Well, this took a painfully long time- longer than I had hoped, for sure. This was supposed to be up last week. But after a very busy three weeks and way too many late nights tampering with this, here it is.
Please shoot me.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
Looking back on the moment in hindsight, Lucca would laugh at how the mountain slope she was currently scaling seemed like absolutely nothing. The thorns, the ice, the blood, the horrendous pounding in her chest- absolutely nothing slowed her. None of it even made her flinch, let alone miss a step.
"Lucca-"
Of course, that was mostly due to the quantity of adrenaline pumping violently through her veins, numbing any and all possible sensation with each resolute step. Her fingers had turned an angry color of red and grown numb, and she didn't even want to imagine what color her toes were at this point- she couldn't feel them, anyway. All she could feel was the cold air rushing from her lips and into her lungs, the pounding of her heart and that incisively endless ticking coming from her backpack. Inside, the Chrono Trigger rolled back and forth, wrapped protectively in the extra green bandana.
Tick, tick, tick.
Beyond herself, the world was all but lost. Beyond the imaginary path in the snow she had marked out, there was nothing; nothing beyond reaching that single goal.
She would make it to the top.
"Lucza-"
Behind her, she could hear Robo chiding something or other, but she did not turn. The top was nearly in sight. She could make out the shadowy silhouette of a solitary tree if she squinted, a tree that had no realistic chance of growing in such a place; nothing survived this far up a winterous mountain. But it was the peak of the mountain, no doubt. Briefly remembering how she had looked up at the seemingly impossible task at base of the mountain, she managed to laugh somehow.
She had just climbed a whole mountain in a single day. If this weren't enough to bring Crono back, then-
"Luccza!" Robo had managed to catch up to her wild rampage, enough for the sparks rolling out from underneath his wheels, sputtering and snapping in the snow around her, to briefly seize her attention. Not now, she thought. Not with the goal so close in sight.
Was it just her, or was it getting harder to see?
"If you continue at this rate, you will nooooooOOOot make it b-bback down," the robot tried, faltering severely. His voice sounded like an emergency evacuation sequence, which did little to help the tension she already felt.
Tick, tick, tick.
"N-No," she managed. That was all she managed.
Unsure of what exactly that applied to, Robo tried again. "YouYOUYOUOYOU will fail if you continue with this method."
Her method didn't cease.
"SLOW DOWN!" he finally commanded in a blaring warning, which startled her enough to make her stumble out of her forward haul and fall flat on her face. Breathing deeply of the cold and startled shock, it took her a few seconds to realize what had happened.
"No," insisted the scientist, struggling to find the energy to get up now that she was downed. Her limbs suddenly felt like noodles. The deep breaths were visible clouds of steam rolling along her cheeks, further cracking her already parched lips. Lolling her head back in what was meant to be a steadying breath, she looked across the darkening snow and finally seemed to notice that it was getting dark. That didn't seem right...
Robo seemed to notice it too, despite his current malfunctioning. He watched the ominous movements in the sky, then turned back to his fallen comrade. "The ssssszzun is vanishing."
"H-what?" A twinge of panic raced through her blood giving her the needed adrenaline to get back to her feet. The sky was darkening, the clouds were rolling in and worst of all, the Chrono Trigger was speeding up. She could feel the steady ticks pulsing softly through the backpack.
With sheer desperation as her motivation, Lucca pushed herself through the deepening snow, proceeded to stumble around, and then make the worst possible decision; she ran.
It looked (and probably felt) more like an interpretive dance depicting melting rubber, but she ran anyway. She fell flat on her face almost immediately and pushed herself back up with unmatched sloppiness, and then fell again. Somehow, she knew that she needed to get that egg to the top of the mountain, and she needed to do it now.
Upon taking this strange scenario in, Robo's sizzling memory banks pulled up words such as insane, uncultivated and drunk, but he knew that Lucca was none of these- though perhaps uncultivated was a little closer. Despite the snow melting in his cavity, Robo began to spin the back tires into the snow, working up traction till he could build speed and take up off after her, sparks and all. He caught her by surprise for the second time that day, taking her wilting form into his metal limbs and speeding through the snow at top speeds.
"Hn?" she managed to mutter. Cold metal pressed against her cheek and she shivered.
"Y-Yyyyyou-y," Robo began, but stopped when he realized that any attempt at speaking produced a violent hiccup of zapps and shocks that we're near enough to singe the half-conscious scientist in his arms. Of course at this rate they were there no matter what he did, but speaking made it much worse. The spastic zapping and random, unintelligible and unintended vocal errors were the only thing keeping her alert, for they went on silence until Robo had reached the top of the mountain and quickly set her down. Pulling the shrunken clone out of his metallic compartment, he set it down beneath the dead tree and rolled back towards her slumping form.
"Th-hank you."
Robo nodded, backing away to keep from harming her.
Having had a second to gain her breath, she swung her bag gently onto her back, turned on her heels and moved sluggishly towards the single, barren tree. Despite her own exhaustion, she could still sense the lifeless silence hanging in the air. It made her feel uneasy. Weren't they on the top of a mountain? Where was savage wind, or the altitude sickness? And the light? It almost looked as though the sun were dying…
She squinted beyond the single, dead tree and to her surprise, found that a natural phenomenon was unfolding before her eyes. The blaring white sun, which was unnaturally large, was slowly disappearing behind the shadow of the moon. Its disappearance was gradually painting the small, snow covered plain of Death Peak with an eerie crimson shadow that reduced her courage to a pulsing mess in her chest.
A pounding at her back snapped her attention back to the situation at hand, and she fumbled to take the pulsing Chrono Trigger from it. The smooth, tanned egg emerged from the fabric of her bag, and there was a moment of hesitancy in what exactly to do next. Her usually crystal clear cerulean eyes were clouded by that terrible, terrible red shadow; it crept into her mind, dousing her thoughts in confusion and fear. What was she supposed to do? Did she have say something? Do something to the egg? Crack it open and toss it with salt and pepper? She had no real knowledge of this thing, and no time to try to figure it out; the sun was disappearing now and so was her opportunity. Although she hated to admit it, she had absolutely no idea what to do.
In that terrible moment, panic layered over panic, and doubt reared its ugly head.
No, she suddenly reminded herself. She could do it… whatever it was.
Remembering the clone behind her, she took her eyes from that awful eclipse and turned towards the Chrono clone. She ran over to it and grabbed it, bringing it back with her as she inched closer and closer towards the ledge of the peak, clutching the Chrono Trigger to her chest all the while. The closer she came to the ledge, the heavier that demonic, red shadow weighed on her.
