Titan Rising Part III
There was an uneasy silence among the six that were taking shelter in the safest part of the ruins they could find. They had started a fire and had shared the remaining food they'd brought along with them since the crash in the Subterra. Hope had taken first watch, but Fang had joined him for the fresh air. The other remained inside.
"She's asleep?" Lightning asked Vanille who was sitting near Alva who was curled up against the wall on a bedroll.
"Yeah." Vanille replied with an affirmative, adjusting the bedroll to cover the smaller girl's shoulders, "Seems like she's having bad dreams though." The Oerban made her way back to the fire to sit next to the soldier, "You think Eve is okay?"
"I don't know." Lightning replied honestly. Her shoulder was pretty much healed but it had hurt like hell, like a burning hot poker had done the job—and the Cie'th had only managed to graze her. She'd seen the Cie'th's talons rip right through Eve's shoulder as it clawed for Alva. The only reason it took off with Eve was probably because it's grip had been too tight—it's claws too deep in the older girl's shoulder to drop her before escaping out of range.
"How's the shoulder." Vanille asked, noticing the pinkette thoughtfully rolling it.
"It's fine." Lightning assured, grateful for the other woman's concern but not interested in drawing attention to it, "You should get some rest, we're leaving first light."
"What about you?" Vanille was already getting comfortable, sitting against a mossy rock.
"I'm about to go and relieve Hope from watch."
"But you've only slept for two or three hours after I healed you." The Oerban protested subtly, "The wound is closed but you were injured. You need the rest."
"It was enough." Lightning admitted, shifting her gaze from the crackling fire to Vanille whose face showed disbelief at the words, "Alva's not the only one having a hard time getting good sleep." The pinkette decided to add, taking the chance that it would convince the other woman sleep wasn't really an option.
"I see." Came an uncharacteristically short and accepting response. Lightning had to admit, she'd expected Vanille to push the subject. And though she'd never admit it, she'd felt a slight pang of disappointment that the smaller woman hadn't asked. Ten years ago she may have played the strong and silent card but over the years Lightning learned that telling others what you were thinking didn't always signify weakness. And that by merely saying it aloud, and have someone listen, was enough to lighten the burden of whatever it may have been.
The pinkette found herself curious of the other woman's actions as the Oerban merely nodded before continuing to get comfortable against her rock, "Well, as much as I'd like to pry for information, I don't have as much stamina as you and am luckily a heavy sleeper." Vanille closed her eyes as a smile touched her lips, "Maybe you can find someone else to share with."
Lightning knew a hint when she heard one. She almost scoffed at Vanille's suggestion but instead shook her head and let it go, getting to her feet to go and relieve Hope from watch. Had Vanille always been so deviously insightful? Perhaps the ability to look past her own need to deal with everything herself—which had again, come with age—enabled Lightning to only notice it now.
Making her way out and up onto the slanted roof where Hope had been sitting watch, Lightning registered how chilly it had gotten.
"Hey Light, how's the shoulder."
"The same as the last time you asked me, Hope." The Commander replied, leaning against the bent tree half-hanging off the edge of the building. The First Lieutenant chuckled, stretching his arms, "Get inside, get warm and get some rest." The pinkette instructed. As Hope got up, gave a wave and headed inside, she cleared her throat before looking upwards, "You should too, Fang."
There were no moons in the sky. The storm occluded all light from the moons and stars. Yet there was a glow about the ruins. As if the stones themselves let out an eerie glow. Not just the stones, small specs of light in the tree illuminated the figure sitting in it. Above Lightning, in one of the larger branches of the tree, Fang sat; her hands behind her head, legs crossed, looking comfortable in a position no one other than her could have looked comfortable in.
"Is that an order, Commander Farron?" Came the teasing words in a tired voice. Lightning merely moved to sit in the small cluster of rock Hope had been sitting in—oddly comfortable, all things considered.
"And if it were?" Lightning decided two could play at that game. She sat up briefly to adjust the position of the gunblade holstered behind her. She heard Fang jump from the tree and land at the base a few feet away. As she sat back, she had to mask a small intake of breath at the sight of the glimmering lights behind Fang's profile. The taunting question remained unanswered—though of no real concern to either of them.
