Sham never actually expected to have gotten this far this quickly. She wasn't upset she had, but she was certainly surprised.
A few days after the tour incident her father had called her into his office to give her this new assignment. He seemed hesitant to offer it to someone as inexperienced as Sham, but apparently it was somewhat urgent and they needed all of the help they could get.
One of SHORE's main surveillance points in MOUNTAIN has broken down.
"I'm going into enemy territory?" Sham asked.
"Yes, but it won't be as bad as you think. You'll simply be going underground to fix a few things. You'll never even talk to a local. The reason it's so important that you go is because the faces of known SHORE technicians would certainly set off some sort of alert that your face probably would not. You won't be alone, but you won't have a big team or a Weapon Girl with you, so you need to be careful."
Yup, those nerves were definitely kicking back in right about now.
Sham let out a long breath to calm herself. "Okay," she agreed.
"Oh, and I need to ask you about something else while you're here," her father said, switching topics. "I have reports that you were terrorizing the AI of the Sky Station?"
"Huh?" Sham asked. "She started it!"
Sham's father looked like he was going to say something to defend the AI, but stopped himself, clearly realizing that she likely did, indeed, start it.
"Also, she's not a Sky Station at all!" Sham told him. "She's the AI for the spaceship Sumika! All along it's been a secret spaceship!"
"A secret spaceship?" Sham's father asked, raising an eyebrow with an unimpressed tone. "Really Sham?"
"Yes!" Sham insisted. "You have to believe me! There's a civilian block and hydroponic gardens and everything! It's like people could live on that thing!"
"I'm sure," Sham's father responded sarcastically. "Sham, neither of us have time for this right now. You have a mission to prepare for and I have work to do at another base. The Weapon Girl currently in progress is quite the complex mess as she needs to be able to control seven different devices off of herself as if they were limbs and we'd REALLY like to get her in action soon. You go get packed, and your mission details will be sent to you shortly, alright?"
"Yes, father," Sham agreed, knowing there was no way he was going to believe her about Sumika. He could be quite stubborn at times. Sham left the room, the door shutting behind her so she had no idea what it was her father did next.
Sham's father took a deep breath. "Please come back in one piece," he whispered, staring at the door Sham just left through.
Even if he'd never say it, he couldn't bear the thought of losing her.
Sham's father then adjusted his glasses, and figured he should probably get back to work.
The work itself was quite easy, despite the circumstances. Sham and a couple somewhat-new technicians were under a fountain that was apparently in the middle of a park in the MOUNTAIN city just above them. Fixing it was easy, and didn't take too long, however they couldn't go back home until AFTER the sun had set so they'd be less likely to be spotted. The time zone here was weird, so when it was nearly morning Sham felt as if it should be night and was quite tired.
"We can probably nap, for now," one of the other technicians suggested. "I don't see how there's any harm in it."
"That sounds good," Sham agreed, yawning. And so the hodge-podge group of inexperienced technicians all decided it was a good idea to nap underground in an enemy country.
Sham slept for a while, but she was the first to wake. Checking the clock they came with, the sun would still be up for a while. Great. This was going to be boring.
Sham sat around for a few minutes before she found herself staring at the concrete ceiling above her. There was a park above her. With people. Real, normal people.
Sham looked down at her outfit. She was dressed 'casually' so if she was spotted she'd blend into a crowd. She thought she looked a little strange dressed like this, but if she really WOULD blend in… so long as she didn't talk to anyone or try to do too much, there wasn't any harm in just… watching people, right?
This was probably a terrible idea.
Still, Sham slowly made her way through the long exit tunnel that would take her just outside of the city. Nearby was their aircraft hidden in the bushes, but Sham turned away from that and towards the large skyscrapers that extended above her so far it was like they were trying to touch the clouds.
A heavy wind blew past Sham, causing her to shiver. It really was cold out here. Apparently it was always cold outside, not that she'd know. She's spent so much of her life inside one military base.
The world was certainly much larger than she ever could have imagined.
Sham started walking closer towards the city, but she nearly psyched herself right out of it upon seeing a huge billboard featuring a picture of that 'Alice' girl in full military gear. She looked heroic in the pose she was in, with the MOUNTAIN logo featured proudly near here and next to her were big letters Sham didn't really know how to read. This language was the one that was meant to be used all across the two continents that made up one big country that was once ruled solely by MOUNTAIN originally. Now that SHORE had split off, they used a much older language, and Sham didn't know anything from MOUNTAIN's language other than phrases like 'Weapon Girl' and 'SHORE', which were for some strange reason in MOUNTAIN's language for like, wow factor or something? Sham stared at the sign for a little longer than she meant to, trying to sound out the letters to figure out what it was saying. "Ehn-li-stuh?" she mumbled. She couldn't exactly ask anyone what it meant so she guessed she just wouldn't get to know.
