The Scientist

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Come up To Meet you.... Tell You I'm Sorry.... You don't Know How Lovely You Are...

You stared at the portal that loomed before you. Pulsing softly, casting light over you, it formed the gateway that would lead you into the world of the next player to you. The person beyond the portal, the gateway, was Jade Harley. Once best friends, the two of you had fallen into a violent argument that you couldn't remember the cause of, even though you had never met face to face, shouting and cursing over Pesterchum, all over a reason that you, _____ ______, couldn't even recall. Three years was how long it had been since you had last spoken. Three years since you had told the other girl that you'd rather die than talk to her again.

Three years since it had crossed your mind how much you missed her.

Stretching out your hand, you let it sink into the gateway, colours enveloping you as you stepped through, a rush of cold wind sweeping across your arms as you stepped into the world of Jade Harley, sinking up to your ankles into a snow-drift, a shocked gasp escaping you as the frozen snow gripped your ankles, shuffling through the white substance sending chills plunging over your body as you walked, arms flung around your body to protect yourself as small flakes settled delicately in your hair. Then you saw her. A red coat wrapped around her body, the girl was unmistakable, raven-dark hair falling down her back, longer than you remembered, peppered with snowflakes, eyes the colour of her name staring out across the snowy expanses through round glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose, unaware of your presence. You smiled to yourself as you took in her appearance. Last time that you had seen her, three years ago, she was cute, with wide eyes and hair that wouldn't stay put, but now, now she was beautiful, Her eyes were still wide, but shone with life, her glasses no longer seemed too big for her face, and her hair was long and glossy, shivering slightly as she moved. Swallowing nervously, you walked towards her, then, once you were within earshot of her, you called out, waving slightly, hoping that there was nothing nearby that she could throw at you or try to hurt you with.

"Hey, Jade?"

I Had To Find You... Tell You I Need You.... Tell You I Set You Apart...

The girl turned around, startled, and jumped backwards slightly, almost falling back into the snow, throwing out her hands to protect herself from falling, trying to regain her balance. Once she had regained composure, she fixed you with a look of confusion, sweeping her gaze over your features, taking in (h/l) (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes that looked slightly off to the side, afraid to look the girl in the eye. 
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" The question felt like she had driven a knife into you, and you stepped forwards slightly, the pain intensifying as she stepped back, trying to avoid you.
"Jade, It's me. _____" There was a pause, and with every second, the knife was forced in deeper, centimetres away from slicing into your heart, tearing it out of your chest, before the silence was broken, and she spoke, voice quiet and subdued.
"Oh." You averted your gaze once more, hands clenching into fists by your sides. "Why are you here?" The question made it feel as if the knife in your chest was twisted, a fresh jolt of lightning pain.
"I-I'm playing in the same session as you, Rose, John and Dave, I thought-" You were cut off as Jade began to walk towards you, the look on her face undistinguishable, and you flinched back, fearing that the girl would try and hit you; turn you away for coming anywhere near here, but instead, she stood face to face with you for a few seconds, staring into your eyes, then let out a quiet sob and collapsed against you, her arms curling around your neck, dark hair brushing against your neck softly, the sudden contact startling you as the girl sobbed wordlessly into your shoulder, leaving you unable to do anything but stand and hug her back, closing your eyes, the cold forgotten.
"You're so, so stupid..." A muffled voice came from the direction of Jade's face. "You shouldn't have played- we're all going to get killed now that Bec prototyped into the Kernel... I don't want you to die, _____" The concern that showed through in her voice, splintered with the noises of crying, confused you, and you questioned in a shaky voice.
"I-I thought you'd be angry at me... After the argument we had-" Once again you were silenced as Jade drove her foot into your shin from where she stood, causing you to stumble slightly as she raised her head, tear-streaked eyes fixing onto your gaze.
"Can you even remember what we were arguing for? I missed you. Can we just... go back to how things were?" Smiling softly, you pulled the girl back into a hug and whispered to her quietly, burying your face against her shoulder.
"I missed you too... All I want to do is forget...."

Tell Me Your Secrets.... Ask Me Your Questions... Oh, Let's Go Back To The Start...

