The quiet settled in as just he, Kit, and Aeris were left on the bridge once more, waves rushing by outside as the Veil rolled above. Lightning forked and briefly connected the seas. Ren could hear his thoughts becoming louder, threatening to overtake him again.
Ren felt his throat close, seeing the guard, brains out on the ground again. The image made him shiver like he was being dunked into the murky sea below. Nothing. That was what he felt inside. There was this vast void where he could hear some terrifying sound coming from, roaring and clawing into his mind and sucking down all the emotions that had rushed through him.
“I killed someone.” He whispered. “I killed someone, Kit.”
“We’ve all had to.” Kit said, trying to be gentle about it..”We have to survive, Ren. Sometimes… sometimes that means ending another person’s survival. I know… I know it’s not something you’ve had to worry about before but this is just life down here. Everyone under Veil wakes up every day knowing it might be the last time they wake up at all. The guilt won’t go away, but it will get easier.”
“I don’t feel guilt about it.” Ren whispered through tears. Kit looked at him now, still holding on to his shoulder. “They were cruel to those people. I don’t know how to describe what they looked like, it was just husks of people working machines or carrying boxes. They weren’t alive…”
“That’s what happens, Ren.” Kit now put their arm fully around his shoulders, pulling him into their embrace. “It’s fucked up and shouldn’t happen to anyone. But I don’t know what we can do about it. You saw what they were willing to do. How do you fight an enemy that’s willing to sacrifice their own to win?”
“Someone has to try! These people weren’t given a choice!” Ren sobbed again. He couldn’t get the flashes from his mind, the dead guard laying in the pool of blood while prisoners were loosed left and right. Fiery silhouettes running past him as he was suddenly there in the corridor again, this time erupting in hellfire.
He felt his skin grow cold, gasping for air as his throat closed from smoke. He was pouring sweat but felt an icicle stabbing through his heart. More figures moved toward him as the guard rose from the ground, all engulfed in pillars of flame.
“Ren!” Kit’s voice cut through the sound of screams and flames, bringing him back down to metaphorical earth in the Pigeon’s bridge. “Those don’t get easier, unfortunately. You okay?”
“What’s happening?” Ren was scared, still feeling the guard’s arm around his throat and the fresh splatter of blood as if it had just happened.
“The flashbacks?” They asked, trying to be as to the point as possible. “Sometimes when you’ve been through something… really bad your brain can’t really comprehend what’s going on. So sometimes it kind of… resets to the situation, I guess? Like trying to run back through it and make sense of it. Some things you just can’t make sense of, though…”
“So I just get to relive this for the rest of my life. Fantastic.” He couldn’t even manage tears anymore, only a dry chuckle at the situation.
Kit sighed now, pulling Ren in for a closer hug, now almost cradling him. “It sucks. You’re not alone though.”
“Thanks,” Ren should have felt relief, but even Kit’s warm embrace wasn’t enough to redden his cheeks or well any sense of hope. All that existed was the infinite abyss beyond anything he had felt, like sinking down into the ocean's tomb forever.
“Hey,” Kit reached a hand under his chin, pulling him up to look at them. There were tears in their eyes as they met Ren’s. “You’re not alone anymore. You’re going through a lot of shit in a short amount of time. It’s okay to be overwhelmed.”
Their eyes were the shining cosmos he remembered from the night before, still reflecting millions of stars even under the encroaching dark of the Veil. Ren finally fully embraced Kit as they pulled each other close. Time stood still for them, lost souls finding refuge in each other as the Pigeon soared through the skies back to the Ishida family restaurant, clouds and waves becoming one around them..
—————————
Ren woke up bleary eyed and dizzy as the ship landed back at the outpost. He sat up, realizing he was on one of the bench seats of the bridge, covered in Kit’s coat. Robin was limping up from the stairs, holding her wound and speaking to Ash as he came up from behind.
“I want us to be in and out of here quick. The Strat government probably won’t be pulling punches anymore, upper Atmos has us all on posters. Keep an eye out and if you see anything that looks like it might be slightly off I want us GONE. Understand?” Robin was gesturing wildly as Ash nodded his way out to the deck and onto the walkway.
“What’s happening?” Ren said, realizing they were already heading back to the restaurant. “Where’s Kit?”
