Everyone needs saving
Chapter four.
oooooOOOOOXIIIOOOOOooooooo
"Definitely not! That´s out of the question!"
"I think you´re in no position to decide, Light."
The fuming pinkette turns around ready to violently throw an object, any object, towards certain brunette´s head.
"I´m in absolute position to decide! It´s my journey, Fang! You have no right over it!"
Fortunately for said brunette, Lightning´s injures prevent her from making any rash movements, so the shorter woman has to settle in glaring daggers and fuming some more. Much to Fang´s amusement.
"Well, you came here for help, and your doctor told me I had to see you into health, personally." Fang tries to keep her composure, but getting in that beautiful but thick head of Lightning´s, is been always one hell of a challenge. "He said you were myresponsibility, Light. That said, I will definitelyjoin you on the journey."
"Ramón is not my doctor!" Lightning can´t help but throw her arms up in the air out of frustration. "He´s not even a doctor, for Etro´s sake!"
"How can you say such things about the one who saved your life? Shame on you, Light!"
Low blow, even for her, and Fang knows it. But she´s determined to follow the woman wherever she goes. Playing dirty is no problem for the Queen of Bandits, if said queen can get whatever she wants.
Lightning growls, exasperated, and turns her back to her friend, doing her best to force herself to stay as calm as possible. Just one day has passed, or almost, but she already feels regret in all shapes and colors, thinking of the many people she could´ve saved in that wasted day, just too many precious hours spent in her recovery. Though no matter how badly she feels, she can´t deny that those hours of rest had done wonders on her health, even when her strength still doesn´t feel half of what her original powers truly are.
After a moment of silence, Fang tries her once more. "Light, you owe me this, you know you do. You came here for help and we did help you in anyway we could. But we´re not done yet."
"And it´s a debt I´ll never be able to repay." Lightning sighs, her composure regained at her words. "That´s exactly the reason why I don´t want you to come, Fang, you´ve already done so much for me, but you have another place to be in. Someone else who needs you more than I do. I don´t have the right to take that away from you."
Fang sighs too, touched by her friend´s humble words. But she just won´t drop the issue.
"Yes, but you are my responsibility too, I told you. You became my responsibility the moment you pushed Hope aside and ran away on your own, back in Palumpolum. I knew then, in the state of mind you were obviously in, I couldn´t let you go on your own." Eyes ablaze with determination, Fang fixes her stare on azure ones. "Let us say we´re back in the same situation, Sunshine."
Oooohh Fang is playing low, indeed. Lightning cringes at the cherished nickname that always has made her walls plummet. Even though she is the Savior, and part of her feelings were obviously erased, there seems to be things deeply carved into her brain, because she feels the annoying dropping of her determination. Which makes her angrier than before.
"Fine! Do whatever you want!" Lightning bursts out at her friend, and exits the room with a huff, not before retorting over her shoulder. "But if you die, it´ll be all your fault and I´m out of guilt! Got that?"
Fang chuckles at her friend´s tantrum, forcing herself not to do any victory dance. "Loud and clear, Sunshine."
Fuming, Lightning takes her blade and walks out of the ruins, followed closely by Fang; the moment they take a step outside the building, the sunrays raising in the break of dawn bath the Pinkette´s body, enveloping her frame in a gleaming halo that makes Fang stare for a second. Lightning might have changed, but her beauty remains unscathed, and if possible, her hardened features have made her even more beautiful. Blinking, the woman forces herself to recover, praying her irate friend wouldn´t notice her slip.
"Well," Fang reaches the Savior as quickly as possible, trying to avoid any more intrusive thoughts, "I don´t mind taking a walk with the amazing Savior in this beautiful morning, but I think we should wait until the evening, we are many hours away from the station by foot, or should I remind you the sunbath here is quite intense? I don´t think dehydration should be part of your treatment."
Lightning stops at the level of the warping device, and smirks at the woman. "Being the Savior has its ups sometimes. Now hold me tight."
The brunette blinks, surprised at the command. "Eh? Excuse me?" She eyes wearily the glowing red effigy, and raises an eyebrow. "I-I really don´t mind, Light, but there´s no need, remember I´ve traveled with you before, and I know what to do with…"
"I said. Just. Hold me. Tight."
