Ask and Tell
Stifling a yawn, Lightning continued to check the cargo crates that were being loaded into the shuttle. It was just about 6:40 in the morning. She'd barely slept at all the night before. The meeting with the Council had been taxing enough—even if she had achieved what she wanted. The rest of the night she'd spent preparing for the journey to the Faultwarrens via Oerba Neo. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in a metal panel of the shuttle. With her new rank came a new uniform. It wasn't much different from her old one, the plates on her shoulders were different—unique to her—each one laced in gold, sporting deep red crystals. In addition to the shoulder plate, her left shoulder had a brace upon which hung a crimson sash, falling just above her knees.
Her attention leaving her reflection, she saw Hope leading a rather tired-looking pair of Oerbans toward her. The First Lieutenant reached her first, saluting with the respect a soldier reserves for an officer much higher rank than them. Fang and Vanille joined them as the pinkette returned the gesture. The taller Oerban let out an impressive yawn while Vanille merely looked as if she were sleep walking.
"It looks good on you." Hope spoke first, motioning to the new military attire Lightning had on. She glanced down briefly before shrugging.
"It's the influence I needed, not the new set of clothes."
"That's what was wrong!" Vanille's voice pierced the air, taking everyone off guard. Lightning noticed the small Oerban was no long at Fang's side but rather behind her, playing with her sash, "Your cape was missing! I had thought something was off... you didn't have your cape before!" Jaw tightening, the pinkette sidestepped away, pulling her sash out of Vanille's grasp.
"It's not a cape." Lightning cleared her throat, returning her focus to the manifest in her hands, "Besides, I'd better off without it, it'd just get in my way."
"Didn't seem to bother you much ten years ago." Fang teased, earning an icy look from the pinkette.
"I outgrew it."
"So take it off." Lightning didn't think she could glare any harder than she was at Fang, "Admit it, Sunshine, you love the little red cape fluttering behind you as you jumped and flipped, kickin' ass and takin' names-!" Taking a slow, deep breath, Lightning refused to play Fang's games that morning.
"I'm going to drop off the flight-logs and schedule." The pinkette turned and head toward the nearby hanger, leaving Hope with a pouting Vanille and a unsatisfied Fang.
As she powered down the datapad in her hands, Lighting sighed and shook her head. How on Earth had she been able to put up with Fang's antics ten years ago? She forced herself not to think about it, deciding it wasn't the time for any walks down memory lane.
"Officer Farron!" A voice called from her left. Turning to see DeFluo walking over, an arm around her sister, helping her along. So much for staying away from memory lane.
"Lance Corporal." Lightning greeted the younger officer. Her gaze dropped to DeFluo's younger sister. The smaller girl had dropped to practically hide behind DeFluo. Though she hid behind her older sister, the girl had an almost-scowl on her face. The pinkette raised an eyebrow. DeFluo looked just as confused.
"Alva?" The smaller girl remained behind the Lance Corporal, "Sorry, ma'am, she's... not usually like this—Alva, don't be rude."
"It's alright, DeFluo." Lightning said, raising a hand, "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you. About training, I'll be flying out of the city for a few days, Another training officer will be assigned to the class while I'm away." The pinkette motioned to the young officer, "I'll have you report to them until I return." A confused look crossed DeFluo's face to which Lightning raised an eyebrow, "Will... that be a problem, DeFluo?"
"N-No ma'am just... I thought you'd have been informed by now," The Lance Corporal explained, revealing the large duffel she'd been carrying on her back that Lightning had failed to noticed, "My sister and I will be joining you." Lightning blinked a few times.
"Alva!" Vanille's voice once again pierced the silence and the awkward moment. The small Oerban practically pounced on the younger DeFluo.
"Morning Vanille." Alva managed to get out, giggling a little. Lightning wasn't sure what to think of the drastically different attitude the youngest of them had towards Vanille as she had towards her, "Ah, that coulda been... bad."
"Sorry, sorry!" Vanille apologized, looking down as Alva pulled up the loose shirt she had on to reveal a large bandage around her torso.
"It's okay, it's just that the stitches have already been replaced twice today."
