Disclaimer: I do own Metroid, but all original characters are mine.
Their feet pounded on the hard tile floors. Rista held on to her sister's hand desperately, but her grip was sweaty and slippery.
"Eek!" The smaller fingers fell out of Rista's as she stumbled to fall, but luckily, she caught herself. A round of gun blasts forced Rista to leap out of the way and even farther from the eight year old girl. When she looked back, she was relieved to see that she was shielding herself behind an overthrown table. It was useless to try to reach her. Those strange creatures would kill her the process. Instead, Rista jerked her head towards the stairs. Her sister caught the motion and nodded. She was smart for an eight-year old.
Rista made a mad dash towards the stairs. Her arm reached out to cling on to the railing as if it was her life saver. She fell her knees trying to dodge another blast, and she had no choice but to crawl her way up the steps. She made it to the top when she heard a soft thunk on the stairs. She looked down to see what it was, since it certainly was not another gun blast.
Now Rista, being only ten, was not real knowledgeable in the ways of warfare, but even she had a general idea of what a generade looked like and how it worked. She stumbled on hands and feet out of the way and threw her arms overing her head when it exploded. The floor rumbled and hot, searing flames licked at her, but Rista was relatively unharmed.
A scream brought her thoughts back to her sister. She stood up to seek her out in the ruins of their home. There she stood, facing the stairs, blue eyes filled with fear. In front of her was one of the creatures. She backed up as he approached her. Rista could just imagine what sick sneer he had twisted on his hideous face. This were creatures from the movies Uncle Ream let her watch when she visited him on T08. Now they were about to kill her kid sister in their own home on K2L.
There was hiss, a flash of light, a gut-wrentching scream, and her sister fell over in a pool of blood.
Samus had been searching for Rista for several days, but so far, there had not been any luck. She was frustrated beyond belief, but she did not think she was dead...yet. The forest was filled with an eerie silence, the only sounds being Samus pushing her way through the thick bushes and underbrush. It was a pretty setting, bright, virbrant flowers and plants surrounding her on all sides, but Samus was so distracted that she hardly noticed it.
When the sounds of another person -or thing- running through the trees caught her attention, she froze and looked around with chary. She took ahold of her arm cannon to aim. She was prepared to shoot when a familiar brown haired, blue eyed woman stepped out.
"Put it down Samus," Rista said in a melancholy voice that seemed almost alien to her. "We need to talk."
"Are you ok Rista?" Samus asked. Rista shook head, but she only repeated herself.
"We need to talk. Can you lead us back to the ship?" Samus nodded. She swept her arm cannon to the left.
"That way, you first." She ordered. Rista's showed no emotion as she took a few steps in that direction. She stomped through the bushes, the sound of leaves rustling and twigs cracking echoed in the shadows.
"Really Sammy, I'd thought you'd trust me by now," She mumbled under breath. Samus followed.
"I'm a little suspicious at the moment," She told her. "You're acting strange."
"Good. You should be." Her words stung Samus, who had no reply in store. Once Samus told Rista...once Rista knew who she was... No, Samus shook that thought away. It would be ackward, and Samus did not do well in those situations. When they reached the ship, they entered it unceremoniously and silently. Rista headed straight for the closest seat, plopped down and burried her head in her hands.
"Rista, why did you lie to me?" Samus attempted in a soft voice. Rista peeked through her fingers before shutting her eyes to hide her from the rest of the world. "You are not a Nevaria. Constance Nevaria, daughter of Ream and Teresa, died at the age of five in a auto accident with her real sister, Melissa."
"I wanted to avoid telling you. It would have been ackward." Her muffled excuse did not explain a whole lot.
"Tell me what?" Rista removed her hands and stared Samus straight in the eye. She gulped back her fear and anxiety.
"Me and my sister were named after our great aunts," Rista explained, her blue eyes reflected in Samus' identical ones. "I told you how I had a great aunt Samus? Well, my sister was named Samus too."
"I know...I had to find out the hard way."
"So you know...that?"
"Do you?" Rista nodded. The unsettling quiet clouded them once more. Neither knew what to say, both had torn their gazes away from eachother. The overpowering emotion was too much for even the hard core bounty hunter, and she had to fight to keep it at bay. Rista let a single tear slide down her face as a reminder of the ordeal she went through.
"You dropped the name." Samus finally spoke. The words seemed unsually loud in her ears, even though it was hard to hear them over the beating of her heart.
"Huh?"
"Aran, you dropped the name," Samus repeated. "R-Rista, N-Nevaria, A-Aran. Rista meets her DNA, her own family, her own little sister."
"I didn't even think of that," Rista admitted, brushing the tear off. "You were the smart one."
"Well, as smart as an eight year old can get. Besides, that wasn't what made me realize it." She took out the slip of paper and handed it to Rista. "Here, you dropped this." Rista smiled when she saw it, the picture of her family she smuggled off K2L in her mad escape. Four people stood in the picture.