"Emh… ok, if you ask for it…"
With a faint smirk flashing her features, one that the brunette misses, Lightning turns her back towards the taller woman, as if inviting her in, and Fang just complies.
Well… here goes nothing…
With a little bit of shaky hands, Fang envelops the pinkette´s waist, and the moment she does it, she feels a sudden pull that almost rips the slim body from her hands, but Fang holds tighter, and feels the air pulled forcefully out of her lungs. In less than a second, she suddenly falls into the sand, coughing, body sprawled over the still cold grains, and once she´s able to think properly, she finds her arms empty of the beloved form, and a sad moan escapes her lips.
Etro! She didn´t have time to enjoy herself properly!
While Fang tries to reorient her senses, a sudden shadow covers her eyes, protecting her from the intense sun, as a soft chuckle reaches her ears.
"If they could see their beloved Queen of Bandits now…"
Fang looks up and finds Lightning gazing down at her, one hand extended, and she takes it to prop herself up, but not without scoffing a bit.
"That was completely uncalled for. What happened? I´ve traveled with you before and it had never felt that way."
Still chuckling, Lightning guides them towards the train station. "But you´ve never traveled that far, the strength of the magic is a lot bigger than inside the ruins." She turns and eyes the brunette with a playful glare. "That being the reason why I told you to hold tight on me."
But the glare, instead of making the taller woman angry, has the opposite effect. Fang sees beneath it a tinge of flirtation and… naughtiness… never seen coming from the azure eyes before, and that send shivers down her spine.
"Emh… well… it was still uncalled for." She coughs a bit to hide her discomfort, and scolding herself for behaving like a stupid teenager.
"Well, get over it." Lightning just waves her hand in dismissal, as she buys the tickets for the both of them.
"The train leaves in 5 minutes," the train attendant tells them, "it´ll take us 50 minutes to arrive to the Wildlands Station. We´ll first stop at Luxierion´s North Station. Thank you for traveling with us."
"Our pleasure." Fang answers mechanically, not paying real attention to the man, her eyes fixed on her friend´s frame, still bewildered by the pinkette´s actions.
Unbeknownst to the scrutiny she´s under, Lightning reaches the farthest corner of the train, farthest away from the people as possible, and gets comfortable on one stool, while Fang takes the opposite, as she looks at her almost empty surroundings.
"Rather lonely, aren´t we?"
"I don´t want anyone to interrupt us. I´d like to take a nap before we arrive. You should do the same. I can already see bags under your eyes."
"Well earned, since I´ve spent a few nights taking care of you."
This time, Lightning´s glare is more meaningful than playful.
"I know, and I´ve already said thank you just too many times for my taste. How many more are left?"
Fang chuckles, raising her hands in surrender. "Don´t blame me! But if you have to ask, just enough so that you stop pushing me away and accept the idea of me following you on your journey."
"You know what I think of it."
"As you do what I think of it too. So let´s stop this bickering, and go away to embrace your happy place in your dreams. Hope I´m included in them." Fang winks at the woman and places her hands behind her head, closing her eyes and making herself comfortable.
At the last statement, the Savior just forces herself not to roll her eyes least she gets dizzy, as she tries in vain to prevent a blush from staining her cheeks; she follows the Queen of Bandit´s recommendation and crosses her arms and legs, allowing azure eyes to travel into the vastness of the sands, hoping that the monotonous movement of the train would bring some solace to the turmoil growing inside her head. Lightning doesn´t want to accept in front of the fool headed brunette, but her body´s discomfort is returning with a vengeance. She´s been feeling shivers again, as well as the dropping of her energy, and prays to any god who would listen to prevent the smoke from coming out of her breast.
Lightning closes her eyes and immediately regrets it, opening them instantly, as dizziness seizes her. She lets her forehead rest on the cold window, while she waits for the world to stop spinning around, and hopes the movement came out casually enough so that nobody would notice her struggle.
"Lightning." The pinkette is startled by the sound of the bandit´s voice, which seems to be so close, and notices Fang is sitting next to her, looming over her, actually.