"That's because you kept jumping around." The Lance Corporal rolled her eyes. She smiled at Alva's pout but quickly remembered the prior conversation with Lightning. Clearing her throat, she addressed the Oerban, "Vanille could you maybe watch Alva for a while?"
"You bet!" Came the excited response, followed by a small yelp as the orange-haired girl pulled Alva away. Lightning didn't miss DeFluo's concerned wince as the two ones moved away.
"My apologies, ma'am," The Lance Corporal's voice grew even more serious as she apologized and began to explain, "My sister recovered from the blood loss. Her wound is already almost healed." DeFluo's eyes dropped from the pinkette's, "But there were... unusual readings with her blood. She's poisoned—the creature who wounded her is most likely the source." Lightning looked over at Alva. Her expression was bright and she showed little signs of pain but her movements were slow, sluggish and stiff, "The medics at CRYSIS couldn't figure out what it was and they said it'd take at least a few days to analyze the virus before even thinking about a possible cure."
"What are the symptoms?" Lightning asked, still observing Alva.
"So far just a weakened body. She gets bouts of dizziness every so often and her appetite has all but disappeared." As she turned back towards the Lance Corporal, Lightning recognized the concerned older sister look well, "I was told there's was a chance a salve could be made to counteract the virus using certain... components that are native to the region south-east of here-"
"Oerba Neo." Lightning sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, "And who exactly gave you this information?" Before she answered, the Lance Corporal glanced over at Vanille. The pinkette sighed again, "You're risking taking your sister out of the city where she can at least be kept stable, because of something you heard from a complete stranger?" Lightning wasn't meaning to be harsh; she just found it odd that DeFluo would trust the fate of her sister—whom she obviously cared a lot about—to Vanille. She shook her head, stopping the strange attempts and at explanation before they began, "Even so, you'd need approval before you-"
"She has approval." A voice responded for DeFluo. The two women were met by Amodar who stopped to stand next to the Lance Corporal, "I gave it to her." Lightning once again found herself not quite able to form words, "I'm not about to let a child suffer if there's a chance she could be cured." Lightning frowned. While she didn't disagree with the General, she certainly wasn't convince that was his full intention.
"Sir-?"
"And it's another head for your investigation," Amodar continued, "Better suited too, considering her... insight to the matter." The pinkette continued to look between the General and Lance Corporal, "Also, since you were so adamant on her testing the A-L prototype..." He lifted a case he'd been carrying, "Consider it a field test."
"I don't plan on running into trouble." Lightning frowned again.
"You never do, it runs into you, Farron." Amodar chuckled in response, "Or should I address you as 'Commander' now?" The pinkette rolled her eye. DeFluo's expression of surprise didn't escape her notice, "Will... this be a problem, Commander?"
"The rank isn't just for show, Amodar," Lightning challenged, "It comes with greater influence and power." The General just let out another light laugh before he more or less forced the case into her hand.
"And you know what they say about great power." He turned briefly to DeFluo, who's eyes were still glued on the pinkette, "Lance Corporal."
"General." DeFluo snapped out of it just in time to salute Amodar as he turned and walked away. The two younger officers watched him for a few moments. DeFluo turned back toward Lightning first. Lightning caught her eyes, resisting the urge to roll hers again. Damn you, Amodar
"I... look forward to working with you..." the Lance Corporal saluted again as Lightning began to lug the case back towards the shuttle, "...Commander Farron." DeFluo added at the last moment. Stopping for only a moment, Lightning's jaw tightened as she grumbled under her breath before leading the younger woman to the shuttle.
Watching the scene unfold while waiting for the shuttle to depart, were Hope and Fang. While the Oerban warrior's pacing looked like impatience, it was really more like irritation. She didn't need to have heard what the two female officers had been talking about to know the younger of the two would be joining them. The arrival of the General only confirmed her suspicions. She knew that was the situation and she knew it bothered her. What she didn't know, was exactly why.
"So, I gotta ask," Fang finally spoke, aiming to take her mind of the irksome itch in the back of her mind, "What's with the eye patch?" She motioned with her head, over her shoulder toward the group of military personnel. Hope glanced at them before giving Fang a small smile.
"Don't you think that's something you should be asking her?"
