On Sapphire Wings

Chapter 12

Touch me.

Take me to that other place…

Teach me.

I know I'm not a hopeless case.

Dart couldn't help feeling relieved as Rose came and sat by the fire, blazing brightly through the silent night. Though he'd always tried to be a positive leader for his friends, Rose had always helped his decisions, and when she'd died, he'd no longer felt the courage of his convictions anymore.

However, any positive feelings caused a spear of guilt through Dart as he thought of Haschel and Kongol. How could he know if they weren't suffering?

Staring into the flickering light, he murmured under his breath. "Damn…"

"What?" Albert looked up at him, sharp eyes scanning his face.

"Sorry, thinking about Haschel and Kongol."

"Oh." Albert sighed, crossed his arms and sat back. "What's your verdict?"

"We need to check on them, make sure they're alright." Dart sighed, "But if we leave, Tiberoa might be attacked."

"Mmm."

"Kyris isn't going to wait for us." Rose said suddenly. "But he won't leave henchmen at Rouge."

"So, we should send someone up to Rouge?"

She shrugged, "Who could you send that would get there fast enough?"

Dart shook his head. "Meru?"

"We'll need her if we get in a fight."

"But she's the only wingly we can trust!"

Rose thought a moment, then her dark eyes turned over to Wink and Lloyd, who were talking a ways away. "Send them."

Dart gave her a pained look. "Why them?"

"Lloyd is a wingly, and perhaps one of the only ones who can take Kyris on by himself. And Wink is loyal to us, and she has healing abilities if they need it." Rose looked at Dart slowly. It was hard to adapt to her, looking at him through a different body but the same dark eyes. "Wink needs protection, and Lloyd needs a reason to stay loyal to us."

"…Alright. But I'm sending Kian too."

"Why?"

"Because he bugs me."

"Just relax." Lloyd spoke slowly, his voice soft and dark, and his eyes fully on Wink's face. The two circled slowly, both watching each other intently. "Let yourself go."

Wink took a breath and punched out at him, a move that he blocked easily, though through his face came no arrogance in his skill. She sighed and held up her hands in exasperation, and he smiled lightly, though his eyes remained locked and mirthless.

Meru, who was sitting lazily in a tree with Kianako and Artewa watching the fight, translated his words for him as he gave her steady instructions. He had gotten her to do this because he was unsure of the words, and didn't want to give false information. Also, he knew that Meru wanted to help teach Wink how to fight.

"'Don't worry about hitting him.'" Meru told Wink. "He's been through worse, and you won't learn to fight if you don't learn how to hurt someone."

"I don't know about this." Wink muttered. "I have the talent of a stick."

"Haha! Don't worry, to this day, I still always manage to hit myself in the ass with my hammer, and look where I am!" Meru grinned.

"Torbrin gathr synx." Lloyd said pointedly at Meru. He had known from the start that if Meru was going to help, it would involve a lot of her small talk, so for the whole lesson he'd had to remind her to do her job.

"Lloyd says to try a few quick punches." Meru told Wink.

Wink snorted, then brought her hands up and began to attempt to strike her opponent. Lloyd noted that she was still uneasy, and only one hit managed to hit him on the arm.

"He says that your still not hurting him." Meru muttered. "C'mon girl! Give 'im some bruises!"

"Okay…"

She tried again, this time adding some kicks, but there was still the uneasy weakness in her attacks. Lloyd thought a moment, then decided to try a tactic he'd used on Artewa. He spoke up at Meru, and she began to laugh.

"Okay, he says to look over here, I'm gonna show you a technique!" Meru waved, and Wink turned back to look at her. Smiling gently, Lloyd waited until he was sure Wink was paying good attention to his 'training partner,' then gave her a firm push in the back. Turning, Wink pushed him back.

Lloyd, who know had an amused smirk on his face, grabbed her arm, pulled her close to him and pinned her arm behind her back. Wink, drawing on something – instinct or Rachesis' strength, elbowed him in the chest with her free arm. The air left him momentarily, and he laughed, a shy and scratchy sound that he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Is that what you want?" Wink asked. She laughed as the three winglies in the evergreen tree cheered her on.

"That will work." Lloyd nodded, and they both put up their hands at the same time, watching each other and ignoring the commotion made by there spectators.

"Iodrasa vincat se yntoristis…" He said slowly, and Wink listened as she waited for instruction, as if mesmerized by the words. "Qeztai Npornin jir na ralvik sai…"

Meru stared a moment before catching on. "He says he's gonna come atcha, so be careful." She didn't translate the last part, 'We'll force the dragon out of her.'

Lloyd immediately took a swing at her, which she fended off then countered, hitting his unprotected shoulder. Then she kicked a shin, which he didn't bother to defend against, and struck at his gut. He let her hit him, concentrating on getting adrenaline through her.

