Chapter 11
Lightning surveyed the area from a crouch. "Looks to be three of them." She said, "Dire flan, corrosive custard, and hybrid flora." She turned back to the two behind her, "We'll need to focus our attacks on one at a time. Well start with the Dire flan, once it's dead we move on to the corrosive custard, then the flora. Vanille, you focus on power. Hope, give us a boost before joining her. You two got that?" Two nods from the youngest members confirmed they did. "Alright, let's do this."
She rushed forward, Hope and Vanille following behind as quickly as they could. Vanille cut loose with powerful fire spell while Hope threw buffs on all of them. Lightning threw smaller fire spells while she kept the flans distracted. Setting her blade aflame she rushed in and slashed at the gelatinous creature, and then flipped backwards over its arms as it lashed out at her, throwing more fire as she landed.
She was already working with a few buffs when she felt the enfire take hold. Her blade held flame on its own as she cut another swath through the beast. She back flipped while firing two ignited shots that buried themselves deep within the creature. The creature was severely weakened by now, just before Lightning was about to throw out another spell she ducked, a gelatinous arm swung over her head and she spun around, severing it with her gunblade.
A low groan sounded from behind her and she was sure it was the flan dying. The Hybrid Flora that had struck at her was close now, the Corrosive Custard just behind it. She jumped back, landing between Hope and Vanille. "Change of plans." She said before letting loose a set of low power fire spells at the red flan. Hope and Vanille let loose as well, alternating between the two of them casting to create a constant chain of powerful fire spells.
The powerful magic worked wonders on the beast, holding it at bay. The creature also weakened, especially near its center where the magic was aimed. An idea struck Lightning and she charged forward. She leapt into the air at the creature as the fire spells faded before her eyes. She spun in the air, bringing her down her burning blade into the beast and tearing a whole clear through it so she came bursting out on the other side. Her eyes widened in shock for a moment as she saw the Custard that was still behind the Flora. The second flan swung out and swatted her to the side out of the air.
Correcting herself mid-flight her feet hit a tree and she pushed off. The Hybrid Flora exploded in a rain of fire and flan as she lite her blade up with electricity and brought it down on the Corrosive Custard. She severed one arm and cut a deep gash in the plants side as she skidded to a halt behind it. She threw out many quick thunder spells and felt the fire in her blade change over to electricity. Then more powerful spells cut through the air. The smell of ozone and low rumble of thunder filled the area as the three mages shot of enough lightning to fill the small area. For nearly two minutes the battlefield was filled with a bright white light as they refused to let up.
Finally the area cleared as they calmed down. All that was left of the creature was a sizzling puddle of gelatin. They were all three breathing heavily, Hope and Vanille more so than Lightning, but it worked nonetheless. Vanille was the one to break the silence.
"Yeah!" She yelled, throwing her hands into the air, "We did it!" She then hugged while repeating the phrase, causing the young boy to blush.
"You guys really showed them whose boss, now didn't you?" Fang prompted, "I swear the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end."
"You mean from the lightning?" Vanille asked with a knowing smirk on her face.
"Yeah, that's what I meant." Fang responded with a grin. Nearby the woman with the same name raised an eyebrow. Both Gran Pulsians glanced at her for a moment. Vanille giggled, Fang chuckled, and Lightning scoffed and shook her head. Looking over at the guys she saw them in a conversation of their own, and she really didn't care what about, though it seemed to be focusing on Hope, who seemed slightly embarrassed.
"Alright everyone, let's get going." Lightning said as she moved towards the next cie'th stone.
"You just don't slow down, do you?" Fang said from behind her. Lightning paused before looking over her shoulder to answer.
"I assumed you would have figured that out now." A small twitch at the corner of her mouth was all Fang had to see to realize the double meaning. Fang decided not to comment on it, but was grinning nonetheless. Lightning activated the stone, and a moment later they found themselves once more on the path to Titan's Throne.
Lightning started forward, giving orders as they moved along the path. "Alright, Vanille, I want you to step back. Fang, you're taking her place. We need some more power. Hope, we're gonna need all the magic you can throw." Hope nodded, but it was Fang who spoke up.
