Finally got this one done, Hope you enjoy it. And i still do not on ffxiii, but i wish i did.
Chapter 7
Lightning sat on a small rock in their current camp, located beneath a group of trees, with her eyes closed and her gunblade across her lap, listening to the rain as it fell. She finally opened her eyes and looked around the camp. Hope and Vanille were sitting on a log from the tree they had taken down, both for fire wood and to clear a spot to stay. Sazh and Fang were each sitting on slightly smaller upturned blocks, and Snow was sitting on the stump. The fire in the center of the camp kept away the humidity, as well as the approaching chill that was beginning to set in. The cold wasn't quite enough to bother them yet, but had definitely become noticeable.
As she looked around she knew that the rest of the group was enjoying the temporary respite that the rain had given them from the constant monotony of fighting. It had been difficult recently due to their working their way through Titan's trials. Though they had come out victorious in each and every battle so far, as she had expected, that wasn't to say some of them weren't hard fought. Lightning herself had wanted to continue their battles in the Faultwarrens, but had been unanimously outvoted. She had been surprised that Fang, the ever ready fighter, had been the one to put a halt to her plans. Lightning knew that unless one of the members of the group spoke up that they would all follow her through whatever she chose to do, even if they didn't particularly agree. However if one of them did choose to speak their mind then the others who disagreed with her would have no problem backing them up, as had been the case here. So now she was sitting here, her progress impeded by nothing more than a heavy rainfall.
Lightning stood up suddenly, transforming and sheathing her gunblade in one motion as she did so. The action brought the attention of the entire group to her. "I'm going for a walk." She said, not wanting all the attention. Her statement, however, had the opposite effect.
"Wait, what?" Snow blurted out, surprise evident on his face, "What do you mean you're going for a walk? It's pouring out there." Lightning was about to respond, but Snow wasn't the only with objections, Sazh also joined in.
"He's right ya know; you'll get drenched if you go out there." He said, trying a calmer approach to the same line of thought.
"I can see that it's raining, I just don't care." Lightning said with an edge in her voice. She was already bothered by having to sit and do nothing; she didn't need them telling her what she already knew.
"Something wrong, Sunshine?" Fang asked, already knowing from Lightning's tone that something was.
"I'm fine, I'll be back soon." Lightning said.
"Where are you going?" Hope asked nervously, not wanting to get Lightning mad at him too.
"I don't know." Lightning said, walking to the edge of the camp so that the wall of water was less than a foot from her.
"Well when'll ya be back?" Fang asked.
"When I'm done." Lightning said. With that she took a large step out of the camp and into the pouring rain, cutting off any questions the others may have been about to ask. The water hit her like a wall, but she didn't let it show, instead she kept walking, falling into a steady pace. The water washed over, chilling her to the bone, but she ignored it, focusing on keeping her pace instead. She put everything out of her mind but the walk; just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The rain drowned out everything as she pushed forward. All sounds, smells, and even thoughts were gone. Lightning could see the many different terraquatics as she walked, but never heard any of them over the downpour. She wasn't sure how long she walked like that, with her mind wiped by the wash of water. When she finally came to a stop she found herself at the edge of a precipice that dropped off so far she couldn't even see the bottom. Ahead of her there was a break in the clouds just large enough to let through a small amount of sunlight. As the light travelled down in front of her it was broken up by the many droplets of water that fell, each one acting as its own individual prism sending hundreds of thousands of multicolored beams of light over the cliff faces on either side, as well as down into the darkness below. It was only a few seconds before the clouds closed up again, cutting off the light and halting the spectacle, but it still left Lightning breathless. She stood there for a little while, letting her mind ponder the strange wonder she had just seen. Despite all the grey and dark that there was at the moment, one ray of light had been able to create such a seen, but without the light there was only darkness and depression. She wondered if it meant something, but then quickly dismissed the idea as fantasy; it had been a work of nature, that was all. It was a moment of beauty due to the light, and the rain. It was also, however, something she would never have seen on Cocoon. That was something more to think about.
As her mind began to wander from the sight and she thought she should be returning to the camp and the fire, even if she was just going to sit there, Lightning heard something over the rain that caused her to turn around. She spotted Fang walking towards her.
"Well there you are, thought I'd never find ya in this." Fang said as she walked up to the soldier, having to stand right next to the soldier in order to be heard without having to raise her voice.