Sham kept walking until she entered the proper heart of the city, and was suddenly a little overwhelmed. People were walking quickly, speaking rapidly in that strange MOUNTAIN language and going between buildings with a purpose.
But something that really stood out to Sham was that there was PLANT LIFE here, in a vibrant green color. It was probably made of plastic, as there's no way anything could be that green naturally without sunlight, but it looked NICE! It made her wish even more for a day where the sun could shine again.
There were so many shops here! It's a shame Sham couldn't really read the name of any of them. She COULD smell them though, and one smelled particularly good. Sham approached it, and while she couldn't read the words, she could recognize the pictures on it. By the looks of it, this place sold coffees, sandwiches, and sweets. And while Sham typically didn't care much for coffee, the other two things sounded GREAT! Plus, it looked like they might also serve hot cocoa, which would be amazing right now given the weather. Unfortunately, Sham didn't know how to ask for what she wanted nor did she have any money to pay for it, so she'd have to pass. Plus, the person behind the counter looked quite content talking to one of his customers, his face quite close to hers.
Wait, from the movies Sham's seen, she recognized this set-up…
Were those two going to KISS?
Sham couldn't help but continue to watch through the window as the two potential love-birds were chatting, staring deep into each other's eyes as they did so.
But then all of a sudden the girl quickly looked towards Sham's direction as Sham quickly had to hide in the bushes.
That girl, though…
Something seemed familiar about her.
The girl got up, now walking towards Sham's direction slowly. What was she going to do? If the girl saw her and demanded answers, there's no way Sham would know how to respond!
But just before the girl got close enough to see Sham, the boy's voice suddenly called out something to her. Of course, Sham didn't know most of it, but she did recognize one key word.
Alice.
This was a MOUNTAIN Weapon Girl approaching Sham.
'Alice', or as that lady from the other day more properly addressed her as, Alte, said something back in return, still eying the bushes suspiciously but then turning to return to the boy she seemed so cozy to.
Sham let out a sigh of relief and when she thought the coast was clear she stood up, exiting the bush.
Unfortunately, the coast WASN'T clear.
A little girl stared at Sham with curiosity. She opened her mouth, and spoke. She looked and sounded like she might be asking a question, so Sham merely shrugged in return.
"*words* *words* *words* *words* Alice?" the girl followed up.
So this girl knew Alte, huh? That's a little concerning. The girl asked another question, too. This was bad. This was really, really bad.
The girl looked quite young, with playfully purple hair and a long sweater that seemed to be bought a little too big so she could grow into it, as her fingers just barely poked out of the sleeves.
The girl asked yet another question, and Sham was really starting to wish she didn't come out here.
The next question the girl asked was one that ended in the word 'English'. Sham assumed it was in her best interest to nod enthusiastically.
"You don't, do you?" the girl then asked in a language Sham could actually understand.
"Hm?" Sham asked, hoping that translated well.
The girl let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, maybe you can help me then!" she exclaimed in a quiet voice.
Sham looked around. "You speak Japanese?" she whispered.
"Much better than I speak English," the girl whispered back. "I'm so glad to have found someone who can help me! I'm lost, you see, and I don't really know how to ask for help."
The girl seemed to be speaking English just fine a few moments ago, but Sham had no way of knowing if it was perfect English or broken English, and if you couldn't speak it fluently it'd be better not to speak it to strangers at all. The last thing you'd want people to assume is that you're a foreigner. Though, maybe this girl was?
"What's your name?" Sham asked.
"Sierra," the girl responded. "What about you?"
"Sham," Sham told her cheerfully.
"Sham what?" Sierra asked.
"Heh," Sham said, "maybe it's better I don't say."
"Oh?" Sierra asked. "Why? Are you related to someone important?"
Sham's eyes went wide. "I'd rather not talk about that! Let's just focus on getting you back to your parents, alright?"
"Okay, sure," Sierra responded, but she had a strange expression on her face that made Sham a little uneasy. Actually, everything about this girl did, but she was so young to be lost in a place that asking for help could lead to her death, so Sham HAD to help her.
Sierra grabbed one of Sham's hands and grasped it tightly. "I'm scared…" she said. "You'll protect me, right, big sis?"
