I love writing so much and you guys have been so encouraging. I hope I've been able to please you with this so far. This chapie has a plot advancement, so I hope you like it. Sorry if you got bored with the last one. It was just something to pass the time.
Disclaimer: see last chapter.
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It had gotten really late and the sun was beginning to set. Everyone was out of the game room and back at the bridge of the hover cargo. Not long after, it was dark out and the stars shined brilliantly above, surrounding the two moons of Zi. They were all staring out the window. It was around 7:00 pm and everyone was getting a little hungry.
"I think we should stop here for the night," said Risai.
"Why?" asked Bit.
"Because it's getting late, and besides, we're making much better time than I thought. We're only 6 hours away now."
"Wow, we are making good time."
"And also, it's dinner time. We should stop here. It's quiet."
"Well, what should we have for dinner tonight?" asked Jamie. They all thought for a while, but it was Leena who came up with something.
"Let's have a camp out. You know, we can have hotdogs, roast marshmallows. It'll be fun!" said Leena happily.
"Sounds like a great idea," said Miharu happily.
"It's been a long time since we've had one of those," said Risai as she smiled.
"Then it's settled," said Bit. "We should tell Leon and Naomi about this. Let's stop now." Doc brought the hover cargo to a halt and the Gustav stopped as well. A come link popped up between the two.
"What's up dad?" asked Leon.
"We're stopping here for the night. We're going to have a camp out," said Doc happily.
"Sounds good," said Leon with a smile. "We'll meet you guys outside, okay?"
"Okay." The com-link turned off and everyone began to gather the food they would need.
"Are we going to sleep outside too?" asked Jamie.
"That's what you do at camp outs," responded Leena. She went into one of the cargo rooms and found some sleeping bags. She grabbed all of them and handed some to Brad and Bit when she made it into the kitchen. They all walked out of the hover cargo. It was surprisingly nice outside. It wasn't too cold or too hot, but just perfect. Leon and Naomi were already outside and waiting.
"Hi guys," said Naomi. "What's for dinner?"
"Hot dogs," answered Brad as he set down the sleeping bags that Leena had made him carry.
"And smores!" said Bit happily as he set down his load as well.
"That sounds good," said Leon. Soon enough, everyone was outside and the supplies had all been put down. They were all just standing around.
"Okay…so now what?" asked Jamie.
"Um…" started Leena.
"You're the expert here Leena. What now?" asked Bit.
"Well, we have to start a fire," she answered.
"With what?"
"Wood."
"Where are we going to get wood?" asked Naomi.
"Don't we have one of those portable burners Doc?" asked Jamie.
"We should," he said. "I think there's one in the kitchen.
"I'll get it," responded Bit as he ran off towards the hover cargo.
"Bring back those hot dog sticks, okay?" shouted Leena after him.
"OKAY!" he yelled back. They all began to grab some hotdogs out of the bags and in no time at all, Bit had returned with the sticks and the burner.
"I'm back," he announced.
"Okay, then let's get this started," said Leena. They set up the burner and everyone took one of the sticks and put their hotdogs on it. They then all sat down around the burner and began to roast hotdogs. (A/N okay, this burner is huge, you know, like a normal campfire, okay? Just wanted to clear that up.) They began to talk about things that had happened in the past year and about how much they had missed each other.
"So, Bit and Leena, planning on getting married?" asked Miharu, with a smirk on her face. Both Bit and Leena blushed.
"Not right away," said Bit.
"Yeah, I mean, we're only 17," agreed Leena.
"But you are planning to eventually?"
"Eventually. We'll let fate decide that," responded Bit.
"Well, just make sure to invite me," said Miharu.
"Of course," said Leena with a smile.
"And don't forget to invite us to yours either," said Bit with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" she asked. It then hit her and she blushed a shade of red to match her hair. They all began laughing. "It's not like that," she defended.
"Come on. Do you think we're blind?" asked Naomi. They all laughed a little more…well, all except Risai. She seemed to find the fire more interesting. This war had brought back a lot of bad memories. Mostly about the 6 of them. Toran had betrayed them, Rose disappeared, Rainer…died. Miharu almost died, she, Risai, had been kidnapped, and now her brother was in trouble. 'I can't afford to lose anyone else,' she thought to herself. She still felt lonely, even with her friends…but were they really her friends? Only a year ago, she had tried to kill them countless times. She had killed many through the years of her life, and that was a long life. And now those people were all sitting with her, around a campfire. Had they really forgiven her that quickly? She barely knew them, and vise versa. 'I don't understand…why?' Now she was so confused that she almost didn't hear someone call her name.
"Risai?" asked Leena. She lifted her head, snapping out of her trance. The look on her face showed that she was confused. They were staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"I just wanted to tell you that your hotdog was burning." Risai looked to the hotdog and it was burning. Almost all of it was black.
