Chapter Text
It was dark when Aranea found Cindy.
It was always dark of course, it had been for the last three years, and it didn't seem like it'd brighten up any sooner. 'The sun comes up and the world still spins' was a rather defunct expression now.
People stayed within the lights. Stray too far into the night and the daemons will have you before you can say 'Ardyn Izunia fucked the planet.'
This is why it's important that Aranea found Cindy in the dark.
She was 33, and celebrating that fact by going on a hunt. The old Imperial Base by Keycatrich got overrun by daemons every few months or so, what with no one being able to stay, so the hunters would go down every now and again to clear it out. Biggs and Wedge accompanied her as usual, and they were buying her drinks later when they got back to Hammerhead. They'd been there for just under a week or so (just parked, she rarely actually spent time in the garage), and probably would be for a while longer. Prompto had brought Iris down with him, and to Aranea's surprise, Iris had actually asked Aranea to help train her. She'd said yes, liking the 18 year old's attitude, so she'd have to hang around for a while longer. Gladiolus probably wouldn't take to her jetting around Eos with his little sister. A groan escaped her as she landed the airship, and Biggs looked over to her, curious.
"Everything alright Ma'am?"
She waved a hand at him dismissively, leaning back from the control console. "Just thinking that I don't wanna hang around too much."
"Regretting taking on the Amicitia girl?" She shook her head at him, and unbuckled herself, standing as the two did the same.
"Lucis gives me the creeps at the best of times, now I've gotta stick to some...rinky dink garage in the middle of the daemon infested tundra."
"Might not be so bad, Ma'am." Wedge clapped a hand against her shoulder. "Niflheim won't hold out much longer, and the territories just so. We'll be seeing a lot more of Lucis from here on." He handed her her spear, and a small smile, and he and Biggs strode out. Rolling her shoulders, she sighed once more, and followed them into the dark.
They always left the engines on now, lights shining bright like a beacon, otherwise the daemons would try and tear through the ships, which was just such a pain to fix. They also carried flashlights, and little lights snapped to their clothing, more for way-finding than protection.
The daemons themselves weren't too much of a hassle, though perhaps next time she'd let the boys bring some of their Hunter friends. There'd been a few monsters roaming that they hadn't expected though, a Voretooth pack, bloodied and in a frenzy, and a few imps. Still, it was about 4 in the morning when they'd finally cleared out the trench, and she was satisfied. It'd been a good night's hunting, and she was looking forward to getting wasted on whatever alcohol was available at Hammerhead. She'd sent Biggs and Wedge ahead, wanting to make sure there weren't any Voretooth stragglers; They'd bolted before she could finish them all off.
Spear in one hand, flashlight in the other, she circled around the trench, then the perimeter of the base. She cursed the darkness more than a few times, she knew she'd heard things, but her lights only illuminated the path so far in front of her. Something scurried past, and she leapt at it, frustrated. The piercing yowl confirmed her suspicions, and flashing her light at the body, she saw it was a younger Voretooth. It's leg had a seriously deep gash, and a moment was spared to wonder what had happened. Either she'd already killed the mother, or it was still prowling around. Her radio buzzed at her side, and she pulled it from her belt.
"Yeah, just a sec Biggs. Found a straggler Voretooth, gonna nab her and then I'll be right up."
"Very good Ma'am, but I was callin' about a transmission from the Argentum kid."
"Prompto? What'd he want?"
"Said something about a friend of his who came out here not too long ago, was hopin' we'd seen her. Apparently she was supposed to call in but she hasn't yet, I told him I'd let you know, Ma'am." She groaned, and dropped her arm, spear-tip pointing into the ground.
"Great, I'm stuck on search and rescue duty on my day off?" Huffing, she pushed some of her hair back, and hefted her spear up again. "Alright. I'll keep an eye out."
The radio crackled once more, and she kicked the young Voretooth away as she continued her rounds, towards where she thought the mother may be. As it turns out, an eye wasn't what she needed. As she turned around a large boulder, she heard a familiar growling, and snarling. Well, there was one of her problems. As she ran forward, the sounds of human screaming, crying and whimpering filled her ears, spurring her onwards. There's the other one.
Her flashlight fell to the ground as she ran, but her belt light lit the scene before her. The mother Voretooth hunched over a girl, the ground beneath them splattered with blood, and Aranea felt her stomach lurch. Gods, but that was an awful lot. Spear pointed forwards, she dashed towards them, flying over the body and taking the beast with her. She drove her spear further into it's chest, grunting with the effort. It hit the ground, and with feet firmly planted against it, she pushed hard, jumping away from the body and removing her spear. It rolled a few feet more, limp, but her attention was gone, focused solely on the injured woman.
"Hey, are yo-" Aranea clapped a hand to her mouth, holding back her last meal. There'd been a lot of blood, but this; The woman's left arm was gone. Gods, but there was truly nothing left, save for a bloodied mangled stump below her shoulder. Shattered fragments of bone lay around the arm and fuck, did the Voretooth do this? The woman was sobbing, face and chest both scratched, and covered in dirt. "Fuck. Hang on!" Her belt light only shone on the blood, and the bone, and tissue and- Gods Aranea was going to be sick. She yanked off her scarf, and tried as gently as possible to move the woman so as to tie it around the stump. There was so much blood. The crimson of her scarf did little to hide the deep red seeping through it's fabric, and she tied the knot as hurriedly as she could. The woman cried out, and she cursed under her breath.
"Biggs!" The radio crackled to life as soon as her finger left the button.
"Ma'am?"
"Biggs get over here right now- I found the girl, a Voretooth got her arm, I can't jostle her too much or she'll bleed out-"
"Her arm?"
