Chapter 5
Branded
Sazh felt pain. He felt as if he was floating in a void were no light would ever tread, he felt as of nothing mattered anymore. The only thing he knew for sure was that he could feel pain snaking through his body. His head was pounding, his back was arched and his arms and legs were contorted. He knew he was on the edge of consciousness and he begged the Maker that he would not wake up. Unfortunately for him, the Maker did not hear his prayer and Sazh found himself slowly opening his eyes to a land washed in blues, greens and purples.
He wondered for a second where he was and what had happened but the pain immediately took his attention away. With a gasp he straightened his arm and used it to slowly pivot himself to an upright position. Using his free hand he placed it to his forehead where a massive migraine was starting to form. He noticed from the groaning around him, the others were starting to stir as well and from the sound of it, they were in as much pain as he was.
Snow stood up and staggered to the edge of the ledge they were on shaking off any stiffness he may have felt. "Where are we? Is this for real?" he asked as he gazed out into the horizon. In the distance he could clearly see the Vestige they had been wandering through crystalized and stuck in the frozen wasteland.
"This must be Lake Bresha" Sazh said softly. He looked above them at green specks that flecked in the sky. "We came from up there in the Hanging Edge, but it doesn't explain how we got here…out of the vestige that is. And how did the lake turn to crystal?" When he realized no one was giving their input on the situation at hand he said with more strength. "Come' on help me out here. Did the fal'Cie do this?"
"How should I know?" Lighting snapped. It was clear she was analyzing the situation herself and could come up with no explanation other this being the fal'Cie's fault.
Vanille was on her knees next to Hope, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Were alive?" she asked herself. "How?" She may have been young and naïve but even she knew that a fall like what Sazh was referring to was impossible to survive.
"It was Serah!" Snow exclaimed. "It had to be. No one survives a fall that high without a miracle. It was Serah who saved us. Look at the lake, it's made of the same crystal that she is. It had to be her." He was about to justify his point further when he saw a lone Cie'th staggering behind Lightning. Without a word he pushed her out of the way and clenched his fist ready to punch. When is fist connected with the rotting flesh his hand grew immensely cold as is fist began to glow a soft cerulean color. Almost instantly, the Cie'th body turned to solid ice and shattered into fragments. Snow stood there dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open. "What did I just….."
"You used magic!" Hope yelled from where he remained curled up on the crystal floor. "You used the power of the l'Cie! That stupid fal'Cie cursed us. Don't you see, we're l'Cie now." He raised his wrist revealing a brand. It looked simple, A rectangle center with a few lines that branched off of it. Lighting noted however her sister's brand looked different, it was far more complex than what Hope had.
"Are we really l'Cie now?" Snow asked as he looked at the brand on is right arm.
"I'm afraid so" Sazh replied somberly as he pointed to the brand on his chest.
Lightning recalled the sharp pain that the fal'Cie had inflicted on them and how it had started from her chest and spread. With a casual peak she used a finger to pull the collar of her turtleneck sweater and saw the brand sitting above her bosom.
"What about you?" Snow asked looking to Vanille. "I didn't catch your name you know…you and the kid."
Vanille nodded "I'm branded too" she replied lifting her orange skirt just slightly to reveal a brand on her left leg. "And my name is Vanille by the way, and he's Hope" she said gesturing to Hope.
"Well as long as we're doing introductions…I'm Sazh and this feisty woman is Lightning. We met on the purge train."
"We don't have time for this!" Lighting snapped. "If the army find's out we're here, we're dead." And with that she began making her way down a path that didn't seem to treacherous to climb. The others immediately followed her. Lighting tried to ignore them but they continued to follow her anyway, so she stopped abruptly and said "If we don't know our focuses then how the hell are we supposed to complete them."
Vanille hesitated but said. "I….I think I've seen mine before."
Lightning looked at her. "Seen?"
"According to the legends, focuses aren't told to the l'Cie, but instead they are given to them in the state of dreams or visions." Sazh added as he climbed over a chunk of crystal.
"Do you remember much of what you saw?" Lighting asked Vanille
She contorted her face as she recalled the vision. "Not much of it, but I do remember seeing a huge, tall towering structure, and Coccon and…."
But she was cut off by Sazh who had finally managed to join them after climbing over the jumbles of crystal. "No way! You had the same vision? You saw Cocoon getting attacked by that tall thing?"
