Welcome to the fourth chapter of my Metroid fanfiction.
In this chapter, a Zebes native discovers Ridley and finds him a new home.
As always, I only own Dr. Anna Ripley, Ridley's adoptive mother, and Lieutenant Jacob Kain, the Federation Marine who defended him. Ridley himself is owned by Nintendo, Saturo Okada, Gunpei Yokoi, Hiroji Kiyotake and Yoshio Sakamoto.
Without further ado, please enjoy the latest chapter of The Cunning God of Death Rises.
A chilling discovery
Grey Voice always enjoyed his early morning strolls inside the safety of the caves of his homeworld. He felt it was the only time he could enjoy the smooth formation of the rocks and the peaceful tranquility of the mostly quiet caverns, the only sounds being the sounds of the wild creatures which occupied the vast caverns. The Chozo felt he could happily travel through these stone walls for eternity if he could.
However, he began to notice that he had not heard the usual squawks, chirps and cries that usually made up the peaceful melody that accompanied his daily walks for quite some time. Concerned, he ventured further forward until he reached the cave entrance. What he discovered ruffled his white feathers and made his blood run cold.
Before him stood a creature with creamy-white down, bat-like ears, purple reptilian legs and blood red eyes. Beside it lay a boxful of datapads, a large crate and the skeletons of two humans. The bones of the skeletons had been picked clean and Grey Voice had a sneaking suspicion that the creature innocently looking up at him was responsible.
Not knowing what to do, the alien bird-man cautiously searched around the creature and the remains of the two humans. The datapads told him about the small creature and, inside the crate, he found another datapad with note written on it.
The note read 'To whoever finds this note. If you are reading this, then I am most likely correct in my assumption that the Galactic Federation Council is corrupt beyond redemption and that I have probably already had my protests of this cover-up silenced through my own death. This note shall tell you all you need to know in the limited time I have gotten to know the infant creature before you. The creature is a male baby Space Dragon, which Doctor Anna Ripley of the Galactic Federation has named Ridley. Doctor Ripley is dead, possibly murdered, and Ridley is almost certainly in grave danger. I am passing responsibility of his care to you and, though I do not believe that this baby is responsible for the doctor's death, I still advise you to exercise caution in regards to him. He is still a potential danger if he is not raised correctly. Keep him and yourself safe at all costs. Good luck. Lieutenant Jacob Kain.'
Grey Voice cast a wary glance at Ridley as he quietly contemplated what he had just read. While he would like to believe that this infant was innocent in the deaths of the two humans, whose remains he now stood before, he also knew of the Space Dragons.
They had lived on Zebes for millions of years before the Federation had come to the planet and wiped out all but a few of them. Those Space Dragons had been highly intelligent psychopaths who revelled in death and destruction. They thought nothing of killing an entire Chozo civilisation and literally feasting upon the corpses of their victims, often as the horrified survivors watched on.
Grey Voice had lived under the tyranny of the Space Dragons his entire life and there was no chance that he would risk doing so again for this infant. The cost of so many lives at the claws of this baby when he grew up was not worth the attempt at raising Ridley himself. However, the Chozo did not share the Space Dragons' cruelty and Grey Voice knew he could not simply leave the infant to die.
There was only one thing he knew he could do but it meant handing Ridley over to be raised by Space Pirates, the uncivilised allies of the Space Dragons. With great reluctance and feeling a sense of dread in the pit of his gullet, Grey Voice gingerly picked Rildey up, stuffed him into his crate and took him and the datapads into the caves, all the way back to his home. To the Chozo male, having a Space Dragon in his home, even for a short while with one that was at such a young age, was a terrifying experience.
Wishing to get Ridley out of his home as quickly as possible, Grey Voice went to his computer terminal, typed out a quick, coded message with co-ordinates for a meeting place and sent it to the nearest Space Pirate ship orbiting Zebes. Within minutes, he had gotten a reply from some passing Pirates, who told him that they would happily take the accursed infant creature and what time they would be coming.
Hours later, after darkness had fallen, Grey Voice stood on the grassy surface of the planet, waiting for the Pirates to arrive with the datapads in a box at his feet while Ridley had been placed next to them, securely locked in his crate and loudly protesting at the bird-man's treatment.
Soon enough, the all-too familiar purple, yellow and black form of the Pirate dropship landed before him and three red and blue insect-like beings carefully walked down the hatch, suspiciously pointing their guns at the Chozo, their yellow eyes trained on him. Grey Voice simply rolled his eyes irritably at the Space Pirates.
These particular three were only a few of the Pirates who had been driven off of the planet by his people years ago, an incident that the Space Dragons had made sure that they had paid for dearly. In some instances, they paid for this act of rebellion with their lives. It was precisely why he wanted the baby Space Dragon next to him off of Zebes as soon as possible.
"Is that really necessary?" he asked in mild annoyance. "Your people forced us from our home. If it weren't for the hatchling, we would shoot you down where you stand." the Space Pirate spat back viciously. "I did not summon you here to start a war or to bring your kind back to our planet. I only want this thing gone." Grey Voice said with strained patience, wishing the uncivilised insects would simply take Ridley without question and get off this planet before they were seen.
"Is that the creature?" the Space Pirate asked, gesturing to the crate at Grey Voice's feet. "It is. Kindly take it and the data pads onto your ship and begone. I do not wish to be in his company anymore than I have to." Grey Voice requested impatiently, wondering if the insectoid being had even read everything in his message.
"How do we know this isn't some sort of trap? There could be others like you, waiting to kill us as soon as we take the creature." The Pirate said, pointing his weapon around nervously. Grey Voice began to become impatient at the Space Pirates' paranoid behaviour, wishing to simply get this matter over with so he could get back to his quiet life below the surface.
"Do you honestly think I would risk everything by bringing you and this creature here under the cover of darkness in order to slaughter you? No one besides myself even knows of this creature's existence and I wish for that to remain the case. My people have suffered far too much under the Space Dragon's tyranny to allow for even one to remain here. Now take this abomination, take the information about it and go!" he demanded, his patience finally fading away. "Very well, Chozo. This Space Dragon is ours." the Space Pirate said, ordering his two subordinates to take Ridley and the datapads on board the dropship.
Soon, the precious cargo had been loaded onto the ship and Grey Voice bid the Pirates a very unpleasant farewell. However, just as they were leaving, one of them could not resist a comment to unnerve the Chozo. "Who knows? This Space Dragon may prove to be a great ally once he's fully grown. We may even bring him back here to come and see you." it joked, laughing as he boarded the dropship and caught a brief glimpse of Grey Voice's frightened face as the ship's hatch closed.
As the dropship took off into space, Grey Voice let out a relieved sigh and headed back home for a much needed rest, the Space Pirate's last words echoing in his head. While he was glad to have gotten rid of the baby Space Dragon, he hoped with all his heart that the Pirate's comment would be nothing more than a joke at his expense. It was distressing enough having that creature in his home for just a few hours and he never wished to see Ridley ever again.
And so, Ridley is whisked away to another new home. What will he make of it?
As always, I only own Dr. Anna Ripley and Lieutenant Jacob Kain. I do not own Ridley.
I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and I hope to have the next chapter posted as soon as possible.