aurora rising one shots, volume two.

poisoned words

The bar was loud and garish, with sticky floors and cigarette smoke permeating the air.

Peoples voices were everywhere -news anchors reporting on the large VidScreen hung on the wall above the wall, people arguing, hushed whispers from lovers and laughing from friends.

But the voice that called Kal Gilwraeth's attention was the one of the girl on the stage.

She had a black face mask on, covering the lower half of her face, and her white hair goes over one eye. The only part of her face was her white eye and her freckles that looked like constellations in the bright neon.

She wears simple black clothing -a short skirt and an oversized shirt. A silver chain is over her throat and multiple piercings glimmer from harsh spotlights.

She is with a boy, one with light brown hair and eyes as blue as an aces badge stands next to her, holding a black guitar.

The girl leans into the mic, brushing some star white hair behind her ear.

"Hey, everyone," she purrs, and the crowd goes wild "We're baaaack."

"Kal!" Fins voice chides ,"dude, I know she's pretty but seriously, keep your head in the game!"

"Sorry." Kal replies, and forcibly rips his eyes away from the mesmerising girl on stage.

Scar looks at the two boys, and rolls her baby-blue eyes.

"Alright. Ty, Zee and I will go to the bar and get information from the cute bartender. Kal and Fin, eavesdrop on everyone. Try and get as much info as you can, alright?"

The two boys nod, and turn away from the group, going to the shadowy corners of the bar.

Fins exo whines slightly, and Kal feel sorry for him. The squad had been looking for Aurora on a planet called Exodus. They had a lead here, so went to investigate, so Fin hasn't had access to Zero Grav in a few days.

Fin splits off, going up the elevator to the next level with a wink and a word of parting wisdom.

"Don't stare at her too long!"

Kal ignored him, and is currently sitting at an empty chair watching the girl onstage.

"M'kay, so, I know we've been here a while," She says, and once again the crowd cheers ,"so we wanted to thank you all. Thanks for the memories."

She exhales, and adjusts the skirt she's wearing, before leaning into the mic.

"One, two, three."

The boy starts up a riff on the guitar, much to the crowds delight. They seem to have heard this one before.

"Falling in love with you was a fucking mistake." She sings ,"I wish I never really felt that way."

Holy Drakkans on a stick, her voice was amazing. It seemed so, so familiar, like sunlight on Syldra and cherry-tasting kisses from Auri.

But it seemed bittersweet, like the tears he had shed and having blood on his hands.

"So when you left me for a lie, I couldn't help but die a little inside."

"You loved me and left me, used me for your game! It was never, ever meant to end this way!"

The boy does another guitar solo, but Kal couldn't care less.

He just wanted to hear the girl sing.

The girl struts along the stage, sometimes spinning on one heel with a smirk that would put a bullet through your heart.

"And so I'll say fuck you and goodnight, you were so right. I should've never saved your life!"

The song fades, and the crowd roars.

"I hope that's enough for you all. We have," she pauses for a second, unsure what to say ,"business to attend to. I'll see you soon!"

She and the boy walks off stage just as Fin pulls on my collar.

"We need to go backstage and investigate them. They seem weird."

"Yes."

The two men sneak around, somehow bypassing the guards (and by somehow it means Kal beat them senseless to the floor) and make their way backstage.

"Listen, Lance, I- he's here. He found me. We have to leave. I was thinking Clexa II." A voice says, hurriedly from underneath a purple neon light.

Fin and Kal duck behind a sticky table covered in booze.

"Hey, hey, it'll be okay. He can't hurt you anymore, okay? I taught you how to fight. Use your skills." The boy says, tucking a hair behind her ear affectionately.

The girl sniffs ,"you havent seen him fight. He would snap your neck and laugh over your body."

"He can try."

That's when Kal sees red and steps out from behind the place they were hiding.

He's faced with the boy from before, and a girl he thought was dead.

It's Aurora, her hair white and her old white eye missing, a hollow socket. Scars run around the missing eye like cracked rivers, deep and marring her face.

"Get the fuck away from me, Kal." She hisses, immediately recognising the silver-haired boy.

Lance -the one Aurora was talking to before- takes a step forward, blue eyes burning in anger.

Fin steps out from beside Kal, mocking hurt.

"I'm hurt." Find voice says, voice cracking from the fact that he's about to cry ,"you greet your psychotic ex but not your brother? Wowwww, mean."

"F-Fin?" Auris voice asks, a tear spilling from her single eye. She immediately abandons all hatred she felt towards Kal and smiles.

"Hey, stowaway."

She runs towards him, enveloping the boy she loves most in a hug and completely ignoring Kal and Lance death-staring each other.

"How the hell did you survive?" Fin whispers.

"The Ra'haam. It brought me back to life. I'm not a part of the hive mind, but I'm able to use my body. It's like there's vines...in my body, keeping me alive. I don't really have to eat, just drink an amount of water that'd make Tyler cry."

"The ra— what?"

"Long story, turns out they were an experiment gone wrong and I do not have the time to tell you. Now how the hell did you find me?"

Fin shakily inhales ,"we've been looking for you since you disappeared. Every single day. We had a lead that told us to come here, so we followed it, and...yeah. Here we are."

"You know you shouldn't have." She whispers, the atmosphere suddenly changing for the worse ,"I told you before I went that if I was gone, don't go looking for me."

She looks up Fin, and the...other boy that accompanies her puts a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, Fin, Kal, you two meant the most to me. I'm glad I saw you two again, but I do not want to see you again. I don't want the squad to know I was here either. I want to stay in the life I've created, not the one I was forced into."

"Aurora, you can't—" Kal bursts out ,"please, you can't. I don't want to leave you again. I can't do it."

"You survived three years without me, no? I'm sure you can survive the rest of your years without me."

Her eye flashes, and her lips curl into a wicked smile. It's somewhat marred by her scars,  it Kal thinks it looks beautiful.

She is beautiful.

"Find me again, and I won't hesitate to kill you. I'm sorry."

She murmurs something to Lance, and the two walk down the hallway until Fin and Kal can't see them anymore.

The love of Kals life is disappearing for a second time.

And this time, it will be the last.