The Shelter of Night
The smooth velvet curtain of night fell softly over Altera, submerging the island in a sea of stars as a faint campfire flickered on the plains. Having taken a full three hours to recover from their exhaustion, Elsword and Aisha grumbled as they finished off their dinner, sitting as far away from one another as possible and scowling bitterly.
"Hey, are you still not talking to us?" Rena leaned forward and peered over at Aisha, trying to meet her eyes and having little success.
"No." Aisha took a swig of water and glanced away. "You could've at least pulled us apart instead of leaving me laying next to him and laughing at us the whole time."
"Ah, sorry..." Rena smiled brightly and without a mote of remorse in her voice. "I heard somewhere that it's dangerous to move people when they pass out like that, that's all~"
Aisha glared at her skeptically. "Really? That doesn't sound right at all..."
"Of course it's right." Rena glanced aside, avoiding Aisha's gaze, "It's ancient Elven medical advice."
"Hm..." Aisha was not convinced. Still, she was more upset that she'd had to pass out next to Elsword in the first place, so Rena's teasing seemed a minor inconvenience by comparison.
"Well, I'm off to bed then. Goodnight everyone!" Rena hopped to her feet and unrolled her sleeping bag, laying down just beyond the firelight and bundling herself up tightly against the cold. As she left, Raven furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Does she always rush off to sleep like that?"
Elsword nodded. "Yeah, pretty much every time." He shoveled a handful of applebread into his mouth and pushed himself up to his feet, taking his sword in hand and turning toward the empty plains. "I'm gonna go practice for a while." Unconsciously, he glanced aside to Aisha who promptly scoffed and tore off a chunk of jerky with her teeth.
Sensing their obvious agitation with one another, Raven smiled faintly and nodded. "Alright. Be careful."
Elsword nodded and marched off into the dark. Across the campfire, Aisha watched as Eve busied herself with a pile of scrap metal and spare parts, carefully piecing together the remnants of nasod weapons into a pair of electrified lances. With his dinner finished and sleep still far from his eyes, Raven rose to his feet and headed off silently into the shadows.
A mist of silvery sweat shimmered in the moonlight as Elsword thrust his blade at an invisible foe, spinning quickly and slashing across the horizon and thrusting his free hand forward to deliver a small gasp of flame. As his sword swung around to his side, he felt his balance wavering and he shifted his feet back, scowling and clenching his fists.
"Damn it... still too slow..."
"You aren't used to using just one hand, are you?"
Elsword turned back abruptly and saw Raven standing just a few yards away, half covered in a soft shadow as the moonlight gleamed off of his left arm. As he stepped out into the open, Elsword turned away and grimaced.
"I know what I'm doing."
Raven crossed his arms and glared firmly. "That's obvious. You wouldn't have made it this far if you didn't."
Ignoring him, Elsword returned to his drills and resumed his broad, unbalanced strikes, panting as he struggled to cover the openings in his defense with a quick burst of flame. Still unsteady from his earlier exhaustion, he was accomplishing little more than wearing himself ragged. Impressed by the sheer tenacity of his efforts, Raven smiled faintly and approached.
"...Practice alone isn't anywhere near as good as sparring." Raven drew his sword and tilted it toward the ground. Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, Elsword glanced down at Raven's blade and grinned.
"Heh... fine, but you're gonna get hurt if you use somethin' that small."
Raven glared, his gaze a mix of stern conviction and deference as he lifted his sword. "Only if I stand still for ten minutes."
Still grinning, Elsword swung down strongly and Raven blocked his blow with the middle of his blade, giving only an inch as Elsword pulled his blade back and thrust it forward. In a single motion, Raven stepped aside and swept his sword across the ground, striking out at Elsword's feet and forcing him to jump back into a defensive stance. Shifting the momentum of his blade fluidly from one strike to the next, Raven kept Elsword on guard as the sharp ring of steel clashing against steel fell across the plains like the clattering of hail. Bending his knees and tightening his grip, Elsword swung out and cast Raven's blade aside, leaping back in an attempt to regain his composure.
"You're right handed, aren't you?" Raven stared down at Elsword's blade, trembling slightly as it hung in his left hand. Staring blankly, Elsword's mouth shifted to the side in confusion.
"Yeah, so?"
