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Nothing is Coincidence(Zalvek+Anjeru)

The girl awoke, dazed, her vision blurry and her body shaky. Black lashes fell as she blinked rapidly to try and clear her vision enough to see around her, to figure out exactly where she was; honestly, she hadn't the foggiest sense of her surroundings, or of anything in general. She pushed herself up enough to be sitting, her waist length black hair spilling loosely around her and over her. Looking down, she noticed she was only dressed in a pair of breeches, a loose fitting white blouse, and a pair of black, leather boots. She didn't recognize any of it...oddly, she didn't recognize anything.

Emerald hued eyes began to travel slowly across what surrounded her; she seemed to be in a cave of sorts, lying beside a glistening river of pure, unaltered water. Crystals seemed to glitter across the cavern's walls and the formations of the rocks seemed almost mystical; this place almost seemed as if it were a place of healing. A place to recover.

Recover? But to recover what?

She had no idea where she was, why she was here, or even who she was.
 
“… You’re up I see. That’s good.”

If here eyes were to wander further, they would catch the gentle flickers of a small fire. From the side of the fire a black figure stood. Perhaps it was just her eyes still regaining their senses. That wasn’t so however. Even after her eyes could register her current position, they would only see that the black was in fact what the figure was wearing, and the red skull painted on the shoulder plate of the armor would only cause fear to build up if she were to realize what it was.

The voice was a mechanical, a synthesizer inside of the helmet to keep the soldier’s identity a secret. After all, what they were doing in this war was no simple crimes but instead completely inhumane actions. Even the eyes, the most sentient part of a human being were hidden behind this black mask. All that gazed at her were two bright red glasses, and no emotion or expression could be seen through those hues of scarlet.

He sat on top of a small rock, hunched over in ways with a spare twig he used to prod at the fire. The soldier’s rifle was slung over his right arm, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. His red haunting eyes gazed at her for a moment longer before going back to poking at the flames.
 
"Wh--?" The soldier's voice caused her to jump in surprise and fear bled into her body causing her to shudder visibly. Her eyes began to adjust enough to visually give her an image of the man in the cavern with her.

Who is that?...Why am I here with him?... Her thoughts were choatic, trying to put pieces of what she knew together; almost an impossibility as there weren't any pieces. None at all. No names, faces, places...she frantically tried to dig out even just who she was, but the only thing that came to her mind was 'Suriel.' It must be my name...afterall, how could I forget my name?

"I..." her voice came out as a thin thread of sound, "...where am I? What happened?"

She hesitantly moved to sit herself on her knees, before scooting herself a tad bit closer to the small fire the soldier seemed to be poking at. If she knew, or recongized, his armor, or his seal, she gave him no indication of such; she seemed almost the epitome of complete innocence. A blank slate, with nothing other than her appearance to define herself as a person to him.

Her small, trembling hand tucked a long clump of her hair behind her left ear as she raised her eyes from the dancing flames to meet the red orbs of the soldier. Those didn't help the dread and fear in her gut. He was so imposing in that armor and those eyes would remind her of the monsters one would often find in the darkness of the world.

"...Who are you?"
 
The girl was immediately startled when he spoke. This didn’t surprise the soldier at all though. Considering she was now in a damp dark cave, and suddenly a completely armored figure was talking to her, there’d be something terribly wrong with the girl if she was in fact not worried about her predicament. He didn’t think much of it though, and his red eyes gazed into the fire.

It was only after she spoke again that his synthetic voice arose once more, he tried to be reassuring to the girl, letting her know that she was in fact safe. Yet of course this was difficult to do when this suit was designed to keep all words monotonous.

“We’re currently about a mile away from the old city. The rebels were attacking again in an attempt to cause chaos. To say the least they did succeed in ways. The Federation was forced to evacuate in the mean time. As I was heading out of the city, I happened to spot you trapped under a fallen building. I told my unit to go on ahead while I took care of you. However by the time that I pulled you out from underneath the wreckage, the Federation had declared they would be bombing the city. This was the closest place that I could find to server as shelter. I’m sorry to say… that your home has been swept clean off of the map.”

The figure sighed silently. On the opposite side of the rock he sat on, was a small satchel full of rations and goods. They would at least last them for a few days. With the rebels so close though, he would need to take precautions when trying to leave the cave. Still the health of this girl was a primary concern. “… I suppose you’re hungry, aren’t you?”
 
