Shadows and Dolls (Phalanx)

She sat quietly at the edge of a beach of broken rocks and ahead black waters. There wasd only a sliver of the moon out tonight, glinting slightly off the water’s surface as the stars above twinkled lightly in the sky. There were no police on this end of the silent island...shouldn’t have been anyone there, but there she was, sitting on the slick rocks as the ocean waves below churned and whispered as they lapped rocks and sand.

The child was dangerously close to the edge as she clutched a rather large rag doll to her chest. The doll dressed in all white wore a bonnet over red curls and her sewn face and button eyes gleamed almost as if they were alive in the darkness as the child remained in her spot staring out into nothing and humming.

The child was not afraid of the water below. Not afraid of falling or someone coming to get her. She wasn’t afraid of the sharks or whatever else rested below the water. She was simply content as she swung her legs gently and hummed her song to the doll that remained clutch tightly in her arms.

While she wore no smile, she was celebrating. Today had been a wonderful day. Not only was she able to get her doll fixed, the arm now sewn perfectly in place, but she also found some fresh meat in her backyard and had a rather exquisite meal waiting to be cook back home. The thought of the food made her mouth water, but it was not yet time to eat again. She had to wait, so she came out here to the most run down of the islands. Found the most isolated of places and plopped down to quietly enjoy her triumph as she waited for the time to pass until dinner time arrived.

After a rather... Eventful trip to Malstu, Phalanx wisely decided to take a detour back to Old Town from Lunapa. Surely there were more Units scouring the island of Malstu by now, and they were probably and they were probably checking any and all connections to the island constantly. The last place they would be looking for him was Standasen... Which made it the perfect place to dissapear un-noticed before returning to Sky. The two had been forced to split up due to not one, but two Mark VIII's chasing them. Sky had gotten away without a hitch, but Phalanx... had not been so lucky. They had caught up to him, and a battle had insued between them. They had been upgraded with a form of Orgia Mode... Not something he expected, but at least he survived the encounter. Things were not looking awfully bright on that side of things, but fortunate enough for him, he now had allies. Three of them, to be specific. Sky Akumura, Mauled, and Theda. The four made up the group now known as The Liberators.

Ah... This place brought back memories. This was the beach he had met Sky on... Phalanx had just walked here automatically upon returning to Standasen. This time however... He found someone else instead of him being the one found... A nice change. There was a child sitting on the bridge, clutching a rather large doll in her arms. Normally he would've just walked on by, but something about a kid sitting on a bridge alone at this time of night struck him as odd. He carefully walked on the bridge, the wood creaking as he stepped on the planks. "Hey... Isn't it a bit late for you to be out here alone, kid?" He asked, trying to sound as friendly as possible... He didn't wanna startle her after all... What was up with this anyway...?

She kept humming lightly as her feet swung quietly over the dark waters below. Occasionally, she’d snug her doll closer to her as she continued to watch the blackness before her. It was soothing just like the coolness of the rocks under her. She liked this place. This silence. It remind her of home and for that she was very happy; however, her bliss was soon shattered as the sound of shoes hitting the old wooden planks that made up the broken bridge reached her ears.

They shivered, creaked and moan, but did not give out under whoever was approaching. The small child remained seated where she was as her humming soften and then ceased. When she heard the words come from behind her, the child would turn her head and look at the other with her green colored eye. She eyed the other with a serious expression taking in the form, height, and attitude of the one before her. She smelled the air trying to pick up a scent, but the typical scents of animals were not on this one. It was…missing. Hmm…curious.

Without any expression showing, the now curious child turned away from the other before quietly getting to her feet. Once back on her feet she would turn to face him fully with her doll clutched before her. She would hide half her face behind the doll as she continued to watch the other emotionlessly from behind the doll.

“I have no curfew and I am not alone. See?” she said as she held her doll out for the man to see. “Magnolia is here to keep me company and now you. Whoever you are. Did you need something?” she asked her voice soft and child like…and yet it was laced with something that could be malicious. Regardless of this, the small child did not attack as her eyes watched the other with great care.

