Crown of Thorns

Chapter 1: Unlikely Reunion

For those new to this story, this is the epilogue to My Dearest. There are also some companion fics to this too. I recommend reading Room for Three, Fly me to the Moon, My Dearest, and finally Crown of Thorns (In that order) if you want the full experience!

Alright, you all asked for it! It ended up being longer than I expected. Get ready for more tear jerkers… There's going to be a part 2 alright? Just wait for it. I just started school again but i'm a little more of a quarter of the way done with chapter 2. Sorry if the page breaks are annoying near the end.

Why do you always shoulder the burden on your own,

Suffering alone?

Why do you take all the blame,

Saying "It's my fault things turned out like this"?

I'm so powerless

Can't I support you even a little?

-Ayumi Hamasaki, Tell Me Why

"Damn it! That idiot…" Soma cursed and ran through the city, white god arc in tow. A New-Type Aragami howled nearby and he cursed again. He sank down below a fallen piece of rubble and steadied his breathing. His eyes scanned the ground and he noticed a trail of blood leading into a cave a little ways away. However, it was in the direction of the large wolf-like Aragami in the vicinity. His eyes also caught traces of broken shards of faintly glowing white metal. Soma gripped his sword tighter and hoped those familiar shards weren't what he thought—a broken Trovatore blade…

His eyes scanned the ground more for any clues, but he was annoyed to find none. That girl, although reckless, was good at retreating without a trace if needed. Kota taught her well. When Soma was sure the huge wolf Aragami was far enough he sprinted into the mouth of the cave before any Zygotes alerted his presence. The scent of blood was heavier here as it mixed in with the moisture in the damp cave. More shards of gleaming white metal littered the floor. But it was only a matter of seconds before the light finally died down—signaling the death of the Oracle cells that comprised it. Usually the god arc survived off similar cells from its owner if it had nothing else to devour. But even so, without them they could still survive quite a while on their own. When God Eaters died, retired, or went MIA their God Arcs were reclaimed until there was another match for the bias factor.

But there was an uncanny ability that only New-Type god eaters possessed. Occasionally when the owner died, the cells comprising their weapons also died shortly after—almost like they were truly in complete symbiosis. So either it's been a while since the sword shattered…

Or the owner was…

Soma refused to acknowledge the possibility of that last option and continued down the cave. He popped a glow stick from his pack and let it hang on his belt to illuminate the cave. It looked like part of it was made from old pipeline, so some of the surfaces were smooth and the corridors were easy enough to navigate, minus the boulders of rubble that occasionally called for a short climb. From there he could see large smudges of blood dragged against the smooth curved wall, as if someone was using it for support. Soma's desperation in his search increased tenfold. Judging by the amount of blood…there's no way the injury couldn't be fatal—god eater or not.

He heard a faint slapping sound paired up with a muffled agonized cry echo a further ways down and took off, white god arc in hand. He had half a mind to drop it to run faster, but years of search missions like these told him that the fight isn't over even after you've found your target. Leaving a god arc behind in a dark cavern like this was like a death sentence.

"I thought I told you that you're not allowed to die before I find you, you idiot…!"

A redheaded god eater groaned and stopped for a moment against the wall. Her gloved hands were stained with crimson, one more so since it pressed itself against a side wound to help staunch the bleeding. Her eyes grew heavier each passing moment as she fought to stay awake despite the heavy loss of blood. She dropped what little remained of her once beautiful white god arc a couple feet back since she was unable to even carry it any longer.

The god eater felt her legs give out at last and she slid down the wall with a pained moan. Her back, once burning with claw marks, was beginning to feel blissfully numb against the cold cavern walls. She started to wish the feeling spread throughout her body, but at the same time the pain was the only thing keeping her awake and alive now. Her hand, trembling with strain, slowly reached into her pouch and searched for a health pill, an adrenaline shot, anything. The heaviness in her eyes wasn't going away and sheer willpower alone wasn't going to help any longer. When she was met with nothing but useless bandages she cursed. An absolutely crazy thought entered her desperate mind as she took the long pale ribbons out.

