V Rising Sun and Sleeping Storm

[Summer]

A small form stirred upon the bed of leaves where they rested, consciousness slowly returning from the brink of sleep. Eyes fluttered, disturbed by the soft sunlight streaming through the canopy, and a small groan rose up from behind closed lips. They shivered again, lightly, more out of a desire to wake than a reaction to the slightly chilly air. For a moment, it felt as though their body was being weighed down, not by the shackles of sleep but something... more. Yet despite the curiosity rising like the sun in one half, their other half clung desperately to sleep, tiredly trying to keep them still.

“Wake up.” Summer whispered quietly, in a voice audible only to their own ears. “Don’t wanna...” came the mumbled response, question and answer coming from the same lips. Yet they didn’t give themselves a choice. Black hair flashed to blonde in an instant and eyes, still heavy with sleep, were forced open. Though verbally they protested, voice cracking from sleepiness, their body still moved regardless. It started with a quick roll to their other side, leaves crunching as they tested their limits. Then, onto their front, forehead pressed against the detritus, and finally, a push to their feet.

The still-sleepy Summer let out a groan as they rose to a stand. Their back arched, their arms stretched high above them, and in one grand gesture, they came to the realization. Yup, something’s wrong. The sunny spirit shook out their body, driving out the fatigue of sleep, and simultaneously, they felt an unusual weight to every movement. Before them stretched an almost alien forest. Twisting trees larger than anything they’d seen before held up equally massive, dilapidated structures. Stones that may have once been cut supernaturally smooth (in their eyes, at least) now lay crumbled amongst the ruins.

“Well now...” amidst the almost disturbing silence, a voice that could be mistaken for calm rang out. Summer, carefully and deliberately taking in deep breaths, slipped their autumn band off their wrist. “Are we going to keep dissociating, or are we ready to wake up?” Their body froze for a second, caught by an invisible force halfway through pulling their hair back. “Can we not sleep more?” The cadence in their voice shifted from steady to tired, words spoken from one half reached the ears of the other. “No,” they aggressively tugged their hair, “we can n-owowow.” Their words devolved into pained cries partway through their sentence. They froze again, this time more deliberately, and in a quiet voice, whispered, “wuss....”

“Has the pain finally awakened us?” Satisfied, Summer let their completed ponytail drop back. Though their voice suggested a certain smugness, the unusual pounding of their heart betrayed their worry. To this question, the spirit received no response. “Very well...” they sighed, swiping at the detritus that still stuck to their black dress, “... However, let it be known that we will move nevertheless.”

The sun-bearing Summer started forward, the throbbing of their heart starting to let up. Yet still, their mind raced with every step they took. The size of the plants, the unrecognizable architecture... Grandiose ruins laid in every direction, spread out an unknowable distance, all pointing to conclusion after disturbing conclusion, and just as many unanswered questions. A quiet chuckle, belonging to the storm rather than the sun, escaped their lips. “Serves them right~,” they sang.

“So we wake at last?” Though it seemed they both arrived at (relatively) the same conclusion, Summer opted to ignore the malicious statement. To this, they received no response. Under their breath, the spirit mumbled, “petulant child...” and raising their voice, they continued. “Would it be inaccurate to say, we feel incomplete, unusual, absent?” More than the long-dead ruins, the unfamiliar weight to their being, Summer had noticed an aberration. Though the sun above cast down its warming light across the forest, they could not feel it. Or rather they could, yet somehow... not in the way they were used to. As though it were interacting with their being as an outsider and not... as them.

“Yes, we do feel absent.” Finally, the other responded. “Absent our desired rest.” At this, Summer froze, their mind blanking for a moment, heat welling up in their head. “We would rather have productive input.” Their tone took a turn for the exasperated. “Are we not lost, in dire straits? In a forest we don’t recognize? A time we do not know? Heavier, weaker than we’ve ever been?” More focused on talking than on walking, the spirit came to a stop. “Would our energy not be better spent discovering what has happened to us, rather than pining for sleep that we can always return to later?”

Once again, their speech elicited no response and to this, Summer’s shoulders drooped. With a heavy breath, they started walking again, feeling more alone with their thoughts than usual.

