[center]DURING THE BATTLE[/center]

	Aaron gripped the hilts of his blades so tightly that his knuckles turned as white as a sheet. As the Raptors turned on him and began to encircle him, he felt his body begin to shake with the one thing that he had hoped that he had removed from his being, fear. Aaron had trained for so long to prepare himself for this one moment, and now that he was living it he was almost paralyzed with a childish fear.

The world slowed as Aaron tried to gather himself from his gripping fear. He let the world fade away and let his mind take him somewhere that would calm him down. Where his mind took him couldn't be further from calming.

[center][i]IN AARON'S MIND[/i][/center]

The sounds of chaos pervaded the air as Aaron ran around the smoldering ruins of his town. He had gotten separated from the rest of the group and was lost running around on his own. As he wandered down an abandoned street Aaron saw a group of Raptors attacking what little resistance there was, and as he hid and watched he couldn't help but feel the urge to do something to help. Grabbing a thick broken pipe and sheepishly made his way over to the group of Raptors. As the Raptors became aware of his Aaron charged into a headlong charge towards them suddenly filled with a false bravado of his own abilities. Without even trying a Raptor quickly swung its tail at the young boy sending him flying into the remains of a broken wall. 

[center]BATTLE[/center]

With his mind now focused a new feeling came flowing over Aaron, and once again he began to shake, not from fear but from anger. With a quivering growl Aaron began to speak to no one in particular, although his speech was directed towards the Raptors,

[i]' I wasn't able to do anything before because I was too weak to do anything...too afraid. Now I have enough power to destroy all of you!!'[/i]

As Aaron began to charge the screeching sound of Freddy's hammer fall directed Aaron to quickly retreat back to a safe distance. Once the hammer fell Aaron once again began gathering the air underneath him to charge into the group again.

"CHOMP!!"

A sharp and sudden pain shot through Aaron's entire body causing him to drop to his knees. With eyes tearing up Aaron looked down to see his lower leg encased in the oddly shaped maw of a Raptor (Gamma). As it shook him violently waves of unimaginable pain flooded Aaron's senses as the combination of the Raptors teeth and loss of blood began to loose consciousness. Refusing to be beaten that easily Aaron looked at the foul thing and raised his sword, 

[b]"GET OFF OF MY YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SHIIIITTTTTT!!!"[/b]

Aaron charged the wind around the edge of his sword and ran his blade across the creatures neck. The resulting explosion sent Aaron flying, leg free from the Raptors grasp, and rolled to a stop outside of the battlefield. As Aaron was loosing consciousness he reached into his pack and took a drink of a 'Potion' as he drifted off to sleep. Moments later Aaron awoke with a start as he realized that the battle was over. How long had he been out.

[b]AFTER BATTLE[/b]

Aaron shuffled around aimlessly silently kicking himself for not being stronger in the fight. He could feel the others condescending stares for his actions, and for good reason. Aaron once again let his anger get the better of him and he almost hurt his friends in the process. The mood changed when the others were whispering Aaron turned just in time to feel the full impact of Olivia's fury.

SMACK

[b]“And just what the fuck were you thinking?!”[/b] Olivia shouted at the top of her lungs. [b]“Huh?!”[/b] she continued; [b]“Do you want to get yourself killed, is that it?! I don’t give a shit how angry you are; we are all fucking angry! I’m calling the damn shots here, whether you like it or not, and if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll kill you myself! You got that?!”[/b]

Aaron stood in silent awe as Olivia unleashed the full extent or her anger out on him, for a moment he was actually speechless. As he tried to come up with a rebuttle Olivia shut him down and started walking towards Doral. All Aaron could do was agree.

[b]"Aye, Captain."[/b]

[center]DORAL[/center]

The walk to Doral had been a very silent and arduous one for Aaron. He had spent most of the walk in self assigned seclusion after his very violent run in with Olivia.As they entered the cesspool of a town Aaron instinctively rested his hands on the handles of his blades in anticipation of some sort of assault. Once the group arrived at the dock Olivia walked up and started talking with the harbor master, Aaron turned his back and watched the plethora of shady characters walk past, making sure that no one tried anything while their backs were turned. Apparently the group had arrived several minutes early as Olivia dismissed the group to their own devices. As Aaron tried to leave he felt a hand keep him in place. Once the group had dispersed Aaron turned to see a totally different Olivia than that had asserted her command only minutes earlier. 

[b]“Look, Aaron…,” Olivia sighed, “I didn’t mean to give you a hard time back there… it’s just that… I can’t lose you, or anyone else… I just can’t,”[/b] she said. [b]“If I do, I’ll probably go insane and kill myself… so, please… don’t do stuff like that again, if not for yourself and the others, then for me. Okay?”[/b] Olivia asked. She gently put her palm on the bruise on his cheek, where she had hit him; stroking it ever so slightly. [b]“I know how you feel about everything… about Sam… I do as well; and there’s nothing else I’d rather do than to destroy the world for him, but I can’t do that… we just can’t,”[/b]

[b]"Liv...don't even mention it. I shouldn't have done what I did. I put you and the whole mission in danger. I just...seeing those foul 'things' just brought back so much shit from the Calamity when I couldn't do anything to help. Honestly I was hoping to kill those things so that you wouldn't have to,"[/b] Aaron chuckled, [b]"and the funny thing was that I was useless in that fight. I will fight for you...and only you, Olivia."[/b]

Aaron turned and left Olivia standing there. There was so much that he wanted to say to her, but now wasn't the time. He could only hope that when the time was right and he told her what he had to say, that she would feel the same way.