"Ooops," she said quietly to herself. She quickly pulled the stick back and then did something stupid. She touched the hotdog, which indeed was hot. She quickly pulled her hand back and stuck her finger in her mouth. It hurt and this wasn't helping. They all stared at her. Risai was on the verge of tears and it wasn't from the pain. 'What's wrong with me?' she asked herself.
"You really seem to be out of it," said Miharu. "What's with you?" That was the same thing she was wondering. She held back her tears and slowly pulled her finger from her mouth. It wasn't that bad of a burn once she looked at it, but it would leave a white mark for a while.
"Nothing, I'm fine. I just panicked," she covered up.
"You sure?" asked Bit.
"Yeah." They all ate their hotdogs and then made smores. Risai seemed to be better now as she laughed with the rest of them. Bit had caught his marshmallow on fire and was trying to blow it out, but for some reason, it didn't work. They laughed as he panicked for a while, but then stuck it in a cup of water he had. They laughed even more when he pulled his soggy, black marshmallow out of the cup. They soon were eating their messy smores and afterwards, they decided to get some sleep. They all took a sleeping bag and set them out so that the girls were all lined up and the guys were all lined up, all of them facing the same direction. (A/N hope that made sense.) They all crawled in and soon fell asleep…all but Risai. 'Why am I the only one upset like this? Why isn't Miharu?' she asked herself mentally. 'Why can't I stop thinking about it?' Realization then hit her. 'Is it because…I'm alone?' She thought a little more and realized it was true. 'I wish I could change the past, but I can't. It'll always follow me, no matter what…like a shadow.' She didn't want to just lie there, so she got up and out of the sleeping bag. She began to walk away, but didn't get far.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She stopped in her tracks and turned around. Leon pushed himself up on his elbows and looked at her with a confused stare.
"It's none of your business," she responded, a little coldly.
"Gee, don't bite my head off."
"Sorry." She walked back over to her sleeping bag and sat down.
"What's with you? You've been acting differently."
"What do you know? You don't know me."
"Come on. You weren't like this before."
"I don't usually feel like this either," she responded.
"Why?"
"I don't know. I feel…empty."
"Empty?"
"I miss my brother. I never feel alone when he's around. I wonder why that is."
"Because he's your family."
"But Miharu is like family too, but I still feel lonely."
"Well, you have us. We're your friends."
"Why?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you my friends? I tried to kill you guys a year ago, and now you've forgiven me?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"We know it wasn't your fault. You're really…nice, Risai. We all know that."
"Thanks. I feel a little better now."
"That's good," finished Leon. Risai got back in the sleeping bag again. "So what's it like at the battlefield?"
"It's hard and kind of scary. You never know what'll happen. But it's…horrible. Too many people die out there. And not all battles are fought in zoids. Many take place on the ground as well."
"We've never fought like that."
"You'll all be trained. It won't take long."
"Easy for you to say."
"I had to go through it too."
"Oh." It was quiet now as they both just stared at the sky that was now pitch black. The only lights were the stars above.
"I'm getting tired now," said Risai as she yawned.
"Yeah and it's late," said Leon. "Goodnight Risai."
"Good night," responded Risai as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
******
It was pitch black out as a single form ran from what looked like a huge base. The figure was limping slightly as he ran, but the base already had the lights flashing and the sirens sounding.
"Great," he said. His blue eyes concentrated on the road ahead of him and his sliver like blue hair shined with the moonlight, making him sort of easy to see. It was a good thing his clothes were dark. His black pants and red shirt blended well with the night sky, but he knew he wouldn't make it. (A/N you should know who he is. Come on, I couldn't leave him out forever^.^) His ankle was killing him. It had been sprained and whoever had wrapped it up hadn't done a good job. Same would have to go for his arm. It was obvious he had injured it, but it wasn't wrapped well. He had various scratches on his face and his arms, but they had been left unattended. The people at the base hadn't done a good job. Just then, his ankle gave out on him and he fell to the ground in pain. He could hear footsteps behind him now. "Great Taban, just great," he said to himself. "Smart one." He heard the sound of a gun locking as he turned around and gave a guilty smile. None of the men around him looked friendly. "Um…hi?" he said. They stood him up and dragged him back to the base. None of them found his humor amusing. In the base, on the top floor, someone was looking out the window down at the men as they dragged Taban back towards the base.
"Nice try," the person said. The voice was definitely female. "But you won't get away that easy." She smirked to herself as she walked out of the room.
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Oh, I am sooo evil^.^ That was fun! I hope you like this chapter, and I promise that some action will happen soon. They'll actually get there in the next chapter. And sorry for all the A/Ns. I just don't like confusing people, okay? Now I should get to bed. Remember: Review! Or I'll stop writing. J/K
Audi^.^