What is this man talking about? Federation...what Federation? And Rebels?... She really had no recollection of what the man was speaking of. Home...my home? Was it my home? I can't remember this attack that he's talking about... The girl gave an audible sigh. I can't remember anything at all...what is the matter with me?

"...hungry?" She seemed to think about it for a moment, almost as if she didn't know what the word meant, but then she nodded. "Yes...I suppose I am hungry..."

A brief shiver was given and she moved closer to the fire, holding out her pale trembling hands to hopefully draw in some heat. "I have to be honest though..." she murmured quietly, "I don't know what you're talking about...I don't remember an attack, or a city, or anything...I don't even really know if I was hurt..." However, she really couldn't deny it because there were aches and pains coursing through a great deal of her small frame.
 
The soldier nodded once more before opening the pack and pulling out a small can. It was just standard Federation rations, bland and dull in taste. But it certainly would keep them alive. The wonders of nanotechnology in food now, made this food able to concentrate nutrients into a small package. It could be served at any temperature, but judging by her shivers, the girl could use a warm meal now. He popped the lid only a sliver, before setting the can in the fire. These suits could withstand high temperatures, so he didn’t have any worry about being harmed. Although it would leave a rather nasty charred look on his forearm armor.

“Hm…” His eyes looked over the girl before staring down at the softly sizzling can of food. “Must have been an injury when you were caught under that building. You don’t have any major wounds on the head or anywhere else though, nor have you suffered and substantial blood loss. It may be a case of shell shock. In the next few days I’m sure you’ll remember, it’s hard to forget what’s been happening in this country for the last few years…” The food was adequately cooked and he picked it up. The tin was still hot, so he reached into his pack again and pulled out a convenient small metal plate and fork. his hands easily tore off the rest of the lid before pouring the goopy substance onto the plate. It was warm, and the heat steamed onto his red eyes as he offered it to the girl.
 
"I imagine it would be," she murmured, "however, what I've forgotten is substantial. The only thing I know is: Suriel. And I'm assuming that that is my name."

She took the offered plate from the soldier, once again watching him a bit wearily; really, the whole armor and red eye thing was frightening to say the least. "I don't know of this Federation. Or the Rebels that you speak of." Her eyes looked longingly at the food and after a moment, she took the fork and took a small, hesitant bite of it. Then, let out a small smile as she ate. She finished it rather quickly, enjoying the meager rations - it seemed like forever since she'd eaten, but that was probably due to the fact that she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. Which she thought was still very strange. One's memories didn't just up and disappear, did they? What could have caused it?

She set the plate down next to her when she finished and looked back to the soldier's glowing eyes. "I don't suppose you're going to share much information about yourself, are you? Considering I can't remember anything."
 
“Suriel is it…? I see.”

Maybe that was the girl’s name, maybe it wasn’t. He certainly wasn’t able to tell. After all, he had found her underneath a pile of rubble. He was lucky enough to have her still be alive if anything. Those kinds of details were trivial at this point, and didn’t concern him at all really. His red eyes watched her eat silently. She was surprisingly quick to eat. Although that was probably natural since who knows when the last time it was that she ate.

Even so, it still amazed her that the girl didn’t remember anything at all about the history of this country. It would probably be something very heavy to mention just to a young girl like her, especially one who was as mentally unstable as her right now. Still, he did suppose having someone reveal a bit about themselves would help her. “Hm… I suppose I could. My name is Lieutenant Orguss. I’m the second in command of the Black Dog Squadron for the Federation. We were in charge of protecting your home, and we… well, we failed at that.” His red eyes looked down at the flames once more. It was clear he was rather ashamed of what had happened a few moments ago.
 
"Orguss? I think I can remember that," she said with a hint of irony. It at least seemed like she retained a sense of humor. She listened to him explain who he was and what he'd been doing in the place that they assumed was her home. "It's alright you know. You can't be expected win everything, or to complete every task you are given. As humans, we make mistakes and we fail. That's what makes us human," she said. Really, she wasn't even sure where she was getting the knowledge from, but it sounded right, so she went with it.

"So, I take it there's a war going on, then." she murmured. "Federation v.s. Rebels..."

Suriel trailed off, seeming to go off far into thought for the next few moments. Her eyes were staring at the mesmerizing dance that the fire was presenting them in flickers of orange, red, and yellow.
 
An odd sound came from Orguss. Was that a laugh or chuckle? If it was, then it was very difficult to denote due to the synthesizer inside of his helmet. Instead the sound came off as rather demonic. It probably frightened the girl, but it certainly wasn’t intentional. It was odd, getting comforted by a girl who in fact had no idea what was going on, much like when a young child would try to cheer up a depressed adult… Still it was oddly soothing.

