Chapter 4

(Red)

I opened my eyes and searched around in the dark, my eyes trying to adjust. I grumbled as I sat up, unable to see anything still and resorting to feeling for my way out of the barracks where Suyo, Remus, Asura, and I had been sleeping and found my way to the door. I pulled it open and stepped outside. The natural glow of the moon illuminated the ground beneath me and I quietly turned to close the door behind me. I slowly walked towards the figure I saw leaning against the railing, looking out into the nothingness that lay before her. A few days had passed since our moment on the way back from the camp that had been attacked. Neither of us mentioned it to anyone, nor each other. Things reverted back to normal for the both of us, almost like nothing had happened. But something had happened, and it's been weighing heavily on my mind. The feelings of pain, anger, and sorrow that were expressed to one another, the fear of carrying on in this war, the promise we'd made to protect each other, it all lingers in my head and never seems to go away no matter how hard I'm fighting it.

I shivered as a slight breeze passed us by and leaned my arms against the rail next to her. There truly was nothing beyond us anymore, thanks to the war. Whatever battle had taken place there was so devastating it had wiped out everything you could see for what seemed like forever into the distance. I wondered if another battle like that would take place where we are now. I'd more than likely be a part of it, as would all of my allies. I placed my hand over my face and shook my head to clear my mind. I didn't need to think about that right now. The battle ahead was bad enough.

Asura's voice broke through my thoughts. Her calm voice was so quiet, I almost couldn't hear her as she spoke. "Are you afraid?" She asked. I stood there quietly, unmoving as I considered my response.

"Everything about this place is unpredictable. Whether or not I make it out of here alive depends on me and my skill. One wrong move, and I'm a goner," I said, shaking my head.

"But it's not just your skill, it's ours, too. We're a team," she said, her eyes still fixated on the land ahead. I turned to look at her. She'd taken out her braids. Her long blonde hair flowed gently in the breeze. "Even if you happen to fail, you should have faith that we'll be there to catch you when you fall." I ran my fingers through my hair. She was right. I'm only one man, one soldier against an entire army. I needed to learn to lean on my friends, my allies, my teammates to pull me through to the end. I chuckled at the cliché thought of 'The Power of Friendship.' In most stories, friends always come in at the last second to save the main character from death, but that concept always seemed so silly to me. That was, until now when I realized they might truly be the difference between life and death itself.

"You know, you might not want to think so hard. You have smoke coming out of your ears," she laughed quietly. My face felt warm from embarrassment, but I smiled. Her light hearted humor might've been just what I needed. I yawned and stretched as I kept my eyes on the land beyond. "I suppose it's about time I head back," she said yawning, too. "Maybe you should, too. We've got a big day ahead of us." She slowly made her way behind me and back to the barracks. I stayed leaning for a while longer before deciding that I'd had enough of fighting off sleep and went back inside.

Clouds of dust formed as I kicked at the ground, impatiently waiting for the green light to begin marching toward Lacus Litore. It was so nerve racking,that this morning's breakfast almost made a reappearance. I lowered myself to the ground and sat with my legs crossed. I sighed as I hunched my body forward, folding my hands in front of me. I wondered what the future held for me as I stayed there, nothing but the wind to fill my ears.

"You know, sitting like that isn't good for your posture," said Suyo approaching me. He stood in front of me, his arms crossed as he looked down. His pale face was expressionless, as if he had been lost in thought, contemplating everything the same as me. His massive scythe, secured to his back, came up passed his head about a foot and he wore a long, war-tattered cloak that engulfed his entire body. His midnight blue hair was messy as if he'd just woken up.

"Oh yeah?" I responded flatly. "It's not like it's going to matter in a few hours anyway." Suyo uncrossed his arms and set his weapon on the ground beside him before laying down on the dirt. He covered his eyes with one of his arms before he spoke again.

"Wake me when it's time. My brain has had enough stress for one day." It wasn't even noon, yet. We'd been up for hours with no new information on when we were setting out, just that the time would come very soon. We stayed this way in silence for a few minutes before we were greeted by a white-haired Remus walking towards us. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she wore a long white coat with her sleeves rolled up, ready for whatever fight awaited us at the Castrum. She wore a look of determination, standing straighter than usual, perhaps to hide her true emotions; fear. She looked down at the reaper napping next to me, and then she met my gaze. She shook her head.

"Must be nice to be able to sleep at a time like this," She said, placing one hand on her hip. She brushed her hair out of her face and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Remus was calm, calmer than I'd ever seen her. It was rather strange. She was normally so full of personality. She opened her eyes and looked around. The camp was busy. Soldiers were moving all over the place, some moving supplies to this tent and others preparing weapons at another. The medics were rendering first aid at an area towards the edge of the campsite to soldiers wounded out on the field. She looked back at me. "Mind if I sit?" she asked. I shook my head and she proceeded to lower herself into a sitting position. The sage placed her hands behind her and leaned back on them. She looked up. "You know, it's an unfortunately beautiful day," she said. Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill over, but they never did. She shook her head. "Never mind that. Have you heard from Asura?"

