Lightning Seeker

Tracing Words

SILENCE. The sound of it was loud as Vale and Sky walked down the corridors. The soft click-clack sound of Vale's thick-soled work boots the only interruption in the deafening, unsettling quiet. Walking with Sky was a unique experience for Vale. No main corridor taken, no large hallway used. Everything was small, cramped, a breath of space between them and hot metal walls covered in must, webs, and mildew. But it was free from prying red eyes and claws that had hours before had attempted to rip Vale's flesh off.

She glanced up at Sky who stepped over a set of broken pipes, leading the way to a mysterious destination. He had ripped her mechanical arm off not long ago and kept her hidden in a room. He reattached it. He kept me away from the AI's, she reminded herself, pushing away her nervousness. The close quarters was causing her to get antsy, paranoid. 

She didn't do well with small spaces that made her feel trapped. But between the AI's and the claustrophobia, she strongly preferred the tight quarters with the boy she didn't know. Taking a slow deliberate breath, she kept her voice quiet as she asked, "how far?"

Sky held up three fingers. Vale didn't know if he meant three floors or three minutes or some other combination she hadn't thought of. Either way, she knew they were getting close. The turns were far more frequent, the engine humming far less loud as they headed in an upwards direction. 

They reached a narrow opening that led to a large hallway. Sky poked his head through. A moment later he squeezed the rest of his body through and turned, motioning for her to wait, his ocean blue eyes serious. Then he disappeared before Vale could protest. 

Moments ticked by, painfully slow. She adjusted her stance, leaning forward slightly in an attempt to see into the hallway he had vanished into. Buttons blinked brightly along the opposite wall, sending a hue of ever dancing light around the hall. 

One neon green light sent a wave of nostalgia through Vale as she thought of her house and the terrible bright green roof that her mother had painted. She missed her mom and wondered what she was doing right then. Is she okay?  Vale pushed away the guilt that hit her. She should have said goodbye before she ran off but knew her mother would have tried to talk her out of it. 

She heard a loud buzz ripping her from her thoughts as the hallway went suddenly dark. Vale moved back, pressing herself against one of the walls, torn between trying to find Sky and staying still like he recommended. 

Two full minutes went by and a chilling cold settled over the once warm hallway. Vale wrapped her arms around herself trying to keep the cold away as it began to settle deep into her bones. Her metal arm worked against the warmth, making her once again hate that she was stuck with such a frustrating mechanical irritation. 

Soon, claustrophobia and the need to move to get warm won over and she scrambled out into the large hallway. 

Vale couldn't see anything around her, surrounded by an inky blackness that was thick and cold. She heard a strange clang to her left and scrambled back and right into a pair of warm arms. Two warm hands gently touched her shoulders, steadying her. 

"Sky?" she asked, startled by the sudden warmth that melted into her skin. He gave her shoulders a single squeeze to confirm, then he slowly ran his hands down her shoulders until he reached her hands. Picking up her right wrist, he opened her palm and traced it lightly, sending flames across her skin with his gentle touch. 

It took her a moment to realize he was trying to communicate with her. Cold, he spelled out. "Yes," Vale said when she recovered her ability to speak. 

Sky placed something over her shoulders and helped her wrestle her hands into thick jacket sleeves that she couldn't see. She blindly reached out and snapped the metal buttons closed on the jacket feeling instant relief as the cold was shut off from her upper body. He reached for her cold hand again and traced another word across her palm. Better.