Let There Be Light: Sc.17


                                            >A scream jolts you awake.

                                            >Before you can orient yourself, you’re shoved into the side of the pitch-black tent by a flurry of motion beside you.

                                            >Whatwasthat whatishappening youcantseeshit whatisgoing-

                                            >The commotion collapses the tent with its increasing violence.

                                            “Hey! What-”

                                            >A shriek precedes a huge blast of force slamming into your side.

                                            >It rolls you out of what’s left of your sleeping bag, through the wall of what was once your tent, and several more times through the grass beyond.

                                            >At least outside the tent is illuminated by moonlight.

                                            >A dark shadow lifts into the air over your campsite, then surges off towards the coast.

                                            >You scramble to your feet, then make to run after it, but stop as it fades into the distance.

                                            >You look back to where you were until recently sleeping soundly.

                                            >Your shelter is now nothing more than a mangled heap of tattered cloth and warped supports.

                                            >Noire!

                                            >You scamper over to it, then drop to your knees and sift through what’s left in its messy pile

                                            >No trace of her.

                                            >You look up to the sky again, off to where the dark shape had flown.

                                            >That must have been her.

                                            >You take off to follow, sprinting barefoot across the dew-wet grass.

                                            >You hope she flew straight; you have no way of locating her in the dark.

                                            >What had happened to her?

                                            >Did something attack you two while you slept?

                                            >If she chased it off, was she hurt?

                                            >…What could threaten a god?

                                            >There, ahead.

                                            >Where the land terminates at a clifftop overlooking the shore.

                                            >A dark winged figure sits.

                                            >That’s gotta be her.

                                            >You hope.

                                            >Her wings are still half-extended.

                                            >One more than the other; and she’s leaning to one side awkwardly.

                                            >As you get closer you can see her sides are heaving.

                                            “Noire!”

                                            >Your shout interrupts your heavy breathing powering your sprint, and you briefly stumble.

                                            >She looks back at you.

                                            >You think she does.

                                            >But by the time you recover, she’s not.

                                            >As you finally reach her, you slow, and collapse at her side.

                                            “Are you okay?”

                                            >She shakes her head negative, still looking offshore.

                                            “What happened?”

                                            >”I-”

                                            >She hesitates, then falls silent.

                                            >For several moments, she remains quiet, looking out at the surf pounding some reef just off the beach, breaking up the waves before they reach sand.

                                            >That surf’s roar is finally starting to dominate the sound of your ragged breaths.

                                            >And hers.

                                            >She closes her eyes, shaking her head slower this time. “I am sorry.”

                                            “For what?”

                                            >”Nothing happened. Nothing that warranted… that response. I had a dream. A bad one, a nightmare. I reacted poorly.”

                                            “Hey, now.”

                                            >You reach out to cup her head in your hands, turning her to face you.

                                            >You can feel wetness on her cheeks, tears falling into your palms.

                                            “It’s over with. Nothing we can’t fix.”

                                            >She gives you the weakest of guilty smiles. “What about stuff with memories?”

                                            “I’m more concerned about you.”

                                            >You gather her into your arms, hugging her tight.

                                            >Her half-extended wings finally relax, drooping to the grass, uncollected.

                                            “So tell me all about it.”

                                            >You can feel her heaving slow, but a shudder breaks through here and there.

                                            >Eventually you can feel her nod, over your shoulder.

                                            >”I was surrounded by our creations. Stuck. I couldn’t move. Like your dream so long ago. They were staring at me. They-”

                                            >She pulls her head back to lock her black eyes to yours, darting between the two. “They had such hate in their eyes, Anon. They despised me.”

                                            >You cup her head again to wipe her tears away, first with one thumb and then the other.

                                            “Nobody here but me. I don’t hate you.”

                                            >She opens her mouth to speak, but clamps it closed again.

                                            >Then drapes her head back over your shoulder once more. “There was another creature there. A terrible mixture of everything we have made, different pieces thrown together with no rhyme or reason. It was further away, too far for me to make out anything specific.”

                                            “What happened next?”

                                            >”I was fixed in place, bound, stuck. I panicked. I continued to panic, when I woke up; I didn’t realize I was awake. Or maybe that I was asleep before. I do not know.”

                                            >She rears back suddenly, her eyes darting over your body. “Did I hurt you? With the blast, I- Oh no, I am sorry, I did not mean to- how could I have-”

                                            >Her sides heave again, with panic, and she almost falls backwards, thrusting her wings out just in time for balance. “Please, please I did not mean to do anything that-”

                                            “Stop!”

                                            >You reach out and grab her horn, yanking her head towards you.

