LAST RITES
Written by Van, ©2004
ChaoticCentury .com
The Lightning Saix trotted along the dusty plain in a not quite lively fashion. The sun hung low in the sky, casting stretched, grotesque shadows across the dirt and tumbleweeds of the Zoid and the cargo it pulled along on its trailer. Opposite, Zi's two moons, stained red, hovered closely together as they fought for prominence against the fading star.
Irvine was perhaps piloting a bit too tightly; his fists were clenched, the muscles in his jaw and shoulders were taut as rubber bands, and his whole face was contorted as he squinted to see against the dimming, bloody light of the sun. The Lightning Saix sensed his state and reflected it like a mirror with a clumsy gait and awkward, jerking motions. These issues were exacerbated by the heavy trailer, since the Saix was not used to having its movement so restricted.
After several hours of this tenseness, Irvine arrived at his destination: a completely barren area prone to severe sandstorms, where few souls dared pass. It was here, years ago, that the Command Wolf, then a wild Zoid, had saved Irvine's life, and rescued him from a slow, agonizing death from thirst.
Irvine pivoted the Saix's head as he looked around, and he saw nothing but wasteland that seemed to reach to the very ends of the earth. Since there were no distinguishing features in this place, he wasn't entirely sure that he was at the correct spot. But it was close enough. Despite the amount of time that had passed, everything looked exactly the same – the blurry meeting of land and sky now perfectly matched the images seared into his brain as he had lain in the sand, awaiting the vicious comfort of death.
Irvine punched a couple of buttons on his command console, and the trailer uncoupled itself from the Saix's hips with a hiss. The cockpit door then swung upwards as the Saix simultaneously crouched downwards, and Irvine climbed out and jumped to the ground. A swirl of sandy wind blew past, irritating his eyes and leaving little granules in his messy, cocoa-colored hair. He walked towards the trailer and squinted up at the shadowed, twisted pile of metal sitting upon it. A small, light silver organoid stood from where it had been kneeling next to the metal. It hopped off the edge of the trailer and stood beside Irvine, ruby eyes shining.
"Thanks for coming, Zeke," Irvine said, his voice gruff.
Zeke nodded and gave him a gentle nudge in the shoulder with his nose. The Lightning Saix stood, shook itself off as it realized it was free of its heavy burden, and stepped carefully over until it was behind its pilot, where it lay down and rested its chin on its front paws. It let out a soft, gentle snarl that could barely be heard over the persistent whistle of the wind.
At this, Irvine choked back a sob. "I – I – " he faltered. He looked up at the prone form of the Command Wolf, his Command Wolf, and, though he squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could, tears escaped their outer corners. "I'm sorry," he sobbed.
He turned his back to the Command Wolf after a few minutes and stared deeply into the eyes of the Lightning Saix. "I'm glad that your spirit is still with me, even if your body is not," he murmured sadly. The cockpit door swung up on its hinge and Irvine climbed inside. "Good-bye, old friend. Thank you for everything."
Zeke bowed his head in a moment of silence, then dashed off after the Lightning Saix, which was running across the wasteland with a kind of fluid grace that didn't seem possible for a machine to achieve.
Unbeknownst to Irvine, someone else had observed the whole scene. Cloudy violet eyes had watched intently from a great distance, and now, a massive red Zoid hovered over to the Command Wolf's body and landed with an earth-shaking thud. A young man with a mane of charcoal hair jumped out and walked over to it, followed by a deep gray organoid.
"You know, Shadow," Raven began as his eyes wandered over the consequences of the fatal, crushing blow his Geno Breaker had delivered to the Wolf's midsection, "it never ceases to amaze me how much some people care about their Zoids. I just don't really understand why anyone would bother." When he received no answer, he glanced at Shadow out of the corner of his eye and noticed his organoid looking at him strangely.
"Go away," he spat. Needing no further encouragement, Shadow's wings unfolded from his back, and he took off, disappearing into the sunset.
Alone save for the company of his silent sentinel Geno Breaker, Raven bent down and grabbed a fistful of sand. He turned his hand over and watched the granules streaming out from between his fingers; no matter how tightly he clamped his fist, they still managed to escape. With the heavy sigh of one who carries a backbreaking burden, he loosened his hand and allowed the sand to scatter over the Command Wolf's twisted paw.
"Rest in peace," he said simply. Raven climbed back into the Breaker and departed, leaving the Wolf's remains to be consumed by the eternal sandstorms.