You sat beside Jade in the snow. A small sigh escaped you as you flopped back into the white powder, the brightly coloured sky above you obscured slightly as snowflakes caught in your eyelashes, causing you to blink and laugh slightly, protected from the cold by your newly alchemized clothes, their (f/c) surface already peppered with white.
"Do you remember that science experiment we tried to make, Jade?" You questioned, rolling over to look the raven-haired girl in the eye. "Back when we were obsessed with blowing stuff up?"  A reminiscing laugh trailed from the girl as she also turned to face you, one side of her coat crusted with snow.
"Yeah, your parents wouldn't let you use gasoline, and we thought that giving flammable liquid to ten year olds was a perfectly reasonable thing for them to do!" More laughter. You found yourself thinking how nice her laugh sounded- like birdsong, drifting through the air and enveloping you in warmth. Every thing that Jade did- it reminded you a little more of how much you had missed her since you had stopped talking, and how glad you were to have her back, lying beside you in the snow. It almost made you forget about Sburb, and the danger that you were both in.
The danger could wait, for all you cared.
"We never did get to explode that bush..." You spoke. "Shame really- the flowers looked stupid." More laughter. How you loved that laugh.
"It was a weird colour!" Jade agreed, before sitting up, shaking her hair free from where it was caught down her back. "There's no-one to stop us from blowing things up here though!" A wide grin sprung to life on your face, and you sat up too, eyes wide with excitement.
"Can you remember how much gasoline we needed?"

Questions of Science... Science and Progress.... Don't Speak as Loud as My Heart....

The Excitement, however, was short Lived.

The moment you stood up from where you sat, green light, unnaturally harsh, edged in neon and yellow, a bright glare that blinded you momentarily, caused you to flinch away, shielding your eyes desperately. When you looked back up, you were met by the terrified eyes of Jade Harley, twin pools of mirror-framed green, begging you to run. Before you could take a step, you were intercepted, your moves picked out and pre-determined, as a dark shape, flickering green outline glaring vividly at you, doglike features and piercing white eyes causing you to freeze to the spot where you stood. 
Under the gaze of Jack Noir, you were helpless.
The danger had caught up.
Isn't life cruel.
Before you had the time to register what was happening, the dark shape had drawn its blade, already slicked with blood from where it was embedded in his chest, and slashed outwards with a graceful flick of its wrist. Then, as soon as they had appeared, light quivered outwards, electrifying the air once more, and Jack Noir was gone. You saw the blood before you felt the pain, shock gripping you with icy hands as you stared disbelievingly downwards at the wound that sliced down from your chest to your stomach, scarlet blood splashing onto the snow, silent and painless, the wind seeming to hold its breath.
When the pain hit, it hit like a boulder slamming into you, sending you crumpling downwards, tearing at your chest as you slammed into the earth, gasping for breath as you heard Jade scream, rushing towards you and collapsing next to you, tears flooding down from behind her glasses, breath almost as shaky as your own. To stop the blood that was dripping steadily from your wound, the girl gripped your hand, nails digging into your palms from the panic, and one of you was shaking violently- which one, you couldn't quite tell. Dark spots had began to cluster in your vision, and you let your head fall back into the snow, a breath that was almost a laugh escaping your torn chest.
"Well, Life's being a bitch today, isn't it?"

Nobody Said it Was Easy... It's Such A Shame For Us To Part...

Your attempt to lighten the mood of the situation made you laugh shakily again, gaze fixed upwards on the deep green eyes of Jade Harley.
"Hey, come on... I'm the one who's dying, I'm not meant to be making the jokes..." Jade let out another shudder, and raised a hand, pulling her tear-streaked glasses away from her eyes, discarding them in the snow. You could see her eyes even more clearly now. Even when she was crying, she was still pretty. Another wave of pain gripped you, and you curled up tighter on the ground, closing your eyes tightly. When it came to opening them again, you found that you didn't want to. Ever single muscle in your body called to you, whispering morbidly in your ears.
Just sleep... It's not hard...
"Jade, I'm tired..." The statement sent the raven-haired girl into a state of panic, and she shook her head violently, more tears spilling from her eyes.
"No! You can't sleep- we need... We need to finish that experiment..." More darkness. You wanted to sleep...
"I-I've got another experiment that we could try..." The shakiness set into your voice. So, so tired... Jade reached up and brushed the tears away from her eyes, and, as you spoke once more, you felt tears pricking at the corners of your own eyes, threatening to spill over and join the blood that splattered the once-pure snow.
"Your h-hypothesis?" The girl questioned you, still holding onto your hand.
Just say it... You're going to die, it doesn't matter....
"My Hypothesis: Jade Harley and ____ _____ would be perfect together...." A look of shock passed across Jade's green eyes, and you closed your eyes waiting for sleep to claim you. Time's up. As you let your consciousness drift away into nothingness, the tears that lingered in the corners of your eyes finally tracing down your cheeks, you felt a pair of cold lips press against your own, a hand curling around the back of your neck, and a body lying down in the snow beside you.

"H-Hypothesis: Confirmed..."

Nobody Said It Was Easy... Nobody Said It Would Be This Hard....

Let's Take It Back To The Start....

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