I shook my head again. The astrologian was no where to be seen. That was pretty common, though. Asura was always finding something to do. It was more than likely just a distraction from the heartache and pain this place brought. "She'll turn up eventually," I said nonchalantly. I shrugged it off, but my mind wandered. Was she okay? What if they'd already sent her with another group? Did they even have another group? Would we still have to go? But what about her? I knew I was overthinking it, but trust me, when you're in these types of situations, it just happens.

Just like clockwork, as I was coming back to my senses, a small, blonde solider stood before us. Her brow was furrowed and her emerald green eyes were bloodshot from the sleep deprivation we all seemed to be facing. Her long coat was similar to Remus', only black instead of white and her long black boots looked like they'd seen better days. Her hair was tied up in her usual low braided pigtails and her arms stood stiffly at her side. She took a deep breath and spoke two words.

"It's time."

The march to Lacus Litore was silent. We were escorted by two soldiers, one equally as tall as me and the other eye to eye with Suyo. So lost in thought, fearful for the next round of events just waiting to unfold, I almost missed Asura's hand slightly brushing against mine. From the corner of my eye, I could see she'd been looking ahead, but I knew it was her little way of reminding me I was not alone.

We made our way through the camps rather swiftly, with the exception of an occasional encounter with a Garlean squad here and there. Once we arrived at the ruins halfway through, we stopped to take a break. 'Can't have you guys dying on us first thing due to exhaustion.' Good to know they cared, I guess. I found a little half-wall at the top of the steps and propped my gunblade against it before leaning back with my hands behind my head and one leg crossed over the other. I made sure my weapon of choice was always within arms reach. Up here, Garlean robots and mechs with no pilots roamed the lands, or at least, the mud. Some of the bots were made to look like giant bugs and spiders, and others had the shape of humanoid creatures, their arms and legs functioning the same, just ten feet tall and absolutely massive. I turned my head to see Remus and Suyo facing one another, perhaps discussing a strategy for when we get there, and Asura sitting about five feet from me, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head resting on her arms.

It took me a moment of contemplating before working up the courage to speak. "Hey, Asura? You okay?" I asked, trying to not sound too worried, yet also like I gave a damn. She looked over at me and locked her eyes with mine. I looked at her for a moment before I noticed tears streaming down her face. I debated on if I should comfort her, or if I should leave her be, but the moment was cut short by the sound of one of our escorts being tossed through the air like a ragdoll. Adrenaline filled my body and my natural fight or flight kicked in and within seconds I had my weapon in hand heading for the colossus mech. Asura had bolted towards our fallen comrade to see if he was alive to try and save while Remus drew her weapon. I had watched Suyo on the field enough to know he could handle his own. He leapt through the air and came down on the mech with so much force, his scythe sliced right through the metal and took an arm off the robot. As for Remus, however, this would be the first real time I've seen her in combat. She was normally tending to someone, not that she couldn't fight, it was just unusual. She approached the product of Garlean technology and held her arms slightly raised at her side. Suddenly, her sage weapon became four separate swords that flew high above the boss. Purple beams in the form of an X shot down at it and it fell to a kneeling position. She then positioned herself directly in front of the bot and her swords formed symbols I didn't quite understand before firing a massive beam of light straight at it. Sparks flew from the body of the machine and it fell to the ground completely.

I cautiously made my way over to the mech and inspected it, my blade at ready. Where it once had glowing yellow lights for eyes were nothing but two black pits of darkness. I'd decided it was best to be wary, but came to the conclusion that it was indeed dead. I heaved a sigh, although this time I hadn't really done much but watch as my allies did all of the fighting. Maybe there was some hope to be had after all? I shook my head and turned to face the direction of the footsteps I heard making their way towards us. She slowed down until she was caught up to us and shook her head 'no' in a somber manner. I looked down and furrowed my brow. "Where's the other one?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

Asura pointed in the same direction she'd came from. "He's over there. He's going to take his friend's body back to camp to give him a proper burial." Her face was expressionless, unlike the way it had been before, her fear and sadness having overwhelmed her past her breaking point. "Break's over anyways. Let's get this show on the road." And just like that we were treading carefully through the ruins and the mud trying to get to where we needed to go.

Suyo was at the head of the group, guiding us safely past enemies until we reached the bottom of the hill where the Castrum stood. A very tall wall surrounded the building, nothing but the top of the roof was even visible from down so far. We continued along the dirt path, remaining vigilant of any danger that might be lurking in the shadows. He stopped abruptly right before where the dirt road became concrete about halfway up. He turned to look at us. "Listen, I know we didn't talk too much about a gameplan, but I'm counting on you guys the way you are me. So, however this goes, thank you for having my back." Suyo quickly turned to face forward, Remus gently placing her hand on his back to comfort him.

The higher we went, the steeper the hill became, so I extended my elbow for Asura to grab ahold of to help her keep her balance as we climbed. It didn't take long at that point before we stood in front of the massive gate leading to our destination. The four of us stood wide-eyed before the massive gate. It opened to reveal a rather tall door that led inside the fortress. Whoever was in there was definitely waiting for us.

Hello, Hello!

I always say I'm getting back into writing again, but my want to comes and goes with the wind, lol. Anyways, enjoy chapter 4! This was a really interesting chapter to write because I hit a few blocks where I didn't know how to even begin or where I wanted this one to take the story to. But enough of my rambling. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 5 pending...

~PandaWhere