The Soldier and the Siren

by JesterintheNight

Rating: teen
Tags: Dazzlings, Dark, Romance, Drama, Original Character, Equestria Girls, Comedy, Tragedy, Main 7 (EqG)
Length: 7525

A year had passed since the Siren's defeat at the hands of the Rainbooms, and their magic scattered to the wind. And Sonata Dusk has been abandoned by her, why is unknown. But one cold December night in an alley her life changes...

Okay... so short description wasn't the best. But here's more!... Maybe!

With Adagio and Aria abandonment of Sonata, she is forced to fend for herself. Why? Is unknown, but will she be able to overcome her own insecurities with the help of a mystery man by the name of Red Moon? Or will his own past destroy them both?

Published 2017-10-20 19:30:07 UTC
Last updated 2017-10-26 18:08:38 UTC

Cold December Night

Author's Note

My newest MLP…or in this case EQG, I recently read a Sonata and OC story by AlchemicBlaze21 called A Clean Slate for a Former Siren… I know it’s a mouthful lol but it’s pretty good. And to also thank Alchemic for editing this chapter and proofreading ^_^ He gave me a ton of useful advice and help. So please check his work out! And how you enjoy the story!

Cold December Night

The Soldier and the Siren

Chapter 1: Cold December Night

December in Canterlot was always bitterly cold, numbingly so, if unprepared for it. However, most civilians in this small city normally were. They would bundle up in winter coats, wool gloves, fuzzy hats, and warm boots. But even with some of these things the piercingly cold wind would pretty much cut right through even the best gear with a small gust.

That night however wasn’t a small gust, as the wind would pull the snow from the very air and bring it down hard at an angle. It was causing it to stick to clothing, cars, and even the sides of buildings. With the windows of apartments, houses, and businesses essentially blocked out, all eyes were kept from seeing the blizzard that was starting to form outside. Or from seeing the lonely soul who leaned against a dumpster.

That dumpster offered some protection from the snowy wind, but it did nothing to provide any warmth. The poor soul had been shaking long before the snow and winds arrival. They rubbed their bare bluish white hands together in a weak attempt to stave off the cold only to resort to breathing hot air on them.

Unfortunately, the cold air would immediately turn the warm air into an icy vapor. This caused them to close their hands tightly as if trying to grab warmth from nothing. In a desperate attempt to get warm, they shoved their hands into their ratty dark-purple sweaters’ front pocket in one quick motion. So quick in fact that when their hands came together a faint tearing could be heard.

“R-R-Reals-sies?” They mumbled through chattering teeth, only for their words to be swallowed up by the howling wind so not a single soul would notice them. They pulled their legs up to their chest, exposing all the small rips and tears in the fabric of their dark blue jeans. As the unforgiving cold seeped into those holes, they sighed in defeat before laying their hood covered head on their knees.

“H-Help…” They mumbled into their knees, though they knew that no one would hear them in that tempest. No one was foolish enough to be caught in this freezing weather. Well, all except for them since they were outside curled up against some frozen rusted metal in the middle of a damn blizzard! They closed their eyes for a moment feeling a strange warmth growing in them, even though they knew that was impossible given the weather.

“…N-No…” They said, pulling their head off of their knees. They needed to stay awake, they knew they needed to fight the urge to close their eyes. Because if they didn’t, they might not ever wake up again. No matter how tempting the idea of sleeping was, they needed to keep moving. But with the raging storm around them, walking around wasn’t an option…

A distraction, that’s what they needed. Pulling their frozen blue hands from their pocket they reached for a plastic bag hidden under the dumpster beside them. They felt around the stony floor, til their fingertips brushed against the plastic material. Careful to not rip the bag they pulled it out from their hiding spot, though they couldn’t really see in the dark they rummaged around in the bag.

“W-Where is-s it?..” They whispered through tightly clenched jaws. After moving a small empty water bottle aside in the bag, they found what they were searching for. They pulled out an unopened bag of beef jerky, which made no sense to the person why it would be called beef jerky when the meat was really turkey.

Shrugging briefly at the thought, they grasped the sealed end and began pulling lightly with their shaking hands, but their weak hold slipped off of its edges. “C-Come on… p-please..” Pleaded the person, getting a slightly more solid hold on the bag as they tried once again.

