Post by Sadie on Apr 2, 2010 14:53:05 GMT -5
IT'S.
-drumroll-
A SIBLING FIC.
In order to really know what's going on, you'll have to have read "One New Message" first. But that's really just to clarify a couple of things, you don't need to.
This is about Etoile and Tala and what happened to them after the explosion. They get their sweet moments, too!
I hope you enjoy!
--
“Etoile.”
Go away.
“Etoile?”
Please. It hurts too much to move.
A frustrated sigh, followed by a murmur. “At least his hearts are beating. . . come on, Etoile, wa-. . . Etoile?”
She must have seen his eyelids flicker a little. Alright, alright, I’m coming.
Dull light. Darkness. His optics burred and then focused, trying to make sense of the information presented to them. The smell of mossy water. Echoing drips of water. Finally, Tala’s face, leaning over his, which curved into a tiny smile when his blue lenses landed on hers. “Welcome back.”
His lips moved, but no sound was produce, a fact that made her eyebrows furrow a little. “Don’t move,” she whispered, sliding to her feet and vanishing from his line of vision. He didn’t have any intention of moving yet, so that wasn’t a problem, but his befuddled senses made it difficult to pinpoint his current location.
The green-haired girl appeared back only a minute later, a water bottle clutched in her hand that was half-coated in dust. She tried vainly to wipe it on her shirt for him, but the fabric was just as dirty and her helpless expression worried him. Finally, she gave up on it and simply held the bottle a few inches above his mouth, tipping it over and letting the tiny stream trickle out and down into his throat.
The cool liquid was a relief to his throat and soothed over the parts of it that felt cracked and limp. As soon as she pulled the bottle back, he tried again to speak. “Where. . . are we?” His voice was so raspy and feeble that it it sent a tiny flinch through the girl, who acted like nothing had happened. Instead, she focused on answering him, still barely whispering.
“We’re still in the cave. . . how much do you remember?”
Cave?
A weary mind struggled to piece the facts together, but it was all a wispy blur in his mind. “I don’t. . . can’t. . .”
“The explosion?”
The explo-!
The boy jerked into a sitting position, and immediately his body broke into an protesting uproar and he let out a cry of pain. But he was already trying to choke out something much more urgent. “M-my communicator! Whe-“ A jerking spasm of coughs broke him off, but Tala seemed to know what he wanted. Fishing around the ground beside her feet, she held up the few crushed remains of what had once been in his communicator.
“A boulder fell on it. I’m sorry.” Putting it down, she immediately put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down into a lying position, ignoring his quiet protests. “And mine was stolen.” Her lips pressed together a little, concerned about his reaction, but she didn’t question him, instead changing the subject. “How do you feel?”
“You’re bleeding.” He was more concerned about her trembling arm that he had noticed now, soaked with blood that was gently seeping from a wide cut near the shoulder.
“It’s nothing,” she told him, shifting a little to cover the cut with her hand so that she could press the question again. “Answer me. How do you feel?”
“Uhm.” Closing his eyes, he did a mental sweep of his body, cringing a little when he registered the throbbing pains that he had been attempting to ignore. “My arm. . . the right one, it really hurts. . . and my abdomen, the. . . the. . . I can’t remember what it’s called. . .”
“You don’t have to-“ she began soothingly, interrupted when inspiration struck him.
“Iliac. Left iliac section. And I just. . . hurt.”
The girl had already gotten busy, leaning over his torso and delicately separating his blood-soaked shirt from his skin, lifting it away from the lower regions of his abdomen. He couldn’t see his own body, but the fleeting horrified look that passed over his face was enough to tell him that it was bad. But as usual, her calm demeanor replaced it immediately, and she drew back and faced him with a brave expression. “You were pierced pretty deep, probably with the spears they were carrying. But it’s getting really, really infected. . .”
“I’m fine.” With a grunt, he shifted onto his elbows and let out a pained breath of air. “W-what happened? What’s happening now? Tell me everything.”
