Band of Brothers

Chapter 12

Door of the Gallows

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"You´re too silent." The feminine voice startles the cadet. He turns around and sees Rinoa watching him intently, her figure illuminated by the rachitic moon of this world. "Are you alright?"

At her words, Squall unavoidably takes a glance towards Kain´s tent, and though he forces his eyes to return to her figure, hoping his slip passed unnoticed, Rinoa has perfectly read his thoughts through such an innocent act. She sighs heavily, and then, without saying any words, she straddles him, her hands lovingly surrounding his neck, and Squall doesn´t have the heart to protest, and only leans backwards.

"Rinoa…" She silences his protest with a finger upon his lips.

"Kain is having his way with her, and that´s the way it is; you should let them be. If you have a need for a woman, you will always have me for that, or am I not enough for you?"

"Rinoa… I…" She doesn´t let him finish, way too troubled for what he might confess, and kisses him forcefully, letting her anger and doubts show through the kiss, as her hips are pressed against his, waking up the monster inside.

His or hers, she doesn´t know.

At first, he feels doubtful of this interchange, and though he doesn´t want to hurt Rinoa´s feelings, Squall knows he has to be honest with her, otherwise the situation would only get worse. But as he collects his wits to finish the caress, a thought enters his mind, and, angered at the idea of Lightning being kissed this way, Squall lets his own fears and rage pass through him. As his heart races out of jealousy, he deepens the kiss, caressing Rinoa´s back and lower back, with so much thirst and need that it takes them only a moment for both of them to be fuming, moaning, squeezing, grinding their hips together, forcing to transform their anger into lust.

His anger for Lightning belonging to another man.

Her anger for reading all too well Squall´s feelings.

Until a clearing throat wakes them from their desperate activities.

"Ehem…"

Rinoa and Squall jump up in surprise and immediately break the kiss, looking at their interlocutor, and opening their eyes wide.

"Nice to see you, children. And even nicer to see you´re having fun."

Kefka has one ridiculous boot upon a rock behind Squall´s back, supporting most of his weight upon it, and has plastered a cheeky, loathed smirk upon his features. But unfortunately for the lovers, he´s not alone, as two dark silhouettes form behind him. Rinoa opens her eyes wide, while Squall looks at them with contempt in his eyes.

"Right…"

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Not far from them, Lightning and Kain are deeply asleep, their bodies lovingly intertwined, until, without previous warning, the pink-haired woman jolts awake, her eyes wide with worry, only to be met by darkness. Her movements rouse Kain, who groggily opens his eyes, still more asleep than awake.

"What´s wrong?"

"I… I don´t know…" Lightning is almost certain it´s nothing to be worried about, but she´s learned to trust her instincts more than her senses, so the pinkette, touching around in the darkness, finds her gunblade, the magnificent Overture, and her clothes, dressing as fast as she can in spite of the near blindness that envelops her. "Go back to sleep. It´s probably just Squall bickering with Rinoa. I can´t be sure, but it seemed to me they weren´t quite happy with each other the last couple of hours."

At her words, Kain lies back down once more, far too happy to plunge into oblivion.

"You should leave them be, then. There´s nothing you can do about it to help them."

"I know…" But the nagging feeling at the back of her head lingers, and she just can´t let it go. "Go back to sleep, Kain. I´ll just give them a piece of their ass for waking us up. I´ll be back soon."

"Don't take too long," he murmurs, his voice heavy with sleep. The words are so slurred she almost misses their meaning, which makes her chuckle. She leans over as if to kiss him, but her ears prick up at an almost imperceptible sound outside the tent. But before she can investigate, Kain jolts awake, his body surging towards hers with a sudden burst of energy. He tackles her, and together they crash through the tent wall, narrowly avoiding the massive sword that had been aimed at her. Despite their escape, the blade still grazes Kain's side. "Aaaaarrrggghh!" he screams in pain.

"Kain!" She rolls with him, trying to get as far away from their unseen enemy as possible, when a powerful magical attack explodes next to them. Kain holds her tighter, using his body as her shield while they roll further upon the ground, until they stop, she on top of him. "Kain!" Lightning looks down and sees his eyes closed, his head bleeding and his back fuming smoke. "Oh, dear Etro! Kain!" Using one hand she finds his pulse upon the neck and sighs in relief. He´s unconscious, but at least he´s still alive. She wants to check on him further, but a shadow falls upon them and she raises her head, protecting with her body the injured one of her lover. "Who´s there!? Show yourself!"