"Heh... I'm not sure." Phalanx sighed, smiling wryly. He sat down on the end of the bridge, gazing out into the ocean. He was now a wanted man. "I guess... All I want is... freedom. True freedom. It might be a little difficult of a concept to grasp..." Freedom... Yes, that was truly what he wanted. And he would not get that freedom until he saw SE.RA.PH burn. He was free of their control, yes, but he was still being hunted. That much was made apparent yesterday... "It's quite peaceful here... The one thing which Standasen has which the other islands lack nowadays. At least to me." Oh how different he wished things were... But looking at things now, he realised just how grim the his situation was. Well, he had managed to get rid of those modified Mark VIII's yesterday... But they had not been properly equipped to fight Phalanx. It was with a tinge of regret that he had dispatched those units. They were basically his brothers. Yet... If he hadn't, he would've died in their stead. And that was not something he was allowed to do. Not yet....

A doll? "I see... So, what's your name?" He asked the girl...

Arianna continued to watch the strange man, listening to his answer to her question. He did not know what he wanted? Was he then perhaps a lost soul waiting to be found or something else in this world? Was he perhaps dinner for next time? Hmmm….

The man walked passed her, the familiar body warmth a human carried did not radiate off of him. Hmmm… perhaps not dinner. The child would turn lightly as the other walked passed her and sat down at the edge of the old bridge and spoke again. This time it was about  freedom. To his words, the child narrowed her eyes lightly.

“Freedom is only difficult to grasp because it can represent many things,” she said . “Freedom from the body, the world, a thing, etc,” she looked down at the man that was now sitting next to her since she had not moved from her spot when she stood. “Which freedom are you aiming for?” she asked her words just as calm and monotone as before.

After her question , she would fall silent her strange eyes watching the other before drifting back to the darkness and the ocean beyond. She was listening to the soothing sounds as she continued to hold her doll close. When the man broke the silence, Arianna did not look at him as she simply nodded once at the statement.

“There is always one eye in the storm that is chaos; however, no one seeks it and so it is forgotten except by the likes of us who appreciates the peace at times,” the girl said and then tilting her head at the question asked, she was silent for a while before answering.

“….Arianna. You?”

"The freedom I seek is for all of my kind. I've grown weary of seeing us being used as weapons..." Phalanx said, looking out in the distance. Ridding the world of SE.RA.PH was a good first step in achieving his lofty goals of freeing the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons from human control. They deserved just as much freedom and equality as humans did. Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons weren't just machines anymore. They truly were the first real synthetic life on earth. And if the human race would need to be eradicated in order for his brothers and sisters to be accepted, then so be it. He was not afraid to take a life. He had done so before, without hesitation.

"Indeed... And a storm is on it's way... I just walked through one end... I'll eventually need to cross the other..." Speaking in metaphores wasn't exactly Phalanx's forte, but he knew at least what his own words meant, even if this girl didn't. He would need to face SE.RA.PH again eventually. And that meant getting the Liberators ready... "I'm Phalanx... Nice to meet you, Arianna."

Arianna would remain quiet as she stared out at the dark seas after asking her question. The one who sat beside her on the dock as she continued to stand, explained his version of freedom causing the young lady to look down at him with strangely glowing eyes.

“Ah, so you are not of the flesh or defending them either? And if this is, so what are you then, stranger liberator of the unknown kind?” the child asked her tones remaining as monotone as ever as she kept an eye on this curious being that she neither hated or liked. She simple tolerated him because he was not threat. End of story.

When the other continued off her words on storms, the girl’s pale lips would twist into the faintest of smiles as her eyes drifted to the dark clouds above watching them move and cross paths with the light of stars and the moon on occasion.

“Then you have survived the easiest part. The end is always more difficult,” her eyes would drift back to the other. “How do you plan to prepare for such a thing?” she asked more out of a way to pass time than fully curious, this one keeping her attention well enough even if she truly cared not for what was to occur.

In the end, the wars would go on and eventually end and when that happened the world would become silent and return to the dark once more. It was the Fate of all things in Time’s hands. She was only here to live her life to the fullest, living off the best of what her work would draw in. Alliance were nonexistence to her. You were either food or not food. Useful or useless. Nothing more and nothing less. Such was the cruel way of the world and of beasts. There was nothing to do change that.
Strange eyes would blink as the small head tilted lightly.

“The pleasure is all mine, Phalanx,” she would say before blinking at the other and asking another question. “Why is it that you have approached me? Or even bothered to tell me any of what you plan to do? Aren't you afraid I may be trouble?” she asked her tones remained monotone as she watched the stranger with an unreadable expression. Unlike most things, these were questions that actually counted for something. So what would the other say?