"What are you doing here Fang?" Lightning asked, surprised to see the woman, and just a little upset with her for being the reason they had to sit out in the first place.
"You been gone a while, we was startin' to get worried bout ya." She said with a bit of smile, Lightning figured Fang probably wasn't the one most worried.
"I'm a big girl, Fang. I can handle myself." Lightning said.
"I know that, hell ya can handle yourself and me too sometimes," Fang's grin widened as she said this, "but I still thought I should come look for ya, just in case."
"Thanks for thought, but you didn't need to come out here, I'm just fine." Lightning said, more annoyed than comforted by the fact that Fang came to check on her.
"I don't think ya are." Fang said, prompting a sudden look of surprise from Lightning, "I think somethin' is eatin' at ya and that's why you came traipsin out here in the rain."
Lightning shot a glare at Fang, though the effect was somewhat mitigated by her soaked hair clinging to her face. "I said I'm fine, so just drop it." She said. She turned her back on the taller woman and hunched her shoulders. Fang, however, wasn't going to have any of that, and grabbed the soldier by the arm and spun her around.
"I don't think so, Hun. Now there's somethin botherin ya and I ain't goin nowhere till you tell me what it is. So just spill it now that way we can get back to camp and dry off." Fang said, her face serious. Lightning held out for a moment before she caved, she just couldn't say no to Fang.
"I don't like it. Just sitting there, doing nothing while Dysley, or Barthandalus, whoever he is, is trying to destroy Cocoon. All the while knowing that every second gets me one step closer to being a cie'th. That I won't be able to do a thing to save Serah and the only thing left of me will be some monster wandering around waiting for someone to kill me." Lightning took a deep breath as she finished in an attempt to calm herself. She looked at Fang, who waited a moment to make sure she was finished before speaking.
"Look, I get it. Ya don't like feelin like you're not doin anything. It makes sense, but ya gotta remember that ya need to take a break every once in a while. You're strong, but ya ain't invincible, and if you don't take time to rest, you'll wear yourself out. And as for you bein a cie'th, well that just ain't gonna happen, I won't let it." Fang put her hand on Lightning's shoulder and looked her in the eyes as she said this last part, then smiled as she finished speaking.
Lightning moved her hand to rest on top of Fang's on her own shoulder. She looks away for a moment, and then turned back and looked at Fang before speaking again. "Thank you." Was all she said.
"Of course," Fang said, "You gotta remember, you're not in this alone, ya got people who care about ya. Don't go lettin all that build up."
"You got it." Lightning said, then straightened up moving her hand back down, Fang followed suit.
"Now what do ya say we get back to camp before you freeze off that nice little ass of yours?" Fang asked.
"Did you just compliment my ass?" Lightning asked as she started back towards camp.
"You bet I did." Fang said with small chuckle, following Lightning back towards the camp.
…...
No one said a word as Lightning and Fang returned to the campsite. Lightning was glad that they chose to ignore her little outburst of storming off. The two women sat down close to the fire to warm up and begin drying off. It was quiet for what felt like a long time, as nobody wanted to say the wrong thing; all but Fang still believed Lightning to be upset over something that they didn't know about. It was Lightning herself who finally broke the silence.
"How long does it rain like this on Pulse?" She asked, turning to Fang who was still drying off beside her.
"Hard to say," Fang said as she looked up at the clouded sky, "Some last for hours, other times I've seen it last for a few days."
"A few days?" Lightning inquired, wondering if she could handle doing nothing for that long. Fang could see the soldier obviously didn't like the idea of more than a couple days of rain.
"It prob'ly won't last that long." Fang said, hoping to keep Lightning from worrying and going off into the rain again, "But if it does, we can always start trainin right here."
"Hopefully it stops raining before that." Snow said, "I don't think I want to have to face off against Light."
"Of course you wouldn't, you dropped like a sack of potatoes last time she hit ya." Sazh said
"Really? Little ol' Sunshine here managed to deck ya?" Fang said, grinning at Snow.
"You wouldn't be mockin me if she had hit you." Snow said, trying to salvage some pride.
"I have." Lightning said, not even bothering to look towards the conversation.
"You hit Fang?" Snow asked, surprised.
"Yeah, in Palumpolum right after she left the kid with you." Fang said, answering Snow's question for Lightning, "I told her that me and Vanille wakin' up was what caused Serah to be a l'cie, which I thought was true, and she hit me right across the jaw. It hurt too."
