sm_monthly Oct 13 theme
Another slightly longer one in Dark Side of the Moon-verse. Rubeus. Topaz. On the threshold.
Title: Escaping the Burn
Author: purplekitte
Theme: OC--Out
Genre: Drama
Version: Anime
Rating: PG
Without its keystone crystal, the spaceship was quickly breaking apart. Fuel and atmosphere mixed, setting everything on fire. Smoke rose, so he should be better off lying on the floor. Somehow that wasn’t reassuring with his face on the hard, sharp crystal and dripping sweat from the fire not burning him yet.
Crimson Rubeus considered rolling over. The idea of burning to death lying on his back didn’t sound significantly more pleasant than on his stomach, so he didn’t. Maybe there’d be fewer nerves this way. The ship was unsavable and fighting Sailor Moon had left him far too weak to teleport without its help.
“Get up.”
“Are you here to mock me?”
“You idiot. You think Emerald’s here to save you and I’m here not to. What a terrible judge of character.”
“Why?”
“I’d have done it if nothing else because you talked Diamond down from execution to exile. But I can do what I want because I love my brother.”
He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her through the smoke. That didn’t sound like something the Topaz he’d known would have said. The hazy figure didn’t convince him this wasn’t a hallucination. Obviously his mind was making this up to escape the unbearable pain he must be in.
She stepped closer. It had the look of her as he’d last seen her, not clad as a sailor senshi as he’d imagined her since. Her orange hair was longer and shaggier and covered her face, though shifts as she moved revealed hints of scars. Visible through the mess, he noticed, were her ears, bare of black crystal earrings unlike before.
“The little wimp stopped wearing them too after you left.”
“Hurry.” When he wasn’t moving fast enough, she hoisted him up. The change in the air left him coughing but suddenly aware he was alive.
“This is real.”
“It’s going to explode any second now.”
She practically threw him into her ship, showing no regard as he fell without her holding him up, as she shut and sealed the door. Moments later the whole ship rocked violently and spilled end-over-end.
Topaz went to the control crystal, cooed over it, stroke it, poured magic into it. It was weak in power but lively, he could sense. It was surprising it had lasted this long away from Nemesis, even if it had been technically made to be able to do so. He’d never seen a ship so small, barely large enough for the two of them, and it was scattered with strange wires and sparking bits of Earth technology. Whatever she had done, it had kept it alive.
“Emerald’s changed, you know,” he said to justify himself. “She saved my life the night you were banished. She held me back from getting between you and the prince.”
“I remember. You can’t go back, you know, brother. She was right about not being able to live in disgrace.”
“I know. I want to live; I can live without my honor or my home. I’m a coward as well as a failure, I suppose.”
“Do you want me to take you back to your girl? I know she’s a traitor to the Clan, but though she and her sisters are in hiding, I can find her.”
“She’s not my girl. I don’t care about her. I dare say even she’s realized that by now. I suppose you’re the only woman I’ve ever respected, sister.”
Topaz groaned in annoyance like she always did when he tried to butter her up. “You can come with me but not forever. By the time I’ve gotten impatient, you’d better have thought of where you want me to leave you, or I’m just dumping you. I’ll start growing a bud on my control crystal and in a few years you might even have your own new ship if you nurture it right.”
“You’re the best, sister.”
Title: Escaping the Burn
Author: purplekitte
Theme: OC--Out
Genre: Drama
Version: Anime
Rating: PG
Without its keystone crystal, the spaceship was quickly breaking apart. Fuel and atmosphere mixed, setting everything on fire. Smoke rose, so he should be better off lying on the floor. Somehow that wasn’t reassuring with his face on the hard, sharp crystal and dripping sweat from the fire not burning him yet.
Crimson Rubeus considered rolling over. The idea of burning to death lying on his back didn’t sound significantly more pleasant than on his stomach, so he didn’t. Maybe there’d be fewer nerves this way. The ship was unsavable and fighting Sailor Moon had left him far too weak to teleport without its help.
“Get up.”
“Are you here to mock me?”
“You idiot. You think Emerald’s here to save you and I’m here not to. What a terrible judge of character.”
“Why?”
“I’d have done it if nothing else because you talked Diamond down from execution to exile. But I can do what I want because I love my brother.”
He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her through the smoke. That didn’t sound like something the Topaz he’d known would have said. The hazy figure didn’t convince him this wasn’t a hallucination. Obviously his mind was making this up to escape the unbearable pain he must be in.
She stepped closer. It had the look of her as he’d last seen her, not clad as a sailor senshi as he’d imagined her since. Her orange hair was longer and shaggier and covered her face, though shifts as she moved revealed hints of scars. Visible through the mess, he noticed, were her ears, bare of black crystal earrings unlike before.
“The little wimp stopped wearing them too after you left.”
“Hurry.” When he wasn’t moving fast enough, she hoisted him up. The change in the air left him coughing but suddenly aware he was alive.
“This is real.”
“It’s going to explode any second now.”
She practically threw him into her ship, showing no regard as he fell without her holding him up, as she shut and sealed the door. Moments later the whole ship rocked violently and spilled end-over-end.
Topaz went to the control crystal, cooed over it, stroke it, poured magic into it. It was weak in power but lively, he could sense. It was surprising it had lasted this long away from Nemesis, even if it had been technically made to be able to do so. He’d never seen a ship so small, barely large enough for the two of them, and it was scattered with strange wires and sparking bits of Earth technology. Whatever she had done, it had kept it alive.
“Emerald’s changed, you know,” he said to justify himself. “She saved my life the night you were banished. She held me back from getting between you and the prince.”
“I remember. You can’t go back, you know, brother. She was right about not being able to live in disgrace.”
“I know. I want to live; I can live without my honor or my home. I’m a coward as well as a failure, I suppose.”
“Do you want me to take you back to your girl? I know she’s a traitor to the Clan, but though she and her sisters are in hiding, I can find her.”
“She’s not my girl. I don’t care about her. I dare say even she’s realized that by now. I suppose you’re the only woman I’ve ever respected, sister.”
Topaz groaned in annoyance like she always did when he tried to butter her up. “You can come with me but not forever. By the time I’ve gotten impatient, you’d better have thought of where you want me to leave you, or I’m just dumping you. I’ll start growing a bud on my control crystal and in a few years you might even have your own new ship if you nurture it right.”
“You’re the best, sister.”