A Bridge within Golden Fields

A/N: Another Ragnarok Online fanfic. In their given storylines, their budding friendship is pretty much a rare thing.

-----

"... o..."

...

"... io..!"

...... Who...

...

"Rio!" A sharp pain to his cheek made him cry out. His eyes snapped open, immediately regretting it as light flooded his vision. He couldn't help but whimper in pain as he winced and curled onto his side, though even that movement sent waves of pain through his body.

"You've been out long enough for a nap." The same voice that called him returned. He didn't dare open his eyes. The sniper was still fighting off the dizziness that threatened to toss him back into the darkness.

Once he was sure the world wasn't tilting behind his eyelids, he slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position. "What... happened? Where am I?" The dull throbbing at the back of his head and the unexplainable pain shooting up and down his spine prevented him from moving as much as he wanted to.

"You mean you don't know?" The voice sounded annoyed. Weakly, he opened his eyes, looking for the owner of the voice. He didn't need to look very far. As soon as his eyesight focused, he found a pair of azure eyes narrowed at him from under a strangely styled and messy bob with thick strands of golden hair framing a young and pretty face. Vaguely, the hairstyle reminded him of a bush with lots of vines attached to it. She sat within close proximity of him, but she did have a sense of giving him some personal space.

He took a moment to recall just where had he seen this woman before.

A blonde assassin cross. An exchange. Two swords coming at him. A fight on an airship. And then... nothing. Everything else came up blank and his head hurt too much if he tried to remember.

"'Bout time you returned to the living world!" She huffed. An open box of chocolate covered biscuit sticks was held in one hand, the other supporting her weight as she leaned back. "You were out cold a good portion of the afternoon. Could've spent that time trying to find a way back to civilization." She all but muttered that last part with unveiled frustration.

The sniper tilted his head questioningly, strands of his dark brown hair falling into his eyes. "I was out cold? Why was I out cold?" He didn't fully trust the girl, but she was the only other human being he could see for miles. And besides, she was probably with him the whole time. It didn't hurt to ask a few harmless questions.

The girl imitated his gesture, making a small hum of sympathy. "You must've been knocked around real bad then. Of course that's expected, falling from the sky like that..."

Wait, what? Falling from the sky? Well... that would explain the pain but moreover shouldn't he be...

Slowly, horror and dread washed over the sniper's expression. "Am I dead...?"

"No, we ain't dead." She was quick to reply, raising one elegant brow at his question. "Believe it or not, the Gods are smiling down on us in humor today." As if to give proof to her words, she pointed to a broken shelter. The wooden roof had caved in, only the four thick pillars that supported it was left standing, however that they were tilted towards the center. Scattered broken stalks of wheat lay underneath the rubble of a roof.

Rio looked blankly at it for a long time. In fact, he took a look around them. For the first time, he noticed that they were lying on a bed of healthy grass. All around them grew stalks of wheat, golden and ripe whilst swaying gently in the mildly warm breeze. It was very peaceful. No other sound pervaded the natural silence around them except for their breathing and the ocassional rustling of cloth.

"You took the brunt of the impact. Fortunately the harvested wheat broke most of the fall." The assassin cross explained. Now, the woman had some pride and dignity she wanted to keep. She would never tell him how she had attempted to save his life after that fall. How she had almost panicked when he lay unmoving and unresponsive before she decided to use her reserved Yggdrasil Leaf on him. And not to mention using up the last of her potions on him with all the cuts and wounds on him, some she had done herself during their little fight.

She'd rather keep mum about this and let him figure out by himself. At least she got partial revenge when she used his shirt as bandages. She did not regret shredding the piece of clothing at all.

As if a lightbulb suddenly flickered on in his brain, Rio stood and backed away so quickly he'd forgotten that he was still too sore to be moving so suddenly. He fell on his behind when a wave of nausea hit him, but it did not deter him from pointing a finger at the assassin cross who was chewing on her biscuit whilst staring at him.

"You're Sola!"

"Yeah." A thoughful chew.

"And-and you're an assassin cross from that Bad Company guild! You fought with me on that airship and... we... both... fell..." Rio trailed off, now realizing the extent of the miracle that had been godsent to them both. Odin... that was hundreds of feet high up in the air... A thousand even...

How were they not dead was a crazy mystery that he'll probably never know.

"Great deduction, Sherlock. Want a biscuit for that? Sorry but I ain't got any cookies on me." As she spoke, she did offer the box, but Rio adamantly shook his head in refusal.