Tick tick tick tick.
To this day, Lucca would never fully understand why she did what she did then.
Ticktickticktick.
Perhaps she only did what one does when they have run out of their own strength, or perhaps she truly had an abrupt moment of faith. Either way, she could hardly recall it properly when she looked back. It had seemed to be more of a dream than a conscious cry- a dream which she had little control over. In that moment, half blind and desperate, she did what she had only once dared to do; she cried out to a higher power.
"Those who fear the night and fight the coming darkness… lend us your power!"
The words spilt from her lips painfully and to her surprise, they garnered a strange response. Something in her pocket began pulsing. She reached down and found the forgotten pendant vibrating wildly, releasing pulses of bright blue energy as she held it up. She could feel waves of its magical energy reverberating through her skin, flowing into the Crono Trigger in her other hand. The egg responded, absorbing the energy hungrily until it too glowed in a gentle blue light. It lifted from her hands without warning, and she watched with wide eyes as it began shimmering. With a ethereal elegance, it rose upwards in stark contrast to the deathly crimson light and began to spin. It was a slow turning at first, but then fast and faster and faster until-
SSSHING!
The devastating sound rang through the stunned silence, echoing on and on down the mountain and across the Earth. Lucca simply stood there, stammering. As if she couldn't fully believe her eyes or ears, her mouth tried the convincing. "I-It shattered."
The words took a minute to comprehend in the sinking silence.
Shattered. Gone.
That was it; there was no chance of ever getting to see Crono again.
"That's… that's it?" she breathed numbly, so numbly that even Robo could have mustered more emotion. Her eye went blank, then closed to block out the bleeding light of the dying sun. "What... what was the point?"
Somehow, everything grew darker still. As though she were in a dream, she blinked with the sincere hopes of waking up and finding herself in bed at home, with Crono climbing the tree to wake her. Mortification overcame her, and her knees buckled.
"It broke," she repeated.
The eerie silence filled her ears again, and the darkness began consuming everything. The only actual shadow- that of the tree- had faded so slowly that it had all but disappeared. Her knees hit the ground. Her shoulders fell.
The static sound of Robo's short circuiting was slowly lost to her. Everything was lost. Her family, her best friend, the future… without Crono, there was no hope of defeating Lavos. They were doomed without him- how could they do it without him? They couldn't, she knew; they would all end in the same fate as he had… and it took everything in such a hopeless moment not to find consolation in that. To Lucca, nothing mattered any more. She only wanted to see her friend once more… before…
But Crono wouldn't have tolerated that kind of thinking, and she knew it even then. He would have clocked her over the helmet for thinking like that! He would have… he would have…
Tearing her fists from her eyes, she looked away from the darkening figure of the clone and fought the bitter tears. Oh, what would Crono have done? Surely he would know what do to?
"SAY SOMETHING!" the scream was so sudden and hoarse that she was sure she could taste blood. One fist had angrily thrust itself into the air, pounding at nothing but dark air as she screamed, "DON"T IGNORE ME!"
Giving up the ghost, the last of the sun's light vanished behind the moon and everything went black. Watching it with angry intent, Lucca finally realized that the something was wrong.
The moon was not moving.
-v
The moon was not moving.
Despite it being the middle of the night with the entire town asleep, a very young girl stood out in the open field with her face perfectly blank and sparkling wet. She was looking up into the night sky, where a strange and marvelous occurrence was forming before her- the birth of a lunar eclipse. It was emerging amid a break in the swirling thunderheads, shrouding the earth in its ethereal, otherworldly shadow. Storm clouds swirled in the threatening yet frail light of the moon.
But Lucca hardly saw it though the tears in her eyes. Truthfully, she didn't care to see anything at that moment; she only wanted to be away from her house, away from the nightmare she had just witnessed.
The screaming, the screaming…
Tears streamed down her cheeks as thunder rolled along the sky. Lightning flashed somewhere off in the distance, lost to her completely. Memory was fickle to her, for no matter what she did, she could not erase what she had seen. It played through her mind over and over.
'Lucca!' her mother had cried between the desperate tugs at her skirt. 'Hit the switch! Make this thing stop!'
She had been powerless. So powerless.
'Please… please God, anyone-!'
She bit her lip. Lightning struck again, closer this time.
Behind her, way, way behind her, her house was full of people she had never met before- supposed neighbors who had come to support and give their condolences to the family. They had all come with the night to bring food and medical supplies after the doctor left. But Lucca hated everything now. Nothing mattered to her anymore. Her mother's legs had been torn up.
And it was her fault.
All she wanted was to scream at the open sky, but even that was denied to her, for nothing came out of her dry throat when she opened her mouth and tried.
Lightening stuck closer still, giving resonance to the scream she could not produce.
"Hello?" called an unfamiliar voice from behind her. It didn't startle her and she didn't respond. Her head remained fixed, and her eyes closed so tightly that it was impossible to see anything. "Uhh… hi?"
She grit her teeth and ignored the voice, rubbing at the metal helmet on her head. She had found it on her way running from her house and thrown it on her head, though it was much too big. But it made her feel a little better somehow. A ways behind her, a figure not much bigger than her shuffled its feet impatiently towards her; a boy.
"Hey!" he called again. "What are you doing out here? It's dangerous."
Silence.
"Hey, I'm talkin to you! Can you even hear me?"
"Go away," she finally croaked.
There was a silence. "No!"
Lightning stuck straight overhead, blinding and terrifying them both for a moment.
"Leave-!" Another dazzling blot stuck down, close enough for Lucca to feel the ground tremble. She could smell smoke, but did not dare open her eyes to look around. "L-Leave me alone," the miserable girl managed, finally shaken by the closeness of the lightening. "I want to be alone."
The figure, who she could hear breathing deeply, came closer still. "No one really wants to be alone. That's what my mom says."
Lucca tried to snap something back, but the deafening sound of the thunder crackled over them and drowned her voice out.
"C'mon, let's go in," he tried reasoning.
"NO!"
"But-"
"I said no! How about you-" A brilliant, blinding light sang to life over her, and she felt the hairs under the helmet rise in unison.