His hand found hers in the dark light of the cave, curling around it, and her fingers immediately latched onto his as she helped him sit up a little more. Even as he relaxed and she sat back with a look of relief, their hands never parted. Before she began her story, she offered him more water, and the boy took it gratefully and let it trickle down his throat while she spoke.
“Well. . . you were at the side of the cave, and I was nearer to the middle, helping hold up the wall. They broke through our defenses and just. . . stampeded inside, there were so many of them, some of them riding huge beasts that knocked us down. You were attacked by a spearman and he got a few good hits on you before you were knocked out by the rocks from the mouth of the cave when it started crumbling.” Pausing, she glanced at him. “Does your head hurt?”
“I. . . yeah.” He had thought it was just a notice of the pain in the rest of his body, but now he could feel the dull aching on the side of his head.
She nodded a little, inhaling slowly, and didn’t press anymore questions on him so that she could continue. “I think the enemies thought we had all died, and that’s why they left. . . or something made them leave, I’m not sure, some stupid rider knocked me out. The others on our mission went back to the ship this morning, I heard them talking about it when I was half-conscious. They thought you were dead, too, your hearts were really quiet for a while, that’s the only reason they left you, and I had fainted way back there, they probably didn’t see me. But they were in a pretty big hurry to get back to the ship and start repairing it so that they can get home.”
A faint troubled look passed over Etoile’s expression. “Have they left already?”
But Tala dispelled his fears almost instantly with a shake of her head. “The invaders attacked our ship, remember? It was in such a bad shape, it should take them a couple days to get it so that it can fly again.”
“So we should try to make it to the ship,” he concluded quietly, wondering how much it would hurt to walk.
“Seems best, if you can walk.” Climbing to her feet again, she kept her grip on his hand and tugged upward, helping his shaking legs support him long enough to gain his balance. Hooking his arm around her thin shoulders and wrapping her own arm around her waist, the girl made sure that he was still alright and they began to walk forward, out of the mouth of the cave.
“You seem alright,” he noted with relief, casting a sideways glance at her. Although her skin was pale and bruised, she had strength in her limbs that he was missing, and only her arm had any of her own blood on it.
She shrugged a little, not impressed with her own health out of concern for his. “I was lucky. . . it was . . . placement.” Her eyes darkened. “I should be in your position.”
“What?” His tone came out a little sharper than intended.
“It was pure chance that we switched places at the end and you were standing where I was. If we had stayed in the same places, you would have been alright. . .” Her expression was troubled, a little anxious. “It should have been me.”
“Stop it. I was the one who asked you to take my place, it wa-“ The growl of his empty stomach cut him off, loud and almost painful. Immediately letting out a soft D’thlanyian curse word at herself, Tala shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled out a small bundle of cloth, pushing it at him.
“I can’t believe I forgot to give this to you. Eat.” In the middle of the cloth was a loaf of bread, thick with grains and seeds. The smell was tempting and Etoile was starving, but he hesitated before taking it.
“Have you eaten?”
“Of course. Take it, you need to eat.”
Unwilling to argue, even given the suspicious tone in her voice, and unimpressive in his hoarse voice anyway, Etoile took the bread and bit off large pieces eagerly, consuming the whole loaf in a matter of minutes. The food not only partially satisfied his stomach, but it took his mind off of the rough ground; the jagged rocks and uneven surface were painful to his feet. But the chances of him having enough power left to lift off of the ground were slim. “Thank you,” he murmured when he had finally finished it, tightening his arm around her.
She nodded, and they began their trek down the hill that had led up to the mouth of the cave. The path dipped down into a wide valley below, framed with other mountains and hills. The rocky terrain would continue until they neared the east side of a valley, where a polluted lake sat serenely. The ship had landed near the lake, and it was likely that their walk would have them arrive at the ship when it was nearing night.
Their feet were silent against the ground, bare as usual, and the wind was hollow and slow around them. It was only the afternoon, Etoile guessed when he glanced up at the sun, but it was already chilled and unpleasant outside. The only warmth was the body of his little sister that was supporting his larger frame as they walked, and the thin jacket he sometimes wore that was now defiled with splatters of blood.
