“Sage, Run!” a violent push, a stumble, a flurry of feet. They pounded down on the sand, the older girl operating in response to the younger, a spooked deer. Game. Nothing more. That’s what the burly men in the truck thought, anyway. She didn’t even feel it stick into her neck. Some kind of protest? Blackness.
- - - - -
“There isn’t any time...” the bodyguard murmured, having intended for Sage not to hear it. She looked up at him, quizzically. Her curious expression changed to a look of concern when his visage darkened. His eyes suddenly burned with malice, and he-
And he... struck her. She held her cheek, more horrified than in pain. For four years he’d been one of the most amicable people Sage had ever met, and had become one of her best friends. “What-!?”
Aurelius interrupted her with a savage punch to the face, sending her crashing into her desk, shattering the sturdy mahogany furniture as though it had been made from toothpicks. Sage was dumbstruck. Was this a test?
“Aurry!” the girl angrily protested, pushing herself to her feet. She brushed off the debris, ignoring the various cuts on her arms. She was much more irate about the damage to her clothing than to her skin. “What’d you hit me for!?” the thirteen-year-old glared at the massive bodyguard, no longer concerned about his sinister gaze.
“This woulda been a lot easier if this were your sister,” Aurelius grumbled to himself, looking the blue haired girl over. “Not that you’re going to be difficult, exactly.”
Sage didn’t know who this person was. This wasn’t the friendly guardian who carried her around on his shoulder when she was nine, or the man who taught her and her sister how to build an igloo - he insisted it was for survival purposes, even though Sage never felt more comfortable than she did in the frigid wastes of the north. “What are you doing, Aurelius?” she never called him that anymore.
In a flash, his hair was upturned and gold. His cold, beryl eyes suddenly soulless, appraising the slight frame of the girl before him. He suddenly winked out of existence, and a muscular arm snaked around her throat, constricting her airway. Sage gagged as the arm constricted, unable to breathe.
“Let me go!” she wanted to say it. All she managed was a pathetic, wheezing, unintelligible mess. She squirmed and kicked for a moment. Her vision began to fade - Aurelius wasn’t going to let go.
Glancing down at her hand, she focused as best she could under the circumstances, watching as condensation began to swirl as mist in her palm. Soon, it formed a vicious spike of ice, rapidly solidifying, harder than steel. Without a word, or grunt, or scream, she hammered the icy spear over her shoulder, right into Aurelius’ eye. The mighty super saiyan recoiled away from the girl, grasping at his bloody visage as Sage scurried to the opposite side of the room, watching in fear as a former friend writhed and lashed about, an icicle jammed in his left eye.
Blood had splattered onto Sage’s hair and shoulders, onto the floor. Onto Aurelius’ chest. It oozed all over his face. The girl began to shake, mortified at the gruesome scene as the red fluid found itself all over the room. There was so much of it.
So much blood.
With a primal shriek, he grasped onto the ice with both hands and wrenched it from his socket. There was no eye left to identify, so badly pulverized by Sage’s weapon. He wasted no time, now, phasing out of sight and reappearing right in front of her.
Aurelius threw a savage blow to her temple, his overwhelming strength knocking her out in an instant. He wanted to finish the job, but he shook his head. There was a method to this madness, after all.
Though he wanted to kill the precocious little whelp, he had made a deal. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a little electronic device - a cloaking field, and at the push of a button, he and Sage vanished, and the invisible traitor hefted the azure haired girl over his shoulder, before casually strolling out of the bloodstained bedroom.
- - - -
Something was shaking her. It was dark and had its damn hands on her shoulders. It shook her again. “Wha-Where am I!?” she weakly demanded. “Why did you do it, Aurry? Why did you- I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to... I didn’t-”
“Sage!” came a shout.
That’s weird, Sage thought, projecting her thoughts for all to hear. Why does Aurry sound like a girl?
“Sage, wake up. You have to wake up,” the voice ordered. It came in clearer this time. The crystal haired girl jerked upright, her vacant eyes staring right through the girl in front of her. The girl holding her shoulders.
“Ashe?” she hazarded. A nod, but Sage didn’t see it. “Ashe, I- I can’t... see.”
A pause. “It’s just the dart,” another pause. “It’ll wear off soon.”
Truth be told, Ashe had no idea what she was talking about, but this was not the time or place for a panic attack. The fact that the truck was suddenly braking - hard - seemed to emphasize that point. She was right, though. A few moments passed and Sage visibly relaxed, her pupils contracting appropriately to the light.
