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13. Cissnei

Cissnei ran. She thought she had known running before. She thought 5am training drills with Captain Trepe would be the worst it ever got. She had been so, so wrong. That hadn't been running. That had just been moving her legs and travelling forward. This, right now, keeping scant inches ahead of the wriggling black monsters, air burning in her lungs, every second a fresh gift of continued life that wasn't promised to last any longer – this was running.

Beside her, Reno used what little breath he had to curse, "They're leaving us!"

"Keep going," Cissnei panted, unable to think of anything else they could do. Against her chest, the little girl they'd saved continued to sob quietly. Her childish terror lent new wings to Cissnei's feet. She couldn't let this por kid die just because she was too slow.

They reached the slowly rising ship. Reno launched himself at the extended walkway, crashing into the edge, legs windmilling and arms fighting for purchase. A blue-haired boy at the top of the ramp threw out a hand, reaching uselessly across too much dead space for one of Reno's.

"C'mon! Grab hold!"

"Ngg ... fuck ..." Reno slipped backwards. "Fucking fuck!"

Cissnei pumped her legs, realising in a split second that she could not perform the same trick Reno had with the kid in her arms. She had only moments to make a choice: drop the girl and save herself or ...

"Brace yourself, sweetie," she whispered into her ear.

Big watery blue eyes stared up at her. "What –?"

Cissnei used her own momentum to pivot on one foot, swing the girl around in a tight circle and hurl her up the walkway, through the open hatch with the unerring accuracy that had gained her such acclaim with her long-range weapon teachers. The little girl squealed. From within the ship, a boy with fiery red hair the same shade as Reno's appeared as if called by the noise. He caught the little girl full in the chest, arms instinctively wrapping around her to cushion her impact, and flew backwards out of sight with the impetus.

Cissnei jumped, arms outstretched. Her fingers caught the very edge of the walkway. Bathed in sweat, she slipped and slid, clawing madly for a better grip as the ship climbed high enough that if she fell she would almost certainly break her neck. Her shoulders screamed. She wrenched her whole body upwards, stomach muscles clenching to fold her body nearly in two with effort. She tried to raise her leg to hook a foot and help her up, but that would have meant kicking Reno from his perch.

I'm not going to make it, she thought desperately. This is how I die.

"Fuckfuckfuck!" Reno cursed to her left.

They were rising fast. The force worked against the two teenagers clinging to the ramp.

"Lea, hold my feet!" shouted a voice.

"What!?" screeched another.

"Hold my feet! Quick, before they fall!"

Something thumped against the metal, jarring Cissnei's hold. For one heart-stopping moment she thought she was going to come loose, but then there was someone gripping her wrist and hauling at her other shoulder. Grunting, she summoned one final burst of effort and dragged herself up and over the edge to where the blue-haired boy lay flush against the metal. Beyond him she could see the redhead who had caught the kid gripping his ankles as they both hung precariously out of the doorway. Once he was sure Cissnei all four of Cissnei's limbs were on the ramp, the blue-haired boy transferred his attention to Reno, grabbing for him too.

"Mr. Cid," shrieked a childish voice from within the ship. "Look out!"

The whole crate pitched sideways, the tip of one of the castle's towers clipping its underside in a shower of dislodged tiles and bricks. The ship drunkenly lurched back the other way as the pilot tried to compensate. There was a moment of freefall when Cissnei's whole body left the walkway as it plummeted a few feet beneath her. The other boys with her yelped as theirs did likewise. Then she slammed back down onto the metal with a judder that shook the whole ramp.

She caught a glimpse of Reno's hands scrabbling for a fresh grip, his wide eyes, a shade of frightened that would be forever burned into her brain – and then he was gone. His shocked cry ended abruptly.

"RENO!" she screamed, diving for the spot where he had just been. Something large and heavy tackled her before she could go over the edge too.

"No!" hissed the blue-haired boy, so close to her shoulder his cheek pressed against hers. "It's too late!" She felt him drag on her torso, working his arms underneath to wrap around her like an anchor. "Lea, pull us in!"

"You absolute idiot!" yelled a voice from far away. Or maybe that was just the blood pounding in Cissnei's ears. She kept staring at the spot where she had last seen Reno. It didn't seem real. It couldn't be real. He couldn't be just ... gone.

She landed on the floor of the gummi ship like a pile of useless meat and bones. Several someone's were breathing heavily nearby. The arm around her loosened.

"Get the door!"

The sound of a palm against metal. Something hissed and clanked. The sky vanished. The noise of the engines seemed to get louder, pulsing through her head where it lay against the floor. She felt strong, deceptively slender hands turning her face upwards and feeling at her neck for a pulse. She couldn't move. She was still frozen in that awful moment of her weight hitting the ramp and shaking Reno loose to fall to his death.

Reno …

"I think she's in shock."

"What the hell were you thinking, Isa? You could've been killed!"

"Help me get her into a seat."

"Isa, you're not listening to me!"

"I am, Lea, I'm just choosing not to respond right now." There was an edge to the blue-haired boy's tone. "Can you save the pointless yelling until such time when we're not running for our lives from a horde of monsters?"

"Assuming that's even a possibility, you dingus." Nonetheless, the other speaker ceased shouting. Instead he joined the strong, slender hands in manhandling Cissnei into a chair and belting her in.

Reno …

"Hey." The blue-haired boy crouched in front of her, lifting her chin so she was looking directly at him. "Stay with us, whatever-your-name-is. C'mon, the healer's out cold and none of the rest of us know what to do if you're hurt and not telling us."

Cissnei blinked. Swallowed. Tried to speak. Failed.

"Are you hurt bad?"

She managed to shake her head slowly.

He blew out a breath. "That's good. I'm Isa," he added, like that might help. Or maybe it was just a prompt to get her to stop being a sack of cargo and turn back into a proper human being again. They were in a crisis situation, after all. She was a cadet. Ashe was supposed to be useful in this sort of situation.

Reno …

She opened her mouth. "Cissnei." Her voice came out a hiss of escaping steam from a tank of grief inside her. Reno was gone. Her best friend was gone. How could he be gone? He couldn't be gone. It was impossible for him to be gone. "My name is ... Cissnei."