What transpired next could not have truly lasted for more than a second or two, but it would be burned into Lucca's mind with such stark clarity that later she would swear time itself had stopped. Every single one of the hairs on her small body lifted towards the sky, and some dreadful sensation welled up within in her stomach as an electrical flash surged down on her. She couldn't see it (her eyes were still closed after all), but even if she had attempted to, she couldn't have been fast enough. Instead, some useless instinct within took over and her hands flew to her ears to cover them as she opened her mouth to scream. A force slammed into her as the scream ripped from her throat, but it was not the force she had been expecting. It was solid, and it slammed into her from behind, pushing her. It was a poorly aimed hit. The force hit her left shoulder, flinging her around awkwardly on her heels like an egg rolling in circles. She spun around just in time to make out the sight of a red-headed boy not much older than her, standing where she had just been with his arms held out and his green eyes wide with fear.
SVVVVVVING!
Before her ear drums popped, a furiously white bolt of lightning slammed down into the boy's body, completely enveloping him. The surrounding surge of energy threw the screaming girl backwards a few feet, but it could not rivet her eyes from witnessing the boy struggle under the golden hand of electricity surging down on him. With a cry she miraculously managed to hear over the deafening scream of energy, the boy's arms shot out in a sudden jest of defiance and an amazing thing happened. The furious, heated light bent and weakened around his body, and suddenly rushed out the tips of his fingers, obediently surging from him with a searing flash into the woods a few yards away.
As though it had dried up, the blinding light dissipated and the trees started on fire.
The boy's defiant stance fell with his body.
"Wh-?" Long past shocked, Lucca shakily ran towards the fallen boy. "Omigosh, are you okay? How did you do that?" The boy was a crumpled, smoldering heap, groaning inaudible words to mostly himself as the girl flipped him over. "Who are you?" she demanded. "What just happened?"
"You're… w-elcome," he wheezed, gasping as his back hit the ground. "Oh!"
"What do you mean-" Lucca slapped her muddied hands over her mouth. "Wait. You… saved me? You- you saved me!" Such ecstatic shock ran though her that she forgot the previous derailment of hope that had filled her mere seconds ago. She actually felt… happy to be alive. "Oh thank you! How can I thank you?"
"Take… helmet… off." The boy laid flat on the ground, shaking his head. His messy mop of red hair shook with it.
"What?" she quirked, confused.
"Lightning… metal…"
"Oh." Lucca was old enough to have known better, but she hadn't been thinking. Shyly, she slid the solid metal covering off her head threw it far away from them. "Right. Bad idea. That was a bad idea."
"Yeah," he coughed.
"How did you do that… thing you just did? What was that?"
He coughed again, then shrugged lightly as though he had been asked what his favorite flavor of ice cream was.
"What do you mean 'you don't know'? How can you just pull something like that and have no idea what was going on? I mean, that's not even possible…" For a moment, she simply examined him. His crazy red hair looked absolutely frayed, standing up on wiry end. There were dark, charred spots all over his body, and his eyes looked so dull that she could no longer tell their color. "What's your name?" she finally settled. Before she could have her answer, however, a red light in the distance caught her attention. Squinting at it, she jumped to her feet in a sudden panic. "You idiot! You just about set my house on fire! Look!"
Sure enough, off in the distance there was a blazing fire. It had caught between the trees of an isolated house overlooking the sea, dancing about the building with its bright flames. The tongues of flame leapt dangerously about, catching from tree to tree and growing in size and light.
"My mom is in there! C'mon!"
"Wha?"
Nearly yanking his arm from its socket, Lucca dragged the toasted remains of the boy to his feet and pulled him towards the soaring flames.
"If you make a mess, you have to clean it up!"
The boy sighed. "You're welcome."
v-
When Lucca opened her eyes, she was in the very place she had never wanted to see again, the very place that had haunted her sleeping hours for the last month without mercy.
The Ocean Palace.
It was different than how she remembered; darker, colorless, silent as death. For a moment she felt that she had been transported to a ghost town somewhere deep in sub-space. Lavos, Queen Zeal and all of her team stood before her, frozen solid in that awful moment of that awful fight, mere seconds before…
There, suspended in the last moments of his life with that stupid fearless look frozen in his eyes- a look which Lucca had come to passionately hate- was Crono. All five-feet and ten inches of him hovered in mid-air, ready to receive an attack that would be fatal only to him.
He looked like a statue.
Biting her lower lip, she slowly walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoe. To her surprise, his body gravitated downwards until he was at eye level with her, light as a helium balloon at the fair.
"Crono…"
Seeing the strange clone had followed her, she took it into her hands.
"I guess… I'll trade?"
She wasn't really sure of the fine details of how she had maneuvered the clone to switch for the real deal. It was a very lucid feeling, standing there. Perhaps it was just her, but the strange fluxes in time rippling around her made her feel old and young at the same time.
She felt dizzy, dragging Crono's still frozen body away from the wretched scene for good. It felt like hours, and it felt like second, but she pulled and pulled and pulled some more, never letting go of the cold, colorless form in her hand. Suddenly, there was snow crunching under her feet again and her hands were empty.
When the dizziness stopped, there was a dark silhouette transfixed on the virgin snow under the only tree of the mountain's peak. It remained unmoving, gradually transforming into a familiar, full body of an unmistakably the red-head hero.
There was a long, long moment of silence.
Realizing where she was, but perhaps not fully what had happened, Lucca took one padded step towards him, guarding herself. Her eyes were fixed on his chest, watching the gentle rise and fall as though she were trying to see through an illusion. She took another step and the young man's head shifted upwards.
"Cr…"
His eyes caught hers, and her voice caught in her throat.
With words too great a burden, Lucca rid herself of them and fell to her knees at his wilted form, fell into his arms and grabbed him with more strength than she knew she had. One locked, racking sob shook her frame and everything else was silent. Slowly but surely, his fingers moved to comforted her soaked, frozen form in gentle strokes down her back. She sobbed and sobbed, hiding her face in his chest until the desire to speak returned, which was a great deal later.
"Crono you… you…" started the muffled voice into his chest. "You idiot!" Although she didn't see it, a smile spread its way across said idiot's lips. "Have I ever told you how stupid you are?"
He tried to count on his fingers, but quickly ran out of fingers.
Lucca slowly pried herself out of his yellow neckband, her face a flush of angry sentiment and her body a shaking mess. "What the hell were you thinking?!" she demanded, pounding him soundly on the chest despite his sputtering. "Do you know what we had to go through to get you back?! You idiot!"
Crono had never been one for words; this much was commonly known. Although his already limited verbal communication was strapped solely to those who he kept close, within that circle there were still the limitations of how much actually came out of his mouth, which really was next to nothing. Even so, there was no mistaking one thing: Crono was not a quiet person. Anyone who knew him could vouch for that- Lucca especially. He had a way of getting his point across and himself in a mess, which all managed to flourish on the broad hinge of a shut mouth.