When did she move? How come I didn´t notice her?
Angry at her slip, the pinkette pushes the tall woman aside, a little bit flustered by the close proximity.
"You don´t need to be so forceful, Lightbug." The tall woman pouts at the shoving, something that would be funny if it weren´t for the blush threatening to appear on the shorter woman´s face.
"And you don´t need to be so close. What´s the meaning of your intrusion to my space?"
"I think we have company."
Playfulness forgotten, Fang looks intently in front of them, and Lightning follows her sight. Entering the door in the other end of the car, they can see a couple of the Order´s followers, brandishing their weapons and examining every passenger, forcing them to look up at them and show their faces, evidently focusing their inquiry on the young women amongst the passengers.
"They´re looking for us, it seems." Fang´s face gets closer to Lightning´s, as she whispers, without missing one single movement of the men.
"Yes, it seems." The pinkette takes a glance towards the window, forcing herself to ignore the other´s invasive closeness. "And we´re still far from the station and from the ground. Not a chance to jump from here."
Fang takes a glance too and scoffs, eyeing their enemies, whom seem to have already noticed the two women and are walking faster to approach them.
"Then my guess is the party stays in the train."
This time Lightning´s eyes travel from one passenger to the other, concerned about them, but even more concerned about her own possibilities. Previously she had felt her pulse quickening, and cold sweat running down her back, most surely related to the curse. In any normal day, she could easily defeat them without breaking a sweat. But today…
"I´m not sure, Fang. The wagon is full. There are way too many people for my taste. Children among them. I wouldn´t want to risk their security."
"Then what would be your suggestion, Savior?"
"Hey! You!"
The men are halfway through the wagon to reach them. They´re five of them, and Lightning knows that, in spite of the state of her body, it could be easy to defeat them, but not without injuring many of the passengers.
"Right..."
"You there! You´ll have to accompany us!"
"Like hell I will!" Fang gets up but Lightning grabs her by the arm, stands up in front of the woman and pushes her down, pleading with her eyes for the tall bandit to take her seat again and avoid any unnecessary confrontation.
"Please Fang," the Savior whispers, "we have children in here. I don´t want any casualties among them." The pinkette turns around, hands up in a conciliatory gesture, but as she does it, the closest soldier punches her face with the back of his weapon, breaking her lips. The surprise attack takes Lightning off balance and sends her crashing right into Fang´s body, who immediately catches the younger woman and holds her in a protective gesture.
"Damn you! Why would you do that for?" Fang glares at the violent soldier and tries to get up to retaliate, but Lightning uses her position to force Fang against her seat, and azure eyes look intently at emerald ones, pleading her to understand. Fang´s anger boils even further the moment she sees blood dripping from the injured lip, but movement in her peripheral vision claims her attention for a moment. The rest of the passengers are staring at them, some of them standing to get a better view, and at that instant Fang notices the children, boys and girls of different ages, as well as many women. She can see what the Savior is seeing now. Their vulnerability.
But in this world nobody is innocent anymore.
Before the brunette is able to protest, though, Lightning´s head is forcefully taken backwards, as she´s pulled from her hair to force her to stand, and the tip of a knife with intricate carvings is placed menacingly upon her neck.
"Get up, you thief!" the first man, the one holding Lightning captive, threatens Fang, as other two point their weapons at the sitting woman. "We know who you are! Don´t try anything or your girlfriend here will pay the price!"
"You bastard!"
But before Fang can do any more movements, Lightning brings her palm up front, once again asking for the brunette to hold her ground.
"We surrender." Lightning speaks, raising both hands again and straining her voice in order to be heard, in spite of her position. "We don´t want any trouble. Do whatever you want to me, but let her be. I´m the one you´re looking for. I´m the Savior."
Her statement makes the soldiers exchange glances of incredulity and fear, creating a diversion for Fang, who stands up in a flash and, in a movement that takes everyone by surprise, kicks the closest soldier in the hand, disarming him, and is ready for a second strike when the first soldier yells at her.