“Human… eh? Perhaps… This war makes me wonder sometimes about…” He sighed once more, although this time it was much more audible through his helmet. The Lieutenant nodded when she asked about the war. “Yes, that’s right. The Rebels have been uprising for well over a decade now. Most of them are just regular farmer and workers who’ve found the Federation’s recent taxations and regulations to be far too overbearing. My job was to make sure they never got out of hand. And now look at them, overtaking an entire city…” The man sighed yet another time. Clearly just going over the subject alone brought him much exhaustion.
 
Suriel raised her eyes back to the soldier before her at his words. "It seems to be taking its toll on you." she mused, tilting her head to look at him now; it seemed almost strange. Like a curious kitten with a wide-eyed innocent look on its face, staring at something that was so curiously interesting. Her raven hair slipped her shoulder to spill around and frame her youthful face.

It was unknown how old she was, really, but looking at her, people would probably guess she was 18, maybe 20. Though her such innocent, unknowing behavior gave her the appearance of someone so much younger, maybe 15 or 16. Suriel felt more a little older than that, though. All in all it was uncertain.

"War is never a good thing." She shook her head a little and moved to sit cross-legged now.
 
"I am a soldier after all. I'm prepared for whatever it is that this war will bring." Through those lifeless red eyes, his met hers. It was unfortunate that he couldn't take off his helmet. No, he wasn't allowed to unless if absolutely necessary. Soldiers of the Black Dog squadron were to remain anonymous killers if possible. His face and existence was almost unknown to those when he did have the helmet on.

Orguss wasn't too old, and certainly not for being second in command of a squadron. The actual leader was at the grizzled age of Forty. He was only Twenty-eight though. Still, underneath his helmet one could tell that the war had aged him significantly.
 
A small nod was given at his words; she had to admit that the armor was a little bit eerie and intimidating. She wondered why he still had the helm on, that if he was hiding from her or just didn't feel the need to take it off. Even though he was indeed a stranger to her, not knowing what he looked like or...even what he sounded like, didn't help her nervousness. She didn't know who she was, so for all she knew, she could be his enemy. It was also possible she was his ally. She didn't know and the armored man before her imposed that knowledge even deeper into her memory-fragmented mind.

"How long ago did this war break out?" she questioned softly, setting her hands on her booted ankles as she sat there cross-legged and curious. "I can see that it's something you believe everyone knows about, or likely wouldn't be able to forget. Perhaps it is a good thing I've forgotten, Orguss?" Suriel tilted her head again, chewing at her lower lip thoughtfully as she stared at his red eyes that beamed at her from his helm.
 
If a regular civilian found themself haunted and fearful of the suit, then it was doing its job. Although much of the suit was made to be practical, all of the color choices and what not were used to frighten and terrorize their enemies, although this probably had an equal effect on its citizens as well.

Orguss didn’t feel much towards the girl. It was more of a good deed to his name, and considering all of the killing that he had done in the recent years, saving at least one life would be worth it. As she asked him about the war, he was glad that he was planning to be a history major before the war started. “The war started roughly ten years ago our in the rural areas of the country. A recent increase in taxation over the grain and farm production caused the farmers to break out in uproar. The government didn’t comply with their agreements and so they instead broke out and formed The Rebellion. Not the most original name if you ask me…” He chuckled softly to himself, but it instead sounded like another haunting sound. “A small riot group escalated, and it wasn’t only just the farmers soon. All of the lower-class people soon joined, to try and have the government meet the demands of their people. Picket signs turned into guns and explosives soon, and a riot group turned into a terrorist organization… Funny how things turn out in the end…”
 
Suriel nodded as she chewed thoughtfully at her lower lip. She'd began wondering where she fit into this whole world's existence; really, where did a girl who held no memory stand in a place, a world, consumed with war? The thought was a tad depressing to her as she eyed Orguss, wondering if she should ask anything else. The man was probably tired, as he had just told her about his battle to protect what they assumed was her home. Not to mention he'd saved her life.

"Oh...It slipped my mind--" no pun intended "--but thank you, Orguss. For...you know, saving my life, memories or no."

