Ballistic Coefficient

When they finally came staggering out of Lord Faron's castle and out into the gentle snowfall, it was with a sigh of relief. Their fight against Vincent and the undead was over, or at least it seemed that way – Vincent was certainly dead, Kayla had seen to that, and whatever ghouls and fledglings were left, Allen could deal with on his own now.

All that was left for the three of them to do was find a place to rest and lick their wounds for a bit.

As it turned out, that place ended up being the barracks. Allen led them there without a word, apparently having sensed that they needed some respite for a time. He threw the door open, then motioned for them to step inside.

"In here," he offered. "Pick anywhere you want; my men won't be needing it anymore."

Pale pursed her lips. Evie stepped inside, still supporting Kayla, and gently laid her down on one of the nearest beds. Pale went to follow, only to turn back and face Allen.

"And you?" she asked. "What are you going to do?"

Allen's face darkened. "I am going to clean up whatever stragglers are left and see if any of my citizens are still alive out there."

"Can we trust you?" Pale bluntly asked. "You are a vampire now. If you were to lose control-"

"I won't," Allen promised.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because someone has to take control of this town now that Lord Faron is dead, and in the absence of anyone else, it will have to be me, at least for now. If you intend to kill me, at the very least, wait until I have successfully rid the town of the undead plague that vampire spread upon it."

Pale's brow furrowed. She didn't like the idea of setting a vampire loose, especially not after just having had to deal with Vincent, but there wasn't much else she could do about it – the three of them were too exhausted and injured to stop him, and for that matter, Allen wasn't acting aggressive or predatory towards any of them, at least at the moment.

As far as she was concerned, he was giving them a chance to rest up peacefully for the first time since this had all started, and she had no reason to refuse it.

Slowly, Pale nodded. "Very well."

"Hm. I will be back after clearing the town. If you three are still asleep, I will not wake you – we can talk later."

Pale gave another nod. Allen let out a breath, then turned and began to move away, running through the blizzard. Pale watched him go before shutting the door to the barracks behind her, then stepping inside and collapsing onto the nearest bed.

Sleep took her almost the moment her back hit the mattress.

XXX

It was a low, pain-filled groan that awoke Pale. She immediately sat bolt upright, recognizing the sound as having come from Kayla. In the blink of an eye, she began looking around, only to relax when she saw Kayla was sitting up in her bed, clutching at her temples but otherwise unhurt.

"Urgh…" she managed to get out. "Everything hurts…"

"That tends to happen after a fight like that," Pale muttered before breaking into a wide yawn. After recovering, she said, "Aside from the aches and pains, does everything feel alright?"

"I suppose…" Kayla replied. "Is Evie awake?"

"I am now…" Evie said, her voice low as she sat up in her bed. "Hells below… I feel like shit. Hopefully, we never have to do that again…"

"Hopefully…" Pale muttered in agreement. She turned to look out a nearby window, noticing that it was night once more. The heavy blizzard had tapered off into a gentle snowfall, however, which showed her that plenty of time had passed between the end of their fight with Vincent and now. She yawned once more, then rose out of bed, stretching as she did so.

"Evie," she said, "how are you with magic?"

"Fine," Evie reported. "Why do you ask?"

"Kayla was complaining about aches and pains. Think you can spare a spell or two to make sure she's alright?"

"Certainly." Evie stood up and moved over to Kayla's bed, then rested a hand on her back and began to pour magic into her. Instantly, a sigh of contentment left Kayla's throat, and she gave Evie an appreciative nod.

"Thanks."

"Hey, we're family, remember?" Evie said, flashing her a smile. "Especially after what we all went through last night. You both fought well."

"As did you," Pale complimented. "Especially for someone with no innate counter against the undead. Excellent work."

Evie shrugged. "Just glad we're alive, to be honest. Shame about the townspeople, though…"

A heavy silence fell over them at that comment. After a moment, Pale shook her head.

"Dwelling on it won't do us any good," she stated. "We did what we could, that's all. Don't let it get to you both."

Kayla bit her lip. "...So what happens now?"