How could Sham say no to that? "Of course I will, Sierra. Where did you last see them?"
"Mmmm… at the park, I think?" Sierra responded. "I'm not completely sure…"
"Well let's look there first."
Sierra led Sham towards the park, and along the way, Sham saw another one of those big billboards with what seemed to be more MOUNTAIN propaganda. But the person featured on it this time… was Sham crazy or did that look like a boy? Did MOUNTAIN have a Weapon Boy? He stood proudly with a red scarf around his neck flowing heroically behind him. Once again, the MOUNTAIN logo was present, along with more English words.
"Do you know what that says?" Sham asked.
"Hmm?" Sierra responded. "It says 'Become a hero! Enlist today!' Why?"
"Just curious." Sham responded. "MOUNTAIN sure is patriotic about their Weapon Girls… or boys?"
Sierra let out a little laugh that for some reason sent chills down Sham's spine. Something about it was… familiar…
"I wouldn't know," Sierra said, "as you've probably guessed I'm not from here. But I assume it sets people at ease, you know? To be able to SEE the people who are protecting them. It makes them feel safe, and more willing to pay higher taxes. That one in particular is especially photogenic, so he gets the biggest spotlight. Lots of interviews and such."
"...You know an awful lot for someone as young as you who isn't from here…" Sham said, stopping.
"Huh?" Sierra asked. "No, no, you don't understand!" she said quickly. She paused for a moment, then said "Uh, my cousin! You saw her! Alice is my cousin and my parents and I came to visit her and she tells me all sorts of things! That's why-"
"Alice is a Weapon Girl!" Sham said. "For MOUNTAIN!"
Sierra paused for a moment, realizing she was getting caught in… what, a lie? Why was she lying? Sham tried to tug her hand away, but Sierra's grip was too tight.
"Oh hey look, there's my parents!" Sierra exclaimed. "Right by the fountain!" She rushed over, dragging Sham with her. "Mom, dad, look what I found!"
The two people in question turned to face Sierra with a confused look, as if they weren't expecting her to call them her parents at all. They looked way too young to have a child anyway and too alike to not be related. Sham tried with a bit more force to yank her hand away, but this kid had quite the strength behind her. Too much strength for any normal child to have.
The lookalikes wore very different outfits as if they were TRYING to prove themselves as different despite their twin-like appearance, as well as sunglasses to help hide their identities. They both had grayish beige hair, though the boy wore his short while the girl wore hers long and in a braid.
Sierra's expression shifted to one of malice. "I found a dirty little SHORE stowaway!"
Before Sham knew it, she took a pretty heavy hit to her head and was out cold.
Sham's head felt heavy and she couldn't move when she awoke. She quickly realized the latter was because her limbs were chained down and the former was because she had gotten hit quite hard earlier. The light in this room felt way too bright and the seat she was tied to was extremely uncomfortable, but neither was her biggest concern right now.
No, she was far more concerned about the fact that while she couldn't move there were two MOUNTAIN Weapons standing before her, talking in their strange language she couldn't understand. One of them was the boy from the lookalikes and the other was 'Sierra' herself, though Sham doubted now that Sierra was her actual name.
The two seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, Sierra snacking on a bar of chocolate while the boy sipped a soda. They hadn't noticed Sham was awake yet, so she closed her eyes, trying to pick up on words.
But of course, how could she possibly understand a language she's barely ever heard before?
Sham decided that, with no other option, she should just open her eyes and figure out their plans for her.
"What do you want from me?" Sham demanded, trying to sound braver than she felt.
"Well GOOD MORNING Princess Aurora!" Sierra exclaimed, putting her snack down. "Did you enjoy your beauty rest?"
Well, Sierra might've been speaking Sham's language but just because Sham understood the words did not mean she understood what she meant by them. Who was Princess Aurora?
Sierra, who's sweaterskirt combo had gone from cutesy when she was out and about to a more heavy-duty militaristic style now, looked quite annoyed at Sham's confused expression. Clearly she was hoping for a reaction out of that.
Seeing her more sinister now… Sham could've SWORN she's seen this girl before… but why would she have? There's no reason she should know a young MOUNTAIN Weapon Girl.
"Perhaps it was the strings of fate that brought you here to us?" the boy suggested. "Or perhaps it's just our lucky day? For a member of SHORE to be slinking around the city we just so HAPPENED to be visiting, it must be karmic destiny!"
Okay, even Sierra seemed to have no idea what this boy was talking about.