With frozen hands, trembling fingers, and a tired body the simple task of opening a bag of meat seemed like trying to open a steel safe with a hammer.

Eventually the bag gave way to the person's strength but in the process split the bag in half sending the pieces of dried bird flying. Which was ironic that a slightly flightless bird was flying through the air. The pieces sunk into the white powder on the ground. Sighing once again feeling like they couldn’t catch a break, they threw the pieces of bag away which caught the wind and flew away into the air…

“W-Where did they g-go?..” The person questioned while pulling their sleeves down a bit to make some makeshift gloves. And with that, the search for the dried meat began as they felt around the snow. Although, without any idea where the bird pieces went, low light, and frost bitten fingers it was going to take awhile…

“Here we g-go!” They cheered a bit finding the first piece and leaving behind a hole in the snow as they picked it up and shoved it into their pocket. Continuing the hunt, they found another, then another, and another. Their pocket was slowly but surely filling with meat. When they finally sat back against the dumpster deciding that the pieces that they had were enough, a sound reached their cold ears.

GRRRR…

Their eyes snapped to a shadow in the storm around them, focusing hard on the object in front of them. Another one joined the first shadow, then a third, a fourth, and fifth. Suddenly a faint thud could be heard above them. Slowly tearing their eyes from the pack of shadows in front of them they looked up at the edge of the dumpster.

A furry head was poking out, half covered in powder. Its crazed eyes stared down at the lonely soul, teeth bared showing it meant business. Quickly pushing away from the metal dumpster they tried to get to their feet only to be tripped by something. Upon looking down they realized that the shadows were a pack of dogs and that one of them had gotten ahold of their jeans.

“L-Let go!” The soul screamed in a high pitched voice, but the feral animal didn’t let go. Instead it began to whip its head side to side trying to tear the fabric of the figures jean. “S-Stop!” They pleaded but instead the dog ripped a piece of their pants off revealing a slightly dirty bluish white calf.

Taking this small opportunity of freedom, the person took off in a quick dash. Or at least as quickly as they could due to the snow that was building up. Although this was a blessing and curse as the dogs also struggled to chase after them. So, they could at least keep a small lead from the pack of six dogs as they trudged through the heavy snow.

“Get away!” They screamed at the dogs, though they didn’t care as they kept up the chase. Even with tired muscles the person began to feel a surge of heat coursing through their veins as adrenaline started to give them a boost. Fight or flight, that’s what adrenaline was useful for but fighting a pack of dogs wasn’t a great choice for them. They knew it was a losing fight without help or their magic, though they weren’t sure if singing would work on animals.

But a small glimmer of hope appeared as they saw the edge of the alleyway through the snow filled wind come into view. It held less snow since it narrowed out at the end to the sidewalk ahead, feeling confident they picked up the pace a bit hoping that maybe someone would be walking the streets. Maybe a cop, heck they’d even take some little old lady if it meant that the animals behind her might run off seeing another person.

But what jumped in front of the entrance ahead caused what little hope that was filling them to sink like a rock in water. Another dog was now blocking the exit and the pack of dogs behind them was closing in. They were trapped! Trying to come to a complete stop in the mid-calf deep snow in sneakers with no grip led to their feet slipping out from underneath them. Feeling the cold ground below them coming quickly, they braced themselves.

POP

“AAAAAH!” The person screamed as their elbow collided with the frozen stone, with only a thin fabric to protect them from the fall it tore effortlessly. Forming a hole to reveal the person’s now slightly bloody elbow the stone had cut into. The once white powder was now dyed a crimson red, though it didn’t grow any darker in color, since the person quickly lifted their arm up to try covering the wound with their unhurt arm.

For a moment, they forgot about the pack of dogs that were quickly closing in, but that was short lived as barking could be heard all around them. The person tried to prop themselves up on their elbows, but found their hurt arm couldn’t move. In fact, they couldn’t feel that arm at all, so rolling onto their good side they looked up to see one of the dogs lunging at them.

“AH!” They screamed out as the dog bit into their hood ripping it backwards, it revealed the face of a young girl maybe in her mid-teens. Her raspberry colored eyes closed tightly as she felt the dog pull the hood back hard enough to choke her. Her good hand reached quickly for the collar of her hoodie pulling it down a bit to give herself some air.