She layered a few together and put them between her teeth while she was still conscious enough to think coherently. With a deep breath, she raised her hand that wasn't holding her side wound and harshly slapped her injured leg that had a long thin slash against it. She had managed to bandage it before she was injured so gravely, but a spike of pain running through her body made her clench down on the cloth in her mouth. A muffled scream escaped her and she shut her eyes tight. Tears cut trails through the dirt and grime on her face and she breathed heavily through her nose so that she wouldn't drop the bandages from her teeth. If she did, she probably wouldn't be able to put it back in. The haze of sleep disappeared and she was awake again—albeit paralyzed with pain. Delving into her drying well of energy she raised her hand to her ear and fumbled for the talk button. The bandages fell just slightly, so all she'd need to do is move her chin to get them back in her mouth again.

"God Eater Amagi Rin… Requesting back-up. I repeat…back-up."

When she was only met with static she ripped the communicator out of her ear and threw it in a random direction. Her anger allowed her this luxury of movement, but Rin became sluggish once more. The god eater rested her head on the pipe wall and sighed. "So…this must be how Lindow felt back then… I can't say I don't blame him for wanting to stay in the Den afterwards." Rin laughed hollowly, only to wince at the movement. More blood poured from her wounds—adding to the growing puddle beneath her.

Rin expected a fight, but she didn't expect how the higher ups would do it. Fenrir's mission to the moon had been postponed due to lack of resources, so at the very least Rin didn't have to worry about Shio for the time being. However, they would constantly set her up with rookies on high level missions. Of course she'd prioritize their safety and took the brunt of the blows as they predicted. The Directors even took great care to make these unfair missions seem like accidents or miscalculations on the scouter's part. Day after day, mission after mission, this 'bullying' (naming it nicely) continued to chip away at her stamina. Yesterday, when it seemed like she had a competent team in a scouting mission, Rin began to hope that her ordeal was over for now at least.

She was dead wrong.

Approximately Three Hours Prior…

"Great. I get stuck with another loony team…" A blonde god eater flipped one of her twin tails and turned her head out the chopper windows with a well practiced glare. Rin recognized her from the Base as one of the members of the reconnaissance teams. A part of her wondered how her and Kota would work together, but upon remembering her old life she felt the familiar loneliness assault her chest. The redhead chose to ignore her comment instead of make an easy going joke to cut some of the tension in the avian vehicle.

"H-Hey, look on the bright side," started another god eater. "All we gotta do is find that… Uh, that New-Type Aragami and slash it!"

She recognized him too. He was one of the rookie New-Types that had been under her care for a little less than a week. He never had a knack for gun usage but was already assigned a role as temporary Unit leader.

"We are not to engage it unless we get orders. For now we are only here to survey it and report back." Rin corrected him, earning a deep frown from their leader.

Rin, no longer a leader herself, questioned if he was remotely ready for the heavy task. Sure, when she was assigned position as leader with Lindow went MIA she was obviously nervous but took up the task seriously. At the very least, though, she was already becoming skilled with her skills as a New-Type god eater; the main skills being able to switch between blade and bullet. Their current leader relied solely on his long sword and shield. And even if she ever deemed him adept enough with his gun, he often stuttered and hesitated with crucial orders. There was many a time where Rin had to bite her tongue to keep herself from issuing orders. It wasn't that she did it because she dearly missed the position. It was mainly because…well… Most orders she heard from the higher ups during her stay at the Base resulted in more than a few casualties. In short:

She utterly despised her current branch's disregard for life.

"This is where we drop you monsters off," One of the drivers hollered from the front. Rin glared at him and his lips curled into a defensive snarl. "What are you looking at, woman? Go out and do your job!"

"L-Let's go…" Their leader mumbled dejectedly as he leapt off the chopper. The gunners followed suit. Rin stared down the driver for a few more seconds before jumping off the chopper as well. There was no use fighting it if what words he sprung were true. They were no longer human. They lost that right a long time ago. Rin clenched her fists when she landed.

The city was quiet save for the flaming buildings in the distance. Even though the buildings were familiar, Rin saw no comparison between this city and the one where the setting sun hit the broken glass just right. This place was just a testament to the continued destruction going around the world.