"Alright girly, let's chat," Sierra said instead. "The thing is, I don't actually want to have to kill you! But I'll have to if you aren't reeeeeeally cooperative, understand?"
Sham took in a sharp breath. Immediately, she remembered how Saki acted towards Amaro right before killing her, promising her she'd be safe.
Sham was going to die, wasn't she?
Sham started shaking, breathing unevenly as she tried to hold back her tears. "Wh-wh-what do you w-w-want me t-to do?"
Sierra smirked. "That's the spirit, girly! So here's how this is going to work - I'm going to ask you questions, and you're going to answer 100% honestly, okay? And when we're all done here, we'll drop you off at the border of your miserable little country and you can go home to your mommy and daddy and cry about how big of meanies we were!"
Still shaking, Sham managed a nod.
"Okay, good! So let's start with that, shall we? Why don't you tell me about your parents? What's their names? Who do they work for, and what do they do?"
Sham's eyes widened. That REALLY wasn't a good question to answer. So she decided she'd start with what she could say truthfully without trouble.
"M-m… my mother's dead," Sham stated. "She died when I was little."
"Awwww, how sad!" Sierra responded, balling up her hands and holding them up to her eyes, to mock a crying pose. "Poor Shammy Whammy… your father must've been devastated!"
"N-no… not really…" Sham responded. Sierra was really starting to upset her, but what could she do about it?
"So what ABOUT your father? If you couldn't tell me your family name earlier, he must be a big deal, right?"
That was the part Sham didn't really want to answer. Who knows what they'd do to her if she did?
"Umm… my father is…" Sham paused. She had to lie, but make it believable. "A SHORE technician," she settled on. "A high ranking one."
"Oh?" Sierra asked, smiling. Turning to the boy, Sierra said "Looks like we've caught the gold on this one, huh, Ari?"
"That's for sure," the boy, apparently 'Ari' agreed. "Destiny always smiles upon the greatest heroes. This is our reward for always working so hard to protect the people!"
"Forget destiny, I found her myself!" Sierra responded. "Quite cleverly, I might add. Unlike Alte. Apparently her alter-ego is known at least by this girl."
"Didn't she get revealed when she went to SHORE a couple days ago? This girl must've been there."
Sierra gasped happily, then started talking to Ari in English. The two went back and forth, saying things like 'Alte', 'Sham', and 'SHORE', but Sham couldn't catch the words in between.
She was starting to really wish she knew English.
The two certainly seemed to enjoy the way the conversation went, and Sierra fell into laughter. But that laughter… it rang through Sham's head like a bell until it finally occurred to her why it was that this girl felt so gosh darn familiar.
"You!" Sham exclaimed. "H-how are you still so little after all these years?"
"Hm?" Sierra asked, turning to face Sham. "Do you know me?"
"Of course I know you!" Sham exclaimed, too upset to realize she should hide this fact. "You murdered my mother!"
"Did I?" Sierra asked, suddenly gaining a smug expression. She laughed more, and honestly Sham wasn't sure how she didn't see it before. "You must really hate me then, huh? Bet you've had fantasies of finding me and tearing me to shreds, right? Or crushing my bones to dust the same way I did to your mother?"
Sham froze. DID she feel that way? She was AFRAID of this girl for many years, but did she HATE her?
"No… I don't think I have…" Sham admitted, both to the girl and herself. "I never really knew my mother so I guess I've never really been too upset that she was dead. Does that make me a bad person?"
Sierra stared at her with confusion. "Why are you asking ME?" she asked.
"I don't know," Sham responded honestly. "There isn't a world where I make it out of this alive, so I'm not really sure why I'm trying. Might as well say what's on my mind, right?" Sham sighed. "I wish I said goodbye to Nath before I left…"
Ari looked to Sierra. "Hey Tsih? Do you have this? It's a little boring if she's just going to be depressing about this."
"Yeah, you can go," Sierra, or 'Tsih' responded. "I can handle her."
"Cool, thanks," Ari said, walking towards the door. "I wonder if Mai managed to figure out who Alte's boyfriend is yet so we can stalk him..." Ari murmered to himself as the door slowly opened, the top and bottom splitting as it did. He then made one last heroic pose towards Tsih before leaving.
"So your real name's Tsih?" Sham asked, deciding to ignore Ari's hijinks. "I'm sure it's weird, having to answer to multiple names."
"Why are you talking to me like we're friends?" Tsih asked.