“Hel- OW!” She tried to scream for help once again only to be silenced as another dog bit into her long artic blue with persian blue striped ponytail. She could feel her scalp screaming in agony as the roots of her hair strained to keep the animal from making her go bald. Releasing her collar, she lashed out for something. Grabbing a handful of snow she threw it backwards blindly.

Thankfully it flew into the animal's eyes that held her, forcing it to release her hair for a moment as it jumped back in surprise from her weak attack. But the other dog on her hood held on as it dragged her down the opposite direction of the exit. Kicking wildly, she couldn’t get a grip on anything as all there was was snow.

She grasped at the snow throwing it backwards at the dog only to find that this one was undeterred by the harmless powder. As it dragged the helpless girl another dog lunged for her good arm biting into the sleeve. Her once closed eyes widened in panic as the animal thrashed around keeping her only good hand from fighting back.

Fear was now consuming her heart as she couldn’t free herself from the animal’s teeth. And without something solid to even hold onto she was powerless to stop the seven feral beasts around her. Another dog bit into her jeans but this time she wasn’t so lucky. This time it hadn’t sunk its teeth just into cloth but into her flesh as well. The only good thing about all of this was that she couldn’t feel the pain surging through her leg thanks to the cold and adrenaline pumping through her blood. Closing her eyes tightly she took a deep breath.

She knew it was pointless, and that no one was coming to save her. She couldn’t accept that this was the end, she didn’t want to die. She wanted to live, she wanted to just be happy again. So, gathering the rest of her strength and her courage. She released all the air in her lungs at once, screaming into the night sky.

“HELP!”

…

…Somewhere outside a corner store…

…

“Damn cold…”

A young man cursed into the snowy wind, though no one could hear him in the howling air. He sighed heavily causing a small cloud of vapor to flow from his mouth. It quickly faded into the wind and from his view. He had hoped to beat the storm on his way home from work, but halfway there he realized his small pack of smokes was empty.

Deciding to drop by the corner store that was on the way home for what he hoped would be a minute or two turned into an hour. As the owner was an elderly fellow and acquaintance of the young man, he had asked for help since his employee had called in for the night. Figuring it would be a simple job the young man agreed to help. It also didn’t hurt that the old man offered to give him a pack of smokes for free as payment.

“How can I turn down free smokes?..” He questioned to no one while reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out the pack. Reading the name on the front ‘Mustang’ it had a horse under the name, it was standing on its back legs. Which the man could only assume it was rearing up to cry out, shrugging he slammed the pack on his free hand twice. Only twice, he carefully pinched the small tab to open it. A twist later he took the plastic covering off and stuffed the trash into his opposite pocket to throw away later.

Lifting the top off and taking one out in a swift motion like someone who had done it millions of times, which might have been the case. Setting the butt of the cigarette between his lips he flicked the lid shut, shoving the newish pack into his empty pocket. He then took out a black scratched up zippo from his dark green pants pocket, using his thumb he flicked the lid open. A second flick caused a small spark that lit up his light brilliant gamboge skin tone ~~(Imagine Cheese Sandwich’s color tone)~~ up before he faded into darkness.

“Come on.” He said in annoyance, he knew it had fluid. He filled it just last night, taking a breath he flicked it again. Sure, enough the spark ignited the wick, a small flame came to life in his hands. Bringing the flame close to his face so the light could dance in his pale dull gamboge yellow eyes ~~(Lyra's eyes)~~, he watched the flame for a moment before bringing it to the cigarette.

Taking a small breath inward, the cigarette tip glowed as it lit up. He closed the zippo with a flick of the wrist, slipping it back into his pocket. He grasped his smoke with two fingers, taking a deeper breath so he could feel the warm smoke flowing down his throat. It wasn’t a warm cup of coffee by no means but it would do for now till he got home.

Holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment to enjoy the small burn it gave. Exhaling out his nose, the smoke didn’t stay even a second as it blew away with the wind. Letting the butt of the cigarette settle between his lips he shoved his hands in his jacket pocket, and took the first step into the blizzard.

Leaving the safety of the small awning above the store entrance he was immediately pounded on his shaggy red rose hair by the white flurry above. He began to regret not bringing his hat and scarf from home, but the storm wasn’t even on the news this morning. Didn’t even start til 2 hours ago, it kind of caught everyone in Canterlot off guard as not even the plows were ready for the storm. His truck could have made the trip to and from work but he didn’t notice the storm when he got up this morning.