Vanille nodded and whispered. "Ragnarok." She recalled back to the legends of Ragnarok being the only being that the maker had created that could destroy Cocoon.
The look of shock on Lightning, Snow and Hope's faces was clear enough that they too had the same vision. "So from what we saw, how do we figure out our focus?" Lightning asked.
Vanille shifted nervously. "See, that's the thing, what we saw was the entire focus. In theory we're supposed to be the ones to interpret just how to go about making what we saw happen. If we can….we are granted eternal life…if not….well…you know."
"Ragnarok makes sense" Sazh added. "We are Pulse l'Cie now. Enemies of Cocoon. Our focus must have something to do with destroying it."
"Destroy it! No!" Snow yelled. "Our focus is to protect Cocoon. Serah made me promise I would protect Cocoon. That was her focus. And now our focus is to actually protect it. We can all do this together. We have to protect Cocoon!"
"From who exactly?" Vanille asked
Snow looked at her as if she were mental. "From Pulse of course! I'm going to find Serah. If we landed out here, she must have too. She can't be far." Without another word he raced down the pathway and out of sight.
Lightning sighed in frustration. "That bonehead never thinks before he acts. We'd best follow him and make sure he doesn't get himself killed."
As they trudged along the crystalline wasteland chasing after Snow, Sazh couldn't help but wonder just how somber the situation was. He kept asking himself "Why did kids' have to get dragged into this?" He repeatedly looked at Hope and Vanille. The two of the m looked to be around the ages of sixteen to nineteen. Certainly there was no reason for the Sanctum to drag innocent kids on the Purge train. Then there was Snow and Lightning, and as he had learned they were both twenty-one, newly made adults. They still had most of their lives to live out yet. None of this seemed fair.
He kept replaying it in his mind over and over. What were his mistakes? Following Lightning? Challenging a Pulse fal'Cie? Fighting for the one person left in the world he loved? No all of those reasons were perfectly acceptable to him. It was just a turn of bad luck that landed him in this position and he wanted to take a leaf out of Vanille's book and turn this into a positive thing. He decided he was going to use his new found magical abilities to finish what he went to the Vestige for in the first place.
Sazh was wrestling with these ideas while blindly following Lighting when he was pulled back to reality by Snow's voice. "Serah! Guys I found her!"
Instantly Lightning shifted into gear and ran toward Snow's voice. He was a way off but she could see him standing next to a chunk of crystal. A chunk of crystal that had a seemingly human shape. It really was Serah. By the time they had reached him he had already found a sharp piece of metal and was hacking away at the crystal that glued Serah's body to the frozen lake floor. Instinctively Vanille and Sazh grabbed metal shards and began to help him.
Lightning looked at her sister, frozen in time, for a long hard moment and with a sigh she whispered. "This is good-bye." She put her sword away and began to look for a way out of the frozen labyrinth.
"Good-bye?" Snow half yelled, half laughed. "What are you saying?"
"PSICOM will be here soon. Once they find us, we'll all be dead. You think Serah would want that?" Lightning retorted.
"We are l'Cie now. We can handle them. No one will die. I will protect us, Serah and Cocoon." Snow casually replied as he began to hack away at the crystal chunk once more.
Lightning could feel the anger boiling up within her again. How could this idiot talk like that. Serah was a frozen statue! She wasn't living, she wasn't breathing and she certainly couldn't hear them. Why couldn't he just give it up and leave her in peace so that she could finally rest. If they stayed there any longer PSICOM would arrive in masses and take them out. A few soilders they could handle, but with the fear of Pulse brewing on everyone's minds the Sanctum would send in the whole squad to eliminate them. Why couldn't he understand that. With her fist clenched she turned on him and swung.
Her fist connected with his jaw and she both felt and heard the sickening crack. "Does she look protected to you?" she screamed. When Snow stood up she punched harder and knocked him back down. "What can you possibly do? Look at her!" She was ready to punch him again but the grief for her sister flooded her heart and she collapsed to the ground doing anything it took to hold in the tears.
"You two are hopeless" Sazh whispered. "We want to help Serah too. But without proper tools, we could be digging for days. And with the army searching this area for any survivors, we're bound to be caught. I'd have to agree with Lightning, for now we pack up and move…but just for now."
"So you think I should just abandon Serah?" Snow yelled feeling more betrayed than angry.