There was some kind of argument. A lot of noise. The truck shook. Gunfire. Ashe and Sage exchanged glances, but neither could figure out what was going on from the windowless box on the back of the dune buggy. Suddenly, the rear door was thrown open to reveal a horribly bloody and battered-
“Y-You’re-” Sage gasped, blanching as though she’d seen a ghost. She looked around, to see the four former operators of the dune buggy messily dispatched on the sand. The blood and gore silenced her.
“Alive? Yeah,” Nash retorted, opening the other door. “We’d best get going we want to stay that way.”
The girls clambered out of the vehicle and Ashe immediately threw out an arm to block Sage, her eyes focusing on Jackson. “Who’s he?” she immediately demanded.
Nash just shrugged. “That’s Jackson. He’s with me.”
“Neither of you are in any shape to be out here,” the coral eyed girl scolded, tossing a capsule onto the sandy ground. It burst, revealing Sage’s stark white med-kit. “I’m not about to let you two wander around all bloody and broken like that. You’ll make things worse. Sit down,” she gestured to the back of the buggy, already retrieving several items from the kit. Wizard and Jackson both tried to protest, only to find themselves shouted down by the surprisingly forceful girl. Oliver was bewildered - was this the same girl he’d been separated from in the waterways?
“Now, I don’t really have much to spare,” Sage frowned, her kit had been stretched thin - a horrible auto accident and the whole of this tournament really had left little to spare, but she had enough gauze and disinfectant to properly treat most of the wounds of the two men, anyway. She had wanted to suture a nasty cut on Wizard’s shoulder but he angrily refused. So much for professional courtesy, Sage grumbled. She fashioned a crude splint for Jackson’s damaged leg, wrapped in the last of her gauze. Finally, she administered a morphine injection to each, and then packed her kit away. “Sorry I can’t... do more for you, Jackson,” she frowned.
Before anyone could say anything else, the ground just in front of Sage exploded, eliciting a sharp shriek from the girl. In the distance, three jeeps, all with mounted rail guns, were racing toward them, firing as they went. Explosions lit up all around them, and suddenly, the four were plunged into a war zone.
“Get in the buggy!” Nash roared, and the four of them leapt into the vehicle, with the battered Nash behind the wheel. He gunned it, the rear tires spinning futilely against the sand until finally they caught traction. The featherweight vehicle took off like a shot, barreling toward Olde Town at breakneck speed with three weaponized jeeps giving chase.
- - - - -
“There isn’t any time...” the bodyguard murmured, having intended for Sage not to hear it. She looked up at him, quizzically. Her curious expression changed to a look of concern when his visage darkened. His eyes suddenly burned with malice, and he-
And he... struck her. She held her cheek, more horrified than in pain. For four years he’d been one of the most amicable people Sage had ever met, and had become one of her best friends. “What-!?”
Aurelius interrupted her with a savage punch to the face, sending her crashing into her desk, shattering the sturdy mahogany furniture as though it had been made from toothpicks. Sage was dumbstruck. Was this a test?
“Aurry!” the girl angrily protested, pushing herself to her feet. She brushed off the debris, ignoring the various cuts on her arms. She was much more irate about the damage to her clothing than to her skin. “What’d you hit me for!?” the thirteen-year-old glared at the massive bodyguard, no longer concerned about his sinister gaze.
“This woulda been a lot easier if this were your sister,” Aurelius grumbled to himself, looking the blue haired girl over. “Not that you’re going to be difficult, exactly.”
Sage didn’t know who this person was. This wasn’t the friendly guardian who carried her around on his shoulder when she was nine, or the man who taught her and her sister how to build an igloo - he insisted it was for survival purposes, even though Sage never felt more comfortable than she did in the frigid wastes of the north. “What are you doing, Aurelius?” she never called him that anymore.
In a flash, his hair was upturned and gold. His cold, beryl eyes suddenly soulless, appraising the slight frame of the girl before him. He suddenly winked out of existence, and a muscular arm snaked around her throat, constricting her airway. Sage gagged as the arm constricted, unable to breathe.
“Let me go!” she wanted to say it. All she managed was a pathetic, wheezing, unintelligible mess. She squirmed and kicked for a moment. Her vision began to fade - Aurelius wasn’t going to let go.
Glancing down at her hand, she focused as best she could under the circumstances, watching as condensation began to swirl as mist in her palm. Soon, it formed a vicious spike of ice, rapidly solidifying, harder than steel. Without a word, or grunt, or scream, she hammered the icy spear over her shoulder, right into Aurelius’ eye. The mighty super saiyan recoiled away from the girl, grasping at his bloody visage as Sage scurried to the opposite side of the room, watching in fear as a former friend writhed and lashed about, an icicle jammed in his left eye.
