I'm BACK! I'm also sorry for the delay. I haven't gotten much computer time lately.
And yes, Fear is still vacationing- but I've gotten a lot typed on chapter 13 today and hopefully it will get updated soon.
Well anyway this chapter is based off 'world so cold' by Mudvayne. the version with the lyrics is on my D.A. account. Go to my profile fo the link.
It had been about two hours since Fliara landed in her estranged, three-walled apartment. It was located on the top corner of a nearly condemned building on the outskirts of town, somewhere between a landfill and cockroach hotel- a place that no one ever came. And if they were so unfortunate as to end up here, they got out as soon as mortally possible. This was rather convenient for Fliara, and was one of the reasons she chose it as her living quarters.
The room had a door on the southern side- but it didn't open properly due to the aged-warped walls and only lead into a room full of discarded and broken furniture. There was a window on the northern side and no wall to the west, which created a cave-like entrance in which Fliara could fly into easily. It gave a good view of the rest of the city- and what would be a marvelous sunset, if it weren't for all the buildings in the way.
The furnishings of the room consisted of an ancient piece of technology- a radiator, which sat huddled between the non-functional door and the eastern wall. It wouldn't be working if not for the generator at the base of the building, and thankfully the primitive technology would serve for warmth during the winter. It had taken Fliara ages to clean out the dust and grime, and get the wiring back to normal. The piece of junk must have been over fifty years old! It belonged in a museum- and Fliara was sure she knew of one downtown that would gladly pay for it in gold. They were crazy about old, twenty-fist century machinery and such. If she wasn't mistaken, Tails had a job there.
Next to the radiator was a couch. Couches seemed to have been the only piece of furniture from Fliara's childhood that hadn't managed to go out of style, second to tables, which now sunk in and out of the floor. It was convenient, from what Fliara had heard, but she had never actually seen one up close before. The couch was old, but not nearly as old as the radiator and still relatively functional. A few springs stuck out here and there and there was very little cushioning- but Fliara had made miracles happen with a roll of duct tape and an abandoned pillow. The dragon had much experience in making the best out of her circumstances, and the couch was her pride and joy, second to the radiator.
Despite the two holes in the ceiling and old- but stable- synthetic wood floor, the place was nice, and relatively warm since the 'wind' generators were almost entirely on the East side of the dome.
Synthetic wood- it had been the latest thing once Fliara turned seventeen. It looked like wood, it felt like wood, it smelled like wood- but it wasn't wood. It wasn't even organic! And it was four times as durable- lasting practically forever and working wonders for the rainforest. It was pricey to make, though. Fliara often imagined that this had been a first-class hotel once. But those days were over. She wondered if the makers of this building had ever thought it would be a treasured home for a criminal in hiding. She chuckled at the prospect. Probably not.
Walking over to the couch, she looked around, debating whether to drop the hedgehog, currently passed out on her shoulder, on the couch or floor. On one hand, it would be rude to drop him on the floor. On the other hand, what did she owe him? And since when was it her duty to be nice to people? Fliara gave up those ambitions when she went into hiding. But still, she found herself plopping the comatose hedgehog onto the couch, flinging her trench coat to the edge of the room, and sitting on the 'wood' of the floor. She reached out, and turned on the radiator, still fascinated that the wiring of the building was still working. It might give out any day now, but for so far it had held, and served Fliara through the toughest- if not synthetic and dome-created- winters.
She leaned against the wall and sighed, looking up to the dark-colored ceiling. She wondered why the former residence had painted it black. It had never been a highly praised color, in clothing or interior decorating, since before Fliara could remember. It was now a dull gray, with paint chipping and peeling, a single, non-functional light sticking from the center of the room. She tilted her head, letting her imagination make humorous shapes out of the chipping paint.
But something was still bugging her. Why did she save... what had he called himself? Yang? Fliara was still warming up to the name. It tasted odd in her mouth and was difficult to comfortably wrap her mind around.
But why? Fliara had always wanted to be a hero, but those days were over. This was her life now. What, had she thought that this would change anything? And why did she bring him back here?
...It would have been rude to leave him, but when did Fliara start caring about this strange, oddly emotional fellow? She fiddled with a pocket buckle on her trench coat. Well, If she hadn't taken him here, he probably would have gone straight to the authorities.
