I'M ALIVE...! Blimey, it's been a while, hasn't it? Do you all still remember me?! I hope so, because I have another Oneshot for you! Yes, months after the first one...I have another. Sorry about the wait, folks, life's been more than a little hectic recently. But I decided to treat myself with a little pick-me-up as writing helps me relax. So here you have Oneshot number 2. Enjoy!
Inspiration – I realise it's been ages since I posted my last Oneshot, so I thought I'd start up again with a nice and easy one, to edge you guys back into Skyla's world before I put up the heavier Oneshots. It's quite short, but I hope you like it nevertheless.
Setting – A few months after the slaves are freed from Florana, Skyla and Ratchet are sharing his apartment on Kerwan...
"Can I open my eyes yet?" Skyla asked, Ratchet's hands over her eyes as he led her into a room.
"No, hold on", Ratchet laughed lightly, positioning her carefully before taking away his hands, "ok, you can look". Skyla blinked and looked down at the objects before her. They were a pair of boots, blue in colour and familiar looking. Skyla's eyes widened,
"Are these...?" Ratchet nodded,
"Hoverboots, I made you your own...do you like them?" he asked tentatively. Skyla picked up one of them, examining the craftsmanship. They looked almost identical to Ratchets, except they were blue instead of red, a little smaller and less rusty. They were expertly made, and had obviously taken time and effort to create. Skyla turned to Ratchet, beaming with joy,
"Like them? I love them. Thank you!" Ratchet's face lit up,
"Great! Do you...want to try them out?"
"What, now?"
"Why not?" Skyla pondered it for a moment, then shrugged,
"Alright then". Ratchet grinned,
"Let's go".
An hour or so later Aphelion touched down on planet Veldin and Ratchet and Skyla jumped out. Skyla looked about her. She'd been to Veldin before, but it was always interesting for her to visit the place Ratchet had grown up. It was still the rocky, barren planet it had always been, which made it the ideal place for hoverboot practise.
Ratchet led her to a small canyon where she found, to her surprise, an obstacle course, of a kind, all set up and ready to go.
"Yeah, I set this up ages ago..." Ratchet said in answer to her expression, "it's not as good as I'd like it to be, but it works".
"It looks great", Skyla told him with a smile, and Ratchet's mouth twitched with pleasure. He gestured the boots in her hand,
"Shall we?"
Once Skyla had the boots on, Ratchet stood beside her and showed her how to start them up.
"Kick your heels together" he told her, so Skyla did. Instantly the boots lit up and she was raised off the ground by an inch or two. She suppressed a yelp of surprise and instinctively reached out for support. Ratchet caught her arm and steadied her as she grew accustomed to the levitation.
"Stand up straight", he instructed, "otherwise you'll overbalance". Skyla straightened her back with effort, trying her best not to lean anyway. She caught sight of Ratchet smothering a smile at her rigid posture and she sent a small mock glare in his direction.
"Sorry", he apologised, then composed himself "right, now, to move forward you've got to lean forward, ever so slightly..." Skyla did so and immediately began to move forwards as the boots pushed off from the ground. The movement took her by surprise and she felt herself lean forwards even more, which only increased the speed of the boots. She shot forwards and started to fall, toppling over face first.
Strong arms caught her and slowed her down, helping her upright in the process.
"Are you alright?" Ratchet asked, though there was mirth to his voice. Skyla laughed lightly,
"I'm fine...just getting used to them". Ratchet nodded his eyes twinkling.
"Don't worry, we'll soon have you riding about like a natural. How about we try going once around the track, me beside you?" Skyla nodded,
"Sounds good".
For the next few hours or so, Ratchet taught Skyla all he knew about hoverbooting. The grey Lombax was quick to take up the skill, mastering basic movements in under an hour, by the end of which she could happily speed around the track on her own at a comfortable pace. Ratchet then proceeded to teach her how to give the boots a boost for extra speed, all the while making sure he was ready to catch her should she fall. In the beginning, she fell often, and sometimes he wasn't always quick enough to catch her. But she always got up again, never giving up, simply struggling to her feet and trying again with a strong determination. Although she wasn't as quick to learn as Ratchet was, she stilled learned quite fast and soon Ratchet felt she was ready to try a spring jump.
"A what?" she asked him incredulously.
"A spring jump, you see that thing there?" Ratchet pointed and Skyla followed his finger. He was indicating a spring set into the ground, with platforms set in front of it at different levels.
"You basically jump onto it and it shoots you into the air, then you can glide down onto the platforms" he explained.
"Right...and how am I going to do that?!" Skyla asked, one eyebrow raised.