Trekking through the now calf high snow he kept his pale gamboge eyes straight ahead, narrowing them as he tried to ignore the snow smacking him in the face. Though the pins and needles pain was somewhat hard to ignore, more so when his nose and ears were beginning to grow numb. Taking another deep puff of his smoke he didn’t let it settle in his lungs like before this time exhaling it quickly from his nose to warm it up.

As he reached an alleyway he paused for a moment seeing a pair of prints, though they were quickly disappearing thanks to the storm. Kneeling down he pulled one hand out of his warm pocket, his fingertips grew cold quickly as he traced the steps in the snow. His eyes followed the tracks as they went into the alley, til he noticed something else.

“Drag marks?...” He whispered, his eyebrow raised in curiosity. A cat perhaps? Some food? He had no idea what could have been dragged, though it was the way of life. Survival of the fittest, he knew that lesson well. Though as he was about to stand and carry on his way something reached his ears.

“HELP!” A female voice shrieked. The wind swallowed the voice up quickly, but he still heard it, and he knew someone was in trouble. Taking his smoke from his lips he flicked it away into the strong wind which blew it out of sight. Walking down the alleyway quickly, his eyes scanning the ground for any clues as to what happened.

As he got a few feet in he paused as something, a small amount of the color red dyed the once white snow. Kneeling down he brushed his right hand over the red snow, it wasn’t warm but he knew it was blood. It pulled away deeper into the alley…

“Blood…cold… small amounts, none life threatening.” He whispered to himself, almost like a trained doctor would in a triage ward. His tone was unsurprised, calm, too calm for someone in this type of situation. Standing up once again, he followed the drag marks toward the other end of the alley till he froze.

“More blood…” His trained voice said, still very calm and collected. He followed the blood, it was much darker, and in larger quantities. Kneeling down his fingers grazed the darker blood, pausing as he touched it. It was still warm, pulling his hand away he looked at his fingertips. The once light brilliant gamboge of his skin tone was now red with blood, he carefully pressed his thumb against. Rubbing his fingers together…

“This damage… slightly more dangerous.” He said, his tone still remaining the same. His eyes moved from the blood to the multiple paw prints in the snow now, they were surrounding the drag marks. Tracing one of the drag marks with his eyes, he noticed it was different. Whoever this was, was fighting the dogs off.

“And 7 of them no less…” It was easy to tell that these were a pack of feral dogs. Nothing but dogs and cats roamed the streets of Canterlot. And he highly doubted a pack of wolves wandered into the small city, plus the prints were far too small to be anything bigger than a normal dog. And was impossible to be a pack of cats, they wouldn’t go after a person…

“But dogs?...” He questioned, even feral dogs weren’t known to go after a person without reason. But there was only one way to discover the truth, and that was to find the source. He stood up and followed the drag marks, which led down a smaller alley on the side. Following the tracks and drag marks he was about 20 feet away from the entrance till he saw something covered in snow.

He knelt down picking up the item, looking it over his nose picked up a faint scent. He carefully brushed the object off, as he did he could see a faintly brown thing. Bringing it close to his nose, he gave it a few sniffs. It was meat, he could instantly tell. Licking the meat once, turkey, beef jerky.

“I see…” He whispered, he was piecing the puzzle together. Tossing the meat aside he continued to follow the path toward the inner alley way, he couldn’t see much more blood. Which meant whoever they grabbed, was just in the way of what they really wanted. And it also meant the person was most likely alive…

“Maybe…” He said approaching the corner of the alley, as he reached it he peeked around the corner. Sure enough, 6 dogs were surrounding something. Their tails wagging in happiness, even the cold weather wasn’t bringing down these animals which meant they had what they wanted. But where was the seventh?

Looking around a bit more carefully he noticed a few feet past the pack he saw it, a much larger dog. It was jerking its head side to side, making tearing sounds that reached the man’s ears. Thankfully, it wasn’t a sound of tearing flesh. It was fabric, which means there was something more on the person they took down.

“H-H…” A weak voice said, causing the man to slightly tense up. The person was still alive. Although, probably not for much longer if she stayed out in the cold with those injuries. But what did he gain for going out of his way to help this girl? He’d have to bring her to the hospital which would be a hassle, since he’d need to carry her home. Put her in his truck, get blood on the seats then drive in the weather…

“Not worth it…” He said coldly, shoving his hands in his pocket; walking away from the alley. His eyes turned towards the path she took, the drag marks by now were filled with snow, the footprints gone, and the blood covered. By tomorrow nothing would remain besides a body, but… it wasn’t his problem.

