Run

Oneshot; Backstory and Past Trauma

Created by Liza

Type: Oneshot, character history

Characters: Ava Ibori (Viewpoint Character), Ryker Ibori

Year: 2165

POV: 3rd Person Narrator, Limited

Setting: Southern Sector

Words: 2733

Ava didn't know why it was this cold today. Not cold enough to qualify as winter weather, but enough to be uncomfortable. Yesterday had been warm, a blissful last remnant of summer. It was a blessing for the inhabitants of Amenia unfortunate enough to spend most of their time outside—the ones like Ava and Ryker. But today it was an airy, dry September morning, and the sun had risen mere minutes ago. The sky was like a beautiful watercolour painting, covered in pastel shades of blues and pinks with a handful of wispy clouds decorating it. Light was spilling over the horizon, bathing the city in a pale glow. A gentle breeze tickled Ava's face and sent shivers racing down her spine. Shivering is awful. The shaking, the goosebumps, the teeth chattering. It only made Ava's stutter worse, and she hated that. She hated the cold. Pulling the grey zip-up hoodie Ryker had given her tighter around her, she tucked her free hand into her pocket to try to regain some warmth. The sweater was soft, old, and smelled like him. Ava loved it almost as much as Ryker did. He gave it to her to try to keep out the cold, but it wasn’t the best at keeping her warm.

Ava and Ryker were treading the dirty, well-worn streets of the Southern Sector. Despite the early hour, it was already busy. Silent, but busy. People darted from street to street, never talking, never making eye contact. No one drew attention to themselves. Attention was dangerous; you never knew who was watching. Most people here were not kind, helpful, or any kind of good at all. At best, they were indifferent. At worst, malicious. Truly good people rarely survived here, not for long. You can try your best to be honourable, but inevitably you would have to do something a little on the low side. It was kill or be killed. You kept your head low and your thoughts to yourself here.

Ava and Ryker did their best nonetheless.

They slipped in the alleys tucked between the tightly packed houses sprawled across the sector, making their way to the outside of the city. The sector was mazelike and complicated; everything looked the same and it was easy to get lost. There were little to no landmarks, no maps, and no signs. It was a miracle anyone could navigate the huge sector. For those unfamiliar with the place, it could take hours to get anywhere. You could always spot those people by their confused faces and vague wandering. Ava and Ryker knew the way like the back of their hands. If they wanted, it could take them mere minutes to get past the city limits. This morning, every step they took was purposeful and quick, but they weren’t running. There was no rush today.

This was routine for Ava and Ryker. The early mornings, the long walks. The familiar weight of new and shiny tech in their hands. Today, it was a sleek silver gun of Ava's own creation—a precision sniper rifle that fires electric blue bolts of plasma. Perfect for stealth attacks and assassination operations. Ava wasn't sure who wanted it or for what. Ryker had only told her that it was for a gang member who had big plans for Amenia. It would be a good sum of money—if they got this thing working in time. Maybe enough to buy a shack. Maybe enough to get Ava back into school. And Ava trusted her brother, he would never make a deal with someone who was... evil, for lack of a better term. So, Ava took the commission. It made her uneasy, but what other choice did she have? Her tech, her knowledge, her skill—it was all that kept the two alive. She paid the bills, while Ryker dealt with the more dangerous aspects of life in the Southern Sector.

He dealt with the people. Yes, there were demons, and he delt with those too. There’s weather, disease, hunger—but all those were nothing compared to the people. Driven by famine, greed, fear, or anger—the lengths humans go to under pressure are astounding.

Someone pushed between Ava and Ryker, separating the two. They didn’t speak a word, apology or otherwise. Ava watched out of the corner of her eye as the passerby’s gloved hand snuck out from under their cloak and snaked its way towards Ryker’s pocket. The rifle in her hand was right there, but no one ever went for that. No one ever goes for the weapon. No one ever goes for the easy target. They slipped their hand in, and although the action was quick and smooth, Ryker noticed. He grabbed the invading hand and looked the man in the eye. The two said nothing, they just stared at each other. The stranger’s hood cast a shadow across what little of their face Ava could see. After that moment of tension, Ryker released his wrist. Ryker spun around and started to walk, but Ava’s eyes lingered. Their wrist had angry red lines from Ryker’s fingers and a deep cut from the knife tucked up his sleeve. Ava shuddered, then turned away. Unshaken, Ryker motioned Ava forward, and they continued on. They kept closer than before.

