Chapter 18. Ship of Fools
What is the ending, and what is the beginning? What is life and what is death? Are they reality or are they dreams, but if dreams are reality, then what am I living? - Nai
Mina's Pov:
I had seen it.
A Paradise that filled the land with life and green, no tainting of the dirty scents that humanity had once made.
And it was beautiful, even if it was that noble's own making.
But I'm sure, the Paradise we'll find is much more stunning than what we had all seen.
But I still wondered of what it would take to make that Paradise.
It had shown that Nai was the one to be sacrificed to open it, would it be the same with us?
I didn't know, sliding my gaze half seen through my wave of hair, I stared at my cousin, seeming to be no more different with this journey.
She looked care-free as she carried the maiden, looking unstressed of the futures to come.
But I then glared towards the gray stoic wolf; it was he who had struck a nerve into me.
Even with my worrying of Nai, he was the one who had harshly and carelessly said Blue wouldn't make it to Paradise.
It was from before though, miles back in the icy plane we had found human blood, mixed with the fear of death.
It was a scent Toboe recognized, an old mans scent, Blue's former master.
It seemed that from the way the blood was streaked and the tire tracks swerving the area, that the man had been hit and carried off.
I was struck back by the older wolfs words, simply because this Paradise we searched for was a haven, so why a half-breed couldn't be allowed in was beyond me.
And at that time I realized, it was a haven, but I never had asked what kind of haven.
Nai explained to me that this haven was for wolves, and only wolves.
And that struggled me further into conflicting thoughts as to how only these animals could be saved.
Why not humans, but it was my way off thinking simply because I was once human.
Even Nai, but now we were wolves.
We would live to see a world beyond this death that our own humanity had succumbed to.
And that...that made me wonder, was that all we were?
If this world was to be created by life of the wolves and destroyed by the greedy hands of man, what were we then?
It was a sad thought to think of, simply because I was still once human.
I was once a part of that destruction, of that blood.
Would that have happened? I wondered, gazing up towards the cloudy gray skies above, the white flashes of comets striking the ground in their form of beginning destruction, Would that have happened in our world too?
Would we have succumbed to those disasters if we had staid human, living in simple minded truth to our own reality?
Oh, these thoughts weren't something I would have thought of, long ago.
But being here, trying to make it through this deserted cold plains, it made one think in this silence. Driving to a haven with dark secrets left within.
Untouched, and forever alone.
Nai's Pov:
I shifted Cheza upon my back, her ragged breathing sending whisks of cold air across my skin.
How many hours we had gone, I couldn't pray-tell, simply because I had no means of time.
Time had left me, along with my life alone in that fallen, noble, city.
The secrets I had found now buried even further than I had wished, but it wouldn't matter farther ahead, towards the Tree of Ages, it wouldn't matter then.
Even if somewhere deep within spoke to me in desperate echoes, my humanity trying still, to stay afloat in the flowing blood of the beast.
I was only waiting now, for the time that would come to let this world freeze over, to let my life be reborn in that new world the white wolf, no...Everyone craved for.
I froze, hearing the undeniable "thump" of Hige's body falling limp in weakness.
We all turned back around, crowding around worriedly to the injured wolf.
He still wouldn't allow Cheza to heal his wound, the blood already drying away to crumbling scabs on his fur.
My nose then perked up, the same as it had with Hige, catching wind of an undeniable scent that would leave this particular wolf in bliss.
I could see it, in the distance, the lean form of dark fur crossing over the bluff, a familiar female voice calling out Hige's name.
"Blue?" He murmured, squinting his eyes as if to make sure he wasn't simply dreaming of the one he loved.
She was calling, coming closer and Hige realized this half blood wolf was real, it was Blue.
This realization making the larger wolf force himself onto his paws, bolting forward to meet the she-wolf halfway.
It was adorable, to see the blue-eyed wolf tackling the much larger wolf under her, nuzzling and rolling her head around in his fur to make sure he would never leave her side again.
"Aaw~, that's cute," Mina smiled towards the couple.
I chuckled, noticing an army SUV rolling on its tires towards us, screeching to a stop to let two humans down, the blonde female, Cher, and her ex-husband, Hub.
She was astounded to see Cheza again, having taken my words to consideration to escape the crumbling city.
It was now our turn to put faith in the human couple.
Kiba, Toboe, and Tsume ran alongside the large man-made vehicle while the rest of us rid inside with the humans in wait for the arrival to the Tree of Ages.