"Of course it hurt. Why were you surprised?"
"Well I didn't expect her pack such a punch. For someone so small she got a mean backhand." Fang said, looking at the soldier who was ignoring the conversation, then back at Snow, "But at least I managed to stay standin'."
"All you got was a backhand? She drew back and landed a full right hook on me. Twice." Snow said, rubbing his jaw as he remembered.
"I suppose that would make ya a little gun shy when she draws back, now wouldn't it?"
"You got that right." Snow responded with a grin before the conversation fell quiet again. The day continued on with heavy rain, and mostly small talk to kill the boredom. After a few more hours they, mostly Lightning, decided that sleeping would be the best idea. After a few minutes it was decided Fang would take first watch, followed by Lightning, and then Snow would take last watch. Hopefully the rain would have stopped by the time they woke up.
….
Lightning walked in the rain towards the figure in front of her. A person simply standing in the rain. As she moved towards them she began to see more clearly; small frame, familiar build, and most importantly, pink hair. Serah was standing in the middle of the plains, her back to Lightning. The rain crashed down between them as Lightning ran towards her sister, but she didn't seem to be moving near fast enough. She called out to Serah as she ran forward, but her words were lost in the wind. She was drawing closer, but it seemed as if the closer she got, the slower time went. As she pushed her way forward Serah turned around and smiled at her. Lightning shouted again, but even she could barely hear her own words. Then Serah spoke, her voice, calm and even, rang clearly in Lightning's ears, "Why didn't you save me?" Lightning pushed harder, trying to get past the invisible force that slowed her. "You could have saved me, Claire. Why did you leave me?"
She was nearly to Serah now, though it felt like she was walking through oil or honey, everything holding her back. Lightning reached out an arm; her fingers were just inches from Serah. Suddenly there was a flash of blue light and Serah stood before her as a crystal, a smile still evident on her face. Lightning touched the crystal statue, hoping to reach Serah, but instead she heard Serah's voice. "You're too late, Lightning. You should have saved me when you had the chance." Serah's crystal began to disintegrate in Lightning's hand, turning to dust that flowed through the soldiers fingers, even as she tried to hold on to it, but Serah's voice continued to berate her. "It's all your fault, Claire. You should have helped me, you should have trusted me. Why didn't you believe me, Claire? Why didn't you save me?"
Lightning shrank into a ball, putting her head between her knees to drown out the sound of her sister's voice. "No." She said to herself repeatedly, "No, It's not my fault, it's not." But her voice was muted in the wind, even as Serah's came through clearly to condemn her for what she had done, and failed to do. "You left me here. You abandoned me to go to Pulse. Why did you leave me?"
There was nothing but darkness now, no rain, no wind, just darkness; yet Serah's voice continued to ask questions she didn't have answers for, things she didn't want to think about. Lightning heard something else in the darkness too, something small, or far away. "Light." The voice said, but it was weak and distant, it couldn't help her now. "Lightning." The voice called her, but Serah's was louder, there was no use in paying attention. She was alone with her regret and sorrow, Serah was right, no one could help her.
"Sunshine." The voice said, and Lightning's head snapped up. Only Fang called her that. She heard it again, clearer this time, "Sunshine." Fang was here, with her. Lightning could still hear Serah's voice, assaulting her, telling her she was wrong and alone; but now that voice was distant. Fang was here, everything would be fine if Fang was here. She was still in the darkness, but it wasn't as powerful as before.
"Sunshine." Lightning heard it, and felt it as Fang shook her. The soldier sat bolt upright all of a sudden, cold sweat covering her entire body. She was panting, bordering on hyperventilating. She didn't know where she was, but she was scared. Fear and panic ran through her, her mind unable to settle on a reason why. "Ya'll right?" she heard, and turned towards the sound. Her eyes met a pair of green ones, and she threw her arms around the person, holding on tight to make sure they were real.
"Wow, there." Fang said as Lightning threw her arms around her, "It's okay, I got ya." She wrapped an arm around the panicked woman to calm her down. Fang was surprised by the soldier's actions, Lightning never did anything like this, and was not one to be easily scared either "You okay?" She asked again as Lightning's breathing began to level out.
"Bad dream." Was all she gave in response.
"Must've been a pretty bad one." Fang said, stroking her hand up and down Lightning's back to comfort her. She felt the soldier nod in response. "It's all right now, it wasn't real." Lightning closed her eyes and relaxed slightly, but didn't let go. Fang returned the woman's hold, both arms wrapped tightly around her.