Fliara scoffed to herself. And tell them what? 'She went that way?' Please, that alone would never let them find her. The worst he could have done, if she had left him there, was fire at her and miss while she was flying off. So why had she taken him here? Now he knew where she lived, and now he was a threat. She should have flown off when she got the chance. Besides, he probably would have just jumped again.
The dragon stood up and walked from the comfort of the radiator to the edge of the cave-like room, staring out at the faintly glowing city- the sky dotted with the miscellaneous hover-craft, airborne radio towers and dome-generated stars. From here, on the outer edge of the city, she could just barely detect the curve of the dome- how the displays on the side were just slightly stretched and warped.
The city was- from the outside- a seemingly glorious place. All of Mobius knew it's name, knew of the giant, protective dome surrounding it, the amazing technology within it, made by none other than Tails, who was still working to this very day. But Fliara knew what he city was really like- like every other city- just bigger, smellier, and louder. Again her thoughts turned to Tails. Ah, Tails. How old was he, now? Fliara didn't remember, but all she knew was that the little fox was apparently too eccentric to retire- he was now working on a cure for diabetes, on top of three other projects which no sane man his age would attempt. Fliara sighed. Even after Tails had turned on her- she still loved the little guy. He had been one of her best friends before all of this happened.
The dragon shook her head vigorously. She should stop thinking about her brief childhood- sure, it had been the greatest time of her life, but it was over. And Fliara was not so sure how much longer she could keep up with this 'in hiding' thing. She was sick of the dome. She wanted to see the real sun. She forgot what it had even looked like. The only time she could be out was at night- come to think about it, she hadn't seen any sun- synthetic or no- for over 40 years. She sighed. She might as well go outside during the day. Someday, they would catch her anyway. Fliara had just barely escaped the cruel possibility that it would have been today. And she was only pushing her limits by bringing him here.
She groaned and sat down, still glaring at the serene but accursed silhouette of the city against the stars. What was wrong with her? Maybe all of this running and stealing was getting to her. She wished she still had a little left of that positive, optimistic person she was so long ago. But she was tired of all this, and was due for a change. Maybe that's why she risked taking in Yang- she was dying for some sort of distraction from her little pit of morbid reality. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back, exhausted.
The dragon was about ready to fall asleep, when a sharp cry awoke her. Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly turned around to see- ...Fliara again tossed the word around- Yang sitting upright and glancing, alarmed, around the dark room.
It was still dark, but light enough to tell that he was panicked. He didn't know where he was, how he got there, or how he was going to get out. Fliara remembered that feeling. It had happened one too many times- when she had almost been caught.
Finally the hedgehog caught sight of her, and glared, his hand flying to the pocket on his cloak- and was alarmed to find his gun missing. It was then that Yang apparently remembered all that had happened- jumping, the battle, meeting her- and once again broke into a few sharp, chocked sobs and collapsed onto the couch. Fliara, startled, flinched back. She wasn't used to people being so emotional. She was used to people glaring, yelling, shoving, like they did on the dusk-dimmed city streets and like the hard-faced, broad shouldered cops that patrolled the alleyways and blvds.
And yet here he was; a weepy black hedgehog who, in one action, had disproved everything Fliara had known or seen about people since she was sixteen. She rolled her eyes for thinking like that, and hit herself in the head. She should cut the philosophy. She had spent twelve years trying to read or write something that would get her out of this mess- and all it had caused was more trouble than she had to begin with. But maybe that was her fault.
Another loud wail caught Fliara's attention, and she decided she couldn't put up with it anymore. Nervous, but intentful, she roughly tapped Yang on the shoulder, persisting to do so until he finally lifted his tear-stained face from the arm of the couch. Fliara frowned.
"Look at you. You're a mess! ...What in the world gives you the right to be so angsty!" The dragon protested, walking over to the radiator and turning it down a notch. Daylight would be soon, and then she wouldn't need it as much. The hedgehog again looked around uncertainly, then sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"W-where am I? Where did you take me?" He spat, trying to sound tough. Fliara tried to stifle a laugh. Of course she still couldn't see him very well due to the darkened sky, but she could tell that his appearance would not be anywhere near the 'tough' tone he was trying to make.
"Where? That's a good question." She scoffed, walking again over to the edge of the room. She turned around, holding her arms out for effect as she announced; "Welcome to my humble abode!" All the while emphasizing a Transylvanian accent. Yang stared at her oddly.
"W-what's that supposed to mean?"
Fliara sighed, and let her shoulders droop.