I brushed back small pink strands of Cheza's hair, letting it slip from my finger tips to graze over her skin once more.
It was quite; even the soft breathing of the unconscious old man with us at the back of the SUV was indistinguishable to the faint roar of the engine.
It was quite, at least until the engine started to malfunction by the cause of a fallen star, its energy reaching far across to us in the distance, damaging its components and sending the roaring vehicle spinning for control.
We all held onto something, trying not to scream as the vehicle swerved, missing the crackling debris of the floor shooting up in spider-like webs.
The fallen star must have cracked through the ground, stretching as far in means as to meet the vehicle and send us in disarray.
Mina yelped as the SUV flipped onto its side, the iron and ice screeching together as it tried to stop its movements.
Slowly, it stopped, and it was silent.
I shook my head of its muddled mess, pulling up Cheza into my embrace as I followed Hige and Blue opening the back doors.
It was obvious the car wouldn't work anymore now that it was upturned, "Come on, Mina."
Mina jumped down to my side, following closely and glancing around as if to make sure it would be alright to step on land again.
Everything seemed alright, my only priorities to bring Cheza and Mina to safety from the cliff and useless vehicle.
I just didn't expect to hear the sudden groan of the ice shattering behind us all, even Hub who was carrying out Quent turned in shock to the noise.
Mina spun around in surprise at the sound, my eyes bulging to the falling vehicle...Cher still within the front seat of the cab.
Her blue eyes had been wide in shock, her pale skin slowly fading whiter as she crashed through to the ground, plummeting with the iron giant down to her icy grave.
"Cher?" Hub whispered in disbelief, his body was shaking.
The resounding smash of the SUV to the ice below confirming his fear.
No explosion came, but the sickening crash of ice did.
"CHEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Hub cradled the limp form of the blond woman he loved to his chest, crying out in sorrow as he held her cold cheek in the palm of his hand.
The truck was turned on its side again, but the tough army build of it ensured that it was otherwise unharmed, but Cher didn't have the same fate.
She had died instantly on the first impact, but it had been blood-less.
She seemed as if she were just asleep in Hub's arms as he cried over her, groaning in his loss while the rest of us stood mournfully around him.
We had navigated a small path through the cracks to get down here while Hub almost jumped over the edge himself to get to Cher quicker.
But Mina and I had ushered him through the terrain, downward to his beloved.
"Cher…. Please… don't leave me…." Hub begged as he sobbed, "Don't leave me, Cher, you can't die yet!" He rested his head to her own, closing his eyes in pain as his heart was torn visibly.
"We still have to get that house you wanted- the one in the country. We still have to have a few kids and grow old together watching them grow up. We still have to get a bird and a dog and make bread in the morning and pot-roast at night and….. And….." His voice started to crack up again, "Cher…."
Mina and Cheza watched the mourning man in sympathy, he was so broken by this loss, of course, and anyone in his position would be as well.
I could feel my heart sway in the manner of misery, the blonde woman was still so young, her life still ahead with this man if hadn't been for this life she had been put into.
The ending cycle of this world.
We silently let him grieve, none of us moving to speak to him out of respect to his dearly departed.
But we watched curiously, however, when the man squared his shoulders and walked up to the fallen SUV, placing his hands firmly on it's hood that was in front of him and started to push with all his might in hopes of turning it right side up again.
He gritted his teeth and groaned out loud in exertion as he tried to force the vehicle upright again, but it wouldn't budge.
It had about 100 tons to his measly l50 lbs or so in the weight department, and Hub's footing slipped against the ice, making him fumble weakly to the ground.
That didn't stop the determined human though.
He got right back up and started to push with double effort once again while the rest of us watched in mild awe at his perseverance.
Even though his loved one had just died, he got back up and wanted to continue on…. He wanted to go on with us.
Damn, was he determined!
Kiba approached Hub's side, pushing with the human male, startling him at the white wolfs sudden help.
Hub grinned thankfully and started pushing again, both now groaning in strain.
"This is a sad sight…" Tsume sighed when Hige started to join in and help Kiba and Hub now, "A human, a wounded wolf, and an exhausted idiot trying to overturn an ARMY SUV up right…"
The rest of us gave him a pointed look and Tsume sighed, "I'll help…"
Mina grinned triumphantly, but groaned when she noticed my own pointed stare directly aimed for her as well.
"Ugh, fine." She grumbled, complying to my smile as I placed Cheza safely to her feet, ushering Toboe to help along as we.