Seraph | セラフ

Eyes closed, I focus as hard as I can on making my breath go silent. I need to be able to hear. And while no amount of focus will make the buzzing lights go fully quiet, I can at least mostly tune them out if I try hard enough.

It helps when I'm listening for a specific set of sounds to take their place. A quiet clinking of armor, the soft clank of metal boots against the ground, or the whispering swish of a cape.

Knight is uncannily good at sneaking up on people, I've noticed in the months we've known each other. So good, that despite my better-than-average evasion and observational skills, I frequently can't tell when he's there.

But I've been practicing. Because I should always know where my backup is. Well, that, and I don't want to risk letting a monster get the drop on me, either. At least Knight will just scare me, not try to kill me.

I tense as I hear the slightest brush of fabric against metal. There he is.

Spinning on my heel about 90 degrees from where I was facing, I swing my mace up—and clang. His sword meets the spiked, metal end of my weapon.

"Ha!" I say as I open my eyes and grin back at the masked face not all that far from mine. "Finally! I got you!"

He gives a tiny laugh and tosses my mace off of his sword. The motion sends me stumbling back a few steps, but there's no malice in it. "Shocking. You're sure you weren't cheating, Private?"

"Certain, Corporal," I assure him, still grinning, as I lower my mace. "Like it or not, I'm actually getting better."

"Agreed, in multiple respects," he nods at me, seeming vaguely proud. "Good work. We've been going at it for several hours now; I think that's enough for the day." He sheathes his sword, and motions for me to put my mace away.

Despite the mild disappointment I feel—I'm actually growing to enjoy training, especially since it usually entails getting to go ham on the unbreakable practice dummies for a couple of hours—I obey. I slide my weapon into the leather sleeve I carry it in on my back, laid atop my plain, gray, standard-issue cape. "You're just embarrassed I managed to sense you," I tease. "Can't bear to spar with me anymore after that kind of humiliation, huh."

He rolls his eyes, but again, the action seems to be good-natured. "As if. Don't get too cocky now, Private."

"Heh." I stretch a bit and then shake my gloves a few times, wiggling off the excitement that came from finally catching him before he managed to sneak up on me. "I'll try not to let it get to my head too terribly much."

It feels weird being able to speak in a conversational tone in the training area, without needing to holler to hear each other. Before, it was always such a ruckus in here, with everyone's weapons echoing off the metal floors and walls. But now that there's only a couple dozen soldiers left in the whole base, most of whom are brass, there's not ever really anyone else training in here. Everyone either finished out their tours and went home, or, in a few officers' cases, got moved to more important bases. Rumor has it they'll be closing this base down in a month or two, or at least that's what I've heard from Knight. There're only two more soldiers that live on my hall, now, and thankfully, they're two of the ones who never really saw much point in bullying me, so I can mostly live in peace.

I'm just hoping that wherever they send me and Knight next, my reputation won't precede me. I don't want to have to spend the entirety of my tour dodging petty attacks, verbal or otherwise, from my fellow servicemembers.

Without saying anything, Knight turns to start folding up the training mat we were using. Automatically, I hurry to help him. Once we've shoved it up against one wall, I glance over at him. "Hey, Corporal?"

"Yes, Private?" he asks, glancing over at me as he dusts off his gloves against each other.

"Are we allowed to go outside?"

He narrows his eyes at me in what I think is supposed to be a teasing look. "You're not allowed to go anywhere without me—"

"Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know. That wasn't the question. Are we allowed to go outside the building without, like, being ordered to do so by the brass?"

He blinks at me before giving a single, short nod. "Well, yes, technically. But I don't see why you'd want to." He narrows his eyes teasingly at me again. "After all, you're the one who said the place was a dump when you first got here."