"Listen, Fang," Lightning began eventually but found it hard to continue, "About what I said-"
"What, that you loved me?" Fang cut her off, voice shaky but most definitely resolute, "After we nearly got swallowed by the world? After ten years? Out of the blue?" The pinkette remained silent. If the only way Fang could sort out her feelings was to rant them out, so be it, "What about it, Light? You say you're giving me time to figure out—we don't have time!" To Lightning's slight amusement, the Oerban began to pace, "We're risking our lives, heading towards god-knows-what—with little to no idea of what we're going to do once we get to it, by the way. I just..." Fingers ran through dark, unruly locks, "I don't even know what to think anymore."
"Believe me, I know the feeling." Lightning mumbled. It didn't go unheard by Fang.
"Do you?" The warrior asked, disbelieving. Lightning stared hard into dark eyes. Finding only resolve behind them, she realized Fang wasn't going to back down this time.
"Sure I do, Fang." Lightning crossed a leg over the other and leaned back in her seat, "Orphan, Barthandelus, death of Cocoon—different circumstances but an equally end-of-the-world level situation-"
"I didn't suddenly... profess my love for you-!"
"No, you didn't!" Lightning cut Fang off before her voice could reach a yell, "I didn't have anything to give me any sort of clue to what I was feeling." In an instant Lightning could feel her own memories start to hit her like mini Pulse-shifts.
"You think you did me a favor by telling me-?"
"I didn't say that." Lightning corrected, "It probably wouldn't have mattered at the time." She looked away, "It really shouldn't matter now."
"The hell it shouldn't!" Fang stepped towards the pinkette, "I go to sleep and I wake up ten years later." Another step, "And as if the world ending-" Another step, "-again, wasn't enough, you drop your confession on me?" Fang was now only about a foot and a half away from where Lightning was sitting, "You can't have any idea what that's like!"
"And you have no idea what it's like to realize the person you care about most is gone." Lightning all but jumped to her feet to stand directly in front of Fang, "You think figuring it out is hard? Try finding the answer only to have somebody else have to sacrifice it." Cerulean crashed with forest green, "And do nothing but watch because it was something that had to be done."
Lightning found her nails digging into her palms, her fists were clenched so tight. She tore her gaze from Fang, loosening her fingers, "I've gone from living years with heartache to bearing the guilt from healing from it—from letting you go." She let out a defeated sigh, "And now you're here." The soldier shook her head and cleared her throat. She'd lost control—said too much, "So don't tell me I can't not know what to th-mmph-"
She found herself no longer able to move her lips. When she fully comprehended the reason why, she found herself no longer able to breathe. Fang's lips were on hers. Fang was kissing her. And she had begun to kiss back. Wait-
"Wait-" The soldier pulled away.
"You keep going on-" Fang's hands were now around her waist, pulling the pinkette closer "-about how long you've waited-" A peck to the corner of her mouth, "Now you're-", A gently bite of her bottom lip "-planning to wait longer?" With each touch of Fang's lips against her skin, Lightning grew more and more disoriented. The soldier's self-control slowly became unhinged at the lack of chill, now replaced with a tantalizing heat between her and the warrior, "Talk, talk, talk..." Lightning could feel the other woman's breath on her lips, "...and all we do is run in circles."
"What are you doing, Fang?" Lightning barely managed a whisper in a final, feeble attempt to keep control. She was using most of her strength to keep her legs from buckling under her. She gazed into the pools of dark green, so close she could see herself in them.
"Figuring it out." Fang stated, a hand moving to cup the side of Lightning's face. There was nothing but truth in her eyes as she spoke, "My way." She added before leaning in again.
Before Lightning's eyes fluttered closed, she could have sworn she saw that gleam in Fang's eyes that had disappeared the moment she'd confessed to her. That playful arrogance Fang displayed when she was absolutely sure she was right about something. Putting two and two together, Lightning didn't hesitate to kiss back this time.
Soft, rough, tentative, passionate. Fang's lips on hers was too much for Lightning to even begin to describe. Giving up on trying, she let herself go and just lost herself in touch. No confusion, no anger, no guilt. The both of them continued just feeling until they both felt the aching pain in their chests from the lack of air. Reluctantly pulling away once more—if only just enough to breath—both women remained silent as they savored the moment.