"Truthfully, I'm not sure. Allen said he was going to clear the town of any remaining undead; I assume he's done by now."

"Then we should go speak with him," Evie stated. "Just to make sure there are no more surprises."

"Agreed," Pale said with a nod. "Let's go find him."

"Out into the snow again…" Kayla muttered as she stood up. "I swear, I never want to see snow again after these past few days…"

"You and me both," Evie commented. "Come on, let's not keep the big man waiting."

XXX

It didn't take long to find Allen. He was in the town square, perched on top of a nearby building, his outline silhouetted against the glow of the moon. Upon seeing them approach, he dropped down from his perch and walked over to them.

"Good, you're awake," he said. "Well-rested?"

"Well enough," Pale reported. "And yourself? Anything to note?"

He shook his head. "There weren't very many ghouls left, and no fledglings. I took care of the remainder myself, then started looking for survivors."

"Were you able to find any?"

"A few – just under fifty."

"Fifty people…" Kayla muttered.

He nodded. "Yes. Out of a few thousand who lived here before the attacks. I know, that's not much, but if you three hadn't been here, there would have been zero survivors, myself included. And furthermore, that vampire and his ghouls would have spread out into the countryside once the blizzard subsided. We owe you a great debt for that – not just the people of this city, but the entire kingdom. If it weren't for you, this would have been a massive undead incursion."

"Just trying to keep ourselves alive," Pale replied. "Nothing more."

"Maybe not to you, but trust me, you've done this kingdom a great service." Allen hesitated, then offered her a hand. "You have my thanks, all of you."

Pale stared at his hand for a moment, then grasped it with one of her own and briefly shook before they pulled apart. Next to her, Kayla shifted awkwardly.

"...How are you feeling, Captain?"

At that, Allen's face darkened. "I'll live," he said. "I figure… I'll have to venture out at some point, see if I can't find some bandits or other undesirables to feed on." He let out a sharp exhale. "...After seeing what that vampire did, the idea disgusts me, but I attempted to eat some food I found while searching through town, and was unable to keep it down. So I suppose I am stuck feeding on blood from now on, much to my regret. That is, unless you three intend to kill me now?"

Evie tilted her head, confused. "You would stand idly by and allow it to happen?"

"If the alternative is losing control? Yes, I would." He stretched his arms out, motioning to the town around him. "These people have suffered enough. Not only that, but as Captain of the guard, it is my sworn duty to watch over and protect them, few in number as they may be. But if there is a chance of losing control-"

"We… don't know that for sure," Evie offered. Pale looked to her in surprise, and she gave a sigh of resignation. "...It's tough to tell, honestly. I've never heard of a vampire being able to maintain control like that long-term, but there's a first time for anything. And, if I'm being honest, if anyone I've met has the capacity for keeping it under control, it's you, Captain."

Allen nodded. "You have my word."

"Unfortunately, your word isn't quite good enough." Evie sighed once more, running a hand through her hair. "That being said, I think there's a solution, and an obvious one, at that."

"There is?" Kayla asked.

Evie nodded. "Much as I hate to say it… I'm going to have to break my promise to you two. I said I'd take you as close to the Luminarium as I could, but it seems this is where my journey ends, at least for now."

"What do you mean?" Pale asked. "You're staying here?"

"I am," Evie confirmed. "Not only does someone need to keep an eye on Allen and make sure he doesn't lose control, but this town also needs to be rebuilt. Not to mention that the entire rest of my convoy is dead – that's a lot of letters I'm going to have to write and funerals to help plan, plus I'm going to need to recruit some new people as well."

Kayla stepped forward. "Evie, you've done so much for us already. Of course you're free to stay here if you want, we wouldn't dream of forcing you to come with us if you feel like you're being called to help here."

Next to her, Pale nodded. "Agreed. And you're right – someone needs to watch Allen and help rebuild here. This solves two problems at once."

Evie cracked a wide smile, then surged forwards and pulled them both into a hug. "I knew you'd both understand."