After a few moments Lightning loosened her grip and leaned back, Fang let her go as she did this. "I'm sorry I panicked like that." She said, looking away as she spoke.
"It's all right. We've all been there." Fang said, "Ya wanna tell me bout it?"
"No, I'll be fine." Lightning said, then after a moment added, "And thank you."
"Like I said, I'm here for ya. Now you go back to sleep an I'll cover your watch."
"No, I can take over from here."
"Ya sure, cause I can stay up."
"No, I'm sure. Besides, I won't be sleeping well now anyway."
"All right, I'll hit the sack. You just remember to wake up Snow for his turn and get yourself some shut eye."
"I will Fang, now shut up and go to sleep before you wake everyone up."
"All right, all right. I'll see ya in the mornin' Sunshine."
"Yeah."
Lightning took a seat and did her best to relax. She watched Fang sleep for a moment and started thinking. She had had nightmares before. After her parents death they were common, that was part of the reason she had taken up her new name. She had even had a few since Serah's crystallization. This, however, had been the first time someone had been there for her. She had never allowed Serah to see her scared after their parent's death, and she hadn't had anyone since she became a L'cie. But now she had woken up in fear and panic, and Fang had been there for her. She wasn't even sure how she felt about that, she had never been good with emotions, but it was definitely better than when she had to wake up alone. Much better.
….
Fang was hunched down, focused on the battle. She moved in a circle, counterclockwise, but couldn't get behind them as they did the same. She barely even heard Vanille cheering "Go Fang!" from her spot just outside the fight. She took in everything around her, the size of the area she was fighting in, the size of her opponent, even something as subtle as the way the wind moved could affect the battle. She had to win this, she didn't know why, but she felt she had to win this. Losing was not an option here. That didn't mean winning was going to be easy.
All of a sudden there was a blur of motion in front of her and she barely had time to get her arms up to stop a blow to the face. She was too slow to block the quick follow up to her stomach though. She threw her fist out at her opponent, but they were already gone, just a few feet beyond her reach. This definitely wasn't going to be easy.
"That all you got?" She called out, hoping to taunt them into a premature attack.
"Not even close." Lightning responded, but kept her distance. Fang knew all too well that was true, she had barely laid two hits on the soldier, which almost made her regret training her as a sentinel. Lightning may not be able to take as many hits as herself, but she was very good at simply not getting hit. Fang knew her best chance was to catch Lightning off guard for a moment; she was so much quicker than Fang that an expected attack would miss without fail.
Fang rushed forward suddenly, charging like a behemoth at the soldier to catch her by surprise. She lowered her head and shoulders and threw her arms out wide to catch the soldier around the middle. It took her less than two seconds to cover the distance between them, but that was apparently more than enough time for Lightning to react. Fang felt the soldiers hands on her own shoulders and seen her boots lift off the ground as Lightning flipped clean over her. She reacted on instinct, stopping her run and turning around instantly, her arm extended out to swing at the soldier. Her chop passed over Lightning's head, catching only the tail ends of pink hair where she had been just moments ago. A solid blow to her gut told Fang that Lightning was still there, though she didn't need it to know. She brought her free hand from her side in an uppercut that managed to connect with the bottom of the pinkette's jaw, sending her stumbling backwards.
Fang jumped at the opportunity, literally. She leapt into the air at the backpedaling soldier. Lightning dodged the unexpected attack, but fell to the ground in doing so. Fang was already on the offensive again, not wanting to have to catch up to quick-footed woman again. Her fist collided with the ground where Lightning's head had been just before. She turned her head and seen the soldier who had rolled out from under the blow in a runners position. She was up by the time Lightning started at her, but was still taken aback by the speed of the assault. Three blows Lightning swung at her, and three misses as Fang stepped back from each one. On the third she managed to anticipate and grab hold of Lightning's wrist.
She rushed forward while holding on to Lightning's wrist; pinning it to the soldier's chest as she was forced to run backwards. They collided into a tree, Fang pinning the soldier against it, her face extremely close to Lightning's. "Seem familiar?" She asked so only she could hear it, looking her in the eyes as she spoke.
