The Last Remnants

[Glyph]

As dusk descended on the smoking remains of New Westopolis, the city streets began to see much more activity. The rumbling explosions of connecting laser fire echoed between the buildings from deep within the city, and, in the distance, bright flashes of light and sparks erupted as the invading army headed off to wreak havoc downtown.

Between the faint pops of gunfire and resulting crashes, another, closer sound stood out. Two aisles over from where Roy sat, the tiny noise came again, almost like the whimper of a small, frightened child.

[Leon]

Roy let out a heavy sigh as he put his head against a shelf in the center aisle. Moments earlier, he had finished a third can of tomato soup as well as two water bottles. The last two water bottles and can of soup went into his silencer pouch. For the last few days, the fox has been using up the M19's silencers until they had wore out and now, he only had one left, probably half used already.

But right now, that didn't matter to the fox. Actually, a lot of things just stopped mattering to him at this moment. Roy had his eyes closed and was listening to whatever sounds he heard. The sounds of distant explosions followed by the toppling of buildings, not to forget the sounds of lasers hitting or missing, all these sounds gave him a strange sense of peace.

But there was one noise that had been going on for quite sometime, and it was starting to annoy him because he couldn't exactly tell what it was. Could that possibly be a little kid? ... "Nah, that can't be it." He said loudly as though he expected the noise to stop. He was disappointed as the noise continued. Well, it can't be a kid now can it? So... What is it then.

Roy grabbed onto one of the shelves with his good hand and pulled himself up onto his feet. Lets find out what that sound is then shall we? The fox thought as he began heading to the end of his aisle. "Wait a sec!" He said as he turned back to the jacket. He then went over and grabbed his M19. Just in case... Afterwards, he began walking over a few aisles over until he came to the corner that the noise was coming from.

As he turned into the aisle, the light that had kept most of the pharmacy lit up, flickered off for a minute. At that, Roy raised up his gun, ready to fire should some kind of danger come up as the light came back on.

[Glyph]

The shelves in front of the aisle shuddered quietly, as though something had accidentally backed into them. When Roy spoke, the movement stopped, and a tense, frightened silence descended over the store.

That silence was broken the moment the light flickered, bathing the fox in its dim glow and sparking off the barrel of his gun; something gave a loud cry of alarm, and a flurry of footsteps took off into the darkness, carrying the terrified voice out of sight and farther into the pharmacy.

[Leon]

"Hey wait up!" Roy called out to the source of the noise as he motioned for it to stop. By then it was too late, it had scurried off farther into the pharmacy.

"Ah damn..." He said as he dropped the gun back to his side. The lights began to flicker again and then went out completely. Great He thought as he slid his gun into it's holster. Moments later, he slouched over thinking Now how am I supposed to find this kid, or whatever it is...

Roy turned back and, with a couple of bumps from hitting the edges of the aisles and other things, made his way back to his equipment. From there, he went ahead and put his jacket back on, but decided to leave the flak jacket behind being that it would probably slow him down later on.

"Hey wait... I have something that can help you see if you're still here." He called out as he searched through his pouches. "Here it is." He said to himself as he pulled out a a rather old silver lighter. He flicked the ignitor a few times and found that it wouldn't light up right away. Come on you piece of crap. Work! He thought violently until he finally was able to get a small flame started. The light from it wasn't very bright, but it did produce enough light so he can see and be seen.

[Glyph]

The scuffling noises continued, though the whimper is muffled and soft, like the keening of a small animal. At the sudden flicker of light, it vanished completely, as if someone clamped a hand over their mouth to keep from making further noise.

Finally, the movement stopped, ending in the far corner of the room, a few aisles down from where Roy was standing. Whatever it was, it had reached a dead end--the only way out was past the fox and across the room to the front door.

[Leon]

The sudden silence that had fallen upon the small pharmacy sent a shiver down Roy's back. "Uh... Are you okay there?" He asked out loud.Okay, why am I calling out to it as if it's going to respond. He shook his head and sighed again.

The fox realized that whatever it was that had been moving had stopped in one of the corners of the store, so the only way it could get out is if it passed by him. "Alright, fine. If that's how it's gonna be, I'll play the waiting game with you then." He said as he made his way to the entrance. You know... I could be out there looking for some kind of means of transportation to get out of here, but here I am just waiting for this... Thing to come out. The fox looked around and found a small crate. He flipped it over next to the door and sat on it.

After sometime staying there, Roy began closing and opening the lighter, turning it on and off while he did so. Eventually, he put it down, with a flame still burning, and pulled out his M19 and began twirling it around in his right hand. Anytime now this thing can come out now... "Yep." He said it as though someone was right there with him

[Glyph]

Several moments passed, and the silence remained unbroken. After a time, the terrified anxiety hanging over the shadows seemed to fade, and once again the tiny, soft footsteps began to creep back to the front of the store. Near the edge of the far aisle, farthest from the door, the pair of eyes reappeared, round and nervous. They followed the flicker of the flame, and the motion of the twirling gun, with a flinching jitteriness that pervaded even the soft, halting voice that drifted across the store.