But as skilled as he was in the art of troublemaking, he also had a natural knack for getting himself out of trouble.
Like calm before a storm, the gentle vibrations in his chest welled before his dusty vocal chords picked up and amplified, letting the hoarse reverberation overflow. Lucca's rare watery-eyed state came to a grinding standstill as the resonance of Crono's deep laugh filled both herself and the cold air around them.
The scientist watched him laughing, watched as his cheeks turned a rosy shade of red under his bouncing hair, watched the laughter sparkle in his emerald eyes and turn up the corners of his lips into one of those full smiles she rarely saw from him.
And before she knew what had happened, she found herself laughing, too. She collapsed back onto him and he barely managed to catch her while laughing.
All without speaking a word.
They simply lay in the snow and laughed until the laughter drained from them and Lucca was sure she would fall asleep against the rise and fall of his chest and the warmth of his skin.
Crono looked down at her and smirked. It was a certain smirk, the unmistakable one which surfaced every time a stupid idea wafted into his mind. She really hated that smirk because ninety-nine percent of the time was followed by a stupid decision and a stupid result- a vicious cycle, she had called it.
The green scarf sticking out of her backpack had caught his eye, and he smirked that smirk as he took the material between his calloused fingers. He brought it up to his eyes as though he were going blind, then smirked again- at her his time- at she and she immediately wished she had the strength to fight off what was about to come.
It looks better on you.
-v-
Magus, although not one to be called slow or sluggish, barely escaped the edge of the blade brandished at his neck. Throwing himself backwards, his shoulders collided with the rocky path as he veered clear of the Masamune's furious path. He hadn't held his ground for but a second before the sword was back at him, swinging closer and closer with each strike. This blade was faster than the icy winds and wielded by much colder source than the storehouse of any gale.
Frog was coming at him with fixed and freakishly composed slashes, as if he would steadily shave down the towering man he now could see only as a target. The sword indeed knew its intention all too well, for Frog showed no hesitation. There was no savage emotion on his mug; only the consuming gleam in his eye flashing amid the mud and exhaustion.
Even if questions were not his strong point, Magus figured now would be the time to venture. "What are you doing?" he asked between ducks and dashed, managing to keep as calm and calculated as the amphibian coming at him. It was in all restraint that the wizard kept from retaliating; defense was no strength of his, and indeed his attempt would not last long.
"To each cometh the fruit of his own actions," Frog answered, smiling a small, disturbing smile. "An eye for an eye."
But Magus contended. "You fool, don't you see what-"
The wizard hissed and staggered backwards, clinging to his bicep. Having successfully sliced his arm, Frog halted his advances for a split second to watch with Magus as the dark red substance stung through his clenched fingers.
"He doth bleed indeed," Frog noted, his attacks resuming in the blink of an eye. "Inconceivable!"
Ayla, having gone from the abuser to the observer, hung out of their way uncertainly, watching as the knight resumed his assault and the wizard attempted to avert himself. Knowing full well that he needed it, the prince ushered another magic shield to protect himself from the endlessly precise slices.
Frog snarled at this. "Wilt thou cower behind magic! Draw thine weapon and meet death with dignity!"
"Don't tempt me," snarled Magus, more than ready to slice the amphibious man in half.
"Ha!" the outraged knight lunged at the shield. "Wouldst thou feign decency? Outrage! Woodness!"
Fuming, the mage looked from his own bloodied hands, to Frog, to Marle's still form and attempted to calm himself. Now was not the time to deal with the knight's self-righteous guilt trip, no matter how tempting it may be. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he began again. "Ther-"
"Indeed! Thou had intended the blood not to be found upon thine hands." Frog lunged again, and his sword met the magical wall with a sharp crackle. "But found thou hath been, and I bring'th the sentence of justice upon you!"
"You idiot, don't you see-"
"Doth not I see? Indeed, I believe I hath seen all along!" came the outburst from the outraged knight, stricken with rage at the thought of another lie. "Would that I had acted upon mine sense sooner! Yet folly hath blinded me in abstaining from riding the good earth of thou till now!"
Magus was fuming. "Would you shut up for a minute and listen!"
"Fie! Tis' ENOUGH!"
With one last forceful lunge, Frog swung at the barrier and it shattered into a thousand tiny fragments. It rained down upon the trio like fine, black glass.
Lunging at the wizard with enough ferocity to rival Ayla, a dangerous dance between the Masamune and its sapphire-haired target began. Fueled by an abnormal bout of fury, every one of Frog's swings came back with twice the speed and triple the ferocity. Unfortunately, this served him quite well, for Magus had never learned the fine details of defense and was not doing so well for himself. Rather quickly did his arms and legs find themselves with slices and cuts that were too close of a call to ignore as luck; no, his breastplate had already saved his live two or three times. All he could do was parry the direct offence with slow spins and dodgy foot work, for defense was neither a word nor action in his vocabulary; he had never merely defended himself, after all.
He had to fight.
Without fully intending to, Magus began retaliating beyond simple protection, striking at the limited grounds between them with wry lightning or dark energy which only spurred the amphibian on further. And little more was needed to spur him on at such a point. He was moving so fast that one could hardly tell where he would lunge next or how he would angle his next feral blow as he rolled around his target. He had never fought such a battle before. Frog looked truly wild, as though something else had taken him over.
And it terrified Ayla.
"Stop!" she yelled, jumping suddenly between the two. "Frog listen Ay-"
Not to only her surprise, the point of the Masamune appeared at her lips.
"I warnth you," growled its owner shakily. "Remove thyself."
Shocked and confused out of what she had first intended to say, the cavewoman held her ground dumbly, trying to process such means of betrayal.
Seeing what he considered obvious rebellion, Frog's breathing picked up. "I will say it once more; be out of harm's way or be harmed."
"How?" came the reply, disbelieving at first then angry. "How do this?! Ayla friend!"
Seeing him raise his blade against her, instinct kicked in over emotion and she let out a savage snarl, readying to jump at him like a lion on its prey.
Ayla had never been warned about the consequences of brining a knife to a gun fight; namely this was because neither of these things existed where she came from. She wouldn't have known the difference between either two, anyway. Although brute force and physical strength were her left and right hands, and though she would never have needed anything more on a normal day, she would have leant an unfortunate lesson in the mishaps of brining one's fists to a sword fight.
She lunged.
Blinded, Frog struck.