“I love you.” The words came quietly from his little sister’s lips, startling the teen out of his reverie.
Glancing at her, his blue eyes curious, he opened his mouth to return the sentiment to her, but she interrupted him and continued talking in the same soft, trembling voice.
“I don’t know if maybe sometimes it seems like I don’t, because I pick on you a lot and kind of tease you and get mad at you and maybe sometimes I say something that’s meaner than I meant it to be. . . but I . . . I saw you fall, I thought you were going to die and I was really scared . . . And we’re going to be okay but still, I just. . . you mean the world to me. You’re the best older brother I could have asked for.”
Tightening his arm a little in the only form of a hug that he could manage, Etoile let out a slow breath of air before answering. “You don’t have to tell me. I already know.”
“I’m only mean to you because I love you,” she said with a little smile, peering up at him and squeezing his waist a little with her arm. “It’s a weird little sister thing.”
He shrugged a little, smiling himself. “I’m only overprotective and annoying because I love you. It’s a weird older brother thing.”
The girl laughed, leaning closer and resting her head against him. A silence stretched between them, their pace downward still slow and careful, but it was a warm kind of silence, the one where words weren’t needed at all. Occasionally a conversation would crop up as they mused aloud what they would do first when they got back on base, what they would eat first, and what people were saying about them back home, but then they would turn quiet once more, simply enjoying the company of the other.
It wouldn’t be long before they would reach the ship and help to repair it, receiving medical help on the ride home.
It wouldn’t be long before they arrived back on base to many welcoming arms.
It wouldn’t be long before they would go back to irritating each other and picking on one another at any given opportunity.
But that was okay.
---
I just want to point out something that's not obvious in the fic because I failed at writing it and it explains something in "One New Message." Tala fainted off of the ship in that story because she hadn't eaten in a long while. She gave Etoile all the food she had to help him, and I think he suspects it but she refuses to tell him and insists she ate before he woke up. Ffff silly girl.
-drumroll-
A SIBLING FIC.
In order to really know what's going on, you'll have to have read "One New Message" first. But that's really just to clarify a couple of things, you don't need to.
This is about Etoile and Tala and what happened to them after the explosion. They get their sweet moments, too!
I hope you enjoy!
--
“Etoile.”
Go away.
“Etoile?”
Please. It hurts too much to move.
A frustrated sigh, followed by a murmur. “At least his hearts are beating. . . come on, Etoile, wa-. . . Etoile?”
She must have seen his eyelids flicker a little. Alright, alright, I’m coming.
Dull light. Darkness. His optics burred and then focused, trying to make sense of the information presented to them. The smell of mossy water. Echoing drips of water. Finally, Tala’s face, leaning over his, which curved into a tiny smile when his blue lenses landed on hers. “Welcome back.”
His lips moved, but no sound was produce, a fact that made her eyebrows furrow a little. “Don’t move,” she whispered, sliding to her feet and vanishing from his line of vision. He didn’t have any intention of moving yet, so that wasn’t a problem, but his befuddled senses made it difficult to pinpoint his current location.
The green-haired girl appeared back only a minute later, a water bottle clutched in her hand that was half-coated in dust. She tried vainly to wipe it on her shirt for him, but the fabric was just as dirty and her helpless expression worried him. Finally, she gave up on it and simply held the bottle a few inches above his mouth, tipping it over and letting the tiny stream trickle out and down into his throat.
The cool liquid was a relief to his throat and soothed over the parts of it that felt cracked and limp. As soon as she pulled the bottle back, he tried again to speak. “Where. . . are we?” His voice was so raspy and feeble that it it sent a tiny flinch through the girl, who acted like nothing had happened. Instead, she focused on answering him, still barely whispering.
“We’re still in the cave. . . how much do you remember?”
Cave?
A weary mind struggled to piece the facts together, but it was all a wispy blur in his mind. “I don’t. . . can’t. . .”
