Half His Former Self

Aurora Strand 

Pale yellow sulfur lights do little to pierce the purple and cerulean shadows painted across the broad thoroughfare of Aurora Strand, which runs through the growing domed city of Shadowheart. A chill breeze blows discarded litter around, catching crumpled paper in brief whirlwinds.

No custodians roam the street or sidewalks to keep it clean, but people can be seen just the same, some walking in pale pools of azure or amber, others seeming to prefer the anonymity of the shadows.

The buzzing of neon signs can be heard above the wind, although the noise occasionally gets drowned out by shouting, or sizzling bursts of energy weapon fire as conflicts are waged and settled in the usual way.

Niesa nods. "This should do," she says, kicking aside a crumpled pack of wet cigarettes and moving to the mouth of the alley.

Jinyu follows, glancing over his shoulder nervously.

Niesa points down the length of the darkened alley to a far wall where the inconsistent neon of a motel sign lights a faded posting on the stone wall. "See that old sign?"

Jinyu turns his head. "'The Big Sleep'", he read, and nods. "Is that a Tomin Kora expression? Do they sleep for longer here?"

Niesa nods. "Kind of," she says, unstrapping a rather short, but streamlined pulse rifle from her back and aiming it down the alley.

The shot takes off the lower right corner of the posting - that section of paper falling in a flutter to the wet ground. "You try."

Jinyu nods and raises the pistol, aiming in the general direction of the sign. Looking about him as if to make sure no-one is watching, he puts pressure on the trigger sensor. Nothing happens. "Uh..." He looks down at her, perplexed.

"Remember the button we talked about?" Niesa stands slightly behind you, the rifle beside her pointed at the ground. "Just make sure you push that to red when you're ready to fire. It's embarassing and dangerous if you don't."

"Oh!" Jinyu flicks the switch, aims, and squeezes the sensor once more. The weapon discharges, and a blue flash burns a small area up and to the left of the sign.

Niesa nods. "Alright, not bad," she says, slinging the rifle back over her shoulder and moving behind you. Because she is shorter, it's rather awkward, but she stands slightly to your left side and runs a finger along the top of the pistol. "See those bumps? One at the front, one at the back? Before you shoot this time, line those up with one another, then line both up with the target." With that, she moves her hand away and steps back.

Jinyu concentrates, hair falling into his eyes. He squeezes the sensor again, and hits the exact same area of wall, missing the sign. He seems a little tense, rigid.

Unflustered, Niesa nods again. "Alright, that's fine. You're pulling a bit to the side, but I think I know why." She reaches up for your right arm and pushes down. "Just relax your arm for a minute," she says. "You're too tense. Let your shoulders just sort of hang there."

Jinyu complies, waving his head from side to side, looking upward and stretching his neck out. Suddenly, he raises the weapon, one handed this time, and fires. The burn is identical to the previous two. He sighs. "I can hit that one spot just fine."

Niesa smirks a bit at that and walks around behind you again. "Don't worry, Jin," she says airily. "If we get into a firefight, we'll just ask politely that everyone take a step to their left." With that, her fingers reach to massage the muscles of your shoulders. "Well no wonder," she says, almost to herself.

At that, Jinyu laughs, a musical concoction quite out of place with their surroundings. It continues for several seconds before, as if realising where he is, he stops in midstream and looks around him. "You caught me off-guard with that one!" he admits. At her touch, he relaxes slightly.

Her touch is far from gentle. Her slender fingers dig into the tightened muscles, pressing there for several moments before easing into a more pleasant knead. "You can't afford to get caught off-guard, Jin," she says. Her tone is serious, but not angry.

Jinyu does not answer, his lips pursed slightly. His expression clears and he fires again, this time winging the posting, slightly lower and to the right of his previous efforts. He smiles in satisfaction.

"Again," Niesa says, lowering to a squat several feet from you.

Jinyu squeezes off three blasts in quick succession, all landing in a tight group on the left edge of the posting. He chances one more, but jerks the weapon up a little as it discharges. The bolt vanishes into the sky, lost in the darkness. "Good thing this doesn't have the range to hit the dome," he mutters.

A dark figure, humanoid, moves past without pause outside in the Strand.

Niesa's stoney gaze moves to the passing figure, but does not linger. "Those are the basics, Jinyu," she says, her voice lowered now. "All you need now is some practice. Once you feel more comfortable, we can go out again."

Jinyu squeezes off one last bolt, which lands still to the left, but at least burns the large target. He smiles. "You're really a very good teacher, teacher." All of a sudden, his eyes snap shut. "That being... it's Maza-clouded," he whispers. There is an unusual quiet, the sounds of Shadowheart fade around them as the footsteps echo into the alley's mouth.

"Oh, stop. The last thing I need is someone calling me teacher and I...." she stops, a small crease forming at the center of her brow. "Jinyu, what are you doing?" She takes a step away from you, instinctively reaching for the weapon at her back.

Down the Strand, there is a hum of approaching traffic. A sizzle, like an energy current encountering a wet surface, and a brief flash of green light.

A ground effect vehicle, dirty grey with darkened windows, speeds past, blowing Jinyu's hair and clothing about as he presses into the alley wall.

Jinyu watches, eyes wide, silver pupils reflecting the ambient light, as the vehicle careens around a corner and the hum of its drive fades. He turns and runs in the other direction along the Strand, soft shoes pattering in the dust.

"Hey!" Niesa shouts after the car, slipping easily into her native tongue and into a rather long string of colorful insults. Distracted, she doesn't notice Jinyu moving the other direction.

From behind you, Jinyu's footsteps cease.

Niesa winds down her rant and turns back to the alley. "I swear to Maza," she begins, shaking her head. "I hate this planet more every time I..... Jin?"

Along the Strand to the West, Jinyu stands over something which is not clear in the half-dark. Perhaps a bundle of clothing?

"Damn it," mutters, Niesa heading out across the strand to meet up with Jinyu. "What are you doing?"

Jinyu is in fact standing over two objects - the upper and lower halves of an Ungstiri male, who has been neatly severed. The surfaces of the wound are charred and black, cauterised by great heat. His pale expression is surprised, staring up at the two Timonae. Jinyu shakes his head slowly, wonderingly. "I saw him clouded," he says in quiet reflection.

Niesa moves to stand beside the other Timonae, her expression a grim mask. "Come on," she says, hand moving to take ahold of his upper arm. "Let's talk about it back on the ship." She lets the weight of her pulse rifle fall easily back into its holster. "Come on," she repeats quietly, her voice almost gentle.

Jinyu allows himself to be led away, looking back over his shoulder at the divided corpse. "Clouded..." he whispers, following Niesa to the east.

"Yeah, I know," Niesa answers in a whisper herself, still guiding Jinyu's arm as they walk. "Come on."