                                            “Stop panicking. I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me. You-”

                                            >A buzzing sensation in your hand derails your thoughts.

                                            >Hadn’t she made her horn intangible to you?

                                            >You shouldn’t be able to grab her horn at all, it-

                                            >It feels like your hand ‘slips’ as the horn phases through your fingers.

                                            >Noire’s now-free head jerking back, her body then pitching back along with it.

                                            >You lunge forward and wrap your arms around her.

                                            >Which throws off your own balance, forcing the two of you to the ground. You end up on your back, Noire over your chest in your arms.

                                            “I’m fine. Honest. You didn’t…”

                                            >Under your hand, laying on one of her legs.

                                            >Her coat feels very slick.

                                            >You pull your hand away and look at your palm.

                                            >A dark stain covers a good portion of it.

                                            “Forget about me, YOU’RE hurt!”

                                            >You spin and reverse your positions, hanging over her while she’s on her side.

                                            >A gash cuts across her shoulder, bleeding into her coat.

                                            >It doesn’t look deep, but it’s long.

                                            >Must have been from one of the mangled tent supports.

                                            >You pat at your pockets.

                                            >How well did you empty them before you fell asleep?

                                            >No bandages – your medical supplies were in your backpack.

                                            >You did find a knife.

                                            >You whip it out, snapping it open and cutting off the bottom of your shirt.

                                            >Then wrap this long strip of cloth around her upper foreleg, as she watches you in bewilderment.

                                            >”So that is what that concerning sensation meant.”

                                            >She hadn’t been seriously hurt before now, you realize.

                                            “It’s called pain, you idiot.”

                                            >”I could have mended it myself.”

                                            >You freeze, about to yank tight the knot securing the bandage in place.

                                            “I… Yeah, you could have. I mean, you can.”

                                            >You pull the knot closed anyway.

                                            >”I will trust your ministrations. I did not harm you?”

                                            “No, you didn’t. Don’t worry about what you did back there. I know it can be scary.”

                                            >She finally sits back up.

                                            >You look down at your palm again.

                                            >That was definitely blood.

                                            “I’m surprised you can get hurt like this at all.”

                                            >”Whatever I was, Anon, this is a normal body.”

                                            “With blood and everything. With how bits of you glow and your mane and tail I thought…”

                                            >You shake your head.

                                            “I guess it doesn’t matter. Please take care of yourself, okay? If you can get hurt like this, you can get hurt way worse. I don’t want to… I don’t want to lose you, to whatever lengths you can be lost.”

                                            >She stares at the ground, then her gaze moves to your lap.

                                            >She slowly lays down across your legs, as if it required the most delicate action possible.

                                            >After a moment of surprise, you embrace her again.

                                            >“Do you remember my first dream?”

                                            “Kinda. You said I was a teacher or something.”

                                            >”That dream featured you, yes. This time you were not there. I was all alone.”

                                            “I’m right here now though.”

                                            >”Yes. Right here. Right like this.”

                                            >You force out a chuckle. “It is right, isn’t it?”

                                            >She looks up at you.

                                            >Those orange irises shining through a dark the rest of her eyes would blend into.

                                            >Do tears still threaten them?

                                            >You brush the back of your hand over her cheeks, just in case.

                                            >”You asked where I was.”

                                            “You refused to say.”

                                            >”I was with you. Just like this.”

                                            >She nestles into your stomach a bit.

                                            >”In this nightmare everything hated me. In that first dream, you loved me. More than anything I had ever felt, you loved me, and we were just like this.”

                                            >She closes her eyes and lays her head against your chest, listening to your heartbeat. “I was sad when I woke up then, because I did not – do not – know if you loved me like I felt in that dream. And when I woke from this nightmare I needed…”

                                            >She nuzzles your chest. “You asked if we should be as close as we were, that night. I heard it; I was awake. And I then knew just how abnormal it was, for your kind. But you seemed to get a grip on yourself. So I ignored it, more for my sake than yours. You have continued to humor my selfish requests on your space. Like now. I need to know… Are you just able to fight it? Or do you love me?”

                                            >Her head is still pressed into your chest; you can’t see her expression. But her wings are still loose, hanging on the grass. She’s slumped entirely against you, surrendered to your embrace. Resigned to your answer.

                                            “Of course, silly horse.”

                                            >Only then does she tense.

                                            “I wasn’t fighting, I was fleeing. I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t know what TO think. But if I didn’t want you, on some level, I probably wouldn’t have allowed it. I guess my continued acceptance was just a way of me telling myself that I really did want it. And I think I’ve known that for some time, but I was afraid to bring it up. Afraid to think about it, because that would be investing myself into the idea, to get hurt if I was wrong.”