"Does this?" Lightning responded, also never looking away. Then Fang felt Lightning's free hand hit her, again to the stomach, hard enough to force her to let go and step back. Really should have seen that one comin' she thought to herself for a moment. She barely stepped back in time to avoid a follow up knee, and then ducked a blow to the head. The kick to her side she saw coming, and she couldn't avoid it. Instead she absorbed the blow and clamped her arm down over the leg, pinning it to her side. She latched on tight and spun rapidly in a complete circle, dragging the soldier with her and slamming her hard against the tree. A resounding ohhhh was heard from their fellow L'cie in the audience.
Fang held on still to the soldier and prepared to do the same move again, in reverse. Lightning, however, seen this coming. Using Fang's grip on her leg she jumped with her free leg and pivoted in the hold. Her free foot collided with Fang's jaw, forcing her to release the soldier. Another ohhh was heard from the peanut gallery. Fang stumbled back only for a moment before collecting herself. Lightning was already on her again. She blocked a sudden knee to the stomach, and ducked a swing at her head. An uppercut glanced off her jaw as she stood up and stepped back. A few quick steps put some distance between herself and the little pink haired woman that was kicking her ass.
A moment later Lightning continued the assault, not giving Fang a second of respite. The larger woman was forced to step back at each blow aimed at her. One, two, three, four, five strike swung, and five misses as Fang moved away from each one. The last one an uppercut that Fang though may have taken her head clean off. However the strength of the missed strike left Lightning open for split second and that was all she needed. Fang threw a quick jab that struck Lightning right in the nose, nearly breaking it, and knocking the soldier off balance. Fang then struck her in the stomach, followed by a hook to the jaw, a knee to the ribs, and a powerful uppercut, again to the jaw.
Lightning staggered backwards attempting to get away from the huntress' sudden success. Fang attempted to keep the streak going with a hook aimed at Lightning's head. The soldier saw it coming and ducked, slipping underneath Fang's arm and getting behind her. She wrapped her arms under Fang's quickly, having them meet behind the taller woman's head to put her in a hold. "That won't work, Hun. I'm bigger than you." Fang said.
"Wanna bet?" Lightning asked. Fang was forced down as Lightning's foot found the back of her knee. Fang's arms where forced above her head by Lightning's arms while she was on her knees, leaving her fairly well trapped. "I got you now."
"I'll take that bet." Fang said. She put her hands together over her head and threw them backwards to hit Lightning, who couldn't move without compromising her hold, in the face. The force of the blow was limited due to her position, but she was strong and Lightning was sore from Fang's attack. It took six times, but Fang succeeded in dealing enough damage to weaken the soldiers hold. She fell forward, her weight freeing her, and then went to stand up quickly. She turned around and instinctively ducked, narrowly avoiding a punch from Lightning. She rushed forward from that position, driving her shoulder into the smaller woman's gut, and stood up, lifting Lightning, and then let her fall behind her.
Fang immediately turned around, knowing that Lightning could recover quickly. She was proven right by the fact that the soldier was already up and out of her reach. They looked at each other for a moment, each judging the other. Fang could see that Lightning was starting to wear out, her shoulders were slouching a little and she was breathing heavy. She also knew that Lightning could see the same in her. Fang reached up and wiped blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, and grinned. "You put up a good fight, Sunshine." She said, "But this one is all mine."
Lightning spat a mixture of blood and saliva on the ground. "We'll just see about that." Was her response. Despite this, she didn't make any move towards her opponent. Fang knew immediately that Lightning was playing defense again. That wasn't good since Fang could barely hit the soldier before she got worn out. Lightning was worn too though, so that would help some. She began to move to her right, attempting to circle around the soldier. Lightning matched the action so they she couldn't get around.
Out of nowhere Lightning rushed forward and ran at Fang with her fist drawn back. Rather than try and dodge the attack Fang braced herself, legs set wide and arms in front ready to block. As Lightning got close Fang tensed, then all of a sudden she was gone. Fang turned around, but not fast enough, at halfway she felt Lightning's leg hit her in the stomach. She ducked a swing at her head. She stepped back again to dodge a follow up attack aimed at her jaw, and drew her arm back as she did so. As Lightning's blow missed she was open for a moment, and Fang slammed her fist forward into the soldier's face. There was an audible pop as Lightning's nose broke.
Lightning stumble backwards and covered her face for a moment. She wiped away blood from her nose as she drew her hands away, and returned to her combat stance. "You just don't give up do ya?" Fang asked as they began to circle each other again.