“The explosion?”
The explo-!
The boy jerked into a sitting position, and immediately his body broke into an protesting uproar and he let out a cry of pain. But he was already trying to choke out something much more urgent. “M-my communicator! Whe-“ A jerking spasm of coughs broke him off, but Tala seemed to know what he wanted. Fishing around the ground beside her feet, she held up the few crushed remains of what had once been in his communicator.
“A boulder fell on it. I’m sorry.” Putting it down, she immediately put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down into a lying position, ignoring his quiet protests. “And mine was stolen.” Her lips pressed together a little, concerned about his reaction, but she didn’t question him, instead changing the subject. “How do you feel?”
“You’re bleeding.” He was more concerned about her trembling arm that he had noticed now, soaked with blood that was gently seeping from a wide cut near the shoulder.
“It’s nothing,” she told him, shifting a little to cover the cut with her hand so that she could press the question again. “Answer me. How do you feel?”
“Uhm.” Closing his eyes, he did a mental sweep of his body, cringing a little when he registered the throbbing pains that he had been attempting to ignore. “My arm. . . the right one, it really hurts. . . and my abdomen, the. . . the. . . I can’t remember what it’s called. . .”
“You don’t have to-“ she began soothingly, interrupted when inspiration struck him.
“Iliac. Left iliac section. And I just. . . hurt.”
The girl had already gotten busy, leaning over his torso and delicately separating his blood-soaked shirt from his skin, lifting it away from the lower regions of his abdomen. He couldn’t see his own body, but the fleeting horrified look that passed over his face was enough to tell him that it was bad. But as usual, her calm demeanor replaced it immediately, and she drew back and faced him with a brave expression. “You were pierced pretty deep, probably with the spears they were carrying. But it’s getting really, really infected. . .”
“I’m fine.” With a grunt, he shifted onto his elbows and let out a pained breath of air. “W-what happened? What’s happening now? Tell me everything.”
His hand found hers in the dark light of the cave, curling around it, and her fingers immediately latched onto his as she helped him sit up a little more. Even as he relaxed and she sat back with a look of relief, their hands never parted. Before she began her story, she offered him more water, and the boy took it gratefully and let it trickle down his throat while she spoke.
“Well. . . you were at the side of the cave, and I was nearer to the middle, helping hold up the wall. They broke through our defenses and just. . . stampeded inside, there were so many of them, some of them riding huge beasts that knocked us down. You were attacked by a spearman and he got a few good hits on you before you were knocked out by the rocks from the mouth of the cave when it started crumbling.” Pausing, she glanced at him. “Does your head hurt?”
“I. . . yeah.” He had thought it was just a notice of the pain in the rest of his body, but now he could feel the dull aching on the side of his head.
She nodded a little, inhaling slowly, and didn’t press anymore questions on him so that she could continue. “I think the enemies thought we had all died, and that’s why they left. . . or something made them leave, I’m not sure, some stupid rider knocked me out. The others on our mission went back to the ship this morning, I heard them talking about it when I was half-conscious. They thought you were dead, too, your hearts were really quiet for a while, that’s the only reason they left you, and I had fainted way back there, they probably didn’t see me. But they were in a pretty big hurry to get back to the ship and start repairing it so that they can get home.”
A faint troubled look passed over Etoile’s expression. “Have they left already?”
But Tala dispelled his fears almost instantly with a shake of her head. “The invaders attacked our ship, remember? It was in such a bad shape, it should take them a couple days to get it so that it can fly again.”
“So we should try to make it to the ship,” he concluded quietly, wondering how much it would hurt to walk.
“Seems best, if you can walk.” Climbing to her feet again, she kept her grip on his hand and tugged upward, helping his shaking legs support him long enough to gain his balance. Hooking his arm around her thin shoulders and wrapping her own arm around her waist, the girl made sure that he was still alright and they began to walk forward, out of the mouth of the cave.
“You seem alright,” he noted with relief, casting a sideways glance at her. Although her skin was pale and bruised, she had strength in her limbs that he was missing, and only her arm had any of her own blood on it.
