Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!
There really isn't a whole lot to say today, but this chapter is pretty important. So let's get on with it.
I snored in my bed, taking as many minutes of sleep as I could. Yesterday had felt so nice, taking a break from the pursuit, that I didn't even want to do it anymore.
"Wake up" I heard someone say next to me.
"Just a little longer" I groaned.
I heard a heavy sigh. "Do you want to come today or not?"
"I'm coming." I said, not really sure what I was agreeing to, "Just a few more minutes"
I heard fading footsteps and smiled, happy that whoever the intruder had been decided to back off.
Moments later I heard footsteps again.
"What now?" I moaned.
Suddenly I was freezing cold. I shot up in my bed, mouth gaping open in an empty scream. My hair was clumped together in wet bundles. I felt the water dripping off my face.
Turning, I saw Xeyrus standing next to my soaked bed, a grey pail in hand.
"What the heck was that for?!" I demanded, furious.
"You wouldn't wake up," he replied, "but you said you were coming"
"I said in a few minutes" I said.
"You've been saying that for the last hour" He pointed out.
I had no memory of it. Was I sleep-talking? I wondered.
Sighing, I pulled my wet blanket off my body.
"Well now you've ruined my bed" I said.
"It'll dry" He replied simply, walking out of the room. "Hurry it up, will you?"
After getting out of my soaked pajamas and into my regular hunting clothes I made my way down the stairs. Xeyrus waited in the kitchen, leaning against the counter.
"You ready?" He asked.
"Yeah" I said, a hint of anger in my voice.
"You have no reason to be mad at me." He said, "You got out of bed, didn't you? Plus you didn't have to take a shower this morning"
"I still took one" I pointed out.
"I know." He replied, "But it was a waste of time"
I sighed as we left through the front door, "Where's Octavia and Nello?" I asked.
"Still asleep." He replied, "They don't have anything to do until the tournament starts"
"Then why couldn't we sleep in?"
"Because if we find something then they won't even have to go to tournament"
"Octavia'd probably still go anyways"
He paused, "I guess." He replied, "Well we're awake now, no point in crying over spilled milk"
I sighed, realizing that it was pointless to argue.
"Are you mad?" He asked, as if he didn't know.
"What would make you think that?" I asked sarcastically, frustrated.
"Your sigh." He replied, "You sounded annoyed"
"Well yeah." I said, "But it's pointless arguing with you"
He didn't reply.
"Ready to run?" He asked.
"I think I'll take the bus" I replied.
"Do they run this early?" He asked.
"I'm pretty sure they run twenty-four hours a day"
"That's an entire day"
"No duh"
"The 'a day' part at the end wasn't necessary, because it's just the whole day"
"Why are you still talking?" I asked sternly.
"I'm just trying to be helpful" He replied.
"Well you're not doing a very good job" I pointed out.
"I think I'll just run. You can take the bus"
"Sounds like a plan"
I waited by the bus stop on the corner of the street while he ran ahead. I looked around, seeing that the sun had barely started to rise. How early is it? I wondered. Glancing at my scroll, I saw that it was still very early. Earlier than I woke up on a regular work day.
The bus pulled up, coming to a halt in front of me. I climbed on and took a seat. Most of the seats were empty due to the fact that no one in their right mind would be up this early.
The bus came up a few feet from the house. I hopped off and started towards it. Xeyrus was nowhere in sight, which I was happy for.
Inside the control room I started searching. By now the place stunk of rotting corpses and dried blood.
"What are you doing?" Someone asked. I turned. It was Xeyrus.
"Searching, duh" I replied.
"We already searched through this" He pointed out.
"Well maybe we missed something" I suggested.
He didn't move for a moment.
"Well, don't just stand there." I said, "Get over here and help"
Hesitantly he walked over, then swept all the poorly organized papers onto the floor with his arm.
"What is wrong with you?" I asked.
"We already searched that." He said, "Remember?"
"We could have missed something!"
He didn't reply. Instead he scanned the room.
I smacked him across the cheek, "Hey!" I called, "What's wrong with you?"
He rubbed his cheek, turning an irritated gaze on me, then slapped me across the face.
"Well, sorry for trying to be efficient." He said as I hit the ground. I was so shocked I'd lost focus and fallen. He held out his hand, "Don't hit me again" He said.
I slapped it away and stood. "I can stand on my own, thanks"
"I'm just trying to help" He said.
"You want to help?" I asked, "How about you get some common courtesy? Some decent morals? How about you just be a decent person for a change?"
"That's harsh." He said, "I didn't ask you to point out my flaws. You don't see me listing off all of yours"
"I'd like to hear this list" I said.
He sighed, "You're lazy, unskilled, unprofessional, immodest, unintelligent, inefficient, and cruel. Is that enough?"
"Cruel?" I asked, "Why, because I slapped you?"
He didn't reply.
"You know, I think you're the cruel one here"
"Why is that?" He asked.
"Oh, I don't know," I started sarcastically, "maybe it's because you refused to help any of us until after Beacon. Maybe it's because you barely participate in the team's activities. Or maybe it's because you left me for dead in Emerald Forest!"
My voice echoed through the room.
Xeyrus looked past me, "We need to go." He said, "Now" He grabbed my arm and started to pull.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" I asked, ripping my arm from his grasp. "You know what you did. Why?"
"We have to go" He said.
"Don't change the subject!" I yelled, "Answer me!"
He pulled himself close to my face and stared me dead in the eyes, "We have to go. Now"
I pushed him back, "Get away from me." I said, "We came here for information, so get off your ass and let's get looking"
"I won't let you go" He said.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, "Then why did you?"