                                            >You squeeze her in your arms. “I do love you, Noire. I don’t know anything about my past life, but I feel like I love you more than I’d ever loved anything before.”

                                            >She’s silent for a time.

                                            >The next sound you hear is a sob.

                                            “Is… is that a bad thing?”

                                            >She shakes her head, still pressed against you. “No, but… All this time we went without admitting It to each other… feels like a waste.”

                                            >It only belatedly dawns on you what just transpired.

                                            >Your heart suddenly feels weightless, like you’re falling.

                                            >You can’t help but laugh, loud enough you can feel her flinch in your arms.

                                            “Yeah. Yeah, it’s kinda funny, isn’t it? All this time…”

                                            >You shake your head and chuckle again.

                                            “Well, it’s not like we haven’t been living that way already.

                                            >She nuzzles your chest again, then cranes her head up to brush her cheek against yours. “Our hearts were more honest than our minds.”

                                            “I guess you could put it that way, yeah.”

                                            >You strike her neck and back, then turn and kiss her cheek.

                                            “Except these. I would have been giving you a lot more of these.”

                                            >You punctuate it with another one, even as she laughs.

                                            “See that’s the kind of laugh I like to hear.”

                                            >You reach up to hold her head against your shoulder again.

                                            “I really do like it. When it’s late, or you’re relaxed, you’re no longer all business, you get this innocent air, like the world you yourself made amazes you. You smile free, your eyes sparkle, your laughter rings, it’s wonderful. The more we’ve been together, the more you’ve come alive. I’m happy to have had a part in a transformation as beautiful as that.”

                                            >”It is all your doing. You show me how to love carefree. I am still learning, but I could not have a better teacher.”

                                            “Yeah, your worries about the future, I know. That’s a long way off. But here and now, we have each other.”

                                            >”That makes it all the better.”

                                            >You wish you could stay like this forever.

                                            >Your leg disagrees.

                                            >You suck in air through your teeth, then shift Noire off your lap to stretch your legs.

                                            “We should get back. Gonna need to-

                                            >A series of pops surround you.

                                            >Noire just teleported all your belongings here.

                                            “Cheeky.”

                                            >”Efficient.”

                                            >You look at her.

                                            >She grins back at you.

                                            >You wipe that grin off her face with the quickest peck on her lips.

                                            “Lets get situated, then.”

                                            >She shakes herself, then stands, allowing you to do the same.

                                            >You put your hands on your hips as you survey the damage.

                                            “You really did a number on it.”

                                            >”Ah, sorry…”

                                            “It’s understandable. But you gotta fix it.”

                                            >Your sleeping bag glows with orange light, then snaps into place fully fixed, as if nothing had happened to it.

                                            >When she teleported your things, the tent’s once-contents appeared organized.

                                            >Your packs and things appear to have suffered no damage.

                                            >The tent…

                                            >”Could we do without the tent? Just for tonight?”

                                            >You look at Noire.

                                            >She shifts in place nervously, looking at the ground.

                                            >“I… I am still a little anxious.

                                            >You sigh, then look up.

                                            >All this world’s stars are visible on this crystal clear night.

                                            “Don’t look down, look up. Sure, we can sleep under this.”

                                            >You scoop her up – with a little difficulty, considering her long and slender proportions, her legs dangling beneath your arms – and carry her over to the sleeping bag.

                                            >You manage to get her down and semi-tucked in, then slip inside next to her.

                                            >You turn yourself, then her head, up to look at the sky.

                                            “Hard to say no to sleeping under such beauty.”

                                            >Then you turn the two of you to face one another, pulling her in close, surrounding yourself with her and herself with you as much as possible.

                                            “The only thing I can think of more beautiful I’ve got right here.”

                                            >She wraps her legs and wings around you, enveloping you in her warmth. “I will have to learn to silence such flattery.”

                                            “Not flattery if it’s the truth!”

                                            >Noire laughs, then curls her head into her arms, something you’d expect to me more awkward than her long neck allows.

                                            >The slightest tingle where her horn phases through your body intersects with the continued weightlessness of your heart.

                                            >”Good night, Anon.”

                                            “Yeah. Yeah, it’s a good night, isn’t it.”

                                            >You chuckle at your own joke, even as she nudges your chest with her snout. “It is now. Thank you. For everything.”

                                            “Anything, for you, Noire.”

                                            >You close your eyes, listening to the surf below, Noire’s breathing over it, feeling her barrel expand and contract against your body as she does.

                                            >Good night.