Author's Rambles: This chappie is for Ryu and Ruru! Again. :3 And thank you, Reviewers! I didn't cry. :D No thank you to my computer. ;-;

;Standard disclaimer applies.

Chapter sixteen: Silver, Red and Black

Airies unenthusiastically continued to trudge through thick sand. She hauled her left foot through the almost fluid sand and then proceeded with her right. After several hours of this monotonous routine, she was beginning to get a little bored and wondering why—what with the mass of lost technology that her home contained within its very walls—there wasn't a means of transport other than her own legs.

Before setting out, Airies had had to decide on where her aggressor was most likely to be. She concentrated on from which direction its voice seemed to be coming from, as if tracing the origins of a signal. Albeit not really understanding how she could pinpoint the assailant's location, she determined them to be somewhere Northwest of the ship. The nearest landmark in that direction, however, just happened to be a few thousand iles away.

'Septombre couldn't be any further away, could it?' Airies thought cynically, looking back over her shoulder. The ship had become little more than a gray speck in the sea of sand. Airies was surprised that she could still distinguish it at all. She put her gaze back in front of her. The view wasn't much different from any other direction she could put it in, but she didn't want to accidentally get sidetracked. In less than an hour her slight boredom had become utter tedium. It wasn't so much the walking that bothered her, but the monotony of the journey. Airies could walk for days on end when she tried, but she rather wished the scenery wasn't so dull. Perhaps it would have been okay if there was at least something to look at that wasn't yellow and absolutely everywhere. So, to keep herself from going insane with boredom, she occupied herself by thinking, languidly.

It seemed strange to Airies that a human with no special connection to her had been using some form of telepathy with her, her whole life. Especially since she had never known humans to have that kind of ability. Then again, Knives had never described humans to Airies in any other way than how evil and disgusting and worthless they were.

There were so many things that perplexed Airies about this situation. Like how similar the voice of her would-be attacker seemed. Or rather, how similar they seemed to be to her in general. And, confusing as those dreams had often been, somehow the individual didn't seem hostile, or even aware of Airies.

But then again, Airies considered, maybe she was reading too far into things, or too shallow. There were so many things to consider and something just didn't seem right, no matter what conclusion she came to. She supposed that all would be explained when she returned to Knives with her captive. At least Airies had killed some time mulling over the subject, though it hadn't done her mental state much good.

When she finally put the subject to rest, she noticed that the sand had thickened considerably and her feet only sunk into it a centimeter or two high. Airies smiled to herself, thankful she could finally have some reprieve. She sat herself down atop a dune and took a canteen of water out of her rucksack.

Inside the pack, there wasn't really much in the way of provisions. Since it would only be a two, maybe three at the most, day journey, and Airies, being a half-plant, was partly self-sufficient anyway so there wasn't really a need for a lot of food. There were just a few necessities. Water, needless to say, some rations, a sleeping bag and a stiletto-like knife, just on the off chance that she would need to defend herself.

Knives had explained that he would 'take care' of the city before Airies arrived, but advised that she equip herself just incase. So she did as her father said, as always.

Airies didn't really like weapons, but she liked confrontations even less so found it easiest oblige. She didn't really mind abiding by Knives. Sometimes he would seem unorthodox in his methods, but Airies would just humor him. When it came down to it, he did look after her, even though he wasn't always around. But that could be beneficial to her as well. Not always having a parent around had taught Airies some self-reliance.

This was a good trait to have, she thought, seeing as she was a plant. Knives often iterated how it was best not to trust anyone too much, or how even those closest to you could let you down at critical points in your life. So being self-reliant and sufficient was definitely a good thing, especially when it came to those critical points that Knives had talked about.

Airies still didn't quite understand what he meant by that term, but figured she would in time. This, after all, would be a turning point. Not just for her, but also for the whole planet; the termination of a species, to allow the greater to flourish. The eradication of the spiders so the butterflies could roam free without threat and not have their numbers dwindled away by them like dieing flickers of light.

Though Airies had never had much contact with humans, aside from the dreams, she was decided that they were a disease upon the planet that had to be remedied. They just seemed to be a constant annoyance to her father and Airies figured that once the humans were gone, she and Knives could live on in utter peace; the Eden he so often spoke about.

So Airies was doing her part. She would begin the annihilation. And it would start with the one who so opposed her.

Downing her mouthful of satisfying water, Airies got up and continued on her trek. She went up the rest of the tall sand dune but when she proceeded down the other side, she precariously sunk into thick sand above her knee-level. An audible growl went through her teeth and she waited a moment before attempting to pull herself out of the liquid sand.

