Mirror Prism

Chapter 1 - Put Your Empty Hands in Mine

Warning: Canon-typical violence (but a tad more graphic)

This is for the Clone Bang. :) Thanks to polar-orbit on tumblr for beta reading, and khiquii on tumblr for the art!

~ Rivana Rita

It started right when Hunter saw Crosshair go over the waterfall with ghostly familiar figure. Starts before he even hits the water, and the sticky humidity turns to rain, the rushing waterfall turns to thunder, and dark purple trees and sky warps to blue.

The energy fields are off, and he's alone.

There's a jagged flash of lightning, brightening the outside. Towering, jagged mountain peaks rewrite the rough jungle terrain.

Thunder crashes in the background.

An entire world, re and unwritten.

Hunter turns, blaster drawn, but nothing. He couldn't have teleported. That doesn't happen. It doesn't. Something's wrong, and he's not dreaming.

Lightning flashes again, their surging electric current flickering across the sky and ground and prickling over his skin.

The others were just here, but now they're gone, and Hunter doesn't know what happened. He has no idea where he is, or where his family is, He needs to be helping Crosshair. He just went over a waterfall, but there's nothing here. There's no one here. His entire squad – his family is gone. Hunter's here alone.

Something about this planet is wrong. Hunter can always feel an entire planet's surface, but this is vast and unending. Open and seamless. He doesn't get it. He has to get home. That shadow was chasing them, and they need help. He doesn't know where he is.

Hunter's never been alone before, but he is now. And he has to agree with Echo on one thing – he hates solitary. He's not crazy, because this place is very much real, but nothing about it makes sense. People don't teleport. Hunter feels every flicker of electricity, every pulsing and shifting electron. It's overwhelming and his head throbs at the flashing of energy light.

Lightning flashes again, and Hunter sees someone else the same time he senses and smells him. "Echo?"

"Hunter?" he asks over the rain, looking at his hand and scomp, then back up at him. "How'd you get here?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah. Same." He huffs out an annoyed sound.

Lightning flashes again. The storm is bad. They need shelter. If Echo's here, Hunter doesn't know what it means for the rest of his family. Focus. He has to get himself and Echo somewhere safe until the storm is up enough they find a transport, or way to contact someone.

The energy tenses up ahead – some sort of concentrated source. Something distantly bluish white shimmers through the darkness, shining down on a towering structure. "There," Hunter says, pointing, "It might give us some cover."

They could be hostile. He misses Tech. Tech would know. He always knew, but he's gone because of Hunter, the same way everyone else is now.

Lightning crashes beside them, a zillion electrons rippling outwards and twisting through the air, rushing through him. Prickling over his skin and inside and out. He feels it coming, and Hunter ducks aside. The bolts are too frequent and violent, twisting and jagged. He tackles Echo aside as another comes down, and they roll into a rocky formation together.

"Storm's getting worse," Hunter grunts as they stumble to their feet – Echo gives him a hand he doesn't need to stand. There's a long way on, and they have to keep moving.