Pale froze, stiffening under the sudden display of physical affection. This was only the second time someone had ever hugged her, and she still didn't know how to react in the slightest. After a moment, she brought her hands up and reciprocated Evie's hug, while Kayla did the same.

And despite how much of a slap in the face it had to have been to her creators and their intentions for her as a war machine, she had to admit, it felt nice.

They broke apart after several seconds, and Pale had to resist the urge to ask for another. In the end, she persevered, managing to bite her tongue. The three of them stood there in silence before Evie spoke up again.

"You three can take the wagon," she offered. "You need it more than I do at this point."

"Are you sure?" Kayla asked, surprised.

Evie nodded. "Positive. The one thing I ask in return, though? When you get to the Luminarium, write me. I'll be mad if you don't." Her gaze slid over to Pale. "Especially you. You're just as much of a friend and sister to me as Kayla is, so I expect to hear from you as well as her. Understand?"

Pale nodded, then turned to Evie. "I suppose that's it, then. We'll wait for the snow to stop falling, and help clean up a bit around here until then. But the moment it clears, we're gone."

"Fair enough," Evie agreed. "Though I have to ask, what kind of cleanup did you have in mind?"

"Truthfully, I left a bunch of weapons and ammo scattered across the floor in Faron's castle, and I'd rather not leave them there for anyone to find."

Evie stared at her for a moment before a wide grin split her face, and she began laughing. Kayla joined in after a moment, and despite her best efforts, a small smile graced Pale's face as well.

And somehow, despite the snow falling all around them, she felt warm.

XXX

By the time morning broke, the snow had stopped falling completely. Pale had gotten her weapons cleaned up and her gear straightened out, and was now sitting in the wagon next to Kayla. Behind them, Evie stood at the gates to the village, waving goodbye. Pale and Kayla waved back, and then Kayla snapped the reins, and the horses began to move, pulling them along.

Pale turned and stared at the horizon, watching as the sun crested over the nearby mountain range, casting a faint yellow glow on the world below, lost in her thoughts the entire time. Her time on Sjel had been interesting, to say the least. Kayla and Evie were nothing like the military Admirals and commanding officers she'd generally been in contact with before her arrival, and yet somehow, she didn't mind it as much anymore. After all, how could she, when they'd fought alongside her to this extent, among other things?

Evie's question from earlier, the one about family, suddenly surged to the forefront of Pale's mind, and she grimaced. In all the commotion, she'd forgotten to search for an answer to it. Part of her was tempted to abandon her search outright, if only to make things easier for herself, and yet, another far larger part of her was reluctant to let it go, for some reason. Despite her initial misgivings, Pale made a mental note to keep searching. She owed Evie that much, at least.

With that thought established, Pale shifted in her seat. Idly, she ran a quick scan of her own systems, checking something from several days ago that she'd nearly forgotten about in all the excitement.

"Something on your mind?" Kayla suddenly asked from her spot next to her.

Slowly, Pale shook her head. "No."

"Come on, I can tell when you're in your own head like this."

"I was just checking something," Pale emphasized. "Nothing more."

"If you say so," Kayla offered.

The two of them fell silent after that. Pale ran one last check to make sure; predictably, the radio buoys she'd released a number of days earlier were still completely silent.

And yet, somehow, that fact bothered her less than it had initially, and she wasn't sure why.

As soon as the feeling crossed her mind, Pale pushed it away, a grimace crossing her face. She still had a duty to uphold, and that was never going to change for as long as there was still a war with the Caatex to fight.

The two of them kept riding on, snow crunching beneath the wheels of the wagon and the hooves of the horses with every inch of ground, watching the countryside as it passed by around them. Pale didn't know what the near future held for them, but she knew one thing for sure. So long as she had Kayla by her side, she'd make it off this planet and back to her war. There wasn't a doubt in her mind about that.

That thought lit a fire inside her, and she shifted in her seat, leaning back, a content sigh escaping her as they continued to ride through the countryside. Next to her, Kayla cracked a small grin, apparently happy that she'd gotten out of her own head.

They both continued on in silence, neither saying anything, simply content to enjoy each other's presence.

And somehow, for Pale, that was more than enough.