"Huhuhu… it seems we meet again, Valkyrie." Lightning opens her eyes wide at seeing Garland´s humongous frame obscuring part of the moon, his hand brandishing the offending blade as he raises his weapon high above his head, the tip still painted with Kain´s precious blood. "It will be my pleasure to sever your head here and now."

The sword falls upon the lovers, and Lightning raises her gunblade to block the attack, acutely aware that Kain lies unconscious and defenseless beneath her. However, Garland's strength overwhelms her, and she can only manage to redirect the attack to the side, causing the blade to embed itself in the ground beside the dragoon's arm.

"Ugh!" Lightning's arms ache from the collision, but she forces her blade up again as Garland targets her flank. He chuckles at her awkward, weakened position, which limits her fighting abilities and forces her into a defensive stance. She manages to redirect his attack just above her and Kain's bodies, struggling to maintain her ground.

"Or is it better if a call you Sephiroth´s pet?"

Lightning growls in frustration as she raises her gunblade once more, bracing for the full force of the frontal attack. The impact is so violent, it sends her body flying backward, away from the wounded man's form, until her back crashes hard against a nearby boulder, the back of her head cracking the surface of the rock. She falls to her knees, dizzy and with her senses numbed, but through the ringing in her ears, she can still make out Garland's loud, mocking laughter at their plight.

"Is this really the warrior who made Sephiroth bleed? Huhuhu, I don´t remember battling someone as weak as you."

With some difficulty, Lightning gets up, blood painting her face, though she´s not deterred by it and holds Overture tighter, determined to protect Kain´s still limp form.

"Garland… I should´ve killed you the moment I could."

Though she can´t see it due to his helmet, Lightning can sense his devilish smile growing wider at her words.

"But you didn´t, and that will teach you a worthy lesson. You should never take pity on an enemy."

The woman growls and propels her body forward, her blade high up in the air, and clashes it against Garland´s bigger one.

"I´m a fast learner, don´t worry."

He chuckles, but his smile vanishes instantly as Lightning spins on her axis, bringing her blade against his back, his armor the only thing preventing his flesh from bursting open. Lightning spins again, redirecting her blade to Garland's left side and aiming for his neck, exploiting her superior speed. However, before her steel makes contact, another blade intercepts, deflecting her attack, the force of the surprise move sends Lightning's Overture flying from her hand. She growls in frustration but is forced to leap backward as the attack repeats, a deadly strike aimed at her. In that moment, she realizes it's not a sword, but a twisted and dark arm attacking her.

"Who is…?"

Another slash forces her to leap backward. As she lands, her baby blue eyes lock onto a devilish smirk and red eyes looking sardonically at her. The raven-haired man bows mockingly, his gaze never leaving her form.

"May I introduce myself to you, beautiful lady, I´m Ardyn Izunia, very much pleased to finally meet our Savior."

He's not finished speaking when another sword attacks her from her side, sending another slash toward her. The pinkette effortlessly jumps backward, avoiding the attack, as she finds Gabranth´s armor appearing in her field of view, the man taking off his helmet so that she can see him leering at her.

"Did you miss me, beautiful? Because I can´t stop thinking about our last encounter."

Lightning clenches her teeth as she lands closer to Kain's body, who is now awake and struggling to get up, grunting and panting. The dragoon is a powerful warrior, but he´s injured now, and thus as his partner, as his lover, it´s her job to protect him. As her sight passes through each enemy, her eyes become like slits.

Three against one.

Again.

"How are you, Kain? Can you stand up?" Lightning speaks to her lover, though her eyes are fixed on her enemy up front.

Kain manages to stand on his knees, panting profusely as his side and his head bleeding, painting the side of his face in crimson.

"Don´t worry, I won´t die for this."

Lightning nods slowly, her eyes focused on the enemy in front of her, forcing herself not to look down at Kain´s wound, lest Gabranth, or even Garland, would take advantage of her distraction. Gabranth smirks at her, much to her annoyance, while Ardyn walks from behind him, addressing the pinkette.