"Hold on just a sec. What are we fightin' here?" She asked.
"Humbaba." Lightning said. Hope's head perked up, and the others seemed suddenly more worried as well. Fang however, smiled.
"Sounds like fun." She said, "Not like we ain't killed bigger things before."
"Right." Was all Lightning said in reply before moving again.
As they turned the corner to reach the throne Snow, Sazh, and Vanille stayed back, though they were ready to jump in for assistance at a moment's notice. Fang, Lightning, and Hope moved forward without so much as a break in stride. Stopping on the flat surface they watched as the massive hand of the fal'cie reached down and easily set the large beast in front of them. After getting its bearings the Humbaba spotted them and let out a vicious roar as they drew their weapons. It charged forward on all fours and the fight was on.
The beast raised its forepaw high as it swung down at Lightning, who ducked and rolled underneath the swipe. Coming to a stop in a crouch she raised her gunblade and fired a few shots, hitting the monster in the side. Unfortunately the shots did little more than upset the creature.
Rushing forward Fang brought her lance down in a slash against the behemoths shoulder, drawing its attention away from Lightning. The beast returned her assault with a swipe at her from its opposite claw. Fang managed to bring up her spear in time to block the attack, with the aid of one of Hope's defensive spells.
Lightning's blade caught fire as Hope's buffing took effect and she rushed towards the beast as Fang deflected a second blow. There slashes cut into the monsters side, searing the flesh as they did. The powerful creature spun on the spot, roaring at her again. She jumped back just in time to avoid the beast trying to take a bite out of her, and then let loose a volley of three fire spells.
The beast moved, just about to charge, when it suddenly let out a cry of pain. In its inattention Fang had put her lance threw the end of its tail. As she pulled her weapon out the creature roared in anger and pounced at her. It caught nothing but air as she leapt to the side. Fire spells collided with its side as Hope, finished with his enhancements, joined into the fight.
The beast spun again, seeking the source of the fire. It had only just spotted the young boy when it felt a series of burning cuts on its side. It spun, this time swinging the back of its nearest claw at the woman. Lightning ducked the blow and jumped back. However she was not prepared as the beast immediately burst forward. It charged at her and before she could move she felt the weapon on the behemoth's head hit her hard. The powerful muscles in its neck only took a moment to throw her high into the air.
Even as she flew through the air she felt the surge of healing magic rush through her as Hope was quick to act. As she started her descent she came back to her senses and angled her fall. She hit the ground in a roll and was up on her feet in a less than a second.
"You alright?" Fang asked.
"Yeah." Was all Lightning gave in response. She threw a series of fire spells at the beast as Fang taunted it. Charging at the huntress the humbaba took a powerful swipe at her. She deflected it and countered with two powerful slashes across the behemoth's face. She then broke her lance down and hit the creature with multiple quicker slashes while Lightning and Hope let loose a massive set of spells.
The massive beast stepped back, shaking its head as it retreated from the assault. It growled a challenge as it began to shift its form. Rising to two feet, its bones cracked as they changed positions. Muscles shifted and soon the beast was standing upright. Reaching up with its newly formed hand it ripped the weapon from atop its skull and let out a loud roar, challenging the small creatures to take on its new form.
Fang didn't hesitate as the beast completed its transformation. She cut loose with debilitating magic to try and weaken it. She didn't get far though, the behemoth felt the magic and threw back some of its own. Fang guarded against the wind magic, and then held it some more as she saw the mountain of muscle coming towards her. A swing of its saw-like weapon collided with her lance. The blow was deflected, but she still felt the reverberations in her arm.
Lightning ran forward as she saw the beast attack Fang. Some of Hope's spells passed her and hit the creature's back as she jumped into the air. The monster turned just in time to see a blade bearing down on it. Lightning landed one slash across its face, and then another across the beast's chest. She then cut into the behemoth's legs as Fang did the same from behind.
As the two women cut into the beast's legs it swung at Lightning. She easily flipped out of the way and fired off a few shots. Fire spells hit the massive creature in the face and chest as Fang continued her assault. Looking up, the behemoth found the source of the fire. It threw a kick behind itself at Fang, who sidestepped with ease, and then it took off in a run.