 

[Summer]

Summer’s steps sounded out forlornly through the forgotten city, the strangely quiet scenery making no imposition of the soft echoes. Overgrown brush and trees had parted somewhat, dispersing from the ground below, revealing strange cracked roads beneath their tread, and from above, revealing a new wealth of ruined towers and strange metal vehicles. The slowly setting sun above seemed to set the ruins ablaze, with shattered glass and twisting metals alike scattering the orange glow. A mutual breath caught in the spirit’s throat, eyes widening at the scene. Though where one saw beauty abound in many ways, the other was stricken with a pang of loneliness. Abandonment.

The sun, usually able to take life slow, to enjoy the small spots of beauty like this gorgeous sunset, found themselves in an unusual spot of anxiety. Worry that brought a quickened pace to their shared heart. As their steps never stopped, neither too did their mind. Racing thoughts clouded their typically sunny disposition, running constantly through an internal string of calculations desperately trying to put together the alien puzzle they found themselves in. Green eyes anxiously flicked from wavering bush to dark shadow, unable to properly process the sheer amount of alone they were, and thus searching for any sign to prove they weren’t.

For the storm, however, this was something like a dream. Though they felt the throbbing of their mutual heart, the almost-jogging pace of their shared body, that they weren’t, at the moment, controlling, they found themselves almost at peace. Perhaps what they were feeling was elation at the thought of humans finally having gotten their own comeuppance. Or perhaps more likely, they found themselves unable to accept that what they saw with their anxiously darting eyes wasn’t a dream. To them, it surely felt as though they were really deep asleep, and that they were just along for the ride on this strangely vivid dream.

Yet the storm couldn’t quite suppress the thought, the small fact in the back of their mind. They hadn’t dreamed like this in years. Not since the split. Sleeping almost seemed to break down the barriers between the sun and the storm. At most when they slept they would witness smatterings of color and vaguely word-like white noise. Incomprehensible nonsense as two dreamstates tried to superimpose upon each other. And when confronted with this realization, the newly awakened Summer had two plans. Suppress it, or…

“It’s getting late, give us something to kill.”

… Release it.

“Killing could get us killed.” There was an edge to the sun’s voice, a sharp irritation at the fact that, after all this time of not getting answers, the first thing the storm could bring up was getting rowdy. “And we are busy trying to survive, in case we’ve forgotten.” Their mutual breathing grew only harsher, the antsiness in their body amplifying. Already on the edge, Summer suddenly felt the urge to run. Not to or from anything, just to start running.

“Is killing not an aspect of surviving?” Agitation underscored the stormy spirit’s words. “When one’s life is on the line, might one need to kill in order to survive?” The look in Summer’s eyes grew distant, no longer focusing on the scenery around them, yet their walking pace increased.

“In some respects, yes.” Though polite, the tension in their tone strengthened. “However we are not in imminent physical peril.” Their eyes focused again, as though they were wavering between consciousness and unconsciousness. “Besides, pray tell where we would even find something to kill? In case it has slipped the mind, we are quite alone.”

“If we search, we could no doubt find.” Hands clenched, breathing tensed, the anxious beating in their shared heart quickened. “What surviving have we even done? We have not found food, we have not found water, we have found no signs of life. Look!” In an instant, blonde hair flashed to black, their walk stopped dead, and Summer began hastily grabbing at the folds in their clothing. “This dress doesn’t even have pockets! How are we supposed to carry anything!?”

“That’s…” Although there was no physical tell, it was clear in their voice that the spirit was wincing.

“What about these buildings huh!?” Summer scooped a chunk of broken asphalt and hucked it down the road, not sparing it a second glance as it vanished out of sight. “Or these stupid little things!?” They grabbed another piece and threw it directly at a car across the street, loudly shattering its window and setting off its alarm. The spirit grimaced, gritting their teeth as the sudden, piercing wail ambushed their poor ears. “Oh shut up!” Even with their stormy rage behind it, their shout couldn’t top the shriek of the car. Lightning surged through their body propelling them just a step further before…

CRACK

The hood crumpled beneath the sheer force of the lightning imbued strike. Bones cracked, flesh seared, and metal was pierced. Thunder rumbled, echoing once, twice, thrice throughout the barren city, and finally, the accursed wail was silenced. Summer wrenched their hand free, before straightening up and taking a deep breath to quell some of the pain. After a moment, they released the breath loudly. Followed by another.

“... Need some help?” Finally, the sun poked their head through the clouds.

In response, the storm coughed into their (intact) fist, before quietly mumbling, “... Yes…” Black hair faded back to blonde, and wordlessly, Summer fell still. Hands together, they quietly concentrated, a growing light emanating from their body. Slowly, the broken and burned hand mended itself together, and the light fell away.