"You're going to kill me regardless, right?" Sham responded. "I'm not strong enough to take you in a battle. Father never made me a Weapon Girl, no matter how much I begged him to. So why should I fight with you? Why should I hate you for doing the job you were forced to do your whole life?" Sham sighed, sadness hitting her in another wave. "It's just such a shame… I was finally starting to get to do things…"
"Let's get one thing straight here, girly," Tsih said aggressively. "I CHOOSE to do my job and I do it with pride. MOUNTAIN isn't so barbaric as to FORCE us to do anything we don't want to!"
"So you've never been given a mission you didn't want to do?"
Tsih paused, thinking about something, and shuddering a little. When she remembered she was being watched, she said "Sometimes for the good of the many you have to do things you don't want to. I do so willingly and proudly for my country."
"Well," Sham said, "I don't know enough about you to know if I should believe that or not. I guess I would be the same way, if I could be… I've always wanted the sort of strength that could one day end this war so everybody can be happy again." More sadness hit, but not the kind that would cause tears. Tears couldn't help Sham here. "I guess I'll never have that chance. At least I got to see the sky…" Sham paused. "You might as well just kill me. I've already accepted you'll do it, so I'm not going to do anything more that could hurt SHORE… I hope Nath can forgive my stupidity in wandering off…"
Tsih stared at Sham for a moment. "Really, that's it? You know I'm like, actually going to kill you if you don't give me any more information, right? Then you'll be dead, forever."
"You'll kill me either way. I know too much now. Just like Amaro."
"Wait…" Tsih said. "Amaro as in… the noble? Is she really dead?"
"Along with her parents," Sham responded.
"Frangelico REALLY inherited her family fortune?!" Tsih exclaimed in horror, taking an involuntary step back. "No no no, I can't deal with that brat ACTUALLY having power! Do you KNOW what she'll do to me?"
"Huh?" Sham asked. Wow how the tables have turned.
"She's going to put me in so many of those stupid dresses and smear my face with WAY too much make-up like she always does! Drag me around and force me to play house with her all while making me treat her like a goddess because MOUNTAIN needs her family's money! Do you realize how much torment you've subjected me to by leaving her alive?"
"You're kiddish," Sham responded. "I would think someone like you would LIKE playing house and dress up…"
"I am a HIGHLY TRAINED SOLDIER!" Tsih snapped. "One who HAPPENED to get my growth stunted due to an accident in my alteration. I am NOT a child!"
"Geez, sorry," Sham responded. "It's not like we WANTED Frangelico to escape. I actually thought she was pretty bratty too, and I've learned I don't really like brats very much. She's just the only one who managed to get away."
"Train your Weapons better!" Tsih shouted in response.
"I'll pass the message along if I live long enough to do so!" Sham threw back. "Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I can convince you to reconsider the whole killing me thing?"
"What the heck?" Tsih asked. "Make up your mind!"
"It's just that you were acting so creepy earlier, I was 100% certain you'd kill me. Now I'm just like, 95%. So if I get a say in the matter…"
"You don't!" Tsih informed her. "Of COURSE you were guaranteed to die! You were in MOUNTAIN territory! Why were you so stupid to wander around our capital city like that?"
"I've never been in a city before," Sham responded simply.
"You're such an IDIOT!" Tsih told her. "So how do you want to die? Gun, poison, squished by rocks…"
"Rocks are your specialty, right?" Sham asked.
"Yeah," Tsih responded. "It'll be a bit of a hassle to get a big enough rock in here, but I'll do it if you want."
"Are you sure you can't just let me live?"
"You'll live a little longer if you give me more information," Tsih replied.
"Then no," Sham answered for her. Sham sighed. "I really didn't want to die today!" she whined, sounding a little petty despite the seriousness of the words.
"No one ever does."
"So do the rocks hurt?"
"How should I know?" Tsih asked. "I'VE never been squashed by one. It's generally pretty quick, though."
Sham let out a longer sigh. "Well then I guess-"
Before Sham could finish, a large flaming SOMETHING crashed straight through the wall, letting the freezing air in.
"You were stalling me!" Tsih exclaimed.
"I have no idea what that is," Sham responded truthfully.
"Your way out!" the thing exclaimed. Sham could now tell it was a gleefully smiling red-haired girl who was actively on fire and yet not at all bothered by this fact.
"D-does that hurt?" Tsih asked, sounding equally as horrified as Sham felt.
"Hmm?" the redhead asked. "Oh! No, not at all! I like it, actually."
"...okay?" Tsih responded, before getting back her fighting spirit. "Well you'd better enjoy it while you can, girly, because I'll extinguish your flame with my rocks!"