"What about your focus?" Lightning questioned him. "What happened to banding together and saving Cocoon? Are you going to just drop that now and die here? You are nothing but talk." She stood up and began walking back down the pathway that lead them to where Serah's trapped body was.
"Lightning!" Snow growled, his fists clenched. "I will keep my promise. I will complete my focus and I will keep Serah safe."
Lightning couldn't help but snort. "Yeah…great job so far" without as much as a glance back.
Snow turned to his remaining companions. "Stay out of trouble. Go with her, get out of here. I'll stay here and protect her." Sazh and Vanille nodded and quietly went to chase after Lightning who was already out of sight.
Hope however hesitated. "Snow…I….you…"
"Save it for next time okay kiddo?" Snow said with a grin. "There will be a next time. Just get out of here while you can."
"But.."
"Its okay Hope. She may not seem it, but Lightning is a good person, she'll take care of you."
Hope nodded. "Yeah…okay" and he turned on his heel to catch up to Lightning, Sazh and Vanille pausing only for a moment to watch Snow pick up the metal shard he had been using before to continue to hack away at the woman he loved. Hope felt somewhat relieved that he didn't confront Snow but he also felt somewhat cowardly for the same reason. He could only hope that Snow was telling the truth about there being a "next time" because he was going to for sure confront him about his mother. Until then he could only wait and see what the future brought.
After hours of wandering through the crystalline like labyrinth, Lighting took pity on her companions and found a spot to sit down and rest for a bit. It was easy to see the exhaustion etched on their faces. They hadn't drank or eaten anything all day, and they had been going hours with no sleep.
"We can stay here for a little while, but we'll have to move soon." She announced.
"We can't just sit here and relax for a bit, maybe see if we can scrounge up some food" Sazh questioned.
"Sorry, but no. Take a peek over the side of that ledge and you'll understand why." Lightning responded.
Sazh, Vanille and Hope got down on their hands and knees and inched up to the edge of the cliff. With a gasp they knew exactly why they had to keep moving. PSICOM had arrived in full force. A full army ship had landed in a clearing among the crystalline cliffs. Hundreds of troops patrolled the area while hundreds more were sent out to search for any purge survivors and "finish the job".
"The must be searching for survivors…."Sazh stated. "I hope everyone made it out okay, but there's not going to be much more time. Once they make it to where we are, hiding isn't going to be an option, since most of this stuff is see-through"
Vanille frowned. "people really hate Pulse don't they?"
"Not hate" Sazh assured her. "Just fear it. Millions and millions of Cocoon citizens fear Pulse and they'll do anything to rid themselves of it."
"Even purge an entire town of innocent people just because they lived next to where a fal'Cie slept?" Vanille asked, tears forming at the corners of her eyes threatening to spill over.
"I know…its twisted, but the Sanctum fal'Cie did nothing to stop it. They are made to prevent human bad decision. If they let the Sanctum do something as twisted as that, then either the Sanctum fal'Cie are just as twisted, or they no longer care about humans anymore and they really do see us as tools."
"We don't have time!" Lightning cut in. "They're sweeping off the area. They're trying to trap the stragglers. If we don't move we'll be caught in their net. If we can get to their base undetected, maybe we can commandeer a travel ship and escape."
"And if we can't?" Hope asked.
"I'd rather not think about it"
One day ago….
Lightning looked at her sister in disbelief. Despite the table being stuffed with every one of Lighting's favorite foods that was carefully hand prepared by Serah earlier that day, the mood within the Farron house was tense. "So let me get this straight, you became a l'Cie and now you're marrying this idiot? You think I'm going to buy that?"
Serah averted her gaze to the floor, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Snow placed his hand around her and pulled her closer. "Now Lightning….listen to what she has to say. She really is a l'Cie. I saw her brand."
Lightning stood up from her chair. The food on the table remained untouched and was growing cold. "I don't want to hear it. Just remember…if you really are a l'Cie, I will have to be the one to deal with you." She stated hoping it would scare her sister enough to stop her from running around telling obnoxious lies like that. At least deep down, she hoped it was a lie.
Serah gasped. "Sis…."
"This is just ridiculous…worst birthday ever" Lightning retorted.
Serah trembled. She had hoped her sister would understand. She had hoped her sister would know the pain she was in, and she hoped Lightning would see that she truly did love Snow. It had taken all her courage to tell her sister those two things, in fact she wished upon the annual Bodhum fireworks the previous night that today would go well. Obviously her wish was not granted, but then again, the maker couldn't possibly gran everyone's wishes.