Hope desperately sent some of his most powerful spells at the beast to slow it down, but it kept going. As it got closer Hope threw himself to the side and tried to run. In his panic he tripped of a rock sticking out of the ground and fell to his knees. He scrambled to get up, but as he did he saw the behemoth standing over him, weapon raised, and he froze.
Fang watched as the great beast raised its weapon over the boy. She wasn't fast enough to get there in time and she knew it. She also knew he wasn't strong enough to take a hit like that. However, a blur in front of her told her that while she may not be fast enough, someone else was. Lightning came to a stop right in front of both Hope and the beast. She grabbed the panicked boy by the collar and threw him out of the way. She looked up, but the blade was already bearing down on her.
Hope hit the ground on his back and managed to see everything in slow motion. He saw as the behemoth swung the blade in an arc, leveling it with the ground. He saw it hit Lightning in the stomach with enough force to lift her off the ground as she was folded in half over the weapon. Her gunblade clattered to the ground as the swing followed through and the soldier was sent flying into the cliff face even higher than the behemoth was tall. She hit the wall hard and then seemed to peel off of the wall as she tumbled to the ground, landed face first. It may have been only a moment, but it felt like forever as all eyes fell on the injured woman, waiting for her to move.
The silence was broken by the behemoth as it let out a loud bellow of victory. Hope merely sat there, stunned, until he saw Vanille running past him. The young healer got on her knees beside the injured leader. Snow and Sazh were just a second behind, each of them standing guard as Vanille began attempting to heal Lightning. Hope quickly got up and ran over to add his own healing magic.
Fang was dumbstruck as she watched her sister begin her attempts at healing the soldier. She saw Snow and Sazh standing there, and then saw Hope run forward as the behemoth reveled in its small victory. Then she realized Vanille was speaking, saying the same thing over and over again.
"Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive." She repeated as she used her magic. It was at that point that Fang couldn't stop herself any more. She started shaking as she watched, her grip on her lance tightening until her knuckles turned white. Her gaze shot over to the behemoth that was eyeing the new competition and she let out a yell of pure rage. The beast turned to her as she ran at it, drawing back her lance.
The humbaba brought down a powerful swing at the huntress as she ran. She jumped in the air and the blow destroyed the ground below her as she rose high above the battlefield, casting her shadow over the beast. Before it could react she came down like a meteor, bringing her lance down on the arm that held the weapon. The beast let out a horrid cry of pain as it stumbled backwards, holding the stump where its arm had been severed.
Once again Fang charged forward. When she reached the behemoth she drew back her lance and jumped into the air, slashing upwards across its torso as she went. She reached the apex level with the beasts head. As she descended she braced her lance against her forearm and spun, unleashing a whirlwind of slashes as she fell. On landing she charged her magic and unleashed a powerful ruinga against the monster.
The beast fell backwards from the force of the explosive magic, hitting the ground with enough force to shake the ground. It wasn't dead yet though, and Fang knew it. She leapt into the air, covering the distance between the two of them. She brought her lance down, sending it through the heart of the beast as she landed on its chest. It struggled and let out a final cry before going still. Fang, however, wasn't done. Pulling her lance out she moved to its neck, plunging the weapon through the soft flesh and into the ground below. She then drew back once more and shoved her lance down between the eyes of the defeated creature, breaking the bone as easily as glass and letting out another primal yell.
It was then that she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and swung wildly at the person behind her, catching only air as Sazh ducked. He was quick to recover though, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Hey," he said, trying to calm her, "Hey now, you need to calm down. It's dead, you can stop now." He said. He held her still as best he could, and finally saw his words starting to sink in. The rage that had gripped her faded from her eyes as she calmed. For a moment she was fine, and then worry overcame her.
"Lightning!" She cried out before running towards the woman that everyone else was gathered around. She came to a stop next to the injured soldier, dropping to her knees beside Hope. Vanille sat on Lightning's other side, working with Hope to try and heal the clearly massive wounds. "Light." She whispered, looking down at the woman. She had been rolled over so she was lying on her back; blood ran onto the ground as the magic kept it from pooling in the wound. Her jacket had been opened and the there was a large gash just below her ribs that went all the way across her torso.