"Where's Aya? A-and Seff?" He asked the woman, casting her a guarded and slightly accusing stare.

To that, Solais raised her brow again. "Aya and what?"

"My falcon and my wolf."

The blonde shrugged, taking out another chocolate stick and popped it into her mouth like a cigar. "I don't know. The last time I saw your bird was an hour ago. Your wolf? Not so sure. Prolly still on that airship."

At least he was hoping she was telling the truth and didn't actually kill them.

"... So... Sola, right?" He tentatively asked her, not sure how to phrase this question any other way. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"Ha! Kill you?" Solais bit down on her biscuit, looking both insulted and amused at the same time. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Rio bit on his lip, answering, "Your guildmaster- I mean, your leader. I heard that he's got a bone to pick with Common and he's not exactly happy with what's happening right now. I thought with the way you were going at me back there, you were supposedly ordered to rat out anyone connected to Common and kill 'em."

A hard, pensive expression washed over the blonde's face as the words left his mouth. "... Tell me something. Are all you snipahs this dumb and simple-minded?"

Rio frowned. "What does that have to do with my question?"

"Just answer the damn question." She gladly returned that frown with one of her own.

He was beginning to get frustrated with her. He let out a derisive huff and retorted, "Then of course I'm going to say that we aren't all dumb! Just momentarily confused."

Sola gave him a long passive stare, before she suddenly broke into a loud chortle that pierced the silence around them. Rio was, in all sense of the word, taken aback. Just what did she find so funny with his answer?

"True, true. I was ordered to kill any Bloodthingty-"

"It's Bloodthirthty."

She pointed a chocolate stick at him like she would threaten with a sword. "Hey, don't interrupt."

And he didn't, though he did fix her with yet another guarded look. If she did try to gut him on the spot, she would have all the advantage. Her weapons were at her own side. His bow was sticking out from beneath the broken wheat about ten paces from them. That and he wasn't exactly fit to run, it was enough time for a quick kill.

In short, he was royally screwed.

"Look, snipah boy." Although she was quite sure he was older than his features were letting on, "As much as I'd like to say I care about the orders given to me, I don't see why I have to needlessly kill someone who didn't even do anything to Durarara directly-- Unless you're the one who shot Haughty's neck." Which by the way, I commend whoever actually put a stick through the bugger.

Rio blinked, furrowing his brows as he tried to recall. "... I don't think I've shot anyone for a while." He replied after a moment.

Sola merely waved his answer off, suddenly tired of talking about this topic. "Meh, still. You ain't someone I really trust. So can't really say-all-tell-all. Get my drift?" Rio's nod was enough of an answer.

A tense silence followed. At least, it was tense for a time before it started to lift. Rio stood on shaky legs, making his way to the shelter to pick up his bow. His quiver was buried further in the wheat, and he frowned when he tilted towards the light and found pieces of wheat mixed in with his arrows. Well at least he wasn't without his weapons. All that time, Sola didn't move from her position, more occupied with finishing her snack than anything else.

He gave the woman a long stare. And then his eyes slowly trailed to the arrow quiver and then the bow held tightly in his hand. It wouldn't be too hard to quickly shoot an arrow at her. He wouldn't miss, not at this proximity. She was part of the enemy guild after all.

But he remembered how she had spared his life. He could have been gutted in his unconsciousness for all that anyone cared. Killed and then left in this field for the crows to feast on his flesh and for the soil to grow fat on his blood and whatever remained.

He shook himself and approached the woman slowly. She did look up at him then, just as she finished the last stick in the box. "You're pretty alright... for an Assassin." He said. Maybe he was just being stupid and putting everyone in the same boat.

She didn't speak, so he took this chance. Exhaling loudly, he said, "Thanks... you know, for taking care of me and not killing me."

Solais snorted and laughed. "Watch it, snipah. I hope you're not falling in love with me." She wagged her finger at him.

Rio couldn't help but let a smile cross his features. "Hey, I'm not falling in love with you, no matter how sexy and alluring you are in that outfit." So he did have some mature humor in that childish mind of his! Solais couldn't help but grin and counter back.

"So you're telling me you're gay then?"

Almost immediately, Rio blanched and choked on his retort. This simply made Solais laugh harder, much to the former's dismay. Immediately after she'd calmed, Solais stood and stretched. "Well! I guess we can conclude that today was interesting enough that I could let you off the hook for now."