Airies grabbed her right thigh and lugged it up out of the sand, leaving her in an awkward position, half in the sand, half not. Next she grabbed her left and tried to pull it out. But with the effort she put into heaving it out, her right leg sunk back into the sand again. Airies groaned angrily out in frustration, standing with her knees prone with the sand and her fists clutched.

'How annoying,' she groused in her mind. She thought for a moment as to how she would get out of this predicament. If she couldn't walk on top of the sand, she weighed slowly, then she would have to walk through it. With some success, Airies swung her left side forward in and exaggerated walking movement then did the same with her right. She did this a couple more times then became unbalanced and fell gracelessly forward onto her face.

Letting out another painfully angry growl, Airies pushed herself up fervently and jerked her leg forward as if trying to knee the sand. Again she fell flat on her face. The tiny granules now stuck to her cheeks and mingled with sweat. Some of them roguishly found their way into her mouth. Airies sat up irritably, spitting them out and wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

Little droplets of sweat slipped down her face as she looked up at the sky. There were come cumuli above her and they were moving steadily away from the twin suns. She grimaced at this and could have screamed the situation was so unfair and frustrating. The sand confining her legs enveloped them in heat it had collected throughout the day while small waves of the heat drifted hazily up and made Airies' whole body weep with sweat. Within minutes, Airies knew she would be exhausted if she didn't do anything.

With all her effort, she desperately tried to thrust through the sand. But her legs wouldn't budge. It was as though there was some invisible tendril woven around her legs and clinging onto them for dear life. And, when she attempted to pull her legs out again, the lock seemed more real since she failed to free herself. And now something solid and very hot was blistering her foot even through her boots.

Tears of pain slightly welling at the sides of her eyes, Airies dug down into the sand and seized up whatever it was scorching her toes. She gasped at the heat emitted by it as it burned her fingers. She flinched her arm out of the sand and quickly dropped the mystery item, cradling her fingers. Reaching into her pack for the water canteen to soothe her burns, Airies suddenly registered that the item was a gun. Or rather, two guns.

Airies examined them with deep interest. They were both of the same make and, though Airies knew only a little about firearms, she knew that they were Colts. One of them was of faded silver and the other a charcoal black. They were both slightly corroded around the edges, the silver one more so than the black, as if they had been buried within the sand for a very long time.

It was understandable, though, that they had lain dormant here for so long because since where Airies was now, wasn't anywhere at all. It was just a wasteland, completely unusable for anything due to the unpredictable density of the sand. It hadn't always been like that, though. Once it had been an untouched plain of bedrock with patches of actual soil that were so fertile there had been a small oasis. No one knew what had happened to make it so uninhabitable. Although no one really knew it had existed.

Pulling out her canteen, Airies sloshed a little water over her swelling fingers and then some over the guns to cool them off. They both gave off small hisses accompanied by feathery clouds of steam that rose up as the water evaporated. Airies tested the metal. She picked up the silver gun and levelled it with her eyes. Scrutinizing it, she ran her fingers along the silver nozzle, over the barrel and the hammer until she was gripping it firmly in her hand, her index placed lightly on the trigger.

It felt odd in her hand, as if it were waiting to be fired. Airies somehow clicked the barrel open and observed the contents. A few bullet shells and some fine sand fell out but there were no shots left. Airies did the same with the second gun but found it had two unfired bullets. She took the pellet-like shots in her hands and felt a relief that they weren't warm in the slightest.

Not really knowing why she wanted to keep them, Airies placed the bullets and the twin guns into her rucksack. Perhaps, she thought, they would come in handy.

'They do kinda look nice…'

Now that the guns were no longer snagging her, she could haul herself up out of the sand. But as she lifted herself out onto firmer ground, something else came with her. A large piece of red cloth appeared coiled around Airies' ankle. The surprises just kept coming. Airies untangled herself from the cloth and drew it out of the sand fully. Unfurling the fabric, she saw it was a red trench coat, though a very unconventional one, seeing as there were no sleeves. It looked as if the previous owner's arm had been ripped off along with the right sleeve, while the left had never existed.

The coat, like the guns, looked as though it had been obscured within the sand for a long period of time. It had collected a lot of sand within its thick textile and was slightly brittle in some places. Airies shook the sand out of it.

'Nice colour…' she thought. Shoving her arm in through the neck of the coat, she found that it was noticeably cooler. Grinning, she quickly threw off her jacket and jeans and then pulled on the scarlet coat. It fitted nicely and, even though it was still a little gritty with sand, Airies found it considerably comfortable. And it insulated her from the vicious heat. How convenient that it had she had just plucked it out of the sand.

Airies smiled benignly to herself. It even looked stylish on her a touch.

She shoved her former attire into her backpack and then strutted off on her way again to Septombre city.

Well, another chapter and I'm wanting chocolate... But reviews will do! XD