"Gone! Yes, her arm is gone! She's bleeding out, I've got my light up, get over here as fast as you can." Her voice was frenzied, and her words rude, but she was just worried. She'd seen injuries before, she wasn't weak of stomach, but this was something else. And if this truly was Prompto's friend? How was he gonna react? The woman wouldn't stop crying, blubbering names she could barely understand, so she just held the woman to her, uttering assurances she hoped wouldn't be lost. In the corner of her eye, she spotted a broken, blood-stained piece of machinery. A saw maybe? Perhaps she'd caused the gash to the child, angering the mother? She could only guess.
Perhaps a minute of waiting, of cradling the woman in one arm, and flashing her light to the sky in the other, and the familiar sound of her engine hit her eyes, as it descended not too far from them. Wedge was out in an instant, before it hit the ground, being their medical guy. (Aranea and Biggs knew basic first aid, all military officers did, but none of them knew much more than that, Wedge had been a doctor before being drafted into Niflheim's army after they raided the territories.) He swore loudly upon seeing the state of the woman, and made to unwrap the scarf, but Aranea shook her head, and motioned towards the ship.
"Just get her in!" She cried, over the roar of the engine, and he helped her maneuver the younger woman into the ship, and into the corner they'd designated their medbay.
"Blimey..." Biggs glanced over from behind his seat at the controls, and hoisted them up as soon as they were settled. "Hammerhead or Lestallum?"
Aranea thought for a moment, leg jittering as she folded her arms in her lap. "Hammerhead. We can't make it to Lestallum and back, we don't have enough fuel, and if this is the blond runt's friend he'll wanna know she's...alive." Biggs said no more, nodding, and began the journey.
Wedge faffed around, hesitating and faltering every time he went to remove Aranea's bloodied scarf. "Wedge." Her hands were away from the knot, but she still held the fabric closest to the stump pressed tightly against it.
"Sorry Ma'am, it's just- I need to inspect the damage, I can't assess her wound like this, but the bleeding ain't stopped yet." Aranea's hands were becoming faintly tainted with red as they pressed against the fabric. "And if I take it away, there's a chance she'll bleed out. She's probably already lost a fair amount." She nodded, and chewed the insides of her cheek.
"Think it'll stop by the time we reach Hammerhead?"
"I can't say anything for certain Ma'am." He began to rummage through his medical cupboards, and Aranea pulled out her radio, keeping a steady hand against her scarf. She grimaced when she noticed the stain on her hand. Holding the radio between her knees, she twiddled with the frequency.
"Biggs! What channel did the runt call on, his or Hammerheads?"
"His, I think Ma'am." The static stopped once she flicked it onto his (well, he and his boys all shared the same frequency, for ease she supposed, but he was the only one to frequently use it, as Ignis and Gladio often used each other's radios, or one of the Lestallum generals.) frequency, and clamped down on the button.
"Kid! You there?" The response was almost immediate. (He'd admit, later on, that he and Iris had been huddled together in a booth, waiting for any news on Cindy's whereabouts. Cid had been pretending he wasn't eavesdropping.)
"Aranea! I'm here, over." She almost rolled her eyes. 'Over'. She knew he was done.
"I think I found your friend, but-"
"Cindy? Is she okay? Is she with you? Can I talk to her?" She took a deep breath, perhaps a sigh, and Wedge came back from his cupboards, armed with various medical equipment. "Uh, over."
"She's alive. Yes. No. Look, kid she-"
"What do you mean, 'alive?'" The young Amicitia chipped in. "How's that reassuring?"
"Okay, well, quit interrupting me and maybe I can ask how I'm supposed to reassure you about the fact that your girl's missing an arm?" Silence fell. A low whistle from Biggs had her shoot a glare his way. Pulling her eyes away, she looked back to the pained face of the woman- Cindy, and muttered a quiet prayer to Shiva.
"Prompto. You with me?" No static, just silence, and her cheeks were bitten again. "Kid!"
"W-what do you mean...?"
"I-" She sighed again. "She was getting attacked by a Voretooth when I found her, I took it down, but...Prompto it's not good. The thing is gone. It, fuck kid it made me nauseous. We're getting her back to you, but I don't know how she's gonna hold out. If, even." Wedge pulled her hand away, prompting her to frown, but oblige. She attempted to wipe her hand on her pants, but gave up. Wedge was carefully unfolding the scarf, and Cindy hissed loudly, remaining hand grasping at the air. Aranea took it in hers, and squeezed it just as tight as Cindy held on.
"You're fine, you're alive." Comfort had never been Aranea's strong point, but she tried at the very least. Besides, what comfort other than life was there to losing a limb? "Hey! You still there Prompto?" The radio had been quiet for a while, and she could only assume either she'd lost the signal, or he and Iris were discussing the news.
"Whereabouts on 'er arm does it start?" A gruff, older voice came on the radio, Cindy's father perhaps?
"Uhh, about a ninety at her shoulder? Wedge, you got a ruler or something?" Looking up from Cindy's wound, he tossed a length of tape measure her way, and she pulled it along the arm, halting just beside the wound. "About ten centimetres down. That specific enough?"
"Yeah." A small clatter before the sound cut out, and then static. Cindy's hand squeezed again, and she looked over. The bleeding must have stopped, or at least slowed, because it looked like Wedge was preparing to put some antibacterial...something on some of the flesh around the wound.
"We got any morphine or something?" Wedge nodded, motioning to an empty needle beside Cindy's elbow.
"Gave her while you were on the radio. Poor girl."
"-is, go after him! Sorry, Aranea. Is...How long until you get back here?" Ah.
"Biggs?"
"In view, Ma'am!"
"Two minutes? Soon, anyway."
"O-okay."
"Don't worry. I'll take good care of her." Her hand still clasped in Cindy's, a sense that all would eventually be well settled in her as the ship descended into Hammerhead. "It's a promise."