“Now, something was said about the buildings and the…” The sunny spirit paused for a moment. “‘Stupid little things’, was it?”

“Yeah, we should um…” The storm slowly trailed off, suddenly sounding meeker than before. “We should take a look around here before night falls…”

“Right…”

 

[Summer]

Time passed, the scouting continued, and the shadows grew ever longer. The setting sun had since dipped behind the still-standing towers, rendering unto the city a slowly strengthening darkness. Yet noticeably, silence didn’t come with it. To one half, this racket was quite straightforward. The periodic shattering of glass as they, the black-haired Summer, punched out yet another window, their fist bound up with the strange upholstery of one of the vehicles to keep the cuts at bay. Typically followed up by the crunching of the glass as they climbed in through the window, slowly ruining their dress (much to the sun’s chagrin), and the whine of metal as they kicked the door open from the inside.

Now one might ask the spirit, ‘why all this work, when throwing the pavement and just unlocking the door would be so much easier?’ To which the harsh response would likely be ‘it’s more satisfying, shove off.’ And it was. To the turbulent storm at least, who was still grappling with feelings of pent-up agitation and anxiety. In some ways, it could be considered therapeutic, if more than a bit unhealthy. Destructive and constructive wrapped up in the same action. Though windows were broken, doors were ruined, and glove compartments were torn open by flaring tempers, at least they were able to find some intact morsels to stave off that day’s hunger.

To the other half, passively keeping their shared senses tuned to the world around them, the air seemed… unusually tense. The racket wasn’t one of breaking glass and crying metal, but something more ethereal. The slowly-coming night wasn’t bringing silence with it as it should, but the distant echoes of something worrisome. The whisper of overgrowth, tucked into forgotten alleys. The clattering of debris echoing in far-off corners of the streets. Hidden unassumingly behind not-quite raging of a storm.

Was that real? Were they just imagining something? Doubt clouded the sun’s usual brightness. It stood to reason that since they hadn’t encountered anything yet, they were merely tricking themselves with paranoia. But, it also stood to reason that the only reason they hadn’t encountered anything was that nothing had yet noticed them. And that sort of prospect immediately ignited the sun-bearing Summer’s concern. If there was danger lurking around those corners, wouldn’t it be attracted by all the noise they had made up until now? The sound of the breaking glass might not have carried too far, but what of the storm’s thunder? What of the piercing alarm? Those noises would echo so much further...

“... Is this even food?” The storm’s rather mundane worry broke the sun out of their trance. Shared eyes stared suspiciously at a plastic-wrapped rectangle, fished unceremoniously from yet another ruined glove compartment. As their gaze skimmed across a section labeled ‘ingredients’ on the back, the sun could almost feel the rusty cogs turning in their other half’s mind. “It almost seems like food, but for all the gibberish. Fructose? Le-si? Ki? Thin? Lekithin? Lesithin? Natural flavor? Pray tell, what exactly falls under natural flavor?” Though the spirit’s perplexed expression could not be seen, it could definitely be felt.

There was a pause of a few moments, as the storm mulled over the exotic ingredients, and the sun waffled between whether to tell their eternal deadweight of their suspicions or not. Sure, a more in-depth look would be helpful, but they also didn’t want the ever-impulsive storm to throw them headfirst into danger. “Well, what doesn’t kill us doesn’t kill us.” The tempestuous side of Summer loudly announced, more for themself than anything else, and promptly shoved the unpackaged granola bar down their face.

Anything the sun had been thinking about saying was immediately thrown to the wayside as they suddenly found themselves chewing the most dry, tasteless, and stale thing they’d ever had the displeasure of eating. Suddenly they found themself wondering whether this was going to be all they would be able to eat for the next thousand or so years, and whether it would be appropriate to give up on life now rather than suffer the displeasure of loneliness and expired snack food for an unknowable length of time. Such thoughts were soon replaced in turn by the voice of their other half, speaking through a still-full mouth like the yokel they were.

“Hey.” Mutual eyes turned to the growing dark outside the open door, settling on massive, inhuman form. “Is that a skeleton?” Metal shrieked, glass exploded, and suddenly Summer found themselves thrown around the inside of a tumbling car.