“Right here,” They said, stepping from the door to their small cabin off to the side. Aeris came hopping out with them, squawking happily again. “We’re making the run so Sunny and Isshin can grab some stuff. Want to come?”
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, brushing the sleep away and handing Kit their coat back. They shruggecd it on before offering him a hand up. He took it and rose to his feet, heading to the door with Aeris hopping behind.
“You know where it is, right?” Sunny was saying to his brother out on the docks. Isshin was rolling his eyes, looking around at the looming lights and signs of the outpost.
“Yes, it’s in your room. The same place where it’s been since you left it here when you ran off.” Isshin said, now groaning at his brothers insistence. He saw Ren coming down the dock steps, Kit following behind as Aeris took to the skies, gliding around the city as their lookout. “Good to see you awake. How you feeling?”
“I hurt.” Ren said, holding a hand to his neck and feeling the intense aches flare up. He paused for a moment, realizing he still hadn’t cleaned himself up. Dried blood was still flaked on his back, but Kit dropped their coat over his shoulders as they passed. Ren shook the panic off and snatched his hand down as aches reared again. He didn’t remember ever being this sore but every inch of him hurt now that the adrenaline of everything had worn out its welcome. “Alive though.”
Isshin smiled at him, turning to begin their walk down the main street of the outpost.
Their feet splashed through the shallow water as they went, waves sending seafoam whenever something in the street was splashed against. They didn’t notice anything different than their last time here, nobody looking at them strange or whispering like they had when Ren had first landed below the Veil days ago.
Until they could see the outpost square ahead of them, where one of the massive screens was now showing an emergency alert.
“Fuuuuuuuuuck.” Isshin said, seeing a massive picture of himself and Sunny side by side, with massive text superimposed under it reading WANTED: ISHIDA BROTHERS. Smaller text underneath had their full names, Ren now seeing Sunny’s real name for the first time. Under his picture was the name Ishida, Baransu.
“Your parents named you Balance? Could they have been any more wrong?” Ash said, laughing at Sunny even as his own picture flashed by, with the massive words Ashley Clementine.
“Your name sounds like your mom was really disappointed to have a boy.” Sunny shot back at him as the names kept flashing across the screen, along with whatever pictures they could find for the crew. Ren watched them all in time as they walked, seeing that almost everyone had a mugshot, including Kit’s where they were smiling and giving a thumbs up, until it go to the last name on the list. Clarence Calvert. Dead or Alive for Crimes of Terrorism, Mass Murder, and Corporate Sabotage. He started to get angry when Kit put a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t draw attention.” They said, keeping him moving along.
They were almost there when Sunny suddenly dove into a back alleyway, pulling Robin along with him. The rest followed suit upon seeing two Strat officers in uniform at the door, One of the guards was having a very heated conversation with a man wearing a headband and apron, one of Isshin’s lead cooks. As they were arguing the man sighted Isshin over the guards shoulder. Isshin held a finger to his lips, to which the cook nodded upward slightly and began making an even bigger scene, now yelling and cursing at the officers.
One of the officers got heated in kind, raising his voice at the cook and shouting an obscenity that finally crossed a line. The cook punched the officer directly in the nose, knocking him flat on his back in the shallow water.
“Now.” Isshin said, leading them down the alley and back through the entrance they had entered the first time he had been there. The cook and other officer continued to tussle outside as they slipped through unseen. Dishes could be hard rattling around in the kitchen, but no smell of fresh food wafted out this time. This sounded like pure destruction and havoc. As they entered Isshin turned the opposite way, heading toward stairs in the back and silently beckoning them upward, toward a second floor.
The stairs ended into a small apartment den, arranged with an outdated television and table in the middle. The hallway further led back to three split-off rooms, one of which was wide open. Sunny tapped Isshin on the shoulder hard, jerking his head toward the open one. The brothers snuck down the hallway side by side, moving toward the open door. Something was being shuffled around in the room as the rest of them stood with still breath.
Isshin held his hand up, three fingers extended and his other hand resting on the sword hilt. He counted down quick, barely getting all three fingers down before Sunny rushed in. A brief skirmish was heard and a man yelling, but he was quickly cut off by a solid thump. The air continued to be still as none of them dared to move. After a moment Isshin came walking back out, wiping a rag across his sword blade and staining it red, revealing the miraculous blue of the blade instead.
