Re: Vanishings (Aiko)
Blinking twice, the young blonde barked at Taen again. He jumped to his feet, stammering for a second as the bleeding from his side became worse. The elf unbuttoned his light blue dress shirt, and took it off, revealing a black t-shirt darkened even further with his blood. He then tied it around his waist as a makeshift tourniquet in order to stop the bleeding. After pulling it tightly enough, he limped over to “Miranda” and grabbed her shoulder.
They made their way to the exit, but it seemed to be all in vain as people crowded around in a jumbled panic. The shooting had stopped, but there was still a lingering apprehension in the air. Ambulances came, sorting through the bodies of the living, the dead, and almost dead. Sirens blared, people murmured amongst themselves.
Silence.
The head of the train close to them burst apart in smoke and flames, with the four other trains following in rapid succession. As the fire spread towards Taen and the young girl, instinct overcame his common sense, and he summoned a barrier to block the inferno that would have incinerated them all. As he let the golden shield disappear into thin air, “Miranda” gaped in wonder. She had little no time to say anything, as Taen had already taken her hand and dashed up the stairwell with the rest of the crowd. The elf hoped that no one had seen what he did, as that could bring him unwanted attention. He shrugged it off, and pulled himself and the woman out of the subway.
As they arose to the surface, even more sirens blared. People crammed into trucks and cars; police guided people to the hospital a few blocks away. Taen glanced to his side at Miranda, whose hand was dripping with the blood from her neck. She winced every time she moved, but made no complaint. He put his hand to her wound, but she stopped him.
“What are you doing? Don’t touch me!”
She batted his hand away. He made no remark to her rudeness; he just attempted to apologize, “I was trying to help you with your wound… its bleeding pretty bad. We should get you to a hospital.”
She looked at him for a second, and then shook her head. “No, we can’t do that,” she spoke again before Taen could protest, “just take me behind an alleyway or something; I can take care of it myself.”
The elf decided this would do, even though he knew she needed medical attention. “Fine, I was just trying to help.” His face seemed to reflect his tone, which was more offended than supportive. He led her to the river that cut straight through the town. They walked down the steps and made their way beneath the small bridge. The summoner untied the shirt from around his waist, and pulled his t-shirt over his head, revealing his bare flesh. Miranda looked at him funnily, as if she were wondering what the heck he was doing or if he had any modesty at all. He took some water from the river in his hands, refusing to use water-magic in front of her despite her seeing him do his light-magic before. He figured she would think she had seen things, and forget about it in due time.
Taen dripped the water along his wound, the dry blood washing away to reveal the hole where the bullet went through. He moved the side where he was shot away from Miranda, and placed his hand over the wound. The pain dulled, and the hole in his skin disappeared, as if it were never there in the first place. Mrs. Cubbins, however, didn’t seem to be as successful with her injury. The girl scowled at Taen, for a reason that only she could guess. Upon seeing that he had no wound on his side anymore, her face dropped from less of a scowl to a more curious expression.
The elf stretched his arms into the sky, and turned his eyes to hers. Nasune, Dragon of Shadow, whispered in his ear. That face… is not her true face… Taen chuckled at the Dragon’s ever cryptic nature, but still keeping in mind his words. He took a seat against the wall, extending one leg out while bending one up, and putting his hand against his raised knee.
The elf flashed a small smile towards Miranda; she blinked, and began to speak…