"Old Dracula movies. They were before your time." She stated, turning around and sitting in front of the exit. "Assuming you aren't a hundred and twelve years old." The hedgehog moved away from her, standing up and trying to open the door to his right. As expected, it didn't move before hitting the warped ceiling and floor of the next room over, not to mention being blocked by the small mountain of broken furniture. At seeing it would not move- he jumped back from the door as if it had bit him, and immediately ran toward the window, looking out and seeing how high he was off the ground. He looked panicked at first, when he turned to Fliara, glaring.
"Who do you think you are! Y-you can't hold me prisoner!" He accused, again reaching for his gun- it must have been a force of habit- but finding it was not there. He cursed silently to himself, and backed away slowly into the deeper shadows of the night-fallen room. Fliara tilted her head to the side, confused.
"...You're free to go whenever you please." She joked, pointing to the edge of the room-, which lead to a six-story drop onto an old and decrepit sidewalk. Yang glared.
"Very funny." He stammered. His voice still slightly chocked by the tears he had recently shed. The hedgehog backed away, slightly jittery. "Let me go!" He demanded. Fliara scoffed,
"Go ahead, I'm not kidding. Why not, after all you seemed to enjoy jumping off buildings a few hours ago." She commented, shaking her head for emphasis. The hedgehog stumbled- at a loss for words, until his gaze hardened and he quickly replied:
"That's none of your business!" He shouted, quite angry. "Now tell me how to get out of this buildi-"
"Or what? You'll start crying again?" She scoffed, immediately wishing she hadn't said it when she was met with an irate glare. She was still sick- if she tried to fight him now, she would lose. Fortunately, Yang did not look like he was about to attack her, although the dragon was quite sure he was considering it.
"...If you're so annoyed with me, you should have just let me fall." He snapped, sinking to the ground. "...I should have fallen. I deserve to fall... " he murmured, his voice trailing off. The dragon again was confused. She shook her head, her lengthy bangs falling neatly to frame her face.
"Oh come on. You couldn't have really done anything that horrible." She scoffed. The black-furred hedgehog stared at her for a moment, his expression verifying that he was indeed serious. Fliara's sarcastic tone was immediately dropped, and she returned to fiddling with a splinter on her foot.
"...Why did you bring me here?" The hedgehog questioned. Fliara froze, and swore under her breath. She herself didn't have an answer for that. So what could she say? Looking nervously around the room as if it would reveal some solution, she built up a false demeanor and quickly uttered:
"...Well I couldn't very well of let you go to the authorities or something." She snapped, trying to sound confident. Yang raised an eyebrow, easily seeing through her front of clarity. A smug, partially arrogant grin formed on his face, and he shook his head, stating:
"You don't know, do you?"
At first Fliara was annoyed with that response- but shook it off and decided to be smug right back.
"That's the first time you've smiled since I met you. What's with you, kid?" She asked, reaching into her pocket for the second peach. As she took it out and began to play with it in her claws, Yang noticed and his eyes grew wide at the sight of the fruit. It took a moment for Fliara to notice. Actually, it was only when she was about to take a bite that she noticed how he was staring at the peach. She lowered her hand, and starred at him oddly. "What? ...Are you hungry or something?" She asked, uncomfortable with the subject. Yang quickly looked back up at her, a little startled, but soon averted his gaze and glared into space. Fliara shifted her weight, shrugging and considering whether or not to eat the peach.
She could tell he was hungry. It was all in the eyes. Fliara had learned to spot the gaze of hunger a long time ago. But what she couldn't figure out is why one of the media-governed middle-class would be hungry. They had jobs. They could eat. They wouldn't be locked up in jail for showing their face. What reason did he have to be hungry? If he hadn't eaten due to his own self-pity and angst, then that was his fault, and his responsibility, not Fliara's. And besides- she was hungry too. It wasn't her job to make people happy. At least not anymore.
But at the same time she felt compelled to hand the fruit over to him. She felt like kicking herself for being so philosophical, but it did make some sense...
When five minutes had gone by and no words had been exchanged, Fliara decided to break the silence.
"So... why are you hungry?" She asked. Yang, again startled, nearly jumped at her voice, but soon settled down and glared.
"Because I didn't eat. What are you, stupid?" He growled. Fliara glared.
"Well then why didn't you eat?" She argued; nestling against the wall she was sitting by. "You're one of the people- in that city. With a home, and friends, and a job... " she listed, still turning the peach around in her hands, laughing to herself as she caught Yang staring at it again. The hedgehog's eyes watered at her previous sentence, and he looked away.