“All good. We can go now.” Sunny said, walking out of the room and strapping a belted scabbard around his waist. A long, red sheath almost touched the ground as he walked, barely gliding above the floorboards. Isshin sheathed his sword once more as the brothers led the way down the stairs. The rest of them looked at each other briefly before Ash shrugged and went after, the rest following.
“That was all you had to get?” Ash asked, hurrying behind Sunny. “Seriously, a sword? I’ve known you for six years and I’ve never seen you use that thing.”
“Well, you never saw me declare war on a government either, did you?” He snapped back, finally buckling on the belt and pulling out something else he had been carrying under his arm, a small package wrapped in cloth. As he unwrapped it Ren could see two smaller swords, one in a red scabbard and the other in blue. Sunny tossed the red one to Isshin, who caught it in the air before looking over to him.
“You know what they’re probably going to do.” Isshin asked his brother. Sunny simply nodded. Isshin smiled and strapped the shorter sword to his waistband, the deep red contrasting against deep blue. “Figured I wouldn’t get this place back either way when they showed up on my doorstep. Think dad is probably cursing me from the heavens right now.”
“If that bastard’s in heaven I don’t want to go.” Sunny laughed back, putting both swords on his hip, the mirror opposite of his brother. As they all filed into the hallway and passed the kitchen Isshin lifted a hand to them, looking back to where the four crew members stood. Ren realized he had been gripping the hilt of his plas-dagger since they entered the building, relaxing his hand as Kit looked over, giving him a slight nod. Ash stood at the ready with his rifle pointed to the dining room door straight ahead of them. Robin simply crossed her arms, looking at the brothers with annoyance. Sunny looked her in the eyes, “You look mad.”
“You know we need to leave and leave QUIET.” Her voice rose barely above a whisper but even Ren felt the deep cutting edge when it rose. Sunny just smiled, making Robin sigh and throw her head back in frustration, a frustrated older sister trying to keep their daredevil younger brothers from killing themselves. “I can’t stop you but I swear to god I’m not breaking either of you out if you get caught this time.”
“You got permission now?” Isshin asked his brother, who simply rolled his eyes and shook his head, stepping just before the kitchen door as Isshin posted up on the other side. He readied himself, drawing the shorter of his swords as Sunny did the same. Ren noticed Sunny’s blade mirrored the deep blue of Isshin’s Mugen no tengoku, while Isshin’s short sword was a deep scarlet color along the blade, almost making it look soaked in blood. Isshin nodded to his brother, clearing his throat before shouting through the swinging kitchen door, “Holy shit they’re here!”
Ren didn’t realize what their plan was until the first officer came running out, swinging the door open toward the side Isshin stood on. Sunny pulled the officer toward him with one quick motion, bringing him away from the doorway while sliding the sword across his chest. The next officer tried to follow his cohort through the door before Isshin pushed hard from the other side, bashing the already confused man in the face with the door solid metal kitchen door.
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“The hell are they even doing?” Ash asked Robin, who just shook her head and sighed, motioning for them to follow her through the side door. “We’re not leaving them, right? Like that was kind of the point of this whole thing.”
“No, they’re just leaving on their own terms. Something they have to do.” Robin said, looking both ways into the alley outside before stepping out. The rain and sea were mixing together now in the street, a storm moving in under the clouds of the Veil. “Shit. Shit shit shit this is bad timing. Kit can you get us out of here in this weather?”
“Yeah, why?” They barely had the words out before Aeris came diving down the small alleyway, lifting her wings just enough to land smoothly while not brushing the steel walls surrounding them. She went hopping over to Ren, pecking at his hand and sleeves, trying to pull him away.
“Okay, we need to go.” Robin said, moving them further out of the alleyway and onto the street, water now rising over their ankles as the water swirled around their feet faster. “Wind is down to nothing, Feel that? The static?”
Ren stood for a minute, trying to feel what she was talking about. The hairs on his arms were standing at attention, he could feel a slight hum in the air. Robin moved quick, pushing them all down the main street and breaking into a pained run herself.
