Here's another. I do very much like the beginning, but am displeased with the ending. It felt rushed to me...but I doubt I can do anything about that,since I still have to work on Degen. *sigh*
What are dreams really? Just a subconscious by-product of sleep? Yes, it was as simple as that.
But it was because of how simple dreams were that they caused such trouble. Dreams of ultimate carnage, and great regret. That's what drew the two men out of their rooms in the Malkuth-side Chesedonian Inn. Neither expected company, and both were surprised at seeing that they were not alone.
Guy honestly didn't know why Jade was glancing up at the starry night so intently…but he could sympathize with the man's holding a bottle of fine wine as he sat on the steps leading up to Astor's mansion.
"Oh, dear, it appears I've been found out," the colonel said tiredly as Guy neared. "Is there something I can help you with, young count?"
Guy snorted.
"Haha, don't' act like you respect the royal rappig caretaker," he remarked, leaning against a balustrade with his arms crossed. "Anyway, maybe you can explain to me what's got you up and out at the crack of midnight, Colonel Curtiss."
Jade grinned. Touché. Guy was not at all as droll as the Kimlascan nobles. Of course, Jade might be biased by his Malkuthian heritage…but he doubted it. After all, Dist was most droll, and they were both from Keterburg. But now his thoughts were off-topic.
"Sorry. That's confidential," Jade said lazily, not at all apologetic. "Am I to assume your reasons for being awake at this hour are similar?"
"Yeah," Guy responded, a sigh escaping his lips. His azure gaze shiftd to Jade's bottle, and the colonel smiled.
"Tempted by such vice, Gailardia?" he teased. "My, my. I cannot say I approve."
"Likewise to the Necromancer," the blonde responded.
"OH, I don't have standards that high. I'm not a noble, just an old soldier's son."
Guy tilted his head. Something seemed off about that statement.
"Jade…didn't you want to be a scholar? You'd said that…"
"Or an autopsist," Jade added. He did not smile, and neither did Guy.
"When you said the human body was a beautiful thing, organ reference aside…you think of one particular human, don't you?"
Jade took a drink from his bottle, a viciously rapid swig. It was uncharacteristic of his nature on so many levels.
"This is true. Likewise, when you think of women, do you see your sister's bloodied body?"
That hurt. That really hurt, and Guy visibly scowled.
"You're bothered, I get that. And I'm sorry if I made it worse, but you didn't' have to hit that low, Jade. If I was any less patient, I'd lay you out."
"At which point you should realize you are unarmed, and I never am," the Necromancer informed him coldly.
Guy took a deep breath, releasing it in a shuddering exhale.
"I didn't come out here for this, and I know you didn't either. So the options left to us are to both go back inside and get the rest we need…or else we can deal with each other. I'd rather not fight."
Jade sighed.
"What, do you wish to discuss our problems?" he asked wearily. "You're the one who explains, Guy. Not me."
"Not by choice either," Guy muttered. "Anyway, fine. Just answer my questions and I'll share. Why I'd share with you, well…you're the only one around."
Jade considered that for a moment. He couldn't boast openness. Hell, he had threatened Luke just to keep him quiet about Professor Nebilim. It was only common sense that Guy wouldn't want to talk to him if he didn't have to, particularly about something that had him up at midnight. Jade was naturally curious, at any rate, so he'd go along.
"Well, I could understand you wanting someone else, but as I am your only option, do go on and ask, or explain. Whichever you'd like."
"Well, alright…"
Guy sighed. Jade was, most likely, simply curious. All the same, the swordsman did want someone who would listen.
"I had a dream about my sister…before that day," he stated softly. "Nothing seemed wrong…well, not fully. I remember though, there were soldiers."
The colonel flinched the barest bit. He had been stationed there, even being close to the Gardios Manor. Of course, he had to be. He was a leader in the project to destroy Hod.
"You were there. It took me a long time to realize it, but I remember you, Jade."
"Really? I don't' remember you."
"Don't' lie. You weren't a kid then, you should remember."
And he really did. How could he forget those inquisitive blue eyes, face framed by golden blond hair? But he had been a young man, just turned 20. Not a child, but not…quite…a man.
"Vaguely, I recall," he said, not conceding. But he remembered all too well.
***
The Island of Hod was usually a nice area to be. The architecture was stunning, the beaches beautiful and the landscape breathtaking.
Unfortunately, Hod was positioned in a very undesirable area. Namely, kit was located over a current which led tropical storms and typhoons to it.
Perhaps it was some sort of omen, it being Jade's birthday and that also being the day a second category typhoon would hit Hod.
"Happy birthday to me," the man thought, sighing. He was on evac duty, and was thankfully almost done with it. Now it was just down to triple checking for anyone who hadn't been evacuated a few days ago, when they were supposed to be. The last to leave had been the Gardioses themselves, but he hadn't been in charge of their evacuation. It wasn't his job to deal with the nobles.
Of course, something had to go wrong before he was done. Things could never be simple.
"Mary!! Sister, help me!!"
Jade sighed again. A kid in the middle of a typhoon. A kid was on its own. Yes, it. He wasn't sure if it was a very young boy or girl.
Well, this probably was the last evac, so…all he had to do was search. Five minutes of that led him to a diminutive young boy with golden hair and crystal-blue eyes. Fearful, the young one clung to his right leg after springing from his hiding place.
"Alright, enough!" the soldier called over the steadily rising howl of the wind. "We have to get to the underground tunnels, and fast. Alright?"
The boy was scared, but nodded, releasing Jade's leg and sticking to holding the end of his collar-cape. It was a good thing he did too, because the wind was picking up now. If he hadn't been bracing himself, the young one would have—
"Ghk!!"
