Rainimator Oneshots! (And other stuff)

Just Give Me Time (Kane&Ciara - Platonic!)

Swish. Click.

Swish. Click.

Swish-

"Cylan," The name cuts through the silence, the dark grey-haired teen sighing as she leant against the bark of the spruce tree, staring out into the darkness. Huffing, she turned to face the tree trunk, searching for handholds before scaling the tree itself. Perched atop the branches, she sits down, careful to maintain her balance. Then she just waits.

Her electric gaze sweeps through the gaps in the leaves, patient, silent. Somewhere deeper in the forest, multiple groans are audible. That would be... north. Fine, still within the Netherbane's grounds. She slides down the side of the tree, letting go and landing on the ground with practised ease. Flicking her karambits, her expression arranges itself into a smirk. Time to hunt.

Her feet skim the ground as she heads into the thicker portions of forest, avoiding bushes and trees as she did so. The grass tickled her shin, but she didn't care. She could hear the groans right ahead. Skidding to a stop, she exhales, listening. Five zombies. Okay. That is easy prey for her. Brandishing the two curved blades, she tosses one into the clearing, pausing. The zombies, alerted by the noise, turn their heads, soulless gazes fixed on the foreign object. Some tilt their heads to the side in confusion. One lifted a foot, about to step over when-

The dark grey-haired teen teleported to it, left hand clutching the other blade as she sliced through the pungent, rotting flesh, delivering a quick kick in succession. Picking up her karambit, she looked around to see the zombies closing in on her, groaning. 

"Oh it's on," she whispered, tossing her karambit behind one of them, teleporting there and stabbing the blade through its body before tossing it aside. Dashing towards two others, they lunged towards her, clawed hands about to make contact as she slid down to the ground, threading the needle and slashing her twin blades through them, watching them slump to the ground with a scoff. Zombies were so weak, at this point, it wasn't even entertaining fighting them anymore. Yawning, she rolled her eyes, tossing her final karambit behind her. A satisfying 'thump' of a body indicated she'd made her mark. Obviously.

At this point, some might argue that this was an unhealthy coping mechanism, but who were they to judge? They hardly knew her, she hardly knew them. As such, frankly, she didn't really give a shit about what they thought. They wouldn't understand her reasons for doing this, and she would rather much prefer to keep it that way. Then again, going mob hunting always brought her some... sense of revenge. Somehow, though she'd been doing this for so long, the revenge never really brought her the much needed peace she sought. Nevermind these things now. The night was still young, she had more mobs to kill.

"Where's Ciara, Michael?" A man with dark hair questioned, reaching for his armour. 

"...She went out... some time back," the Netherbane member stated hesitantly. "Captain Kane, do you think she could have run into any trouble?" Michael asked, worry creasing his forehead. Tch. Knowing her, unlikely. Kane just swallowed the statement and shrugged. 

"I'll be back before dawn." With that, he grabbed a lantern, leaving the tavern. Michael exchanged a glance with Elite, the latter shrugging. Though no words were exchanged, they themselves knew vaguely why Ciara had gone out so late at night. After all, the Netherbane was a pretty tight-knit group. For that teen to harbour such a deep rooted sense of revenge- Michael shook his head, turning back to the counter, ready to serve the next customer.

Sure enough, all Kane had to do was trace that familiar path she always took. The telltale signs of lifeless mob corpses told him enough, lingering sparks of ender particles here and there. Narrowing his eyes, he carried onwards, trudging through the undergrowth. He worried about Ciara, he really did. For someone as young as her... life had not been kind.

The muted hiss of a creeper startled him out of his thoughts and on instinct, he swung his cleave backwards, slicing through the green and white speckled timebomb, knocking it down instantly. 

"You're distracted. Not the best for a night hunt," a cool voice stated, a certain assassin walking out of the shadows, her eyes flashing. 

"I could say the same for ya." Kane retorted. 

There was a pause before Ciara continued, "At least I can put it all aside to-" 

"Ya ain't really putting it aside, are ya? At least, not from what I see," The Netherbane captain pointed out, laying his lantern on the floor and sitting down. Knowing how long Ciara had been out, it was likely all the mobs from this area were cleared. The assassin just sat down silently beside him, sighing. Staring up at the moon, she muttered something Kane barely caught. 

"...The moon was like this that night too."

That night. Kane remembered it so clearly, making his nightly patrol, finding Ciara in that snow-blanketed clearing, holding the body of her brother close. Cylan. Strewn around them were mob corpses, a bloodied iron sword discarded, forgotten, on the ground. The way Ciara- no more than fifteen then, looked at him that night, lifting her gaze from her brother's body. The despair and agony in that one glance nearly caused Kane to stumble back from the pressure of the emotion, pity flooding him at the sight. And that anger in her eyes-

They buried Cylan that night. The night with a half moon. Just like tonight.

"You still can't..." Kane let his words trail off, Ciara half-closing her eyes. 

"No. I can't forget. The mobs have to pay for what they did to me- What they took away from-" The assassin broke off in her words, fingers curling into a fist. Kane simply rested his hand on her shoulder, pulling her in for a brief hug. The vulnerability she showed here, unseen, forgotten by those who focused on her achievements, her abilities, forgetting that she was just a simple teenage girl with a broken past.

The two of them shared a special bond. Siblings, close friends. Trust each other time and time again. In the flickering light of the lantern, casting moving shadows in the gloom, they looked up into the night sky, all emotional barriers lowered for once.

"I just need more time," Ciara murmured, her electric gaze fixed on the karambits in her hand now.

Swish. Click.

Swish. Click.

The repetitive, yet somewhat calming sound, a habit of hers as flipped the blade in her hands.

Kane just lets his silence speak for him. He need not say more. The trust that the younger girl dared to give to him, he had to respect that.

After all, sometimes all we really need is just a bit more time.

Just a little more...

Whoo! This took a long while- IMCRAZYFANFICTION requested this a long time ago, I eventually got around to doing it after lots of procrastination- haha- Hope you like it! Please follow, comment and vote, as per usual! Thank you! <3

~Lightningstar out