"You think she'd tell me?" Fang retorted.
"Well I don't know," Hope shrugged, "From what I remember, you were always very persuasive, if not persistent."
"I'd rather keep my limbs attached, thank you very much." The second verbal counter earned her a laugh from the soldier.
"Well I don't know much more than what was in the reports and debriefings." He explained, though noticing the look on Fang's face, he realized even that was probably enough. He sighed and leaned against the shuttle, "After what happened on Cocoon—what happened to you and Vanille—Light took it a little harder than the rest of us. It manifested itself in recklessness." Hope began to tell, "She would leave on missions solo; disappear for days at a time. She completely closed herself off and shut everyone out."
"Sounds a little familiar if you ask me." Fang raised an eyebrow as she recalled the pinkette's behavior from before her crystal sleep.
"No." Hope disagreed seriously, shaking his head, "No, this was different from before." Something in his voice told Fang what he said was the truth.
"Anyway, not long after it was founded, CRYSIS got a report about an attack on Taejin Tower—one of the larger outposts CRYSIS had built; mainly to protect Oerba Neo without establishing too great a presence in the village." Hope added the extra explanation in response to Fang's raised eyebrow, "The outpost had been attacked by an unknown creature—enough to have damaged its comm. systems. Light was off-duty at the time, taking her leave in Oerba Neo but somehow she managed to get her hands on the report."
"And let me guess, she went out there alone." Fang stated more than ask. And Hope didn't really need to answer her.
"By the time she got there, there was no one left." He continued, "No one but a small child; a girl, nine—maybe ten years old—supposedly trying to escape through The Palisades towards Sulyya Springs." Fang remained silent through her confused curiosity, "By the time Light found her she'd already fallen into shock. She couldn't shed any light on what exactly happened."
"And the creature?" Fang had to ask.
"It showed up as Light was taking the girl out of there." Hope cast his eyes downward, "She took it on. By herself. It took her eye." There was a long moment of silence between the two.
"She killed it though?"
"Not as far as we know." Hope answered vaguely, shaking his head, "Either way it almost took more than just her eye. Lightning spent a little under a month in a coma. And by the time she woke up, she barely remembered anything from the encounter." Fang attempted to imagine a creature that could've wounded the pinkette so severely, "She did remember the girl, but by then she'd been taken in by one of the orphanages in the city."
"Where is she now?"
"General Amodar was the one that made all the arrangements for the child, but he never kept up any records."
"But... he thinks it's her." Fang theorized, motioning towards the group of soldiers, still discussing amongst themselves.
"He's does." Hope answered, recalling the brief conversation he'd had with the General the night before regarding the Lance Corporal, "She's the right age, was raised in the same orphanage, and nothing's known about her before she'd arrived."
"What about her sister? She wasn't at the tower." Fang investigated further, her gaze now shifted to her Oerban companion and the younger girl in question.
"No, but orphans often form strong sibling-like bonds, particularly if they're brought to an orphanage around the same time—which they were, according to Alva's records." Hope sighed, pushing off the side of the shuttle, noticing Lightning and DeFluo had finished their conversation with Amodar and were heading back in their direction, "It's all speculation though. Like I said, the source of all this information is basically... badly-written paperwork."
"Anyone asked her about it?" Fang turned to the First Lieutenant, referring to DeFluo. Hope blinked a couple of times before turning to stare at Fang. The look of stunned realization on his face and his lack of response caused the Oerban to laugh and shake her head, "Yeah..." She pat his back as she moved to call Vanille over.
Hope groaned as he felt a strange case of dejavu washing over him.
A/N:
Oooooh, Hope got facepwnd again X3
Light kinda got facepwnd by Amodar-but really, she's too cool to be truly facepwnd. Yet she's so easily teased =\
You gotta admit, 'Sergeant Major Farron' doesn't have quite as much ring to it as 'Commander Farron' does. Yes? Yes?
Fun fact: I spent exactly 12 minutes and 42 seconds looking for the name of the area just before Taejin's Tower.
Anyhow, at least there's... kinda an answer to at least one question... sorta... maybe... I dunno...
Yay for Spiderman references! ...or something.