Raven turned his wrist lightly and relaxed his right arm. "It's throwing you off balance. When you swing with your right, you've got too much power behind it, and your left isn't strong enough to use the blade quickly. If you train with your left side instead of the right, you won't fall off balance so easily."
Elsword grimaced, but he said nothing. Mostly because he knew that Raven was right. Digging his feet into the ground, he rushed forward, slashing broadly with both hands as Raven just barely blocked the immense weight of his blade. Sliding around behind, Elsword spun on his feet and delivered a firm overhead strike, only to find Raven ready to parry the blow handily. Seizing his only option for a counterattack, Elsword pulled his left hand away and thrust it forward, punching Raven firmly in the gut. At that moment, however, Raven didn't double over and instead reached forward with his left arm and grabbed Elsword's weapon, yanking it away swiftly and leaving him unarmed. Very quickly, his mood darkened.
"What the hell... if we were fighting for real you'd be dead already."
Raven released Elsword's blade and stepped aside, returning his sword to its sheath. "Not if I were a nasod. We're not fighting humans here."
"So?" Elsword retrieved his blade and rolled his shoulders. "I'dve gotten you anyway."
"That's not the point." Raven's eyes glistened fiercely as he glared at Elsword. "We're not fighting just to kill our enemies. Staying alive here... That's the most important thing."
"Heh..." Elsword leaned over on his sword as sweat dripped from the tips of his hair.
"Hm?"
"Nah... I just didn't expect to hear that from somebody like you."
Raven smiled weakly and closed his eyes as he recalled how brash and destructive he had been when Elsword had first met him. After a moment's rest, Elsword sat back on the soft, feathery grass and dropped his elbows onto his knees. After a few seconds, Raven walked over and joined him. Staring out at the shimmering river running through the night sky, the two swordsman sat quietly as the cool sea breeze washed across their faces.
"You're stronger than I expected, especially for your age." Raven gazed aimlessly at the swarms of fireflies fixed along the veil of night. Beside him, Elsword simply nodded.
"I'm a knight after all. I gotta be this strong or I'd just be some kid with a sword." He stretched his neck out to the side and then dropped his head back against his shoulders again. "You're still way stronger though. Nobody's ever blocked me like that with anything that light."
Chuckling lightly, Raven smiled to himself as a shooting star sailed over the edge of the sea. "I doubt that..."
A deep, weary yawn escaped Elsword's throat and he shook his head out sharply. "Damn, I'm still tired from before."
Raven glanced over his shoulder and nodded. "The fire's died down. It looks like Eve and Aisha are already asleep."
Climbing up to his feet and brushing himself off, Elsword hefted his sword onto his shoulders and turned back toward the campsite. "Alright, I'm gonna try and sleep too. G'night." He walked off slowly, wiping the sweat from his face and arms with a coarse rag as he plodded back toward his bedroll. Halfway there, he paused and glanced back over his shoulders.
"Hey... you wanna spar again tomorrow? It's better than swingin' at nothing."
"Yeah." Raven looked over at him and Elsword nodded, turning away and heading off to sleep. Raven felt the ache of his feet and the weight of weariness falling over him as well, but he decided to stay in the crisp glow of the moonlight, staring up at the stars. For at least a few more minutes, he wanted to enjoy the strange, unexpected, nostalgic feeling that was welling up in his chest, something that he hadn't felt for so long that he couldn't rightly remember just what it was at first. As the chill winter wind brushed the sweat from his brow, Raven suddenly realized why the feeling was so familiar and he chuckled to himself.
So that's what it is...
Raven awoke to the sound of a soft whisper of the wind rattling in his ears, the veil of night still settled firmly over his shoulders as he shook his head out and looked around.
Damn... must've fallen asleep on the plains...
With the moon sinking slowly into the sea, he stood up, patted himself down to inventory his belongings, and headed back toward the campsite. In the dim haze of fading moonlight, finding his way was more a matter of luck than navigation and he tripped over several small, solid, slightly painful things on his way back. One particular unseen object, far larger and more painful than the others, caught him in the shin and he looked down to scowl at it, only to realize that he couldn't even see his feet. He was caught by surprise, then, when in the black morass of the midnight air he saw a shimmering stream of gold dancing in the breeze.
Sitting atop the bones of a long-dead metal beast, Rena stared out across the rippling fields of wheatgrass and reeds as he hair scattered in the wind. Once she caught sight of Raven, she waved softly and smiled. She turned back toward the stars and started to speak, though the wind stole her voice from the air before it could reach Raven's ears. With his head clear and sleep retreating from him, Raven headed over to Rena's post and climbed up alongside her.