"To glide, just splay your legs and kick your heels down, and the boots will do the rest of the work," he told her. Skyla didn't look convinced, eyeing the platforms warily. Ratchet hid a smile,
"Would you like me to show you first?" Skyla smiled,
"Yeah, that might help." Without another word Ratchet kicked into life his own Hoverboots he'd brought along for the occasion, and sped towards the spring. He'd barely touched it before he gave it the tiniest kick and he was shot into the air. Keeping his torso stiff and his legs loose, he splayed his feet an equal distance apart and the flares kicked in. The approaching platform slowed towards him and he landed neatly, avoiding the next spring that lay a few feet in front. He turned off the boots and looked down at Skyla from over the edge. She was looking at him with a small frown on her face. He opened his mouth to call encouragement, but he hadn't said a word before she kicked her own boots into life and sped towards the spring. Ratchet watched carefully as she jumped lightly on the spring and was catapulted into the air. She wobbled visibly in the air, her arms flailing slightly as she fought for control.
"Splay your feet!" Ratchet called, backing up to allow her more room for landing. She obeyed and her boots flared, slowing her descent towards him. Ratchet squinted up at her and moved to the side, the sunlight preventing him from seeing where she was going to land. Too late he realised she'd overshot her margin and come too far forwards. She was going to land straight on the second spring.
"Drop!" he yelled at her, hoping that if she stopped now she'd avoid the spring. Skyla's eyes widened in surprise and she tried to stop in mid-air. But gravity already had a hold of her and she fell towards the spring, her body tipping so she became unbalanced. She hit the spring on her knees, falling forwards as she did. There was no time for her to react before the spring catapulted her up and back, the angle of her body throwing her away from the platforms.
Ratchet cried out as Skyla was thrown back off her feet and plummeted. He jumped off the ledge without thinking, diving after her in a wild attempt to save her. But she reached the ground before him.
The breath was driven from Skyla's lungs as she hit the ground hard on her back. Her arms flung out, whacking mercilessly against the ground, her head smacking the floor shortly afterwards.
She lay where she was, completely winded and for a moment utterly motionless. It felt like her whole body had just been wildly shaken up and her bones were all a jumble. She couldn't yet tell how badly she was damaged, her supply of oxygen becoming her main priority as she fought for breath.
"Skyla!" she heard Ratchet's cry and the dizzying sound of feet running towards her. A worried face appeared above hers, concern creasing his features and panic in his eyes.
"Skyla, can you hear me? Are you alright? Can you move?" he called down to her. The grey Lombax blinked up at him slowly, feeling gradually returning to her limbs. To her relief, her immediate assessment was that she wasn't seriously injured. She could still breathe, albeit a little painfully, and her limbs seemed were awash with pain which at least told her she wasn't paralysed.
"Sky?" Ratchet's look of concern deepened.
"Mm fine..." Skyla managed to murmur softly. Relief flooded Ratchet's features and he gently picked her up, scooping his arms under her back and legs, taking care not to injure her any further.
"Let's get you back to the ship, I have nanotech there. You're going to be fine," he told her, more for his sake than hers.
"I think my arm's broken," Skyla murmured, her left arm feeling strange and out of place, like it'd been bent at a funny angle.
"You're going to be fine," Ratchet repeated, setting off for Aphelion as fast as he dared, not even risking using his hoverboots.
Skyla looked up at him, her eyes half-closed to save energy, the look of determination on his face seemed familiar. In fact, this whole situation felt familiar. Then she realised.
She smiled a slow, lazy smile.
Ratchet glanced down at Skyla and was surprised to find her smiling sleepily up at him.
"What?" he asked, worried she might be in shock. She swallowed carefully before replying,
"This is how we first met," she mumbled. Ratchet looked at her in confusion, before he too remembered the time they'd met, when he'd rescued her from Baen's men. He let out a shaky laugh and held her ever so slightly closer,
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you this time."
"That's ok," she whispered, "you can't do everything."
"But I can try for you," Ratchet blurted without thinking. Skyla's smile softened and she closed her eyes, nestling her bruised body against his,
"Thank you, Ratchet."
Author's Note - I hope you liked that, I didn't want to overdo it too much. I'm sorry to say I honestly have no idea when I will next be able to post a Oneshot (I still haven't finished editing 'You're Not Alone'!) but I still really, really appreciate your thoughts and reviews.
Also, it is with deep regret that I must shelve the sequel for 'You're Not Alone'. I know that many of you wished for a sequel, but I'm afraid that I really don't know when I'll get the time to properly write it up. I still have the ideas all filed away in my head (and computer) so maybe, sometime in the future, I may be able to take it up again. But until then, I'm sorry to say that the sequel to 'You're Not Alone' will not be up for an indefinite amount of time. (And, dare I add, Merlin's back on, so my mind has turned towards re-writing my FanFiction for that...)
Thank you for your time :)