Jade felt rushing pressure on his throat and his feet were ripped from beneath him as the wind caught the child up and caused him to yank at Jade's collar. The man's head hit the stone ground hard, and for a minute or so, he could not move. The child screamed at him, but he did nothing.
And then came that Lorelei-awful roar. Jade would never forget that sound.
The hurricane had borne a tornado.
Adrenaline got him moving then; he righted himself in half a minute, despite the pounding of his head.
"Come on, boy! Get moving!"
The angry roar of wind that made a pack of Ice Wolves sound like mewling kittens was drawing closer. Jade could hear it behind him as they ran, though he daren't look to see how close it was. It sounded as if it was right at their heels…
"PLEASE!!! PLEASE, SIR, WAIT FOR ME!!"
Jade bit his lip, then turned with more speed than he'd ever had in his life and scooped the kid up like a sack of potatoes. He would have closed his eyes just to keep from seeing the tornado, but it was no use. He'd seen it.
The huge funnel that seemed to be as thick as a house, a deadly whirling force that whipped his glasses clean from his face and swallowed them up, though by then, he'd started running again.
Jade dove into an alley, trying to find somewhere that the both of them could hide…there was nothing to stop the twister, and it was drawing closer, tearing through the pathways. If they stayed in an alley, it would suck them both up. The boy screaming didn't help either.
Eventually, he came upon a pipeline in an open area, probably for some hydro-powered system, and it gave him an idea. He'd have to be fast though…
Setting the kid down, he put him on one side of the pipeline, then began to undo his belt.
"Tie this around yourself on that end of the pipe, boy!" he cried over the roar of the wind. "Tie it tight! When the tornado comes, cling to that pipe and don't let go, understand?"
The kid whimpered, terrified, and Jade realized he could not count on the boy to take care of himself. Of course, the boy was a civilian. But nonetheless.
Despite the fact that he still had to take care of himself, Jade fumbled with his belt to tie it around the kid's waist, then positioned himself on the other end of the pipeline. It wasn't thick enough that the boy couldn't reach around it, so that was good.
"Kid! Hold on tight, alright?"
"I want my sister!!! WHERE'S MARYBELLE?!"
"Marybelle…"
Jade stiffened. The only Marybelle on Hod…was Marybelle Gardios.
"…Gailardia? Hold tight, and I will make sure you return to your sister!" he vowed. "We have to survive the tornado, though! So hold on tight to this pipe, and don't let go no matter what!"
"I…I…o-okay!"
Jade felt more assured now that the child had acknowledged what he had to do. Taking hold of the boy's shirt, he clung to it tightly, as if that might keep Gailardia from flying away if he released the pipe.
I will not allow you to die here, Gailardia Galan Gardios. Your death is not necessary now.
The tornado made short time of catching up to them, and when it did, the two were literally almost ripped from the pipe by the sheer wind velocity. Not to mention that there was debris swirling around in the wind. Gailardia was the first to be struck—a rock cut across his forehead and he screamed in agony, his hands releasing the pipe.
"GAILARDIA!!"
Releasing the pipe himself without thinking, Jade grabbed the child's hands, bringing them down to the pipe. They flew back down to grip the pipe, and he shifted his own to it, but his grip had been terribly compromised, and he didn't have any sort of anchor.
By that time, at least, the tornado had passed halfway, but he was still ripped from the pipe at the last moment and sent flying into the air at least eight to ten feet. He would have been taken with the cyclone too, if not for the fact that it had chosen that time to dissipate. So from the height of eight or so feet, he fell back to the ground, landing partially on his right arm and cracking his head against the ground with painful force. That was when his consciousness finally gave…
***
Jade remembered all of that, but he still nodded as he listened to Gailardia retell the tale from his vantage. At least now he knew what had happened afterwards.
According to Guy, after he'd fallen unconscious, the young boy had moved to his side and refused to leave him. He had lost all hope that anyone was still alive, for his mind could not comprehend that anyone might survive that twister. He'd gone so far as to use Jade as an anchor against the wind, which had worked fairly well since the soldier had not been standing.
A day later, the two had been found, and both had been hospitalized; Jade for his concussion and broken arm, and Guy for the deep gash across his forehead and the various cuts all over his body.
"So…you really don't remember that?" Guy pressed. Jade shook his head slowly. "And…you expect me to believe you, don't you?"
Jade thought about his answer.
"…No. I don't," he finally said.
"And why not?" Guy questioned.
"Because I think we both know what we dreamed of tonight."
Guy gave Jade a wan smile. He hadn't expected the man to concede in that manner…but it was still nice to know he remembered Guy. The Malkuthian noble actually hadn't remembered Jade until they'd gone to the Isle of Feres.
"Well, I didn't properly thank you, Jade. So…thanks for saving me back then."
The Colonel's eyes widened and he looked to Guy with a curious expression on his face. He hadn't expected to be thanked, and now that he had been thanked…well…Jade Curtiss wasn't proud of many things in his life. This was one of the things he'd done right though.
"That means a lot more than you would think," he said quietly. "But I shouldn't be thanked. I should be the one doing the thanking. You made a good person out of me, Gailardia Galan Gardios."
"Mm? Hahah, don't be silly, Jade! You did all that rescuing stuff on your own," the blonde swordsman told him with a winning grin. "You can't refuse that it was you pulling your own strings. You didn't know I was a noble. You just knew I was a person."
"…A person. Mmm…yes."
Jade smiled. Not grinned, not smirked. He smiled.
"I suppose…I valued your life. As a person."
R & R please?