Traveller

Eight

Rebel opened her eyes to darkness. She felt herself standing, the ground beneath her feet firm and stable. Yet, something was off... This was no ordinary darkness, no. This darkness wasn't the gentle, lapping waters of sleep, wrapping around her form and cradling her until her breathing evened. Nor was it the soft, comforting darkness of the night, concealing her from all those who may dare to lay a finger on her.
It was.. unnerving, for lack of a better word. The kind of darkness that sent an unpleasant wave of chills down your spine. The feeling of eyes burning into your back, that's what this was.
She looked around, feeling the tension in the air rise. She was surrounded by a vacant void of blackness, nothing more.
Suddenly, whispers began to hiss past her ear. She whipped around.
"H-Hello..?"
The whispers turned to talking, talking turned to shouting, and shouting turned to flat out screaming. Rebel pressed her hands against her ears, fear coursing through her body. She had always been noise-sensitive, and this was enough to rocket her into insanity.
"M-Make it stop!" She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut, dropping to her knees and hunching over.
As if on cue, the screams stopped abruptly, leaving her head ringing. Panting, she dropped her hands from her ears and placed them on the floor. She could hear her heart pounding rapidly, and she almost thought she'd pass out and die of a heart attack.
"Rebel..."
Her head whipped up at the sound of her name floating through the stagnant air. A small, softly flickering light slowly glided toward her.
"H-Hello..?" She whispered shakily.
"Rebel!" The voice was more urgent now, clearer and more defined. Other noises of chaos joined in with it. "You must fight with all you have!"
"Mom?"
"Go, now! Hurry!!"
"MOM!" She screamed, scrambling to her feet and sprinting toward the light.
"Momma! I don't want to!" A small voice cried back. Rebel recognized it as herself. What was happening?
"I know honey. But please.. fight for me. And come home soon.." Mother's voice was soft, encouraging, reassuring.
"I-I will, Momma."
Rebel felt hot tears cut a path down her cheeks.
"M-Momma!" She screamed.
Suddenly, as if joining in on her mournful cry, the screams began to echo through the air again, accompanied by the familiar, rhythmic pounding of combat boots on concrete.

-

Rebel jolted awake with a small cry as she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, hey. It's just me, Rebel.." In the faint light of the night, she could make out Rezonate's friendly face and coffee brown curls. "Are you alright? Nightmare?"
Vocal chords strained, all she could do was nod. She winced a bit as Rez wrapped his arms around her, but slowly melted into his embrace.
"It'll be ok."
Though Rebel was sure he had no idea what he was talking about, the comforting tone of his voice was enough to eventually slow her rapid heartbeat back to normal.
They sat there in the orange half-light for a while, Rebel breathing heavily, leaning on Rezonate, until he pulled away.
"Are you still alright for the patrol? You don't have to go if you don't feel up to it." He said softly.
"N-N-No.. I'll be a-alright." She murmured shakily.
"Rebel. You seem very shaken up-"
"I-I'll be ok." She cut him off. Though he was, in a way, her brother, she didn't want to be an inconvenience. They probably needed an extra person on patrol. And plus, she wouldn't want to overstay her welcome.
Rezonate glared and hesitated for a moment, then stood and said,
"Let's go. They'll be waking soon."