"About time we landed," The blonde assault gunner dusted her skirt off and readjusted the strap connected to her gun. "Let's get this over with." She scanned the horizon without much energy. Their leader looked around hesitantly like a rookie on his first mission. Their sniper kicked dirt around in random patterns. If Rin had no care in the world, she would have buried her face in her palms at her team.

"Hey, why don't we—" she started but a loud roar alerted all of them. She could feel the ground shake beneath her and she readied the Trovatore blade in her hand. From atop a tall building nearby, a huge shape stepped into view.

One look at the giant wolf-like creature and Rin felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. There was no way they could take it down, not with the way her team worked together. The leader of the Unit was frozen in place. Their sniper was constantly losing focus and was instead murmuring "it's coming…it's coming…" She's heard rumors that he was a test subject for resonance in Old-Type god eaters and was given side-effects from the treatment. Some said he was able to glimpse into the future while others just call him mad. Rin was no stranger to psychological cases like his, but it would have been nice to know he was definitely unstable before coming on the mission. Their blonde assault gunner seemed normal enough if you could push aside her haughty attitude and biting comments every now and then. Overall, her team felt like a powder keg next to a fire.

"Everyone… slowly retreat." Rin whispered as she cautiously stepped away. Everyone else regarded her with surprise. Even worse, they didn't heed her order.

When the beast roared yet again, their sniper accidentally released a bullet through a large glass. The sound of shards shattering echoed through the city and soon enough the god eaters heard the wolf growl threateningly at them down below. It lowered itself momentarily in a position to jump. From its size, it could easily flatten them if it landed on any of them.

"Scatter!" Rin shouted as she jumped back quickly. Since the rest of the team was unused to her being in command there was a precious time lag. Although they managed to avoid being crushed by the giant creature's weight, they were still within attacking distance. The huge Aragami's claw slashed through them. The leader was thrown into a nearby building, the haughty assault gunner hit the ground hard, and the snipers's body went flying in the air. Rin didn't want to see how he landed. The thin, broken pipes jutting out near where the sniper went flying were enough to guess…

When the beast started pacing towards the fallen assault gunner on the floor Rin cursed and quickly switched to her Bugal Gun. She readied her God's Breath bullet to get its attention while doing some crush damage.

"Hey ugly! Over here!"

By the time the Aragami turned its head to her Rin was up in its face and fired. It roared in pain and staggered—buying both precious time for the gunner and life-threatening attention to herself. Rin tried to switch to her short sword while side stepping, but the beast easily bat her away with its other claw. Its recovery time was astounding! She cried out at the impact as she made contact with a nearby boulder of rubble. Her head was spinning and her back stung with blinding pain. Her leg stung and she bitterly noticed a long cut along her left thigh. Nearby she saw a sharp sheet of metal gleaming with her blood.

"Damn… That thing hits harder than an Amaterasu…"

The wolf roared once more and she paled when she heard familiar cries following it. Soon enough, two Vajra's entered the scene from two sides, each sparking with electric rage. She hoped they would fight each other and give her time to give link-aid to her teammates, but much to her chagrin the Vajra stayed close—as if the wolf was the alpha of the pack. She had dealt with an entire herd of Vajra before by herself, but that was only because she finally managed to memorize the movements of their muscles and mannerisms enough to dodge any skill they used. Not to mention she was in tiptop shape at the time. With this New-Type player in the mix, she wasn't she could safely take these three on herself—flash bombs or not.

"It's coming…" a voice croaked out nearby. Rin recognized it as the sniper from their group and carefully craned her head. Just as she suspected, he was impaled through the shoulder and lower right quadrant. If she were to move him, he'd bleed out fast. His eyes searched hers, painfully pleading. It was the first time she saw sane, albeit frightened, clarity in them. "C-Coming…?"

"Shh…" Rin hushed soothingly to her fellow god eater. She forced herself not to stare at the growing puddle of crimson lifeblood around where he was trapped and bleeding out. "Nothing is coming to get you." The sniper closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them. His blue eyes, which were looking more and more like an innocent child's, were filling with unshed tears.