"Can't sleep?" Her words poured into the night in a cloud of mist, their gentle timbre vanishing in an instant and leaving behind only a faint, lingering warmth. Settling in on her left, Raven raised his head and studied the invisible threads that bound the stars together.
"Maybe. It'd help if I tried laying down and using a blanket though."
Rena giggled, lightly and gently as the hours weighed down her eyelids. "Yes, that's normally how it's done."
"What about you?" Raven turned aside and searched Rena's face, taking note of the red in her eyes and her weary smile.
"Oh, me? Yeah, I have trouble sleeping sometimes..."
Raven looked back out across the plains, surveying the sea of shadows before them. "...Have you been doing this all along? Sleeping for a few hours and then standing watch all night long?"
Rena blinked. "Ah... I've been found out..." She stretched her arms out behind her head as a deep yawn billowed out from her lips. "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't notice, though I should've known better than to expect that."
Breathing in slowly, Raven closed his eyes for a moment and glanced back toward Rena. "Why haven't you just told them about it? They'd gladly stand watch for you, and it'd be better than being sleep deprived every time you're on the road."
"I know..." Rena leaned back on her hands and stared up at a bright, gleaming streak of light, the trail of a falling star drifting toward the sea. "But, that's why I don't want to tell them. Somebody has to stand guard at night, in case something happens, but they're both pretty new to traveling like this, so they don't always think about those things. If they knew, they'd definitely try to take turns standing watch and they'd tell me that I should get some sleep... I'm being just a little bit selfish though. Elsword and Aisha, they're both pretty impressive for their age, and Eve... well, I don't know if she even actually needs to sleep, but she's been through a lot, and it's only going to get harder for her. They're all so determined though, you know?" Fond laughter escaped her lips and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around herself to guard against the cold. "At first, I thought I needed to protect them, but pretty soon they were the ones protecting me, and I probably don't even deserve it, but... something about them..." Rena dropped her head and gave a wry smile. "Well, now I'm just rambling."
A quiet, coarse laugh wafted past her ears and she turned to her side. Subtle and slightly awkward, as though he had been out of practice, Raven was smiling kindly, or at least as kindly as he could manage. Even though she knew it shouldn't be something so shocking, Rena was stunned.
"No, you're right. I haven't known them for very long, but I get the same feeling. They're young, but they're already better fighters than I ever was at that age. Heh..." Raven stared down at his feet. "Makes me feel older just talking about it."
"Oh really now?" Rena giggled softly. "You know, compared to me, you still count as one of those 'young people'."
It took a few seconds for Raven's sleep-addled brain to make the necessary connections and when it did, he reflexively looked over at Rena and stared at her face for a moment before averting his eyes. "Ah, right. I keep forgetting about that. You just look so-" He stopped himself, not confident that he was conscious enough to keep himself from saying something stupid. Instead, he forced a cough and hoped that Rena wouldn't notice his hastily abandoned sentence. He wasn't that lucky.
"Did you just pretend to cough to get out of finishing that line?" Rena laughed heartily, her smile spreading out into a devious grin. "What exactly where you going to say there?"
"I-" Raven fumbled around for words, quickly gathering himself and regaining his composure. "You don't look like you've lived for a hundred years." A firmly diplomatic response, though in this case, Raven was actually aiming at a much deeper target.
"Oh?" Rena turned back toward the stars but kept her eyes fixed on Raven. "What makes you say that?"
Quietly, Raven traced the lines of light streaming through the sky as he recalled his own history. "You've been fighting for so long, but you don't seem to have any scars. You smile like it's easy, but if you've been a soldier for as long as I think you have, there's gotta be a lot weighing on you."
"..." Rena's eyes drifted down to the horizon and she breathed in deeply. "You know, if you keep cutting straight to the point like that, it'll be hard for me to keep avoiding that sort of thing... but, you're right on one part... I have been fighting for a long, long time..."
A cool, reminiscent mist fell across Rena's face, opening a hundred windows onto the days of her memory. After spending a short time in the realm of nostalgia, she perked up and beamed brightly at the deep blue ocean overhead. "Ah~ This star shower's been lasting a long time. It's been a while since I saw one this big."