I roll my eyes at him. "With all due respect, Corporal: shaddup." I can tell my time in Startropolis slipped through in my accent there, but he doesn't seem to notice, as he snorts at my response. I crack a smile. "The place is a dump. That hasn't changed, so far as I know." Throwing my gloves behind my head, I start walking as he gestures with his head for me to follow him outside the training area and into the wagon-spoke hall back to the rest of the building. "But given this dump probably won't even be a base for much longer, it'd be nice to, I don't know; go outside and actually get a proper look at this planet I've been living on for months, I guess."

He shrugs back at me, not turning around to look at me as he presses forward. "There's not that much out there besides canyons and ravines, and eventually, the mining colony. You're not missing much."

"Yeah, no, I agree with that," I roll my eyes. We're nearing the center area of the base, which is also where the exterior door is. "I just... I don't know. I need some fresh air and a break from everything being made out of metal."

He pauses at the door to the central area, his glove resting on the bar that opens the door when you push it in. He looks up at the ceiling for a long moment, but it seems to be more thoughtful, rather than a silent plea for patience like it once would have been. "...Alright," he nods finally. "Some fresh air does sound agreeable. Outside it is."

"Yes," I rejoice with a pump of my fist, pushing past him and making a beeline for the way out. "Last one out is a broken Warp Star."

"Last one out should probably be the one with a mandated escort," he calls ahead to me. Rolling my eyes, knowing he's right, I slow down and allow him to take the lead again. "Private, it's reassuring to be occasionally reminded that you're capable of being excited about something."

"Like you can talk, Mister Master of Monotone," I snark back. He snorts again. Thankfully, my tone seems to be continuing to communicate that I'm teasing. I always struggle with making sure people understand what I actually mean when I say things, because I often have a hard time understanding tone. It is what it is, though.

Seconds later, Knight is pushing open the door to the outside, and then—finally.

Blissful silence.

And way too bright of light, given this is my first time being exposed to sunlight in months, sure. But not having to listen to the constant whine of the fluorescents for once? Downright heavenly.

Despite myself, I give a heavy sigh of relief. Scrunching my eyes closed against the brightness, I turn my face towards the sky. A small breeze wisps past, catching my cape and making it flap a couple of times. It carries some dust with it, but not enough to make breathing uncomfortable.

It's just nice to be outside.

Knight gives what sounds like a happy sigh not far from me. "Honestly, it'd probably be good for us to head out here more often," he muses.

I chance opening my eyes slightly. It's still stupidly bright out here, but my vision is starting to adjust. Blinking against the sun, I look over at him. "Yeah. I've thought so for a while, but I was too nervous to ask about it."

He snorts yet again. "What, scared I'd bite your head off for it or something?"

"Eh, not particularly. More just worried it'd turn out we weren't allowed out, and then I wouldn't even have had the hope of getting outside for a bit." I take a deep breath, imagining the outside air scrubbing the recycled, stale air of the base out of my lungs.

My eyes have mostly adjusted at this point, so I'm finally able to fully open them and take a look around. The area around the base is about what I remember. Brown, dusty, empty land with matching mountains in the distance. Not far away, the rope fence that marks the edge of the nearest ravine. The metal starship hangar, currently silent and still. Not much else. Plenty of open space.

I suddenly get hit with an idea.

"You ever Warp Star race as a kid?" I ask Knight.

The question takes him aback more than I realized it would, apparently. Much to my surprise, he actually answers. "Of course. I'm fairly certain that's all but a universal experience for Star Warrior children."

I grin at him, reaching up to my right shoulder with one glove and double tapping the Warp Star affixed to my shoulder guard. It instantly detaches itself and grows to its normal size, taking a place hovering right next to me a with a happy shake and a shower of sparks. "Race you."

He rolls his eyes. "Private. First of all, no. Second of all, where to?"

"Ha!" I can't help but laugh at that. "I thought you said 'no,' Corporal."

"I did say 'no.' But if you're going to say 'race you,' typically you append some kind of intended race track."

He has a point. "Okay, fine. So race you to, say..." I get lost in thought, trying to think of a reasonable destination. "To the first bend in the ravine and back."