 

[Summer]

Even as the tumbling of the vehicle came to a halt, their world continued to upend. One mind raced in two directions, their shared body involuntarily responding to both at once. Blood ran both hot and cold, emotions clouded their thoughts and yet, at the same time, rendered them clear as the night sky. Disparate wills clashed internally, bewilderment and rage vying for control and, in an instant, action was decided. A pair of aching hands clawed at the shattered edge of the window, glassy fragments tearing into their makeshift bandaging. A shared heart pounded loudly, their now decidedly hot blood roaring in their ears. Adrenaline surged, dulling the throbbing from the newly-formed cuts and bruises marking their body until they were entirely obscured beneath the fog.

In an instant, the storm-possessed Summer wrenched themselves from the crumpled wreckage, landing heavily on their feet, their eyes passing over vague forms concealed by shadow, before resting on the largest among them. Muscles tensed and electricity flowed, any semblance of rational thought thoroughly clouded over by the growing storm. Spirit and shrouded beast alike bristled, the tentative calm only growing more tense by the second until finally, the dam burst.

“We will see you all ground to dust beneath our feet!” With a furious shout, the electrified Summer threw their hand up.

CRACK

Lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Blistering pain coursed down the stormy spirit’s arm, the bolt shredding apart the tattered remnants of their dress sleeve. Brilliant light flooded the no-longer-barren city streets, a brief snapshot catching the pack of beasts frozen in motion. Creatures, somewhere between animal and automaton, already on the offense. Their eyes widened, and their heart caught in their chest. Lightning struck true, sending the largest beast reeling, but even that wasn’t enough to loosen the icy grip on their heart. In an instant, sun overtook storm, their body tensing up as though to run. Yet at that crucial moment, they found themselves paralyzed.

A powerful weight slammed into the golden-haired spirit from the side, cracking their already-injured arm and sending them, and their mind, tumbling. Amidst the panicked maelstrom, a tempest took over. Blonde hair flashed to black as Summer managed to land back on their feet. A shared heart pounded with two different emotions, each desperately vying for control. Body strained and charge built, eyes scouring for any foe hiding under the cover of darkness.

“Fool.” The storm spat, an emotional typhoon smothering the sun. “Hesitation will only cost us.”

“We can not-”

CRACK

Any words the sun attempted to speak were snuffed out by a thunderous blast. White-hot lightning seared a new web of zig-zagging scars into their burning arm, bringing with it another brief strobe to reveal their charging foes. The split spirit let loose a hissing breath through clenched teeth, compounding pain quickly dulling their senses. They took a desperate step backwards, already building up charge for another, and raised their ruined arm up for the next strike.

Agony.

No flash, no strike. In the blink of an eye, the arm past their elbow vanished as though stolen away by the night. Already-panicked steps faltered, their mouth opened in a wordless yell, and suddenly, their back hit a wall. The storm broke, and once again the sun slipped through the clouds. “Impulsive, feckless, borderline suicidal…” A fiery whisper slipped out from behind the now-blonde spirit’s lips, their body quickly growing hot as they brought forth a solar light. Their eyes squeezed closed as tight as they could, and…

Release.

Radiant light, repurposed from their usual healing spell, burst forth from their body, bright enough to almost blind them even behind closed lids. Heavy, scrambling footsteps and metallic scraping sounded, the beasts’ eyes no doubt fried. Now with the dark of night on their side, Summer slid along the wall, hugging their missing arm close to their chest, and disappeared around the nearest corner as silently as they could manage.

 

[Summer]

Heavy footfalls and metallic grinding sounded from further within the decrepit city, echoes finding their way into the second floor of the building Summer now found themself in. Cold moonlight streamed in through broken windows and crevices, casting its beams upon the smooth concrete floor. Green eyes stared almost blankly at the patches of light illuminating the featureless grey. A shared body, still under possession of the sun, shivered lightly, huddling in a corner. Not so much out of a chill in the air, it was actually quite temperate. Rather, it was a dark cloud hanging over the sun’s mind, a deep-seated sense of displacement.

All their past energy and motivation had fizzled out by now. The convenient distraction of action for action’s sake could no longer be used, and the sunny spirit now found themselves forced to explore the questions they had glossed over earlier. Where were they? Architecture mightier than the greatest fortifications they had ever seen lay in ruins about them. Where was everyone? Had this city simply been sieged, then would there not have been someone? Anyone? The answer, they hesitantly figured, had to lie in the hostile automatons now seemingly everywhere. What had happened then? Those machines had likely pushed life to the edge, if not... Their train of thought paused right there, the dark clouds only growing darker.