"Yeah." Raven nodded. Soon, he was smiling once again, watching silently as the sky above ignited in a flurry of cascading light. Despite the scarcity of the sight above, Rena found herself drawn to the equally rare sight just to her left, glancing aside at Raven's warm expression and only stealing an occasional glimpse at the stars above. Within a few minutes, the hail of shimmering stars faded into the darkened sky and Raven rose to his feet.
"Go on. I'll stand watch here for the next few hours, you should get some sleep."
Rena blinked the sleep from her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, you're probably right. I've been so sleepy I just started rambling on."
Raven grinned. "If you want, I won't mention it to Elsword and Aisha, but from now on, we'll take turns standing guard."
"Ah~ I knew you'd say that." Rena sighed lightly. "I probably should have asked you about it sooner though. Thanks, and Goodnight." Hopping up to her feet, Rena jumped down to the ground and headed back toward the campsite, wrapping herself in her blankets and curling up in her sleeping bag. Keeping his eyes fixed on the plains around them and watching for any sign of movement, Raven found himself strangely at ease. Normally, standing guard was a slow, arduous chore that dragged out every minute to the length of ten, but tonight, he felt lighter, somehow. With the moon tucking itself beneath a blanket of waves, Raven looked back over the campsite and smiled.
Comrades, huh? It's been a while...
The cool winter night on Altera passed slowly, nipping at Aisha's nose as she buried her head deeper into her pillow. Drifting deeper into sleep, she sighed heavily and wrapped her blankets tightly around her shoulders...
Aisha opened her eyes to the sound of a soft moan and a comforting heat against her chest. As her consciousness wavered, she raised her head and looked around. Instead of the soft grassy ground, she was laying on the softest bed she'd ever slept in. Rather than the sky and the sea, she was surrounded by lavish silk sheets and a large room filled with the faint shadows of hand-carved furniture.
What happened? ...Where am I? Oh, right... Velder... I'm in my room in Velder... Aisha sat up and yawned, stretching her back and pulling the strap of her camisole back onto her shoulder. As she glanced down at herself, she paused, suddenly confused. Wait... was I always this tall? And my hair...She reached up and felt the ribbons that held her hair in two ruffled bunches. Oh, right... I must've left the ties in. She pulled carelessly at her hair and released it from its bonds, sending it spilling over her shoulders as she flopped back against the bed. Next to her, the sheets began to stir and rumple up, revealing a boy's broad, bare shoulders.
Who... Ah, Elsword... hehehe...Aisha rolled over and pounced, wrapping her arms around Elsword and pulled him toward her. ...This... wait a second... I thought... isn't Elsword supposed to be shorter... and... his hair's different... what... Aisha's thoughts were a muddled mess, as though she couldn't remember just what was going on around her. Within a second, however, her questions faded away and the scene around her seemed to make perfect sense.
"Mmnn... go back to sleep..." Elsword grumbled, his voice deeper than Aisha recalled. Still, she felt completely at ease, somehow, and a broad grin spread across her face.
"No way. You can't just sneak into a lady's room and then expect to get off that easily. Come on, tell me what's wrong." She slid her hands across his arm and shook him gently. Annoyed, Elsword grunted quietly and pulled away.
"I just felt like it... I didn't want to sleep alone, okay?" He sat upright, letting the sheets fall to his side as he slumped forward and rubbed his eyes. Pushing herself up and resting her head on his shoulder, Aisha breathed out sharply across his neck.
"Hey, what's wrong? You haven't been this grumpy for years now..."
Elsword glanced aside, avoiding her eyes and staying silent.
"Hey, Elsword... tell me-" Just as Aisha repeated her concerns, he turned and wrapped her in a desperate embrace, his hands trembling slightly as he held her against his chest. Blushing fiercely, Aisha's eyes went wide and she stumbled around aimlessly for her words. "W-What- Is- Is everything okay...?"
"Like hell it's okay!" Elsword buried his face in Aisha's shoulder, gritting his teeth as his heartbeat became so loud that Aisha could feel it against her own. "You can't keep getting hurt like you did today! I don't-" His voice caught in his throat, unable to release the rest of his plea. As he held her tightly, Aisha was suddenly aware of a dull ache in her legs.