"Don't listen… Don't hear it…"

"I won't. Now rest." She said quietly and sent what she hoped was a reassuring smile to him. The sniper smiled, glad someone at last listened to him, and took a staggering breath. His eyes closed, releasing the tears from their confines as well as his last breath.

Rin frowned from she was sure he was gone and got up. Her left leg protested and blood flowed from the wound. The redhead scowled but got a roll of bandages from her pack and quickly bound the cut. It wasn't long before the white cloth was stained with red, but at the very least it would keep her movements steady. Her back was another issue entirely. It burned and stung against the dry air. She was hesitant to even look at the state it was in.

The Aragami hadn't noticed her yet so she carefully scanned around for the assault gunner. There was evidence of dragging from where she last saw her. The marks led into a nearby office building. Rin followed the tracks after checking for any stray Aragami. She could hear the faint roar of that wolf Aragami, but she took a chance. Rin moved swiftly and silently across the field. When she safely got inside she saw the gunner propped up against the wall. Her blonde twin tails were undone and the long ribbons that held them in place were against her head with her left hand to staunch her bleeding temple. Her right arm hung limply at her side.

Rin hurried over and knelt down to the dizzy gunner. "You alright?"

She seemed to blink back her confusion just a bit and parted her lips. "Does it look like I am...?" Without replying, Rin took out a jar of medicine and applied it to the ugly gash on the gunner's forehead. After bandaging it, Rin surveyed her up and down.

"You broke your arm?" it was more of a statement than a question and the gunner nodded slowly. "Okay, I need you to bite into this." Rin gently coaxed a thin strip of bandaging past her lips, which she grudgingly accepted. "I have to set it before I can give you medicine. It's going to hurt, but you have to stay quiet or they'll hear us outside, okay?" For the first time, Rin saw a flash of fear in the girl's eyes. She looked so much younger now. She must have been fourteen or fifteen at most. "I'll try to make it quick, okay? Just watch our backs just in case anything tries to enter the room." Hesitantly the girl nodded. Rin studied the break in her arm. Luckily the broken bone hadn't pierced the skin, but it was at an odd angle at the elbow. Easy enough to set, in concept, but through personal experience she knew it would be an agonizing process. "Ready?"

When the girl nodded Rin slowly started to shift her bone into place. At first she let out a squeal but she bit down hard on the bandage with her teeth. Rin let out a quick apology but continued to set the bone. After a while she let out a muffled cry louder than earlier. Rin fought the urge to look behind her if any of the Aragami heard her. Once she was sure he work was good enough she took out an elixir pill, one of the only ones she had, and pressed it into the girl's mouth. She took out a canteen and brought it to her lips.

"Last thing I need you to do for me."

The girl swallowed gratefully and sighed in relief when the oracle cells in her body started fixing her back up, albeit slowly. "Thank you…"

"I'll call a chopper in. We're getting out of here." Rin lifted her hand to the small communicator in her ear. "God Eater—"

"It's no use…" the gunner coughed up blood from her more serious internal injuries. A restore pill wouldn't be able to make a dent in those. "No one is going to answer."

"Why the hell not?" Rin scowled and tried again. "God Eater Amagi Rin. Aborting mission. Requesting chopper!"

"For two reasons," she answered and attempted to shift into a more comfortable position. "One: the coms are set to relay orders to the Base only from the leader. Two…" her eyes looked away and her lips pressed into a thin line. "This mission was never meant to be completed."

Rin's eyes widened and she gasped in confusion and horror. "What? What do you mean?"

The gunner sighed. "I'm sure you've noticed the signs. An unstable sniper? A greenhorn leader? And me—the worst person to consider something like teamwork." She spat the word out in disgust. "It was a setup from the start."

"How do you know this?" The redhead asked. The girl bit her bottom lip in contemplation. Rin placed a hand on the girl's shoulder gently. "Please tell me."

"Amagi Rin. Previous 1st Unit leader in the Fenrir Far Eastern Branch. First New-Type assigned to that branch and one of the few that passed the aptitude test with minor side-effects. Specialty: short blade and tower shield. Gun: blaster. Aided fellow New-Type Alisa Amiella's mental stability by the use of resonance. Known for leading her team to prevent the Devouring Apocalypse and resolved the Hannibal incident concerning Amamiya Lindow." It was as if she was reading off a file normally classified under normal means. A wry smile touched her bloodied lips. "I didn't expect you to let your guard down so soon even though you expected all that treatment you got."

