-1Duo
The sands of the wasteland sparkled with dim moonlight. For some reason, this made Virginia a bit melancholy. Gallows, noting his friend's melancholic mood, quickened his pace and walked up beside her.
"You know, maybe we'll see the path to Noth'ral; the sky is clear enough." He smiled, patting Virginia lightly on the shoulder. Virginia stopped in mid-stride and looked at Gallows with a hint of amusement.
"You really believe that Noth'ral exists?"
Jet, who was several feet ahead of the rest of the group, stopped and looked back with irritation.
"Yeah, after all I've seen, I'd believe anything." replied Gallows to Virginia's question. Jet back peddled with irritation and gave Gallows' arm a light punch.
"Now I wish that I never asked you two to come along! Honestly, you two are so annoying! Clive is off…Wait a moment, where is Clive?" inquire Jet, looking around in confusion.
"I am right here." came a voice from behind a rock formation. "Sorry, call of nature." Clive added with a slight blush.
"Ah, no problem, Clive, we were just worried is all." smiled Virginia as she started to walk again.
"… Really, you all are annoying." grumbled Jet, moving forward again at a quicker pace than the other three Drifters.
"You all are annoying…" mouthed Gallows, rolling his eyes and then glancing at his two companions. "Really, he sure does need some social skills."
Jet looked back and glared at Gallows.
"Speak for yourself, moron." grumbled the silver hair Drifter.
Well fuck you too, buddy…
Virginia, uncomfortable with the silence that followed Jet's sentence, coughed a cute, concise, cough. Jet did not stop, he did, however, slow down when he heard Virginia's cough.
"You know, I really think that Noth'ral could exist. I mean, we all know that the Guardians exist on a separate plane than us, that's why we have to summon them. So, in theory, a city in the sky is not so farfetched." mused Virginia, pushing a strand of hair from her face. Gallows blinked over to his leader and absently scratched the side of his neck.
"You were really into that story, weren't you?" he smiled, dropping his hand down his and popping his neck from side to side.
"Yeah, it is a rather interesting story, Gallows. I can only imagine what kind of things we would find there… I mean, there would be a lifetime of knowledge and memories. Jet can yell at me if he wants, but I believe that memories make up a great deal of the world we know.
"So what makes up the other half that we don't?" mused Gallows to no one in particular. Jet was about to pounce Virginia's sentence when he heard Gallows' wayward question.
"I'm sorry, Gallows, did you say something intelligent just now?" sniffed Jet, tilting his head to the side and giving Gallows an almost brotherly grin. Gallows rubbed his smiling lips and shook his head slowly from side to side.
"No, Jet, that's your imagination. You've got a couple of screws loose. To the scrap heap with you!" bellowed Gallows playfully, slinging his arm dramatically to the side.
Jet grunted, rolled his eyes, and kicked a rock at Gallows, who barely dodged it.
"If anyone is scrap heap material, it's you, Gallows. I, at least, am not a womanizing drunk."
Gallows took in a deep, almost condescending, breath and dropped the subject before it went beyond playful bantering.
Jet, sensing what Gallows felt, also fell silent. The silence lasted all of five minutes. The group had started walking again before Virginia broke the silence with her quiet voice.
"Hey, Jet, did you feel uneasy tonight at all?" inquired Virginia, coming to a stop and hoping that the young android, who was several feet in front of her, would come to a stop as well.
"The only thing I felt was annoyance when you woke me up…" muttered Jet, not missing a step. Gallows quickened his pace, picked up a rock, and threw it as hard as he could at Jet's foot. It didn't miss and Jet nearly tripped over the rock and his own two feet.
"W-what the hell?" spat Jet, straightening himself and stopping to glare back at his companions.
"First off, you should stop being rude. Secondly, this is something that's important to our leader, hence, important to us. Finally, if you want to be an asshole do it on someone else's time. I really have had it up to here with your constant attitude!" sniped Gallows, swinging his arm to his side and glaring down at Jet. Jet growled under his breath and was about to turn around when Gallows reached down for another rock.
"Gallows! Stop acting like a child!" barked Virginia, causing Gallows to drop the rock and give her a puzzled look.
"B-but I…" he started, only to fall silent when Virginia stepped up to him and looked up at him with both respect and frustration.
