Forest Ark: Part III
Spoiler!
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“…Heh, yeah…that’s our Cornelia, alright…” I mumbled under my breath, nodding my head. I started making my way towards her, calling out as I got close, “Ooooooi! Corneliaaa! We’re here to help!” What happened next wasn’t something I was expecting.
Cornelia slowly turned her head to the left to look back at me. “E-En...?” She said weakly. Her face had several cuts on it, as well as several bruises. “Why are you here? F-Farrid told them not to send…any….back……up.” The weakened warrior fell back, though I managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
“O-oi, Cornelia! Cornelia!”
“Nnnnnnn, you’re too loooud.”
“At least you’re alright,” I said with a sigh, lowering my voice. Pulling my left arm back, I pulled a trimate and handed it to her, “Here, drink this; you’ll feel better.”
“Mmmm…thanks~ I ran out a while ago.” The ponytailed Newman downed the trimate, and turned away from me, curling up slightly. “So sleepy….”
“Hey! Don’t fall a - aaaaand she’s already asleep. Great.”
Hivernia stood behind me, looking over. “Puzzling…This newman, despite having such large bags of meat on her chest, is quite agile.”
“Large bags of…” I hung my head, “Really, now? That’s the first thing you notice? Not her pretty face, not the huge wired lances she wields. The first things you pick up on are her breasts?”
“Furthermore,” Hivernia continued, seemingly oblivious to my comment, “she seems to place an unreasonable amount of trust in you. Tell me; are the two of you in a romantic relationship?”
“No, Hivernia, we’re not in that kind of relationship.”
“True; you hardly seem capable enough to be in such a relationship with such a physically attractive female…”
“Now, listen, you…” I grumbled, my fist shaking slightly out of annoyance, “how is any of this relevant to the mission?”
She was silent a moment, “…true enough. Silencing vocabulator.”
I quietly shook my head as I picked the sleeping Cornelia up and began carrying her on my back, her arms draped around my neck. “Alright, let’s go.” I trudged off, slightly annoyed.
Hivernia tilted her head to the left and wondered aloud, “Was it something I said?” before following.
As we walked through the wood corridors, Hivernia spoke up, “Enforcer, isn’t it strange that the enemy has yet to renew their attacks? Surely the best time to attack is when we’re caught off guard due to tending a fallen ally.”
“I know. I’m not complaining, though. We’ll be in a lot of trouble if we’re attacked while Cornelia is still asleep. Besides, we still need to see if there are any more survivors.” The truth of the matter was that I was worried about Farrid. I’d fully expected to find the two of them together. As it stood now, though…well, things just got a lot more complicated.
“You worry about this female quite a bit, don’t you?”
I heaved a mechanical sigh, “Yes, I do. And not just her. Farrid too. Is it strange that I worry about my friends?”
“Your concern is jeopardizing our ability to complete the mission.”
“You said it yourself; it’s hard to gauge whether we’ll be able to remove the enemy as it stands. We might as well find anyone we can, before leaving. At least we’ll have a recount of what happened to turn this operation into a nightmare.”
“Are you sure you’re not using that as pretense to search for your lost friends?”
That was the last straw. Turning slowly, almost ominously, I pointed a finger at Hivernia, “Listen, and listen well, because I’m only going to say this once. Yeah, I care about my friends. A lot. Why? Because they’re my fucking friends, that’s enough of a reason to me. But will I throw away the lives of someone else, or use them as an excuse? No I will not! If I’m able, I will bring every damn soldier back; preferably alive. But that doesn’t always happen; people die, people lose the fight. We have to make sacrifices. But forgive me if I’d rather not lose the people I care about. I’d rather not lose anyone. I didn’t join the Arks to satiate some wild lust for darker blood. I joined so I could protect others, so I could save Human, Newman, and CAST alike. I don’t know why you joined, and I. don’t. give a damn. Our mission is two-fold; eliminate the darker presence if possible, and rescue survivors. YOU have already expressed your lack of confidence in regards to completing the former, so I am going to attempt to complete the latter. If you’re suspicious of my methods and modus operandi, then leave. And take Cornelia with you, while you’re at it. She’s a survivor, and shouldn’t have to suffer for it. I don’t even care if you take the credit, so long as she’s safe.”
Hivernia stood frozen, seemingly stunned at my proposal. “Ridiculous. Ridiculous…continue on? By yourself? The chances of you completing this mission are under ten perce-”
“I’m not worried about my ‘chances’,” I growled, “Leave the statistics alone for a bit. Either you come with me and try to see this mission through, or you abandon it. It’s simple.”
“…Fine. I’ll accompany you; because it’s our ‘mission’.”
“…thank you. Now, let’s continue moving.”
A short while later, Hivernia and I reached another clearing. This one was ringed with trees, similar to the one we’d found Cornelia in. Speaking of the green haired Newman, she had begun to stir, so I set her on the ground, leaning her against one of the trees.
“Hivernia, do you detect anything around us?”
“Analyzing….” The metal fins that comprised her skirt began to twitch, and it was at that moment that I realized what they were for. They were her radar.
“Impressive…So that’s what allows you to scan the area so well.”
“Remain silent, I require concentration. I’m conducting an intensive scan of the whole area.”
I left Hivernia to her work and checked on Cornelia again. “Cornelia...Cornelia? Come on, you need to wake up, this is serious.”
Suddenly Cornelia threw her arms around my neck, causing me to lose my balance and fall back, taking her with me. Looking up, I saw that she was laying on me, still sleeping.
“O-oi, you -”
“Ufufufu~<3 Ce’Nedra~”
“I-I’m not Ce’Nedra! Cornelia, wake up!”
“Ce. Ne. dra.” She giggled in her sleep.
“Your body is so cold. I can warm you up~”
“CORNELIA, WAKE UP!!!”
“Eh..? What is…?” She wondered groggily as she slowly opened her eyes.
As our eyes met, I stared at her unflinchingly, “You awake yet, Princess?” My voice was thick with sarcasm.
She jumped up with a “KYAAAAH!”, but not before slapping me across the face. “E-EN!? What were you doing to me!?”
“Uh…hold on, Cornelia, you threw your arms around me. I don’t know what you were dreaming about, but-”
“Enforcer,” Hivernia broke in, “if you’re done being flirtatious, I’m finished.”
I looked at Hivernia, then back at Cornelia, who cocked an eyebrow, “My my, flirtatious? En, you animal~”
I hung my head, “Ha ha, veeeeeeery funny.” I grumbled as I got to my feet. “Alright, Hivernia, what did you find?”
“…Nothing.”
“…Nothing at all?”
“Correct.”
“….Right.”
Suddenly, a dark red portal opened up. The creature that flipped through the portal was all too familiar to us. Four heavily armored legs, a pair of shorter ‘arms’, and a bulbous spinneret like sack connected to a small body. One of the more fearsome Darkers we were forced to fight. The Dark Ragne.
“Arks,” I said, slowly reaching for the rifle on my back. “Things just got a lot harder.”
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Originally Posted by isCasted
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