The blade moved as through the air so slowly that it almost looked as though it were moving through water, its cold metal a heavy anvil of misdirected fury. Ayla knew it would come down upon the crown of her head and shifted to the right. But just as the blade was about to slice her ear and consequently the nook of her neck, it flashed to life. Glowing a livid bright red like some kind of warning sign, it jerked to a stop and simply froze in mid-air against the gain of the frog-man's muscle. Struggling against it in confusion, the misguided knight looked up with a flat, "hm?"
A loud breath pealed out amid the stunned silence, though not one of a human. In another blink, a blaze of light blinded everyone into shielding their eyes.
"IIIIIIII don't think so," sighed a strangely familiar, strangely firm voice through the light. "That's not the way we work."
"Hardly gentleman-ly like of you, Froggy," chimed another voice, more playful than the first.
The brilliant light cleared and two small silhouettes embroidered themselves between the fight, hovering a foot or so from the ground whist dancing about childishly. As their vision returned, everyone stared in shock, disbelief or disgusted relief at the two small forms between them, and they stared back with their big, black eyes. Finally, the two brothers swapped inquisitive glances.
"What do you think, Masa?"
There was hardly a moment of consideration. "That anger of his is blinding his judgment," frowned Masa as he turned to Frog, who looked as though he were seeing a ghost. He looked back and forth between them and his suddenly empty hands with a small sort of panic.
"That's what I thought!" laughed the other, quickly recognizable as Mune, the younger and blunter of the two blade-dwelling brothers. He copied his older brother's motion with mock seriousness, which was still somehow serious in its own sense. "I mean, I thought leaving your friends behind was bad enough, but now you're swinging at them? What's gotten into that thick, amphibious head of yours?"
Frog looked so taken aback that almost every trace of anger had vanished from his face. "Wha… what?" was all he managed between rapid blinks.
"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" retorted Mune obstinately. "Did you even think about what you were doing just now?"
"I-I," stammered Frog hopelessly.
"Glenn," Masa's stone gaze interjected, fixing him with a good measure of sternness. "What are you doing?"
Dazed, the knight looked around slowly, as if seeing everything for the first time. His deep, savage breaths evened out until he was breathing normally (as normal as a frog breathes, anyway). He saw Magus kneeling a way off and breathing deeply. He looked nearly as confused as Frog felt, though he was too proud to show it. He saw Alfador sitting faithfully beside his distraught master, still as a mouse except for the slow sweep of his tail. He saw Ayla, crouched between himself and the wizard, and the fear and confusion on her own dirty, mud-stained jaw.
And then his eyes moved to Marle, and he saw her stillness.
"No-" his voice hitched. If his world could have been shattered farther… well, it just had. "Tis' a… it… it cannot be…" The knight's posture crumbled into a kneel against the uneven, rocky ground as he grasped listlessly at his head.
The brothers swapped a dry, unsympathetic look between themselves, waiting for the knight to realize what had to be done.
"Helllllloo," called Mune, who had formulated in front of his master with a lustrous gleam. Seeing that the knight's eyes had glazed over, he waved a hand in front of his face impatiently. "Who has healing powers here?"
Frog blinked slowly
"Who's wasting the short and precious restoration period subsequent death…?" chimed Masa over his shoulder, not the least bit rhetorical.
"Huh! A pox upon me!" As though he had been smacked over the head, Frog jumped to his feet and ran, spinning the two hovering creatures in the air as he darted to the fallen form of the Guardian princess. "Oh holy heavens, forgive me princess."
The gentle sound of water rushed about their ears till a firm and quite humming overpowered even the small creaking sounds of the woods. A blue and yellow glow sparked to life, casting the dead area into a hopeful light and bathing them all in an unnatural calm. Then just as suddenly, a searing flash of light forced everyone, including the healer, to look away blindly.
"That's more like it," breathed Masa contently.
"I'll say," said Mune, brushing off his sleeves. "I was starting to think I'd have to hit him over the head myself!"
-v-
Fact: It is always easier to go down a mountain. In fact, sometimes it is almost too easy, and sometimes too easy really just means dangerous.
Twice now, Crono had caught one of Lucca's flailing limbs before she had snowballed down the face of the mountain. Every slip of her foot was a dangerous limbo, ready to turn one wrong step into her downfall. Crono struggled to keep a firm footing himself, although it definitely wasn't from exhaustion. As though he had slept a thousand restful years, every inch of him was bursting with stamina and energy, and Lucca couldn't help but envy that at such a moment.
No, it was merely the treacherous conditions they were moving through that slowed him- slowed them all. Even Robo was having difficulty maneuvering down such treacherous slopes, and his condition had only grown worse.
With what she deemed to perhaps be evening- there really wasn't much of a change in the limited natural light- came a worsening of the weather. It had begun to snow a thick, heavy sheet of white from the clouds hanging mere feet above them, blanketing their efforts with scarce visibility. Now, the loose snow that had only a bother to their freezing feet and legs on the way up the mountain became a dangerous slide downwards- a one way ticket through the clouds below them and sure death.
"To avvvvvoid injury, I deem it best we rererereretreat," came the robot's static speech. His metal limb pointed towards the cave they had stopped in on the way up, which Lucca had designated as being two-thirds of the way up. When ascending, being two-thirds of the way up a mountain was really quite an accomplishment, but it didn't quite hold the same ring when descending the mountain. Despite the slendering supply of food and water, Lucca gladly obliged to stop firstly out of exhaustion, and secondly out of knowing that if she made it down Death Peak today, it would be in pieces.
A sharp wind shot through them and howled in their ears, bringing an unwanted burst of heavy snowflakes with it. The cave was beginning to become hard to see.
Despite being completely refreshed and practically bounding down the jumps, Crono knew Robo was right and so he slowed and patiently plucked a few dead shrubs before following Lucca's wavering steps towards the promise of warmth and shelter.
"Phew," she sighed, dragging herself through the small cave's mouth and collapsing on the cold, stone floor. The lack of wind and snow assaulting her was immediately appreciated. "I'll… never… have to work out again after this."
Right behind her, the red-headed leader dragged the fire materials in, sat himself down in his usual cross-legged fashion and began intently picking the small, slightly damp shrubs apart. His hands hadn't lost their callous, Lucca noted before rolling over with a groan, finally beginning to feel as though she had caught her breath. The snapping and crackling of the twigs bounced off the solid rock walls for a few minutes until an economic pile of sorts had been formed. It turned out to be quite small after all his work.