She let out a sob and ran from the room.
"Serah wait!" Snow called after her. He was about to chase after his future wife but thought it better to give her some time alone. Instead he turned on Lightning.
"Why won't you believe her?" Snow growled.
"Are you kidding" Lightning snorted as she crossed her arms. "Serah gets made a l'Cie and you pop the question? This whole thing is completely ridiculous." She wanted to scream as loud as she could, she wanted to punch this idiot man standing before her. She wanted to stop what was happening because it was ripping at the seams of everything Lightning had found stable in her life. Either way she was losing Serah. Whether it be to a fal'Cie or to Snow, she was going to lose her sister, the only family she had left.
"Stop it!" Snow yelled.
"No! You stop it" she screamed back louder as she slammed her hands on the table. "Get out of my house!"
There was a silence. Snow jumped at the sound of hostility in is soon to be sister in law's voice. After another awkward moment he sighed and said, "Fine, I'll protect her" and he turned on his heel and walked out of the room slamming the door behind him.
Lightning was left alone in the silence of the room with only her thoughts to keep her company. It was then that in her mind she started to plan out how she was going to save her sister. The only thing she could come up with was begging the fal'Cie that branded her to let her go. And so Lightning started to form a plan as to how she could maneuver around the army and save her sister.
"Lighting?" Vanille asked.
Lightning had been daydreaming, remembering how harsh she had been on Serah. She was lost in her memories of just what brought her and her companions in this predicament. It was only until Vanille repeatedly called her name while softly tapping her arm did she return back to reality.
"Oh, sorry" she whispered. "I was thinking about something."
"Did Serah ever tell you her focus?" Vanille wanted to know.
Lightning shook her head. "Not a word."
"Oh. I guess she didn't want to worry you."
"No, it's more like she didn't trust me." Lightning said finally.
"Guys" Hope interjected. "Where are we?"
The group looked around to see that they were standing in front of a pile of stone rubble. A massive pile of stone rubble. Lake Bresha, like the Hanging Edge used to be a very prosperous place to live, but after the war that cracked Cocoon's outer shell occurred thousands of years ago, the people refused to live anywhere along the edges. Entire cities used to float along the lake that lined the bottom of Cocoon. Now they were just empty graves.
"Looks like a temple of some sort" Sazh offered. "Long since abandoned. It might be a good place to hide from the army though. We can hide behind rock, at least that isn't see-through"
Lightning nodded. "For now. The army will be here soon if they aren't already." She began climbing the eroded stairway.
As it turned out, Lighting was correct. The army had already arrived and was busy doing a through sweep of the area. They hid behind piles of rubble as they observed the troops searching for any purge survivors. Every so often they'd report their findings back to their commander whom was probably located on the airship they had seen atop the cliffs.
"Do you think we can take em'?" Sazh questioned.
Lightning nodded. "This is only a small fraction of what they brought. If possible I'd like to sneak by undetected, but if we are spotted, this number shouldn't be any trouble for us l'Cie…that is until they call for back up."
"Hey!" Hope whispered in a hoarse voice. "Look over there! A travel ship. Do you think we can hijack it?"
"That's our ticket out of here" Lightning responded. "On my call, run to that thing as fast as you can. Take out any soldiers that come in your way. Hopefully by the time they notice us we'll already be in the ship and taking off. Ready….now!"
The four of them took off in different directions. Staying in a group meant a larger target to shoot and better chances of killing one of them. Unfortunately the soldiers were already on guard for any surviving purgee's that may try and escape.
"Halt!" one of the PSICOM troops yelled. His gun was raised as he aimed at Vanille. She was scurrying to hide behind another pile of rubble to avoid being shot, when she tripped over a stone and fell to her knees. "Don't move." The soldier said as he pointed the gun to the back of her head. The soldier surveyed his prey wondering how a girl like her could have survived a fall from the Hanging Edge, and that's when he saw it. The Pulse brand on her leg. "A l'Cie! He grabbed his communication unit and screamed. "WE HAVE L'CIE. REPEAT WE HAVE L'CIE"
Vanille used his hesitation as her escape and scurried to her feet and off toward the ship. Lightning and Sazh were already fighting a group of soldiers that had gathered around the entrance to the ship. Lightning was punching, kicking, and flinging every soldier that came at her across the room. Sazh was using his newfound l'Cie fire magic to fend off his share of soldiers. Hope was cowering in a corner behind a pile of stone unseen.