Her sweater had been left closed, but was stained darker in places where it had soaked up some of the blood. One look and it was clear that the wound could easily be fatal. "You have to save her." Fang said, looking up at Vanille.
"I'm trying." Vanille said, without looking away from what she was doing.
"Don't try." Fang said, "Just do it." Vanille could hear the desperation in Fang's voice, but that didn't matter at the moment. Pausing in her work for a moment, the frustrated young healer looked up to speak.
"I'm doing the best I can, Fang." She said, "But this isn't easy. She's hurt really bad, and I don't know what I can do, and you're not making it any easier. So just be quiet and let me do what I can."
Fang was stunned for a moment, and then let her head drop. She knew she wasn't helping, but that was exactly the problem. There wasn't anything she could do right now and she hated that. Vanille, seeing that Fang was calmed, returned to her work.
The minutes passed slowly as the two young healers worked. Vanille did most of the healing, while Hope directed his powers wherever he was told. The other three l'cie were forced to simply wait and hope. None of them had the proficiency in healing magic to help, so they stayed out of the way.
Snow stood leaning against the cliff face and Sazh sat on a fallen limb near the entrance to the valley they had come from. Fang had refused to leave Lightning's side, though she did move so that Hope and Vanille could work better. As she sat there she couldn't help but blame herself. It had been her job to be defense, neither Lightning nor Hope could take hits like she could. Instead she had thrown herself into the fray, and now Lightning was hurt because of it. She looked to the woman's face, her eyes were closed and she was pale from blood loss.
"That's it." Vanille said, leaning back. All eyes went to her, and then to Lightning. The leader was still unconscious, and fairly pale. The wound had been sealed but in its place was a long, nasty looking scar. Fang looked down at her girlfriend and couldn't stop herself from speaking up. Lightning was so vulnerable, so weak, and not the soldier that they all knew. It didn't seem right.
"What do you mean 'That's it'?" Fang asked, her voice filled with emotion. "Look at her. Does she look fine to you?" She gestured to Lightning as she spoke. "You have to heal her."
"I can't." Vanille snapped back, catching Fang off guard. "I want to, but I can't. I've done everything I can for now, but there's nothing else I can do. I'm exhausted, and so is Hope, we don't have any more strength left to heal her with. Even if I did, it wouldn't matter. A person can only take so much magic before it stops working. We have to let her recover on her own now."
It was only now that Fang looked at the two healers. Vanille was right, they were both obviously exhausted. They were out of breath, and they were even sweating a little. She cast her eyes down and away. "I'm sorry." She said, "It's just, it's my damn fault this happened. Now you have to clean it up." She looked back up to Vanille and Hope again, giving a small smile at them, "But she's alive because of you two. You did good."
"Hey, hey." Sazh broke in, "Don't go getting' all down on us. She's gonna be pissed when she gets up if she finds out all we did was sit on our hands."
"Yeah." Snow interjected, "She'll be fine, after all hero's never die. Besides, she promised we'd get rid of these things," he pointed to his brand, "and there's no way she'd go out before keeping her promise."
"Right." Hope chimed in, "We just have to keep going forward."
"Actually, we shouldn't." Vanille said, gaining the groups attention, "We can move Lightning somewhere safe, but even when she wakes up she won't be able to fight, or even walk properly. We could all use a break, so why not take one? Once she's able to go on, we can start moving. Until then we can rest while she does the same."
"Now that sounds like a plan I can go with." Sazh said, "But we might ought to get going soon. We've been here a while and we're one down, but we can probably make it back to the camp before it gets too late."
"Sounds like plan." Fang said, and then looked at Vanille, "You said she can be moved, yeah?"
