surprise a moment, then spoke again.
"Ayanami?!" he asked.
Strangely, she had to think a moment before she was able to
answer. "Yes. I am Ayanami Rei."
Less than a half-hour later, Rei frowned a moment as she stared
around the small tent she found herself in. The man called Suzuhara,
obviously in command, had ordered the group to set up camp for the night
shortly after finding her, apparently to search for any more 'new
returns', whatever that odd phrase meant. This tent had been the first
to be set up, and he had ordered her to go inside and change into a set
of clothes borrowed from the group's only female - Rei had gathered her
name was Himiko.
She plucked at the fabric of the dark burgundy t-shirt she now
wore. Both it and the denim shorts that had been provided were slightly
too large for her, but they fit well enough to suffice for the moment.
The same regrettably could not be said for the underwear she had been
given, which now lay crumbled in a corner of the tent, next to a
discarded wrapper from a candy bar she had also been given. It was not
her habit to eat such food, but she was hungry enough that it had not
mattered much.
Rei wondered what she should do next. This... patrol was
obviously not from Nerv, or likely any formal organization. The members
bore no uniform, and no group she was aware of equipped its agents with
archaic weapons like swords - of which she had seen several already.
Her goal, she decided, had to be to get in touch with Nerv or some other
appropriate authority. The first step in that had to be to assess both
the identity and motives of the group she found herself in. The most
plausible hypothesis was that they were refugees from the nearby city,
though that still left a number of things unexplained, and reminded her
of the question of what might have destroyed the city.
Rei's already pale face whitened even further as a memory came
to her, suggesting a possible answer, if that city truly was Tokyo-3.
Though the memory raised even more questions, not least among them how
she had found herself in the middle of the bay of LCL. Or alive, for
that matter. She shuddered briefly at the thought, then forcibly pushed
the matter aside to focus on more immediately important matters.
She rose, and was about to exit the tent when she heard a voice
from outside. "Ayanami? Are ya decent?" The man called Suzuhara. How
did he know her name?
Rei answered in the affirmative, and a moment later both
Suzuhara and the man who had first seen her entered the tent. "Sorry
fer takin' so long," Suzuhara said as he sat on the ground. "I know ya
must have a lot of questions."
Rei frowned, seating herself as well. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Don't ya recognize me?" he replied. "I'm Suzuhara. Suzuhara
Touji."
Rei crossed her arms. "Do not lie to me."
"What?"
"Your claim is impossible. The Fourth Child is the same age as
myself, and you are quite evidently not."
The two men exchanged glances, then 'Touji' spoke. "Ayanami...
what is the last thing you remember, before you woke up in the bay?"
Rei blinked at the sudden change in subject. "That information
is classified."
'Touji' sighed, while the other man chuckled. "Just tell her
Ikari's cleared us for it, Touji" he suggested in a jesting tone.
"Commander Ikari?" Rei asked incredulously. She did not believe
that these two could possibly be in the Commander's confidence.
The second man chuckled again. "You could say that."
"Aida." The other man's voice was flat. "You're here to
observe, not to make an idiot of yourself.
The object of his ire, whom apparently the two wanted her to
believe was Aida Kensuke, shrugged. "Sorry," he said in a not-quite
apologetic tone of voice.
'Touji' turned back to her. "Ayanami... Ikari Gendo has been
dead for over six years."
"Impossible," she replied flatly. Who exactly did these two
expect to fool? "I spoke with him less than twenty-four hours ago."
'Aida' groaned. "Listen, Ayanami. You might not remember it,
but it's been years since the Third Impact-"
"Another impossibility," Rei said, irritation almost evident in
her voice.
"And what makes you say that?" 'Aida' asked, his own irritation
plain.
"Third Impact has not occurred."
'Aida' threw up his hands. "Enough. I give up already." He
rose and left the tent.
'Suzuhara' silently watched Rei a moment before speaking.
"Let's start this over. What do ya remember last? Was it the SSDF
attack? The mass production Evas?"
Rei allowed her puzzlement to show on her face. "The SSDF has
not engaged in offensive operations since the Korean Crisis, and the
Evangelion Mass Production Series is still under construction." How
could this person know of them?
'Suzuhara' frowned, and shook his head. "Let's see. You
remember the Seventeenth Angel, right?"