The redhead glared but pulled back her retorts. "Where do you fit in? If no one was meant to survive this mission, then what did you do to warrant Fenrir's attention?" The gunner smiled wryly again and shook her head. Rin understood the gesture. Everyone had scars worth gaining. The question was what they lost in exchange. The redhead turned her head to the entrance of the building after hearing the heavy footfalls of a large Aragami nearby.

"Go… Leave me." The gunner coughed. "Your best bet at survival is to get that greenhorn leader's com. No guarantee it'll still work but it's worth a try. I can hold my own here."

"I won't—"

"Just go!" she growled, loud enough to startle Rin but quiet enough not to alert the Aragami outside. The redhead god eater studied the stubborn look in the gunner's eyes. Reluctantly Rin got up and started to make her way out. "By the way…"

Rin half turned her head. "Hm?"

"You better hope our leader is down for the count." She said. "Something seemed fishy before we left on the mission… Don't trust him." The redhead bristled at her for contempt for life, but she quickly rushed out of the building before she could change her mind about keeping her alive.

She had more important matters to attend to.

With an urgent swiftness in her step, Rin sprinted out of the building and made it her mission to at least make it to the closest cluster of boulders for cover. Even if she no longer heard any more heavy footsteps it never hurt to be too careful. Her ears strained to hear the Aragami, but strangely enough everything was completely silent. She took out a small scouter that every god eater was given on missions. According to a blinking red arrow just a little north of here, their leader was probably knocked unconscious. She thanked whatever stubborn deity that was watching over her and hurried over. Once again she caught sight of trails of blood and drag marks on the floor leading into a building—an old pharmaceutical company in fact. Rin chuckled at the irony at how Fenrir used to be one, and now it's humanity's last hope for survival.

"Hey, is anyone in here?" Rin called out softly. She stepped over the rubble in the building and frowned at the sight of it. The place was looted for medical supplies Tapestries were torn and desks were either overturned or scavenged. The redhead tried focusing on finding their leader and was graced with a low pitiful groan from across the room. Beneath a desk was their leader, holding his side with one arm while the other had a loose grip on his long sword. "Are you alright?"

The man made a noise of surprise and instinctively tightened his hold on his god arc. Rin froze and got into a defensive stance while still advancing to the stunned god eater. "It's me, Amagi. From your unit." His eyes studied her critically before exhaustion overrode his suspicions. When he slumped even more Rin hurried to him and placed her god arc down. "Hold on. Just let me—"Her ears heard it before she could react. The faint 'shing' of metal. Rin felt her side dampen with warmth and she looked down to see his ice katana run cleanly through her side. "What are you doing?"

He grinned through bloody lips and put his other hand on the hilt of the dull edge of his blue blade. "No hard feelings, Amagi."

The edge glowed pale blue and Rin hurriedly pulled her blade in front of her. Seconds later, his god arc discharged a heavy blast of ice that sent her flying backwards into the opposite wall. Her impact broke a sturdy desk and she felt the blaze of her back injuries multiply tenfold. She cried out in pain and her god arc seemed to understand the feeling. The delicate white Trovatore blade, unused to being used to defend, cracked in several places. Rin felt unease in the cells within her bracelet and she mentally hushed them and sent soothing thoughts to the panicking cells.

When she regained her focus she struggled to get up only for her wound to ache in protest. Shakily, she surveyed her stab wound. Her green shirt was stained with dark crimson. Despite the burn, she also felt a shocking chill through the wound—most likely due to the freeze element in his god arc. The leader slowly got up from his position and went towards the door with slow unsteady steps.

"You…" Rin grit out and still attempted to push herself up despite the blood pulsing out with the strain. When she noticed him take two small vials of clear liquid she paled. "Wait, no. Don't!"