"...It's not that simple..." He muttered, looking out towards the silhouetted city, aglow with lights from the houses and buildings. Fliara again scoffed.
"How simple does it have to be? ...I'd give anything just to be able to go into a store and actually buy some food for once." She scolded, tossing the peach with one hand. "You think I like stealing? Well I don't, bud. I'd give anything just to be in your shoes for a day." She laughed. Yang's eyes widened at the subject, and he shifted uncomfortably beneath his dark, woolen cloak.
"...Trust me, you wouldn't want to be me." He said, looking to the ground. Fliara chuckled again.
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad. Not compared to what I've been through." She said. "After all, you have a home- a real home, not a dump like this. And friends. And a Family." She murmured. "I used to have those once. But then... something went wrong. An... accident. and now..." Fliara held her arms up , gesturing to the rest of the room. "here I am." She let her arm fall to her side, and sighed heavily. "So... what's your family like?" She asked. yang looked up at her, shocked, and for a long time no one said anything. Fliara moved around slightly, awaiting his response. Finally Yang opened his mouth, as if to say something, but he immediately burst into tears again. Fliara mumped to her feet, surprised. She again swore under her breath. Was it something she said? Was his family that bad? She walked in hurried circles, burying her face in her hands and giving a moan of exasperation. What was she to do?
...She tried to think of it in a reasonable way to view this problem. If she was yang, what would she want herself to do? Judging that herself referred to her, and not Yang, that is. Well, if Fliara's memory served her right, a pat on the back and a kind word were usually sufficient to cheer one up. But, the hedgehog might take it a a form of attack and judo-chop her in the face. But it was all the dragon had.
Nervously, she sank to her knees next to the weeping hedgehog, and nervously draped an arm over his shoulder, patting him on the back. the hedgehog flinched away as if struck, but quieted down considerably, and soon began to relax. Fliara, still unsure of what she was doing, carefully and briefly rubbed the fur on his arm before pulling away and looking him in the eye. she sat down, and shifted into a comfortable position, awaiting for Yang's sniffles to come to a close. The hedgehog futilely tried to wipe away his tears and partially runny nose, to no avail. Fliara chuckled, and rummaged through her pocket for a napkin (DON'T ask me why she has one! I don't know!) and handed it to the emotional spiky rodent, who wordlessly accepted.
"...You don't get along with your family, much, huh?" She asked. Yang shook his head, and noisily blew his nose into the napkin.
"No, it's not like that.. I... I don't have a family. Never did" He replied. Fliara looked surprised.
"No family? Even I had a family once. My brother, Knuckles." She commented. "...But you've never had one?"
He again shrugged solemnly, still wiping away his tears with the napkin. Fliara starred at him oddly.
"..so your an orphan?" She asked. Shortly afterward the dragon sighed, and clacked her claws noisily against the wood. "That's it? You're an orphan? That's why you jumped? Jesse! How messed up are you, kid?" she folded her arms stubbornly. "I thought you were some drug-addict who killed his best friend or something but wow, you ARE a freak, aren't you, bud?"
Yang, absolutely shocked and wordless, started at her as if she had just taken a sick, insulting metaphor and given it super powers. Fliara's eyes widened in surprise, and it took the dragon a moment to compute his shock.
"What? Is there something on my face?" She asked, clueless as to why he was staring at her like that.
Yang once again burst into sobs, and Fliara moaned in exasperation.
"Not again! Listen, you have to stop doing that!" She shouted, obviously annoyed. The hedgehog emitted a few more sniffles of misery, but eventually stabilized, glaring at Fliara. The dragon shrugged innocently.
"Fine then, if you didn't jump because you were an orphan, why did you jump?" She asked. Yang didn't answer. She playfully gave him a shove. "Come on- if you tell me, I'll tell you about-"
"I'm a monster." He muttered, specks of tears still caught on his cheeks. Fliara was silenced by this sudden outburst, and she grew quiet, patiently listening. "Ever since I took my first damned breath..." His voice quavered and threatened to once again break into sobs. The dragon panicked, looking for some way to cheer him up. He appeared to be better when he was talking, so she tried to provoke conversation.