She said the words softly, lowering her eyes to her hands as she nervously twisted them together. Most people would be upset with the lack of memory she was facing, but she'd much rather be without her memories than dead. She wasn't entirely sure what death entailed anymore, but she knew she wanted to exist and death put an end to existence. That knowledge seemed more ingrained on her instincts than in her mind, in her memories, which was a good thing; she'd likely kept most of her instincts, so she wouldn't be useless if they were attacked at all...maybe. When faced with death and danger, the body is prone to react in one of two ways- run, or fight. The term known for this behavior is what was called 'fight or flight'. Seeing as she retained a fair knowledge of death, it was sure that she'd still react in most ways the body was known to.
 
“Hm?” For a brief moment Orguss shut his eyes in order to rest them from the sight of the targeting system inside of his helmet, although it would have been unnoticeable for the girl. He found himself unable to find the proper words to acknowledge her though as he responded, “Ah, well… it’s not a big concern. It is my job after all…”

He coughed softly inside of his suit and slowly stood up from his rock. He firmly fit his gun and slung it over his shoulder before looking at the girl. “I’m going to go outside of the cave for a few moments to scout out the surrounding area, see if I can call for back up to pick us up in the mean time. Just stay put and try not to wander, alright? It’s very easy to get lost in these caves…”
 
She eyeballed the soldier as he came to his feet and, honestly, she couldn't help but be intimidated by his stature in that armor. Her ears absorbed his words and she felt a bit like a burden when he said it is my job. She didn't want to be a job, a burden, something someone took responsibilty for instead of bonding with. What else could she hope for, really. She had no memories that she could muster; no family, no friends, no enemies, places, objects. No companions. No one she could remember talking with to just...talk with. Suppose it was too much to ask of a stranger, especially a soldier, to be her friend. Or her companion. On one note, he was talking to her, conversing with her, but on another note, he was more of conversing out of necessity. Telling her things that he was aware she should already know, but didn't.

She raised her eyes to him as he stated he was leaving, for now. "Alright." She said softly. "I suppose I can stay put. Or around. Might stretch my legs a little." With that, she did raise herself to her feet and stretched her arms high above her head for a moment.

"Just be careful out there, ok? You did say there was a war going on." And then she turned, walking a little ways over to the cave's unique, almost prestine, water supply, the small river that flowed past their small, temporary encampment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're sure you saw the Federation soldier come this way?" one female voice asked.

"Aye, I did." A male one answered.

"And you're sure he had the girl?"

"Aye."

"Hm." The female came to stand at the edge of the village's remains, eyeing the rubble with a small smirk tinted across her ruby red lips. "Even though he got away with our target, at least he failed in his mission; or what he thought was his mission." She kicked a small rock with her leather-booted foot. Her glowing red eyes looked over the remains silently for a few moments, before she turned her armor clad form back towards her men.

"It is quite possible that the Federation knows of the girl's existence as well," she stated, "and sent men to protect her, not the village. But seeing as how the damn Federation is so secretive, I doubt they would have told their men of the girl up front. However, neither of these stipulations changes the fact that the Federation now has our target."

A scowl fell across her pale, lovely face, even as her shoulder length raven hair framed it, almost softening the angered look. "I will not go back as a Rebel General who's failed in her mission." She waved a gloved hand. "So! Spread out! Find where he took her!"

When her men didn't move, she snapped, "Now! Go, you dimwits!" And then she watched as the total of 4 Rebel soldiers took off at a run to find where the Federation soldier had taken the girl.

"Couldn't have gone too far," she murmured, starting off towards the mountians, "and I won't let her get away."
 
“Ah… Yeah, thanks. I’ll be back quickly.” Orguss habitually smiled at her, even though she couldn’t see it. That really was something that he needed to work on. As he walked towards the entrance of the cave, his red eyes lowered in brightness. Since he wasn’t in pitch black, there was no need to have the night-vision feature on.

The forest area was at least quiet here, and that was good. From what his ears and audio sensors of the armor, there was no one nearby in at least two kilometers. That at least gave them a good bit of room to run if it did in fact came to that. But that was the real reason that he was out here. He put a hand to his com system before attempting to make contact with his squad.

“This is Lieutenant Orguss, Black Dog Squadron. Is anyone out there? Anyone?”

“-Static- Hello? Who’s the-Shazzle- is that y-Fzzz- Orguss? Where have you be-Zzzzzfk- location?”

“I’m currently in the mountains outside of the city. Please come to send me back up. I have a civilian with me.”

“We have no-Sshhhhzlick- must wait five days or –Ghurickzzz- to the outpost.”

“…The outpost huh…? Understood. Over and out.”

