“Their worlds were falling apart. Surrounded by rubbish in a foreign land so close to home, only memories pose as a threat to the trained soldier.”

The soldier turned away in shame. He was too young for this; how would this affect him later on in his life? They trudged up a slight hill, finding a nice, deep alcove with plenty of nooks and crannies to push into should the need arise. The woman cast a sidelong glance at the boy, “We’ll rest here.” it was spoken too softly, almost like a whisper, but the boy nodded, eyes overshadowed as he passed by her without acknowledgement, settling against some debris with a heavy sigh.

It took only a few minutes before his shallow, even breathing took hold of the atmosphere. The soldier had feigned keeping watch until now; she had overheard a squad discussing a large man being abducted by a Calvary ship, and would no doubt spend the night in political conflict over who the man-Snow, she reminded herself-should be handed over to. The woman allowed herself to relax as she lowered herself to the ground, nevertheless keeping her weapon by her side. It was the only thing that made her feel truly safe out here.

With that thought, the young boy mumbled in his sleep, drawing her attention. “.. Mom?”

Her whole body flashed with hot ice, her heart fluttering over a beat, her blood running cold. She had forgotten; not only had this boy been turned Pulse l’Cie, dragged around a wasteland and forced to both kill and flee continuous lethal pursuers, but he had also watched his mother fall to her death some hours beforehand. She gripped her gun blade harder, willing the heat in her eyes to fade. It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard tearful stories before; children torn in half by monsters just beyond the Bodhum security line, women and men both raped and slaughtered, grotesque mutilations. No, it was how hard and close to home it hit. Looking at this boy now, nearly emotionally crippled, physically fighting to continue living; he had it worse than she did.

- excerpt from The Vile Peaks