"Why do you insist on continuing this charade? The Seventeenth
Angel has not yet arrived."
The man buried his face in his hands. "Lord, nobody's ever
forgotten that far back." He sighed and rose. "I'm sure yer hungry.
Dinner will be in an hour." Shaking his head, he left the tent,
muttering under his breath.
Dinner, which took slightly more than an hour to be prepared,
was an awkward experience, awkward enough that even Rei felt somewhat
uncomfortable. Everyone ate clustered around a small fire, but there
was a noticeable gap between her and the other people. No one seemed
willing to talk in her presence, and Rei was not displeased with that.
When she had cleaned her bowl of stew, save for the small number of
chunks of some unidentifiable meat, she silently returned to the tent
that had been given her, and began to plan.
This task was not as easy as she might have hoped, given the
paucity of information she had to work with. She was no closer to
finding a way to contact Nerv than she had been when she first awoke,
and she had no insight into either the identity or the motivations of
the group she had found herself with. It would be interesting to see
how they would react if she attempted to leave their camp, but she was
not sure if she wanted to risk the possibility of violence.
How likely was violence? These people obviously did not intend
to kill her out of hand - they had had a number of opportunities already
- but their armament, however archaic it might be, indicated they were
no strangers to fighting. They seemed content to feed her false
information, but what could possibly motivate such a course? And why
pick such an unbelievable story?
Was it possible they were telling the truth, however impossible
that seemed? No, she decided with a shake of her head. Even if she
somehow had suffered loss of memory, her body would still show the signs
of six years of aging if their claim was true. It was far more likely
that somehow the aftermath of the last battle had transported her to
where she had awakened. She knew enough about the Evangelions to know
that no one understood more than the smallest fraction of their
complexity, and what she had done was unprecedented. Her mere survival
was indication that something unexpected had happened.
Rei shook her head. She was avoiding the issue at hand. Should
she, or should she not, attempt to escape? Nerv, assuming it had
survived the last battle in any sort of functional form, was sure to be
searching for her, or at least for proof she was dead. If she merely
waited long enough, assuming her - they were not quite captors, but that
was perhaps the closest word - did not try and take her out of the
immediate area, they would find her. There was therefore no need to
risk a confrontation with the people who had found her at the moment,
she decided.
With her mind made up, Rei settled down to sleep. She was tired
from the exertions of the previous day, and hardly noticed the lack of
any sort of bedroll in the tent or the noises of the others from
outside. She was fast asleep within minutes, and if anyone came to
check on her, she could not say.
Then she woke up. Her mind was scattered, desperately chasing
the fragments of a dream, a vision she was somehow sure was dreadfully
important. A terror gnawed at her gut, a shadow of a nameless horror
that she could feel reaching toward her. A moment later the feeling
vanished, leaving behind only an illogical fear and a churning feeling
in her stomach.
Rei slowly sat up, ignoring the protests her stomach made at the
movement and wincing at a few slight aches left from sleeping on the
hard ground. She discovered that someone had covered her with a blanket
while she slept, and she pushed this covering aside before standing.
Despite the fact that she felt only slightly more rested than she had
when she had fallen asleep, she knew she would get no more sleep this
night.
From outside she heard the muffled sound of a quiet argument.
Acting almost without thinking, Rei slipped out of her tent. Her night
vision had always been good, and the full moon's light provided more
than enough illumination for her to see by. The sounds came from the
camp's periphery, and she headed in that direction, past the dormant
ashes of the campfire. As she neared, the sounds resolved themselves
into first voices, then words.
The first she identified as Suzuhara - she might as well call
him that until she discovered his true name. "Listen, Himiko, I'm sure
not gonna get more sleep tonight, so ya might as well-"
He was interrupted by an irritated grunt. "At least let me take
your watch tomorrow night, then."
Suzuhara sighed. "Alright. Now get ta sleep, and that's an
order."
Rei was now close enough to see the woman draw herself up and
deliver a mock salute to Suzuhara. "Aye, aye, sir." She turned about
and began to stomp into the camp, muttering unkind things under her
breath about male chivalry. Rei froze as she passed, and this was
evidently enough to avoid her notice.