Orguss let his hands off of the comm., and looked around at his surroundings for a moment. “Hmm… I should head back for now.” He turned his lights back on, before heading back into the cave.
 
"You find anything?" The Rebel General demanded as her men came to gather around her not too long later. Her red eyes were narrowed angrily, because she knew already what their answer would be and it definitely wasn't the answer she wanted; how the hell could one girl be so damned hard to find?!

"No," they all replied in unison, most lowering their eyes and heads in shame.

"You are all useless! We can't let her get back to the Federation's headquarters." She growled and paced away, before turning around to face them again. "If I remember correctly, there was a outpost set up by the Federation not too horribly far from here. My guess is," she murmured, "that's where they're headed. We'll split up into two teams. Skull and myself will go towards the outpost via the caves. Pharaoh, Motive, and Insignia - you three go the main route, take the open road. I'm not sure they will travel in the open, but just in case."

All of her men nodded.

"Good, let's get going."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suriel had wondered a bit, but not too far. She was kneeling where the small river originated in the back of their small alcove, her hands weaving unseen patterns across the surface. Her eyes watched as the ripples spread from her fingertips; it was almost hypnotic. At the sound of Orguss returning, she lifted her head and peered at him innocently.

"Get what you needed done?" she asked; unbeknown to her, a faint glow had started around her hands as she played with the water.
 
Orguss reached their small fire, and was at first distressed to see that she was not at the fire. However he was easily calmed down once he saw that she was just by the running water nearby that he spotted earlier when first entering the caves. He nodded his head firmly before sighing and sitting back down. It was hard to move in this armor... "Yes, we should be leaving this cave as soon as possible though... can you move?" His eyes wandered to the odd glow on his visor, and peered at her hands curiously...
 
Suriel caught the slight tilt of his helm, as if he were watching something curiously, as if there was something strange in here with them. She blinked, looked around, then glanced back down at her hands on the water's surface...nothing out of the ordinary that she could see. Apparently when she'd become aware, the faint glow had vanished as if it had never been. She glanced back up at him and stood, moving back towards the fire to kneel beside it. "I don't seem to be in any pain, despite having been buried in rubble," she murmured, "so I am sure I can manage one way or another." She smiled reassuringly.
"Though, I have to admit, I'm curious to know whether I'm ever going to see the face of my rescuer or not." She then waved her hands almost frantically, like she'd said something not allowed to be said. "N-not that I'm asking you to show me," she said hurriedly, "j-just was curious. Though I can guess it's probably not allowed?"
 
She didn't seem to notice it... odd enough. Orguss shrugged and didn't think about it for now. It wasn't too uncommon for people to have genetic modifications in this day and age. Yet still... most people were aware of it. He nodded when she said she was alright and then beckoned her to return to their camp. "Alright, well then let's pack up and get ready. When the sun goes down, we'll head out." Even now, they couldn't be to cautious if Rebellion soldiers were nearby.
He was a bit surprised by her comment, although it wasn't too startling at the same time... He nodded his head at the question while packing his things. "Well... I used to be able to. But with the increase in terrorist activity, we're to keep our helmets on at all times when on duty." It wasn't a very satisfying answer, he supposed... "But, when we're done with all of this, I'll take it off for you, alright?"
 
His comment caused her to smile gently. "Alright. I can agree to that." She giggled softly as she tucked some wayward strands of hair behind her ear. Suriel's emerald eyes studied his armored figure curiously and then she gave him a bigger smile. "I can tell I won't be disappointed. You may seem to give off a rough exterior, but I can sense that that's just a front." She stood and walked towards him and poked the shoulder of his armor while sticking out her tongue.

Then she chuckled, "or I could just be full of it." She shrugged. "Who knows?" Inside, she was hoping she could get the man to smile, even if she couldn't see it for herself. War always made people so serious, or she felt that it did. She was hoping she could be a companion to him and not a burden, someone she could help, if only a little bit.
 
Indeed, Orguss was smiling inside of his suit. It was good to see a young adult so happy and carefree during a time of war. It made him hopeful for the future, and hopeful that when he was gone from this planet, there'd be a better place for all to live. "I suppose I do come off as rough at times..." He laughed softly before slinging his bag over his shoulder. He nodded at her before beckoning her to follow.

"We'll stop near the mouth of the cave. Make sure your eyes get used to light, since we won't see it for a few hours after wards." His tone immediately changed to a much more serious one. A single slip up and the two of them could be dead in Rebel hands. He wasn't going to make a mistake like that though...
 
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