05-11-2015, 03:17 PM
Lucas watched Aria leave, his connection to her almost a thread he could feel, stretching taut, finer and finer until it felt tenuous and delicate. The pit in his stomach grew deeper and deeper the farther she got until she and The Ascendancy crested the rise and disappeared.
It was as if the line was cut and he almost felt a physical recoil. Gone. She was gone. His teeth hurt and he realized he had clenched his jaws tight. His eyes burned. She's gone.
He had no idea if he'd see her again. He felt so helpless and insignificant, there amidst the snow covered landscape. A bug, tiny and fragile. Strangely, though, amid those feelings, he felt a germ of something else, something cold and hard. A kernel of determination. To do what, he wasn't sure. Something though. Something. To save her. To avenge her. From whom, on whom, he did not know. But he couldn't just stand there.
He just stood there, staring, until Nox's words brought him out of his thoughts. For a moment, he didn't understand the man's words, then looked down at Aria's things. Reverently, he took them, the magnitude of what had just happened threatening him.
He heard Nox's words as though through fog and only nodded. He had to think and the sled ride back to the lodge would help. Only once did he speak, as they made their way. "Maybe I'll go with you. The long way, as you said."
The whine of helicopter blades in the distance spoke of what was happening. He strained to hear for as long as he could.
It was as if the line was cut and he almost felt a physical recoil. Gone. She was gone. His teeth hurt and he realized he had clenched his jaws tight. His eyes burned. She's gone.
He had no idea if he'd see her again. He felt so helpless and insignificant, there amidst the snow covered landscape. A bug, tiny and fragile. Strangely, though, amid those feelings, he felt a germ of something else, something cold and hard. A kernel of determination. To do what, he wasn't sure. Something though. Something. To save her. To avenge her. From whom, on whom, he did not know. But he couldn't just stand there.
He just stood there, staring, until Nox's words brought him out of his thoughts. For a moment, he didn't understand the man's words, then looked down at Aria's things. Reverently, he took them, the magnitude of what had just happened threatening him.
He heard Nox's words as though through fog and only nodded. He had to think and the sled ride back to the lodge would help. Only once did he speak, as they made their way. "Maybe I'll go with you. The long way, as you said."
The whine of helicopter blades in the distance spoke of what was happening. He strained to hear for as long as he could.