"Hey- you're not a monster! Monsters go around shooting people in their sleep, not jumping off buildings in self-loathing." She suggested, gently picking at the subject. Yang shook his head, and took a few sniffles of sorrow. Fliara carefully stifled a groan. She was uncomfortable when people got this emotional. Especially around guys... now maybe a fifty year old woman she could understand but from what she'd seen so far, Yang was not a fifty year old woman. But then again with the plastic surgery now a days you could look like almost anyone.
"B-but I have hurt people... e-ever since the first day of my life- I... all I've done... " he trailed off. Fliara was relieved to find the chocked sobs had left his voice.
"...So, you've hurt people- everyone hurts people at some time in their life. I hurt people... I didn't want to, but I had to..." Fliara said, trying to help, remembering the man she stole the $20 from and the teenager working at the pharmacy...
"N-no. The people I hurt weren't fine... you don't understand. I... I've always... " A shudder went through the hedgehog's body, and a silence swept through the room, broken solely by the hum of the radiator and the distant sound of a cranked boom box from somewhere amongst the slums of Station Square. Fliara didn't dare interrupt him, especially as she saw he was about to say something- probably something important. "...Ever since I can remember.. I've had this... this... thing, I... I enjoy suffering... I-I wanted to suffer- I wanted to bleed, to shiver in cold-"
"That's not so bad." Fliara stated. "So you're a little angsty, that's okay! Heck, I think I was kind of like you at one time-"
"You don't have any idea what it's like!" He shouted, standing up and backing away. "Y-you don't have any idea!"
Fliara sprang to her feet as well, careful not to push him into anything rash.
"Hey, it's okay... " She muttered, trying to figure something out. "Hey, I'm sorry, okay?" The dragon held up her hands, the universal sign for 'don't shoot' or 'hey-I'm not going to kill you' or 'spare me! eat nick! he's tastier than me, no doubt!' She shook her head, unable to relate to the hedgehog's reason. "So why do you think that means you have to die?" She paused, and thought over it. " ..something bad happened, didn't it?"
"H-how do you know?" He stammered, wiping away the still lingering remains of the tears mentioned in paragraph thirty-something. Fliara's eyes widened.
"I don't know. I guessed. Besides... something bad happened to me, and..." She held up her hands. "I'm not exactly in Buckingham palace, am I?"
"W-what? Where's that?"
Fliara sighed.
"Oh yeah, I forgot... they tore that down for a super mall after they built the new one, didn't they?" she said, scratching the back of her head. The hedgehog glared.
"..I...I shouldn't be here. You should have let me fall. I shouldn't have to do this anymore!" yang barked, again stepping away from Fliara. The dragon, fed up with his self-pity, tried a different approach.
"Oh just stop it! Look at yourself, blubbering like some drunken fool! So you have this weird emotional quirk- big deal! That doesn't mean you have to die!" She snapped. Yang was taken back- his eyes widened in surprise and he let his guard down slightly.
"All my friends are dead! And it's my fault..." He blurted, cramming a fair majority of the words into a single second, two seconds tops. The dragon froze, and once again silence spread through the room.
"I- ...so that's why?" She asked, looking towards the city. "You... they're all dead?" she asked. No wonder he had been so upset. Fliara could only imagine the guilt, the conscious of being responsible for the death of her friends... the death of anyone would be to much for the dragon to bear- if she let a single person die then that would mean that Sonic was right- that she was a murderer, that she would never be a hero...
Suddenly it hit her. That was why she rescued him! That was why she risked everything she had- as little as that was- to save him! That's why she had been such an idiot! She smacked herself in the forehead. Even now, when she had nothing to gain for it, she struggled to prove her arch enemy wrong- it didn't even matter any more! The safety of those who had voted her into exile were no longer of her concern! And yet, here she was...
"...I'm sorry." She muttered."I ...I didn't know. I understand, why you jumped." She let her hand fall from her face. "I haven't had friends in a long time, but from what I remember they're pretty special.." her voice grew soft and became gentle with the words as memories of summer days spent with Tails, Big and Espio flooded back to her... She cursed slightly for torturing herself like this. "...how did they die? Was it really your fault?" She asked, curious. "If you don't want to say- it's okay, but.."
"Th-they were after me, and, my friends tried to save me, and... " Yang brushed away a stray tear, obviously kicking himself for getting all emotional. Fliara tilted her head to the side, as something struck her.
She had heard someone spit the word them with an equal amount of venom before. Herself!
"The government is after you?"
"Not the government, per say... G.U.N." he trailed off, as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth.