Hurt...? I was... Oh, right... I got hurt fighting the demons in Feita today... A gentle sigh spilled from her lips and she leaned forward, locking her hands together around Elsword's waist. "You don't have to worry about me like that... I'm strong enough to take care of myself."
"I know. I know, but..." Elsword scowled and squeezed Aisha firmly. "Damn it... It's not supposed to hurt this much, just to see somebody else get hurt..."
"Elsword..." A bright, fiery warmth spread through Aisha's chest and up through her spine, making her head swim and her heart race. Was he always this cool? I can't... yeah... he's definitely, always... She smiled to herself. Alright... I guess I have made him worry a lot... Pulling back slightly, she pressed her forehead against his and stared straight at him. "Hey, hold your hands up for a second."
"Huh...?" Elsword released Aisha and held his hands up at his side. "Like this? What for?"
Aisha grinned playfully. "Hehehe... gotcha." She grabbed his arms and pushed him down onto the bed, hopping on top of him and pinning him in place.
"A-Aisha, what are you doing!?" Elsword blushed and choked up, though he offered no resistance.
"This is revenge, obviously." Aisha leaned down, her face hovering just an inch above his. "For the last time, when you caught me off guard." She breathed softly and slowly, delicately pressed her lips against his.
Bolting upright, Aisha huffed and panted heavily, her face covered in a cold sweat. The crisp, chill air around her brought her to her senses immediately as she looked around frantically. "What... where..." Her breath billowed out as steam in the early morning twilight and the smooth outline of Altera's grassy plains stretched out before her. After her initial shock and panic subsided, the memories of her dream came flooding back to her, right up until the very last moment when she woke up. To say that she was mortified would be a subtle understatement. Shaking her head violently in the hope that it would erase her memory, she tried her best to shift her thoughts onto something else, anything else, and met with no success.
Never... that will never, never, Never happen! He will never be that mature, and we would never- The very thought of finishing that sentence made Aisha cringe. Never!
"Aisha. Are you alright?" Beside her, Eve sat up quickly and turned toward her. "You have been making strange noises in your sleep for some time now. Is this normal for humans?"
"No! It's-" She shut her eyes tightly and pressed her palms into her forehead, breathing slowly and finally calming herself down a bit. "Sorry... I just had a nightmare."
Eve nodded. "That is common in situations of high anxiety. Dreams are most likely reflections of leftover thoughts and data from your waking hours."
"Wait, no, no no no no no, that's definitely not it." Aisha waved her hands and shook her head. "And wait, how would you know about dreams?"
Eve pulled off her blankets and fluffed her pillow. "In the ancient empire, even the nasod performed research on dreaming. It happens only rarely among advanced nasod, but we were able to establish a few general theories. Dreams that appear to be nonsensical are compressions of data leftover from your thoughts and memories from the recent past. Premonitions are actually an advanced form of calculation in which the brain attempts to construct a logical future scenario based on information at hand. Even among humans, this type of calculation has been recorded as at least ninety percent accurate at up to eight years." Eve continued talking for a bit longer, bringing up a copy of the nasod dream research documents on her console for Aisha to see. Unfortunately, Aisha was far too distracted to pay any attention.
Predicting the future that accurately... No, no, no no no, it was just a meaningless, awkward nightmare... I used to have them all the time when I was a kid, it's just like that, it's just like-
"Aisha. Your temperature seems to be rising. Are you feeling feverish?" Eve looked over Aisha's bright red cheeks and saw the sweat dripping from her bangs. Understanding the fragile nature of human bodies, she opened her tool box and retrieved a small, round device and held it out toward Aisha. "Please remain still while I run a few diagnostics."
"What? No, I'm fine!" Aisha forced a rigid smile and scooted away, staring uncomfortably at the strange lump of metal and plastic resting in Eve's hands. "I'm completely healthy, I promise."
"I see. Very well." Eve returned the device to her pack and began working on her console, trying very hard to pretend that she wasn't stealing the occasional glance back at Aisha to check up on her.
Thoroughly unsettled, Aisha dragged herself through her morning routine with an awkward, wrinkled up smile that very badly wanted to become a bitter frown. Rolling up her blankets and shoving them clumsily into a satchel along with her books, she began to huff and fume at nothing in particular when she stopped abruptly and blinked. A spark of curiosity had flickered through her thoughts, interrupting her panic and denial over her dream and focusing her energy on a much more puzzling question.
Wait... why would the Nasod know about nightmares...?