Lightning grimaced slightly as she rolled over, desperate for sleep to overcome her. It was freezing out there in the open, and she was finding it hard to ignore. Although she had to endure these temperatures during her soldier's training, at least she had blankets. But no, here she was forced to lie in a tent on uncomfortable, un-even ground.

She didn't think much of Gran Pulse before she got there. All she knew was the residents of Cocoon were scared to death by it, for reasons she didn't understand. The War of Transgression was several hundred years ago, but the inhabitants of the floating city were still plagued by irrational fears, even though there were barely any people left on Pulse, if any. Lightning grew up on old tales of Pulse, tales about the great demon Lindzei, and how he alone created Pulse in his terrifying image. It was said that people from Gran Pulse were lured to Cocoon with sweet promises, which of course lead to all Pulsians believing that Cocoon was the home of demons, and had to be destroyed, While the people of Cocoon believed that Pulse was the Devil's land, infested with hellish monsters and undiscovered terrors.

Of course, Lightning knew now that this was only half true. Yes, Pulse was filled with massive beasts and intimidating monsters; but it was the most gorgeous and peaceful place she had ever seen. The deep green grass covered the ground for miles, and the large vegetation sprouted from every crevice in sight. Large trees were scattered throughout the entire area, covered with large, thick leaves. The ground was also decorated with small cliffs, and huge flowers that she didn't even know existed were around every corner. They would pass the occasional waterfall on their journey through Pulse, but she could never get over the sheer beauty of watching the crystal clear water spill over the rocks into the depths below. She had to repress the urge to jump into the shining water once or twice, because it was just so damn hot during the day.

Unfortunately for her, the nights were cold as sin. She regretted cursing the ridiculous heat earlier, because now it seemed like it came back to bite her in the ass. She was currently pulling her knees up to her chin, with her hands locked around her legs, firmly in place. She stayed in that tight ball for a few minutes, but gained no extra heat. She decided that staying in that uncomfortable position was pointless, and uncurled herself. She let out an involuntary shiver as a cool gust of wind spiraled outside.

At this point, she would do anything just for some heat. The fire had burned out an hour ago, so that was out. It was too risky to cast a fire spell, she would loose control of it and end up burning the entire place to ashes. She was never very good at spells.

Lightning huffed in annoyance and sat up to unzip her tent. A nice jog through the nearby forest would surely heat her up a little.

She pulled the zipper down all the way, and slipped out of the tent, making sure to stay silent. She walked passed the burned out fire, which was still emitting a tiny bit of smoke. She could hear all of the soft snores coming from the rest of the party, one particular loud snore catching her attention. Tch. Probably Snow. Idiot, She thought. She let out a long, drawn out sigh as she realized that the snores were only getting louder, and would probably wake up the rest of the group.

She silently made her way over to Snow, who was fast sleep with his head resting on an uncomfortable looking log. They only had two tents, which could only fit one person each. Much to her dismay and protest, the group insisted on taking turns inside the tents, completely ignoring Lightning's attempts to decline, stating that she was perfectly fine sleeping outside.

As she neared Snow, she noticed how he was sleeping. His trench coat was ruffled and dirty, with his arm twisted around his torso awkwardly to support his head. And of course, his mouth was wide open, hence the impossibly loud snoring. Lightning rolled her eyes and walked up to Snow. She reached down and cupped his chin, and then pushed his mouth closed. The attempt was futile however, because as soon as she stood up, his mouth popped open and the snoring commenced again. She tried a second time, with failed results.

Close. Pop! Close. Pop! Close. Pop! Lightning bit back a snarl as she felt her annoyance building. She got up and walked over the his bandana, which had fallen off of his head during his restless sleep. She picked it up, and stuffed it into his mouth, which effectively cause the snoring to cease. The lumbering oaf didn't even wake up.

When she was sure the bandana was going to stay in place, she turned around and started jogging towards the path leading into the forest ahead. She could feel goosebumps start to rise on her skin as the cool breeze whisked by her on her steady pace. The light from the moon and the occasional spell were the only lights in the forest. She only cast healing spells of course, because she just really didn't feel like dealing with a forest fire at the moment.