As the shelters began to thin and the forests entered Ava's sightline, she passed off the weapon to Ryker. She may be the brains of the family, but she couldn't shoot straight to save her life. Ryker was always better at testing Ava's tech, being far more versed in weaponry than she was. He was always her best critic, always helping her to do better. Together, they were the perfect team. They took care of each other. Although she may not show it often—siblings never do—Ava loved him. Ryker was always by her side, always watching her back. He was her everything.

At long last, they were almost free from the outskirts of the sector. With the eyes and ears of unsavoury persons behind them, it was like letting out a long-held breath. Ava brushed her dark curls behind her ears and let go of the tension she didn’t realize was held in her shoulders. They headed to the small strip of land between the city borders and the forests. It was always the most dangerous—with the constant demonic threat—but it was the best place to test out weapons. Lots of room and no people, save for the Amenia guards who do their rounds patrolling the city border. Luckily, they follow a very regular schedule, so it wasn't hard to avoid them. Ryker looked at Ava, then dashed ahead of her, giving her a teasing smile as he ran.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Ava yelled.

"Aw come on sis, you can move faster than that! I've got this thing slowing me down!" Ryker laughed, waving the gun and beckoning Ava over.

"Stop, stop, stop swinging it around! It's d-delicate!"

Ava picked up the pace, and soon she was in the middle of the clearing with Ryker, panting a little bit and scowling at him.

"So, uh, how's this work exactly?" Ryker asked, fiddling with the rifle.

“St-stop poking it!” Ava slapped his hand away. "There's a b-button on the side, see here? That should reveal the targeting mechanism. Then, you use this, this uh, switch, to prime the rifle, and this b-button here to fire."

Ryker tapped the small button two thirds down the barrel of the gun and a slim silver ring popped up above it. A glowing blue line formed a circle on it. The line began pulsing, getting faster and brighter with every passing second. However, the ring had no crosshairs or any other indication of what the gun was actually pointing at. For something supposed to be so precise, it seemed impossible to aim.

“Uh, I think it’s broken,” Ryker said.

“No, the light, it makes a d-dot.”

“Are you, uh, hallucinating? There’s no dot there.”

“Y-yes, there is! You just aren’t, you aren’t looking from the r-right angle,” Ava said, pushing Ryker’s head down so he was looking through the ring. To his surprise, she was right. When he looked through the ring, a small blue dot popped up on a tree across the clearing.

"Well sis, you were right! It works for once!"

"Oh c-come on! Build something of your own, and, and th-then you can talk," Ava said. Ryker gave her a gentle shove and then went back to work on the gun. With a glint of focus in his golden brown eye, he flicked the switch. His long fingers hovered above the trigger button as he took aim at a knot in a distant tree. Ava chewed on her lip in anticipation. If this worked, they were in the clear. If not, it would mean hours of work for her with Ryker hovering over her shoulder and poking at her until she finished. Ryker took a deep breath.

"Hey! Put down the weapon," someone shouted faintly. Ava whipped her head around to identify the source of the voice. Her heart skipped a beat and her body froze as she spotted the person running towards them.

Scratch that, not person. Persons. There were at least five of them. And to Ava, the glint of their black armour was all too familiar.

"This is the Amenia guard! Drop your weapon and put your hands up!"

Ava’s toes curled up and her muscles tensed as panic took over her body. She turned to Ryker, and could see in his eyes the same feeling reflected back at her. He clenched and unclenched his fist a few times before suddenly his breathing slowed. He pushed Ava back and started to walk towards the men with his hands—and the weapon—in the air.

Ryker called out to the men, "Excuse me! We haven't done anything! We were just testing someth-"

"DROP THE WEAPON! THIS IS THE AMENIA GUARD! SUBMIT TO ARREST!"

The men had broken into a sprint now. Their strides devoured the distance between them and Ryker, causing him to back up. He tried to speak again, but their constant shouting cut him off before he could get a word of defence out. One of the men lunged at Ryker with a gloved hand, and Ryker collapsed when it touched him.

“Ryker! No!” Ava cried.

