A/N
Hey y'all! I hope everyone's had a good couple weeks since my last update. I've had a little more motivation for writing, so I decided to put it into Blood and Ash I'm thinking that after a few more chapters I'm gonna end this book. But, don't fret, this is gonna be the first book of who knows how many. I've already sorta planned how I want the next book to go, and have started writing it already. These next few chapters are gonna be leading to where the next book is gonna go. Anyway, enough from me, I'll let y'all get to it, although, I have one more message. If you're wanting your OC in my stories, then go ahead and send me what you have and I'll look it over. Just note that it's likely they won't be a main character, unless I really like them. Alright, I'm gonna set y'all free, so have fun! :)
Fourteen
Tai had been holed up in her dorm all day, nobody but Neoni keeping her company. The smart AI had been trying her hardest to keep the teen's attention and mind on anything other than the transfer that was to happen in just under an hour. Neoni had put herself in civilian clothing today, trying her best to match Tai. A hooded crop top, ripped jeans, and high top shoes was her outfit of choice today, the same as what the teen was wearing. It was one of the only outfits Tai had that was still intact, save for a small tear in the shirt that she'd sewn months ago.
That was something Neoni had just learned about the teen. She was a surprisingly good seamstress, no matter how much she tried to hide it. As Tai had once explained, she didn't see the use in it. Not anymore, when there wasn't time to focus on making articles of clothing. The Human-Covenant War had taken so much from the nineteen year old, and Neoni hated it. The girl was in a constant state of weariness, not unlike what the AI had seen from the Spartans.
Neoni couldn't help but wonder if the girl's life could've been different if her family hadn't betrayed her to their own greed. Tai could've grown up to be a wonderful young woman, she had such a spirit about her that Neoni doubted anything would've gotten in her way if she truly wanted something. Although, that also meant that the kid might've wanted to join the UNSC, to help fight in this gods' forsaken war. She was stubborn enough to have made it through the basic training, even if she had to go through the many trials just to make it to be a soldier.
But, sitting here now, watching Tai pack away what little belongings she owned, Neoni felt a strange wave of sadness flow through her coding, a feeling she knew shouldn't have been possible, even for an AI as smart as herself.
The New Hope was meant to be docking with the Infinity in about half an hour, and Tai was supposed to have already been at the loading docks, but she didn't want to leave. In all reality, she didn't wanna face the demon's she'd tried so hard to bury. Which is why she was still in her dorms, talking lowly with Neoni, wasting the time that would lead to her metaphorical hanging. Tai couldn't help but wish that she could bring the smart AI with her, but she knew she couldn't, the warship needed the AI, even if Tai felt like she needed the purple woman more.
With a sigh of finality, Tai stands up, groaning as the vertebrae in her back pop back into place, relieving her spine of a slightly painful pressure. She could feel a tightness in her throat as she went through the next hour or so in her mind. She'd be leaving a ship she knew as well as the kind Ai she'd come to see as a close friend. She'd be diving from the pan into the fire, as the old saying went, right into the clutches of the scientists if they ever found her.
But, along with those daunting thoughts, she'd also have the Spartan's with her, as well as the Woods' and the other civilians. She'd just be one step closer to a safe place for her village. Plus, John had given her his word that she wouldn't be alone, no matter where she went. The Spartans weren't willing to let the scientists get close to her.
When Tai turned to make sure she had everything, she caught sight of herself in a slightly dirty mirror. Gods', the teen looked horrible. Tai's normally bright cerulean eyes were dark and stormy, closer to a gray than their usual blue. Her face was pale and the bags under her eyes were dark with purple bruises from sleepless nights. Her red hair was a mess, grown out from her time on the ship. She hadn't had time to get it cut back down to its normal length, so it hung dead around her shoulders. Her crop top hung loosely off her frame, showing that she was even more malnourished than was her usual leaness.
She didn't know she had gotten so bad, but it hurt to even look at herself. She hadn't been the happy go lucky kid in more than a decade, but she thought she still had enough of that youthfulness to her to cover for it. How wrong she was. Tai had a feeling that if her adoptive parents back on Talian saw her now, they would be worried sick. She had gone back to how she was when she first came to them, battered and broken, her heart shattered because of her early betrayal and later abandonment.
