Firedown Sun

"How do you think she'll be treated?"

Lune's hands paused, the black rope he was twisting together around his wrist freezing in place. He glanced up at Resh coldly, wanting to control the red-hot anger than filled up but unable to keep the sharp tone out of his voice. "Shut up," he hissed.

"Sorry," she mumbled, but inched slightly away, probably guessing Lune didn't buy her apology. Sighing, she told him, "But, really. If she's being considered as Leader-"

"She won't choose to be Leader," he said flatly, then continued his tying.

"I never said that," Resh defended herself, then groaned. "Man, is someone touchy tonight."

Lune pulled the rope too tightly and winced as it burned his skin. He bit down hard to stop from crying out, because what he really wanted to do was just scream and never ever stop. And yet there Resh sat in her chair, pondering after Kitten as if she'd only gone to someone's house for a few days and would come bouncing back tomorrow morning, as perfectly sarcastic, beautiful, and stubborn as always.

The image would normally make Lune smile, but really? He couldn't force one right now. Instead, he concentrated on the memory of Kitten's voice, wishing it could be more than a memory, wishing for her to be beside him more than anything.

Roughly, he finished his knot and stared at it angrily. After a second, he began unraveling it, then when it fell apart in his hands, he worked on it from the beginning again. His fingers flew almost clumsily; he had to fight to focus on what he was doing, with the anguish on the horizon always threatening to take over, to control him, and--

"Lune?"

Distracted, he murmured, "Mm?"

"Do you think..." Resh faltered, unsure of her words, it seemed. "Do you think they'll lock her up? If... if she says no, I mean."

Lune studied her for a moment. There was a deep concern written in her eyes, and he felt a sudden wave of guilt. He'd been so centered around his own grief, he hadn't paused to try and understand Resh's. Her asking, "how will Kitten be treated?" simply meant she was worried, not that she wasn't taking the situation seriously. Sure, it was an odd question. Everyone knew the Leaders and Kitten weren't exactly simpatico. But Resh was only worried.

Lune didn't get to answer, though. Hexa beat him to it.

"Why would that freaking LIGHT say no?" she snapped from the sofa across from Lune. She lay on her back, her feet propped up, her arms wrapped around herself, almost as if she were holding herself together. Or she was just in a really bad mood. "Honestly, guys," she scoffed, "do you really think she's one of us now? She took those pills, you know! Or did you all forget that?"

Clenching his hands into fists, Lune momentarily forgot about his knotting rope. "If you-"

Hexa cut him off again. "Oh, shut your face, would you?" Swiftly and with obvious irritation, she sat up to glare at him. "You're completely biased about this whole thing, about Kitten, about her BETRAYAL." The word came out like venom from her taught lips. "Just let it go already, Lune. She took the stupid pills and you've got to admit it, brainless." Her jaw was set, her eyes dark holes of hate. "She's not a Blaze anymore, alright? She doesn't care about any of us anymore."

All of the Blazes who had gathered-- Tyeson, Tummel, Jaz, Margolo, Pharis(hiding out in the corner, a satisfying distance away from Lune), Zarther, Xentri, and the latest newcomer to the group, Quirra Nightvane, one of Zarther's friends-- looked from Hexa to Lune, as if anticipating one of them to get up and start pounding the other to pulp. And Lune would have liked to. Hexa wasn't the type of girl who couldn't dodge a punch. She'd fight back, too, and she wasn't a weakling.

But he sighed. "Just stop, Hexa," he murmured and resumed his tying.

He wouldn't have been surprised if everyone was staring at him. They'd seen the hell fire burning in his eyes, maybe felt his control breaking, but they hadn't seen Kitten's disapproving face in their minds, the way she'd shake her head at Lune fighting.

Even over her.

No. Especially over her.

Then Tyeson spoke. "And anyway, Hex..." He ignored her sharp glare. "Kitten was still herself enough to figure out how to knock us out of being drugged, right? So, technically-"

"Technically," Hexa spat back at him, "I don't care."

Resh rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."

"I don't!"

"Oh, and that's exactly why you're freaking out, is that it? Because you don't CARE?"

Lune swallowed hard. He hated when these two fought; it could go on for hours when they really went at it. Right now, it looked like they were about to.

Then Tyeson touched Resh's shoulder. "Shush, you." His eyes were wide and fierce, but his voice was soft, soothing, and gentle.

Lune stiffened. He'd seen Kitten look that way before, right before she kissed him goodbye. Intense but calm. Desperate, almost. Like something really important needed to happen, maybe even essential, but you had to pay real close attention in order to understand.

But WHAT had Kitten wanted to tell him? Certainly not goodbye. No. It hurt too much to consider that.

Throwing one last scowl at Hexa, Resh twisted around to turn on her Telo and set up one of her favorite games. Tyeson wordlessly sat down and joined her, though he was clueless as to how to play or even how to work the controller.

Zarther stood and cleared his throat, clearly demanding attention. He was that sort of guy, Lune noticed. He never really asked for anything verbally, he just did something and expected people to notice because... well, frankly, Lune didn't know. But it irked him, because it made Lune think Zarther was saying to everybody, "I'm better than all you freaks. Come bask in my glory."

"You know," Zarther began, "Thanks to Kitten, we have a lot more Blazes. Can we deny this?"

There were a few murmured approvals, but it was Quirra who gave a real response. Her voice was melodic and sweet, almost too sweet, like she'd drunk liquid sugar. "Zarth is right. I wouldn't even be here without Kitty."

