The Third life, Second Rebirth, One Pain, And No one else...
I'm... alone. I can't stand the thoughts running through my mind, as I walk away from the newly formed clearing, and scorched earth. My pain is so intense. For the second time I have been reborn, and wish I hadn't this time. Everything dear to me has been lost as I wander throughout one of last remaining forests on Corneria. The night sky above me is clear, until I look back. The sky is hardly visible through the smoke. My eyes are ready to tear, but I will not let them see my anguish. I will show my strength, I will gain vengeance!
Even though this may be my third life, I always was, and always will be a wolf furry. Though, I am incredibly much more agile than normal. At a lake I walk past, I look into the reflection. I stare into my brown eyes, mostly gray face, and the white streak of fur through my left eye. "Who are you?" Not even I know who I am anymore...
"What's next? Severe torture?" I ask myself. I wonder why so much of this world has been against me, why must I not just die when I am supposed to, but no every time I am reborn, but how long will the pain of this new life last? A day? A year? Maybe this will be my final life, I have nothing left to accomplish here, but something is driving me to certain direction, I feel an inhumanly cruel spirit around me. I nearly even try to talk to it, but what piece of mind I do have tells me that its not really there. It's cold, and evil. I need to forge a weapon for myself. By a rather large tree, I see a perfect stick and rock to with make a spear. "I'll save my soul, and I'll avenge yours!" I say once again to myself. I will gain my vengeance, even if it means my final demise!
After the spear is finally fully strengthened, I rest my weary self against the tree.
That night, the tragedy of the day before was replayed. I never want to see this happen again. The torment nearly awakened me several times, but I could not allow myself to wake. And every time I saw it again, it was played slower and slower. Finally, the agonizing pain ceased, and I awoke.
I walked in the direction of the beckoning evil. I was more alert than I thought possible. My reactions were too great for my own good. Every time I heard any sudden sound, my heart would stop beating, until I realized what it was. By midday, I had reached the edge of the forest, but not before foraging for a bit of sustenance. I continued my voyage along an open area of grasslands. Nothing was happening. "There better actually be something at the end of this path."
With the Sun setting behind me, I was starting to doubt my instincts. But ahead in the twilight I saw something new. The pulses of evil were stronger than ever. Suddenly, I heard a huge explosion, and turned slightly to the left where I saw an explosion. My heart stopped beating, I stopped breathing, but still I ran toward where that explosion was. I ran with incredible haste. Adrenaline kept speeding me up, I couldn't stop, and I wish I knew why...
Surrounded by tall monuments I've never seen before, I see something behind a flame wall. I just make a jump over the flames and I see two groups fighting. One is a
Fox, a Falcon, a Frog, and a Hare. The other... its THEM! I must destroy them for what they've done yesterday!
To anyone else who was fighting, it must have looked as though I emerged through the flames. I overheard two of the ones I wasn't fighting against
"Is that Star Wolf?" I heard the fox ask.
"No that's some one else... Could mean trouble!" the falcon replied.
Paying little attention to either, I started pummeling one of the foes that "killed" me yesterday, causing my rebirth. I took out my nicely fashioned spear, and destroy one more. On the side, I saw the demise of the final few in a bright flash. I ran for cover in the general direction from where I came.
I found a tall, sturdy tree and leaned against it to sleep for the night, facing of course, in the opposite direction of the battle area.
This night, my dreams had calmed down. It still wasn't great though. There was something I had to do... I must find out what I have forgotten, or if I ever really knew. I awoke more peacefully this day, but I didn't want to move. I may have restrained myself from shedding a single tear on the tragedy two days ago, but I can no longer. I broke out in tears a moment after I woke up. For the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to cry. Have I really accomplished anything? Nothing I do will change what happened, and yet I simply must do something.
I started toward a nearby lake. I drank some of the fresh water and looked into the water. "Is it over yet? Am I done here? I can't be... I'm still... still in agony from that day..." Something disturbed my reflection. A saw some fish in the pond. I waded in a few feet, and stood still. More like a reaction, than an action, I threw my paw down, and captured a fish. I ate the fish, as my breakfast, and decided that all that was left was to return to my "home". But could my mind bear seeing that scorched area? Even knowing of it now depressed me. I cried once again. Instead of continuing as planned, I just sat by the crystal clear lake, with my mind tore between what I should be doing... The nightmare was coming back, the "Second Ending", as I now have decided to call it, was replayed over and over in my mind. I could not concentrate on anything else.
"Hello...?" I heard a voice straight behind me call out.
Within two seconds, I cleared my face of any expression, got a hold of myself, turned around, and said, "Yes?"
It was the Fox that was in the battle yesterday. As I tensed my arm, ready to draw my weapon, just in case, as he said, "Are you the one who help a few of my friends and myself yesterday in a battle that took place some where over there in the city?"
(The "city"? I thought to myself...) "It was me. What do you want now?"
"I felt the need to thank you. That was one tough gang! Oh let me introduce myself. I'm Fox McCloud, leader of the galacticly renown StarFox Mercenary Squad."
He held out his hand.
Standing just plainly still, I said to him, "I wasn't there to help you... I was there for my own reasons... Anything else?" He by now had withdrawn his hand.
"So you've run into them before, eh? I still can't imagine the power you must possess... Anyway, I'd like to offer you a position in StarFox."
"My place is not with anyone or anything near here in this 'city' of yours." I said firmly. Then I remembered... I no longer do have a place anywhere... "Well, I've lived a very secluded life, and don't know much about life around here. But, if you can offer me something, maybe I'll consider joining you."
"Well, you would of course have to start at the bottom of the our chain of command, but with what I've seen you do, I don't think you'll be there for long! We all try to split work evenly, and thus our earnings are also dispensed evenly. You would have someone always around to talk to, ask advice of, get help from, et cetera. And of course, we can have someone show you around the ropes, and I'll make sure that person will keep everything in confidence." Fox seemed nice enough, and would never be the cause of something as horrible as the "Second Ending".
"Well Fox, first off, you may not know how secluded I actually was. I grew up with a rather large... family, and I only saw them. We lived off the land, and I've actually never even knew what a city was! I have been trained in several... fighting styles, and I am rather ferocious at times. And don't mistake me for dumb. I have a lot of knowledge you may find useful! See this spear? Look how perfect everything is on it? I made it in maybe an hour. Of course, I believe you may have some other form of fighting, I've never seen, but you never know when a good craftsman can make. Really though, I may not understand anything you do. If you're prepared to handle this, I will join you."
"Great! A few problems to work out, but you'll be just fine. But, you've never mentioned your name..."
"Just... call me Zenth," I proclaimed. Fox had an expression on his face I've not seen for a while.
"Zenth, huh? Well allow me to show you to our headquarters. This way please."
Fox started to the city, and I followed him, leaving my mind concentrating only on Fox, I shall not be distracted. At least now, I may have a place in my third life...
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Contact author at:
Zenth@sfx64.com
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