And now, she couldn't help but think that the Spartans would be the same.
Behind her, Neoni let out a sound that was as close to the AI clearing her throat as it could get. Turning, Tai looked at the purple AI. Neoni had been watching her closely as she studied herself. Tai had a feeling that the smart AI knew that she had been deteriorating, but out of respect for the teen, had kept her tongue quiet. Neoni gestured towards the door, receiving only a slight nod from Tai.
The teen knew that she had to get down to the docking bay soon, before the Woods' came searching for her. She just didn't know if she truly had it in her to force herself to leave. She had been having the time of her life on board the New Hope, and she almost couldn't bring herself to leave. Almost.
Her people needed her. They needed a leader that was more than well acquainted with the war, and she was their answer. She wouldn't let them down, not like so many already have.
When Tai got down to the loading docks, the New Hope had already started transferring people onto the Infinity. Anything that the girl had, was able to be put into a small back, which now sat on her back. She had managed to get her hair into a small ponytail at the base of her skull.
The Spartans were the first to notice her quiet presence, the HUDs of their helmets lighting up with a bright yellow dot. They were back in their MJOLNIR armor, the titanium infused metal was polished recently, it looked, the paint having been touched up slightly. Of course, the pock marks and scuffs on the edges of the armor were harder to be rid of.
Looking over, Frederic was the first to make his way over to the teen, the rest of Blue Team following not far behind. The man let out a low whistle note, letting the girl know that he was near her, before throwing an arm over her shoulders. Tai looked up at him, her bright eyes still that drab gray from before. The other Spartans came around the girl in a protective circle, watching as a couple Pelicans came back from the Infinity, now empty of their civilian passengers.
"Y'know. I never said this, but I'm glad I won't be alone on this bigass ship." Tai mumbled to the Spartans, eliciting a slight chuckle from all of them, even a small scoff from the ever stoic Master Chief.
"Well, hopefully, ya won't get too lost, tiny." Frederic stated, happily taking the light punch Tai gave him in return.
The Spartans, Tai, and the Woods' were the last to be loaded onto the Pelicans. Tai watched as the New Hope got smaller and smaller compared to the massive frigate they were being transferred onto. The memories that haunted her past seemed to be playing in full color, nothing missing from the ever horrifying scenes.
The trip to the Infinity wasn't long, it didn't even take more than fifteen minutes, but it still gave Tai a slight reprieve to collect her thoughts. She'd sat herself between the Spartans and Woods' family, her arms being pressed against by green armor and Ryner's dark skin. She could tell the other teen was worried about her, but out of respect for who she was, what she'd gone through, he hadn't said anything.
Ryner watched as the Infinity got closer, watched as Tai's eyes got darker, their blue turning an almost gun-metal gray. Her fists were curled, the knuckles of her fingers going white from how harshly she was holding onto the bag that was slung across her torso. The Woods' didn't know the past that Tai kept hidden in shadows, but they knew fear when they saw it, and the teen was terrified of whatever was waiting for them on the large frigate. It likely had something to do with how she reacted at the briefing a few days earlier. But still, Ryner didn't ask, and Tai didn't tell.
Whatever it was that was bothering the girl, she had the Spartans with her, and he hoped that she knew that she could always come to them.
The last Pelican was met by marines working in the docking bay, as well as a couple of medics. They were guided to a Lieutenant (Tai thought her name was Raine) who gave them each a key card to get into the dorms. When the LT asked what her name was, Tai immediately knew that her mother had been made aware that she was on the ship. It was only a matter of time before the woman came looking for her, likely bringing the other scientist with her.
"The Woods' family will be on the fifth floor, family dorm number twenty-two. As for the Spartans and Miss Hover, they'll be on the Spartan's floor, with Miss Hover in room fifteen and the Spartans in sixteen, and fourteen."
Tai's eyes narrowed. It was likely the doctors who'd made her arrangements, which meant they were trying to put her somewhere most others didn't have complete access to. John could almost feel the anger radiating from the teen beside him, his own mind coming to the same thoughts as her own. Tai was a civilian, and should've been bunked with the Woods' family, but it seems like the scientist had interfered.
The Lieutenant gave them their key cards before walking forward, waiting by the lift for them to follow. Glancing at the giants that surrounded her in their titanium alloy armor, Tai soon followed, staying a couple paces behind the Lieutenant so she could walk with the Blue Team.