"Yeah, but you need to be careful." Vanille instructed, "She's not completely healed and we don't want to make anything worse."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful." With that Fang leaned down close. She placed Lightning's arms around her neck so they wouldn't hang limp or be in the way. Then she placed her arms underneath the unconscious woman and carefully lifted her up, making sure to support her back in order to keep from aggravating the wound. Lightning's head fell backwards, hanging at an awkward angle. "Um, a little help here?" Fang asked. Vanille moved over and adjusted the woman's head so it rested against Fang's shoulder. The younger Gran Pulsian then looked the woman over to make sure she wasn't going to be injured any further.
"Alright," Vanille said after completing her check, "looks like we're ready to go."
"Yep," Sazh remarked, "And it looks like we're about to get out of here." With that a massive hand reached down and hovered over them. The magic surrounded them and in a blink they were gone.
The walk back to the campsite was felt longer than usual. Perhaps because of the injury and worry, or maybe without Lightning to lead them they actually were moving slower. It was impossible for any of them to tell. Either way, the sleeping woman didn't so much as stir the entire time. Fang stayed near the middle of the group as they walked, since she was the one carrying their injured friend. It didn't escape her notice that Hope seemed to stay nearby as well, which was odd considering she had spent less time with him than any of the others. She was pretty sure she knew why though.
When they finally did reach the camp Fang was very careful to set the woman down near the center of the site where she wouldn't be vulnerable. Sazh set about starting a fire while Hope and Vanille checked over Lightning to make sure that the movement hadn't made her injury worse. Snow was the first one to speak.
"Well, I guess sis isn't gonna check around for monsters around the area, is she?" he asked, but continued before anyone could answer, "Guess that leaves it up to us." With that he stood up and stretched, and then moved to leave the area. "I'll take over this time. And don't worry, I won't let anything get near."
"Stop." Fang called, causing Snow to turn around. "You shouldn't go out there alone. I'll go with you." She started to stand up, but Sazh beat her to it.
"No you don't." He said, "You've done enough today. I'm still not sure how you did that to that behemoth, but it had to wear even you out. You stay here and watch these three, I'll go with the big guy." Fang paused for a second, before sinking back to the ground. She actually was exhausted, and to be completely honest she didn't want to leave Lightning's side either.
"Alright, go on. We'll be here when you get back." Fang conceded. She then watched as the two men wandered off away from the camp. There wasn't much talking after that. Vanille and Hope began making dinner, for which Fang was grateful. She was starving after the day they had had. Snow and Sazh returned just a little before the food was done and they sat down to eat, though they made sure to leave some in case Lightning woke up.
"Well, we should probably pick out who's gonna stay up." Sazh said after they had finished eating, "I know soldier girl usually takes over first, but we're gonna have to make up our own minds for now. At least until she's up and ordering us around again."
"I'll stay up." Fang answered without hesitation. She was still sitting fairly close to the soldier, though she hoped they would assume she was trying to stay warm by the fire, really she just wanted to watch over the woman.
"Nah, I'll watch." Snow countered, "I can keep guard, let you guys rest. Besides, I'm not really that tired."
"No way." Sazh said, "You're both wrong." At this he got everyone's attention. He looked at Fang when he spoke again, "You need rest. You already said you're worn out. You ain't no good to us tired. I say you got third." He then turned to Snow, "You can take second shift. I know it ain't the easiest, but right now, you can handle it the best. Me, I'll just stay up now. If Lightning gets bad, I'll wake someone up to help. I don't see why she would though."
"Look, as much as I appreciate it, I really think I ought to take watch." Fang started, but Sazh interrupted, holding up a hand.
"Ain't happening'. We already went through this earlier. You've done enough for today. Let me take over and do something useful. In the mean time you should rest. You need it." Fang considered arguing, but it wasn't the time or place to be stubborn. She was tired, and she had already lost this argument once.
"I guess that's it then." She said, "I'm gonna hit the hay. One of you be sure to wake me when it's my turn, yeah?"
"Yeah, I will." Snow said. With that Fang lay down to go to sleep. It wasn't long later that Vanille lay down beside her, exhausted as well. Fang hadn't thought she would be able to sleep, but she must have been more worn out than even she thought, because soon her eyes got heavy and she drifted off to sleep.