He hesitated, "I don't believe that I understand"
"Why did you just leave me with that Ursa?"
"Are you still on about that?" He asked, "We have to go" He reached out to grab my arm. I pushed his hand away.
"Yes, I'm still on that." I reached down and popped one of my legs off, just where my black leggings stopped at my mid-thigh. "You did this to me. You left me for dead, and now I don't even have real legs. I'll be in debt for the rest of my life! Do you really think that I'd just let that go?"
"It's an improvement if you ask me" He said.
That's when I snapped. Attaching my leg back to my thigh, I charged, drawing Cratorus 2.0. I tackled him to the ground, pointing one end of my spear at his neck.
"I lost my family for this!" I screamed, "Because of you! I was disowned because of you! Why?! Why did you leave me?!" I felt tears falling down my face, "I thought you were my partner"
He pushed me off himself and stood, "Get off me." He said, "Don't you remember what I told you about attacking me?"
I stayed where I was, whimpering as the memories flooded back…
"She's still alive! Hurry! She's losing a lot of blood!" Unfamiliar voices spoke.
"Azure, hang on a little longer!" That was my mother's voice.
I was lying on my back and moving forward without my control. I barely knew what was going on. My body rocked slightly as I raced down the hallway.
I raised my hand, looking at it through clouded eyes. It was pale, paler than I'd ever seen it. Someone else's hands wrapped around my own. It was my mother's. Turning my head, I faintly saw her crying and running next to me, holding my hand.
"Ma'am, please let go." The unknown voice came again, "I know it's hard, but we need to move quickly if we want to stop the bleeding"
Slowly I felt the warmth leave my hand.
"I'll be right here" Mother said.
I felt a sudden jolt as I passed through double doors, then I was out again.
"Come on," Xeyrus said, snapping me out of my dream briefly, "we should get going"
I stayed where I was, not moving other than the slight shaking of my shoulders. That fateful day flooded back to me, regardless of whether I wanted it to or not.
"Wha-what's going on?" I muttered, consciousness returning to me.
"She's awake, Mrs. Blaze" I heard the unfamiliar voice yet again.
"Oh my gosh! You're okay!" My mother's voice. My vision was slowly returning to me.
"Where am I?" I groaned.
"The hospital." The unknown voice, which I now realized was a doctor, said, "You lost your legs to an Ursa"
Slowly I sat up, barely able to support my own weight with my arms. I glanced down, seeing nothing but red stubs sticking out from under my hospital gown. They were dry now, but some droplets of blood were scattered on the stretcher by what was left of my legs. I gasped, almost falling back over.
"Can anything be done to fix this?" I asked.
"Yes," the doctor replied, "we can install robotic legs. However, it's very expensive"
"I'll take it." I said, "I need to get back to Beacon"
Mother gasped, "You don't seriously plan on returning, do you?" She asked.
"Of course I do!" I replied.
She hesitated, fear spreading across her face, "Let's talk about this for a minute" She finally said, then turned to the doctor and asked for privacy. He relocated me to a new room, and my mother joined me.
"Azure, you don't really want to return, after all that?" Mother asked.
"Yes, I do" I replied.
"But look what happened to you." She started. "What the Grimm can do"
"It only increases my desire to be a huntress" I said.
"No, I need to keep you safe"
"Mom!" I burst out, "Do you even know me? Ever since I was a kid I've wanted to be a huntress! I'm not letting an injury take that dream away!"
"An injury?!" Mother exploded, "Azure, your crippled!"
"It's just a flesh-wound" I said, half joking, half serious.
"Don't joke with me" She said.
I didn't reply.
"I care about your safety, Azure" She added.
"Well I don't care about my safety." I retorted, "The role of a huntress is to ensure the safety of others, not their own"
"I don't want to go through the pain of losing you. I don't think that you should return"
"Well I don't care what you think!"
Mother sighed, finally giving in. "Fine." She said, standing and walking out the door. She stopped in the open doorway, hand on the doorknob. "But know that if you ever return home…" She hesitated, but continued, turning her head enough to see me out of the corner of her eye, "that you are not welcome"
I didn't move. I stared at the ground and felt the tears starting to roll down my cheeks.
Mother slammed the door behind her, and I never saw her again.
So there you have it. A more complete version of Azure's back story. I actually wrote it as a comic book originally, and this was the last little bit of that story. What'd you guys think of that? I prefer the flashback over just a simple explanation personally.
Xeyrus is kind of a jerk too, eh? When he finally has dialogue he's just a little annoying.
Also, The Candidates is well under way. This past weekend I stayed up until midnight editing it. I still have one chapter left, so hopefully I'll get that done as early as tonight, then start posting as early as tomorrow. My plan is to post one chapter every day or two, just so that I can avoid spoiling the whole story in HellFall. For those of you who are unaware, The Candidates is the back story of Dennis Soldier, whom I believe I introduced a while back.
It feels like I really haven't written in a while. I guess I did this weekend, but otherwise I'm almost out of chapters. I've been so busy lately with my blog, school, and this.
Speaking of my blog, here's an advertisement for it. Hey, do you have facebook? Do you like movies, TV shows, and/or video games? Then go like my blog, SquigglyCrunch, on facebook! I'm also going to be starting up a YouTube channel soon for video reviews, so check that out if your interested! (Read this in an excited advertiser voice, otherwise it's not as appealing)
Anyways, that's about it. As usual, favorite, follow, review, tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to, and I'll see you all in the next chapter (and in The Candidates)!