He smiled softly at her. A sort of self-depreciating smile. "Nice knowing you, 1st Unit Leader." And with that, he broke the vials of taunting scent. The air seemed to grow thick with tension and an ominous curtain fell over Rin. Quickly she searched through her pouch, hoping—praying she brought one with her. At last, her hand made contact with a similar vial except with blue liquid. Just as soon as she broke the vial and the fluid touched her, a piercing scream attacked her ears. She couldn't look away when the wolf-Aragami appeared at the doorway and leapt onto the suicidal god eater. Soon, those screams turned to laughter—laughter that could only be described as mad.

"Don't listen… Don't hear it…"

For some reason, the snipers words came back to her at this very moment. But it was too late. The sounds were already etched into her ears. The images were burned into her brown retinas. At last, when the beast had made its fill of the meager meal, it paced the room in search for more blood. Its heavy footfalls came closer and closer to her. Its large talons were gleaming in her direction. 'Where are you,' those claws seemed to say as they thirsted for more flesh. The large Aragami came closer and closer to her and Rin grew too scared to breathe. At last, it stopped right in front of her. Its gold eyes studied where she lay motionless in her small growing puddle of blood.

It leaned forward and sniffed the air right in front of her face. She could smell the merciless carnage on its fangs, but she couldn't find it in herself to look away.

'If I'm going to die here…'

The Aragami's breath grew heavy and saliva dribbled down its large jaw.

'I won't turn away. For all the times humanity has turned their backs on you gods, I will stand to face you now.'

It paused. It was almost considering what to do next. The Aragami tilted its head and let out a high pitch whine before retreating out of the room. Rin exhaled slowly and thanked Dr. Sakaki for leaving her some high grade disguise scent before she left the Den. With a wince, she managed to get up at last and popped some medicine in her mouth. The feeling of her oracle cells repairing her damaged ones never ceased to amaze her, and a part of her never wanted to get used to it. Wouldn't that mean she was no different than the Aragami she slays? She wasn't human, nor was she an Aragami. If she had the choice, she wondered what would be her answer.

When she assumed the beast was a reasonable distance away she started to move for safer cover. She vaguely remembered there was a tunnel system nearby. The Aragami looked far too big to maneuver in the narrow and confined spaces. Rin just hoped she wouldn't find anything else in there… She picked up her cracked God Arc and frowned when it started to fall apart.

"Just a little farther…" Rin whispered gently to the blade in her hands. She could almost feel it hum in her hands in response. The resolve to live never died out within the God Eater as she carefully maneuvered out of the building and, hopefully, into the dark foreboding tunnels.

Soma sniffed the damp air with narrowed eyes. Despite his usual protests whenever anyone asked him if his sense of smell was really keen, he threw caution to the wind today. He'd use every single one of his Aragmi senses in order to find her. For the first time he found himself lucky to have the enhancements done to him since birth. He'd tear the earth apart if he could to find her. Soma knew she could hold her own and that she didn't need a fantasy knight in shining armor to protect her. After all, there was nothing honorable or glorious in this pathetic place they call earth anymore. Still, he couldn't shake the deep pit of doubt and protectiveness that flowed through him now.

The platinum blonde found himself at a three path crossroad and growled. The light from his glow stick was growing fainter and he cursed. He forgot to replace this old one in his haste to depart on the mission. He could no longer see trails on the walls and despair began to set in. As a last ditch effort he found himself shouting:

"Rin!"

Behind her eyelids she could hear a sound so familiar that it made her want to cry. That voice… It couldn't be. Rin fought with the urge to hope or to ignore. It could have been her imagination playing tricks on her. It wouldn't be the first time she hallucinated hearing things. Then again, maybe her deluded hope would help her survive just a minute, just a second longer. But what good would that do? No one from the branch will come to get her. No survivors in this abandoned city would dare risk their lives for a God Eater they've never met before. She would die alone. All alone…

"I'll come find you. It doesn't matter where either. I'll find you no matter what."

'Why?' she thought with a bitter smile on her lips. 'Why am I remembering that now?'