"So, this is the magnificent Savior… Well, you are indeed as beautiful as word say, I can give you that. Regal, even. No wonder you have a few of Spiritus´s generals all too eager to confront you."

Gabranth huffs, though his dirty smirk never wavers.

"But you have to admit, Ardyn, it´s just such a pity, so bad it would seem this… regal woman, as you called her, doesn´t know how to pick her men." He leers at her figure once more, as if to reinforce his words. "I can make you happier than Kain, you know? I can assure you my abilities surpass his."

She scoffs at his words, unwilling to address yet another clown and fixes her eyes on the dark knight.

"I would really appreciate it if you attacked one by one, Garland, but it's clear none of you are capable of a fair fight. As everyone can see, you always need more than one of you to try to bring me down."

Garland gives one step in front of Ardyn.

"Remember I did it once, Lightning, not long ago."

"What I remember is that you weren´t capable to defeat me on your own, you needed your idiotic pals to try to submit me. Injured and outnumbered is the only way you´d get me. But on a one-on-one fight…"

Garland scoffs at her provocation, while he lowers his blade, as if preparing for another attack, but Ardyn walks forward, his hand pushing the enormous blade down until the knight embeds the tip on the soil at his feet.

"Don´t be like that, Savior, there is no need for insults. Even though we would love to, we´re not here to fight you. We´re here under orders."

Lightning suppresses the urge to retaliate against his abrasive tone used on her nickname, instead opting to raise a subtly arched eyebrow in response.

"Whose orders? And what orders are those?"

"Our orders are to take you to Spiritus. Without a scratch."

The woman scoffs mockingly.

"I believe your pets already scratched me. And Kain."

Garland huffs and raises his blade in accusation.

"It was all well calculated, my intention was to give you a scare, never to hurt you gravely. As for your stupid boyfriend, well," Garland chuckles once more, his eyes directed to the man struggling to remain standing, "he made the mistake to step in front of me."

Resisting the sting of his derisive remarks, Lightning shifts her attention to her lover, observing him rise to his feet despite evident strain. His nonchalant attitude toward his injuries and his nudity, his steady hand pressed against his bleeding flank without a hint of hesitation, reassures her that his wounds may not be as dire as she initially feared. With a deep exhale, relief washes over her.

"You´re just too stupid to land a good hit, Garland." Kain growls at their enemy while, not without effort, he stands in front of Lightning, protecting her with his body.

With his naked, perfect body.

Lightning smirks at her last thought. But so does Garland at his words.

"You shouldn´t be feeling so confident, Kain, I missed your heart on purpose. And please, put on some clothes, we don´t need you to flash us your… miseries."

"What if I don´t want to?"

The huge man just shrugs, while Ardyn gives a few steps to place himself in the middle of the trio.

"Now, now, we really don´t need that for our arrangement, do we? We can remain as civil as possible."

Gabranth and Kain both huff at his words, but it´s Garland the one to answer.

"Suit yourself, I really don´t care what you do or don´t do."

"Oh, but I would have an answer for that." Gabranth speaks again, his eyes fixed on Lightning. "I bet the Savior here wouldn´t want everyone to know what poor thing she´s been choosing, when she could be with someone… better equipped."

"You bastard! I´m gonna show you how much of a man I am!" Kain gives a step forward though Gabranth doesn´t react at his threat, his smirk very well plastered, but Lightning intervenes, gently taking the powerful arm of her lover with one hand, though her baby blue eyes never leave her enemy´s, now fixed on Ardyn´s.

"I thought you wanted to keep this reunion civil."

Ardyn chuckles a bit more but then harrumphs, trying to recover composure.

"Yes, dear lady, my apologies, you´re right, I´ll try to keep my comrades at bay. But please, I ask of you to help me get our mission done. Whatever you lovebirds want to do with your free time we really don´t care. We only came for you."

As expected, Kain growls at his words.

"And you think I´ll let you take Lightning just like that?"

"You should, in case you want Spiritus to receive you, Lightning." Ardyn never takes his eyes from the woman and raises his twisted arm, pointing menacingly at her. "That´s the number one rule. You want to see Spiritus? you have to come all on your own."