She stretched again and continued, "If my guess is right, Hugel shouldn't be too far off from here." She said, patting the dirt off her clothes. "You'll live to get there." With a grin on her face, she spun and started walking through the sea of dancing gold.

"See you around, alligator!"

It was approximately two minutes after she'd walk away from his line of sight did he realize something quite odd about the item hanging around her neck.

"Hey! My headphones!!"

END ENTRY.

Good Night

A/N: Project-[A]esir fanfic. Because it's been a while since I've written anything about them and then some. And I'm getting some drive to write, which is a good thing.

-----

Outside somewhere in the silent hallway, the mantle clock signaled midnight, just as the resident chapel's bells could be faintly heard, mingling with the distant rumbling of the waves.

He'd been awake for a while. That was why he knew what time it was.

As quietly as he could, he slipped out of bed, padding towards the chair that had his robes draped over it. He pulled on the first, black and sleeveless, before slipping on the second, white and decked in red and gold. Donning the now familiar uniform of a High Priest, he gave himself a once over in the nearby mirror.

Nothing out of place. Hair mussed up from his light sleep but it would-- Through the mirror, he saw the lone occupant of the bed shifting. He stilled, carefully watching as the figure tossed about for a moment before calming. He let out a breath he hadn't realize he'd been holding.

Why did he fear that he'd wake her? He'd worn her out a few hours ago, wrestling and rolling about before ending the night with intense cuddling (She never wanted to call it any other way).

Maybe because if she would wake and see him all dressed up, he would have crumpled and been unable to explain himself? Possible. Certainly. He was a man and had his own share of weaknesses.

You know you can still turn back. He could almost hear his brother's voice, berating and pleading with him. True, he could have simply refused and climbed back into bed. But that was a him that existed in another time and place. Not that one that existed here and now. There was too much at stake should he turn back.

And yet that voice continued to plead with him in that voice that haunted his dreams and nightmares for years. Or perhaps it was his guilt making him think this.

Aniki. He would have replied, I've already sealed my fate the moment I let them escape. I will not allow another loss.

He was going to silence them, even if the final price to pay would be the forfeit of his life. They would never find out about this secret world, built on years of trust and love. They will not chain another life to the heinous deeds that their kingdom was built on. He may not be able to fulfill the latter, but he could be a factor that would cripple them.

With those thoughts in mind, he moved fast. Taking the combat knife from the desktop, he slipped it into his pocket. He took his swordmace that leaned against the wall, attaching it to the belt that hung snugly around his waist, between the two layers of his robes. He slipped on his socks and shoes and then looked around. The evil wing headband lay untouched on the table on his bedside, but he made no move to take it.

He would be leaving it behind.

Everything else seemed to be in order. All the other necessities lay packed in the bag by the door. He took a moment to breath, to commit this last night to his memory. At last, he moved to kneel beside the woman curled up against a pillow clutched tightly in her arms.

He brushed away the hair from her face. Like a man condemned to the gallows on the morrow he imprinted in his memory every minute spent with her, every touch and laughter shared between them. The darkness of her soft hair, the peaceful expression that came over her as she slept, the way her chest rose and fell gently as breathe passed through her slightly parted lips. And that smile, that rare smile that always stilled his heart in a grip of euphoria.

All these would end tonight. He thought with heartbreaking clarity.

Even if this were the the only memory that would play before he crossed to the farthest end, it would not matter. He could live with it. He had no more regrets, save for this unwilling abandonment.

He bent over her, running his thumb over her cheek before closing the distance between their lips.

In that short moment, he wished time could have slowed. Wished that time could have altered and granted him a miracle. But as he pulled back, he reminded himself he was but a man. The Gods of this world, no matter how people worshipped and revered them, only cared to take the strongest to help them fight in the twilight war that was destined to happen. The human life was expendable otherwise.

"I love you. And I pray to whatever higher order exists, that you and our treasure live on to see more sunrises and sunsets than I would ever see." His voice almost cracked upon whispering these last words.

Without another moment's hesitation, he slipped out of the room, out of the stronghold, and disappeared into the dark night.

-----

"You're late." The man said, watching with unveiled annoyance as the younger man come up to his table. Though Geffen was a quieter change to Prontera that always seemed to be busy at almost every hour, the bars were the same anywhere.

The priest tilted his head and shrugged. Not a moment later, his face broke into a grin at the scholarly man as he took his seat, eyes alighting in an all too familiar glint of rebel and resignation.

"Since when have I ever been punctual?"

END ENTRY.