"Does the ravine have a bend in it?" he questions, seeming amused.

I scrunch my face up. "I don't know. I'd assume it'd have to somewhere."

"You don't seem to have thought this proposition through too well before having made it," he comments in what seems to be a wry manner.

I shoot him a bemused glance in return. "Look, I haven't had a chance to ride my Warp Star since I was like, in my teens, okay? And up until right before I joined the Army, I didn't even have it in my possession, anymore." He instantly looks confused, but I plow ahead before he can say anything. "Identity topic; don't ask. Point being, I wanna ride my Warp Star, and technically speaking, I can't go anywhere without you, remember?"

"Ah, so the proposition of a race was entirely self-serving," he muses. I can see a smile growing in his eyes, which are glowing a rare pink around the edges. I've come to slowly learn over the past months that that's a sure sign he thinks something is funny or he's otherwise feeling happy. "Alright, alright." He throws his gloves up in defeat for just a split second, before quickly double tapping his own badge-like Warp Star with one of them. Just like mine, it almost-joyfully takes its full size and starts floating beside him, bumping into him over and over like an excited puppy. "Hm. Maybe we should let them 'out' more often. It probably gets old riding around stuck to someone's pauldron all the time."

"Yeah, true," I agree, not bothering to mention that mine was technically probably shut up in a file cabinet or something in Startropolis for several years before we were reunited.

I never thought an inanimate object could be so happy as my Warp Star was that day in Petalfield when I was able to call it back to my side. It took more than two minutes for it to get close enough to hear, to the point I was afraid it was all a joke and it hadn't actually been set free from its impoundment. But then it came streaking out of the sky, running straight into me, knocking me over, and sending me skidding a few feet backwards along the grassy ground—and setting Maize and the sheriff both laughing their faces off.

I would have been mad, but... mostly I was just happy to see it again.

I frown slightly despite myself. I wonder how Maize is doing. As cops go, he was actually pretty alright. And if not for him, I'd be rotting in some Startropolis jail cell right now.

"Where to, officially?" Knight's voice snaps me out of my reverie, and I quickly notice he's now standing atop his Warp Star.

I blink at him a couple of times, before saying with a growing grin, "Well, either we find a bend in the ravine, or a dead end, or we make it back to where we started in a half hour or so; this planet's not that big."

"True," he chuckles, and jerks with his head for me to follow him as he leans into his Warp Star, leading it to the edge of the ravine.

Hopping atop my own Warp Star, I lean forward, willing it in that direction. Just like I remember, it responds instantly to my every move, quickly stopping right above the rope fence the second I stop urging it onward.

"Alright," I say, taking a deep breath and growing serious. "On your mark.. get se—"

"—Go!" Knight interrupts, a strange sound of something resembling glee in his voice. The word gets quickly cut off from my hearing, though, as his Warp Star bolts forward, leaving me in the literal dust.

"Hey! Cheater!" I shout after him, but I can't help but laugh. I fling myself down on my tummy on my Warp Star, clinging onto it and willing it forward at top speed down into the ravine. If he wants to cheat, then I will, well, technically not-cheat, but still make myself far more aerodynamic than I would be standing.

It takes just a couple of seconds for me to catch up to him. The second he sees me flat atop my Warp Star, he follows suit, but unfortunately for him, his extra armor—aka his mask—adds drag. I'm easily able to pull ahead of him while he adjusts into the new position. With a laugh of delight, I twist my face around to holler back at him, "That all you got?"

"Look out!" he shouts back.

"Nice try—" I yell, turning face-forward again, only to yelp as I see a huge stalagmite—are they called that if they're not in a cave? I'm not sure—growing straight out of the ground in the middle of the ravine. I just barely manage to slam the proverbial brakes and dodge it, but thankfully, I am the queen of evasive maneuvers in the air.