She jogged for about twenty minutes, before deciding to turn around before she got horribly lost. The light of the moon cast an eerie glow over her current path, which was now the only source of light after she ceased her spell casting. She knew that she could have kept going for hours more; her Guardian Corps training taught her that. She barely worked up a sweat, but it would have to be enough to last her the night.

She was about to start jogging again in the opposite direction when she heard a familiar, but unwanted voice from above her.

"Going for a little midnight stroll, sunshine?" Asked a sarcastic, accented voice from the trees. Lightning stopped her movements, and swerved around in the direction of the voice.

"Fang..." Growled Lightning, dangerously.

"Oh, you are just a bundle of smiles." Laughed Fang.

"Fang, if you don't come down from there I swear to the Fal'Cie I will-"

"Okay, okay. Calm down." The rustling of leaves could be heard, but then silence. Lightning waited impatiently for Fang to get out of her tree of choice.

"BOO!" Shouted Fang, causing Lightning to jump ten feet in the air. On instinct, Lightning swerved around and brought her hand up to attack Fang, who lazily blocked her hand. Lightning snarled in response, which only spurred Fang on. She snickered as Lightning tried to get out of her grip.

"Let. Go. Of. Me." Lightning said, enunciating each word.

"No." Fang grinned, and kept Lightning's arm firm in her grip. Lightning jerked her arm back once, twice, three times, but Fang was seemingly unaffected.

"Face it Farron, I'm stronger than you. You can't escape my titan grip." Fang taunted, which only fueled Lightning's anger.

"I don't have time for this!" Lightning snarled. Her anger was boiling just below the surface, and if Fang didn't wipe that smirk off of her face soon, she was going to have an aneurism.

"Woah there, Lightnin'. You look like you're going to pop a blood vessel! Are you always this tense?" Asked Fang, smirk firmly in place. Lightning only growled in response, her face going red.

"I'll let you go when you calm down. I don't want you to go rippin' my head off, I'm too pretty to die." Stated Fang, while running a hand over her body. Lightning couldn't help but agree. Fang was quite pretty, and her sari, which only covered half of her body, only added to the affect. That sari did somehow manage to cling to all of the right places...

Lightning shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. Her arm was in Fang's grip, now was not the time to be thinking perverted thoughts about the woman in front of her. And what a woman she is...no! Shut up! Lightning thought, frantically.

"You alright there, Lightnin'?" Fang asked.

"Uh...yeah..." Lightning replied. Seeing that she was calmed down, Fang released Lightning's arm, which now had a red hand mark covering it. Momentarily frowning at the evidence that Lightning was even near Fang, she turned around and headed back to the camp.

"Eh! Where are you going?" Fang questioned, only to be ignored. Fang jogged up to Lightning's side, earning a sigh from the soldier.

"What do you want, Fang." Lightning asked, once again annoyed.

"Well, I saw you get up and stuff a bandana in Snow's mouth, which was quite funny by the way, and then I watched you jog into the forest when it's freezing outside, so I followed you to see what you were doing...which brings us to where we are now." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"I was freezing. Am I not allowed to go for a jog? She snipped. A sinister glint appeared in Fang's eyes.

"You were tryin' to warm up, huh?" Lightning nodded. Fang smirked. "I can think of a few ways to warm you up..." Fang said suggestively, while running a hand up Lightning's arm.

It took a few seconds for Lightning's brain to register what Fang just insinuated, and when she did, her mouth dropped open in shock. She hit Fang's hand away, then sped up.

"Aw, c'mon sunshine! Don't be like that!" Fang laughed, as she too sped up to stay by Lightning's side. When they finally got back to the camp, the moon was low in the sky, signaling that night was almost over. Lightning sighed, realizing that she would be getting no sleep tonight.

"Fang...weren't you supposed to be on guard tonight?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah..." Fang replied.

"Why would you just leave? A flan, or even a behemoth could have waltzed right into our camp, and killed everyone in their sleep! How could you be so irresponsible?" Lightning whisper-shouted, careful not to wake anyone else up. Fang started to look sheepish.

"I'm sorry Lightnin'...can you ever forgive me for my inexcusable behaviour?" Lightning rolled her eyes. "Goodnight Fang."

"You know, my offer still stands if you're still co-"

"Goodnight, Fang." Lightning ducked into her tent, never managing to fall asleep.