Rising to Fall

Chapter 1-5

Andy is back at his workbench, already covered in wood chips, the roar of chainsaws loud in his ears and the sawdust flying in the air. If there is one thing in this building that is high-tech, it is the ventilation system. His mind often wanders as he's chopping up logs of wood, but today he forces himself to stay focused for the hours that he has to work. The foreman comes in and the men pack up. It is not payday today, so the men don't collect any wood and the boss doesn't enter the workshop as they leave, heading for home.

After dropping into his house to pick up money for his bread, Andy leaves closes his door and walks the dark streets to the bakery. As he walks, he allows himself to think, although he makes sure that his face remains blank. After years of training himself, he barely blinks when someone says his birth name, Adam. He's constantly aware of the possibility of being found out if he does respond to that name. How it might unravel years of secrecy, and betray the few members of his army that are left. So, even in his thoughts, he calls himself Andy, just a normal (albeit slightly poor) lumberman.

What occupies his thoughts tonight is General Mitchell of the Benjas and how he had looked for the Sky Army. Actually looked. That alone was enough to make Andy pause. Why would General Mitchell look for the Sky Army? When he had been General, he had been very careful not to get too involved with the surrounding armies. In fact, he hadn't gotten involved with them at all. They had had two jobs, and they had performed those two jobs to the best of their ability.

He reaches the bakery and buys his bread, then begins the walk back home. He has a perfect routine, one that protects him. But then Mitchell had come along, thinking that the Sky Army would be able to rise again, as strong as it had been before, not realising what had happened. He didn't understand anything, but how could he? He wasn't there when it happened, the Benjas and the Sky Army were never allies. They weren't even acquaintances. There was no way he could realise what had happened 12 years ago.

Andy glances up from the ground, almost lost in his thoughts. That is never a good sign, especially in the backstreets. The street in front of him looks clear enough, but he swore that he saw someone duck into the shadows. He doesn't feel like a confrontation right now. So he goes down the side street that he had gone down just over a week ago. He had gone down this street a few times in the past week, and each time, the old woman and the young girl were there. He had given them most his bread, of course. They needed it more than he did.

He walks quickly down the street, holding his bread tightly. He sees the doorway that the two homeless women always sit in, but there's only one figure there tonight. The young girl huddles close to the wood of the door, her right arm hugging herself, the thin blanket draping over her, and her left arm hanging limply against the door post. Andy can't help himself. He goes over to her, still holding his bread. She looks up weakly as he approaches her, then she coughs, a cough that racks her frail body.

Andy sits next to her, on her right, and hands her his bread. She looks at it for a moment and then slowly takes it. Andy wraps his arm around her, trying to warm her up. She coughs again, her cough worse than before. Her skin is cold and she shivers. In his life, Andy has seen a lot of deaths, and he knew that this girl's was approaching, and quickly. Her left arm is still hanging limply by her side, and Andy sees that it's so thin that he can see the bone. Her arm is obviously crippled, probably since birth. But she was never alone before. So why is she alone now?

"Where's the older woman?" Andy asks gently. "The one who was with you."

The girl shivers a little. "M-My Grandmother. S-She passed a-away a few nights ag-ago."

Andy holds the little girl closer. She coughs again, still holding the bread in her right hand. She hasn't made any move to eat it.

"I'll see her soon," she whispers. "I-I miss her." She glances up at Andy. "I will s-see her soon, right?"

Even though he wants to lie, Andy knows that there's no point. There's nothing he can do to help her, she's too sick even for the hospital. Lying to the girl will only hurt her, so he nods slowly. The girl smiles and puts her head on his shoulder. Her hand lets go of the bread and she reaches into her faded and ripped jacket, bringing out something that glints in the almost non-existent light. She holds it up slightly so that Andy can see.

"This was my G-Grandma's," she says weakly. "S-She used t-to be a medic."

The girl gently pushes it into Andy's hand. He sees that it is a badge, with a pin on the back to hold it to a shirt. The metal is cool to his touch. The glint of gold and purple is recognisable to him, even though the badge is old and the colour is beginning to flake off, revealing the bronze underneath.

"It's a Sky Army recruit badge," he whispers out loud, not even realising that he did so.

The girl huddles closer, coughing again. Her body isn't shivering as much now, and her voice is slurred. "M-My Grandma was in t-the last battle," she says. "My p-parents d-died in the fighting. My Grandma a-and I ran away. T-There were o-others th-that ran away with us. To the Capital."

Andy hugs the girl again, feeling like he is trying to express the words that he can't say. The girl isn't shivering now, and her coughs have stopped, but her eyes are slowly closing.

"She always believed that the Army would rise again and defeat the Squids," she whispers, her voice soft and weak, but steady. "You're a part of the Sky Army, right?"

He can't say that he is. He can't admit who he is to the girl. But he squeezes her arm gently, and she understands.

"Nothing can survive on its own," she breathes, her voice almost inaudible. "Everything, even an Army, needs help to survive."

Her eyes close and her voice stops. Andy glances down at her. Her chest is still and her body is a deadweight against him. He checks the pulse in her exposed neck. There's nothing there. The girl is gone. With nothing else left to do, Andy gently moves her so that she is leaning against the door post. He takes his bread and wraps the blanket around her tightly. Hopefully, the rodents that live around here won't notice her until she is found by someone that can bury her.

Andy holds his bread close and continued on his way home, staring at the ground. The girl's words ring in his head. Nothing can survive on its own. Not even an Army. Everything, everything, needs help to survive.

They need help. A plan starts to form in his mind and, for the first time in what feels like years, Andy smiles. Like, really smiles.

End Part 1