"Freeze!" his warning is accompanied by the clicking of two more weapons: two soldiers stand beside the first one, pressing one gun barrel at Lightning´s temple, and the barrel of a rifle at the center of her chest, right where her injury is. The pressure seems to be too much, since Fang can see the beloved countenance flinch at the action. The Pulsian native growls in frustration and rage.
"Don´t think I won´t kill her, thief." The man threatens, while his hand pushes the blade harder upon the ivory neck, drawing a trail of blood that effectively reinforces his threat. "I see a single muscle move, and her pretty little head will become the sheath of my knife."
"Bastards…" Fang seethes with fury, but stalls her movements, not wanting to risk her friend´s integrity. Lightning might be the Savior, but three weapons pressed directly at her flesh might be too much, even for her. She meets Lightning´s eyes that seem to be asking of her the same thing than before.
Please Fang. No casualties among civilians.
The tall woman´s rage peaks, but then drops an octave at finally understanding.
She´s not worried at all about her own safety. Is she really that confident? Or she simply doesn´t care what can happen to her? She´s met a suicidal Lightning before, but the eyes in front of her don´t give her the same vibe. Or… is it really because she´s concerned of the people around us? Will she risk her safety to avoid injuring anyone else? She´s truly changed…
"Fine." The tall brunette gives in. "But don´t hurt her anymore."
Unwillingly, she gives away her crimson lance, and the moment her fingers stop touching the weapon, one of the soldiers hit her on the head, making her fall into the seat again. Angered at the action, Lightning struggles against her captors, but grunts at the pain when she feels the blade breaking skin, drawing even more blood that stains her neck and down into her chest.
"Don´t worry, beautiful." The soldier holding her captive, apparently the commander of the patrol, whispers to her ear, and in spite of not being able to see his eyes because of the helmet, the pinkette knows he´s leering at the brunette woman in front of him, and growls at the man, earning a snicker from him. "You´re both going to the same place, together. You just won´t like it."
Rubbing her head, Fang turns to address Lightning, while sending daggers with her eyes towards the soldier.
"Don´t worry about me, Light, I barely felt it. The dude hits like a little girl."
The offended soldier raises his weapon to hit her again, but the commander interferes.
"That´s enough! Let´s take these troublemakers into the next wagon. We´ll tide them up there until we arrive at Luxerion."
"But sir! It´s full of people too!"
"Then they´ll have to make room for us." The commander spats at him, and then barks his orders towards the man next to the exit. "I want it emptied, do you hear me? I don´t want any civilian lurking around."
Lightning and Fang share a discreet look, unnoticed by the men.
The commander releases Lightning from the threatening blade on her neck, in order to organize the rest of the civilians around, but still leaves the two barrels pressed against her skin, as he sends a gesture with his head towards the owners of the weapons. Without any words spoken, the two friends still can understand the obvious meaning.
Lightning moves but an inch, and she´s dead.
The two soldiers enter the wagon, ordering people around, while his three comrades keep their captives in check, forcefully pressing them on the walls of the wagon, each woman on every side of the exit door, one man in front and one on Lightning´s side, with the third soldier in front of the warrior. Though both women are being held at gunpoint, it´s Lightning the one having a gun barrel completely pressed against her temple, and a high caliber rifle forcefully pushed against her chest, while Fang is just being pointed at. The tall woman smirks at the thought.
Is it me, or they are more afraid of the big ugly wolf?
The infamous Queen of Bandits feels offended at her friend having the higher security, but knows, if they were in the opposite situation, she´d act the same way.
I´m loosing my touch here. I really need to break more havoc.
The warrior eyes her friend, looking for an opening, but knows it would be too risky to move. She´s got not even a fraction of a second to spare, at least not without risking Lightning´s life. As she surveys her friend, her eyes can´t but linger upon the bleeding neck, while the people of the wagon start moving around them to make room for the others, guided by the soldiers. The tall brunette knows is not a life threatening wound, but it would still be weakening, especially upon an already strained body, and she needs the Savior on her tops if they are to survive this.
Fang pushes the man´s gun away from her, forcing him to address her.
"If you´re going to hold us that much, the least you could do is treat my friend´s nasty injury."
"Shut up, thief!"