"That won't last us very long," stated Lucca when she rolled over and noted the sad results. "But I suppose it's better than nothing." Seeing Robo standing idle at the mouth of the cave spitzing and spatzing dangerously, the inventor bit at the inside of her cheek like a concerned mother.
Crono's brow slowly lifted, and he looked to Lucca for an answer. What's wrong with him?
"Come'ere Robo." He did as told. Digging into her back pack for her screwdriver, she pushed herself back up and worked his breast plate off, exposing his sensitive, copper innards. She sighed a little at the sight; the top half of his cavity was packed full of snow, and what had melted now sloshed back and forth along the bottom of his shell, threateningly near to the hard drive. "Great."
Curious, Crono looked over her shoulders and grimaced. If there was one thing he knew about electricity, it was that it didn't mix well with water.
She sighed and moved around his back. "I'm sorry Robo, but I'm going to have to power you down for the night so you can dry out safely. Although I don't know how we'll get you down this damned mountain in the morning…"
"Very wwwwECHell," complied the machine. "Please remove the emergency kit from my storage compartment before PPPPPPPPowering down."
"Emergency kit?" Her face lit up. Reaching around the back, she clicked open a small storage space and found (to her delight) a few dehydrated packets of something, a slightly wet wool blanket, matches (which she scoffed at) and bottled water. "Robo! Why didn't you tell me you had these before?"
"But you w-wwwwererere the one WWWWWWWho bought them."
She looked confused for a moment, then chuckled sheepishly. "Right- Medina. I guess I forgot to actually check what was in the kit."
Crono snickered and she pretended not to see his knowing look. Leave it up to Lucca to over prepare for everything and then forget about supplies.
"Thanks Robo." Returning to the machine's hull, she prodded around and flipped the power switch. "I guess we'll see ya tomorrow, then."
His nod slowed as the light faded from his features, though it did not stop until all the energy had drained from him. After a minute, she got to her feet and turned him on his side so the water would drain out. His underside was a dripping mess, and she concluded that all the snow had been forced up through the bottom somehow. "Oh Robo..." she whispered, patting his cold and hollow sounding shell with gratitude. "Thank you."
When she stepped back from the machine, she found herself suddenly unsure of what to do in the ensuing silence. It felt like forever since it had been only her and Crono. Half of her wanted to grab him back into a hug- although she felt that moment had already come and passed. The other half of her wanted to crack him over the head with Robo's back panel.
Maybe she could do both?
Perhaps Crono sensed her violent intentions, or perhaps his impeccable impatience was making a timely and unintentional save. He shimmied in front of her, rubbing his hands together rapidly while biting his tongue. He looked wild; scheming even. How 'bout that fire now?
Noting the howl of the unforgiving wind from outside, she shivered.
"Good idea." Lucca momentarily surrendered her own scheming and turned to the pathetic bundle of sticks with a dour expression. She shook her head at the pathetic sight. "But, it'll be a fairly short lived one at this rate." She began rubbing her hands together quickly, unknowingly coping the very maniacal look Crono had just produced.
Lucca had a theory. If there was one thing her logical side appreciated about fire magic, it was that it was a little easier to rationalize than others- or at least, she liked to think so. It was simple: when she rubbed her hands together hard enough and fast enough, friction was created in her body. Now, she wasn't made of wood, but there had to be something acting as a combustion factor within her body that responded to the friction chemically. Perhaps it was a reaction to the metallic trace minerals within her body that were responsible (which she had come to assume she simply had more of than the average person), thus causing a…
POOF!
The pathetic twig tipi crackled aflame, and the traces of water within the wood evaporated noisily into smoggy steam. The sheen of a fire flashed in the two sets of sparkling eyes drinking it in.
"Ahhh," the inventor sighed, cracking her fingers haughtily. "I guess it's better than nothing, but we'd better enjoy this while it lasts." She turned, reaching for the lovely bag of emergency items she had taken from Robo and brought them over to the small fire where she sat down to sort through them. First she pulled out the blanket and laid it flat over the ground near the fire, hoping to dry the few damp spots. Moving herself closer still to the little flame, she rummaged further through the supplies. "These cookies look pretty decent, actually."
Of course, she received no answer. She fidgeted with the metallic wrapping till it tore open unexpectedly. "Okay make that 'cookie.' And it's totally mine, thank you very much. I deserve some compensation here."
There was no answer again, and this time she was concerned for two reasons. Firstly, Crono should have been all over her by now in attempts to steal the cookie for himself and then rub it in her face. The absence of such exploitation could only be explained by assuming that he was unconscious, but even then food had a powerful and rousing affect on him. Secondly, and more concerning at that, was the sensation which filled the cave before she bothered looking about, a sensation which is not to be taken lightly from the 'strong, silent type.'
Crono was gone.
She knew this before she spun, but she couldn't help but whirl around dramatically all the same. "Crono?" Scanning the empty cavern, she found what could only be Crono's silhouette disappearing beyond the grey-mouthed entrance of the cave. "Crono? Hey! What're you-"
With the crass lighting offered by the snowy world outside, she watched his index finger gestured for her to wait before he disappeared into a gust of wind and snow.
"Hey!" Not particularly willing to rush out into the wind again, she scrambled to her feet and hobbled to the door to see if she could find him. Only the poor visibility of the dense snowfall met her, and the tracks they had made upon enter the cave had become confused with those of Crono's departing. "Crono! Get back here!"
But Crono's silhouette was gone, and she knew he couldn't hear her. A sharp slap of wind coaxed her seething form to retreat further into the cave.
"Stupid… stupid…" she grumbled, momentarily unable to find a word ample enough to describe her anger towards her back-from-the-dead best friend roaming off into a blizzard by himself. She was tired and ready to collapse, but now she only felt like seething in circles around the cave. Didn't he ever think things though?
"Stupid!"
Every so often in life, Lucca could acknowledge that there seem to be deep and formidable truths that she had known for as long as she could remember- her whole life, even.
"Stupid, pig-headed idiot!"
However, she would sometimes ignore them; whether intentionally or accidentally, she couldn't say. Either way, it seemed to take certain moments for her to properly realize these dormant truths; something to stir them up in her mind in a new and real sense. An educated epiphany, it could be called.
"Stupid, stupid… stupid!"
And now, as Lucca stood seething out into the cold, snowy hell of Death Peak, watching the bleary snowstorm that Crono had just disappeared into- well, that moment was then.
She could not stop Crono from putting himself in danger's way.
She couldn't stop him from embarrassing himself as a kid. She couldn't stop his stupid, heroic ideas of running after the princess and getting thrown in jail. She couldn't stop his wandering out into some wasteland of snow and getting lost and freezing to death.