The man kept his palm pressed hard against Ryker's back. Ryker convulsed on the ground and his face contorted in agony. The shrieks and cries he let out were inhuman. He howled pleads for the pain to stop. Pleads for help, help from Ava, from their parents. But for the most part, he just screamed. They were animalistic, feral screams that echoed in Ava’s mind. The buzz of electricity made her ears ring and a smoky burning smell stung her nose.

Ava looked on in shock. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and her mind raced, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. She was paralyzed. She wanted to run to him, to help him, but her feet stayed firmly planted on the ground. All she could do was watch as her brother suffered.

But then Ryker locked eyes with her. His wailing came to an abrupt halt, although the torturous hand hadn’t left his skin. He staggered to his feet, struggling against the arms of the men, and said a single word.

"Run."

He looked Ava dead in the eyes and mouthed it again. Run. The look in his eyes was desperate and serious, the worry evident on his face. And at the same time, acceptance. Ava realized what he was doing. He was giving her an escape—at his own expense. Even now, he still cares more about Ava than he does about himself. Her brother was saving her. Ever the protector...

But Ava just stood there. Ryker screamed it one more time, throwing his body forward, and almost breaking the tight grip of the men trying to wrestle him back to the ground. Finally, she snapped out of it.

Ava nodded slightly, turned, and bolted. Her feet struck the ground hard and fast, propelling her back towards the city as fast as her legs could carry her. Her breathing was fast, irregular, and shallow, and her heart was beating a mile a minute. The dry air stung her eyes and tears begin to well up in them, blurring her vision. But despite that, she felt numb. Her body was moving of its own accord, her legs and arms following a constant rhythm that felt primal, instinctual. Running was all she knew at that moment. It was strange—she had never been a runner before this moment.

It felt like this was all only a nightmare, an awful dream that she would wake up from any minute. If she just kept running, it would all be over. Any minute now, Ryker would wake her up. They would be going out at the crack of dawn to test something new again, laughing, teasing, and joking with each other like always.

But she knew this was real.

When she reached the outskirts of the city, she finally turned back. The tears were coming hard and fast now. Her body was starting to shake with sobs and her throat was burning. Far ahead of her, her brother had fallen to his knees once more. He was still trying—and failing—to shake off the men. Still fighting back. Even though they outnumbered him five to one, he was still fighting back. He was bleeding and bruised, and yet he still fought. Ava didn't know where he found that kind of courage.

He spotted Ava on the other side of the clearing, and something in his expression changed. Hardened. He ripped his left hand free from their grasp and slammed his wrist upwards into the man behind him. He was lucky to hit the small bit of mesh on the armour put there for mobility. The soldier screamed and stumbled backwards, clutching his belly. Blood leaked from between his fingers. Ryker’s knife! He still had it on him! Maybe, just maybe, he had a chance. He scrambled to his feet, the bloodstained blade clutched in his hand so hard his knuckles grew pale. He held it out in front of him in a defensive stance. The men stared at him in shock for a second before leaping into action. Ryker kicked at their knees and shins and slashed his knife at any weak points in their armour.

And it was working! One man fell, then another, then another! Bright red blood dripped down Ryker’s arms in harsh contrast to his dark skin. Ryker’s gaze darted around, checking for any remaining soldiers, any remaining threat. Satisfied with the world’s stillness, he let his arms fall to his side. He started to walk back over to Ava. She whispered his name and more tears spilled down her face, but they were happy this time. Her brother was safe and sound.

But then a sound behind Ryker caused him to twist around, trying to lash out with his dagger, but it was too late. One of the men had gotten up unnoticed. The man grabbed Ryker in a chokehold and wrestled the knife from his hand, cutting his hand in the process. The blade fell on the ground, glinting in the sunlight. Ryker hissed in pain and fought to break free. But more of the fallen men were shuffling to their feet, staggering over to help their friend. There was a new fire in their eyes; it was personal now. Ryker thrashed, kicking and hitting the men whenever possible. But it was too late. They had him trapped.

The men tried to tie up Ryker, to handcuff him so they could haul him off to who knows were. Ryker certainly wasn’t making it easy on them. He wasn’t going down without a fight. But then he looked up at Ava again, and stopped struggling. He just went limp. He gave up. The men brutally forced his hands behind his back and he winced as they cuffed them. They punched the side of his head, taking joy in the little bit of vengeance while barking orders at him that Ava couldn't make out. But nonetheless, Ryker held his chin up high, and Ava could just barely see the sad smile that spread weakly across his face before they dragged him away.