Into Darkness
Amazing grace, how sweet...
I'm not a religious kind of guy.
If you asked me if I believed in heaven, or God, I'd say yes, I do. I do believe there's a higher order that somehow establishes balance in our lives.
But I don't let it bother me, or consume me. I don't read any religious texts, or pray.
Well...maybe a quick murmur before battle.
But that's pretty much it. I just don't give it much thought, is all.
So when the alarms went off today, God and heaven were the last things on my mind. I was thinking about how it was another day of whipping Dark Ace's butt back to Cyclonia. And when we took off, the only thing I was thinking about was where Piper would scale one the Anger-o-Meter if we messed her plan up THIS time.
The sky was a light shade of forget-me-not-blue, and it would have been perfect, had it not been for the red blotches in the distance. Talon skimmers.
I pulled out my blades, fingers wrapped tightly around the worn handles.
And my tongue pressed against my clenched teeth to form those familiar words, words I'd said so many times before, it was almost like a mantra.
"Storm Hawks, prepare for battle!"
The roar of skimmer engines filled my ears, and I hit the accelerator. The Talons swarmed at us, thick as fleas around a mangy dog.
Somewhere in the middle, we clashed.
Things started out normal enough. We had gotten wind of some suspicious activity in the Southwest, but we most certainly weren't expecting the Dark Ace, of all people, to be here. I mean, what do the Cyclonians want with a few tropical terras? They're small, flat, and have no cloud cover. None of us, not even Piper, could fathom what the Cyclonians were here for.
I shook the thought away. Fight now, ask questions later.
Dark Ace's Switchblade swooped around overhead, taunting me, teasing me. I gritted my teeth, muttered something about pacing myself, and held back. The Condor was sending blue streak after blue streak towards the enemy crafts, and for now, we were still on the defensive. Going after him at that particular moment wouldn't do anything for anyone.
But he was asking for it.
He went for Piper.
Of all people!
Forget about holding back.
I put the pedal to the metal and flew after him, Radarr screaming in my ear. If he had been human, I wouldn't have been surprised to hear several nasty cuss words coming out of his mouth in reaction to my impulsive decisions. It wouldn't have made much difference, really. It's not like I listened to him much of the time.
I was just about to get the drop on him, when he veered away. Piper was fine. But I most certainly wasn't.
He got my engine with one blast. My skimmer was torn to shreds.
I was falling.
The wind whistled in my ears, and I found myself praying, of all things.
My wings clicked open. Radarr was floating easily, a few feet above me, parachute catching the wind and buffeting out on top of him. I glided through the air, the tug on my back both annoying and comforting all at once.
Annoying because...
Because I don't think anyone in their right mind likes the sensation of having one's spine being ripped out.
I managed to calm down. I was looking for somewhere to land. I found it, quite easily.
A low terra.
My wings caught the breeze, and I was flying towards it, when a shadow passed over me. A giant ball of red sizzled through the air, and before I knew exactly what had happened, my wing caught fire, and I was twisting, turning, hurtling towards earth.
My last thought, before the darkness came, was, "Damn it, not again."
And then, I met the fury of gravity face to face, and hurled into the ground.
Darkness was next.
Blessed, blessed, darkness.
OOO
My muscles refused to obey. My eyes didn't even want to open.
I lay on the bed, my mind thundering, screaming, shouting, at my arms and legs to do SOMETHING. Anything. Anything to let myself know that I was still alive.
There were bandages, lots of bandages, and there were blankets. I figured that much out by myself. The gauzes itched, something that infuriated me to no end.
Where was I?
The familiar song of the Condor's engines sang in my ears. And I knew I was home. But there were other problems to attend to.
The sheets were stifling, and I was hot. Sweat rolled in large beads down my face, and a strange, musty, smell drifted to my nostrils. The smell of blood, sweat, and good, clean, dirt. My mouth tasted sour, and some unknown substance was lathered onto my shoulder. No doubt one of Stork's "miracle medicines".
Finally, I managed to twitch my finger.
And a sweet, pleasant, sound met my ears. My head throbbed at the volume, but I was overjoyed to hear it nonetheless.
"Oh, you're awake!"
Piper.
Her hand slipped into mine and gripped it, warmth spreading up and down my arms. My tongue was still limp, so I satisfied myself with laying still, focusing on breathing, and enjoying her touch. Because it made me feel safe.
I begged my eyes to open, but they didn't comply. So I lay in the darkness, knowing it must be late, and she would be tired.
I don't remember how much time passed, but it must have been a while, because her grip slackened. I tried to move my mouth again, and this time, miraculously, it followed my orders.
"What happened?" My voice sounded dry and brittle, and my lungs threatened to collapse entirely.
"Well..." I could tell her voice was hesitant. Too hesitant.
"Piper, you tell me, or..." I didn't finish the sentence, and I didn't need to, either. I was still straining to see, my eyelids still glued shut, as if they had been taped.
"You sorta fell. Onto the terra. And Dark Ace landed, and he was about to...kill you." She was silent for a few moments. "Then a skimmer exploded, overhead, and there was shrapnel. Lots and lots of shrapnel. You were cut up pretty badly. You...We didn't know if...if you'd make it. You're lucky to be alive right now..." she said, her voice trembling. I could feel her hands grow slick and sweaty.
"I'll be fine, I promise." I tried to sound comforting, and I must have succeeded, because I felt her smile.
My eyelids finally fluttered open.
What the...
"Piper, can you turn on the lights?"
"They're on." She sounded like she was playing, toying with me.
"Ha ha, real funny. Turn on the lights, Piper."
"Aerrow, I'm not joking, they're on." This time, she didn't sound so funny anymore.
"What do you mean, 'They're on'? How come it's dark? Piper, where are you?" I looked around. All I saw was darkness. Black.
"I'm right here." I felt her face hanging over mine. I smelled her breath. But why couldn't I see...?
My hand snaked up and fingered her hair, her nose, her mouth. She felt warm.
And I realized...
I realized this was bad.
"Piper, I can't see."
"Aerrow, if you're joking-"
"I can't see. Piper, I...I..."
But my mouth froze up again. My mind refused to work. All I heard was silence. Maybe she was talking, maybe she wasn't. It didn't matter. What mattered was that I was unable to SEE. My eyesight.
My eyesight.
I'm blind.
I'm a cripple.
I can't walk.
I can't fight.
I can't fly.
The final thought hit me like a cannon ball.
What did I do to deserve this?
God in heaven, what did I DO?
OOO
Thanks to Ambrel for Beta-ing this. It couldn't have been possible without you, my friend.
Happy Memorial Day, people!