For a moment, Rei was unsure what to do. The safest course
would be to return to her tent, yet something told her not to. She
could feel a strange anticipation hanging over the night, as though
something was waiting to happen. She was not usually prone to such odd
feelings, and obeyed them even more rarely, but this one seemed somehow
more insistent.
After a moment, she took a hesitant step forward, almost against
her will. Suzuhara looked back over his shoulder, and his eyes widened
slightly as he saw her. "Ayanami." A slight smile appeared on his
face. "Ya can't sleep either?"
After a moment, Rei nodded. Suzuhara pat the ground beside him.
"Come and sit with me a moment. I think we still need ta talk."
Rei did not see what harm this could do, so she complied after
only a few seconds' silent hesitation. It was after a much longer
silence that she spoke. "You said you wished to talk."
"I suppose I did." Despite this, Suzuhara did not speak again
for almost a minute. "I'm not sure what ta say to convince you I'm who
I say I am."
Rei did not respond, and after another silence Suzuhara sighed.
"Do you remember before the... accident with Unit-03? We talked on the
school rooftop. I remember I said you were worried about Ikari, and you
said you didn't understand."
Rei frowned. "That is true," she said slowly.
"And nobody coulda known that but Suzuhara Touji, right?"
"The conversation might have been monitored," she replied.
Suzuhara laughed. "Who the hell's gonna bug a high school
rooftop?"
Rei had to admit he was right. But then... if this man really
was Suzuhara Touji, how was he now older than her? After a moment, Rei
asked the question out loud.
Touji shook his head. "I can't know where ta start explainin'
if you don't tell me how far back you can remember."
Rei hesitated, but eventually answered. "I remember the battle
against the Sixteenth Angel. I engaged the self-destruct, then found
myself in the LCL."
"Ah." Touji paused a moment, then began to speak. "I don't know
that much, but here's what I know happened. You survived the battle-"
"That much is apparent," Rei interrupted.
Touji waved his hand. "No, not now. Then. After that, there
was another Angel, and then the SSDF attacked Nerv. They somehow got
their hands on the mass production Evas. Souryu fought 'em to a
standstill, and then... Third Impact happened." Touji shrugged. "And
after that people started wakin' up."
"That does not explain the difference in our ages."
Touji shrugged again. "When people return, they come back the
way they see themselves - that's why I've got all my arms and legs
again." He patted them as if to reassure himself they were still
present. "So ya came back the way you remembered yourself bein', just
like me. I just came back six years earlier."
"I see." Rei was not entirely sure she did understand, but she
was not certain he did either. Silence was all that passed between the
two for some time.
The silence was broken when Touji yawned. "Man, maybe I will
get some sleep tonight. How 'bout you? Gettin' tired, Ayanami?"
She began to shake her head, but stopped. Something was coming.
something she did not want to miss. She could feel it. It was more
than a little disturbing. She knew that such premonitions were worse
than useless, yet she could not bring herself to disregard this one. It
was foolish, but even though she recognized it the illogical feeling
still had a hold over her.
"Yo, Ayanami? Ya alright?" Touji asked.
She opened her mouth to reply, but whatever words she had to say
were lost as a roar echoed across the heavens. Both she and Touji
looked up in time to see a ball of fire streak across the sky. As it
passed overhead the roar intensified, until the ground seemed to be
throbbing in time with it. Behind them they could just barely make up
the sounds of the camp being unexpectedly roused and the resulting
confusion.
The fireball was losing altitude quickly. Rei saw what might
have been a piece of the object at the center break off. Mere moments
later, the ball of flame hit the ground. The ground shook, collapsing
many of the camp's tents - some of them with people still inside. There
was a flare of light from where the object had struck, and then darkness
and silence.
Touji rose. "That can't have landed more than a day's walk from
here."
Aida - Rei supposed he must really be her other classmate after
all - came rushing up behind them, only half-clothed. "Touji, are you
all right?"
Suzuhara slowly nodded. "Yah."
Kensuke rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Can't be more than a couple hours till dawn. Might as well get
everyone up." Touji turned and began to walk back into the camp,
Kensuke trailing behind. After a moment, Rei rose and followed.
"I think everyone's already awake," Kensuke said.
"Then let's get someone makin' breakfast and get ready ta move.
We're gonna check out that meteor." As they reached the center of the
camp, Touji yelled out, "Is everyone okay?"
