Just Ask Him

--Sky's Perspective--

"Do you understand why I told you that story, Sky?" Tavian asked, looking away from the window.

"I already agree to help you fight Orion," I told him. He shook his head, interrupting me.

"Lia, as I heard, is an interesting person in your life. She let in wolves to your base that ate your friend Domin, and she planned to burn you alive, right?" I nodded at Tavian's explanation.

Where was he going with this?

"All Lia has known for the past three years is blood, battered bones, tears, disappointment, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and every bad thing you can think of. A common trick Orion had used for his slaves when I was there was telling them to do his dirty work and then offering them freedom after doing it. Lia was told to let those wolves in. She was told to betray you; she wouldn't do that willingly. That strong girl who put a razor in her mouth to defend her older sister and the village is more than just your enemy. In fact, when your friends were telling me your story, it helped me realize you and Lia are two sides of the same coin." Tavian explained to me.

I stopped, what the hell was he talking about...?

This whole time I refused to look at Lia like she was my equal. She tried to kill me, she invoked Wrath in me, and I vowed I'd rip her face off… but the things she went through, proved to me that she did what she had to. I killed Raven, just as she had killed Domin. We killed because it helped our situations, no matter how obscurely different they were, Lia was just like me in a sense.

"I understand now. I was overcome with a veil of rage when I vowed to kill her… it's a part of the System's Corruption, but I understand things a little better now. It's wrong of me to want to hurt her for preserving her life, just like I have, right?" I asked him. Tavian smiled.

"I'm glad you understand. By no means do you need to forgive her or trust her, but you need to understand why she did it." He clarified for me.

Tavian and I both stepped out of the room and walked to another one right beside me.

"Dani is in here. Careful to not strain her fingertips or toes, they were pretty close to frostbite in that state we got her in. Other than that, she might be a little cold but she's okay." He told me. I nodded and took Tavian's hand, shaking it firmly.

"I owe you so many lives, is there anything I can do for you right now?" I asked him.

Tavian cranked the handle of the door and pushed in, "You can go in there and figure out what your next move is." He told me. I stepped inside, closing the door behind me gently.

"Ah, Tavian, can you hand me that hot water-" Dani stopped once she realized it was me and she began to cry.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I can hand you the water too." I teased her. I grabbed the handle of the mug and sat down beside her in the bed. She froze in place, not even moving to grab the cup itself.

"Red… she's really gone, huh?" Dani's hair fell in front of her eyes, blocking the tears dripping down to her legs.

"I'm sorry I couldn't grab her. I misjudged the distance between us and… it's my fault. I'm sorry, Dani." I told her. Through her static head, I could see her hair bounce back and forth in a shaking motion.

"I couldn't ever be mad at you for that. Tavian filled me in on what happened, it was a blur to me after I fell in that water, but I heard you killed the man who sunk Red and me." She said. I opened the blinds to Dani's room hoping to warm her up some more, but she was still shaking.

"Why did he say my life didn't have any meaning? What did he expect us to say to that?" She asked me again. I paused, just thinking about the situation again infuriated me. I lost one of our housemates again because I kept misjudging. By people who are said to not be able to kill, they're certainly murdering all remorse in my body.

"He doesn't understand our lives. He's selfish, or, he was selfish before I split him down the middle. Exactly what he deserved, that'll show him to never mess with us." I said, remembering the sweet look of despair when I killed Demos. Dani's expression didn't change.

"Doesn't that frighten you?" She continued, "We're at the point where our lives aren't just on the line, we're now able to put other lives on the line. We can fight, we can defend, we can attack, and we can kill. Now, I wonder, what makes us different from the people hunting us?" Dani told me. Just like Carl...

She turned her body away from me, facing the opened window full of sunshine.

"What makes us different are our reasons. The reasons we have for killing will never be like theirs. We won't ever kill innocent people or tell them their lives don't matter, right?" I said. I finally found the answer. I could see the back of her head move up and down.

"Hey, Sky?" Dani turned her body towards me and then stared up at the ceiling, "Do you think Carl and I will live?" She asked me...