"I really appreciate you taking up for me, that's really chivalrous of you. But, Gallows, you really have to stop acting out of impulse. One of these days you're going to do something that you can't take back…"
Gallows looked away from his leader and said nothing.
"Gallows?.." asked Virginia after a couple of heated seconds of silence.
"Fine, I'll stop doing what I believe in. That's just great." shrugged Gallows, still looking away from Virginia and at the pale moon. Virginia, at a lost for words, took a couple of steps back and gave him one more confused look before looking back toward Jet.
"You, Jet, need to stop being so rude. Some people actually care about what you say. I guess that really has never occurred to you, has it.?" She asked in a rather flat tone of voice. For once, Jet didn't have a biting retort to that. Instead, he blinked stupidly and then started to walk again. Clive sighed and followed in silence, waiting for the right moment to step in.
"… What's happening to us?" whispered Gallows, starting to shuffle up behind Clive. Virginia, hearing this, started her own troubled walk, not knowing how to respond to that.
"We're just under a lot of stress right now, Gallows, I am sure that things will change once this bounty has been resolved." responded Clive, slowing his pace and matching Gallows' pace, although it was a bit hard. Gallows shrugged and continued to walk, not looking at the sniper nor looking at the people in front of him but, rather, some where beyond both. Virginia had fallen behind Jet but not behind Gallows and Clive, she could hear every word they said. Their words stung her deep and crippled her mind with apprehensions that could not be remedied with kind words.
"It's my fault." sighed Virginia, stopping, causing Gallows and Clive, who were both in ear shot, to stop and walk up to her.
"No, Virginia, it's not your fault and I don't want to hear you say that again." riposted Clive in a very stern voice. Virginia frowned up at him but said nothing. Her eyes, however, gave it all away.
It is my fault and you know it. Said her glimmering, blue, orbs.
"I just can't see how you could say something like that, leader. After all, you're the one holding us together. Right?" he asked, patting on her on the shoulder as comfortingly as he could. Virginia, of course, was not going to give in so easy.
"No, it is my fault. I'm the one that got us into this mess…" She looked forward, a look of determination replacing that of inner turmoil. "And I will get us out of it."
"Get us out of what? We're following you because we believe in you, Virginia, not because we have to. You act as if you're dragging us around by our noses and demanding we stay. Last time I checked, I was here because I… Never mind, I'm going to shut up now before…" Gallows tapered off only to have Jet walk up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, damn near making him jump out of his skin.
"Before you say something stupid? Believe it or not, Gallows, what you just said summed up how I felt. I've never been one with words, you all know that. But, I've felt many things with all of you. I can't say that I love you all, but I can say that I can't imagine life with all of you. Virginia, if you make yourself out to be weak again I'm going to call you an "idiot" and leave. I'm not joking either, I can't stand a weak person…" sulked Jet, pulling a chunk of scarf over his trembling lips.
Why can't I actually say something nice to her? Why? Why must I be such a jerk? I know it in my heart but the words just come out all wrong!..
Virginia's lower lip trembled and then she threw one arm Jet and the other one around Gallows.
"You all… Are so sweet." Clive walked up his embracing comrades and wrapped his arms around them, forming the bond that they all knew they possessed. From the sable sky, a silver patch of moonlight fell from the sky and landed tranquilly at their feet. Virginia, noticing the peculiar patch of light, stepped away from the huddle and looked down at it.
"Huh? What's wrong, did I do something stu-.. Wait a minute, that wasn't there before." observed Gallows, looking down at the pale, moon lit, path. Virginia nodded and plaintively tapped her foot on the lit ground, letting out a cry of surprise when her foot hovered several feet above it, resting on the moon light. Gallows walked up beside her, grabbed her by her shoulders, and backed her away. Virginia looked up at him with both exasperation and confusion.
"I think it's a good idea to let the heaviest person check on this kind of thing." He said simply, letting go of her shoulders and placing his foot where hers used to be. He tilted his head to the side and scooted his foot up a bit on the lit path, it held firm. Taking a deep breath, he put his other foot on the path and slid his leading foot forward, expecting to fall through at any moment. However, that moment never came and the tightness in his chest eased up a bit. He scooted up a couple of more feet and paused yet again, looking down at his teammates who were now a good fifteen feet away.