A few minutes later, the entire group was assembled in the
center of the camp, and it was revealed that there were, in fact, no
injuries more serious than a bruise. Touji quickly relayed his plan,
and it was met with only a minimum of protest.
"We were supposed to be back in the city by now," one of the men
grumbled.
"Are you that homesick already? Finally found a girlfriend,
Aoki?" Himiko asked.
"Oh, shuddup, Yamada." The woman merely laughed in reply.
"Unless anyone else has any objections," Touji said, "we'll be
leaving at dawn, so whoever drew breakfast duty for today should get to
work on that. The rest of us, let's get the camp packed up."
It was in fact, about a half hour after dawn when the squad
finally began to move. Kensuke was once again slightly in front of most
of the group, along with another of the men. Touji was the first of the
main group, and Rei found herself walking beside him. Aoki and the
remaining man were close behind, while Himiko trailed several meters
behind them.
There was little conversation as the group began their march.
After perhaps a quarter hour they reached a cracked highway, and turned
to follow it north. A few rusted, wrecked automobiles littered the
road, driving home to Rei how different this world must be from the last
she could remember. It even sounded different, she realized. She had
never really noticed the constant background noise of machinery, but now
that it was gone its absence was disconcerting.
They made relatively fast progress on the highway, though Rei
found herself becoming unexpectedly winded. It was irritating that she
felt so unfit, but knew she should be in far better condition. After a
few moment's thought, she attributed it to the fact that, if she
understood what Touji had explained to her of 'returning', then this
body had never before been used. If that was the case, she should
return to her ordinary endurance within a few days, or weeks at the
most. That thought was somewhat comforting.
After perhaps an hour, they turned off the highway and onto a
smaller side road. This road was not in such good shape, and their
travel slowed, particularly when they encountered a high pile of rubble
strewn across it, perhaps the remnants of a collapsed building. Kensuke
and the other man in the lead were already near the top when Rei reached
the rubble, and Touji quickly scrambled up after them.
Still somewhat tired, Rei paused a moment to catch her breath
before beginning the climb. This prompted Aoki to ask her if she was
all right as he caught up with her. She replied in the affirmative, and
began to make her way up the rubble. Aoki and the other man followed
close behind.
They were perhaps only a quarter of the way from the top when
Rei slipped. As she scrambled to find a foothold, one of her bare feet
landed on a sharp piece of rock. The sudden pain caused her tenuous
balance to falter completely, and she began to fall. Fortunately, Aoki
was close behind and managed to steady her. "What happened?" he asked.
Rei quickly related the incident to him, wincing in pain as she tested
her wounded foot.
"Let me take a look at that," Aoki said, and Rei complied. "It
doesn't look that bad. You're just sliced up a little. Hey, Hiruma,"
he called to the other man, "You think you can help me get her over this
thing?"
"Sure," the man replied, working his way over to where the two
were standing. Soon Rei found herself being half-carried up the slope
by the two men, and they managed to make to the other side without
further incident.
As the three of them and Himiko reached the bottom, they found
the other three men waiting for them. "What's the holdup?" Kensuke
asked, looking impatient to be off.
"The girl here's hurt her foot," Hiruma replied gruntly.
"Is it bad?" Touji asked.
Rei shook her head. "I will be fine," she said as she divested
herself of the two men's assistance. Her foot still hurt a little when
she put her weight on it, but the pain was far from unbearable.
"We ought to get her some boots," Aoki said. "Otherwise it'll
happen again."
Touji nodded agreement. "Does anyone have a spare pair?"
The one man whose name Rei still did not know grunted. "I have
one, but they sure won't fit a little slip of a thing like her."
"As I recall," Himiko said, "there's a crossroads not far from
here with a shoe store. It ought to have something."
Touji nodded. "Good thinkin'. I think I know where that's at.
Ayanami, you think ya can make it a mile?"
Rei nodded. "I will be fine."
As the group began to move again, Aoki chuckled. "You can
always trust the woman to know the local shopping, eh, Yamada?"
Himiko delivered a mock punch to his stomach, which was met with
mock pain. "Are you looking for another rematch, Aoki?"
Aoki threw up his hands. "Of course not, o mighty mistress of
martial arts!"
Beside him, Hiruma let out a throaty chuckle. "Still haven't
beaten her?"