She couldn't stop his death. She couldn't protect him.
With hot, angry tears forming in her eye, she slid down the stone wall closed her lids. She had always known that Crono was as thick headed as a wall. And stubborn. And heck, she knew she could be stubborn, too, but she had never wanted to control him (at least, not most of the time). It just sacred her that his bad decisions could land him in so much trouble; grounded, bullied, imprisoned… While she had always bit her lip at these shortcomings in the past, having those fears confirmed had brought something out of her. Her fear- the fear of being powerless- was overpowering.
She hated that.
She hated how reckless he was.
In a sudden fume of anger, she jumped up and slammed a fist into the wall, which she quickly regretted. It hurt- a lot, actually. And then- just for the sake of spiting her, she decided- a tuft of dirt from the roof that had rattled loose fell into it the small flame that had been going steadily and smothered it. Consequently, Lucca was left in the dark with a throbbing hand. Waving it about angrily, she began to consider running out to go look for Crono. Of course, this really made no sense whatsoever.
But she felt spiteful, so it made perfect sense.
Thankfully, the source of all her frustration swung back into the cave with that stupid smile of his just as she was motivating herself off the wall. He shuffled in with the load of bramble, a good humor about something or other about him- until he saw the scientist sliding up the wall, that is. That smirk of his slowly faded. He looked between the smoke streaming from the small fire and the angry glowering on Lucca's face and his expression slowly grew hesitant. With a nervous smile, he offered up the next load of shrubs, which were much thicker than the last round he had brought in.
The scientist marched over and snatched them from him hotly before turning back to the smoldering pile of the previous fire. "Crono, how many times do you feel like dying?"
He laughed nervously.
"Because I swear-" she ripped the limbs of the shrub apart violently. Or at least, that's what she was trying to do, though it was a rather unsuccessful attempt. They really were thick. "You're just trying to kill yourself this time. You know better than that."
Watching her pitiful attempts, Crono shook his head and decided to put himself in danger's way again. He knelt beside Lucca and tried to take the shrub from the struggling scientist, who immediately wreathed against his grasp.
"I've got this!"
Crono's brow quirked.
"Really, just give me a minute."
He watched her struggle against the trunk of the shrub again before sighing and simply taking it from her. Of course, he missed a weakly aimed punch, but he avoided her and easily enough and began breaking up the sticks for her. He handed the wood back to her and then went to bring the rest of the kindling and sparse firewood in.
She watched him bring in the loads with a scowl.
Lucca was still upset, and she quickly realized that watching him only served to fuel her anger. She got up with a grunt and returned to the emergency pack which she had left open beside Robo and sorted through it while Crono got the fire started. The reassuring noise of his presence relaxed her a little, but she took to sorting to fully distract herself. Sorting had always been a processing game for her, and it gave her a few minutes to clear her thoughts. She found another blanket for herself, which had been wrapped in a plastic layer to keep water out. Perfect.
Happy with this find, she wrapped it around herself. It was perfectly dry. And then she realized she didn't really want to be angry. She was too tired, anyway. There were a few other cookies, too. Now they would have something to eat for breakfast. No, she didn't want to be angry with him right now, at least. She put a cookie in her pocket.
She would be angry with him tomorrow.
Glancing back towards Crono, she caught sight of a faint light dancing between his feet and crept towards him. His eyes shifted towards her to see what his sentence was, and was relieved to find that Lucca looked considerably less upset. Figuring it was safe to poke at her now, he jested at the crackling flame he had built.
Who has the fire magic here again?
Lucca rolled her eyes, then dropped down beside him. "Yeah, well look who a nice, dry blanket." She wrapped said blanket tighter about herself. It definitely wasn't the softest blanket, but it was warm and warmth was good. And dry; ohhhh was it ever dry. Remembering the other one she had laid flat to dry, she looked over her shoulder and felt around for it. She found it and cringed a little when she found that the cold, wet spots remained quite cold and wet.
Crono seemed to realize this was a frown. He took one of the corners of the damp blanket between his fingers and pulled loosely at it, then turned his attention to the one Lucca had wrapped herself in. He poked it gently before feeling at the fabric.
"What? Being a sore loser?"
Loser? His hand clenched her blanket with more conviction.
"Yeah," she grabbed it back hotly and tucked it under her elbow. "I got it first. You lost dibs when you decided to go on that winter wonderland stroll."
She didn't have to see the playful twitch of his lip to know what she was getting herself into, but she looked just to be satisfied. He had turned to her like a lion looking for breakfast, knuckles on the ground as his back legs spun around slowly- he could rival Ayla in her mannerisms.
Loser?
"Crono!" Already knowing she wouldn't be able to win this fight, Lucca backed away and wrapped the blanket tighter around her aching but stubborn body. She didn't want him to know that her chest was fluttering nervously- she was still passively angry at him. "Hey! I just climbed a mountain for you, brought your stupid, sorry butt back to life… and you're going to thank me by taking my blanket?! That's as bad as…as…" she stumped herself on the word, till Crono jumped at her and she turned screaming, "GLUTTONY! MURDER! HELP!"
He didn't have to chase her around the room long; he had always been faster, and he his prey was considerably weakened. He pounced on her, and they both came crashing down.
"Crono!" shrieked the winded girl when she hit the ground with the mad man on top of her, laughing as he began to tear the blanket away "What ever happened to being a gentleman?!"
His laugh became more devious.
"Or ladies first," she tried convincing further, wreathing around in circles, trying desperately to cocoon herself back into the disappearing fabric. He had managed to gain a third of it simply by pining her down and was feeling pretty good about his growing victory when a stray knee rammed him in the gut and knock the wind out of him. It wasn't long, but it was long enough for Lucca to take back her own.
Cheap shot, said look he gave her as she crawled away.
"Oh, I'm the cheap shot? I'm practically crippled right now!" she snapped. "Which means we're at least on the same page, at least. So it serves you right!" Before she had even caught her breath, he was moving back at her with steady steps and that stupid, eye contact tactic that she hated because she knew it made her knees weak and her voice catch. She could feel his warmth before he even touched her.
Does it?
"Y-yeah!" she defended, trying to convince herself that she could be aggressive. She planted a palm on his face, working to keep his grabbing arms away. "If that's how you're gonna play, then I'll fight fire with fire. So help me, I'll-"
Crono jumped back in surprise. The blanket had started on fire. Hey, we need that!
Lucca also seemed a little surprised, as though she had used the wrong magical technique. "Whoops!"
