Fanbound #44

        Kevin was surprised when Cobalt came sprinting out of the forest that began about thirty yards from the headquarters. Aurada turned a moment later to see the avian running at top speed.
        “The ship! Now! Just go!” Cobalt tossed the artifact to Kevin, who barely caught it, then ran away from the group. Ruin tore past at a speed twice that of an Olympic sprinter, but had to slow down to avoid a tree that Kevin nimbly dodged around.
        “Follow Kevin! Go, now!” Cobalt called to the others, who obeyed. Cobalt finally stumbled over a rock that jutted from the grassy ground and flipped forwards, then skidded to a stop on the grassy ground. He was conscious, but stunned. Nhu bent to help him, but Nuru tugged him away.
        “Follow Kevin.” She hissed.
        “But...what about Crystal and Cobalt? What about Asra?” Nhu asked, backing away.
        “Ruin won't kill them. Trusst me.” Nuru said, and pulled Nhu harder in the direction of the ship. Nhu, confused, obeyed and ran off.
        Cobalt's vision sharpened a second later, but he didn't feel in any condition to get up. He felt weak, unable to get up again. He pushed himself agonizingly to his feet, and whipped around when he heard footsteps on grass. Crystal slowed and slid to a stop beside Cobalt, who was rubbing his (do birds have chins?)beak.
        “Where are the others?” Crystal asked, looking at the dazed Cobalt.
        Cobalt pointed, “There. To the ship. Ruin was right behind Kevin. If they did get away, we won't be able to follow them.”
        “What do you mean?!” Crystal shook Cobalt by the shoulders, which didn't help his dizziness.
        “I mean that they're either dead or they've left. You could try to follow them, but we're so far behind, I doubt you would be able to catch up.” Cobalt said. His words sounded nonchalant, though they were actually slightly slurred. Either way, it didn't have a very good standing with Crystal.
        “You say that like it's no big deal!” Crystal raised her voice.
        “Look...I just fell flat on my face, okay? I'm a little dazed.” Cobalt was relatively unharmed, actually, because of his feathers.
        “We can't just do nothing!” Crystal said.
        “Nuru said that Ruin wouldn't kill us. She has a fair amount of experience with people killing other people, so I'm willing to bet she's right.” Cobalt said.
        “Let's get inside. I would rather be in somewhere well lit to see Ruin coming, if it does decide to kill us.” as Crystal finished speaking, they saw a ship lift into the sky. The only one that close was Asra's dropship.
        “At least they got away.” Cobalt said, staring after the shuttle.
        “Asra's still in the underground floor of the building. We should go see if she's still alive.” Crystal said.
        “Right, right. Asra.” Cobalt shook his head as the last bits of fuzziness faded away. They both walked inside the unassuming little cottage and took a few wrong turns, but finally, they stepped into the brighter lit underground division of the building.
        Asra laid against the pedestal, both arms were at her side, and she slumped forwards off of the base.
        “Asra?” Cobalt called, waving a hand in front of her face.
        Asra looked up at them and blinked rapidly a few times, then seemed to focus, and her eyes gained a glint that they hadn't had before. “Hey.”
        “Crystal...you're the medic.” Cobalt swept both hands towards Asra. Crystal knelt down by Asra and looked at her arms. The sleeves of her shirt were hardened with blood, but it wasn't getting soaked with any more.
        “She looks pretty good, actually, aside from how pale she is. Maybe you'd better lie down. I think your blood pressure would be more stable that way.” Crystal shifted Asra into a position where she could lie flat.
        They heard the tap of a light footstep on titanium, and Cobalt turned. He stepped in front of Asra and Crystal in a rather sexist gesture, but touching nonetheless, because he was obviously not thinking about ethics. Ruin stepped in through the doorway.
        “Hey, hey, hey, everyone! How's it going down here?”
        “It's going okay, but it would be going much better if you just walked away.” Cobalt said.
        “I'm getting tired of being hopelessly outmatched. You?” Crystal looked towards Cobalt.
        “Yep. I wish we just didn't have to fight at all.”
        “If I had enough blood...I'd kick your ass to Sol and back...but I...I don't.” Asra said, staring at the ceiling. She felt sick to her stomach.
        “I can fix that, you know.” Ruin said.
        “What, give Asra more blood?” Crystal asked.
        “Yes. I can give her more blood, but only if you'll let me.” Ruin said.
        “Okay, what do we have to do? Give our souls to the Devil?” Cobalt asked, frowning.
        “Close, but not quite. All you have to do is step away from Asra, and not try to kill me. I'll be with you two in a second, okay?” Ruin said, looking from Crystal to Cobalt and back again.
        “Right...That doesn't sound too hard.” Cobalt said.
        “There's a catch, Cobalt. Ruin isn't going to help Asra and walk away.” Crystal said.
        “Yeah, yeah, I know...” Cobalt didn't say it but they both knew Asra wasn't going to survive without help, which only Ruin promised.
        “She's not going to last much longer, you two. She's not losing any more, but she doesn't have enough.”
        “Don't let him.” Asra managed to say.
        “Well, if we don't agree, Ruin will just kill us all, but if we do agree, and it helps you, chances are it's not going to kill you immediately after.” Crystal said, “either we all die or we all survive, but lose our souls or something.”
        “Well? What is it going to be? I'm really in the mood for some killing.” Ruin offered.
        Crystal stepped aside in unison with Cobalt. Ruin walked past and knelt by Asra.
        “It might hurt a small bit, but you'll survive.” Ruin said. Asra leaned away as best she could. Ruin took Asra's shirt sleeves and cautiously rolled them up.
At that point, Cobalt had to turn away. He felt sick.
        Neither arm even formed a coherent line. The bone showed in some places, and the flesh around them was a mess. Even Crystal was starting to become slightly disturbed.
        “Ehw...that doesn't look very good.” Crystal said, grimacing.
        “Tell me when it's over.” Cobalt said, still facing the other way. Ruin placed a hand over one of Asra's injuries, making her flinch. A second later, Ruin pulled its hand away, leaving behind an arm whose skin was a sort of shiny burgundy red. It didn't look healthy, but it looked better than it had before. Ruin did the same to the other arm, and Asra cautiously stood up. Color had returned to her cheeks, and was rapidly spreading to other parts of her body.
        “I-I feel great. Wow! You're like Reggie, then?” Asra asked.
        “Not really. I took Reggie and used his power to heal you.” Ruin said. It turned to look at Crystal and Cobalt, who had retreated slowly to stand a ways away.
        “Now you're just going to go?” Crystal asked slowly.
        “No, no. I'm going to use you as hostages, and if that doesn't work, I'll make you kill your friends.” Ruin said cheerfully.