"Get in the ship!" Lightning yelled at Hope and Vanille. "Now! Get it started. We'll take care of these guys."
The two of them nodded and busted into the ship's door. "Do you know how to work this thing?' Vanille asked Hope as she raced to the control panel at the front. Through the window she could see Lighting and Sazh still fighting off soldiers. It wouldn't be long until the backup would arrive.
Hope looked at the complex array of switches. "Uh…I…I'm not sure. I've never flown one of these before."
Vanille was panic stricken. Any trace of her cheerful attitude had vanished. She began furiously pressing buttons. "One of these has to work."
"Move over carrot top" Sazh interjected. "I got this." He had left Lightning alone on the battle field to finish off the last of the soldiers. With the click of a few buttons and the flip of a switch the engine roared to life. "Lightning…lets go!" he yelled to her from the window.
Lightning nodded as she felt her foot connect with a soldier's abdomen. With grace she picked up her sword which had fallen to the floor mid combat and ran into the ship. "Go!" she screamed as she slammed the door shut behind her and buckled herself into a chair. Vanille and Hope were already buckled and anxiously awaiting takeoff.
The ship hovered a few moments and shot off into the distance. Sazh controlled the aircraft with ease. "How much time to we have?" he asked.
"Not much" Vanille replied. "They know we're l'Cie. One of them saw my brand and alerted the main ship. I wouldn't be surprised if they sent the whole army after us."
As if answering Vanille's statement, the sound of explosions filled the air and the ship rocked violently. "I'd say they know we took their ship" Sazh yelled as he fought to control it. Enemy ships flooded into his vision. They were trying to surround them.
Lightning unbuckled her seatbelt and lurched to the control panel taking control of the ships firing mechanisms. "You fly, I'll shoot" she instructed as she aimed the guns at one of the ships in front of them. They were flying over an abandoned floating city that loomed near the lake's edge. "We can lose them in the Peaks!" she said pointing to the area off the shore of Lake Bresha.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Sazh cried. "I can't fly through there."
"Then let me" Lightning snapped as she grasped ahold of the steering mechanism.
"No thank you" Sazh snapped. "You'll get us killed."
"If you don't manage to lose them, we'll die anyway."
The ship rocked more violently with each hit. The alarms within the ship were blaring. Hope sat cowering in his chair covering his eyes praying that it would end soon. Whether it be they escape, or they die, at least it would end.
With one final hit to the tail of the ship Sazh lost control. The ship refused to respond to his controls as it plummeted downward in the darkness below. "This is it, we're done" Sazh screamed. It was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out.
Snow was exhausted. His arms screamed in protest, as his hands became bruised and bled. The only thing keeping him alive at this point was his desire to free Serah. After hours of hacking away at the crystal he managed to free one of her feet from the crystal that glued her to the lake floor.
"Hang in there Serah!" was all he could repeat to himself over and over. It was the only thing that gave him a reason to keep smashing the metal shard into the solid rock. He had lost all perception of time. How long had it been since Lightning and the others left him? An hour? A day? All he knew was that he had to keep the rythmn he was in. Raise the weapon take a deep breath, and use all the force he could muster to smash it into the stone….then repeat. Over and over. Nothing mattered to him anymore. Either he would save Serah or he would die trying.
Just as he raised the metal shard again for another countless hit, a loud humming filled the air around him. "So" Snow thought, "The army has finally arrived".
Four travel ships whirred past him, their search lights pointing directly on him and Serah. Nevertheless he continued to work at what he was so focused on doing. It was only when the ships landed surrounding him did he toss aside the metal shard and face his opponents.
The PSICOM troops encircled Snow with their guns raised waiting for the signal to destroy this purge escapee. As they moved in closer, a radio came to life from who seemed to be the captain. "Sir, we have Pulse l'Cie down here."
"What?" The captain yelled in response. "The only l'Cie we were informed about was that Bodhum girl."
"We have four l'Cie retaliating right now!" Snow could hear Vanille's distinct scream over the intercom. "They are trying to commandeer a ship out of here.
"Well don't let them escape. Shoot them. My team will join you once we destroy the escapee we found and retrieve the l'Cie girl's crystalline body."
Snow clenched his fists. "Well then, if you want a l'Cie, then you'll have to fight one!" He pulled up his sleeve to reveal his brand.