Far too soon for Fang's liking she was being woken up. "Hey now, you said to wake you up. I'm just doing my job." Snow said as Fang shot him a dirty look.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Fang muttered as she untangled herself from a clinging Vanille, careful not to wake the young woman. "Anything interesting happen?"
"Nah, nothing. No monsters, and sis didn't stir at all." Snow replied.
"Not sure if that's good or bad, but I'll take is as good." Fang said, looking down at the wounded woman. "Alright, you get some rest big guy. I got it from here." She moved to sit next to the fire but was stopped by Snow.
"Hey, are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "You didn't look like you were doing too great earlier." Fang took a moment to respond. She must have really been falling apart if even Snow had noticed.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered, "I was just worn out, and a bit worried about Light. You know?"
"I get that. I'm worried about her too. I'm sure she'll pull through though. She hasn't failed yet."
"Now if only we could get her to believe that, yeah?"
"Yeah. Well, I'm gonna get some rest. Just wake us up if you need to, alright?"
"I hear you. Now just go to sleep. I got this." With that Fang sat down. Snow laid down and soon fell asleep, leaving Fang alone with her thoughts.
She wouldn't be alone for too long though. Around an hour into her shift she heard movement. Tensing she looked around for the source of the sound, it was definitely close. It happened again and she realized just how close it was. Looking down she heard Lightning murmur, and then shift again. A moment later she slowly opened her eyes. "What?" Lightning mumbled, blinking slowly as she started to wake up.
"Hey there, bright eyes." Fang said, moving closer and sitting next to the woman. Lightning turned her head to look at her as Fang brushed the woman's hair from her face, letting her hand rest on Lightning's cheek.
"What happened? Is everyone alright?" Lightning asked, obviously worried more about the others than her own state. Fang hesitated before answering honestly.
"No, everyone ain't alright." She said. Lightning's eyes widened and Fang continued before the other woman could get the wrong idea. "The others are all fine, but you got hurt pretty bad. We… we weren't sure you were gonna make it." Fang couldn't stop the emotion in her voice as the idea that the other woman might have died.
"But everyone else is fine? You, Hope, Sazh, Vanille?"
"Yeah, we're all fine." Fang answered, not surprised in the least by Lightning's questions. The woman was selfless to the point of fatal. Now though, she was the one who needed help, and Fang was glad to help her. "Do you need anything, food, water?"
"Water." Lightning responded. Fang didn't hesitate, immediately grabbing the nearest canteen, her own. She opened it and held it to Lightning's lips.
"Here you go." She said, slowly tilting it up for the woman to drink. Lightning drank plenty before Fang lowered the water. "Feeling better?"
"Yes, thank you." Lightning answered. "I'm still tired though."
"You can go back to sleep if you want. Or we saved you some food if you're hungry."
"I'm just going to go back to sleep." Lightning said, her eyes already closing.
"Alright, you do that. I'll be right here keeping watch." Fang responded, but Lightning was already asleep. Fang leaned down and placed a kiss on the sleeping woman's forehead. "Sleep well, Light."
The rest of Fang's shift was uneventful, and the night turned into day. The others began to wake up and Fang told them what had happened, just leaving out a few details. Vanille and Hope looked over Lightning again, putting a little more healing magic into the woman as she slept, though not a whole lot. Vanille then gave a report on Lightning's condition.
"Well, she's doing better, but she's still not going to be moving on her own any time soon." The group was obviously down from this news; they were on a pretty tight schedule as it was. "Hope and I can keep healing her on occasion, but by now most of it is going to be here own body doing the work. So for now, all we can do is wait."
Waiting, as it turned out, was actually kind of difficult. Unlike before when they had taken a break, this time one of them was hurt. They also had less time on their hands to spare. Sazh and Snow went out to hunt them down some breakfast, and came back with a gorgonopsid. It was enough to feed them, and have enough left over should Lightning wake up. Luckily the food hadn't even gone cold when that happened.
Fang was already sitting beside Lightning before the others even realized the woman had woken up. Unlike the night before, Lightning awoke much faster, and quickly took stoke of her surroundings. Then she tried to sit up and was immediately forced back down by a pain in her abdomen.
