Day and Night

A beginning of sorts

Heart thumping fast, the electricity of adrenaline pumping her legs, her arms into motion, she clattered through the debris, her treasure in sight.

Alex was a thief. She was not cunning, nor resourceful �" she was the day, with brash movements and reckless ideas. Perhaps that was why she wasn’t a very successful thief. What she needed was the night �" someone who slid into the shadows, someone who reined her in, who combined their intelligence and cunning with her motivation and fearlessness.
Which was why she dragged a very disgruntled, yet resigned, Tegan behind her, who, despite her protests, kept her grip on Alex’s grubby hand very firm as they ran through the runway.

“I really, really don’t think this is a good idea,” Tegan intoned once more, as her eyes flickered restlessly around, glowing from amber to inky black and back again from the flicker of the lights they passed. Alex didn’t even spare her a glance, though her cocky grin grew a little wider. Tegan would have sighed if her breathing wasn’t so laboured, and she kept herself alert to any trigger for some sort of security or alarm �" the rows upon rows of lights cast a dim gleam onto the copper floor, some kind of motion sensor could be in any one of those lights, or a body heat sensor within the deep shadows that were on the floor.
They were entirely too loud �" their industry-produced boots clanked horribly against the metal floor, and their huffing echoed off of the arched ceiling, so Tegan tightened her grip on Alex’s hand, tugging back slightly, and Alex stilled, looking over her shoulder expectantly, her short hair pulled back by the brass goggles adorning the crown of her head, and the inky spikes swept backwards, her tanned complexion glistening with sweat.

“If we’re to carry out this ridiculous �" and, may I add, pointless �" idea, then at least come at my pace, be as quiet as you can so we don’t get dragged by the ears to the Lunar Prison �" this is a code two offence if you recall, punishable with at the very least five years of labour and �"”

“I get it, I get it,” Alex harrumphed, crossing her bronzed arms, acting very much the petulant child, “fine then, princess, we’ll do it your way.”

She paused, and considered Tegan’s shrewd eyes for a moment, before saying aggravatingly, “S’not pointless anyway, if you recall, you’re the one who said we’d need some mode of transportation to carry out this rebellion of yours.” Tegan’s eyebrow twitched.

“Yes, and I meant for us to get the funds to buy a cheap little airship, not bloody nick one from the bleeding owner of all the industry in Unnation’s largest region!” Alex merely smirked infuriatingly once more, before linking arms with Tegan, eyes cast appreciatively on the sweeping flame of her partner-in-crime’s hair, and she strolled silently across the runway this time, as equals with her friend.

“Yes, but you see, why not start our little project with a bang: namely, taking what is rightfully ours. You realise the people we’re fighting for built this airship for nothing more than probably three silvers for a family of six or something? No, I reckon we’ll make a right statement with this, and it’ll show those b******s that we mean business.” Alex’s sharp chin jutted out arrogantly, and her entire being oozed confidence. Her strides remained calm and her hand slid from the crook of Tegan’s elbow to her scrawny wrist, where she knew the mark of their partnership �" a simple navy ‘x’ �" lay like the black moon against the white evening sky of her skin. “We’re going to do this,” her voice had softened and she turned to Tegan, “we’re going to find others like us, and we’ll fill not just this airship, but so many more with the dwellers, with the downtrodden, with the ones who simply realised how to think, like us.”

Tegan didn’t doubt it for a moment. With Alex, even the hopeless found the glimmer, the spark that lay deep within the depths of their souls, shoved there and stored in a box by the government of Unnation, by their segregation of people according to jobs, and people were assigned jobs due to their heritage. Alex and she made a strange duo, bickering constantly, Alex’s cool demeanour was shattered by the presence of Tegan, and they flared their tempers at each other, before settling back into their close understanding of each other. Tegan was Alex’s night; she slid rationality and calculated thoughts into Alex’s brave and daring plans. Tegan was the brains, and while Alex was not unintelligent, she had a tendency to take principals over sensibility, and Tegan diffused this whenever possible.
Alex was the day, brashly shedding truth whether one wanted to see it or not, she would make blunt comments, she would easily flip off a Unnation guard if they looked at her the wrong way, and she was extremely perceptive, figuring out what make people tick, and in a fight, took advantage of every opportunity her sharp gaze spotted.

They had arrived in front of the lithe airship, with its intimidating shark-like shape, gleaming menacingly in the florescent lighting. There were cracks in the rafters above the ship, and light spilled through the gaps, dust motes illuminated as they hovered nakedly in the strips of sunlight. Alex grinned arrogantly and Tegan’s hand found hers. The red-head turned to smirk back at the tan-skinned girl, shifting slightly on her booted feet.

“You’re hesitating,” Tegan remarked, locking her dark eyes with Alex’s ebony ones. Alex shook her head, her thick tumble of brown hair spilling from the bandana she trapped it in.
“I’m savouring,” she ran her tongue hungrily against her canines, a villain-like grin splitting her face. Tegan snorted, having never known someone as frustratingly noble as her could make such a horrible expression.