"Ooo, a challenge!" the redhead exclaimed. "Okay, here I come!"
Tsih looked to the rubble Kae created, and picked some up with wires that zipped out of her fingertips and embedded themselves into the rubble. Then Tsih lifted them up like they weighed nothing.
The battle was getting a little crazy here, and Sham was starting to really wish she could move to dodge so that when one of those attacks inevitably came her way she could do something about it. But she couldn't.
At least this meant she didn't have to die, so she smiled. She'd happily take the myriad of lectures she was surely going to get from both her father and Nath over dying anyday.
Well, she only got to live if this girl actually won.
But things were actually seeming pretty good. Though Sham was now coughing and her eyes stung from all of this smoke, Tsih seemed terrified of getting too close to the redhead, and eventually she evaded her by flying out the opening the redhead created that led outside.
"She left?" Sham asked.
"Oh she's definitely coming back, with back-up too! Let's get you free before that happens." The girl paused. "You ARE Sham, right?"
"Heh heh, yes," Sham told her, watching as the girl fiddled with the chains for only a moment before deciding to just melt them with her flame. She was unbearably hot to be near, and Sham was worried she might get burnt, but she wouldn't say a word about that right now. Instead, Sham said "Thank you for coming to save me."
The redhead looked up at Sham and gave her a goofy sort of smile before getting back to her melting work.
Finally Sham was free, just as the redhead looked out the opening to outside. "And there she is, with her friends. Let's go out the door, okay?"
"Yeah," Sham agreed, and the two rushed towards the mechanical door, pushing the button for it to open. Thankfully, it seemed Ari never locked it as he left, so the door opened easily, half of it sliding up while the other half slid down, just like before. As soon as the two got out of it, Sham pushed the button to shut it. But the MOUNTAIN Weapon Girls (and boy) were rushing towards the still-closing door.
Foolishly in desperation, Tsih tried to use her own strength to force the door back open and reached out to stop it from closing. As soon as her hands were in place though, her expression showed she realized her mistake - she wasn't strong enough to prevent it from closing, but she couldn't remove her hands, either. The other Weapons were still a ways behind her, and she was fighting a losing battle.
Tsih let out a whimper as the door slowly got closer and closer to closing, an expression on her face quite befitting of the small child's body she was stuck in. "Help… me!" she cried out, right before her strength gave out.
Even when it was masked by that ear-piercing shriek, Sham knew that sound - the sound of bones being crushed. The shrieking continued, though the fingers peeking through from the other side of the door were completely limp. Sham didn't need to be a doctor to know that those hands were never going to work properly again.
"We need to go," the redhead reminded Sham.
"Y-yeah," Sham responded, and she ran alongside the redhead through the halls of this place. Of course, it wouldn't be so simple, and some regular military grunts started shooting at them.
"I'll buy you time," the redhead promised. "Go!"
And with that the redhead picked Sham up, threw her several feet forward, then started running towards the military members while on fire. Of course, they scattered. What a weird yet strangely effective power…
Still, Sham ran as fast as her feet would take her, and they took her to a loading dock.
She never thought she'd be so happy to be in the freezing cold outside air again!
Sham decided to get a little distance from the building, but not so much the redhead wouldn't see her.
After getting such a distance, Sham turned around to see that by the exit of the base into the dock were several fuel canisters. Canisters that would be explosive if exposed to extreme heat… would the redhead be okay if she left through that exit?
But Sham had even less time to think things through when she saw a curious child walk onto the dock to see what was going on. She looked a little younger than Sora, and her silver hair gave her such a bizarre appearance. But something about her large blue eyes caused Sham to just KNOW that this girl was a good person despite stepping out of a MOUNTAIN base. She looked kind and caring.
And so Sham did yet another stupid thing today. Despite having been a perfectly safe distance from the fuel canisters, Sham ran right back over in their direction, knowing the redhead wouldn't be long. On adrenaline, she was easily able to pick the silverhead up and she began to rush away again.
The girl said something in English and squirmed a little, clearly confused at what Sham was doing, but Sham didn't stop. She tried to run as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough. The redhead had made it to the dock, and the canisters began to explode, sending fire everywhere.
With just milliseconds to act, Sham just KNEW she had to save this girl. So she threw her body over her, half of Sham's body taking the brunt of the blast but the girl being completely safe.
This strange child with the kind eyes was completely unharmed, and somehow that fact was enough for Sham's exhaustion to kick in all at once, and she passed out right here, despite the raging fire.