The soldiers hesitated, and that was their mistake. Snow pounced on them punching and kicking whatever he came in contact with. He was running off of adrenaline, but even that wasn't enough to keep him going. He was exhausted from working so hard to free Serah. His punches became weaker, and his kicks were less accurate. He was slowly starting to lose this fight.
Then he felt it, a sharp pain on the back of his head. A soldier had whacked him in the head with his gun. It was enough to send Snow off balance as he fell to the ground.
"Pitiful l'Cie." The commander said as he raised his gun. "Rot in hell."
Snow wanted to give up. He wanted all of this to end, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Serah, sleeping peacefully encased in the crystal and he realized that he couldn't just give up and quit. He promised to protect Serah and Cocoon, so whatever that took to do it, he was going to do it until he drew his last breath.
His brand began to shimmer, pulsing a light blue color. It was dim at first, but grew darker and darker. The soldiers that had surrounded him backed up immediately as to not be touched by a cursed l'Cie or his magic.
"What's he doing?" a soldier asked from within the group.
"Don't touch him. Don't shoot him. You'll be cursed too." The commander yelled as he tried to back up faster.
The light around Snow grew larger and larger until it encompassed him. With a mere thought he sent the light blasting outward toward the PSICOM troops. Those who got caught up in the shockwave were blasted against the crystalline walls around them.
When the light cleared. Two women, twins, were standing in front of Snow. Their bodies seemingly made of ice and water. With a snap of their fingers soldiers turned to solid ice or were impaled by icicles made of crystal. A few soldiers tried to escape but they too were captured in another shockwave of l'Cie energy and killed on the spot.
Snow looked around in horror. "What's happening?"
The women turned to look at him. One was grinning and one was frowning. "We are the Shiva sisters" the smiling one said. "You're heart called upon us when it was in need the most."
The frowning sister continued. "We are a gift from the fal'Cie, given to l'Cie to help them accomplish their focus. If summoning us will not directly help you with your focus, then please do not call upon us."
"Can you help me save Serah?" Snow asked.
"We cannot." They replied in unison. "Saving that l'Cie means nothing to your focus. She does not need saving. She is a hero, she completed her focus, now let her rest in peace. She deserves it. Now, if you don't mind, we'll be taking our leave. Do not call upon us unless you really need it."
The two sisters melted into dust and the light on Snow's brand ceased glowing. Now the exhaustion had really set in. His body and mind were fatigued and he just wanted to rest for a bit. He collapsed on the ground surveying his brand which was causing his arm to tingle a bit. He would have curled up for a bit of a nap except he felt a presence.
All of the soldiers around him were dead, their blood staining the walls of the crystalized lake. Yet Snow could still feel a presence around him. It was almost as if after becoming a l'Cie, not only did he gain magical abilities but his senses seemed heightened in a way. He forced his eyes open and looked around for the presence. As it turned out the presence wanted to make itself known.
"So….the twin sisters?" It was a female voice with a thick accent Snow had never heard before. "I gotta hand it to you for being able to call them out…but I wouldn't gloat just yet."
Snow looked for the owner of the voice but could see nothing.
"There may come a time, when you might wish those soldiers ended it for you." A woman stepped out from behind a slab of crystal. She was tall, and dark skinned and tattooed. She wore a decorative blue sari that wrapped around her slender body. Her hair was bushy and slightly unkempt, but it was her eyes that Snow noticed first. They were an intense brown that reflected determination, strength and a twinge of pain. She carried a lance and placed the sharp edge against Snow's neck.
Soldiers filed out from behind crystal walls and surrounded him.
"So there are more of you, huh?" Snow said hoarsely.
The woman grinned cockily. "He's a l'Cie. Take him" she ordered to her men. They immediately dragged him to his feet and placed a gun at his back to make him walk.
"Get away from me" he yelled.
The woman looked him directly in the eye and whispered. "You want to keep breathing?" she didn't wait for his answer, "Then shut up, and come quietly."
Snow growled and sent spit fling in her face.
The woman's eyes immediately turned from intense, to angry. With a quick movement she shoved the side of her hand into Snow's neck and he felt the darkness that had been clouding the edges of his consciousness finally close in on him. The last thing he remembered seeing on the woman was a l'Cie brand on the upper portion of her right arm. It was different than his, but she was a l'Cie no doubt. Then he gave into the sleep that was calling him.