Post by aria on Jul 19, 2012 12:52:35 GMT -5
Aria watched, slightly lost as her schoolmates all ran off ahead of her, chasing Sice who seemed even more hellbent than the rest of them on killing everything in sight. We have to draw back, Aria thought, the strategist in her far outweighing the warrior, If we don't, we'll be stuck here, and even Class Zero can't hold out forever. The tiny girl looked at the man and woman that had joined their side of the fight. No, even with these new arrivals, they had to withdraw. To stand and overcome the Milites here... they wouldn't need back-up, they'd need an army. Aria tried to stick close to the pink-haired lady and follow her on through the battle that had enveloped them all. She just had to stay calm! Hadn't she shown only days ago that she was capable of holding her own? That mission with Nine and Deuce hadn't been easy, but she'd done it. She could do this too. But Nine's dead now. And Deuce is lost in the battle. Do you really think you can take their place? Her thoughts were so dark she felt like they physically weighed her down. "No!" she stuttered involuntarily, as she tried to shake her doubts away. If she couldn't hold them back and focus on the fight, her chances were going to get even slimmer. As a couple of Milites soldiers ran towards her, Aria threw herself sideways, tumbling over the rocky ground and scraping her arms and legs. Bullets thundered over her head where she had just been standing. Another close call.
Rolling behind cover, she pictured Quon's voice in her mind, telling her to focus only on the magic, not the casting stance or the circumstances. Damn if she wasn't going to get it right this time! Do it right or die. Nothing like a bit of light pressure... You can't do this! her mind screamed at her, but Aria disagreed. "Yes I can!" Her hand flew out in front of her as it had a thousand times before and it worked, the gravity magic sparking on her fingers before it raced through the air, reaching towards the soldiers in front of her. There were more now, a group of five, but they were drawn together by the magic and tangled, taking a battering as they were whirled around in the high gravity field. Aria knew that wouldn't be enough to drop them all, but she was prepared and she threw forward her other hand as sh cast Firaga. The spell hit and she didn't wait to see the effect. She ran, her feet stumbling, but she was small and fast and the soldiers were mostly preoccupied. Aria couldn't see the pink-haired woman anymore, but as she ducked behind a wall, she was proud of herself. Gravity magic! And a firaga, she could barely manage them a few days ago. Clearly her body knew the difference between casting in the classroom and casting when her life depended on it. Aria glanced out from behind the ruined wall she had hidden behind, trying to find the others again. She couldn't see the giant man, although he had been fighting on the front of a truck last thing she had seen. There! That was the 3 members of Class Zero. Now where was that other woman, was she-
Aria heard the footsteps running up behind her, but she turned too late. Her senses were not sharp enough and her reactions were too slow. She was a merchant, not a warrior. All she managed was a gasp, half-raising her hands in front of her face, not even having the time to cry out. The Milite soldier wasn't holding his rifle ready to shoot and perhaps that was what saved her life. Instead, in shock, her brought the butt of the gun down against her head and Aria crumpled to the ground. The soldier stared, he was young, fresh out of training, and now he had killed what could well have been his little sister. His mouth sagged, a lump in his throat, as his hands reached out towards his victim. She was one of those Class Zero witches, he knew that, she could set him on fire with a look, but she was still a little kid. He put his hand to her cheek, then felt her neck and breathed a sigh of unexpected relief as he felt a pulse. He knew he should shoot her, but somehow he couldn't do that now, not when she was unconscious and helpless. What if he brought her in? A prisoner? Nobody else had managed that yet, not that he knew of. They'd be proud of him, bringing in a Class Zero prisoner, she'd be of great use to the Empire. And she'd live. He couldn't kill her. But he couldn't let her go.
The soldier picked Aria up, with an unexpected gentleness and carried her quickly away, out of sight. He was fairly sure that nobody had seen him, but it didn't matter if they had. The others would be too hard-pressed fighting to come to her aid for some time yet, and he would be long gone by then. He had to find Qator. Qator would reward him for the girl and he probably wouldn't hurt her, which was something he couldn't guarantee if he took her back to the sergeant at the base. No, he'd find Qator and take the girl to him and ask for her to be kept safe. Then maybe he could still look at himself in the mirror when this damned war was over.
WORDS; 953
MUSE; Pretty good actually
LOCATION; Battle
TAGGED; Trey/Sice/Seven/Serah/Snow
NOTES; And Aria out...
LISTENING TO?; Skyrim