Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!
Mondays are pretty terrible right? Why I chose today of all days may be confusing, but for a while it was one of the only days of my week where I wasn't busy. I just thought I'd give ya'll a little fun fact 'cause I've got nothing else to say.
Anyways, this chapter continues straight away off of last week's chapter, so you may need to check back with the previous chapter again just to jog your memory. Unless you have a great memory, then you have a skill that I don't, and I'm envious of you. Enjoy!
Dr. Tress quickly covered his awkward arm again and, without acknowledging it, stepped out of the room.
When he was out of earshot I turned to Wintanweorth. I was about to ask him if he'd seen it when I saw his face. He'd obviously seen it.
"What do you think is wrong?" I asked.
He sighed, "I think that to any normal person you'd sound like a racist." He replied, "But that wasn't normal"
"Any ideas?" I asked.
He shook his head, "Birth defect?" He inquired, "Maybe his parents were a little wonky? I don't know. Whatever it is, though, it's not important. Some people are just unlikely"
"Or different." I added, "You sound like a racist"
He smiled.
"So do you think I'll be able to get out of here?" I asked.
Wintanweorth paused, "I think that they mentioned that as soon as you could walk" He replied.
I adjusted myself and planted my new feet against the floor. I could feel the cold surface of the tiles. I knew it was fake, but my heart skipped a beat. I turned to Wintanweorth, who just smiled.
"What is it?" He asked.
"The floor." I replied, "It's cold"
It took him a second, but face slowly showed understanding. "How does it feel?" He asked.
I smiled, "It's a little chilly" I replied.
He snickered, but didn't say anything.
Slowly I stood. It was hard to be this perfectly balanced on my feet again. It'd been far too long since I'd felt anything in my feet. I took a step. It was awkward, but I did it nonetheless.
"You're a natural" Wintanweorth commented jokingly.
"I haven't walked on real feet in years." I said, "It looks like I haven't completely forgotten"
"You know they aren't real though" He pointed out.
"Of course" I replied, taking another step.
Next thing I knew I was walking down the hallway. I was a little shaky, but I managed. Wintanweorth followed after me.
By the time I'd reached the end of the hallway I'd pretty much mastered walking normally again.
"Looks like I've still got it" I said. I realized how funny that sounded. I said it like it was some sport that I hadn't played in years and only just picked up again.
"You wanna head outside?" Wintanweorth asked.
I nodded, "Yes" I replied.
Outside I sat on the grass, feeling it between my toes and fingers. Wintanweorth sat next to me. He was staring at his scroll.
"Thank you" I said.
He looked up, "No problem" He said.
"I know that this must've cost you a fortune" I added.
"Well, yes." He replied, "But trust me, your worth more than that"
I smiled, reaching out and taking his hand in my own. His eyes stayed on the screen of his scroll, but he squeezed back.
He looked up, shoving his scroll back into his pocket, and making eye contact with me. He simply smiled.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walk out the door of the hospital. Turning my attention to it, I saw Grizzly. He was wearing a pale blue hospital gown, and walked on crutches. I stood, and so did Wintanweorth.
"Grizzly!" I called, almost falling over again.
He turned, and I saw his face. There was something different. He was pale, and his eyes were only half open. The usual smile didn't cover his face. He smiled weakly and started towards us. I decided to save him the trouble to run straight to him.
Running was a little awkward, but I still managed just fine.
"Hey Grizzly." I said, "How're you doing?"
He shrugged, "I'm fine, I guess." He replied. His voice was low, and lacking the usual perkiness and excitement it usually had. "How're you feeling?"
"Pretty great," I replied, raising my hand, "check this out"
He smiled, "You got your hands back?" He asked.
"New hands." I replied, "Still robotic, though"
"That's cool" he said.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He paused, "Do you think we could sit down somewhere?"
"Of course." I replied, "Come on. I'll carry you"
"You don't need to-" He started. I cut him off as I pulled him into the air and brought him to where Wintanweorth and I had sat earlier. He was still there, standing in the same place.
I set him down on the ground and sat.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Well," he started, "other than the fact that I'm kind of dying, I'm a little tired"
"You're dying?" Wintanweorth asked.
"Not actually." He replied, "I just feel like hell"
We both sighed with relief, "Well that's good"
"Apparently the poison got to my brain, so they had to drug me a little to get it out." He replied, "So I'm just a little, or a lot, out of it"
At that moment I saw someone approaching from the road. It was Roy.
"Roy!" I called.
He came and sat down with us, "Hello," he said, "how are you two doing?"
"I'm fine." I said, "But Grizzly isn't feeling too good"
Roy turned to him, "How are you doing?" He asked.
"Just what she said." He replied, "I'm a little out of it"
Roy turned to Wintanweorth, who shook his head, then turned to Grizzly, "When can you leave the hospital?" He asked.
"Anytime" He replied, "I've already been discharged"
"Cool." Wintanweorth said, "Should we head back to the base?"
"Sure" Grizzly said, taking his green cloak and draping it over his body. I hadn't even noticed him holding it. He'd had it wrapped up and stuffed into one of his crutches.
"I'll carry you" I told him, standing.
"No thanks." He said, "You've already carried me twice. Not a pleasant experience"
I smiled, "Right" I replied.
Roy ended up carrying him, and Wintanweorth carried his crutches. I was able to get my orange coat and jeans back from the hospital, but they'd cut my shirt off and disposed of it when I'd first arrived. They also returned my dog tags, which Wintanweorth had given me when we'd first met. They belonged to the woman who'd burned down the Nalakian village. They read 'Pyre Fall' followed by some numbers. I wore it to remind myself of that day. Of the woman, and of the second chance that I'd received.
"What do you dog tags say?" Grizzly asked me as we walked down the street, as if reading my mind without being able to see the specifics of what I had thought.
"Hmm?" I asked, "Oh, Pyre Fall. The name of the woman who burned down my village"
"Your village?" He asked.
"Yes," I replied, "I'm from the same village as Wintanweorth"
"Oh." He said, "That would explain it"
"Explain what?" I asked.
"The tattoos." He replied, "I don't know, I always thought that they were related somehow"
I smiled, "Well," I started, "you thought right"
"Pyre Fall." He said, "There's that name again. Yet another Fall to deal with"
"I guess so" I replied. I hadn't even thought of that. I rarely ever even looked at the tags, but they certainly changed things a little.
We reached the Atlas military base and made our way down to our room. I wanted to tell Gazini about Pyre, but he wasn't around.
We sat down on our individual bunks. I sighed, lying down and rubbing my feet against the blankets. It felt so soft.
"I have a confession to make." Roy said suddenly. All eyes fell on him. "I'm not a human"
So here we go. The big confession. Just so that you guys don't get excited for whatever reason the next chapter isn't an Orange II one again. I just figured that it wouldn't be important to basically just write about how everyone reacts because we already had Wintanweorth do it, this time there'll just be more people. I just thought that it'd be a waste of time and a chapter.
Anyways, again, not much to say. I really haven't done a lot of writing recently, but I'm really hoping that I can finish up this part of the story pretty quick here. And 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!