Darkness in the Twilight
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By Psycho Ferret and LunarCrystal
Battle Against Thunder
Melzin was treating Gaddes' leg wound with iodine and a tourniquet, feeling the other man tense when he heard the news. Celena had been moved to the apothecary, as it was located below the castle for better access to the water. She lay on a bedroll that had been hastily set up for her, alert but unable to get very far - gods forbid should they have to flee. She still couldn't breathe very easily.
"He couldn't have," she said, looking up suddenly as the cannon fire from Basram shook the walls, knocking over a couple more of Melzin's viles, as there were already a few of them shattered upon the stone floor. "He can't bloody see! What the . . . hell is he thinking," she had to take breaths in between her sentence.
***
Allen stood nearly motionless for a long moment, forcing himself to concentrate. What was it, picture them? Concentrate... this was for the fort, for Celena, for everyone...
Another shower of cannon fire and he had them. Scherezade moved damn fast, reacting as quickly and easily as he remembered. Soldiers inside his fort were yelling orders to move the hell out of the way of Scherezade – as it was moving right for them. It crashed through a part of the broken wall, surprising Allen briefly with the sudden incline of the hill. He caught the balance well enough, and moved on toward the sounds of cannonfire.
The sword brought up in an arc, the blade slicing easily through the ranks. The cannons had to go first. They were easiest to pick out, what with how loud they were.
No one knows how much time had passed. The soldiers inside the fort were moving about frantically, trying to get out of the way of the guymelef stomping around with a blind pilot. Not one of his more brilliant ideas, thought Gaddes as he limped out onto the parade grounds of the fort. The cannons had already shot through the walls high above them - as the fort was located on quite a hill and the enemy was attacking from the front.
They must have figured on no guymelefs, thought the sergeant as he barked out orders to hastily refortify their splintered walls. For some reason, they wanted to keep this subtle, no giant armor to give them away - since guymelef's left distinct footprints. The cannons were odd, though - why no guymelefs yet bring in modern technology? Gaddes couldn't fathom an answer. He stood watching Scherezade, hoping Allen wouldn't get himself killed.
There was one last round of cannon fire before the whole line of them were taken out by Scherezade's sword - a lucky blow, to say the least. All most too lucky. How the hell the knight did it was beyond Gaddes. He just grinned and hoped their walls wouldn't fall completely.
Most of the cannons out of the way, Allen directed his attentions inward, toward the sounds of the battle around him. More cannons a little ways off, though he doubted he'd get there easily. "Come on," he murmured to the melef, turning towards the sounds. He managed to take out a few more before the force of the blow jarred him--he was a more immediate threat than the walls of the fort. The screech and pull of metal was horrifying, the sound deafening him, as well as a great many soldiers about him.
At least the severed arm managed to land on a mob of the attacking soldiers.
Balance was a little off, and a few testing, clumsy swings got him, not only back on balance, but also made him realize just what damage had been done. A soft curse lingered on his lips, especially when the dizziness began to creep back into his consciousness. Within the unit, his head wasn't secured and he'd slammed it back against the metal grating rather hard. And it hurt. A lot. Blood trickled from a wound near his temple.
Well, there went his perfect advantage. Not that it really was perfect to begin with.
With the cannons taken out, there were commands among the Basram armies - the familiar sounds of retreat were hard to miss, no matter what language it was in. Some soldiers cheered, others simply sighed in relief or exhaustion, or both. The archers at the remaining walls continued to launch vollies of arrows, firing at will as the last of the scrambling army ducked inside the forest canopies and hid among the snow.
Scherezade was on a knee, one would assume for the pilot to get out, but he didn't. The stump where the missing arm had once been crackled with snapped wires, sizzling. Blood and charred remains from the cannons stood defeated. They had won for now.
Soldiers were running up to Scherezade, hopping over the broken pieces of wall where Allen had broken through to get to the cannons. They climbed down the hill quickly, reaching the kneeling giant armor and scaling it.
"Captain! Captain!" some were yelling, knocking on the broken metal.
"Sir Allen," said another. Most of the soldiers were wary of the sizzling wires, walking around it carefully as they tried to get a glimpse of their captain. Was he hurt? Was he alive? They were anxious for the answers, dreading the worst possible scenario.
Allen groaned quietly, doubled over. The heels of his hands he pressed into his sightless eyes, trying to banish the painful dizziness that swept over him, added onto it by the wound to his head that he'd sustained. Too bad those bastards bled horribly.
The blonde knight coughed again, moving gloved hands to cover his mouth at blood slipped from his lips again. Allen groaned again, the breathing slightly raspy, trying to force himself to stay awake.