Blood had splattered onto Sage’s hair and shoulders, onto the floor. Onto Aurelius’ chest. It oozed all over his face. The girl began to shake, mortified at the gruesome scene as the red fluid found itself all over the room. There was so much of it.
So much blood.
With a primal shriek, he grasped onto the ice with both hands and wrenched it from his socket. There was no eye left to identify, so badly pulverized by Sage’s weapon. He wasted no time, now, phasing out of sight and reappearing right in front of her.
Aurelius threw a savage blow to her temple, his overwhelming strength knocking her out in an instant. He wanted to finish the job, but he shook his head. There was a method to this madness, after all.
Though he wanted to kill the precocious little whelp, he had made a deal. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a little electronic device - a cloaking field, and at the push of a button, he and Sage vanished, and the invisible traitor hefted the azure haired girl over his shoulder, before casually strolling out of the bloodstained bedroom.
- - - -
Something was shaking her. It was dark and had its damn hands on her shoulders. It shook her again. “Wha-Where am I!?” she weakly demanded. “Why did you do it, Aurry? Why did you- I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to... I didn’t-”
“Sage!” came a shout.
That’s weird, Sage thought, projecting her thoughts for all to hear. Why does Aurry sound like a girl?
“Sage, wake up. You have to wake up,” the voice ordered. It came in clearer this time. The crystal haired girl jerked upright, her vacant eyes staring right through the girl in front of her. The girl holding her shoulders.
“Ashe?” she hazarded. A nod, but Sage didn’t see it. “Ashe, I- I can’t... see.”
A pause. “It’s just the dart,” another pause. “It’ll wear off soon.”
Truth be told, Ashe had no idea what she was talking about, but this was not the time or place for a panic attack. The fact that the truck was suddenly braking - hard - seemed to emphasize that point. She was right, though. A few moments passed and Sage visibly relaxed, her pupils contracting appropriately to the light.
There was some kind of argument. A lot of noise. The truck shook. Gunfire. Ashe and Sage exchanged glances, but neither could figure out what was going on from the windowless box on the back of the dune buggy. Suddenly, the rear door was thrown open to reveal a horribly bloody and battered-
“Y-You’re-” Sage gasped, blanching as though she’d seen a ghost. She looked around, to see the four former operators of the dune buggy messily dispatched on the sand. The blood and gore silenced her.
“Alive? Yeah,” Nash retorted, opening the other door. “We’d best get going we want to stay that way.”
The girls clambered out of the vehicle and Ashe immediately threw out an arm to block Sage, her eyes focusing on Jackson. “Who’s he?” she immediately demanded.
Nash just shrugged. “That’s Jackson. He’s with me.”
“Neither of you are in any shape to be out here,” the coral eyed girl scolded, tossing a capsule onto the sandy ground. It burst, revealing Sage’s stark white med-kit. “I’m not about to let you two wander around all bloody and broken like that. You’ll make things worse. Sit down,” she gestured to the back of the buggy, already retrieving several items from the kit. Wizard and Jackson both tried to protest, only to find themselves shouted down by the surprisingly forceful girl. Oliver was bewildered - was this the same girl he’d been separated from in the waterways?
“Now, I don’t really have much to spare,” Sage frowned, her kit had been stretched thin - a horrible auto accident and the whole of this tournament really had left little to spare, but she had enough gauze and disinfectant to properly treat most of the wounds of the two men, anyway. She had wanted to suture a nasty cut on Wizard’s shoulder but he angrily refused. So much for professional courtesy, Sage grumbled. She fashioned a crude splint for Jackson’s damaged leg, wrapped in the last of her gauze. Finally, she administered a morphine injection to each, and then packed her kit away. “Sorry I can’t... do more for you, Jackson,” she frowned.
Before anyone could say anything else, the ground just in front of Sage exploded, eliciting a sharp shriek from the girl. In the distance, three jeeps, all with mounted rail guns, were racing toward them, firing as they went. Explosions lit up all around them, and suddenly, the four were plunged into a war zone.
“Get in the buggy!” Nash roared, and the four of them leapt into the vehicle, with the battered Nash behind the wheel. He gunned it, the rear tires spinning futilely against the sand until finally they caught traction. The featherweight vehicle took off like a shot, barreling toward Olde Town at breakneck speed with three weaponized jeeps giving chase.
![[Image: Sage.jpg]](http://rebecca.florizone.com/sig/miscsig/Sage.jpg)