"Figure it out?" Lightning whispered after a long moment.
"I might've," Fang replied through a smirk as their foreheads touched, "We may need to do that a couple more times to be sure..." Her grin only widened when she received a small laugh in response. Lightning's laugh. Lightning never laughed, "That good huh?"
"Maybe little... too good." Lightning added, suddenly distracted. Fang noticed the pinkette confused expression and slowly became aware of the reason for it. They were no longer standing on the ruin building, surrounded by dimly glowing stone, under a glimmering tree. She pulled away enough to scan the area around them. They were on an open stretch of rock, dead grass under their feet, dust and fog in the air. Large rocks littered the ground around them. At a closer inspection of one near them, Fang realized they weren't rocks, they were bodies.
"What the hell is this?" She muttered, "A Pulse-shift? Another memory?"
"It's mine." The answer brought Fang's eyes back to the pinkette still half in her arms. She noticed Lightning looking past her. Turning around slowly, she looked up to see the blurry silhouette of a massive broken tower behind the fog.
"Taejin's Tower." Fang turned to Lightning who'd broken away from her, "Light, this is-" A scream pierced the air, cutting Fang off. Before Fang could react, Lightning darted off, running fast in the direction of the scream, "Light, wait!" Fang called as she took off after the her. Maneuvering around the many bodies on the ground, Fang followed the pinkette up a small rock path and onto a large cliff area. She skid to a halt, where she saw Lightning had stopped. Following the soldier's gaze, she took a sharp intake of air at what she saw
The fog was preventing her to seeing everything clearly but she recognized that dual-light-bar shoulder-guard and red cape anywhere. Lightning of the past was fighting something off, something big. Exactly what it was she couldn't tell, it was farther into the fog than she could make out. Cowering a few feet from the fight, nearer to them, was a small figure. A girl. Looking closely, it was unmistakable the girl was a young Eve.
"Light-" Fang began, her eyes returning to Lightning's past-self fending off the giant silhouette. She didn't finish as she saw something lash out, catching the memory of Lightning off guard. Another attack by the creature and Fang's breath caught in her throat, this time in horror, as she saw blood fly.
"Araaagh!" Lightning next to her cried out, clutching her patched eye and falling to one knee. Fang immediately went to assist, steadying the soldier who growled in pain.
"Light..." She tried to check on the soldier's eye but she was twisting in what she could only imagine was intense pain, "Light, your eye..." The pinkette continued to struggle as Fang attempted to move her hand away. Eventually she did and saw the trail of blood dripping down Lightning's face from under the eyepatch, "No..." Glancing back up towards the memory. She saw the silhouette of the creature prepare for another attack. Lightning of the past was still on the ground, in pain, much more so than her present counter part who was still able to kneel and keep herself upright.
"STOP!" Another shrill scream filled the air and a blast of light hit the creature before it could attack again. Both Fang and Lightning looked to see Eve, now standing up with her hands outstretched, a faint yellow glow around her. As the glow faded, she fainted, falling over onto her side. As she did so, the creature seemed to back away. It turned and ran, not directly at Fang and Lightning but in their direction. They still couldn't get a good enough look to see it clearly as it disappeared behind a large rock formation.
"Light?" Fang asked, feeling the pinkette rise to her feet. She followed Lightning closely, still aware of the wound in her eye. As they drew nearer to the rock formation there was a flash of yellow and a choked sob from where the creature should have been. As the two of them climbed around the rockpile, their eyes widened at the sight.
Lying in a pile of what looked like rags; shivering and whimpering against the rocks; was a girl even smaller than Eve. Though matted in dirt and presumably blood, her hair was unmistakably white. Her tear-filled eyes were a dull gold.
"Eve isn't the guardian." Lightning whispered, "Alva is." Fang swallowed thickly at the implications of the realization as the memory began to fade.
At the same time, in a different place, a pair of eyes shot open after seeing the same memory. One blue, one green, both filled with tears as they began turning a deep red.
A/N:
I have nothing witty or random to say at the moment.
I think it has something to do with the fact I am at work right now...