Taking a few steps away he reached into his coat pocket, grasping his pack of smokes. Pulling it out he opened the lid bringing the pack to his lips, grasping it carefully he pulled one of the cigarettes out. Closing it quickly so the snow wouldn’t ruin it, it took its place once again in his jacket pocket. Getting his lighter out he flicked the lid open, bringing it close to his face he was about to flick it. Till a small gust of frozen wind blew by him, it made him shiver for a moment.

“Are you really going to walk away Pale?” A voice said, he paused for a moment. His eyes locked on the zippo a few inches from his face, biting down hard on the butt of the cigarette. His teeth cut deep into the cotton, effectively ruining his chance to smoke….

…

…..

“Am… I going to die?...”

The girl wondered, she couldn’t feel anything. No fear, no anger, nothing. She had lost all sensation. The cold that once plagued her; the pain that surged through her arm and leg a few minutes ago was gone. She couldn’t move a single part of her body, half opened eyes locked on the sky above.

‘It’s… kinda pretty…’ She thought, though it was dark above her she could still see the snow floating down to the earth below. She couldn’t even feel the snow gliding onto her body, though she knew it was hitting her. After all, before the numbness entered her dying body the dogs had managed to tear half her hoodie up. Along with the shirt underneath, exposing her malnourished stomach.

Though at least they didn’t destroy the fabric covering her slightly revealing ribs, and chest area. Her jeans around her injured leg had been torn as well, they ripped it right below the knee. Even taking one of her sneakers, a sleeve, the whole hood torn to shreds.

She knew that one of the dogs was still attacking her clothing, since her head would move once in awhile from it attacking her jean pockets for something. Though she didn’t have any idea what they were after, she was too tired to even think about. Too tired to keep fighting, fighting the dogs, fighting the cold, fighting life in general…

‘I… think I’ll sleep…’ She thought, as her eyes slowly started to close. Accepting that this was the end, a sharp pull at her hip caused her to freeze her eyes. The dog that once was attacking her hip flew right past her field of view, she tried to see where it went. But her body refused the command to move that her tired brain was giving.

Something new entered her field of vision, a pair of pale lifeless yellowish gamboge eyes. They were looking down at her, shaggy red rose hair and brilliant gamboge skin. The person above her looked away for a moment as she could see he was removing something, it was his jacket. He shrugged his shoulders knocking the jacket off, in a swift motion he covered her with it.

‘It’s warm…’ She notice, she could feel the heat that once was his moving into her own body. It started to spread through her bare stomach, moving through her like a rock dropping into a body of water. She had to admit that it was welcoming, like a soothing ripple. Though she did wonder why this person was giving his warmth to her, had he heard her cries?

She could see his lips moving, but no sound reached her ears. Had she gone deaf? Wouldn’t be so bad, then she wouldn’t have to hear her horrible voice anymore. Wouldn’t have to hear people talking about her, or the growls of those mean dogs that attacked her. Though she did wish she could hear her savior's voice…

As she struggled to try and hear him she saw his head snapped upwards, his arms spread open a bit as if bracing for something. Before she could figure out what, a brown blur flew by her at the man. Which he seemed to catch with little issue, before throwing it behind him. He then stood up fully turning his whole body in the direction of what he threw, he then stepped out of her field of view.

‘No… please don’t g...’ She tried to think but her brain was beyond tired, and the warmth that now reached her whole body was so welcoming. It was so enticing to just sleep. So deciding it was better to slip into a warm sleep she gently closed her eyes. Exhaling calmly, she began drifting off into a deep sleep. Although for a moment that light feeling came back, and it was lifting her into a pair of arms…

New Days

Author's Note

I'm very pleased with the latest reviews only a few but hey I'll take em! And happy to see quiet a few followers! Also with the direction of this Sonata/OC fanfic I'm taking a huge left turn, most stories I've read have had all characters welcome Sonata into their home and such. But Red Moon doesn't want anything to do with Sonata... for now. DUNDUN DUUUUUN! :trixieshiftright: Enjoy lol and once again thank you AlchemicBlaze 21, nice guy for tidying up my work! Check him out!