Yet the same clouds that shrouded the sun, bolstered the storm. A restless black-haired spirit wrested control of their shared being in their partner’s moment of weakness, using their one intact hand to push them back to their feet. For a moment, their body caught in place, as though the sun was protesting without speaking, but with their weakened will, the influence was quickly shoved off. Eyes refocused, scanning the room they’d hunkered down in, from the broken walls, to the massive alien tree twisting through the crumbling floor and up into the floor above. Their lips fell into a frown as they glanced back towards their mangled arm, still throbbing, but no longer bleeding. Well, it’d hurt, they thought, but it wasn’t something they couldn’t handle.

The spirit stormed forward, a burst of wind kicking up and pushing them faster than they could usually run, dying down just as they leapt. Their body crashed against the tree, clinging to it with both arms. Rough bark dug into one hand, and a burning pain flared up in their other arm. For a moment, their grip weakened, and finally a mutual silence was broken. “What stupidity is this?” The sun whispered harshly, broken out of their trance by the sudden, spiking agony. The storm sucked in a harsh breath, teeth grinding together as they maintained their hold over their shared body the best they could. But to this question, they offered no answer. They simply gripped the trunk harder, and pulled themselves up in spite of the pain.

Slowly but surely the storm, in their unyielding stubbornness, climbed up from floor to ruined floor, following the winding of the tree until they finally reached the roof. The black-haired spirit pushed off of the tree, landing on their feet with a solid thud. There, they silently looked over the skeletal remains of the city, so much farther than they could see on the ground. They spun around ever so slowly, skimming over the horizon in every direction, passing over crumbling ruins, roving automatons, and glowing clouds. Summer froze, eyes tracing back to the faintly illuminated cloud in the distance, the gears in their head beginning to turn. If the sun set roughly to the right of us, and the full moon is solidly above us…

A wide grin spread across the split spirit’s face, a genuinely elated smile at first, before corrupting at the very end. “... Oh no…” It was once again the sun that broke the silence, with a low whisper under their breath. They coughed lightly, and spoke up. “What terr...iffic idea has come to us this time?” To this, the storm merely giggled, a laugh somewhere between mad and cute, a charge already starting to build within them. Their shared heart raced, eyes widening, body locking in place. “Oh no.” The sun’s voice grew quickly worried. “Oh nooo.”

“What ever shall we do~?” The storm sang in a sickeningly cheerful voice, almost effortlessly shrugging off their other half’s attempts to take hold. Their tattered arm lifted to the sky.

“Whatever it is, it is going to get us killed.” Their pace quickened, their tone betrayed even more anxiety.

“And has that ever stopped us before~?”

CRACK

All the pain that had almost died down exploded back to life, and for a moment, the sun’s mind blanked. A great beacon of lightning shot into the air, sending thunder rolling across the city below. “Ehehehe…” The stormy spirit laughed again, only this time it sounded shaky and weak. “Okay… Do the sunny thing, please~.” Their shared breathing grew heavier, more distraught.

“... What.” By this point, they were almost doubled over, clutching their maimed arm.

“Well, now we’re going to die anyway~.” The storm’s voice was still far too cheery for the dire situation they found themselves in. “So let's send up the brightest signal we can. Maybe someone over there will see it.” With that, they pointed towards the lit-up distant cloud. There was a pause, heart seeming to stop in their chest. Then, brilliant heat bubbled to the surface.

Filled with a rage deeper than anything they’d felt before, sun wrested control of their shared body. “Fucking!” Their only good arm thrust towards the sky, solar energy building and coalescing in the palm of their hand. “IDIOT!” And a light that could be seen for miles in the night flashed high in the air.

 

[Summer]

An Arbiter's Rage

“Hah…” On the roof of a crumbling building, in the midst of a crumbling city, a lone spirit let loose a shaky breath, their head turned towards the stars above. For a moment, they thought the sky seemed darker than it ever had been before, with only the faintest twinkling visible to their maladjusted eyes. Heat flushed through their body, spurred on by the pounding of their heart and the rushing of their blood, a unified response caused by disparate emotions. On one half, a deep, burning fury, the wrath of a sun in the midst of a drought. And on the other…

“Hahahaha~.” Exhilaration. A maelstrom of energy, rolling and roiling and begging to be let loose. Summer’s shared body trembled, betraying the pure, unbridled anticipation of a storm ready to rampage, yet for some reason not springing right into it. Though they were never particularly in tune with each other, even the sun could discern the storm’s intentions. There was a moment of hesitation, a little voice in the back of the blonde-haired Summer’s head saying, “go on, be petty. Make the next hour of life difficult.” But the better part of their reason knew that making things difficult for one would just make it difficult for both. Despite their disparity, they were still one.

