Broken Wings
N.W. 1139
A Guardian Killed
Lloyd was being reckless, flying through the trees like this.
But it was fun, and distracting, and he was so sick and tired of dealing with the people in Meltokio. Damn the city for managing to last over two thousand years, though it had moved to the east slightly as the original city was left to fall into ruin.
He idly considered grabbing Zelos, flying out, and dropping a supercharged Judgment on the idiots.
Hm...
Dodging the trees became less of a game, and more of a spare thought process, his weaving becoming less erratic and more fluid as he stopped whipping around every tree he saw.
The idea did have merit. If they could focus it, control the beams so that they hit one spot more strongly than anywhere else, they could destroy the mana cannon before it was finished and make a visible and clear example of the city.
But they'd still have to do something about the innocents that would no doubt be caught in the crossfire, and—
He knew that whine.
Massive blue-green wings snapped wide open, the drag almost hurting for a moment before Lloyd tucked his knees to his chest, hitting a tree trunk feet-first and pushing off to shoot back the other way, eyes searching the forest for white.
But it wasn't the white he saw first. It was the red, and then the white fur the red was covering.
"Noishe!"
The whine the protozoan let out was so familiar, and so heartbreakingly weak, that Lloyd felt his heart stutter even before he landed next to the arshis and got a good look at his childhood friend.
A metal tooth-laced net dug into Noishe's body, the protozoan clearly in pain with every breath he took, and Lloyd pulled off his gloves as he began to carefully pry the metal teeth of the horrible trap loose.
Noishe whined, yelped, and made every sound of distress he seemed capable of as Lloyd worked, every little sound hurting Lloyd even more, though he knew the arshis simply couldn't help the noises leaving him.
Noishe was dying.
The thought crossed Lloyd's mind so suddenly that his hand slipped, the jerking of the net making Noishe yelp and thrash. And, for the first time Lloyd had ever known, the protozoan twisted around and bit him.
Lloyd couldn't help crying out, not with Noishe's teeth deep enough in his arm that the long canines had scraped bone.
Russet eyes found large golden-brown, Lloyd fighting back the tears of both physical and emotional pain as he locked eyes with Noishe for what his heart told him would be the last time.
He needed to wrap his arm, it was bleeding like hell and hurt, and he hadn't gotten even a fraction of the net untangled...
Noishe was dying. His injuries wouldn't heal fast enough even if Lloyd could get him loose, and he'd lost so much blood already...
The arshis whined, rough tongue licking the bite mark that Lloyd was going to hide from Zelos as long as possible, because he knew Zelos would panic and heal him without thinking about it.
He wanted the mark to scar. He wanted the reminder... and the proof of just how badly Noishe was hurt. Because Kratos was going to miss his old friend when Lloyd brought him to Aselia.
"I'm sorry," Lloyd choked out, abandoning the net.
Noishe whined. Whether it was meant to be an acceptance, or an encouragement, or an 'I'm sorry, too,' Lloyd would never know.
He'd never had a chance to learn to understand Noishe the way his father did. The way Tenebrae could, if only because Noishe wasn't quite a monster.
And he never would have a chance. Not when he was certain Noishe was the last.
The motions were automatic, as this wasn't something he wanted to think about. A single blade hissed out of its sheath, then slid with a frightening ease into the protozoan's body.
A final yelp, more than likely an impulse that the arshis couldn't have controlled, and Lloyd was left to stare at his own blade...
And the blood trickling out of Noishe's limp form where blade entered body.