Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1868406" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 58: Ghost of the PastMany times, Akan had awoken after blacking out. It was something one got used to in the profession that he had pursued. Not pilot, but commando. Usually, capture was a common thing, and that meant either a stun blast or a hard hit to the back of the head. It was common that one awoke in a daze, head spinning and vision blurry. Rarely did one awake as Akan was. Comfortably was the best word for it.    Sure, his vision was blurred, but it focused very quickly. He tried to move, and found the aching muscles of his body protested vigorously. So, he sighed, and just went back to laying on his back and looking up to a bleak and boring ceiling. His head was resting on a soft pillow, and the bed(it had to be a bed) was just as comfortable. Again, not something one expected after the events that led up to his previous memories.    “I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” a voice said from off on the other side of the room. Akan turned his head very carefully, trying to ignore the muscles that even remorphing couldn’t convince to stop hurting. When he did managed to get his head to the side, he saw that the room he was in was a combination kitchen, bedroom, and living room. Akan had never actually seen a true ‘one room’ apartment before, but this one sure qualified as such. Sitting over at the single table in the room, giving him a curious look, was someone he’d seen before.    Of course, at first his brain only registered the person as a young human woman with long, dark brown hair. In fact, for a quick moment Akan swore he was looking at Elizabeth Mare. When his brain caught up and processed the information his eyes had taken in, he recognized her as the girl who had been watching him back in the cave. Figuring this out, Akan suddenly worried she was a spy or something worse. But why the comfort, and why wasn’t he dead?    Finding his voice, Akan asked the most obvious question, “Who are you?”    The girl smiled warmly, again it was hauntingly similar to how Akan remember Mare looked. Thankfully, her voice sounded different...or maybe just younger, “My name is Shira. I was supposed to...keep an eye on you.”    “Really?” Akan asked, not sounding the least bit interested despite the fact that he was, “Who wanted you to do that?”    Shira paused, went a little red and turned to stare at the floor. Akan wasn’t sure how to interpret this, and was glad that he didn’t have to. A moment later, she turned back and said carefully, “My...um...I mean Annika.”    Hansen. Hmm. Something was still wrong here. Why would Hansen keep an eye on him? Really, Shadow was much more worrying of the two of them. Unconsciously, he braced himself to get hit. It didn’t come, and Akan found himself feeling at a loss of what to do without the usual retaliation. Under his breath, he grumbled, “Been around Shadow too long...”    “What?” Shira asked, head tilted to the side slightly.    Not having meant for her to hear, Akan quickly waved his hand, “Nothing...you were about to say something else. What was it?”    Again, Shira’s face went red. She didn’t look away this time. Seemingly ignoring the color in her cheeks, she said quietly, “I...asked her if it was alright.”    That wasn’t the answer to the question Akan had asked, though it was going to be his next question. Akan took a moment to study her again, both with the Force and other senses. Satisfied that she truly didn’t have any ill intent, Akan tried again, “No...you said ‘my’ and then changed your words.”    “Oh!” somehow, Shira seemed relieved by this question and said with an awkward smile, “I was very young when we were driven out of Haladin. My mother was...killed. Annika raised me. I uh...sometimes call her mother without thinking about it.”    At that, Akan couldn’t help but smile. An interesting thing considering what he’d just run out of. That’s when he realized he was only wearing the cooling suit that was worn under the heavy robe. Looking around quickly, Akan saw what could only be his robe hanging against the door. What surprised him were the many small circular holes and tears he didn’t recognize from before. Thinking about it, Akan realized where they had come from. A grin suddenly grew on his face. Somehow, it felt like it was an honor to have been shot at and missed that much. And he’d only been in range for a matter of seconds.    “What?” Shira asked, turning to follow his gaze and not really understanding what was causing him to hold back laughter.    Again, he said, “Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Akan then paused and let his mind focus. It was only Shira here...no one else. It had obviously been some time since he’d fallen unconscious, and the others were likely out of Haladin. If they weren’t, Akan had a feeling he’d have found out the hard way. His mind then found its next course of action to be taken, and he sat up(with a cringe, of course), saying, “I need to get back.”    Shira shook her head, “Haladin’s gone crazy since your now famous escape. The Narani are crawling all over looking for you and the others.”    “The others...” Akan trailed off, then, “Did they get out?”    Nodding, Shira motioned to a small comlink resting on the kitchen unit, “Annika told me they used your diversion to get out and I was supposed to look out for you. That’s when I opened my door.”    “Amazing luck,” mumbled Akan under his breath, slowly turning and stretching to get his human muscles used to moving again after the strain they’d been put through, “So am I just suppose to sit here and wait until things die down?”    Nervously, Shira bit her lower lip and managed a slow nod, “Its not...safe out there right now. They haven’t gotten to searching private homes yet, and we shouldn’t give them any reason to.”    Sighing, Akan looked around the small room. Very small. And he was stuck here. Again, he looked to Shira. So much like Mare...too much. In his life, he’d learned that there was no such thing as a coincidence. Everything happened for a reason. Everything. He’d even convinced himself that Mare’s death had occurred for a reason, though he had no idea what and the very thought of any reason for that hurt deeply. But why was Shira such a mirror image of a long dead friend? And why the hells was he stuck here?    Grumbling, Akan got to his feet and started towards his robe.    “What are you doing?” Shira asked, turning in the chair and nearly getting to her feet.    As he pulled on the patchy robe, Akan gave her a strangely cold look, “I’m leaving. You can come with me if you want to get back, but I’m not going to wait on you.”    That was a lie. He knew it. There was no way he was going to leave this girl behind. He’d failed Mare once already, years earlier. This was not Mare, yet part of him was sure there was something important about this. So, whether he liked it or not, he was not going to let Shira get killed. The other part of him should have been intelligent enough to realizing how dangerous of a situation he was setting up for himself for the second time in his life. Especially since the first had nearly driven him to the dark side and destroyed his mental state so much that he’d assumed a completely new life.    But Akan was too caught up in the moment to think. If Shadow was there, she’d have finished that with an ‘as usual’.</blockquote>

Verification