"You're one to talk." Lightning retorted, her voice altered by her broken nose. They completed a half circle around each other, switching their positions, before Fang attacked. She ran at Lightning hoping to catch her by surprise, which didn't happen. Lightning stood her ground as Fang ran full sprint at her. When the huntress reached the point she couldn't stop Lightning finally moved. She threw a kick directly in front of herself, her timing was perfect. Fang ran directly into Lightning's foot, meeting the force of the kick with the force of her sprint. The blow caught her just below the chest, taking the wind out of her and leaving her lying on her back. She rolled out of the way as Lightning's foot came down in a stomp while she tried to catch her breath. She scrambled up and away from the soldier and managed to get some air.
Lightning was already after her again. Without time to evade Fang was again forced to block Lightning's attacks. One arm moved down to block a knee aimed at her ribs, the other moved up to block a fist headed for her jaw. Lightning's hand collided with Fang's now exposed midsection and she realized Lightning must have planned for that. Lightning attempted a follow up attack, but Fang successfully blocked it, causing the soldier to quickly back out of Fang's reach to plan her next attack.
Fang studied the soldier in front of her. By now both of them had their shoulders drooping were breathing heavy. Even like this Lightning was still faster than her, they both knew that. Lightning's speed had given her a surprising advantage in this fight. Fang's strikes had dealt more damage, she had even managed to break her nose, but Lightning had hit more often, missed less, and avoided more. She would have to plan out her attack the same way Lightning did if she wanted to get another hit. Fang knew Lightning couldn't take as many hits as she could, so a few more solid blows would likely get her to stay down.
Fang ran forward at Lightning, and then jumped high into the air with her fist drawn back. As expected Lightning did not stay in one place and wait to get hit, instead she quickly dodged right. Fang landed like a cat on both hands and feet, she had barely hit the ground when Lightning was after her. Fang had planned this and immediately threw her foot out without looking, hitting the attacking soldier in the stomach. She turned and put the force of standing into an uppercut that connected with the surprised woman's chin. She quickly drew back her fist for a third attack. She threw the punch, but Lightning reacted quickly and unexpectedly. Instead of trying to dodge she dropped her head, so Fang's fist collided with the solid top of her skull. Fang felt and heard a pop; the pain in her hand told her she had broken a finger. Lightning, having underestimated the force of the punch, was stunned and dazed.
Fang wasted no time thinking of her hand as she snatched up the chance to finish the fight. She grabbed the immobilized soldier by the waist and lifted her into the air, ignoring the pain in her hand. As Lightning began to come back to the ground Fang put both hands on the slowly falling woman and forced her to the ground at an accelerated pace. Lightning landed hard on her back, the ground was solid enough to knock some of the air out of the soldier, and the extra force meant it took more out of her too. Fang stood over the Lightning taking the time to try and catch her breath. She slouched enough that her hands were below her knees, and her breath came in large gasps.
Lightning slowly rolled over onto her stomach. She began to push herself up, bringing one knee under herself to help. Please stay down, please stay down. Fang thought to herself as Lightning began to get up. The soldier was on one knee now, her hand on the other to push herself up. As she tried to do so her arm gave out, followed quickly by her legs, leaving her to fall face down in the dirt. Fang lifted both fists into the air in victory. She then fell to her knees, both arms still in the air. "Looks like we have a winner." She heard Snow say. She let her arms drop to her sides and managed to rotate as she fell, so that she ended up lying on her back beside Lightning who was still face down in the dirt, neither of them able to keep standing.
The group gathered around where they were collapsed on the ground. Sazh and Snow stood while Hope and Vanille crouched down next to Lightning and Fang respectively. "You all right?" Hope asked Lightning. Lightning turned her head so she no longer head her face in the ground, but instead ended up looking in Fang's direction; she made no move to try and stand again.
"I'll be fine." She said simply.
"I knew you could do it, Fang." Vanille said cheerfully.
"You knew more than I did then." Fang responded.
"Same here." Hope said, "I owe Vanille 50 gil."
"50?" Sazh said with a laugh, "I just lost 500."
"And I just earned 500." Snow said, pumping his fist in the air.
"You guys bet on us?" Lightning asked.
"Duuuh." Vanille said.
"Do you need us to heal you?" Hope asked.
"Just heal the worst of it; the rest of it can wait." Lightning answered.
"Are you sure, cause we can heal it all." Vanille said.