I couldn't help but stare at her for a few moments. I thought about a lot of things at that moment, but only one thing prevailed over the others. Dani doesn't feel safe under my lead, I finally understand.

"With every last bone in my body, I will stand and protect you no matter what may come. I will not let you die, and I promise you that. Carl is the same, I will not let any more of us die." I told her with a straight face.

Dani lightly smiled and turned back around.

"I'll get some rest now." She said.

I grabbed the handle of the door and stopped in place, looking back at Dani.

"Over everything else, I'll protect you because you're far too important to me." I gently closed the door and looked back up in front of me, to see Carl holding a bowl of soup.

"I don't really know how to respond to that, but I do have some soup for you," Carl said with an awkward smile. I laughed off the misunderstanding and he and I sat down on the balcony overlooking the high base.

"So, Tavian brought us here after you and Dani fell unconscious and we've been getting used to the place." I ate my soup while Carl spoke, paying attention to my surroundings.

"I think Tavian is a guy we can trust, but we should keep our guard up either way. It's worrying that we're so high up, but the leaves underneath us block out people from seeing the base itself, so we can live here without any fear. Anyways, we should talk about what happened." He continued. I turned to Carl with some of the noodles still in my mouth.

--

"So that's what I missed. I remembered killing Demos, but in hindsight, I couldn't remember what I was exactly feeling. It was blurred and I acted on impulse, nothing else. I'm also sorry for slamming you into that tree." I told him. Carl explained and I understood most of the situation.

"Xian and Talion didn't run with Zeal, so the chances are that they're still on this Isle somewhere, we just have to find out where they happened to go." He suggested. I slid the spoon into my mouth again and nodded.

"When you fall into that Rage Mode, I'll call it, you lose all sense of reasoning and it's like I can't even talk to you. It's extremely dangerous, and I don't think I can support you staying on the front lines anymore." Carl said. I set down the bowl on the railing of the balcony and turned towards him.

"And what, you could because you would 'talk' to those killers and try to gain the upper hand?" I asked him in a sarcastic tone.

No... I understand. Dani shared the same worry. We cannot become like our killers.

"You do these things wrong! It's not my fault for thinking of other solutions!" He said.

Calm down Sky... understand him... he's right...

"I'm surprised you're not going to respond to that with more violence, considering all that you've done." He added.

And that was my breaking point.

"The reason you're alive is that I killed for you, you know. I tried talking, you have seen me there. I am being hunted and you want me to talk to them? Do you have any idea how stupid you're being right now?! This isn't modern civilization! This is barbaric shit we have to deal with every day, we don't have the luxury of moral high ground. To establish a future like that, we need to kill everybody in our way. And I don't mean with opposing views, I mean those who try to kill us to stop us." I clarified for him, but I don't think he was ready to understand. Carl shook his head.

"You're going to get us killed with that mindset." I could see Mandi and Charlie run up the stairs in our direction. What were they running for? Did they think of me as a problem as well?

"Then how about you shut your damn mouth and you go talk to Orion?!" I waited for Carl to respond, but he wouldn't move.

"Just because we need to talk to them doesn't mean we should. Your moral high ground only satisfies your mind and your mind alone. It won't matter when you're nothing but blood and guts splattered on the floor."

"Then why are you arguing with me?! You know we can't talk to them! Why are we having this pointless argument?!" I yelled out to him. Charlie popped up right behind me on the balcony and Carl grit his teeth.

"What is it now?" Mandi asked both of us.

Mandi put her hand on Carl's shoulder, while Charlie did the same to me.

"Don't worry, it's just an argument. Nobody is going to get hurt. But Carl needs to answer my question before I leave." I told them. I waited, and waited, and waited.

"I can't go ask Orion. He'll kill me." I nodded at Carl's statement.

"I know he would, I just wanted to hear you understand how stupid you were being," I told him. Carl turned back towards Mandi and walked away with her, while Charlie stood by me.

"What is his problem?" Charlie asked me. I watched Carl leave and felt upset by his departure. Almost like I wanted to see him cry about this, or collapse under the pressure I presented on him.

No matter, I'd get my chance eventually.