New Days

The Soldier and the Siren

Chapter 2: New Days

“It’s not my fault…”

A lonely girl said to no one, bringing her knees to her chest and setting her crossed arms on them in a weak form of defiance. Looking out around her, she would see nothing but the loneliness of her own dreams. It had been like this for a while, ever since her own sisters abandoned her…

“It’s all your fault!” One of her sisters cried out from nowhere. This caused Sonata to flinch. She had heard this over and over whenever she would sleep at nights. They would always blame her whenever things went wrong. Constantly screaming at her, like she was a child. Like her whole existence was nothing but an inconvenience to them…

“No… I did what you told me…” It was true, she did everything they told her. She helped trick Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, the whole school, the Rainbooms, she played her part in the plan. Sure, she was an airhead, and sometimes didn’t get sarcasm. Or didn’t know when people were talking about her, but she did what she was told…

…

…..

…

A young man walked over to the sleeping siren with a small tray of items, which he set on the bedside table. Bandages, vials of various painkillers, an empty syringe, scissors, almost enough medical equipment to start a small pharmacy. He even had an IV bag on the tray. He picked it up and checked the expiration date on the bag for a moment.

“Time, 1010. Unknown patient.” He calmly said to no one, though his words caused a small stir from the sleeping siren. It was enough for him to notice, but he soon returned his attention to the bag in his hands. Placing it on a small hook he had hung up a few hours ago for just this purpose.

“Good, hooks strong.” Confirming this he grasped the bag and attached a small length of tubing with practiced hands. He released the bag and let it hang there. He went to pick up a small needle from the tray with an attachment made for the IV tubing and quickly put the final piece together.

“Need alcohol.” Whispering to himself, his eyes scanned the tray seeing that he had forgot it. With a slightly annoyed expression he walked to a nearby medicine cabinet that was attached to the wall closest to the only exit. Opening it up, he quickly found the box of alcohol pads as they were the only things in the cabinet that needed a box.

He opened the box up to take a few pads out, and then set it back in the cabinet. Tearing one of the small packets open he carefully pinched the pad inside, rubbed it between his two fingers to clean them, and stuck the other unopened pads in his pocket. He then returned to the girl taking up his only bed and cleaned the needle with little difficulty. He also wiped down the area around her good arm where he would insert the IV needle, while her other arm was carefully wrapped around the shoulder area.

“Might hurt.” He said to the sleeping girl, his steady hand held the needle an inch away from her vein. His free hand carefully held her arm down just in case she woke up. But as he inserted the needle, he learned it was unnecessary as she didn’t even move a muscle. The exhaustion must have been worse than he was led to believe.

“Might be homeless.” He figured as much, as he had seen her slightly emaciated stomach. Lack of food, proper care, and hydration. He was all too familiar with the signs of starvation, though the signs seemed too recent for her to have grown up homeless. His eyes turned away from her arm while he carefully moved the blanket that covered the rest of her body.

Pulling a chair up to her bedside he sat down, his eyes locked on her sleeping face. “What to do?” He silently said, unsure of what to do with her. He didn’t even know her name, during his search of her person all he found were strange gem shards. He couldn’t figure out what they were, they weren’t rubies, or a broken red diamond.

Tearing his eyes from her peaceful face and turning to the bedside table right above the surgical tray. It was there that the shards rested, though he didn’t know what they were he felt a strange sensation when holding one of the shards. Like a pulsing that almost reminded him of a small heartbeat. As he reached for a shard piece, a small stir from his guest caused him to freeze for a moment, before lowering his hand back to his lap.

“Hm?..” She hums softly, her almost raspberry color eyes look weak as she opened them slowly. He remained quiet as he watched her, easily able to see the confusion blatantly written all over her face. But he waited patiently for her to adjust, after all she had been attacked by dogs a day ago. And… he did almost leave her for dead in an alleyway…

“W-Wher-” She tried to speak only for him to cut her off. “My bed” He stated, Sonata’s eyes moved to him quickly. Her confusion was now replaced with a new look, a look he knew very well. It was fear, which he understood why. After all, a strange man was sitting beside her, and said she was in his bed.

“W-Who are you?” She asked nervously. He thought about his answer for a moment before answering in a calm tone, so not to freak her out. “Red Moon, you?” Red asked reversing her question back on her.