Eric Aran, with his messy blond locks and bright blue eyes, a merry smile dancing on his face as he swung an arm around his wife.
Miranna Nevaria Aran, plain but beautiful, leaning into her husband's embrace.
Samus, probably only six at this point of time, stood shyly, half hiding behind her mother and tightly grasping her hands.
Then there was Rista. She stood there in the middle, a mischievious grin adorning her childish features. Her stance was proud and confident.
"Do you remember everything?" Rista said, playing with the photo in her hands. She almost did not belive, that she would wake up from this dream at any moment. It seemed impossible, and a part of Rista felt like she was making a fool of herself. Yet, there was a sliver of giddiness inside of her. Samus the bounty hunter was not certainly Samus the little girl, but she did share the same past.
"Well, not everything-"
"Do you remember 'Krissy'?" Rista tried to hide the hopeful smirk she was feeling inside of her. Samus groaned.
"I hated that nickname." She grumbled.
"You hated your own name, so I gave you that one based on your middle name," Rista reminisced. "And you just hated it more. I actually thought it sounded pretty." A devious grin was shot at Samus. "I'm not used to the idea that you're alive, but while I can, I'm going to make good use of it."
"Oh yeah? You think that after more than twenty years, you can revive a sisterly bond?"
"A sisterly bond never dies, dear Krissy, and I am personally going to share all those good times again with you, so you remember. Like the time when you-"
"I know where this is going, and I want you to be quiet." Samus said. Rista rolled her eyes.
"We'll
work on that." She stood up and stretched out her limbs. In all the
excitement, if you could call it that, she had forgotten momentarily
about the tiny explosive implanted inside of her. As she uttered the
next words, it all came back to her. "You still have one question to
answer. How'd you survive K2L?" How would she survive if she was in the same room with Rista when it exploded? "I saw you die, I saw you shot right through your heart."
Samus rolled up her sleeve, the bright scar on her arm standing out.
"Remember when I told you about this?" Rista nodded, the pieces coming together. "It hit my arm, not my chest. I had severe blood loss, and I almost died. Before the Federation reached the colony, a group of Chozo did."
"Chozo? I've only vaguely heard of them." Rista thought back about it. There were indeed more strange, alien ships that had arrived on K2L shortly after the number of Pirates diminished, but she had assumed that they were reinforcements, and she remained in hiding.
"They rescued me and any other wounded." Samus continued, ignoring Rista's comment. "I was the only one to survive, but I had lost so much blood, they had no choice but to give me some of their own. They raised me, taught to be a hunter. That's how I became a bounty hunter." Rista gave a low whistle.
"A bounty hunter, never would have guessed that," She mused. "Always thought you'd become a social worker or something."
"A social worker?" Samus exclaimed, taking full offense to the statement. Rista giggled, which prompted Samus to give a small chuckle. "Really, though, I can't say I would be surprised at you being raised by criminals, only that you insist that you have no part in them. Alright, so how did you escape K2L?"
"I am an excellant actress," Rista declared, sweeping her hair off her shoulder vainly. "I feigned death. I was covered in blood anyways. All I had to do is run, fall and hold still for a few moments before crawling to safety. I had to alternate my spot a few times, taking shelter behind the occasional dumpster, but nothing too bad. I waited until I recognized Fed ships, from the evening news Mom watched. I stowed away, and when they reached the first planet, I ran off. I didn't want to be sent to an orphanage. That's where I met Darryl, my adoptive dad."
"Darryl Strummins?"
"How'd you-"
"I guessed while back. I figured if you were raised by any 'Darryl', it would be the infamous serial killer."
"What can I say, they have a soft spot for adorable little girls." Rista smiled, but it faded as her heart tugged at her mission once more. No, she could not do it, but she had to see Samus as a sister before she died. She would wait until that night and slip out when Samus was sleeping. Then she could spare any harm and protect her like she promised her mother she would.
Little did she know, Bill had other plans.
Authors Note: Surprised? With all the red herrings I left, I knew it would be difficult for you guys to guess it. However, some of you did come close. I shall explain. First of all, MakoAnima, give yourself a pat on the back.You were the closest, in correctly guessing Rista's true identity. Still, you were reluctant. When I started, I had never read a single Metroid fic with a Aran sibling and everytime one of you thought of it, it was a brother. Come on, Samus needs a sidekick, and brothers don't have the same relationship sisters do. As far as family resemblence goes, didn't any of you think it was odd that all three women had blue eyes? Plus all of Samus' flashbacks revolved around her father, with Rista's mostly being her mother. Remember how Rista was taunted by "coincidences"? She knew Samus shared the name with her little sis, she knew they had somewhat the same looks and there were some aspects of character that were the same as well. Plus Colleen had to tell Rista the same thing, but why would it matter if Rista was not her niece as well? There were other clues, but these were the major things jumping out.
I know this is a somewhat contraversial idea, but I hope you all like it. NEED FEEDBACK! REVIEW! IT'S QUICK EASY AND PAINLESS!
