Hi guys, next chapter as promised. Super short because it was originally part of the last chapter but I wanted it to stand alone because of reasons (hopefully you'll get what I mean).
I didn't give my sister a chance to read over this because she was busy this weekend and I wanted to get it posted. Kathy I hope you enjoy reading this one for the fun of it rather than to correct my mistakes!
As always an extra big thanks to my reviewers last chapter. You guys are the best xo
"Scarlett! Get down…"
A green hand stretched towards me, calling me back from the edge. Amber eyes wide behind a red mask. As red as blood. As red as the weeping sunset. As red as the rust that itches as it dries on my skin. No, not rust...
"...Scarlett…"
Below our feet a brother lay dying, I needed to escape the pain. My toes curled over the edge of solid ground, toying with emptiness and gravity.
"...get down from there…"
The wind pulled at my hair playfully, tugging at me. I wobbled. His voice was coaxing now, unnaturally gentle. Soothing. He came closer.
"...we gotta go back inside…"
An empty ache hollowed out my chest. I couldn't, I had to search. The city had been swallowed up by screams and fire. I had to find them.
I couldn't leave anyone behind...
Moisture rushed to blur my vision and when I blinked it scorched burning tracks into my cheeks. Behind him something flashed silver. A piece of the dark sky above detached itself, morphing into a polished disk. Flashes of light, pain flared up my body. A burst of pink punched the world into total darkness. The last thing I heard was him scream my name.
Down…
Down…
Down…
A pillow of fog caught me, enveloped me in a cloud of pain that seeped deep into my skin. My head. Oh god it hurt. Gnawed. Throbbed. Burned. Consuming and unrelenting, endless rolling waves of agony crashing over me again and again, robbing me of breath and thought.
I was trapped, unable to move or cry out. On and on with no relief. Nothing but pain and darkness and more pain...
But then one of the surges was a little easier to bear. Eventually another. The tide drew back, slowly withdrawing on itself, receding into the black depths.
Static crackled in my ears, rising and falling with meaningless hisses. I opened my eyes to a world of shadows and fog. The world was blurry, softened at the edges and hard to focus on.
Confusion and fear gripped me. I couldn't remember...anything. My senses sparked and glitched, keeping me off balance.
Within the shifting depths around me shadows moved. Muffled voices came and went. Brushing touches sent ripples along my skin. My head ached relentlessly.
A large hand gripped mine and when I looked around someone was there, looming over me. Gold eyes, intense on mine. I tried to focus on his face but something was wrong...my eye… I struggled to open my mouth but before I could the mist swirled and swallowed him.
Kin?
Too late, too slow. Frustration forced my feet into motion, there was something I had to do, someone I needed to find. Why couldn't I remember? On and on I kept moving, searching.
I couldn't leave anyone behind.
The landscape toyed with me, curtains drawing back to reveal familiar shapes before fluttering closed once more. Gnawing urgency drove me on even as fatigue weighed at my limbs.
Where were they?
The mist parted until a dark building rose from its depths, torn and empty. Familiar. I struggled to focus on it, was this where I was supposed to be? A muted breeze danced along my skin and with it the boy with the gold eyes appeared. His shoulder brushed mine. "I can't find them," I told him, the words incredibly heavy on my tongue, but when I turned to look he was gone. I turned back to the building, it was gone too.
It didn't matter which direction I chose, or how far I walked, the shifting shadows were endless. Sometimes I was left to wander alone through the bleak landscape, sometimes I felt rough fingers twine with mine to lead me. It was always better when I caught a glimpse of him. Kin my mind whispered.
Once or twice I heard the skitter of claws scrabbling over rough earth, and each time the sound caused my heart to swell inside my chest until I could barely breathe. I reached for the noise, mist slipping through my fingers as I grasped for the feeling of home...family...
