//------------------------------// // 2- Return // Story: Home Sweet Home // by ThatWritingDragon //------------------------------// Flash wakes up to silence. There are no screams and no clinging of something thick in the back of his throat. He hears no sound of crunching leaves nor a sign of a person digging hands onto his neck. He simply napped and woke up, like all is right in the world. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not to be honest. He sits up, slouching and uncaring of how his clothes shift as he pushed himself up to note his surroundings. Like life springed with him, he can hear the rustling of leaves and the tweets of birds. Normal wildlife. His fingers twitched as he looked around for something weird. A rustle of a bush that shifted a bit wrong for his liking has him moving towards it, the crack of a branch got his hands twisted into fists and the arms of a lady wrapping around his shoulders has him breathing a haggard breath. "You should relax..." she whispers, a low crooning tone that he knows would leave multiple people weak to the knees. Flash sighs, leaning his head onto her arm. All her voice did was let his shoulders fall, even for a moment. "We can't," he answers, fighting back the way his eyes seemed to close without his permission. "We have to leave and I'd rather not deal with another attack because you wanted to frolic." His hands reaches up, intertwining with hers when he felt her tense at his words. "When we get to safety," he compromises. The grip around his neck tightened for a while, her nails tugging at the strap hanging from his neck as she stepped away. "I'll keep you to it, Dear." Said Dear sighed before straightening his clothes. He patted down his vest, tugging at the hood before pulling something out of his shirt. It was a shard, practically tiny in his hands. It glew in the sun as he stared at the thing that started all of this. He watched as it charged back to that familiar colour before dissipating once more. His grip tightened at that shallow sign of life, uncaring of how it greedily ate at his flesh when a sharp edge dug too deep. His past life wasn't a dream, it was real and this was his proof. He may not have remembered a lot about his old life, but he remembered enough and that was good for him. There were huge towering builds, carriages that moved on their own and lights with no use of fire. It fascinates him at times, to have lived in such a futuristic world. Then there was this girl; With hair the color of fire and skin blessed by Celestia. Sunset Shimmer, his mind whispers like a prayer. He nods. He forgets who she clearly was to him but she must've meant something for her name to be the most memorable. Not to mention the dreams, those were a rarity the more he grew but she was a solace in his times stuck in school. She calmed him with her words and whispered his name when he needs her. Was she a goddess? He doesn't know. Before he could get too deep into his mind, the foul stench of wrong struck his nose. Flash rolls his shoulder, tucking back his necklace to turn to the rabid snarling of a beast. It hasn't even been ten minutes, he thinks before dragging his palm across his arm. With a sharp sting of a wound, he holds a weapon with a serrated blade, stained and worn yet strong. It sings and with a step, he charges right into the roaring maw of a monster before him. As his mind blanks out and his body moves in routine, he can't help a familiar stray thought to strike his head. Would this be the one to end him? The answer to that was the same as always. No. As always, the wanderer's body ached and he was left with blood staining his clothes. He watches as the shard ate at the soul of something once living before glowing after its fill, shining familiar gleam before fading to an empty glass. Something stung at Flash's chest as he knelt down and began to strip the monster of its flesh. Another failed kill. "Oo~" She coos, leaning over his shoulder. "Is that food for us?" her fingers trailed at his neck with featherlight touches, grinning at the way his tiny hairs rose. "What a kind darling." She was back and he drops the flesh he was in the process cutting. Ah hell, there goes all his past efforts. She claims to be a lady but it sure doesn't show when she feasts. "Go ahead, It was all for you anyway," was all Flash said as he steps back. His lips pulling into a grimace at the way she practically skewers and brutalizes at her meal. It was already dead but seeing how she practically drinks at its brain after tearing open its skull has him shuffling. Not to mention the unnecessary way she snaps at its ribs to grasp at its heart. He is never going to get used to that. "Truly a gentleman," she shot back, her teeth gleaming with blood and bits of meat as she finally finished her meal. He looks away when she licks at her fingers. Its these signs that reminds him that even when she was his faithful companion, she was something else first. "How's that shard of yours? All charged up?" Flash's grimace grew. What is she playing at? He knew the relationship she had with his purpose. She was looking for another answer, something other than his usual one. He had to play this careful or else she would be rather troublesome to deal with. Last time he made her upset, he had to fight naked. "No idea," he settles, before turning to her with a smirk. "Now that you asked, it reminds me of you actually! With the way it keeps eating and eating-" A bone thuds at his chest, the lady pouting from her area as she crosses her arms. "I'll have you know that I do more than that lump of rock!" she mentions as her brows crossed. Flash rolls his eyes as he stepped closer before something burned in his chest. He staggered, tugging at his necklace to squint at the shard. His eyes widened when he noticed that it began to glow and something so familiar pricked at his brain. "Come back!" he calls out, still unwilling to pull his eyes away. "U don't know if this will affect you and..." Flash trailed off as she followed his order, his clothes shifting to accomodate. Something pressed around him, like a hug as she whispers. "Still caring as ever." He passes out. Flash woke up with a gasp, practically ressurected with the way he falls onto his knees. Something stuck at his throat as his fingers pressed onto the dirt and green below him. He was on some hill, a very familiar hill. He swallowed, looking around at the bright blue sky and the faded buildings of his old world. It looked real, far too real. He felt too much at this moment as his brain churned and thought. It wasn't a dream. He stumbled onto his feet like some newborn fawn as a spark of long before lit in his chest. A bubble of a giggle comes from his lips and it churns out into a laugh as something blurs at his eyes. There was a calm in his mind as he looked down at the land that he has long since thought of for years. He wasn't insane, he realizes. This wasn't some fantasy he made up as a kid. The sky is so beautifully blue and the land has never felt so free. This was real- this... Flash fell to his knees, everything felt so real... The grass, the trees, the cities and even the buildings! he couldn't stop the choked sob from coming out of his mouth as he realized that he finally achieved his wish since forever. His clothes shifted for a moment and he curled into her embrace. "Shh... shh..." She consoles, running her hands through his hair. "Let it out Flash," She coos, laying a kiss onto his head. "You did it and I'm so proud of you." Those words seemed to breathe life into him and he returns the hold, tugging her closer as his fingers tangled in her long hair. "Thank you... thank you for helping me come this far," Flash whispered. He was pathetic, crying like this, he was specifically trained to not do this and yet here he was but it was okay. He was home, he could finally accomplish his promise to her, his fingers tightened around her as his resolve strengthened. Unknown to him, the girl holding him had her own plans. Her eyes seemingly glowing as she takes in the world of her man. This was the place her jailer kept on talking about? if so then where is this... Sunset he so dearly missed? She trailed a finger across his neck feeling the magic that bonded them together flowing beneath his skin, magic that bound them as one. Just like marriage, yes?