Chapter 2: Xynari

Lucille was deep in the darkness of unconsciousness. She couldn't feel anything, her vision was blank, and her acute hearing and sense of smell, for once in her life, not detecting anything. Tip. Tip. Her ear twitched. Was she imagining she could hear now? Tip. Tip. No, it was real, but how could she possibly be hearing it? Colors crept into her sight. The need to gasp arose at what she saw, but there was no energy to perform.

She saw herself dangling over a steel longsword that pinned her through the chest to some mystery object. Blood had streamed from the wound weaving down the orange checkered brigandine and armored leggings dripping off of the figure's right foot. Lucille, reclaiming more of her senses, limped over to herself, and went to take a hold of the sword. The copy's fingers twitched when Lucille had fully gripped the handle, and its head lifted slowly. Deep brown-red eyes stared at her with an eerie emptiness.

"Who are you?" The mithra asked, this person wasn't her. She and this woman were simply dying together.

"Not the last person you'll ever see." Blood misted through the air as Lucille tore the weapon from the woman's torso.

The adventurers paused at the intermediate of the Meriphataud and Sauromugue areas for a moment's reprieve. Aria swept her stray black hairs from her face as she panted. Almenont, carrying Karu-Manaru, was the last to join the rattled alliance. He dropped the enraged tarutaru at the reach of safety. When she went to hug Almenont, she realized the little black mage had been infuriated beyond words.

"Karu-Manaru, don't be so upset," Aria told him, "Sometimes bad things happen and we can't do anything about it. Wait a minute, weren't there eighteen of us?" She counted the ranks again, seventeen.

"There was!" Karu-Manaru let his anger seethe out of him, "She saved us, and you left her there to die!" He glared at Almenont.

Aria was startled by his accusation.

Almenont shouted at him, raising a hand, "She couldn't stand , let alone run. After using herself like that, she would have died before we even made it back to Jeuno. I wasn't going to risk everyone's lives after her sacrifice! If I had let you go back for her the yagudo would have slaughtered both of you!"

"Lucille was young, she would have pulled through in the end. You could have carried her, we're not pawns that you can just toss away the second we become an inconvenience." He fumbled around inside his robe pulling out a blue pearl, "If this is how the linkshell treats people, then I quit!" The object shattered into several tiny pieces as it smashed into the ground. Silence met his words, and a strong wind scattered the pieces across the land. His breathing heaved with his rage, "I promised to protect her, and that's what I'm going to do." He dashed off, back toward Castle Oztroja.

Almenont turned to see grim and disgusted faces behind him. Everyone but Aria continued on to Jeuno, "That's why you were carrying him, wasn't it? To keep him from trying to save Lucille." She covered her mouth with one hand as if she was going to be sick. Tears quivered in the corners of her eyes while she looked at him. He tried to take a hold of her arm, but she pulled away, "She couldn't have been older than twenty, barely an adult, and you left her to die alone in agony."

"It wasn't so cut and dry, Aria, I was trying to protect the group..."

"From what?" she demanded, "I can't do this, I can't even look at you anymore." Aria pushed her way past him chasing after Karu-Manaru.

"Mngh.." her red eyes opened to slits, the world was so bright, and her limbs felt numb. "Where am I?" The realization came crashing down upon her, she had been attacked alongside her clanmates by cowards. The yagudo had stolen her sword from its sheath as their first move. Without any weapon she was quickly defeated and her clanmates had fled for their own lives the moment she was impaled. When her vision came to focus, she didn't understand what she saw. Her sword still protruded from her breast, but she remembered that woman saving her. It had just happened, yet here she was dangling above the ground. "Damn," 'If I remove it, I bleed to death, if I leave it, I bleed to death slowly.' A figure caught her attention, it lay not far from her. 'That's her!' The mithra's eyes were closed and her robes had been soaked through with blood. They looked so similar to each other it was uncanny. They were so close to each other that in a few moments their blood would meet, and when it did the armored mithra pulled the sword from herself, cutting her hands in the process.

Lucille's eyelids tightened before she started to open them.

"You're finally coming around, I see, I will fetch the chieftainess." A light flashed for a moment as the woman who had spoken left. The door was a dangling piece of a soft hide. Where was she? In some kind of hut? There was a long ash colored desk like table cluttered with various beastly remains, crystals, and glass vials. The sheets on the unluxurious bed were an assortment of animal skins, and ragged cloths covered the single window. She covered her eyes as the light flashed once again.

"You've been unconscious for a full day, I was afraid you may never wake up." The woman standing before her was like looking in a mirror. She had added a headdress to her garb. It had been made of carrion crow feathers with two rarab tails dangling by the sides of her face paired with two yagudo feathers each.

"Are we in Windurst?" she guessed based on the construction of the small hut.

"Close but no prey. This is my village between the Sarutabaruta and Tahrongi Canyon areas. Welcome friend, to the Clan of Roaring Skies." She smiled, "I am the chieftainess, Xynari 'Stormdancer' Chanoix."

She forced herself to sit up, "I didn't realize there was a mithra clan settled on the Mindartia continent. My name is Lucille Beiremie."

"Most don't know of us, which is the way it must stay. Its a pleasure to meet you, Lucille."

"Thank you, Chieftainess Chanoix, for rescuing me from certain death, although I'm not sure how you did."

"Please, call me Xynari or Stormdancer. And I did nothing but move you here, the clan Skysinger found no injuries on you to tend. In fact, I believe you were the one to save us both, when I lifted you my wounds were healed. But that's a question for later, right now," she grinned, baring one of her fangs, "I believe we have some catching up to do, dear sister."

Author's Note: Because the tale of separated sisters is totally not a plot point that's been beaten to death...

Anyways, I have actually written about eight more chapters that are complete, but before I embarrass myself by posting them and no one likes the story, I REALLY need at least one person to let me know they like it before I post more. Just anything really... a favorite? a review? a review that's one word: "more"?