"I said, she won´t…!" But Lightning gently pulls at the man´s arm, as if in warning. Kain turns around to meet her eyes. "But Lightning! It must be a trap!" She silences him with a shake of her head and a reassuring squeeze on his muscle.

"That´s irrelevant, Kain. No matter the circumstances, I need to see Spiritus." He wants to protest further, but she lowers her hand to intertwine her fingers with his, her eyes not wavering from his violet irises. "I know you can trust me on this."

After locking eyes with her for a couple of seconds, he sighs heavily and squeezes her hand.

"Of course I do trust you, it´s them I don´t trust."

She gives him a small smile of understanding but doesn´t push him further, and turns at her enemy, glaring daggers at the warrior, though doesn´t answer his demand.

"What did you do to Squall?"

Garland chuckles, lowering his blade.

"Me? I didn´t do anything, Kefka had that covered."

Lightning defiantly raises her chin.

"I want them safe and unscathed. Otherwise, the deal is over."

Now the man is heaving a heartily laugh.

"I think you are in no position to argue, woman. You´ll come with us, whether you like it or not."

Kain puts in a defensive state, but Lightning squeezes his hand again and shakes her head, a warning in her baby blue eyes, one that Kain understands perfectly. Her sight returns to her enemy, now more determined than ever.

"I thought Spiritus´s orders were to take me with him unscathed. You´ve already pushed the limits of that order. If we fight, which we will do in case you did hurt my friends, I´ll defeat you, or at least, you´ll have to take me seriously injured. There´s no other way I´ll go with you, and I´m sure Spiritus won´t like that at all."

Garland growls at her words, and after a moment of sending daggers to the couple, he looks at Ardyn, who nods silently, and lowers his blade, chuckling.

"Very well, you´ll have your friends unscathed. But they´ll stay here, guarded by my comrades. There´s no way they´ll come with us."

"Deal."

"Lightning!"

Kain wants to protest further, but before he can say anything else, the lovers turn to see a group of people walking towards them, and Lightning´s and Kain´s blood boils in anger, while Ardyn signals flamboyantly at them.

"There you go, beautiful Savior, your friends without a scratch. Now it´s your turn to fulfill the pact."

Looking intently at the group the two lovers find Kefka, Jecht, Vayne, Kuja, and Ex Death walking side by side, the latter carrying an apparently unconscious but very tied Rinoa, her body resting upon the latter´s shoulders so that the only thing they can see are her legs and her broad butt, while Squall marches beside them, all tied up and without a possibility to help, his blue eyes fixed on Lightning´s bare feet, and obviously ashamed of his defeat. Lightning gives a couple of steps towards them, seething in rage.

"What's the meaning of this?! What did you do to Rinoa and why are they tied up like animals?"

Kefka walks towards her, his loathed smirk on the face while his tone is that of reprimanding a child.

"Now now, there's no need for that. The girl resisted at first, but I subdued her with a stun spell, one I´m sure you well know by now." His smirk goes wider at the innuendo but Lightning seems unfazed: she wouldn´t give the bastard the pleasure. Kefka scoffs at her lack of reaction and keeps up with his explanation. "She didn't move a muscle after that. The boy also complied once we had his lover under control. As you can see, neither of them was harmed, just restrained, which is more than what can be said about you." The clown eyes the blood staining her beautiful face and then glares pointedly at Garland and Gabranth, who simply ignore him. "You should consider yourself lucky."

Lightning clenches her teeth and fists, begrudgingly acknowledging that they do appear unharmed. Still seething at their treatment, she takes a few steps toward the cadet, but Jecht extends his sword, blocking her path.

"Whoa there, beautiful! They're here as a guarantee you won´t do anything stupid, so step back."

Lightning glares daggers at the man, but her fierce look has no effect on the seasoned warrior, who only shakes his head slowly. She sighs in frustration.

"Fine. I just want to talk to… my protégé, is that really too much to ask for?"

Squall raises his eyes towards her at the way she´s just called him, but immediately lowers them down, even more ashamed. For his part, Jecht doesn´t give way.

"I can understand that, but you can talk to him from where you stand, you don't need to get any closer."

