#thetiniestflicker

“I wanna help, Aryna!” she barked in response. The older asari huffed, and turned her attention back to the firefight, one hand lifting to give an order to a couple other guards. They moved forward at the direction, leaving their captain and her young charge alone behind their cover.

“Mom--”

“Will understand if I don’t let you run into danger on your first day on the job. She’s expecting me to keep you safe, Liselle,” Aryna said, her tone leaving no room for arguments from the princess. “Now, give me some cover fire, but do not move up. You understand me?”

Liselle nodded, but that wasn’t enough for Aryna.

“Liselle?”

“Yes, Aryna, I’ll stay here,” Liselle sighed, eyes dropping to her pistol to make sure it was ready to go.

“Good. Lean out of cover as long as you know you know you’ll be able to get a good shot in. Don’t just shoot--”

“I know! I know! Just go, I can handle giving cover fire,” Liselle grumbled. A gentle touch to her forehead eased some of the tension from the young asari, and she watched as Aryna vaulted over their cover. Liselle pulled herself up to get a quick survey of the area, and then took aim at a nearby batarian. A couple of quick shots, and he was down. Not dead, but her shots had blown out his knee; someone else would finish him off.

A flash of movement pulled her eyes away from the main fight, and she noticed that one of the gang members had taken off without the others taking notice. Odd. She would have left it, but instinct told her something was wrong, and there was the overwhelming urge to chase.

Without giving it much thought, she gave in to the urge and went after the batarian. He wasn’t moving particularly fast, which should have been her first clue that this was a ruse, but she didn’t see it until it was too late.

The mercenary had led her in a wide arc back towards the base, and right into a mess of odd wires. Liselle wasn’t sure what to make of them, but did her best to avoid them . . . only for her arm to get caught in them. The moment she tried to pull her arm back, the wires tangled tighter around her arm, trapping her. 

Of course, her first instinct was to try and pull harder, but that only worked to make the wires tighten their grip further, and now they were cutting through the material covering her forearm. Another pull, and the wires were in her skin. The sharp pain made her help and pull more. The rational part of her mind told her she needed to stop moving, or else she was just going to hurt herself even more, but it was hard to listen when she borderline panicking.

And to make matters worse, the mercenary was circling back around, gun drawn. He had obviously planned this; lure out one of the more inexperienced guards, and guide them straight into a trap. It was a slow process, but considering how trapped Liselle was, it definitely worked.

“Aryna!” Liselle cried, frantically trying to figure out where her pistol had gone. Had she dropped it? Did she leave it when she went after him? Where the hell was it?! “ARYNA!”

This was it. She was dead for sure. The batarian was in range now, and he was surely going to shoot her. She closed her eyes, and automatically tried to shield her head from hard with her free arm.

There was a bang, and then . . . nothing. She could still hear her heartbeat and breathing; she was still alive. Confused, she lifted her head, and watched as the mercenary dropped like a stone to the ground, a gruesome hole in his head. Liselle turned as best as she could, her eyes landing on Aryna.

“I told you to stay where you were, Liselle,” the matron growled, stepping closer to the young maiden. She was careful to avoid the traps, and once she was at her charge’s side, she began to cut the young woman out of the trap. “Not as bad as it could have been but you’ll need disinfectant and some medigel.” The wires had cut deep into Liselle’s arm, but it wasn’t serious.

Aryna cut away the material on Liselle’s forearm, already applying the medigel as the wounds were fully exposed.

“Please don’t tell Mom,” Liselle whispered. Aryna looked up at her without moving her head. She looked mad.

“Your mother needs to know, Lis--”

“But I promised to stay out of trouble! She’ll be mad! Just tell her you told me to go after him, and you were behind me the whole time!” Liselle said, her voice pleading. Aryna was quiet, and then sighed.

(I don’t know what I expected, but those threads with Javik were true quality and I’m still laughing)