It had been quite a while since her current branch cut off her communications with the Den for reasons unknown. They claimed it was to prevent 'information leaks' but she had a hunch. They wanted to break her both physically and mentally. The bad thing was that it was working. The times she managed to unwind inside her room and chat with her friends rejuvenated her. Sometimes everyone would crowd into one room to share a screen. Sometimes even Tsubaki joined in for 'debriefing,' but Rin knew that the woman must have missed her as well. And the times she was allowed to speak one-on-one with a certain buster blader… It made all the pain and fatigue from her harsh days at her current branch vanish just by hearing that voice. She wasn't going to hear it ever again.

"If you talk like that it sounds like you're giving up, leader."

"Rin! Where are you?"

Her eyes began to water and she prayed that for once her delusions would prove true for once—that her hopes would be more than just hopes. He came after all. She parted her lips and tried to call out in a loud voice. All that came out was a hoarse whisper as she coughed. Soma… Soma!

"Damn it… Where the hell is she?"

"I'm here, I'm here…!" Her throat tried to scream but her voice couldn't grow louder than a whisper. Her side blazed in pain when she tried to move again but she couldn't even find the energy to yell. She could hear his footsteps grow farther and farther away and she began to despair. She couldn't shout. She couldn't cry. If this was the case…then maybe whispering was enough.

Oh the wildflowers that bloomed

Ah, please tell me

Why do people fight,

Hurting one another?

A song? Where… Where is it coming from?

Soma stopped to listen. It was quiet and hardly above a whisper. There was no way a normal Aragami could have made that noise and, out of all the people he knew, only two sang like that. The tunnels continued to expand the further he went in. He could no longer follow the heavy scent of blood because water was distilling the smell and dispersing throughout the tunnels. Soma couldn't even follow the blood trails on the wall. This section of the tunnels were different from the pipeline, hence the walls were rough and jagged. It's no wonder that the injured target stopped using it for support if all they could do was drag themselves against it. A song continued to echo throughout the labyrinthine tunnels, but he closed his eyes to try to pinpoint its location. Soma tried to ignore its heartbreaking tenor with little success.

Oh the flower blooming nobly

What can you see from there?

Why can't people

Forgive one another?

The left? He rushed over down that corridor. The scent of blood finally began to pick up and he debated if that was a good thing or a bad one… The smudges on the wall reappeared once the path went back to the smooth pipeline walls. The song grew louder as he went. When Soma took another step his foot kicked something away. Upon closer inspection, it was the hilt of a shattered god arc. "Rin!" He turned and frowned when the scent of blood was exceptionally strong here.

The rain passed and summer

turned bluish

as one

You trembled faintly

In front of me

The song paused. He turned to the left and looked down as his eyes widened to see a familiar head of red hair sitting propped up against the wall a couple feet away. She looked up at his face and smiled weakly before finishing the last line of the stanza. "Without saying a thing…"

"What the hell happened to you?" he growled low but it was heavily laced with worry.

He knelt down and surveyed her appearance. One leg was wrapped with a bloody bandage. A thin cloth was on her lap and he immediately knew the muffled scream from earlier was definitely her. Soma saw one hand bloodier than the other and on closer inspection he saw that it was covering a large wound. What concerned him more was that it wasn't made by an Aragami… It was made by a sword. When he saw her face he noticed her beginning to drift off in unconsciousness. He forced himself to lightly slap her cheeks to keep her awake.

"Hey, don't you dare fall asleep. You can sleep all you want when we get back."

He quickly grabbed an elixir and tried bringing it to her lips. The precious liquid trickled down her chin. Letting out another growl, he took a small swig of the elixir himself and gently coaxed her lips open. Carefully, he pressed his lips to hers and slowly allowed it to trickle down her throat. Luckily, Rin was conscious enough to try to swallow, although it did nothing but send a burning sensation down her throat. She coughed reluctantly and groaned when the motion made her side wound well up with blood again. Rin could feel her oracle cells working in overtime in reaction to the strong, rare medicine. She no longer felt sore and the blazing pain in her back was reduced to a heavy stinging throb. The redhead shuddered. If she still felt like that after the elixir, she definitely didn't want to see the damage. And despite her short-lived bliss, her side still ached.