But the fight was in vain. He'd been pushing off his weakness too much, pushed himself too far and his mind and body both had had enough. Shoving his will aside, his mind slowed, nudging him into unconsciousness, his head lolling lightly to the side. The cockpit fluttered open and, almost as if the melef spit him out, the lithe, bruised body of their commander slipped out, folding up limply on his side as he hit the ground.
Really, with all the blood, he looked worse off than he was.
There were about five soldiers fussing over the broken Scherezade, yelling at each other, while they had all searched about frantically for the release wire that would open the guymelef's front. One of them had finally stumbled upon it, yanking on the rope under the front breast plate. Hydraulics worked and broken the chest plate open, giving a full few of their captain in the pilot's capsule. Where their captain was now on the ground, so too were all five soldiers, crowding their commander and worrying.
He was bloodied up rather well but there really was no way to tell how much of it was his own.
"Captain!" said one that was kneeling beside Allen and was now shaking at the knight's shoulder.
Allen was exhausted, his energy taxed. He'd focused so much into controlling the melef, into worrying about Riden and the others, into trying to get back to the fort that he'd spared none simply for the act of staying awake. He was a little pale, the blood smeared against his face slicked part of his hair, as well.
Pretty much what he needed was that head wound to be taken care of and a good bit of rest.
His flesh had gotten a littler warmer than it should have been, just the beginnings of a fever. But that would fade.
Oruto had dashed outside and upon seeing Allen topple from the melef, picked up his pace. Making sure nothing was broken--though he was a bit bruised from being jolted about inside the suit--he lifted the lithe commander into his arms and headed back inside, clutching him close.
Of course, all of the loyal soldiers under Allen's command followed. They were completely shocked, having witnessed Allen execute an insubordinate soldier and now was frantically being carried back to the fort by one of his crew. They followed as far as they could go, which was on the hallside door to the apothecary. Gaddes limped on inside while Oruto was just laying him down on the table.
Celena was still on her bedroll on the floor, watching. "It's almost . . . funny now." she said without humor.
Oruto blinked, looking up at the small-framed girl. "I... pardon, missy?" He wasn't one much for talking... and he couldn't quite understand just how any of this was funny at all. He glanced at the apothecary, frowning. "He's been coughing a lot, especially when he was forced to sit in the snow. I don't think anything's broken, though..."
Melzin, ever present in his precious apothecary, immediately began treating Allen's wounds. As he did so, he shoved a bottle of some concoction into Oruto's hands with some linen squares and a ball of refined cotton. "Here, go make yourself useful." said the healer.
Oruto blinked, looking at the bottle in his hands. "Ah... doing what?" He looked confused for a moment, glancing at Allen, then to the bottle and medical supplies in his hands. After a moment, he glanced over at Gaddes, as well.
"It's just distilled potato vodka," explained Melzin, who did not look up from cleaning the mess around Allen's fair head, "administer it to the injured. Now before they get gangrene, for pity's sake."
"Oh," he murmured, then turned, doing as he was bidden to those soldiers who'd gathered in the room, slumped against the wall as they nursed various wounds. Though every once in awhile he'd glance over at Allen to see how he was doing.
The fever was faint and nothing to worry about too much, but his back and shoulder were bruised. The shoulder that had recently been dislocated had swollen a little, the joints still tender and the hard fall he'd taken made it ache and get irritated. The head wound had finally stopped bleeding, leaving him pale, but for the faint flush to his cheeks. He'd be fine. Nothing major had been done to him, really, except for the fact that he'd demanded too much of himself.
But that was a normal occurrence for Allen, really.
"Lad," spoke Melzin, putting two hands on either side of Allen's recently shaken head. "Allen, can you hear me? You awake?"
It took a few more tries for pale eyelids to flutter slightly, a groan on his lips. He ached, that was one thing he knew. And another... he was tired.
"No, no, laddy. Ye can't fall asleep on me now." said Melzin worriedly, knowing the risks of concussion, which was probably what Allen had. Even if he didn't, every healer knows to always treat for one if you have a head injury. . . the blood was a pretty good indication that Allen had been hit on the head. "Wake up for me. Come on." He lightly slapped at Allen's cheeks to bring him around.
The blonde started slightly, though it was hard to tell if he was really awake or not by looking at him. He didn't need to open his eyes, after all, to be awake. There wouldn't be any recognition in them.
"Nn..." He murmured something rather unintelligible with the word "sleep" in there somewhere, his eyes fluttering slightly.