"Wow, there. Don't try getting up now. You still need to rest." Fang said, putting a hand on Lightning's shoulder to prevent her from trying again.
"I have to get up, Fang." Lightning said, trying again to sit up, only to be held down by Fang.
"No you don't. You need to rest. Nothing's gonna try and attack us, and I'm here if it does."
"No, you don't understand. I need to get up." Lightning said, emphasizing the point.
"And what is so important that you gotta get up so bad?" Fang asked, already having enough of Lightning's stubbornness. Lightning glanced at the others before looking back at Fang, who was still holding her down.
"I have to use the bathroom." Lightning said through her teeth. While Snow and Sazh were far enough away as to have not heard it, Fang, Vanille, and Hope had heard her clearly.
"Oh." Was all Fang could gather in response. She hadn't thought of that. Lightning may be injured but her bodily functions weren't going to just stop for that. "Um, well."
"You can't walk." Vanille said, matter-of-factly as she moved to stand over Lightning. "Don't try to argue, it's not me telling you what to do, I mean you actually won't be able to." She paused for a moment to let that sink in before continuing. "But, we know you can be carried. If you're willing, Fang can take you somewhere where you can have some privacy." Lightning looked between Vanille and Fang, before she finally let her head drop. She wasn't going to get out of this any other way.
"Fine." She answered. "I don't like this, but I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"
"Nope." Vanille answered, and looked at Fang, "Well, take her away."
Fang didn't hesitate after that. She slipped an arm under Lightning's legs, and put one under her back to carry her like she had before. This time, however, Lightning kept her arms crossed instead of around Fang's neck. Fang wasn't bothered by it, she wouldn't want to need assistance with such a simple matter either.
After they reached a good distance Fang sat Lightning down in what looked like a good spot. Safe enough for her to keep watch, but still secluded and private. Lightning turned her head and glared at her. After a moment Fang realized why. "Oh, you want some privacy."
"That was the entire point of coming out here." Lightning said.
"Nothing I ain't seen before though." Fang said with a smirk.
"It's not the same and you know it." Lightning countered, though without much bite to her words.
"Yeah, yeah. Just yell when you're ready." Fang responded with a chuckle as she stepped out of view. It wasn't long later she heard Lightning say her name. Stepping back to where the woman was she found her sitting with her arms crossed about a foot from where Fang had put her. She had obviously tried to move herself, Fang didn't blame her. She bent down to pick the woman up, and then stopped.
"Wait." She said, "Did you wash your hands?" A grin quickly spread across her face. Lightning held up both of her hands, and then a moment later they caught fire. Her hands burned for a few seconds before the fire went out.
"Good enough for you?" She asked. Fang laughed and then leaned down and picked Lightning up. This time her hands found their way around Fang's neck to hold on. Fang carried her back to the camp and set her down carefully. Hope had already gotten the food ready for her, and brought it over. Lightning thanked him, and then quickly started eating. Having never gotten dinner she was fairly hungry.
The day passed easily after that. Now that Lightning was awake everyone was much more relaxed. The injured woman had, at Vanille's advisement, slept off and on throughout the day. Not only did it help her healing, but it also kept her from complaining about the lack of progress. Everyone took advantage of the break, even if they didn't like why they had it. Fang did have the inconvenience of having to carry Lightning anytime she needed to use the restroom since she refused to let Snow do so. Luckily it wasn't that many times. As the day wrapped up Fang took first watch this time. She didn't know how long it would be before Lightning was better, but she hoped it was soon. To say she didn't like seeing her hurt would be an understatement. For now though, all they could do was wait.
A/N: As always I hope you enjoyed this. This chapter is Dedicated to Kay-Yun and RoxyRoxas1313. Kay because she is a great author. If you haven't read her story "Trapped in Anxiety" or any of her others for that matter, then you should do that now. Not kidding, they are great. Roxy, Hope you have a good birthday, and upload something soon. As for all my readers, I want to thank you again. This story wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for the good reviews I've received. This story has gone above and beyond I ever even hoped it would. Thanks for reading, and I always loving reading every review, no matter how big or small.