100 ᴏɴᴇ-sʜᴏᴛs ᴄʜᴀʟʟᴇɴɢᴇ (dnp) (wip)

[Eyrmia]

This thread will be used to store my writing for the 100 one-shots challenge by I'm Not The Only One.

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Injured
Sinking
Father
Exploit
Boredom
Art of Conversation
Take your Best Shot
Creativity
Flash
Puzzling Words
Ill
Skeleton
Nothing
Servitude
Possibilities
Weightless
Just Say It
Last Words
Immature
Blazing
Help
Presence
Because
Forced
Reversed
Cast Away
Emotions
Questions
Wishing
Crackling
Curl Up
Together
Look Again
Brief
Space
Special
Jinx
Stop Fussing
Cozy
Breaking
Either Or
Tell Me a Story
Waiting
Willpower
Who Am I?
Idol
Unseen
Just Try
For Me?
Your Choice! (You got to 50!)
Useful
Treasure
Ceremony
Lightning
Protection
Stay With Me
Mint
Rescue
Dominant
Thief
Deserter
Stolen
Sarcasm
Darling
How Much is too Much?
Over
Try Again
Hidden
Forgotten
The First Time
Aging
Soldiers
Justice
Tread Carefully
One False Step
Connection
Mess
It Can't Be
In Due Time
Awake
Delicious
Fallen
Trickery
Around the Bend
Well Traveled
Choices
Surplus
Rough
If
Friend
Found Not Lost
Spiral
Deep
I Could Have
Desirable
Resentment
Build Up
Inch by Inch
Dilemma
Blue Sky

• Transformers: Prime
  (specifically my Scars of Time series)
• Contamination
  (my main project - summary on my main page)

• >750
• must be done in order

1: Injured - Contamination

[Eyrmia]

universe: Contamination
word count: 1,013

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Ghostly wails rose in the crisp morning air, giving anyone in the vicinity a nasty case of the chills.

The sound penetrated Cain’s ears like gunshots. Instinctively ducking, he darted from his spot in the bushes and leapt over some boulders. Even though he landed hard on his right shoulder, he got back to his feet and continued to run, bare feet pounding hard into the rock.

He heard a wail of pain just before a figure streaked across the sky. Rushing to its landing spot, he immediately identified the figure as Mia. She laid in a heap, left wing twisted at an odd angle and deathly pale face a mask of pain. Her purple shirt was soaked in blood on her right side, so Cain unfolded his medical kit and grabbed some gauze and scissors.

After cutting the bottom portion of the tank top off, he wrapped the gauze around her midsection and applied some ointment to it. Cain was no doctor, but he hoped the bandage would hold. Priority one was stitching the wound, but that couldn’t be done safely under their current circumstances.

“I…got them,” the Conlis muttered, eyes barely focusing on him. He clenched his jaw as he put his arm around her shoulders and hefted her into a sitting position.

“They’re dead?” he asked quietly. She nodded, her trademark crooked smile spreading across her face. “Good. Now we have to get you patched up.” Carefully, he hauled her to her feet and slowly began to help her down the mountain.

“Feels weird,” she mumbled deliriously, “walking instead of flying.”

Keep talking, he thought, talking means you’re winning.

“My side hurts.” She started to crumple, but he wound his other arm around her waist and pulled her back up.

“Promise me that you’ll make it down the mountain, okay?” She glared up at him, mouth curling into a scowl, but she finally gave him a short nod.

“Just make it quick.”

When they finally reached a flat point about halfway down the mountain, Cain got the first aid kit back out and began to properly tend to Mia’s wing.

“This is going to hurt,” he warned, just before threading the needle through. She bit her lip and sucked in air through her nose, but as Cain continued, she couldn’t keep a few groans of pain from escaping.

“And what about my wing?” she asked when he was finished. Slowly sitting up, she gently took her broken wing into her hands and pulled it around to her front, wincing at the stabs of pain that arced up the limb.

“Planned ahead,” Cain replied, getting a splint out of the kit. “I don’t have a cast, but this should work.” She nodded, then turned around and relaxed the appendage as he began to bind the splint around it.

Once that was finished, she glanced up at the sky. All traces of her pain-induced delirium were gone by now, fortunately. The sun was just inching past the halfway mark.

“Looks like we’ve got about seven hours before dark,” she said.

“Don’t you have a phone?”

“Too lazy.” Pointing to her bag, which was three yards away, she shrugged. “It’s too far away.”

He rolled his eyes. “What about a watch?”

“In my bag.”

“You really don’t plan ahead, do you?” She sent him a scathing glare and crossed her arms. Instead of replying, she simply frowned. “Well, I guess I can’t go back to Atlantis now.”

“Yes you can,” she said, breaking her vow of silence. “I’m still taking you back.”

“You can barely walk.”

“Then you’re going back on your own.”

“And how are you going to get to Everest without your wings and by yourself?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “I bet those weren’t the only monsters out there. If you encounter more, you’re dead.”

“I’ll contact my Ager allies.”

“And how long will it take them to find you? There’s nothing between us and Sagarmāthā!”

“They’ll find me.”

Shaking his head, he got to his feet. “I don’t understand why you’re so eager to get rid of me.”

She was silent, then. Her jaw clenched, her wings tucked tight, and her hands balled into fists. Cain frowned. There was definitely more to this girl than he’d originally thought. Carefully, he knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head away, eyes closed.

“Mia,” he said, voice soft, “you can tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s…It’s not your fault,” she began, chewing on her lip nervously, “I’ve just never had very pleasant experiences with other people.”
“What happened?” he asked, changing his position so he was sitting cross-legged on the ground beside her.

“The life of the thief – it’s not one that includes trust. We live by deceit and cunning. Yes, there is a Thieves’ Guild. Valuable items are often distributed amongst the group, but the only reason it doesn’t disperse is because people are afraid of it. Those who try to leave often end up dead.

“The thief’s number one loyalty is to herself. Her second is to her family, and her third is to her friends – what few she does have. Her fourth is to her unit, fifth to her branch, and sixth to the Guild. I would do anything for the other Everest Ravens…except lay down my life.” Her eyes became hard. “And I don’t care if you judge me for that or not, but it’s called self-preservation. If you sacrifice yourself for someone else, somebody dies either way. Better them than you.”

Cain cocked his head. “So what you’re saying is that it’s hard for you to trust.” His eyes brightened in understanding. “Your instincts are telling you that I’m going to betray you.” She nodded slowly. “Then why did you draw the creatures away from me? Why didn’t you leave me to die?” His expression became triumphant. “I don’t think you’re as cynical as you’d like to think.”

Her eyes widened, then immediately narrowed to slits. “Whatever,” she muttered, getting to her feet. “It’s time to go.”