She got a punch on the arm when she cheerfully told Alex that, though she thought that it was worth the bruise.

So, together, the girls climbed onto the airship, Tegan keeping lookout as Alex broke a sweat trying to haul the mighty brass entrance open. Tegan was perched on the ledge just in front of the sliding door, eyes narrowed in an attempt to see through the thick fog of the dusty lights. Alex grunted and gave up on brute force, snatching a simple hairpin from the nape of her neck and picking the surprisingly old fashioned lock. She twisted it carefully, waiting for the satisfying slow click. With a curse, she readjusted her sweaty grip on the slender pin, scowling. She worked for several minutes in tense silence, in which time adrenaline-fuelled fear managed to slither into her chest, like a cold hand which gripped hard and plunged her heart all the way down to her little brown toes.

The heady silence was broken by Tegan’s sharp cry of panic, and Alex turned around, expecting a horde of guards, a gunshot, something that would kill them both, only to find the curvy girl with a comically flustered expression, hoisting herself back onto the ledge from which she’d apparently fell, and then sprawling on said platform with a mockingly miserable pout contorting her reddened face. The effect was not unlike that of a tomato on fire. While Tegan glowered (though didn’t deign to sit up from her pitiful pose) at the bubbling laughter that issued forth from Alex, Alex herself discreetly cast an eye at the woman lying in the vulnerable position. She wore a practical outfit, a patched winter coat with old, washed out jeans and worn brown boots, a far cry from the expensive, figure-hugging outfits she had once insisted on wearing, even if only spending the day lounging around the hideout, which were made of the finest cashmere and rare materials which slid through Alex’s brown fingers like a whisper.

“What you staring at,” Tegan tilted her head backwards on the coldly gleaming brass, one fine eyebrow raised and her hair spilling backwards like thick coils of auburn waves.
“Anything but your ugly mug,” Alex countered easily, leaning down so her face was directly above Tegan’s, upside down, laughter glinting in her eyes, which were cool amber in the splintering light. Tegan gazed impassively at Alex.

“You love it.”

“Maybe,” Alex replied with an unreadable expression. A poignant moment passed between the two, each seeing themselves reflected in the other’s eyes, each with identical expressions of confused flattery.

The moment was snapped like a tightly drawn string by the thunderous sound of boots ringing against the cavern, barked orders echoing from the distance. Immediately, the two sprung apart, Alex opening the entrance with a panicked speed, Tegan clambering in behind her, not daring to look out the front window to see the quickly approaching guards. Tegan slid the door closed behind her, hurriedly dashing to the front of the cabin, starting the engine with practiced, nimble hands as Alex stood by the door with her daggers drawn, crouched in a defensive position, lithe as a reptile and bouncing lightly as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“Reckon we could hide and let them take the airship out with us as stowaways?”
Alex shook her head, “No, they’re not here for a trip, they already knew we were here; listen.”
Indeed, while Tegan started the puttering engine and cracked the password on the mantra screen, she heard one burly voice, which was getting closer at an alarming rate.

“One of them’s a common thief, just rough her up a bit, no need for more than that for the little Sandrat, but from the telescreen the other looks like that whassername... Tagen? Tama? Whatever, if we manage to catch the ghost princess herself, you can bet that our division will get a hefty reward from her parents...”
Alex’s dulled anger from the ‘Sandrat’ comment flared into a blazing rage at the threat to her partner’s freedom, barely kept cool under her icy countenance.

“Keep going Tegan, we’ll outrun ‘em easy.” Alex’s voice was steady and controlled, and Tegan’s burst of panic tilted away from the edge of hyperventilation at the sound of it. She took in a shaky breath and silently tapped at the screen before placing her small palms on the screen, finally feeling the airship start to drift forward.

“Don’t slow down, the most those idiots will get is maybe a concussion, don’t worry,” Alex’s reassuring voice rang across the cabin even as she sliced through the nearest window at one frantic officer who had clung like a monkey to the airship. His fingers were sliced clean at the tips and the scrawny man fell from the windowsill with a yell of horror. A sickening thud sounded from the distance and the ship trembled slightly as the bullets started pounding against the steel coating like rain, but Tegan kept a firm grip on the controls, focusing all her energy into it.

“Brace yourself!” she shouted, gripping onto a pair of railings at either side of the screen for huge bursts of speed such as this.

Alex clung to the overhead railings, and she gritted her teeth against the strain her arms were put in as gravity tried desperately to fling her bodily to the back of the cabin, and she cried out when the airship blasted through the mesh wiring at the exit of the cavern, to speed like a jet into the open sky, which was so, so blue.

Reviews

[Esoteric Strand]

I found this to be well-written and engaging. This deserves more reviews, as I am more apt to read and review Poetry. It reminds me, in spots, of the character interplay from Final Fantasy 12 (which I mean as the deepest compliment, I love that game). Keep up the great work.

Regards,

E