“Go! We don’t know when it might strike, get to the ship!” They could see officers in thick plated armor standing at the end of the street, ready to fire at them upon first signal. A loud crash behind them seemed to signal the brothers breaking loose from the officers in the kitchen. Ren looked behind as he and Kit moved to support Robin, Ash taking a point position with rifle raised. He fired a shot at the officers ahead, the pulse instead tearing through one of their shoulders. The man went down screaming as he was quickly replaced by another officer.
Ren looked behind them as he kept running, nearly dragging Robin along as he and Kit kept a fast pace. He saw Sunny and Isshin confronting at least a dozen officers now in the streets, each with both swords drawn back to back. Ren could finally see the full set on display, with Sunny’s longer sword matching the crimson red of Isshin’s shorter, while their other set matched the same way. Ren had to keep himself going as the blue and red flashed and danced, slicing officers down and turning the water around them a deep crimson.
“Straight ahead!” Ash shouted, shooting at the armored officers again and blasting another in the leg. Instead of being obliterated like Ren expected, the pulse just seemingly burnt out on impact, affecting the officer as much as a puff of air. “Shit. They’ve got the good kind of armor.”
“Good kind?” Isshin’s voice from behind them, catching up with both swords out still, held at his sides as he ran. Sunny was moving in behind him, though not quite keeping up. They were quickly approaching the officers blocking off the port entrance from the main street. “Armor for new weapons sacrifices protection from old weapons. These things can't take cold steel.”
Sunny suddenly raised his hand, firing his grapple high into the nearest building and reeling himself in by the same arm while still holding the shorter sword in his mouth, biting down on the hilt. As he neared the wall he was hooked into he turned, looking at the officers only a few dozen feet below and ahead of him now. He hit the wall at full speed, absorbing and bending his knees with the impact before propelling himself downward at the guards, taking the short sword back in hand before readying a strike, arms crossed in front of him.
Ren saw blood mix with the rain beginning to pour down around them. Aeris flew ahead to the Pigeon, landing on the deck and making her way inside to scope things out. Ren and Kit kept supporting Robin as Isshin stepped in front of them, cutting down three of the guards blocking their way and clearing a path into the port. Sunny caught up with them from there, water splashing around the port as the seas bore their rage for humanity, arcs of wrathful lightning shooting through the sky.
“Robin!” Sunny said, slicing down an officer gaining up behind them. He sheathed his swords, extending a hand to Robin while readying a grapple toward the ship. Robin grabbed on as his grapple shot out, Sunny pulling her close while in turn zipping them toward the Pigeon’s deck in one swift motion. Sunny set Robin down before jumping back, holding off more from the ship as the others kept running. Aeris met Robin squawking as Poe stood in the stairway, a long barrelled gun over her shoulder.
“Isshin can you make it?” Ren asked him as he grabbed Kit at the same time, pulling them close and raising his own grappling arm toward the Pigeon. Isshin simply nodded and hefted his swords. Ren activated the line, pulling Kit in close as they both zipped up and fell to the ships deck, still not sure how to make a smooth landing. Kit helped him up as they made their way in together, Isshin jumping up the deck behind them while holding off some braver officers still following. Ash, finally boosting his way up to the deck, began taking shots at whichever officers didn’t have armor. Poe began picking officers off from the deck nearby, each blasting shots madcap after a moment instead of aiming precisely. Ren looked at Kit, nodding at them, “Get us out of here?”
“That’s the best plan I’ve heard today.” They said, running toward the console and pushing buttons while sitting behind the flight controls. Ren head the engine whir as Aeris screeched from down in the galley. Poe and Ash backed their way into the Pigeon bridge as the ship began to hover off the port floor, wind suddenly picking up. An officer ship flew up on them as they were just beginning to gain altitude, prompting Ash to pop three shots off at the engine port. They all missed as he cursed and began to wind the mechanism on the rifle, recharging the power of his shots. Poe, meanwhile, broke her gun in half and loaded a few pieces of what Ren assumed to be metal into it. She put the gun back together quickly and aimed it at the officer ship following.
BANG! The shot hit whatever mark Poe was going for, which seemed to be the entire ship. Whatever she had loaded in propelled and spread outward in a wall of shrapnel, exploding on impact wherever it hit. The windshield of the officer ship shattered inward as yet more explosions took out whoever was inside.