Other times the fog was lit with cold colour, flashes of pink light that gave the mist sinister depth. With each burst an echo of agony sparked in my head and fear followed close on its heels. Metallic chitters scattered around, from all directions at once. I tried to hide, make myself small so they wouldn't see me. Sometimes it worked, sometimes I was left with more pain that layered over the rest.
Time lurched past. I could feel it slipping by in fits and starts as though I was fading in and out of existence. My search went on and on and with every step the sense of desperation and hopelessness grew. The fog never cleared, the things that lurked within refused to fully reveal themselves, and the driving need to look for them wouldn't let me rest.
And then it began to rain.
At first it was so light I couldn't feel it, but it soon gained strength until I awoke to the moment and sensed the moisture gathering around me like a second skin. As the tiny drops fell, silvery needles against the grey, I heard the first ominous roll of thunder far in the distance. Unease flittered against the edges of my mind.
A warm palm slid along mine, bringing comfort when our fingers laced together. Kin. Sorrow soured my relief, I'd tried to bring him with me. Was he trapped here too?
Time stretched out as the rain grew gradually heavier. I could hear it more clearly now as it hissed through the foggy air. It combined with the fuzzing static inside my head, disorientating and unsettling. I gripped the hand holding mine a little tighter.
Another growl of thunder, closer this time. I tipped my head back to watch lightning dance through the pitch black above. Something tickled over my skin and I realised that is was a strengthening breeze. The fog had gathered into clouds, stirred by the wind until it was roiling and tumbling around me as it closed in.
I struggled to focus, fighting against the fuzziness of my vision. Something long and sinuous moved through the fog. My heart froze in my chest, shooting numbing ice along my limbs.
The hand holding mine was ripped away and the loss sent a wave of fear and pain lancing through my head. The dull shine of scales drew my wavering gaze upwards until it was caught by the green fire of its eyes. A long, low hiss slid between bared fangs carried by a forked tongue. I shrank back, unable to do anything else but cower.
"Kōgeki!"
The monster reared higher, the long coils of its body emerged from the fog and I saw that someone was caught within them. A cry of pain mingled with the thunder that crashed overhead. I caught a glimpse of the figure struggling against the crushing grip, face screwed up in agony as his torso thrashed back and forth in an effort to escape. Then the image warped, flickered before my eyes, and suddenly it wasn't a man at all but a turtle with a man's shape. The creature hung limply, green skin somehow pale, slick with rain and blood. The serpent was replaced by a monster of metal, one gauntleted hand wrapped cruelly around the turtle's throat to hold it aloft while the other hovered over its plated chest, poised on the edge of a killing blow. The image stuttered again - flashing between the two monsters so fast it made my stomach toss - then settling on the serpent once more and the human caught in its grip.
"NO!"
My fear turned, gathering into a burning mass of desperate rage that melted the ice. Fangs gnashed, snapping at the air, and the threat fanned the flames into an inferno. All around lightning charged the air with blinding bursts and a great roaring filled my ears until I could hear nothing else. Fresh agony tore through every muscle and bone in my body and I welcomed the change that ripped through me like a freight train. Confusion and terror melted away beneath an onslaught of single minded, animalistic fury.
Darkness crept in on the edges of my vision as I lunged at the towering serpent. I felt the shock of my claws meeting hardened armour and the ache in my jaw as I tried to sink my teeth into the writhing coils of its body. The tidal wave of my fury crested then broke, spots began to dance before my eyes and I redoubled my efforts, snarling as I cursed the weakness rapidly spreading through my limbs.
The monster slithered out of reach and I stumbled as I tried to follow. Grey mist pressed in against me, dragging me down as it sapped the last bit of energy from my body. The fog thickened, darkened to night. The anger that had fuelled me slipping away until a shroud settled over everything and I was forced into stillness.
In the numbing nothingness that followed one word floated past like a piece of driftwood on the ocean.
"Sumi…?"
Finally a chapter from Scarlett's perspective! What did you think?