Elite: Ragnald

Goodbyes and Deceptions

3 February, Sunday, 4:30 am

There has always been something so...ominous about getting ready for a mission. There’s always the lingering doubt in the back of your mind, gnawing away at whatever sense of security you had managed to lull yourself into with crippling anxiety. Sometimes, it makes it hard to so much as even breathe.

'Not today, though,’ I mused, pinning back all the stray strands of hair that had slipped out of the tight braid I had forced them into. 

For once, I was calm. 

I stepped back, looking over my appearance in the mirror. Hardened blue-green eyes stared back at me, dark rings underneath them from the lack of sleep. My own reflection seemed unfamiliar to me. It was like looking at someone who you used to know.

I’d changed.

“Hey,” the voice washed over me, bringing the same comfort with it that it did every time I heard it. “You ready?”

I looked at Sky through the mirror, studying her own tired outward form. It saddened me to have seen the sudden and extreme growth my best friend had gone through in the past month or so. Sky had always been so full of life and joy, but now, she seemed to be so world-weary.

The vigorous training and planning had taken its toll on all of us, but we had planned and planned again  and trained and finally, we were ready. Just in time, too.

We were only a day ahead of Annihilate’s warning and to be completely honest, it was disconcerting.

“Yeah,” I answered Sky. “Is everyone else already there?”

She nodded in reply. “We’re leaving now, actually. You know, first group. Gotta get there early,” she forced a smile, her eyes being the only feature giving away her actual emotions. She was scared and nervous, but she wouldn’t let it show.

I crossed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around her. She immediately relaxed in my arms, reciprocating the gesture of an embrace. “You’ll do fine,” I stated, releasing her and she nodded.

She linked our arms and I let her. Not just because she’s my best friend and closest confidant, but because we needed this in case the mission went wrong and we won’t get to do it again.

The atmosphere in our living room was sombre. Tense. I could almost smell the anxiety. Perhaps it was because if we failed, Easton might not make it out alive.

Correction: It was most definitely because if we failed Easton might not make it out alive.

Rescue missions are some of the hardest to prepare for. Always have been. It’s just the pressure of someone else’s life hanging in the balance and the knowledge that if you screw up, it’s going to affect them, too. And almost always, it effects them adversely.

“Cam,” Noah was the first to speak up, standing up from his place on the sofa. “Good that you’re here. The first group needs to head out.”

“I know,” I replied quietly. “Sky told me.”

The blonde unhooked her arm from mine and wordlessly left Noah and I alone where he promptly engulfed me in a hug, his warmth and scent enveloping me in a cloak of familiar comfort as the rush of words of goodbye left unsaid hit me like a tidal wave., momentarily knocking me breathless.

He let go, almost reluctantly. “I love you,” he murmured against my forehead, pressing a kiss there.

“I love you, too.”

It wasn’t something we said often, but perhaps we ought to. You never know what life throws at you and sometimes, it’s best to not take chances with letting your loved ones know their importance in your life.