But Fang doesn´t look that fazed at all. "Look at her neck, you dumbhead! She´ll bleed out before we reach the station!"
Lightning rolls her eyes, while she pushes herself further into the wall to let people pass by them. "I´m ok, Fang. I won´t bleed out. You don´t have to worry about me."
"Of course you´re not ok!" The woman retorts angrily to her friend. "Just look at that wound! You already have your blouse all soaked in blood!" Fang has to move a little to let a couple of youngsters pass by her, who are eyeing her rather worriedly, and who flinch at her yells.
"I think you´re overreacting. It´s not the first time I stain this uniform." Lightning pushes herself back against the wall again, as three old ladies pass by her, looking intently at the weapons aimed at her body.
"Well, I´m sorry miss-I-am-stronger-than-anyone, for worrying about you! I should´ve known better than be concerned about your health." The tall warrior can´t help it. She´s already waving and swaying her arms up in the air, her body speaking about her flustered emotions. The man in front of her presses the woman once more against the wall, making her grunt.
"You know how I am, Fang, you´ve always known, why are you so surprised now?" Lightning doesn´t want to rise her voice, but Fang is making it quite hard to tolerate, with the woman´s stupid demands adding to her own discomfort, along with her growing shivers and the bothersome pressure of the weapons on her skin.
"Surprised? I´ve met you suicidal before, Lightning, but this goes way beyond your boundaries!" Fang is yelling now at the top of her lungs, inclining forwards so that her face can get closer to Lightning's, while her eyes bore into azure ones.
"Then you better meet the new me, Fang. I´m sure you´ll be surprised." Lightning speaks menacingly through clenched teeth and, in spite of the painful pressure over her chest, inclines forward too, meeting Fang´s ferocious stare, and making three teenagers to look scared of them, and who are forced to crouch slightly to pass in between the small space the two women have made.
"Yeah? Oh well, I´m already surprised at the stupidity you´re displaying at the moment!" Fang retaliates and gives a step forward, but one arm from the soldier pushes her backwards, though her glaring continues directed at her friend.
"Woah! Ladies! Please step back! I don´t wanna repeat myself."
But the two friends ignore the soldier completely, and they continue their bickering, as if there wasn´t a cramped space there, as if the place wasn´t full of people crowded around them. As if they weren´t being outnumbered and threatened by heavy weaponry.
"My stupidity? Who was the one who let the Clavis out on the first place?" Lightning is now yelling too, so much so that her face is already flushed. The soldiers holding her in place share a bewildered look and shove her towards the wall, but Lightning returns to her original position, determined on screaming her lungs out. "If it wasn´t for your inability to talk Vanille out, we wouldn't be in this position at all!"
Oooh… such a low blow.
Fang is seething with rage now, and forcefully pushes Lightning towards the wall, while the soldier holds her by the arms to return her back towards the wall.
"Stop this nonsense right now!" one of the soldiers pointing at Lightning screams at both of them, but the taller woman keeps retaliating, her voice louder than ever.
"That´s just so pathetic for you to say! You well know how Vanille is! And as if you weren´t to blame too for the snatching of the Clavis! As I recall, you were there too, and I didn´t see you stopping those Secutors from stealing what was already ours!"
Lightning pushes herself forwards again, crushing a young couple against Fang´s body; the couple immediately crouch and try to get away from them as fast as they can.
"Well I´m sorry for not rushing towards them, but I was busy saving your sorry ass!"
"What the hell is going on in here!?" Screams the commander of the patrol, trying to let himself be heard over all the commotion, while he stops a pair of elderly women from walking forwards towards the other wagon. The soldiers next to the two women jump up, startled by his voice. "Didn´t I order you to…?!"
But he doesn´t get to finish his sentence. With a swift movement, Lightning pushes forward the weapon pressing against her temple, barely avoiding the shot, which reaches the commander´s forehead, killing him instantly; at the same time, the woman´s right hand forces the rifle against her chest to the side, avoiding the second shot and killing the man who holds Fang captive; once freed from her captor, said woman skillfully incapacitates the man in front of Lightning with a direct kick to the throat, while the pinkette breaks the throat of the man standing on her left, taking the offending gun from his hand.