"Gaddes, lad, bring me the smelling salts, up there on the second shelf," He vaguely indicated where the object was with a wave of his hand, pulling Allen to sit up and set his back against the wall on the table. "Come on, Allen. Wake up. Stay awake."
"Tired," he murmured, head lolling a little. The smelling salts under his nose gave him a start and he, well... accidentally smacked the back of his head against the wall. Which really didn't help him in the least. The blonde groaned, doubling over, head in his hands. He had a raging headache.
"Oh, dear." Melzin clicked his tongue, his brows furrowed. The young captain certainly did look a mess. Melzin didn't quite yet know what sort of part he'd played in the battle earlier.
"You can hear me, can you, lad? Tell me yes if you can hear me." He was a clever healer, that much credit was due, at least. Having heard the muffled booming, and the quakes that they resulted, well - human ears are sensitive, after all.
Allen didn't really respond, heels of his hands pressing softly against his eyes. His head hurt, the headache blossoming from the screech of the metal, slamming his head against the metal of the melef, and then that right there. He was just striking out everywhere. The blonde shivered slightly, but not from cold. He didn't know why, really.
The poor kid... he was temporarily deafened. He'd lost his second most important sense.
"Why won't he answer?" Asked Celena from the floor on her bedroll, trying to standing and leaning heavily upon one of the herb cluttered counters for support. Melzin helped Allen to lay back down, pumping out some water from the spout attached to the wall over a basin. The apothecary was the only room with such a device located indoors. He poured the water into a cup before pouring it gently onto Allen's flushed forehead.
"My guess is that he can't hear anything at the moment," said Melzin quietly.
Allen winced a little from the cool water, though not out of pain, but surprise.
"Scherezade's arm got ripped clean off," Gaddes murmured, frowning, looking at his friend. "It's no small wonder that he can't hear." Gaddes could only hope that it wasn't permanent. A blind and deaf commander wouldn't work, no matter how much they wouldn't want to get rid of him.
"It's probably temporary, lad, so don't you worry," Melzin quickly assured him, stroking the wet locks of blond back from Allen's face before pouring more of the cold water, so that it seeped into his scalp and cooled him. "I heard the horrible racket from down here. I can only imagine how much it had been amplified being right next to it. No, no, he should be fine in a few hours - though I'll bet he has a horrible headache."
"Let me go to him," Celena pleaded quietly, "Gaddes, help me go to my brother."
"He doesn't need any more handicapping," Gaddes said quietly, walking over to Celena and helping her up and over to her brother's side.
The cold of the water kept him awake, thankfully, though his head throbbed. He rolled onto his side, thankfully not the one with the injured shoulder, ducking his head into his hands.
Melzin gently pushed his hands down to administer more cool water. "He won't be handicapped anymore than he already is. Our ears might be sensitive, but their far more resilient than you think."
With Gaddes to support her, Celena leaned over her brother. His eyes were open and moving about, as if trying to see something. They always did that when he had them open, even if he didn't mean to do it.
"I wouldn't know what to do if he was deaf and blind." She bent down low and gave him a kiss on his lips, a gentle kiss that tasted of . . . peaches. As Celena had been eating a peach before the fort was attacked.
Melzin stopped, tactfully turning away and not thinking anything of the kiss. Their closeness was not his place to question, and was solely their business.
Gaddes was silent and felt a sting at his chest. But those two belonged each other, no matter how much horrid luck they had brought upon themselves. Allen started a little at her touch, grazing her arm with a blood-stained gloved hand. His own blood, of course.
He didn't say anything, but maybe this way he could stay awake. It registered in the back of his mind that he should.
Celena leaned on the table to support herself, as her legs had begun to feel weak already. One hand reached over across Allen's face and gently rested and stroked the sensitive spot just under his ear, the other hand took the bloodied one and held it gently. She pulled out of the kiss and, moving her lips along his skin to just under the other ear, she began to speak to him, her lips moving as they touched his skin and her breath warm upon it.
"I know you can't hear me right now, Allen. But it's Celena. We're going to be okay. I'm getting better . . ." she continued to speak sweet nothings, just to let him know that it was her and that she was in fact speaking to him – hoping her breath and lips would soothe him in such a sensitive area on his fair face. Melzin nodded approvingly. They were very close, and it reminded the old healer of twins. He was just glad they could bring comfort to each other, when and if no one else would.
Blind and temporarily deaf. Or permanently, as far as he knew. What luck. Gloved fingers tightened a little, twining with hers. It was Celena, he knew that much, if only by the feel of her hands. But even still he had to fight off waves of dizziness, his other hand resting lightly on his thigh.