Closing their eyes and bringing what was left of their hands together, the sunny spirit concentrated, taking on an aura that could almost be mistaken for serene in that moment. Solar energy built and built, bubbling to the surface and bringing with it a radiance that would have brought every automaton running. Were it not for the fact that they were already honed in on their location. Pristine sunlight spilled over Summer, ever so cooling their burns, stitching up their wounds, and rebuilding their missing arm. Functionality and feeling swiftly returned to their hand as it reformed, bit by bit.

A scream louder than any thunder tore through the spirit’s head, shattering their concentration like ceramic. The two-sided spirit let out a shout of their own, doubling over with a combination of vertigo and agony, no longer able to tell whether that trembling was their body, or the building they stood on about to collapse. Their hair flickered unsteadily between black and blonde as though both halves were trying to pull their shared body in different directions. Information flashed in their mind from nowhere as though it were a bolt from the blue, threatening to topple their already unstable sense of self until…

Snap

In a decisive moment, the sun won over, their possessed body shooting bolt upright as though it were struck by lightning. The shriek subsided, no longer assaulting their unsteady mind, the fog of vertigo already starting to lift. What didn’t lift was the shaking and rumbling of the world around them, nor the shadowy veil bringing night to near pitch black, even in spite of their properly adjusted eyes. They couldn’t tell what was going on. They couldn’t tell why the very world around them was crumbling. All they knew was what their instincts were yelling at them to do.

Run.

The usually methodical spirit exploded with mana, spilling sunlight out across the building around them, turning the pitch of night into day and illuminating every newly-formed crack in the swiftly-crumbling roof. “Go!” A frantic voice barked a sharp order, and without any further elaboration, their hair flashed to black, sunlight vanishing as though shrouded by black clouds. But all they needed was that afterimage left in their eyes. Summer kicked forward and leapt with all their strength, hands grabbing hold of the rough bark, clinging to the tree like a cicada.

A chorus of clattering stone and creaking wood filled the night. Beneath the stormy spirit, the tree leaned ominously, their perch no longer safe. In an instant, the storm relinquished control of their shared body, all but shoving it into their other half’s metaphorical hands. Radiant light poured from the newly-revealed sun, illuminating the tumbling building behind them, not so much collapsing as seeming to vanish before their very eyes. Realizing instantly that was a lost cause, they whipped their head back to look in front of them, only to find themself staring at a swiftly approaching wall. Their eyes widened, their body tensed, and without time to properly prepare, their falling tree smashed against the building face. Summer’s grip shook loose, their body sent crashing through the failing wall. They tumbled along the concrete floor, whispering silent thanks towards their durability, before rolling to a halt.

Dizzy and a little bit bruised, and already feeling this building too starting to give beneath them, the sun hauled themself to their feet. They brushed their long hair out of their face, eyes scouring the room for the next place to head to. Empty desks and twisted chairs littered the space, some already falling through holes in the ground, some just seeming to… unmake. “Jump.” Their own voice suggested, the storm prompting an idea that the sun didn’t immediately understand. Why jump? Their head craned towards the hole they’d been unceremoniously tossed through. Weren’t they still too high up?

In that moment of contemplation, control was wrested from the sun. The storm turned back the direction they’d been facing, already charging forward at their usual hastened pace and promptly flung themself through one of the crumbling holes in the ground. Their heart pounded, confusion turning into sheer disbelief as the first floor passed them, followed quickly by the second. As though they realized their mistake, the storm shunted off control to their other half, renewed durability flooding their body just in time for them to hit the ground with a hefty thud.

Summer’s body bounced off a bed of foliage, driving the wind from their lungs, leaving them breathless and aching on the ground. With a pained moan, the blonde spirit rolled over, feeling as though the wind had just been torn out of their sails. “Apologies…” their own voice, unprompted, whispered to them. Failing to respond, the sun gathered their arms under their body and slowly pushed up to their feet.