Lune's eye twitched, and he glanced over at Pharis, who met his gaze with a tiny flinch. That creep was influencing people all the time, wasn't he? Jerking at his rope, he tried to form the knot he'd tied before, but he couldn't concentrate hard enough.

Then Hexa made it worse.

"I don't care if she blew up the sun, she still left us to be a stupid Light!"

Margolo got to her feet. "A lot of us did, Hexa, and we didn't exactly have a choice, okay? The best thing we can hope is that Kitten was forced into taking those pills."

Hexa's eyes flashed. Breathing loudly, she asked, "And the worst?"

Margolo's brow furrowed. "Excuse me?"

"What's the worst thing we can hope, Margolo?" She was barely whispering the words, yet Lune could detect a ferocity in them that was beyond volume. "That she chose to leave? That she betrayed us?"

Lune got to his feet before he could stop himself. "Stop it!" he shouted, unable to handle a single word more from Hexa. "That's enough! We need to stop sitting here, venting over whether she chose to leave or was forced to! She's gone, okay? Isn't that the most important thing right now? That she was TAKEN from us? That she's up there--" He gestured wildly to the ceiling, the rope falling from his hands and getting lost in the tangle of blankets at his feet-- "being asked if she wants to rule Monten or if she wants to go against the whole city and possibly be outlawed? They could do that, you know! They've already done it before, and then brainwashed the rest of the city to think Nimeous Bloom never existed. Well, I know he did. And I know Kitten did. But what are we going to do if Kitten's banished and they come to us with a Memory Eraser? Do you know what that is? Did you know they can delete our memories? Swipe them away? Did you know, if they had to, they could make us forget Kitten? They could steal her away for more than just a few days or weeks. They could make her cease to exist." His throat burning and his voice booming even louder, he said, "Well I, for one, will NOT stand to let her be taken from me! And I don't care if YOU--" he glared at Hexa-- "want her to rot in some dungeon or not. I won't betray her. Because she never betrayed us. Maybe she took the pills. Maybe she even chose to. But it wasn't to harm us or go against us. Kitten knew what she was doing. So all of you get a grip and shut up or get out of my face, because I don't want to see the smallest glimpse of you if you won't support Kitten. I'll erase your existence myself."

The whole room was dead quiet. Nobody even moved.

Then the last person Lune ever expected to agree with him stood. Pharis Cuppard stared right at Lune for three seconds straight, then glanced at each Blaze around the room. "I'm with Lune. We have to do something. Kitten's in trouble."

And just like that, Lune felt the tension between the two of them fade. Sure, he didn't really like the guy, but he understood Pharis. The fact that he loved Kitten was something he could handle now, because it was for her benefit now, and Lune would go for anything that brought her back to him.

Hexa let out a long sigh. "In trouble or not, she still left."

Xentri, sitting beside Quirra, said quickly, "Hexa, that doesn't matter. It's okay. It'll be okay."

"No, it won't be!" she said, not missing a beat.

"Hex," Xentri whispered.

"X boy," she retorted.

Just as the Telo screen flashed GAME OVER, Resh looked up and barely sustained a giggle. "We haven't called him that in ages. Good to know your still kind of yourself, Hexa."

Trying to match Resh's good humor, Tyeson agreed, "Yeah, and did you notice? You guys both have X's in your name. It's like you're the X twins."

Hexa's anger was dulled just a bit, but she didn't let it go for long. She faced Lune again, and he didn't even really care that the source of her aggravation always seemed to be centered around him. "You know, you talk about how endangered Kitten could be, and yet you do nothing. You make that stupid bracelet all the time lately. What is that going to do?"

Lune's eyes drifted toward the floor. He didn't know where his rope fell, but he murmured coldly, "It's not a bracelet."

"It goes around your wrist, doesn't it?"

"So what? It keeps me sane, alright!"

Hexa's brow furrowed, as if she didn't understand. He sighed, keeping his tone calm. "Look, guys. If you haven't noticed, I'm just like Kitten. Pretending to follow the Rules, acting the way other people want me to so they don't realize what I truly am. A Rebel. A downright, proud-to-be Rebel. Maybe that's why she's up on that Sun. But whatever the reason, I can't... I don't..." His hands began shaking. "It hurts, okay? And Hexa, I know you're hurting, too. But that's no reason to be so upset at her. You don't really hate her. I know you don't. You miss her terribly, and you might even be really angry at her. But it's not hatred."

"Per se," Hexa grumbled.

"But, anyway, I don't know WHAT to do. That's why I'm still sitting here. I knot that rope around my wrist because it gives me something to think about without really thinking, I guess. It's mind-numbing. So call me a freak. Hate ME. But leave Kitten out of it. She doesn't deserve anyone's hatred."

"Nor will she," Pharis added. "We can prove it."

Lune looked over at him, seeing a light shining in his eyes, and then he got it. An idea began forming in his head, and for the first time since he thought Kitten was in trouble, he smiled. "Excellent," he murmured.

"What?" Resh asked, crossing her arms.

"We're going to the Sun," Lune explained. "If the Leaders won't give Kitten back, then we'll take her."

"Brilliant!" Zarther said.

"After all, we've done it once, remember?" Lune said, glancing over at Hexa. She nodded without much emotion, but he could tell the gears were turning in her head. Maybe she was listening. Maybe she was finally coming to terms with Kitten's... condition.

"So..." Lune faced the entire group of Blazes, raising his voice ever so slightly. "Who's with me?"