"... Are you going to shoot at us too?"

[Leon]

Roy closed his eyes as he continued twirling the weapon in his hand. Then came the footsteps again. The fox then stopped the gun in his hand and looked into the darkness. He didn't see anything and so he began to twirl the gun again but in the opposite direction.

Okay, whatever that thing is seems to be okay... He thought as he shifted his left arm in it's sling. He felt a short pang of pain and let out a small grunt. "Damn this hurts..." he said under his breath.

Roy let out a sigh and just barely caught the last words that was said by the other being in the pharmacy. This caused him to stop twirling his weapon once more and look back to the edge of the light produced by the flame. Though he did not act as though he actually saw them, the fox was just able to spot the pair of eyes starring at him from the far aisle.

Roy shook closed his eyes as he shook his head, "Nah... I'm not gonna shoot you guys. You know what, here." The fox stood up, emptied the magazine from his gun and then manually ejected the bullet from the chamber. He didn't stop there though, after he made sure the gun was empty, detached the barrel from the gun and placed the two pieces of the gun onto the ground. "Okay. I don't have my gun fully assembled and so I CAN'T shoot you. Now, would you please come on out and tell me just who exactly you guys are?" There was a very small hint of annoyance in his voice.

[Glyph]

The pair of eyes winced and whimpered, but with the gun in pieces on the floor, it wasn't quite as fearful as before. Although, that was a very good adjective--it described perfectly the small, hunkered form of the Mobian that stepped out into the light.

She was a bird, with pale feathers and a flecked beak. Her eyes, crystal blue, were wide and nervous. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine. Trembling, she clutched at the edge of her tattered shirt and swayed nervously at the opening of the aisle.

"I-I'm Harmony."

[Leon]

Roy watched as the young bird came out of the shadows. As she came into the light, Roy had begun thinking about why a child like her would have be in such a dark place by herself, but then he remembered that she had said "us", so she had to be here with someone else.

Roy's thought process stopped as the girl had given him a name. "Harmony?" He repeated as he brought his right hand to his chin. He paused in that position for a moment or two and then brought his hand back to his side.

The fox nodded as he began, "Okay then, Harmony. My name is Roy."

The first thing he wanted to clear up was whether or not she was here with someone else or just by herself.Roy kneeled on his left knee and rested his right arm on the other knee. "Okay, you said that you weren't alone. Well, where are the others that you are with?"

[Glyph]

The little bird nodded, shivering violently as she took another hesitant step closer. Then Harmony sniffed thickly, and tears welled in her bright eyes as she glanced toward the back of the store.

"In the back. In the storeroom." Her lip trembled, and she hugged herself tightly, quaking with misery, "M-my teacher, s-she's hurt real bad."

[Leon]

Roy let out a large sigh and then stood up. He uttered something barely audible under his breath, though it was probably best for the little bird's sake.

Roy took the lighter and began walking toward the little bird. "Okay then, let's go." He said as he walked right past her. He then stopped in the middle of the aisle as he noticed she wasn't following right away. "To go and take care of your teacher that is. You're coming, right?"

[Glyph]

For a moment, Harmony almost looked like she was going to cry, for her eyes grew large and roud, and her shivering became a violent shudder. Then the dove--maybe--stumbled after the fox and through the aisle toward the back of the store. Farther back, past a cracked door that lead to the very back of the store, a tiny light spilled out onto the floor.

"She's back there," Harmony all but whispered, "It was dark, so I... found a candle..."

[Leon]

"Alright." Roy said as he watched her go up ahead. Before he followed her in, he grabbed a couple medical supplies. He stopped though as he realized that he left his gun disassembled and on the ground back over in the front. He was tempted to go back and get but decided against it. Just hope nothing comes in while we're in here...

He then shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking so negatively right now. He began walking back to the storeroom and pushed it open with his shoulder. Surprisingly, the one candle Harmony had said she had made the room well lit though, from what he could tell, it was in the far back of the room. From where he was standing, he could see Harmony and someone else's head behind a crate, which was also behind a couple shelves and boxes.

"Okay, just... Hold on. I'll be right there" He called out to them, as he began stepping over some broken boxes and other things. I only hope that her teacher isn't hurt as badly as the girl says she is...

[Glyph]

Harmony nodded and swallowed painfully before trotting farther into the candlelight. She sank to her knees next to the shape propped against the boxes--a mouse, petite and quite pretty. Her eyes flickered open at Harmony's approach, and once the bird moved out of the light, the thin trickle of blood from her forhead became apparent.

Head injury aside, the mouse suffered from various bruises and bumps, and had her left arm drawn close to her side. She looked exhausted, but her eyes rolled over to Roy when he came close, and she straightened to get a better look before slumping back weakly.