Four down. One left to go.
The last man stares at both women with incredulity plastered on his countenance, but reacts quickly, taking one of the elderly women by the arm, and tries to force her to stand up.
"Freeze! Or Ihead before he manages to make the woman stand, before the coward ore, and ly, taking one of the elderly women by the arm, anf t´ll..."
But again, he can´t finish the sentence, since Lightning has read his intentions before, and shots him in the head before he manages to make the woman stand, before the coward uses her as a human shield.
The poor woman crouches once more, holding her head with both hands, while she cries hysterically.
"I´m sorry… I…" Lightning kneels in front of her, and tries to apologize, but the woman cries harder at feeling her touch. The second woman slaps Lightning´s hand away from her wailing comrade.
"Please, just step away from her. You´ve done more than enough." The second woman glares at the pinkette, and Lightning is left speechless. She didn´t want this to happen, but neither of them had any choice.
The Savior hesitates, her mind reeling to find an excuse, a suitable apology, and then feels a warm hand touching her shoulder gently.
"Leave them be, Light. They´re right, we´ve done enough here, and anyways, we need to focus on the train. We can´t let it stop on Luxerion." Fang looks down at her, willing her to understand, and the shorter woman nods.
"Are there any casualties?" The Savior asks as she stands up, swallowing the guilt on her chest.
"Fortunately, everyone was just too scared with all your yelling, so they were already hidden behind the seats when the shooting started." Lightning sends her friend´s way a warning glare, but Fang just smirks at her. "So, aside from these assholes, and a fright for everyone else, no, there were no casualties." The taller woman hesitates. "Well, if you don´t count your brand new injuries."
Lightning raises a delicate eyebrow, and Fang points at her broken lip and neck.
"Oh. This." Lightning touches the injury in her neck, and sees his fingers immediately dampened in blood. Her blood. She raises her eyes the moment she feels Fang´s close proximity, and her heart makes a jump. Fang had ripped a piece of her clothing, and she presses it against the wound, her face hiding completely the inner turmoil created by the very few inches separating her from the pinkette´s lips.
"You shouldn´t let these kind of injuries unattended, Light." Her voice is soft, almost a whisper, which send shiver´s down Lightning´s back at the evident intimacy of the touch. "Even though small, they still take a toll on your strength. And we wouldn´t want that, right?"
Their eyes met, and for a moment Lightning´s breath is caught in her throat.
Fang smiles sadly and winks at her. "Don´t worry, love. When we get to the Wildlands, I´ll make sure a real doctor sees to those wounds, so that we´ll both be ready to face whatever it is we must face."
Her words root Lightning to the spot, but before the pinkette finds words, the brunette turns around, trying her best to appease everyone, as Lightning´s hand appraises the piece of cloth in her hand. The already bloodied cloth, that came from Fang´s garment. The young woman can´t help it as she feels her cheeks burning, a small smile gracing her lips, and then, a sudden thought makes her furrow her brows once again.
I had missed this… warm feeling inside, whenever Fang teases me… but why am I able to feel her, and not the rest of my friends, or even Serah? What is it with Fang, that makes me so on… edge. She looks up, searching for the bandit´s form.
It doesn´t matter if it´s anger, frustration, fear, or even… well… She blushes at the last thought, as she looks down on the hand holding the cloth. It´s as if she, and only she, has the ability to awaken the dormant human side of me…
The thought startles her, and, for the love of Etro, the Savior doesn´t know whether she should feel grateful… or worried.
oooooOOOOOOOXIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo
A/N: I´m sorry for the long, oh-so-long hiatus, but I´ve had so many things happening in my life lately:
1.- I lost my best friend (I still don´t know why… human nature, I guess…) she just suddenly decided I´m not a worthy person.
2.- I struggled with a war amongst very bad and mean people.
3.- I studied my but off to get a promotion at work, and… just blew it (tch…).
But, although there are still some struggles, I REALLY needed to take this out of my system. So I hope you like it, and thank you SO much for staying with me! You´re amazing people!
And happy new year! I really hope you make all your wishes come true!