She shrugged a little, not impressed with her own health out of concern for his. “I was lucky. . . it was . . . placement.” Her eyes darkened. “I should be in your position.”
“What?” His tone came out a little sharper than intended.
“It was pure chance that we switched places at the end and you were standing where I was. If we had stayed in the same places, you would have been alright. . .” Her expression was troubled, a little anxious. “It should have been me.”
“Stop it. I was the one who asked you to take my place, it wa-“ The growl of his empty stomach cut him off, loud and almost painful. Immediately letting out a soft D’thlanyian curse word at herself, Tala shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled out a small bundle of cloth, pushing it at him.
“I can’t believe I forgot to give this to you. Eat.” In the middle of the cloth was a loaf of bread, thick with grains and seeds. The smell was tempting and Etoile was starving, but he hesitated before taking it.
“Have you eaten?”
“Of course. Take it, you need to eat.”
Unwilling to argue, even given the suspicious tone in her voice, and unimpressive in his hoarse voice anyway, Etoile took the bread and bit off large pieces eagerly, consuming the whole loaf in a matter of minutes. The food not only partially satisfied his stomach, but it took his mind off of the rough ground; the jagged rocks and uneven surface were painful to his feet. But the chances of him having enough power left to lift off of the ground were slim. “Thank you,” he murmured when he had finally finished it, tightening his arm around her.
She nodded, and they began their trek down the hill that had led up to the mouth of the cave. The path dipped down into a wide valley below, framed with other mountains and hills. The rocky terrain would continue until they neared the east side of a valley, where a polluted lake sat serenely. The ship had landed near the lake, and it was likely that their walk would have them arrive at the ship when it was nearing night.
Their feet were silent against the ground, bare as usual, and the wind was hollow and slow around them. It was only the afternoon, Etoile guessed when he glanced up at the sun, but it was already chilled and unpleasant outside. The only warmth was the body of his little sister that was supporting his larger frame as they walked, and the thin jacket he sometimes wore that was now defiled with splatters of blood.
“I love you.” The words came quietly from his little sister’s lips, startling the teen out of his reverie.
Glancing at her, his blue eyes curious, he opened his mouth to return the sentiment to her, but she interrupted him and continued talking in the same soft, trembling voice.
“I don’t know if maybe sometimes it seems like I don’t, because I pick on you a lot and kind of tease you and get mad at you and maybe sometimes I say something that’s meaner than I meant it to be. . . but I . . . I saw you fall, I thought you were going to die and I was really scared . . . And we’re going to be okay but still, I just. . . you mean the world to me. You’re the best older brother I could have asked for.”
Tightening his arm a little in the only form of a hug that he could manage, Etoile let out a slow breath of air before answering. “You don’t have to tell me. I already know.”
“I’m only mean to you because I love you,” she said with a little smile, peering up at him and squeezing his waist a little with her arm. “It’s a weird little sister thing.”
He shrugged a little, smiling himself. “I’m only overprotective and annoying because I love you. It’s a weird older brother thing.”
The girl laughed, leaning closer and resting her head against him. A silence stretched between them, their pace downward still slow and careful, but it was a warm kind of silence, the one where words weren’t needed at all. Occasionally a conversation would crop up as they mused aloud what they would do first when they got back on base, what they would eat first, and what people were saying about them back home, but then they would turn quiet once more, simply enjoying the company of the other.
It wouldn’t be long before they would reach the ship and help to repair it, receiving medical help on the ride home.
It wouldn’t be long before they arrived back on base to many welcoming arms.
It wouldn’t be long before they would go back to irritating each other and picking on one another at any given opportunity.
But that was okay.
---
I just want to point out something that's not obvious in the fic because I failed at writing it and it explains something in "One New Message." Tala fainted off of the ship in that story because she hadn't eaten in a long while. She gave Etoile all the food she had to help him, and I think he suspects it but she refuses to tell him and insists she ate before he woke up. Ffff silly girl.
