A new night passed quickly inside of Sanctuary. By dawn, Raven and Alara stepped stepped out into the snow-coverd quiet of Central Park again, the world around them a ruin of nature and misery Raven adjusted the kinetic magnet necklace now resting against her collarbone. The locket-shaped device bore a dried rose petal within, its edges curled in delicate brown. Alara had given her that flower only days ago. Now it served as both memento and armor, a piece of fragile affection.
The necklace would stop bullets. Raven designed it after the ambush from the Yellow Fish Raiders, ensuring the device's magnetic field extended just enough to throw bullets away from her skull. It could ruin a sniper's day. That, Raven decided, was enough.
As she walked across the snow in a black crop top and tactical shorts like the cold weather meant nothing to her. Alara strolled beside her in a plush pink down coat and fitted jeans. The contrast made Ravens mouth twitch, just slightly. Alara's winter coat looked like something pulled from a child's dream soft, overstuffed, and entirely at odds with the devastation around them. Raven didn't comment on the coat if Alara likes it, so what. But if anyone else did, she'd break their jaw. Raven already let's Alara keep a pastel-pink bedroom inside Rose Manor. No one needs to know why.
The snow crunched beneath their feet. Above, her two recon drones hovered, scanning with thermal sensors for anything threatening.
She flexed her right hand slightly, the skin felt tight where the Lianas Vine nestled just beneath her skin. The parasitic plant took root there days ago, establishing a quiet bond with her. It's small now, but when needed, it can grow massive in size for both defense and offense.
She designed this vine from scratch, cultivating it as the first true product of this new life's plant symbiosis. Eventually, more would follow—deadlier, smarter, capable of embedding themselves beneath her skin in ink-like tattoos sleeping until called on. Her powers allowed her to share energy with plants, and this vine will evolve with her, nourished by her blood and body to grow stronger.
That, combined with her passive plant-based regeneration, made her nearly unkillable. Bullets to the chest she could survive. Slice her skin open, and she'd simply pull vitality from the world around her to heal. Snap her bones, and the vines would flow with their stored vitality to heal her. Only a clean shot to the head would kill her quickly—and now, not even that is a certainty.
"Stay close," Raven said without looking back. Her voice was calm, but caring. "We're almost at the zoo. If anyone's still here, they'll show themselves soon."
Raven's mind, despite the stillness around her, was already thinking ahead. If the animals are still alive, she'd rescue them. Her system already confirmed that Sanctuary could support any species indefinitely, even recreate them from DNA samples if extinction occurred. That alone made this trip worthwhile.
But she had another motive now, quieter and more personal. That locket on her neck wasn't just protecting her. It held the first thing anyone has ever given her without wanting something back. It was absurd. Raven knows that. But it's sentimental. And she doesn't care what others think.
In her past life, she had no relationships worth preserving. But with Alara, there was no pretense. Raven saved her, fed her, fought for her. And Alara, in her strange quiet way, stayed. That is enough for them both.
Not everything needs justification. Not every bond needs logic. Raven made her decision, to be with Alara, and that's final.
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