“Lucky shot.” Ash said as they both ducked back into the bridge. Looking back, the twins were still back to back on the dock in the midst of a crowd of armed officers. They readied guns as the two spoke to each other.
“Up?” Sunny asked.
“Yup.” Isshin confirmed.
Sunny shot a grapple at the hull of the Pigeon, snapping toward the ship and into the air while slicing any unfortunate soul in his way. Isshin suddenly jetted into the air, wings popping from his pack as he flipped high in the air, coming down on the Pigeon deck in time for Sunny to launch himself by, quickly reeling his grapple before shooting it again into the side hull of the bridge. He reeled in and planted himself on the deck, standing firm with swords in hand.
Isshin walked in, closing the door behind them as Kit hit the throttle and pulled back, making the ship quickly zip into the air and around as Kit maneuvered them out of the outpost’s airspace. Ren looked behind them just in time to see the lightning arc down across the city, striking everywhere all at once and lighting the entire city. Nobody on the port seemed bothered, but in that one moment, Ren could see the full, massive outline of the outpost structure illuminated under the dark sea, stretching down for miles.
“Lucky shot, my ass!” Poe snapped back at Ash now, grumbling as she went down the stairs and back into her galley, Ash following on his way to the gunchair to watch behind them. Kit was still focused on their controls and navigating the ship further out of government reach, pressing on the throttle so hard Ren thought it might break off. They steered them around, avoiding more gunships that passed on their way to the outpost before hanging sharp turns to chase them.
“KIT!” Ash called back from the gunchair, swiveling as he fired off round after round at the pursuing ships.
“You think I don’t KNOW?” Kit shouted back, maneuvering the Pigeon around to return fire as they sped up. Ren slid beside Robin into a nearby seat. Their captain was already in, giving orders even as they maneuvered through the enemy ships.
“You alright?” He asked Robin as they weaved through the air, barely evading the energy bursts flying from the ships Ren was just now able to see markings on. A mix of government and Parade gunfighters backing up assault ships. Robin just nodded back to him through gritted teeth, looking ahead at Kit as they kept them moving.
“Making it.” Robin managed to get out before another shot rocked them off balance. “Ash! What the hell are you doing?”
“Don’t know if you noticed but there are a LOT of them!” Ash shot back, cannon fire punctuating every word. “I’m doing the best I can, all things considered!”
“Kit!” Sunny shouted from his perch on the bridge hull, “Get me close to one of the Parade ships!”
“On it!” Kit swung hard to port, making the rest of them sway to the side but not phasing Sunny, swords still drawn as Kit pulled him alongside one of the Parade’s sleek, one person gunships. Ren watched with his breath held as Sunny didn’t seem to even loose his grapple before flipping both swords to hold them backhand and leaping at the other ship, piercing the hull and hanging on by one sword as he left the other in, using his free hand to pull the latch hard and make his way in.
Ren watched as the pilot was thrown forcefully again, Sunny then reaching out to grab his remaining sword from the hull of the ship and sheath it so he could fly. He gave a quick wave as the ship did a full one-eighty flip in the air, shooting behind them upside down as Sunny charged the other ships.
“Why?” Ren asked, watching him fire on government and Parade alike, taking down three in one go as they lost control and flew into each other. “He really has no concern for his own safety?”
“Always been that way.” Isshin sighed, moving into place by the bridge door, even though he hadn’t strayed far. “He’s honestly calmed down a lot since we were younger.”
As he said this Sunny’s gunship made another round past them, this time going in for a sweep on the ground troops still standing and popping off shots at them. He came over the radio in front of Kit now, “See any others coming in?”
“There’s a government ship hanging back to the South but I don’t know what they’ve got planned,” Kit said, flipping switches and getting ready to pull them out as soon as Sunny got on. He turned his ship, scanning the horizon around them through the dark and checking any instruments on the dash that could alert him. A voice came over his and Kit’s bands at the same time.
“I was really hoping Avarice would have taken you out when they got the authorization to down the ark.” Hayward’s cold voice again, moving over the speaker. Ren’s blood froze over, as if the vacuum of space had just opened and taken all heat from the bridge. “I’ve got official permission to kill you all now though.”
“Thought you killed him?” Isshin asked Ren, who simply shrugged in return and looked back at him.