Impulsively, Crono grabbed the blanket away from the stunned girl and slammed it onto the ground violently. But the flames remained, and so he quickly dragged it out of the cave and threw it into the snow where it sizzled and smoked into submission. Thinking the worst was over, he let out a breath and made to pick up the now soggy, slightly charred blanket when a scream froze him.
"Crono! I'm on fire!"
Perturbed, Crono turned back to the cave where Lucca, who was indeed still on fire, stood gaping down at herself in fear. The flames were namely concentrated about the yellow scarf around her neck, which she was attempting to reef away.
Crono tusked impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest. Yeah. So put it out.
"I can't!" she answered with a look so desperate that he knew she wasn't fibbing. She grabbed her helmet and flung it away, dancing about awkwardly while pulling at her scarf. "I-I just… I can't stop it!"
Not daring to touch her himself lest his own magic make it worse, Crono awkwardly tugged at his own scarf- which matched hers- and bit his lip. While he was used to seeing Lucca handle fire effortlessly, and while he knew that she had a higher tolerance to flame than anyone else he had met, he also knew she was still human. He could smell her clothing starting to burn.
"Outside!" he suddenly blurted. "Get outside!"
Sharing his epiphany, Lucca stopped her dance and bolted for the entrance at top speeds. In a flaming panic, she threw herself into the snow as though she were jumping head-long over a cliff. She began rolling around madly, dredging herself in the cold, wet substance. Despite how ridiculous she looked, Crono couldn't even chuckle a little at the scene; to his shock and horror, she was still on fire.
Lucca also realized this after a few horrifying attempts to quench the flame. "W-What?" she gasped, looking over her soaking and now cold body in disbelief.
Dumbfounded, Crono blinked at her.
Desperate, she scrambled to her feet and began tearing at the scarf again, finally tearing it away and throwing into the snow. She watched as the flames in the scarf instantly dispelled, and would have sighed in relief had it not been for the fact that she was still on fire. Her hands slapped over her skin in frantic confusion, trying in vain to put out the little patches of flame clinging to her skin and clothes. It wasn't burning her, but it was definitely hot and it was definitely real fire.
"Crono, what's going on?" Her eyes were wide with confusion as she turned to him.
It was at that moment Crono noticed the strange addition to Lucca's wardrobe- a familiar necklace gleaming around her heck, twinkling brightly in the wild flames. He blinked between it and her panicked motions and then, following a hunch, pulled off his bandana, wrapped it around his hands and jumped at the startled inventor. He pinned her back into the snow and attempted to remove the necklace from her neck. Both winded, confused and still very much on fire, Lucca struggled beneath him in attempt to keep from touching him lest the flames latch on to him as well. Of course, it was of little use; the flames caught his sleeves almost immediately, and began crawling up the loose fabric of his tunic.
Yet this did not halt Crono's attempts. He grit his teeth as he struggled with the clasp at the back of her neck before realizing the he could slide it over her head, which he quickly did. Immediately, the fire dissipated and disappeared from her body all together. Lucca's breath hitched at the sudden respite, and her body went limp underneath Crono, drained.
Her head hit the snow and her eyes shut in a weary groan.
Crono jumped off her and kicked his legs about as the strange flames seemed to evaporate from him. After making sure he was flame free, he looked from Lucca`s wilted form to the pendant, which he held out by the chain as though it were a bomb.
"Well," Lucca finally managed in a hoarse voice. "That was random."
She made to sit up, but fell back in exhaustion. Her body suddenly felt as though the weight of the world was upon her; perhaps Crono had gained some weight. Seeing her attempt to sit up, he made to help, but her body went limp and she fell into his arms, out cold.
He hoisted her exhausted form into his arms and moved back into the cave.
"I never thought jewelry was a good look for you, anyway."
-v-
By the time the bright, healing light had cleared, Frog found the rest of the group peering over his shoulders in anxious anticipation. To all of their relief, the sparks of magic settled over her body, and Marle's chest began to rise and fell gently, and natural color bled back to her cheeks. Even the black frostbite on her fingertips had disappeared.
"MARLE!" yelled the cavewoman, abandoning all composure as she rushed to her friend's side to confirm the air flow for herself. Ayla had never been one to hide her feelings, no matter how extreme (or dangerous) they were. Her emotions were so blankly displayed that it wouldn't be enough to simply say she wore them on her sleeve; they were all over her, and sometimes others.
"Frog!" she yelled, happiness oozing out from every pore of her body as she lunged at him and bound him into such a tight hug that his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
"Ayaa…" he squeaked and groaned all at once. Over his shoulder, he heard Masa and Mune snicker.
Magus, on the other hand, had opted out of the touching scene of forgiveness and affection. Followed in close tow by the ever faithful Alfador, he slipped around the still-dazed knight and stood over Marle, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest for himself. Seeing that she truly was breathing, an unexpected surge of anxiety fell over him.
"Why isn't she waking up?"
"She's going to need a lot of rest," advised Masa, floating to the other side of sleeping princess. "Being frozen like that isn't a good habit to be making with fragile humans."
"I'll say," laughed Mune, right beside his brother. "Whose idea was that?" Ignoring them, Magus knelt down beside the princess, looking rather hesitant about something or other. Despite their previous playfulness, the two brothers watched the wizard with sudden hostility and skepticism.
"Let that be a warning to you, oh wizard," Masa breathed after a minute. His stubby little arms crossed over his chest as he studied the wizard. "You are fortunate to be alive. If your cavewoman friend hadn't interfered…"
Frog, who was recovering from Ayla's monster of a hug, looked uncertainly between Magus and the transformed Masamune. Magus glanced up at the two strange creatures with mildly kept annoyance, and they glared back with surprising coldness. There was a long, tense moment where the three held each other's glare.
Just when the apprehensive instant seemed as though it would snap, the prince looked away from them with a thin frown claiming his lips. Turning his attention to the setting sun on the dark horizon, he lifted Marle's limp form into his arms and turned down the path leading them farther into the woods.
"Where dost thou think to be taking her?" Surprised, Frog jumped to his feet, defensive yet strangely unsure of himself.
"It's late," answered the mage, not missing a step. "We need to set up camp for the night."
Masa and Mune traded mischievous looks before jumping unceremoniously back into the sword, still lying forgotten on the ground. Looking between his sword and the retreating backs of the others as they walked off, Frog regained his weapon and followed in tow, left alone with his torturous habit of replaying what had just transpired over and over in his mind.
He felt sick.