"Hurts…"

Soma took a closer look at the wound and cursed. Whatever, no, whoever attacked her must have put some strange poison in the blade. At the very least the bleeding should have slowed, but blood still flowed easily. It was a wonder how she still fought unconsciousness through sheer willpower.

"I'll have to get a closer look, Rin."

The statement told her more than enough. That she had to move her hand. That he'd have to cut away at her shirt to see past the gore. Slowly she nodded and released some pressure from her side. Quickly, Soma took out a sharp knife and carefully began cutting away. Luckily his glow stick was still bright, but he took extra care not to prolong her pain. The redhead grit her teeth and whimpered at the initial movement, but after that she remained bravely silent. Soma took a roll of bandages and quickly, yet precisely, bound her wound. As he did so he took a look at her back and winced. Those wounds would definitely leave scars. He bound what he could but most of her upper back was still exposed. Once again, she moaned in pain and then fell quiet. A nearby roar alerted him and the buster blader cursed.

"Just give the coordinates and go," Rin gasped when he bound her wounds tighter. "I'll be fine until a chopper comes."

"What did I say about chopper rides, leader?" he forced himself to joke and tied off the bandage. "Even with this you'll hardly last the trip to the chopper, let alone the ride back."

"Thank you for…the vote of confidence," She chuckled weakly. "And leader, huh? It's been a while since I've believed it…"

The buster blader glared at the quickly reddening bandage but mentioned nothing about it. Instead he put a hand to the com in his ear. "Kota, bring her in."

[Roger that!] Rin heard a familiar chirp from the com and giggled absently again. It looked like her mind was getting hazier and hazier of the danger they were in.

"That Kota… Is everyone alright?"

Soma took out a syringe from his bag and took the cap off with his teeth. "Yeah. Everyone got promoted when you got demoted. Karel was thrilled." He then injected fluid into her upper arm before tossing the now useless syringe away. It would degrade soon unlike those used in normal hospitals, so there was no need to worry. "Feel any better?" She slowly nodded as her eyes grew droopy. He waited a few more seconds before flicking her leg wound lightly. When she didn't register the pain, Soma carefully crouched in front of her and pulled her onto his back. Her body was colder than he thought. The painkillers he gave her would work for an hour in normal circumstances. He gave her a half hour at best before it wore off for her injuries. He had to act fast.

From memory he managed to navigate partway through the tunnels until he could follow the morbid blood stains on the walls. It pained him to look at them again, especially now that he was sure they were from her, but it was the only way he would be able to get her to safety in time.

"Hey, Soma?"

She was mumbling softly into the cloth on his back. The platinum haired God Eater half turned his head to her while jogging. "Yeah?"

"There's something I want to ask..."

"You can ask me when you get better, idiot." Soma replied. He could finally see the mouth of the cave he entered earlier. But she continued. Whether or not she heard him in the first place or was simply ignoring him gnawed at the back of his mind. Her physical injuries were dire, but he had no idea how to look for any mental issues.

"Did I do the right thing?" Her voice was almost inaudible now. Even with his heightened senses he had a hard time hearing her breathless words. Soma resisted the urge to hold her tighter. He could hear the blades of the chopper nearby and quickly scanned out the mouth of the cave before continuing forward. "Did I…do a good job?"

"You did what a leader would have done…" Soma replied after a short pause. No Aragami were in sight and any unfamiliar scents were gone. Two god eaters arrived with a stretcher and he carefully eased her on. While the two god eaters were distracted with getting her inside the chopper he managed to give her a tiny strained smile. "But giving all of us a heart attack might cost you some points." Rin smiled back just a little before her ordeal finally caused her to black out. The last thing she managed to see was Soma's quickly fading smile and an emotion akin to fear in his dark blue eyes.

A/N: Sorry. Not much romance in this. Then again this chapter could also constitute as practice for future action scenes. The romance is more for the next chapter. Originally this was going to be a oneshot epilogue but when I saw the word count jump to 6.9k+ I decided to end the chapter there and make another one. The lunar mission Rin was supposed to be training rookies for will be explained in the next chapter, as well as things that have been going on over on her side while she was away from the Den. Next chapter will have hopefully twice the romance as this one since Rin and Soma can actually interact in the next part.