"G.U.N.?" Fliara scoffed. "Please- those people are history. Ever since their last under-cover mission- the one with the explosion- they-"
"I was in the one with the explosion! That's where my friends... " He again could not push himself to finish the sentence. Fliara metaphorically beat herself up for being so insensitive.
"I'm... I'm sorry. Really, I- ...I'm sorry your friends are dead. I'm sorry you think it was your fault. Listen, G.U.N. killed your friends, not you... G.U.N. is gone now, they can do no more... their leaders are charged for more crimes than I am- they're destroyed. Shadow would be happy to hear that..." She murmured, remembering the hedgehog's suicide a few decades ago. "...so why do you think that means you have to die?"
"..because... I'm- I was... I still am... I'm an experiment- darkness, it's.. it's built into me. My friends will always hurt because of me... I'll always be a monster, I'll always hurt people. It's just how I was made... "
"Oh don't be a moron!" She snapped. "Come on, you're okay... you didn't kill your friends. You didn't choose the life handed to you. You did not pull the trigger. They died for you because they wanted to. Because they wanted you to live. Because they wanted you to be happy. I've never heard of someone wanting a monster to be happy. I've never heard of someone loving a monster." She continued, unsure where the words were coming from, getting teary-eyed herself as memories of her friends cam back to her. "So you can't be a monster, Yang. If they wanted you to live, then you should live. Respect that. You owe them that much." She blurted, immediately surprised at herself. Where did all that come from? Where in the nine hells had any of that come from? Yang was shocked, himself. Fliara felt like someone else had put the words in her mouth, and she began to pull some sense from them in her state of shock...
"...You're... there's some sense in that.." Yang admitted. He sighed. "...but I enjoyed pulling the trigger on my enemies. No one should enjoy that..."
Fliara felt another rant coming along, and braced herself for whatever she would spit out this time.
"Well maybe you're right there- but that's not so bad! After all- they did horrible things to you, Yang! You have every right to be mad at them! You have every right to wish pain upon them! At least you're not turning your emotions away so they build up to the point where you do something rash! It's just human-... err, hedgehog... dragon.. -natural-" Fliara sighed at finding the right word. "To be angry at those who have done you harm. It's not that bad, Yang, it's not so horrible that you have to die... "
"..I enjoyed sending them to their deaths- I'm sure not even half of them knew who they were fighting... "
"Yang, just stop it! Were you really given a choice at that moment? I don't like killing any more than the next guy- heck, I can't kill people, Yang, I just can't- but it's just a built in error, everyone has them. My errors drove me to where I am today. My errors nearly made me miserable for my entire life. Just accept that you aren't perfect! Just like everybody else!" Fliara took a deep breath as her vocal chords once again began to listen to her, shocked that she had made two philosophical, uncontrolled outbursts in one day. Yang seemed sobered by the speech- and his shoulders drooped in exhaustion. He sighed, and at first Fliara thought he was going to say something, but- to Fliara' s surprise- he collapsed, right onto the floor. The dragon stood there, staring down at him, before sadly shaking her head. The guy was still exhausted from lack of sleep, stress and the collective shock of today's events. Actually, Fliara was getting pretty tired herself. It would be dawn soon- her bed time. She picked up the hedgehog and plopped him on the couch, picking up her trench coat and buckling it around her. She then sat over by the radiator, curling up to sleep. She sat there for a few moments, unsure what was bothering her- when she remembered and quickly grabbed the peach from her pocket, placing it in front of the quietly sleeping hedgehog so he could have it when he woke up. The dragon wasn't that hungry anyway. She then sat back down.
Fliara had many thoughts in her head- about Yang, about her past, about all the strange things that had happened in the past twelve hours. She had never willingly spoken to someone in more than eighty years. She had just had a rather personal discussion with a complete stranger. She had vowed to stop being so gung-ho. She had just saved someone's life. She had vowed herself not to get involved in anything crazy. And here she was. Life has it's quirks, doesn't it? She tried to relax, and waited to the sun to rise. She could see a few tiny rays from the window. Yawning, she rested her head against the arm of the couch (she was sitting next to it) and let her sore lungs and muscles relax. It would be a long night. Day. Whatever.
Well, that's it for now, folks! In chapter four- Yang rediscovers the desire to live (atleast for three more chapters) and decides to help Fliara with her 'dome-covered-city' problem. New character next chapter- this one's mine. I'm pretty sure he's going to die, though.