It surprises me that I covered so much ground. Sometimes it's good being tall. He smiled, now walking confidently upward.
Virginia watched from the ground with a frown on her face. She knew that, if Gallows fell, she couldn't save him.
I'd fail as a leader and a friend.
Clive walked up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry, Virginia, he can take care of himself. You need not worry about him." he whispered into her ear, causing her to smile a bit.
"Yeah, he's a big guy after all."
Which is exactly why I'm worried about him, Gallows, why do you always have to be so… curious?
Once again, a frown crossed her face as she watched Gallows walk up to around the forty-foot mark.
"Man, I knew he was a giant, but he's covering more ground than I expected him to." whistled Jet, not bothering to hide the fact that he was impressed.
Halfway up, Gallows stopped and waved down to his team mates, extracting several relieved and annoyed sighs. He stopped waving and scratched his head, wondering why Virginia and Jet were irritated as well. He was just about to yell down at them to find out when a haunting, lilting, melody reached his ears. He turned his head toward the sky and toward the melody, nearly losing his balance and tumbling off the path. He pin-wheeled his arms in order to regain his balanced, causing Virginia to cry out in alarm. He repurchased his footing and waved back down at his friends sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, I just… "He was just about to yell down the rest of his apology when he heard the song again. It was a song of both joy and immense sorrow. Both a dirge and a reveille rolled into one, sweet, wind filled melody. He looked back up, making sure to establish proper footing before he did so.
If I am to fall, then let me fall with the wind's whistling melody in my ears…
"Hello?" he asked, uncertainty straining his voice as he unconsciously took several more steps forward.
If I am to descend, then let the flames be inviting and warm.
He shuddered and stopped. That didn't sound right. It was then the melody turned into a cacophony of shrills and shrieks.
He covered his ears and took several steps back, looking up at the sky, which had now turned into an inky black and blue vortex.
A hard tugging at his duster and his hair interrupted the rest of his sentence. He uncovered his ears and watched as strands of his hair flew in chunks toward the vortex.
Thinking quickly, he dropped down to his knees and pressed the inside of his arms toward his face, hence covering his ears in the process. He couldn't move out of fear of being thrown from the narrow path.
Rise, my child, and behold the city in the sky.
The wind died down gradually and was replaced the sound of humming and the soft, ever droning, cheep of the crickets below. He slowly rose, dusted his shaking, sweating, hands on his pants, and took in a deep breath.
I don't know what to tell my friends. I don't want them to be in danger but…
The rest of his thought faded as his flesh faded to moonlight and then shattered into the stars.
Fear not, this is but one color of existence… Open your eyes. There's nothing to fear but fear itself.
Virginia shoved off her companion's reaching hands as they tried to stop her from ascending the path Jet huffed in exasperation and followed up close behind her. Clive, gathering his weapon and his equipment, followed them both with fear and worry in his glittering eyes.
I shouldn't be so brash, but… Damn it, if I don't DO something I won't be able to live with myself.
Time seemed to slow down as she sped up the slightly inclined slope, her breath coming in pained, scared, gasps, her heart beating like an angry hornet against her chest.
Half way up…Don't die.
Just as she was about to reach the point of Gallows' disappearance she stopped and looked up in awe. For, above her, lie a city made of clear, unflawed, crystals. A waterfall of gold tumbled down a fountain in the middle of a gilded square. Up above sat a woman with a dove in one hand and a severed head in the other. Virginia blinked and fell back, only to be caught by the young android that had suddenly appeared behind her.
He, too, was startled by what he saw, but he couldn't very well let Virginia fall.
Gallows wouldn't forgive me if I did that, anyway. He thought, not bothering tying to find better words to sum up how he felt.
"Idiot! Where do you get the idea that…" his sentence was truncated when he was touching nothing. Virginia, too, had faded into moonbeams and exploded into the stars. He looked at his hands stupidly as he held them in front of his face.
Everything I touch…
"Jet, are you okay?" came Clive's voice from behind him. Jet nodded, a numb look of fear crossing his face.
"Jet, listen to me, you and I are going to suffer the same fate. Let us hope that we will all meet ag-" his sentence soon flowed to the floating moon specks as their dance reflected in his glasses. Clive smiled sadly and closed his eyes, soon joining his friends in the sea of stars.