“S-Sonata…Dusk.” A hint of suspicion now in her voice. Red nodded briefly before looking at the tray on the table. “Do you have any allergies?” He asked as confusion once again took over her features. She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head weakly.

“Good, makes this easier.” Sitting up a bit to straighten himself, he reached for a vial. Reading ‘Morphine’ on the label, strongest dosage he had at his disposal. He took the syringe and carefully stabbed it into the vial before he turned them both upside down so that no air would go into the syringe. Using his thumb, he carefully pulled the clear liquid into the syringe.

“W-What’s that for?” Sonata asked. Not bothering to even look at her he answered. “Morphine, numbs the pain.” Sonata looked a bit confused at him “Whose pain?” She asked, as he pulled the syringe from the vial he gently pushed some of the morphine out so no air would enter the young lady.

“Yours” As he turned to face her, her eyes widened in panic as she figured out what he meant. “N-N-N-NO I DON’T LIKE NEEDLES!” She screamed out as she began to pull at the IV tubing in her arm. Visibly flinching at the pain, Red blinked a bit confused at her reaction. As she pulled at the tubing that led to the IV bag, it slipped off the hook and fell to the floor.

“Hey!” Red shouted, suddenly becoming annoyed with the girl. Stepping toward her his foot stepped on the IV bag, which under his weight, popped effortlessly. Splashing the fluid all over the floor, looking down was the last thing he did before his foot slipped under the bed. His other foot slipped backwards resulting in a full split, while his chest slammed into the bed. His head on the other hand slammed into Sonata’s.

“OW!” She cried out in pain while the arm with the IV tubing still in it moved to her head to rub the impact spot several times. She turned to look at Red and make sure he was okay but found him just staring at her. Sonata lowered her hand as a faint pink hue pulled at her cheeks in embarrassment, she could see his forehead was bright red from colliding with her.

“A-Are you okay?” She asked, Red closed his eyes taking a deep breath. Calmly he exhaled before pulling his hand up from his side to reveal an empty syringe. Sonata stared at it for a moment, she remembered that it had been full before. Hence her panic, then where did it go?

“…Oops..” She whispered as she figured out where it went, opening his eyes finally he set the empty syringe on the bedside table. He then pulled his leg out from under the bed, so he could get to his feet. As he fully stood up, his legs started to shake badly. He grabbed the chair he had been sitting for support before he turned his head to look at her.

“Thanks… a lot…” He said in a slightly dark and annoyed tone, Sonata turned a bit away from him pretending nothing had happened. Letting out a light sigh, he sat himself back down in his chair as he couldn’t move away without dragging himself.

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Sonata didn’t really know what to say. She accidentally stabbed the young man who introduced himself as ‘Red Moon’. Though she could swear she saw him from somewhere before though she was drawing a blank as to where.

In fact, how had she gotten there to begin with? The last thing she could remember was trying to stay awake in the alleyway, dropping her last bit of food in the snow, and... growling? As if on cue Red spoke to her, his annoyed tone from before gone.

“Confused?” He asked. Sonata turned to him nodding once. “Attacked by dogs, happened to be walking by. Saved you.” He answered her, although now she was confused by how he answered. It was short, sweet, and to the point. It was almost like he didn’t want to talk at all unless necessary, which brought a small frown to her lips.

‘First person to finally talk to me, and he acts like I’m the worst.’ Sonata thought. She almost wanted to cross her arms like she was having one of her petty arguments with her sisters. At least they wanted to talk her, well even though it was more of fighting then talking. It was something, unlike what her silent savior was offering.

While she had been lost in thought, Red had managed without the use of his legs to set up a new IV bag since he had two extra on the tray from before. He had even cleaned the IV tubing with the spare pads in his pocket before he reattached the tubing. That way the fluid could once again flow into her arm. Though he couldn’t clean the syringe with the pads since it had stuck him. He needed to order some more since it was the last one in his supply cache.

He grabbed one of the bottles of Ibuprofen, even though it wasn’t his first choice, it would help her relax a little. Taking two pills from the bottle he set them on the tray and looked around for some water.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be across the room. Sighing lightly he pressed down on floor with his legs to find that the wobbly effect from the morphine was, thankfully, gone. He could only assume that the needle from the syringe just managed to hit the muscle wrong. Standing up he moved to the dresser, it was here he left some food, though it was in strange sealed packages, and several bottles of water.