"I'm sure, sparring rules, only the worst injuries get treated." Lightning explained.
"Same for me." Fang said, "Wouldn't want to spoil the victory by cheapin out would I?"
"I'll let you guys get healed up then, I'm goin over to the nice warm fire." Sazh said.
"Me too, think I'll get my money now." Snow said.
"I can handle this if you want to go warm up too." Vanille said to Hope as the two men started away.
"You sure?" He asked.
"Yeah, It's not as bad as it looks, especially since I won't have to do it all." She said.
"You won't get cold?" He asked wondering.
"I'm from Gran Pulse remember, this isn't all that bad for me." She said.
"Alright." Hope said, and departed quickly for the fire without further argument.
"So," Vanille said, clapping her hands together, "Who needs what?"
"I broke my hand," Fang said, then smiled and looked at Lightning, "And I think I broke Sunshine's face."
"Very funny Fang." Lightning said, "I swear if this doesn't go back the way it was, I'll kick your ass."
"That'd be a lot more intimidatin' if ya weren't lyin in the dirt on your stomach." Fang responded.
Lightning moved her hands under herself and then pushed, managing to hold herself up for a few seconds. She quickly turned over, allowing herself to fall back to the ground, this time on her back. She turned her head to glare at Fang. "Still not scarin me. I won, I'm happy." Fang said.
"Will you two stop bickering so I can heal you?" Vanille asked
"Alright. Start with Sunshine; she looks like she could use it." Fang said, earning her another glare that she countered with a grin.
Lightning felt a tingling sensation as her nose moved itself and then welded back together. She wriggled and twisted her nose to make sure it was fixed once Vanille was done. She then reached down with one hand and pulled out the knife Serah gave her, her gunblade had been left by the fire. She flipped open the blade and looked at herself in the reflection, her nose was just like it was before, though she had multiple other cuts on her face, as well as blood, some dried some fresh. "Show me." She heard Fang say.
Lightning turned her head to look at Fang as she put the blade away. "Pretty as a picture." Fang said with a smile.
"Lucky for you." Lightning responded.
"Ain't gonna argue with that." Fang said, and then held up her broken hand, "My turn." It was a strange sight watching the hand set and mend itself in just a few moments; the actions appearing to be impossible movements of the hand instead of a normal healing process. When the job was done Fang flexed her hand to make sure everything was in working order. "Never get used to that." She commented.
"You've done that before." Lightning inquired.
"Had a bone healed by magic?" Fang asked, getting a nod in response. "Yeah, this'll make four times."
"Speaking of healing," Vanille said, interrupting the small conversation, "are you two sure you don't need any more?" She looked between the two women who were still both lying on the ground.
"I'm good." Fang said, and then turned her head towards Lightning to ask "What about you, Sunshine?"
"I'll be fine." Lightning said.
"Okay then," Vanille said, standing up from her crouched position, "I'll be over by the fire."
They both watched as Vanille skipped away towards the fire. After a few minutes of simply lying there, Fang finally broke the silence. "Well, we should probably join them." She said, before slowly sitting up. Standing up took even more effort and by the time she had accomplished it Lightning was sitting up as well. Fang offered her arm to help the soldier up and was somewhat surprised when it was accepted. "Ya know what, Sunshine?" Fang started, and then waited until she had Lightning's attention before continuing, "I think you really did kick my ass. It's a little sore." She said, putting her hand on her own backside for emphasis.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Lightning asked, and then added sarcastically, "Kiss it and make it better."
"Is that an offer?" Fang asked, raising her eyebrows and grinning at the woman. Lightning rolled her eyes as she realized she had walked right into that one.
"Just get back to the fire. Hopefully it'll have quite raining by tomorrow." Lightning said.
"Alright, I'm goin', but I'll tell ya one thing." Fang said as they started walking towards the fire and the rest of the group, "I ain't takin watch tonight."
"Agreed." Lightning said. She knew she was going to sleep well tonight. She also hoped it would stop raining so they could get back to normal training. She wouldn't say it outright, but fighting with Fang was harder than any beast she had seen on Gran Pulse so far, and she wasn't sure she could do it again. It was also, however, a lot more fun than fighting anyone or anything else.
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Hope you enjoyed that, i had a bit of trouble with the ending there. Sorry it took so long, got held up with classes. As always I hope you leave reviews, they always help. I would also like thank you for reading, just because.