The ride on the lift was silent, leaving Tai to her ever dark thoughts. If her mother was trying to get a hold of her again, along with the others, she would have plenty of opportunities to do so with the way that her quarters had been set up. But, then again, Tai had been assigned the dorm in the middle of the Blue Team, which meant that she'd have the Spartans surrounding her at all times. Not exactly the best way to plan things if your goal was to get someone alone.
Tai still had no clue as to what her mother or aunt could want. Elise and Kelsie had always been unpredictable, and it had only gotten worse as Tai got older. There was no telling when the scientist would come knocking on her door, if they even bothered to try and get into contact with her again. Elise had been fucked up when Tai was little, and she held no illusions that the woman had gotten better. If anything, being locked up in a huge-ass ship such as this one, with no company other than the other scientists and marines, had caused her to spiral more into the depth of her shitty imagination.
Finally, the endless hallways lead them somewhere. Another, much bigger hallway. Yippee. This floor, according to the LT, was reserved for visiting Spartans and the ship's ODST's. Tai had heard about the ODST's, of course she had, she was based on them. Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were some of the meanest little fucks she'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. Of course, the only ones she'd met had been during her training. But still.
The LT pointed their dorms out before giving a small smile and leaving them be. Looking down at her key card, Tai swiped the card across a sensor of sorts, the door whooshing open. The room was small, but still bigger than her dorms on the New Hope. Inside, the bed was pushed into a corner, a table just next to it. Across the room was a bookshelf lined with many text books, most looking to be about the war. Just beside the bookshelf was a desk, fully kitted out with fresh journals and writing tools.
Tai threw her bags onto the desk before sitting in the rolly chair. The chair itself was thicker than she was used to, but that was a given seeing as these rooms were made to specifically house Spartans for certain periods of time. The teen really didn't wanna go back outside, there was no telling where Elise or Kelsie could be, but the mess hall was holding dinner soon, and it had been quite a while since she last had a full meal.
With a deep sigh, Tai slowly stood up and walked to her bags, pulling out what she'd brought and quickly putting everything away. At the very bottom of her back pack, however, sat a small metal disk, no bigger than the pad of her smallest finger. Tilting her head, Tai played with the small device for a little before the thing started buzzing. Tai watched as the device turned purple, before a small construct popped up into her field of vision.
Tai felt and heard her breathing hitch as her blue eyes took in the figure of Neoni, still in the "clothes" she'd put on herself that morning. When the teen tried to say something, her voice got caught in her throat.
"Heya, kid." Neoni said softly.
"What… how… Why are you here? I thought you had that ship to run?" Tai was so very confused. What she knew of AI's lead to Neoni being there in her room almost impossible. AI's, when they were attached to a ship, anyway, were always needed on that ship. They were the reason they ran so smoothly, and Neoni was one of the best.
"I had a little chat with the Captain before we left. Asking to be able to come with you. I couldn't leave my post without a counterpart, so I almost wasn't able to. But, Master Chief's AI, Cortana, set something up for me."
Tai didn't know what to say. She didn't have to. Neoni could read the teen like a book, and half the time she knew what the girl was gonna say before the words even came to being. For a while, the two sat and talked, Tai pulling out a word search from one of the only books she managed to hold onto when the war was raging on Talian. Before she knew it, dinner was being called at the mess, a nearly silent alarm pinging through the small tablet that laid dormant on her desk.
Looking up, Tai went and picked up the holo-pad, reading over the message from Frederic. The Spartans would be waiting for Tai at the end of their hall before heading down to dinner. A small smile graced the teen's features. Silent words came to her in the Master Chief's voice, words that promised protection, and later a friendship that went far beyond the normal. They were waiting so she wouldn't have to go down to the mess hall alone, so she was protected from sight if the scientists were to see her.
Glancing at the clothes she wore, Tai straightened herself slightly, so she looked somewhat presentable before walking towards her door.
"Tai," Neoni called out. The teen turned over her shoulder slightly so the smart AI was in view. "It's gonna be okay. They- we won't let anything happen to you."
And Tai knew she was telling the truth. The Spartans, the Woods', and now Neoni were there for her, whether she wanted them to be or not.