A Call To Arms (A Crown The Empire Fanfiction)

I'm a mess

Ryesha's p.o.v.

I don't know when I passed out, but I did.

I open my eyes, blinded by the million and one lights that seem to be concentrated on my face and immediately i am confused at where I am and what is happening.

My heart is racing, my head is pounding and my stomach is churning, motion sickness at its best.

I try to stand but I am so lightheaded that my vision blurs and ears ring.

I flop back on the floor, feeling more ill than I ever remember.

Remember.

I still don't remember how I got here.

Why the fuck do I feel like I'm moving at 10,000 miles an hour?

My head is hurting too much to contemplate the possibilities now, so I sit here. Waiting. Waiting for something of significance to happen. Trying to control my breathing as my stomach continues to turn.

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

But then it all came flooding back

The scarecrows

The resistance

Bones

The runaways

Bri

Soleil

Jewel

The helicopter

And suddenly it all becomes too much.

So many questions are racing through my already throbbing head and I don't know where to get the answers. I hate not knowing things. The thought of being kept in the dark makes me feel even worse.

Where am I going? Why me? What will I do there? What happened to my family? What happened to Jewel, Soleil and Bri? Are they safe?

"Calm yourself, Ryesha," i told myself "you don't want to have a panic attack here"

Inhale

Exhale

I fight back the tears unsuccessfully.

Uncontrollable tears, the kind that leaves you gasping for breath after every 3 seconds.

And so I lie here, a blubbering mess, for what seems like millennia until I hear the sound of someone walking over to me and I feel a hand on my shoulder.

Embarrassed, I sit up and wipe my eyes pretending nothing happened.

"Hey, Ryesha, it's okay. You've been through a lot in the last couple of hours. I don't blame you for crying"

I look up and see someone I don't recognise there, he has big, brown eyes, ginger hair, freckles and a perfectly chiselled smile. Something about him seems warm and welcoming which is comforting in my time of distress.

I stumble for something to say in return

"I...I... I'm sorry, I'm a mess ...I'm ok, trust me... and anyway I wasn't crying ... I just..."

He cut me off

"Yeah I've heard that all before, anyway, I'm Connor and eventually we'll be at the RHQ"

"What the fuck is RHQ"

"Resistance Headquarters"

"Oh, ok that makes sense, I'm sorry ... I just ... don't feel very well ..." as I am saying this, I can feel my stomach churning faster and faster by the second, spinning faster than my head was when i tried to stand up and know instantly that if I don't act now, I am going to throw up everywhere

"You ok?" Connor asked with a concerned look on his face. He must've read my expression

"No... motion ... sickness ... I think - i think ..."

Somehow he read my mind too and grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the bucket at the other end of the helicopter

At this point I don't even care that a hot dude is holding my hand, all I want to do was get off this fucking helicopter and onto solid ground again

"Don't worry, we'll be back on the ground again soon"

That was the last thing I heard before my insides erupted out and I blacked out again.

~~~~~

When I woke up, I could feel the sun's rays on my face and the cool breeze on my skin from the open door. Surprisingly, I feel a lot better than before I passed out. Sitting up, I take in my surroundings for the first time but something else catches my attention.

I can hear the distant murmur of people talking.

2 men

The first I recognise as Connor, the man who had been so kind to look after me the whole journey to America and the second is a voice that sounds familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it.

It's annoying me, like an itch you can't quite scratch, knowing that my thirst for knowledge could be quenched by just a little exploring but my gut told me to stay here and listen to a part of the conversation first.

Words like "resistance" and "war" stick out most to me and honestly they leave a lump in my throat and make my heart sink

I don't want to kill anyone or have someone kill me what the fuck, I'm only young. Once again, an inferno of questions erupted in my mind, spreading like wildfire.

But then other, lighter words like "ill", "passed out" and "motion sickness" caught my attention and pulled me out of my daze. I took this as my cue to appear and see who my mystery guest is.

Andy fucking Leo

Stands there, just metres away from me and my heart stops.

He turns and smiles "Oh hey Ryesha," he says with a laugh in his voice "glad to see you're ok"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine, I guess."

"Well I've got some good news and some bad news. Good news, we'll be staying on the ground for about a 3 mile walk. Bad news, you'll have to get on another plane for about 4 hours until we get to RHQ"

"Fuck" is all I managed to get out behind my excitement at seeing Andy, relief that i'll be on the ground for a while and disappointment that I have to go on another plane.

After walking for about 3 miles, Andy, Connor and I reached an abandoned airport where our private jet awaited. And to be honest, the airport isn't a pretty sight. The windows are smashed and glaring back at me like empty eye sockets in a decaying skull. The doors were hanging by its hinges, violently slamming shut in the gentle breeze as if warning us not to enter. The sound of water dripping loudly echoed through the otherwise silent building and the occasional rat scurried past our feet. This isn't exactly a place I would even go near never mind inside but I have no choice but to go to RHQ, I don't even know where I am.

My nausea had just began to pass and so I am feeling a little better but the thought of boarding one of those private jets of death still terrified me because I don't want to embarrass myself in front of Andy.

I decided that my safest bet would be to sleep for the majority of the journey. I choose my 'bed' in the corner of the jet and exaggerated how tired I was from the walk as an excuse to escape

I lie down, expecting to pretend to be asleep, but within seconds the cloud of fatigue engulfed me and dragged me under

I awoke to Andy gently shaking my shoulder screaming that we needed to wake up because we'd be there in 5 - 10 minutes

Still dissolved in the grogginess of sleep, I stumbled to my feet and staggered to the window.

Outside, in all directions, as far as the eye can see, are trees. Going to the horizon and beyond. We must be over a forest, in the distance there is a huge wall. Aeon City??

I turn to Andy an begin to ask "is this - "

"Aeon City" he finished "Yes, welcome to the resistance, Ryesha."