Gaddes kept a hold on her, supporting her, though kindly turning his head away... if only to keep himself from saying something. He didn't belong there where she was. Those to needed each other, craved each other.
"I'll stay here, with you, Allen . . ." she finished with a last shuddering breath upon his face, her stroking hand on at his ear suddenly pulled away as her knees gave in.
Gaddes blinked, tightening his hold on her, bracing her. There wasn't enough room where Allen was to set her down on, so he was, well... at a loss. So he held her tightly, though not tight enough to bruise, supporting her.
Allen turned his head slightly towards her, frowning a little. "Rest, Celena," he murmured... and it felt entirely too odd to not be able to hear himself speak it.
One last attempt made the girl grab at the edge of the table where Allen lay, pulling herself against Gaddes' strength, supporting herself as best she could as she hovered above her brother one last time, kissing him again, her body shuddering and lips trembling as it threatened to break down into sobs.
It was almost as if it was on cue, the wave of dizziness that passed over him then, making him start a little, though this time he didn't smack his head against the wall, which was, of course, good. He groaned, bowing his head into his hands again, shoulders shaking a little. This business was starting to get terribly irritating.
Celena was settled back down on her bedroll, as the threat from Basram was most severe and might attack the fort with reinforcements. They couldn't risk her to go back to her bed in the room. The floor was cold in the apothecary, the stone harsh and unrelenting, but the soldiers who were not injured - all of them quite fond of their commander's pretty sister - had taken care to pile her on blankets to keep her warm.
***
Celena slept a little, on and off for no more than 20 minutes at a time. Melzin attended to all the soldiers who were huddled against the walls of his apothecary, with the help of Oruto, disinfecting and binding wounds with torn linens. Rations were eventually passed out, Celena given a honey biscuit to nibble. Dinner time then, she thought. There was no way to tell the time of day in this place, as it was not unlike a dungeons and there were no windows.
Gaddes had stroked her hair when she took the biscuit, biting off a small piece and chewing carefully. "Is my brother awake, Gaddes?" she asked the sergeant.
"I don't think he is, Celena. He's been just like you, on and off being awake. Melzin has to keep coming back and waking him up."
Gaddes sighed a bit, shaking his head. After a moment, he turned, walking over to Allen's side, a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Boss, c'mon, stay awake..."
Allen groaned, shifting a little underneath the other man's hand, drawn out of his light sleep yet again. He bowed his head against Gaddes' shoulder. "...'M so tired..."
"You can't go to sleep, Boss..."
"I know." Allen blinked, starting a little, groaning at the dizzy spell that washed over him at the sudden movement.
"Allen! Damn it, you have to stop doing that." Gaddes frowned, shaking his head slightly, glancing over at Melzin. "I think he can hear again... because he can't read my lips and he just responded." A logical observation, of course.
"Aye, I said it was temporary. I wasn't lyin to ye, lad." said Melzin as he finished tying a bandage on a wounded soldier's leg. He straightened, stretching a bit, and walked over to where Allen lay, looking over him. "Ah, laddy. How's that head of yours? Got it banged up nicely, t'ain't two ways about it."
Allen groaned a little as he spoke. "It's throbbing..." Of course, it would be expected, of course. A gloved hand raised, pressing gently against his temple, a frown tugging on his lips*
"Yes, you've a nasty bruise there." Melzin took Allen's hand away from the offending temple, gently, "You mustn't touch. I'll give you something to soothe it." Reaching for a bottle on one of the counters, Melzin applied an ointment to both Allen's temples. It smelled strongly of mint and eucalyptus and . . . something. But it readily soothed and cooled the skin, the vapors from so potent a concoction quickly reaching Allen's nostrils, opening his lungs for easier breathing.
"There, now. How does that feel?"
"A bit better," he murmured, sighing a bit. He hadn't had a fit of coughing since he was warm and unstressed and that was good. Gaddes looked over at Allen, shaking his head slightly. He nore his sister didn't deserve any of this. Of all the people in this world to suffer such things, did it have to be them?
"You scared the hell out of me . . . again." admonished Gaddes quietly.
"Ah? Well... it pushed them back for a bit, didn't it? It was well worth it. It's not like I'm going to die from this." Or yet, anyway. He didn't know the exact extent of his damage but he doubted it was lethal. "It was fine, Gaddes." Allen flashed a little bit of a smile, though it was tired.