Lightning clenches her fists even more out of frustration, but then nods at the man and fixes her stare on the cadet.

"Are you okay, Squall?"

He nods slowly, though his eyes are still at her feet, the stupidity of his defeat weighing heavily on him.

"Yes, Lightning, don´t worry, we both are okay."

"Squall, look at me," Lightning demands. Squall grunts, sensing the frustration evident in her voice, and lowers his head even more, refusing to meet her eyes. It does feel as if he were being scolded by a sensei. Lightning sighs and tries again, her voice softer this time. "Squall, please, look at me. I... I don't blame you for anything, I just want to see if you're okay." Her last words make him flinch, but he finally complies, and her baby blue eyes meet the troubled blue orbs of her protégé. "Did they hurt you?"

He shakes his head, raven haired bangs moving in sink.

"No. We didn´t get the opportunity to take our blades. But they didn´t really attack us, just tied us up saying that, if we resisted, you´d pay for that. Rinoa did move, but a single cast without her noticing and she was submitted. I was more worried about you, I´m glad to know you´re not seriously harmed."

"I´m okay, but Kain…"

Squall immediately scoffs, minimizing her concern.

"I´m happy you´re okay, I really don´t care what might happen to him."

"Hey!"

Kain yells at them from behind her back, but she can´t do nothing but scoff, entertained.

"Well, I´m glad you´re both okay, that´s the only important thing."

"What will happen to us, Lightning? What´s the next thing to do?"

Lightning looks at him for a couple of seconds, and then looks back at Ardyn, determined eyes fixed on his red ones.

"I accept the deal. You can take me to Spiritus."

Squall opens his eyes wide at her words, understanding immediately the implications, but it´s Kain the one to protest first.

"Lightning! You can´t accept their terms! It´s a trap! You won´t make it alive from there!"

But the pinkette turns around to scold her lover.

"There is no other way, Kain. Look at them! Look at how many enemies are and the way they submitted Rinoa and Squall. For Etro´s sake, just look at you!" She eyes his bleeding side and head, can still smell the burnt skin on his back, and she clenches her teeth, angered by the way his weakened state makes her feel impotent to help him, to save him. "You can barely stand on your feet, and you pretend to fight these many foes?" She straightens her posture, her eyes piercing his. "We knew it wasn´t going to be easy. It´s the only way, Kain, for all of us to survive."

Kain wants to protest further, but they both notice another silhouette approaching them: walking nonchalantly, the tall and blond Snow Villiers carries with his left hand Kain´s pants that immediately throws at the man. And in his right hand, the woman´s magnificent Overture, one that he keeps holding tightly, as if the blade would escape his grasp at any minute. Lightning growls at the sight of him, especially at noticing his unworthy palm touching her greatest treasure.

"Snow! How dare you face me like this?"

The man smirks at her expected response.

"You shouldn't talk to me like that, Sis. I'm here to guarantee your safe passage, which is why you should show me some respect."

If his intention was to make her feel safer, the result is quite the opposite, as his words make her even angrier.

"Is this a joke? We fought already! You tried to kill me! How in Etro would I feel safe with you?"

He shrugs at the accusation.

"It was part of the job, I thought you could understand that. But I care for you, you´re my sister after all, I promise I´ll take care of you. Don´t you trust me?"

Lightning scoffs at his words, feeling angrier by the minute.

"Of course I don´t. And I´m not your sister."

Snow chuckles at their old joke.

"You hurt me with your words, Sis."

Lightning deepens the glare.

"Please step closer, so I could really hurt you in the flesh instead."

She glares defiantly at him, but he chuckles again at this.

"There are things that will never change, it seems." He bows at her, and then extends his hand towards her, inviting her in a chivalry fashion. But she notices he never offers her the sacred sword. "Shall we?"

With a lingering glare, Lightning strides toward him, promptly swatting his hand away as she meets his level. Despite her annoyance, she begrudgingly follows his lead, chin held high, eyes fixed straight ahead, refusing to spare even a single glance for anyone else.

