On the sunrise of the fourth day since his departure from his home, Nadiel was stirred from his sleep far earlier than usual. Not from being disturbed, nor from being fully rested, but from the knowledge that today would be the day that his former comrades would come to pay him a visit. Fear had no influence in this event; if anything he saw the interaction as yet another possibility to further his own agenda and prepared for it with anticipation. He was so far ahead of schedule that he even managed to get on his feet before Crisis departed on her typical morning hunting trips that until this point had left him to awake alone. As much as he may have been amused to see her savagely mauled by his compatriots as revenge for all the trouble she had put him through, he knew it would be better for everyone if he dealt with the matter himself. So he jumped down from his resting place on her chest and began to trek far enough way to avoid drawing attention in her direction. After a few steps Crisis muttered something incomprehensible in her sleep. Nadiel stopped and turned, for no reason but to see if the lovable oaf might have somehow known what might be happening. She seemed to be trying to clutch something in her hand, and feel around as if to find something she had dropped. Once more she began to try and say something, but this time the only word he could make out was "promise". Nadiel couldn't possibly guess what that could mean, but it didn't seem important so he shrugged it off. With a quick chuckle the one thing he had to say aloud was "sleep tight" before he faded into the distance.
There were pressing matters to think over, none the least of which was the issue of whom would be sent to find him. He knew someone would catch up to him very soon for the visual display in his combat mask was gaining more and more static interfere. There was a jamming signal being used to ruin his gear, and trace the distance and heading to the failure of signal return. But who would do such a thing? None of the regular infantry had enough experience with hacking electrical equipment, and the heavy infantry would have simply been a foolish choice to send after him in a place like this. That settled it then, it was SpecOps he would have to deal with. But even narrowing the possibilities that far would not be enough, which commander to contend with would be the difference between life and death. Nadiel was not in the habit of referring to his peers by name, only by their callsigns from an ancient alphabet. Could they have chosen sigma to come after him? Or perhaps rho or omicron. Definitely not phi, he was the favorite and he wouldn't be risked in a situation like this. It would only be a few moments longer before the answer would be revealed, in the most straightforward means possible. A faint blue streak moving faster than anything imaginable screamed its way just past Nadiel's head and only missed by fractions of an inch. Even the near miss from this mighty projectile completely scrambled his mask's sensors and Nadiel had little choice but to remove it to see what had caused the damage. "That was your warning shot" called a familiar voice.
"Gamma, damn..." was the closest thing to a response that Nadiel could produce. His attacker stepped forward and removed her own mask, revealing a stern but beautiful face. "Its been quite a while, epsilon." By this time Nadiel had drawn his own rifle and had lined it up properly, flawlessly mirroring Hebron's stance. She had no intention of wasting time or playing games so she immediately demanded to know exactly what was going on. Nadiel had acted impulsively so he had little choice but to explain himself in very vague and ambiguous terms. Hebron immediately caught on to his rouse and fired a second round, which came just barely closer to its mark than the first and cut a bloody furrow in the side of Nadiel's forehead. It didn't take long for him to understand how little patience she had, so he condensed his line of reasoning to one sentence: "I was just looking for what is still there." Hebron lowered her weapon but her face looked even more furious than before. "You were looking for 'her' again, weren't you?" She had become so enraged that her hands were beginning to shake. "Why, brother, why? What comfort could that beast possibly offer? Don't you see that she's driving you out of your mind?" This time it would be Nadiel who fired his weapon as a warning. His shot gave her a new ear piercing, and now he wrinkled his forehead in rage. "How dare you refer to me as brother! How could you have any idea what it feels like to lose your entire life, and twice at that? If you value my sanity then you will not interfere with my one chance at recovering what has been stripped from me." "Traitor!" she replied, along with another gunshot, "You're on their side, you always were! Those monsters have taken you, and that human form of yours is a lie." With that Nadiel had lost the last of his patience, and closed distance with Hebron sufficiently to bring his forearm blade within millimeters of her throat. "Monsters aren't just big mean creatures who feed on our kind, to earn the title of monster you have to be willing to kill for the sport of it, for no other reason than just to let the blood flow. Humans make the best monsters of all, and you'll find that its our kin that's the most willing to do truly monstrous things."
His point made, Nadiel shifted his weight and moved in sync with gravity to deliver the killing blow, only to have his blade blocked by Hebron's own razor-sharp implement. The deadlock didn't last, for the two split then moved at one another in lightning succession, beginning the graceful dance of death. The scene was perfectly nostalgic of their days learning swordsmanship in the dark training halls back home, and the irregular light coming through the foliage in the web of massive trees was a perfect replacement for the stained glass windows and endless columns that they had learned to cope with for years. Nadiel's battle charge had always been a subtle and unpredictable waltz, and it moved in impeccable harmony with the even rhythm of Hebron's footsteps and calculated blows. Unlike him she was given only a few opportunities to fight hand to hand in real combat, but she was completely unwilling to take unnecessary risks to maintain her enthusiasm, which made the fight even and frantic. From a distance their two glinting blades did seem to follow one another in such an elegant display that was truly beautiful yet so tragic all at once. But the time had come for this display of passion to come to an end and the two duelists made one final lunge at one another.
The aftermath left the two warriors in eachother's warm embrace, but the emotions behind it were anything but affectionate. Hebron's blade had made it well into Nadiel's chest while his had flew just over her head. He rasped his breath in pain while she now sobbed in regret. For one moment they looked into eachother's eyes without feeling hate or anger. She finally brought fourth the energy to say "I'm so sorry...." and as Nadiel positioned himself to strike at her unprotected neck, he replied: "I'm sorry too..."
Subject: Ch. 5 -Deathwish Granted 
Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:24 pm