Still, the slowdown required to dodge it allows him to go blazing off ahead of me again. And although I'm still able to get up to a slightly faster speed than him, now that we're both flat against our Warp Stars, I'm not fast enough to instantly overtake him again.

Pressing myself as flat against the warm, golden surface as I can, I quickly survey the upcoming stretch of ravine for anything I can use to boost my speed or otherwise catch up. Over the horizon comes a scattering of probably-called-stalagmites, close enough to each other that he'll probably need to slow down to get in between and around them.

Not me, though. Not now that I know they're coming.

Sure enough, he slows down just slightly to make his way through, and that gives me the chance to streak past him with a series of bobs and weaves.

I can't hear his reaction, but I still feel a smug sense of satisfaction, which only grows when I see the ravine suddenly making a sharp right. There's our halfway point.

I fly up, out, and over the upper edge of the ravine where it starts into the curve, pulling myself into a sharp incline that ends with me clinging to the Warp Star upside down, perfectly parallel to the ground. The Warp Star never technically stops going straight forward, saving me a second or two I would've had to spend turning around.

I can hear Knight's yelp of surprise as I go shooting just above him an instant later. Leaning hard to one side, I pull off a smooth roll, righting myself and my Warp Star without needing to sacrifice any speed. Of course, this time I know the terrain to expect on the flight back, and that makes it easy to maneuver my way back towards the base.

My Warp Star seems overjoyed to be flying again, and I have to admit, I am too. I'd missed being in the air. Sure, this isn't quite the same thrill as getting an old fifty-sixer Brillco Chromatica up and out of the atmosphere when that shouldn't even be possible, but it's still something. And it's definitely something I've missed.

Somewhere, somehow, my Warp Star finds an extra burst of speed, and with a jolt that I know is us breaking the sound barrier and leaving the sonic boom behind us, we stream the last mile or so back to the base.

We careen to a stop right past the rope at the ravine's begging edge, and quickly spin around to face our competitors, who are only a half mile or so behind. Of course, it takes just seconds for them to close that distance.

Grinning at Knight and his Warp Star as I catch my breath and wipe the dust out of my eyes, I call out to him as they skid to a mid-air stop, "Nice of you to join us!"

He laughs, a real laugh, a sound I've never heard before and never really thought I ever would. "Not bad, Private. I wouldn't have guessed you'd be so skilled with a Warp Star." He stands up atop his Warp Star and hops down beside it, dusting himself off. "Impressive. Genuinely."

"Thanks!" I'm still grinning; I can't help it. "You're not terrible yourself, Corporal, although I have to say—"

The sudden wail of a siren emanating from the base behind us cuts me off in a heartbeat. We both freeze before looking at each other.

"That's never happened before," I say anxiously.

All of the levity has instantly gone from his face, and when he speaks, his voice as well. "It has. It just hasn't been since before you got here," he corrects me. His Warp Star immediately shrinks and takes its place back on his right pauldron. "We're being summoned for battle."

"What are we even going to do?" I question, feeling a rising sense of panic. "There's, like, maybe 30 of us here, max."

"We're going to fight," he says coldly. I'm somewhat shocked by how all the emotion seems to have just... drained from his voice. It's almost like the person I was just racing Warp Stars with was a completely different Star Warrior. "It's all we can do." He jerks his head for me to follow him back to the base. "Come along, Private."

As my insides go cold, I push myself into a standing position and jump off of my Warp Star, hurrying to catch up to Knight. My Warp Star follows along behind me, shrinking and quickly re-attaching itself to my shoulder guard with what I could swear almost sounds like a shimmering sigh of disappointment.

My good mood from just seconds ago has been completely erased by a growing sense of fear as the gravity of the situation fully begins to set in. We're being summoned to battle. I'm going to have to fight monsters. I'm going to have to actually be a soldier. Worst of all, I'm going to have to try to keep both me and Knight from dying, and all I've got to do it is the Army-sanctioned version of a nail-filled baseball bat.

I'm not even remotely ready for this.