"Lightning!" Kain jumps up in action before she´s completely surrounded by the group of enemies and takes her by the wrist, desperate to change her mind. These dark warriors had hurt her, tortured her, raped her, bled her almost to the death, and she would still walk towards their lair all by herself and unharmed? "Please Light, let´s handle this together… don´t go into their dangerous trap." At his pleading, she lowers her head so that her bangs are covering her eyes, and doesn´t meet his sight. "Light… I´m begging you…" He doesn´t mind the begging, if it will keep her alive. But Lightning still won´t meet his eyes, and, raising her chin, with her voice like a whisper, only issues a command.

"Let me go, Kain. I have to go, for us, for all of us."

"Lightning…" Kain wants to plead further, but then he notices the muscles in her forearm tensing, her fist closing, and her jaw trembling. He can even feel her heartbeat racing against his palm. Her eyes, still refusing to meet his, are fixed on the castle ahead. Angry eyes that battle to eradicate any trace of weakness. Kain doesn´t say anything further because, right in front of him, it's clear that the almighty Savior is terrified to death.

And yet, not even terror will make her bend.

Filled with pride for his Valkyrie, but with his heart laid bare, the dragoon releases her wrist.

"Be careful there, my love. I´ll be waiting for your safe return."

Her eyes are stubbornly fixed away from him, but he still sees a small smile grazing her lips. Without words, she walks past Snow, determined steps following the path, though Kain still can see her breathing becoming quicker, but not for a moment her steps falter.

You can do this, Lightning! I know you can.

Without previous warning, a powerful punch upon his cheek forcefully takes Kain from his thoughts and almost sends him to the ground, breaking his lip, courtesy of a very angry Snow.

"I told you to take care of her. And look where you took her!"

Lightning turns around, surprised at the attack and worried about an already injured Kain, but then gets angry at the men fighting over her, while Kain retaliates with a punch to the taller blond.

"Kain! Snow!"

None of the blonds pay attention to her though, since they´re too engrossed on each other.

"How dare you say that to me!? You´re gonna take her to Spiritu´s hands, to the very same people who almost killed her more than once, is that the way a brother would worry for her?!" Kain protest, but another figure steps in front of Lightning, preventing her from intervening against the males, and glaring at both blonds with the same intensity.

"Stop this madness you two!" His voice of command, surprisingly, does finish the fight. "Yes, Snow and the rest here are Lightning´s enemies. But not I."

The woman opens her eyes wide at seeing the man appearing in front of her.

"Noctis?"

He extends his hand towards her, mirroring Snow's gesture, yet in his case, chivalry seems to flow effortlessly. With a reassuring smile, he beckons her to take his hand.

"I understand why you wouldn´t want to follow Snow. Would you follow me instead?"

She gazes at the hand extended to her, weighing her options for a fleeting moment. Though she refrains from accepting it, she also refrains from any hostile gesture, simply taking a few steps forward until she stands directly in front of the prince. Their faces come mere inches apart, as if she were issuing a silent challenge, simultaneously acknowledging his presence.

"I´m not going to ask you yet why you´re on their side. I trust you, Noctis, I told you once before. But I´m not a naïve princess, so let me warn you: I really hope you don´t let me down, otherwise you´ll meet the end of my blade."

Noctis smiles at her words, finding comfort in her unwavering fiery spirit, and gracefully inclines into a bow, offering a gesture of utter respect.

"I won´t disenchant you, my goddess. Thank you for placing your trust in me." And with that, he turns around, walking forward without hesitation, all too certain she´s following close behind.

Lightning doesn´t turn back either, because she´s well aware that, if she were to meet the anguished eyes of any of her friends and lover, she would hesitate and most surely run away from the place. She sighs deeply, gathering her strength.

Some things in life you just do…

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A/N: Hello there! I´m sorry for the last chapter in case someone really hated the heated scenes. I promise there won´t be any more of that. Also, I´m sorry for the long hiatus, but there´s an author´s block that I haven´t been able to break, but hopefully I´ll do it soon enough. I promise you I won´t abandon the story!

Hope you´re still liking the story!

Here are some answers to your comments:

Guest: I´m sorry the relationships, as you say, are quite complicated. But yeah, they are, after all, there are a few relationships already formed, but the intensity of the fights, as well as the risk in every one of them, puts them on edge, and drives them into things they wouldn´t usually do. I just hope you still find the story good. Thank for reading the two chapters and thank you so much for your comments!