Gaddes placed a concerned hand on his friend's chest, smiling as well. "I'm so glad . . . just, my gods, you didn't get killed after all." He grinned more than smiled now, "And you'll never guess who showed up."
"Hah, as if I would." Allen teased Gaddes proudly, lifting his chin a mite. Oruto had spoken rather proudly of Allen, about how he'd carried himself within the encampment.
"He walked like a king, Sarge."
Of course, Allen held great esteem in his pride. That was important.
"Who?" Allen frowned a little, arching a brow. "Hell," he muttered softly, "I need to get my sword back. ....Er... who?"
"Riden was able to bring us reinforcements, except that they'll be here by tomorrow. But the King of Fanelia - and his new queen - have come early to discuss defensive maneuvers." said Gaddes, touching Allen's shoulder with a grin.
Allen blinked a bit, then grinned right back. "Good... good." Of course, that would mean Van finding out about his blindness, but that was all part of it, wasn't it? The blonde had already vowed that he wouldn't let it utterly rule his life and he meant it.
"New queen? Tell me it's not Merle." Allen laughed a little, turning his head slightly towards Gaddes.
"No, he didn't marry her. Although, she'll be leading the Fanelian forces. Apparently she's an excellent guymelef pilot." said Gaddes with a smirk, "Hitomi's here, Allen."
"Hitomi? By... they truly were meant to stay at each other's sides." Allen smiled a little, inclining his head. "Good for them. They are currently here, you say?"
"Yeah, I put them in some empty rooms on this floor. Didn't want to take any chances with royals, you know. That actually reminds me. I should fix you up a room - not that you deserve it for scaring me like you did." Gaddes gripped his friend's arm, not in an unkindly way, "Just - stop trying to get yourself killed."
"I'm not trying to get myself killed, Gaddes," Allen chided kindly, smiling a bit, "but I have to take risks. This is my home... if I hadn't taken that risk, they wouldn't have fallen back like they had and the fort would be overrun. You know it just as well as I do, we weren't prepared for an attack like that." Allen clasped a hand over Gaddes', nodding slightly to him.
"Well, get better so that we can be." retorted the sergeant. He gave a light huff, "bet you freaked out earlier when you couldn't hear anything . . ."
"I was rather panicked. After all, if I lost my hearing as well... I'd be useless here." Allen sighed softly at that. "Well... at least it was temporary, though I would have rather had it not have happened at all."
"What's the damage to Scherezade? Much, I expect. The arm's either gone or utterly useless, that much I know."
"Yeah, you're right about the arm." said Gaddes, "That's probably what knocked out your hearing, really. They recovered the melef back into the hanger, pieces included. The arm was pretty much torn completely off. Those cannons the Basram nation has . . . it's freakish."
"I felt the jerk... it was horrid and admittedly altogether frightening. The sound, augh..." Allen sighed softly. "They're definitely an advantage they have over us. They have larger numbers--or did until Fanelia came, and might still, perhaps--and those cannons of theirs. We don't have many melefs left over from the war with Zeibach, do we?" Allen frowned a little, lips pursed as he thought.
"If Van uses Escaflowne, we might be able to hold them off of these borders. They've got a long way to go before they reach Palas, boss." Gaddes looked around, seeing all of the injured men and somehow able to find some shred of hope, "We'll be okay. With any luck, Basram would at least be discouraged for a little while."
"Hopefully. Though seeing Scherezade's arm blown off might give them a bit of hope. That was the only melef unit they saw, so it's logical to assume that it's the only one we've got. Wait... did Van even bring Escaflowne?" Allen frowned a little, turning his head towards Gaddes.
"No, he didn't. His royal pain in the ass came on a private leviship." he answered.
"Then we can't be sure he's going to fight in it." Allen sighed, slowly managing to sit up on his own. "I have to speak with them," he murmured. Stubborn and addicted to work, just like usual.
"Well," began the other man cautiously, "you don't have your cane. Need help?" As much as he always hated asking such a trivial thing, he felt obligated to at least ask nowadays.
"...Actually, it would be better." Allen frowned a little. He didn't like the idea of it, but he didn't have the cane and he likely couldn't walk solidly, either. Allen grasped Gaddes' shoulder after feeling his way up his arm and slid himself off where he rested. The cloak had been lain aside, but it didn't matter much to him. The added weight would be a hindrance.
"Alright." he said, taking hold of the knight's hand tenderly, wary of his friend's injury. Now, Gaddes wasn't too fond of this idea either. The less he had to help his once fully able friend around, the better - the less it would hurt to watch the man struggle so. But being the compassionate person that Gaddes was, it couldn't be helped when it came down to it.