Slowly, she began to circle, occasionally pummeling at him. Lloyd was pleased to note that the strikes were becoming more and more fierce.

He blocked a lazy punch for his face, and in the process missed it as she kicked him below the rib. Being fairly unskilled as a fist fighter, Lloyd had no intuition telling him to keep his hands up, and he lowered a hand to the bruised wound, gasping.

Taking this opportunity, Wink sent a low kick to the back of his knee, and he fell to the ground.

She was immediately by his side, amid the persisting cheering from the winglies, her blue eyes worried. "Sorry! Are you okay? Ah, sorry sorry sorry…"

Lloyd shook his head with a smile and stood. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Good job Wink!" Meru called over. "Right in the leg!"

Standing and trying to ignor the pain in his knee, he conversed briefly with Meru, asking her if she could explain how to transform into a dragoon. Getting her affirmation, he watched Wink as Meru explained the process. Most of the words that the wingly girl spoke were foreign to him, so he simply waited.

Following Meru's cryptic advice, Wink took the dragon spirit from a pocket and watched it as it began to glow. The luminosity began to amplify until it blinded Lloyd.

The armour was so golden it was nearly white. It wrapped dexterously around Wink's delicate body, allowing mobility, and added fair splendor to her already beautiful form, highlighting her striking body that she so modestly hid.

The front was a strapless chestplate ending at her hips, and along her pale arms were gold-steel gloves that traveled up to her elbows. Twin steel bangles, adorned with sapphires, protected her biceps, and a decorative choker cosseted her neck. The armour hung down off her hips in a short metal skirt, and her boots came up to her ankles, then spiraled like ivy up her legs. Along her brow was a yellow headband, encrusted with precious gems.

And in her gloved hands was a staff. It was made of a wood with bark of shining white that seemed almost to resonate, and midway down the wood was a metal and leather grip, covered in ancient runes from many different cultures, and stones that had long since become extinct on the earth. At each end of the wood were knobs that looked like smooth, polished diamond. Protruding from the beautiful stone ends were long blades made of a metal that Lloyd had heard of only in legend, an alloy sharper than diamond and fiercer than fear.

From her back, long sinuous wings caught the air gently, and the sun shone down on the batlike silver flesh.

"Wow." Wink said in disbelief. "I did it…"

"Weird, huh?" Meru asked.

Wink nodded. Almost comically, she looked down and, seeing herself flying, paniced and did a double take.

"It's okay, don't worry! You won't fall."

Wink laughed. "This's crazy. How long can I keep this up?"

"You'll get better the more you do it. When I'm fighting, I can keep it up for about fifteen minutes, but if you're just flying around, well, I can do it for hours, but I'm a wingly." Meru smiled. She looked over as Dart walked over, and saluted. "Ta da! We got Wink dragoonyfied!"

"Good job." Dart said absently. "Wink, do you mind if I get you to do something?"

"What is it?" Wink asked, trying uselessly to fly over to him.

"I need you to go to Rouge and make sure Haschel and Kongol are okay, alright?"

"Uh, sure!" Wink grinned, a smug look on her face. Then, she slowly added, "Alone?"

Dart shook his head a jerked a finger to Lloyd and Kian. "You two are going too."

Lloyd nodded, and Kianako grinned, jumping down from the bough of the tree he was sitting on.

"Damn humans finally figured out my use!" He chuckled in the wingly language.

"Get going as soon as you can." Dart commanded. He turned to walk away, and suddenly Artewa's voice called out.

"What about me?"

Dart turned and looked at her, "You want to go?"

Speaking slowly and unsteadily, Artewa said, "I want to stay with my brother."

"…Alright, but be careful."

"Hey, chill out Dart!" Meru barked. "She's tough!"

"I know Meru."

Meru glared at the impatience in his voice but said nothing.

After an hour of intense practise with the winglies, Wink had learned the basics of flight, and was ready to leave. The nights chill bit into her and seemed to inject her bones, but she knew that they would have to leave immediately, and the worry for the two in Rouge worked as a fuel to ward off the coldness and the fatigue.

Taking some of the supplies and a map, the four of them lifted into the sky, and began to fly North. Each was in there own type of silence, and it was obvious they were preparing for the enigma waiting at Rouge.

A/N: Okay, first off, I can't remember if it's Rouge or Rogue! -_-

Lol, also, does anyone know Rose's eye colour? I can't remember that either…

Aside from my mortality, sorry for the wait. I won't bore you with my excuse, cuz that's what I do every time, but I REALLY promise the next update shall be soon! Believe meeeee…

Oh, and excuse the HORRIBLE beginning and end to this chappy, I HATE it!   X(