Taking one of them from the stash he turned back to Sonata whose eyes were locked on him. Actually, they were looking past him, glancing back he quickly discovered what she was looking at. The food, taking one of the packages he returns to her side.

“Hungry?” He asks taking his seat back, nodding once to his question he began to open the package in his hands. “What’s that?” He looked at the side of the package, it read ‘Beef Stew’ though he doubted that was what she wanted to know.

“MRE, Meals Ready to Eat. Full of calories to keep you going.” He answered, Sonata was a little surprised. That was the longest thing Red had said to her so far. Watching him as he opened the package she could feel her own hunger growing more and more, if that was even possible. He took out a small box from the package, and opened it to reveal a small olive drab colored package. When he tore the top of it off the aroma of the beef reached her nose. Smiling a bit at the idea of getting a meal in her, she tried to sit up.

But she came to a stop as her bad shoulder began throbbing with pain. Gritting her teeth in frustration she tried to look at her injury. “Don’t move, shoulder was dislocated. Had to force it back in.” He said casually, setting the package of food on the bedside table along with the rest of it.

He then took the ibuprofen from the table, moving from the chair to the bed he sat down on the edge. Making sure to avoid the IV tubing, he brought the pills to her lips which she stared at for a moment.

“Open.” He ordered. Normally she’d resist someone’s help like this. But, it was slightly nice to have someone take care of her after so long. Parting her lips a bit he carefully slipped the pills between her blue lips. He then picked up the water he had set aside, opened it up and threw the cap on the bedside table. Adjusting himself he carefully put his free hand behind her head.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her words slightly messy thanks to the chalky tasting pills on her tongue. She could feel his fingers combing through her slightly dirty hair till he had a decent grasp on the back of her skull, it brought a soft blush to her light blue cheeks. Carefully he lifted her head up so she was better positioned, then brought the bottle of water to her lips.

“It will help with the pain.” He said, his normal calm tone was different this time. Sonata couldn’t place her finger on it but it seemed to have a caring quality to it, which made her wonder if it was a slip up. But deciding against saying anything she carefully began sipping at the water. The cool liquid almost hurt. Which didn’t help when the pills went down her throat either, as it felt itchy.

But soon enough it slid down her throat after a few more sips of water, and he carefully set her head back down on the pillow. He then set the bottle of water on the bedside table, picking up the food this time. His other hand slipped into the main package taking out a plastic spoon that was wrapped in plastic.

He bit into one end of the plastic wrap, ripping it off in a swift motion. Slipping the spoon out of the wrapper he stuck it in the food, he then paused for the moment looking her over. It wouldn’t be possible to hold her head, hold the food, and spoon feed her. Standing up from the bed he slips under the tubing of the IV to get behind the hurt siren.

“Dusk, work with me.” He said, he slipped one hand under her back. “W-What are you doing!?” She shouted, her face turning slightly pink but she didn’t fight him like before. Mostly because there wasn’t a needle involved, just him trying to help her. As he lifted her up, he slipped behind her to sit down. His legs dangled off the edge of the bed so that her head could rest on his lap, as he settled her down onto his lap.

He took notice of her red face, which stuck out pretty badly with her light blue cheeks. “Don’t be nervous, not going to do anything inappropriate.” He said, though that wasn’t what Sonata was embarrassed about. Even she knew a girl resting their head on a boy’s lap was something reserved for couples, and he was about to feed her no less.

It was like something from a bad romance anime, did that make her a tsundere in this case? No that was more like her sister Aria, Sonata just never had anyone this close to her. Aside from her sisters, normally Adagio was the one to get close to guys to use them as puppets. While Sonata just stayed as far away as she was told…

“Come on, eat.” Red said, snapping her out of her little day dreams. He was holding the spoon with what looked almost like cat food, though it sure smelled more appetizing than cat food. Opening her mouth fully he carefully stuck the spoon in her mouth, which he pulled out quickly as she began to chew slowly.

‘It isn’t half bad for cat food’ She thought, a small smile came to her lips. She giggled softly to herself earning a slightly curious look from the young man who brought another spoonful of food to her goofy smiling lips. He was about to question her, but decided against it… He’d let her be happy…

‘After all, she won’t be sticking around very long…’ He thought