"Beaten her? I haven't even touched her yet!"
It took the squad around a quarter of an hour to make it to the
crossroads. As it came into sight, Kensuke yawned. "I'm getting
hungry."
"Already?" Touji asked, glancing at the sun. "Well, I suppose
we did get started early. We can get lunch started while Ayanami gets
her shoes. Who has that duty today?"
"Nakamura, I think," Hiruma said as he seated himself on the
sidewalk. Rei surmised that this was the name of the one person who's
name she had not known, and was proven correct and that person started
grumbling and searching through the squad's packs, which had already
been strewn about the area.
"Who was carrying the food, anyways?" he asked, half to himself.
Rei started as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She
instinctively broke away from it, turning around to face her assailant
in a defensive stance. However, she relaxed slightly when she saw it
was Aoki.
Himiko snorted as she watched this. "Are you that desperate
now, Aoki?" she asked as she walked up.
Aoki threw up his hands. "I was just trying to get her
attention! Someone ought to go with her to get the shoes. Where is
that store, anyways?"
"On the other side," Himiko said. "This way." She began to
walk away, and Rei silently followed her. Behind them, Aoki shook his
head, then hurried to catch up.
They quickly reached the shoe store. Its glass door lay in
several pieces on the floor, and Rei had to move carefully to avoid
injuring her feet further. As the three entered, Aoki sneezed. "Yeesh,
it's dusty in here."
"Well, what do you expect?" Himiko asked. "It isn't like
there's a cleaning service." She paused and turned to Rei. "What size
shoe do you wear?" Rei told her, and Himiko nodded. "We should be able
to find that easily enough."
The three began to search the store, and Rei quickly located a
pair of boots that fit well enough on a shelf near the back of the
store. They were somewhat uncomfortable without socks, but they would
serve for the moment. As she opened her mouth to inform her two
companions that she was done, she was stopped as a low growl sounded
from behind her.
She slowly turned around to see a large black dog. Several
long, jagged scars ran down its sides, and one of its eyes seemed to
have been ripped out. It began to advance, lean muscles rippling under
the dark fur, and she slowly retreated before it. Her eyes darted to
either side, searching for a means of escape and not finding one.
"Ayanami?" Aoki's voice came from behind her, but she dared not
risk turning away from the dog to look. He uttered a curse as he saw
the dog, and Rei heard the distinctive sound of a sword being pulled
from its sheath. "Yamada!" he yelled. "Get over here!"
Rei heard him approaching. "Get behind me," he said, and Rei
complied. Aoki swung his crude shortsword in a slow, low arc, forcing
the dog to back up slightly. It growled at him, and this time the sound
was answered by several other growls from other parts of the store.
"Great," he muttered. "We've found a pack's den."
The dog suddenly started and fell over, a thrown dagger
protruding from the back of its skull. Himiko appeared out of the murky
half-darkness and pulled the dagger back out. "You two all right?" she
asked. She hardly waited for Aoki's nod before continuing. "It sounds
like there's maybe six of them, but they're further back. We ought to
be able to get out of here."
Aoki nodded, and the three began to quietly head for the exit.
However, as it came into view, they were forced to halt at the sight of
an astoundingly large dog blocking the exit. As the dog spotted them,
it sat back on its haunches and let out a loud howl. Moments later
answering barks came from the rear of the store, and the three could
hear the other dogs moving towards them.
"Great," Aoki muttered as he tightened his grip on his sword.
"Just great."
***********************************************************************
Author's Random Ramblings
1) Thanks of course go to my prereader Ryan Hupp for his (almost real-
time!) help in the writing of this chapter.
2) If you're familiar with my previous work(s), you might notice I'm
trying a rather different style of writing in this one. Specifically,
I'm aiming for a strictly third-person limited point of view (though
that point of view will change from chapter to chapter), as well as
avoiding the use of artificial scene dividers. I'm also endeavoring to
include a great deal more detail and description in this one, though I'm
unsure of how successful that effort has been. Any comments on how well
(or poorly, for that matter) I have achieved these goals are most
welcome.
3) In fact, any and all C&C of any sort is greatly appreciated.
Started: April 22, 2003
Draft Finished: May 02, 2003
Draft Released: May 02, 2003
Final Completed: May 05, 2003