“I told you I didn’t see his body!” Ren shouted back, “Isn’t that the rule? Don’t see the body, assume they’re not dead!?”
“Can’t fault him there,” Kit shouted back, “Sunny, pull back NOW! We need to get going!”
“Coming at you.” Sunny gave back, gritting his teeth as he maneuvered past shots from the now inbound Hayward. His cruiser was blacked out completely, a fitted gunship with attachments of the newest plasma and gauss guns. He fired on Sunny again, this time catching one of his rear engines and causing the rear to catch fire. “Might not make it all the way.”
“Alright, I’m tired of this guy.” Isshin said, pulling the door open and making his way out to the deck. The high speeds only helped him lift off, both swords still sheathed as he popped his wings out and made his way through the firing rounds and plasma bursts to his brother’s ship, grabbing a hand Sunny extended from the open hatch of the gunship. He shouted down to hs brother, now dangling as he held onto Isshin’s arm and reached down to his red blade, “Right or left?”
“Right!” Sunny shouted as they neared Hayward’s ship, making a desperate move to ensure at least the others could get to safety.
“Are they stupid!?” Ash shouted from the gunchair.
“You have to ask?!” Kit screamed back, “They’re not great at self-preservation!”
Ren looked back, realizing he was still holding his breath as he and Robin watched with clenched fists while Kit moved them forward. Just as it looked like Hayward was about to fly right through them they let go, Isshin throwing Sunny around to the right in a spin while drawing Infinite Heaven. As they passed by Haywards fighter both brothers ran their swords into the side hull, each taking advantage of the speed to slice straight through to the burners mounted on back, effectively disabling the ship.
“Fuck year!” Ren could hear Ash scream as Isshin suddenly emerged from behind the falling ship, holding onto Sunny once more and making their way back to the Pigeon as Hayward’s fighter plunged to the depths below, fires beginning before being drenched by the thrashing waves below.
“Is he dead this time?” Kit asked, looking behind them as Isshin approached, Sunny shooting a grapple back into the deck near the door and reeled them in. As Isshin popped wings back into his pack and they closed the hatch behind them, Ren found himself exhaling a massive breath he had been keeping in.
“Not going to assume so.” Robin replied to them. They all kept a lookout as Kit raced them away, keeping as low to the waves as possible with their lights off, hiding under the Veil’s all-enveloping darkness as they fled.
———————
Kit had landed them somewhere in the Pacific by time they stopped going, over what had once been the state of Montana, according to Isshin who was poking fun about being in the middle of nowhere even before the earth got flooded. They were all gathered around the table now, Isshin and Poe bringing dishes back and forth as they cooked and Sunny tried to drink whatever booze they had dry.
Ren was sitting at the table, a spot he now assumed was his after sitting there for the last three days. It didn’t seem like the galley on a rusted ship anymore, but more like a familiar spot at some cafe, one of those he would read in old books where people could just take a seat and read while they enjoyed food or the company of others. He liked it, finally feeling at home in the big flooded world outside. He looked over to Kit, tipping back a glass and smiling at him over their booze questioningly.
“What?” They asked, looking at Ren.
“What?” Ren asked back, suddenly on the spot and not realizing he had been doing anything.
“You had this goofy smile.” Kit laughed now, passing him a newly filled glass. “It was cute.”
He didn’t realize he had been smiling before, but now embraced it as his face turned red. Robin raised a glass and hushed them all as Isshin and Poe made their way to the table, Aeris perched on the counter while trying to take whatever she could from a bubbling pot. He felt warm, not quite embarrassed like he had been just a few days ago in the same spot. Now it was a welcoming warmth, a family he had just found, glad to have him there.
“Alright, we’ve added a new member of the crew!” Robin shouted, far louder than necessary but she was obviously already tipsy.
“Two new members!” Isshin shouted back, raising his glass.
“You don’t fucking count!” Sunny offered, pushing his brother aside as he drank more.
“I was talking about the bird, you dick.” Isshin said back, giving him a more solid punch as Aeris squawked Everyone laughed as she hopped over to Ren, knowing she could get attention from everyone now.
“Two new crewmembers. Ren, Aeris, you’re family now. Pirate’s bond.” Robin drank, leading to cheers from all as they drank after, enjoying their first full, joyful meal as a family between the dark, brooding seas of a destroyed world.