Their surroundings lit up with a dim glow, revealing what once might have been an open foyer, now covered in dirt and foliage and inexplicably looking like it was disappearing into the earth itself. The sun paused, their mind drifting as they tried to count how many floors they’d fallen down to end up on the ground already. Undergrowth covering the entrance rustled, barely audible over the nearly very literal end-of-the-world occurring around them, but just loud enough to grab Summer’s attention from where it was wandering in their own mind. A metallic beast, half glistening and half corroded, poked through the leaves, followed by another, and another. Unmistakably the constructs that had ambushed them before, yet somehow… off. For a moment, the spirit was frozen in place, memories of an encounter just earlier that night urging them to run.

“Back for round two are we!?” Before the sun could make good on that, a storm roared to life, blonde hair flashing to black, snuffing out the sunlight and plunging the building into night. Wind ripped through the room, carrying the tempestuous spirit as they bounded forward in the darkness. One step, two, three, and then…

CRACK

Light and sound exploded into being as one, Summer’s tattered dress fluttering as they delivered a terrifying, lightning-empowered kick to one of the automatons, sending it disappearing into the night. Leafy detritus sparked ablaze in an instant, ignited by the strike. Dancing flames illuminated the two other zoids, partially drawn back, caught somewhere between recoil and retaliation. Biting back the pain, the spirit landed and whirled around, already lashing out with another electrifying kick.

CRACK

Another head-splitting sound thundered through the mostly-enclosed room, threatening to leave them deafened, yet still not loud enough to contend with the shout of god they had just endured. Painful recoil slammed through their leg, an agonizing combination of burn and break as they again struck metal, and the smaller machine was sent rolling, crashing into a concrete pillar and collapsing like the pile of scrap it was. Yellow flames sprung to life where lightning had ripped through the underbrush, fiery heat already starting to grow to noticeable levels. Falling into a tumultuous trance, Summer spun towards the last of their mechanical foes, before pushing forward off their injured foot.

CRACK

A devastating flying knee crumpled the last automaton’s metallic jaw, sending it tumbling back into the weeds. Summer hit the ground hard, injuries outwardly starting to pile up, yet somehow seeming not to faze them. They straightened up and spun on their good foot, eyes dancing over what they could see, scouring for the next foe to grind to dust.

“Run, fool!” Suddenly their own voice, harsh and unyielding like the sun, was barking at them. Their being wavered as control of their shared body was wrenched from them and shoved back at them, over and over and over again, as though someone was flickering the lights to get their attention. The storm’s trance broke, a great wave of worldly sensations crashing over them as they finally realized, “Oh right, the world is literally being unmade out from under our feet,” and, without even stopping to decide which direction to go, they broke into a dead sprint.

1563/2500 words

 

[Summer]

Under a darker-than-usual night, it was hard to tell how far they had come. Summer’s shared heart hammered in their chest, their lung burned with every breath they took. Heavy footfalls crunched detritus and kicked up dirt where they stepped, each one sending a painful jolt racing through their injured leg. Yet despite how much they hated it, how much their stormy mind kept looping and repeating the thought, this is hell. This is complete hell. They knew they had to grit their teeth and bear with it. Collapse here and they might just disappear like the rest of the gods forsaken earth.

So much for being prepared for death. Internally, the storm laughed wryly, mocking their own swift turn in will. Thought perhaps it was to be expected, in a way. Death to the spirit meant a painful defeat followed in a few hours, days, or years by an expected rebirth. Maybe sans a few memories but ultimately whole again. Unmaking, on the other hand, was a complete unknown to both sun and storm. Who knew, if they were to fall here and were swallowed up by the void, if they would ever wake again? Even immortals could fear death, as it turned out. Such were their idle thoughts as they pressed forward through the night.

Scarcely able to see around them, the dual spirit found themself following the walls closely, turning and snaking through various backstreets and alleyways. In the back of their head, behind all the idle thoughts to keep them distracted from the muscle aches, they tried their best to keep going in the same direction they saw the distant lights. Their new world was already upended and so far it was only the hope of a distant refuge that kept them going. Yet as much as the darkness was a curse, they also found some solace in it as well. The black-clad, dark-haired, and blood-caked spirit appeared as little more than a shadow dancing on the wall.

Occasionally during the spirit’s seemingly unending, painful marathon, an unexpected noise would kick up, jostling them out of their mental fog. The sound of corrupted automatons chasing the wind, as it were. No matter how far they ran, it felt like they were one step ahead. Or, more likely, they just kept crawling out of whatever unmade pitfalls sprang up in the area. Thankfully, the racket they made, from the mechanical screeching to the heavy, plodding footsteps, made it a simple task to sound out and stay away from them.

Slowly, their surroundings started to shift. The air seemed to be getting lighter, walls they hugged seemed a little more stable, fewer paths were blocked by rubble, and beneath their feet, the terrain seemed to almost smooth out. Dirt and detritus gave way to concrete, on which Summer’s first step caused them to freeze up, groggy twin minds startled by a footstep that happened to be their own, distressingly loud when danger still lurked on the other side of the buildings. It was here that their pace started to slow, partially out of a need to tread more carefully, and partially because the storm’s will was swiftly breaking down.

This is awful. Let's just give up. When can we finally rest. Nagging thoughts clouded the storm’s mind, weighing down their limbs and urging them to lie down, to sleep. On the other end, the sun wasn’t faring much better either. Though they weren’t the one possessing the body, each ache it felt was still their ache. The straining of their muscles, the jolting in their leg, the burning in their lungs, constantly nudging them away from their meditation. Or rather, their dissociation. Even the brightening atmosphere wasn’t enough to break their mutual fugue, and it wasn’t long before their distraction cost them.

Their shuffling step caught something jutting out of the ground and suddenly they found themself upended. Their head bounced off the pavement with a disturbing crack. Agony ripped through their head, a thick fog clouding their thoughts. Senses dulled, consciousness wavered and, for a moment, it seemed like they were going to pass out. Black hair faded to blonde, slower than it usually did, as the still mentally-stable sun seized control of their faculties. Renewed vigor slowly flushed through their body, clearing up a fraction of the fatigue and fog and, with feeling finally crawling back through them, they were now able to feel the tight grasp of something on their injured foot.

A belated sense of danger clutched Summer’s already-frazzled heart, as they were suddenly yanked across the pavement. Tired hands clawed fruitlessly at the ground, finding no hold and failing to slow them the slightest bit. “Help.” The sun hissed, their voice hoarse with exhaustion and irritation. Their body swayed as they bent, rolling from stomach to back, and craning their neck to look at what was pulling them. “Fickle idiot. Impulsive fool. Where is all that bluster when we need it?” They weakly kicked at the thick vine dragging them towards a distant building, just illuminated enough to see the writhing mass inside it.

“Fine!” After a barrage of insults, the storm finally responded, voice sharp with annoyance. “Waste of space!” Raging, the storm easily shunted off their other half’s control. “Absolute tyrant!” Their favorite spell wasn’t coming as easily to them this time, half because they were shaking in anger, half because of the overexertion setting in. The spirit lifted their foot, electricity ready to burst forth. “Making us do all the work!”

CRACK

Tendril severed and concrete shattered beneath their heel. Lightning burns seared new marks onto their leg, a new pain that wouldn’t go away anytime soon. Thunder rolled through the ruins around them, echoing back at them again and again and again. Summer could almost swear they could hear the automatons locking onto them. “Now…” The storm growled, already loosening their grip on their shared body. “Run.” In no position to properly quarrel with their counterpart, the sun grit their teeth and pushed back up to their feet. Between their failing muscles, the burns and bruises on each leg, and the fatigue weighing down their entire body, Summer was having deep doubts about whether or not they’d actually manage to escape the unmaking.

But if they were going to fail, it wasn’t going to be for a lack of trying.

Darkness clouded the edge of their vision, their consciousness trembling. Each hurrying step sent another painful jolt through their body, slowly, slowly thickening the fog hanging over them. Perhaps it was their exhaustion, but even still it seemed as if the air was getting brighter, and brighter, and brighter yet. Tired legs carried them out from the alleyway, and light filled up their vision. Summer stumbled, blinking wearily, as the image of a twinkling city, just past a large, empty clearing, towered over them. What sounded like faint voices drifted into their ringing ears. Humanoid forms, barely visible from this distance, seemed to buzz around another massive machine. Were those… people? Their mind spun, unable to make heads or tails of what all this meant, but still able to come to one vital realization.

Huh. Guess we did make it.

A spotlight that felt like it rivaled the sun landed on them, followed by authoritative shouts they couldn’t discern and, finally, Summer collapsed.

An Arbiter's Rage end.
2787/2500 words