___Chapter 44___
Frost was just about relaxed when Arcos had turned to speak, but stopped.
The cry of "cyclone" got him quickly UN-relaxed.
---
Swift had been sitting by a tree stump, talking to Zite about everything that had happened when the call went out. His head jerked around automatically, and he was running before he even knew it, grabbing Zite by the neck ruff and half pulling/half dragging him away from the blue-green water spout that was barely a quarter mile away.
"Hey, hey! I've got LEGS, Swift, I can run on my own!" Zite called out from behind, backhanding the arm that was holding him.
Swift let go, and stopped briefly to catch his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his little brother and Frost run up by them.
"Hey, where were you two?" asked Zite as he re-arranged his ruff.
Arcos was panting, but flashed a peace sign to say he was ok. Frost, chest heaving only slightly, nodded
"Well, let's go on now, shall we?" Arcos asked when he caught his breath. "Since we're all here and accounted.... shit."
Zite cocked an eye, but glanced around the four of them and shutup when he realized who was missing. He was about to say it, but Swift beat him to it-
"Where's Bolt?"
---
Bolt had heard Arcos' cry, had noticed the four run off, had seen Zite punch Swift to get him to drop him, had seen the other two reach them...
But he made no attempt to follow them. And he didn't intend to attempt it.
Instead, he turned toward the thing that had inspired so much fear in his comrades.
"What's to be afraid of?" he said to noone but himself, "You may run, but you can't hide. When the dark lady wants you, there's nowhere you can run to get away from her."
So as the water spout came closer, the wind started to swirl around him, the waves brushed over the land, all the forces lancing forward at the island, he only uncrossed his arms, and held them out, laughing so hard he was crying.
Or vice-versa.
Suddenly the full force of the elements slammed against him, taking his breath away. For a few seconds, it was a pain beyond imagination. But that faded, like the rest of the world around him, until there was nothing left...
And for the first time in years, Bolt was at peace.
---
As suddenly as it had appeared, the cyclone disappeared. Literally. Within fifteen seconds of swallowing Bolt, it absolutely collapsed into a rush of water that drained back into the sea.
Swift, who had bolted (no pun intended) when he saw his friend was still behind them, got socked by the residual wave and pulled under. It dragged him to within thirty feet of the shore, but then his claws caught a tree and the water went out without him.
Too preoccupied to think about that, once he could stand he was off and running again. But what he found served no purpose but to confirm his fears.
His hand shaking, he knelt down and felt for a pulse. Nothing.
He was too upset even to cry.
Bolt had been his best friend ever since they'd been born. He remembered what he'd been like before the accident, during the five days the kid was dying and noone could do anything about it, when they'd tried to wish him back, only to be told it was impossible...
THAT was when Bolt changed. But it went away again after a while, and Swift forgot. Everyone forgot. Even Bolt. But all that death around him must have affected him, bringing up his only defense- his twisted indifference.
"Aeco?" said a voice a few feet away. Swift pulled his head up, his vision distracted by a series of sparkles that blocked it.
Arcos leaned forward and hugged his brother tightly, whispering "We have to go now."
"W-why?"
"Because, we've got to do our best to stay alive now. And father's probably worried about us. Not to mention that SOMEONE has to tell him about Comet, and the little ones."
"Katass-san too."
"Yes, him too." Standing up, "So, do we go now?"
Swift nodded. "But first..." he reached down, picking Bolt's bandanna up softly in his fist, and wrapped it around his forehead.
Arcos smiled, and the two of them blasted off, followed by the others.
---
The trip didn't get any easier after that. Once they breached the higher islands that made up the outside of the archipelago, there was no more shelter of any kind for them.
So not only did they get the full force of the storm itself, they also were no longer sheltered from the devastation it was bringing upon their people. It was depressing, but they all knew that to stop to help would only result in their deaths along with those of whom they tried to aid.
Their minds were firmly set on getting out of this alive, which meant getting to Sanchiro-sama's tower. Even though it seemed the most dangerous place to go to a logical mind, being a small, high pillar of rock, there seemed to be something about it, an almost holy aura, that kept it a place of safety and security.
But they weren't safe yet.
---
The storm was only getting worse as it went on. As they soon learned, there was more to the dangers than just the storm itself.
Arcos was the first to find that out, when a TREE that had gotten ripped out of the ground came flying into him, knocking him unconscious on impact and hurtling him into the wave-churned sea.
Swift saw it happen, being right behind him, and nearly had a heart attack when Arcos get tossed into the water. Without a second thought, he plunged in after him.
---
The first thing Swift noticed was how quiet it seemed, but that thought flew from his head as he suddenly realized the cold, the biting, stinging, ever-present cold. The water was murky in every direction, no light shining from the surface to tell him where he was in it all. And nothing made sense anymore- up was down, right was left, this way was that way..... but where was Arcos?
He felt so cold, like it went straight to his brain, mushing thoughts together in ways that didn't make sense, and the way the turbid environment was so quiet only adding to his confusion. But the temperature made him feel faint. It was so cold, so cold, so-
---
The next thing he knew, he was lying on the grass, coughing his guts up, head spinning with flashes of color and light.
"HELL?" Swift screamed, before choking again, spitting out more sea water as he tried to regain his breath.
{{Wait... I'm breathing? I'm still ALIVE?}}
Finally he got his vision back, and saw Frost's back a few feet away. Swift reached forward, about to tap him on the shoulder and ask what was going on, when a sound he'd never heard before echoed throughout the air. It was haunting, yet..... beautiful. And coming from.....
"Frost?" Swift whispered, confused.
"Yes?" he said, turning his head.
Frost was SMILING.
---
Swift found he couldn't speak for shock. He had NEVER seen Frost smile, in all his life. Not once. And that noise.... had he been....
Arcos popped up from behind Frost, smiling broadly. "Hey, Frost said you went in after me! Are you NUTS, Neru????" he said, using his brother's nickname.
"ARCOS!!!!" Swift yelled, suddenly discovering his voice again as he bumrushed his little brother, nearly squeezing the life out of him in a hug. "You were dead! ~I~ was dead! What happened?"
Arcos shoved the headband over his aeco's eyes, and when Swift pulled it away, he saw Arcos pointing at Frost. "He saved our lives, both of us. Seems HE knows how to swim."
Swift glanced back at Frost, and remembered his earlier questions. "Frost... I heard this weird noise when I woke up, and I was probably delusional, but I think I saw you smiling."
"You weren't." was all Frost said, an amused look in his eyes.
Swift's jaw dropped, but Frost continued, saying as he put his hand on Arcos' shoulder "This little guy gave me quite a scare back there. I couldn't find a pulse or anything for about twenty seconds, but then he woke up."
"And I made him SMILE!!!" Arcos chanted out, raising his arms in victory, "He even LAUGHED!!! I feel so... fulfilled!"
Swift smirked, and tried not to fall on his backside laughing, but lost. His ear twitched at something missing in the air, and he jerked his head up, looking around. Then he knew what it was, and whispered "Where the hell is Zite?"
Frost sighed, and said "I don't know. He was there when I went under after you guys. When I surfaced, he was nowhere to be seen."
A thin stream of purple ran down Swift's lip from where his fang had punctured it. {{I shouldn't be surprised.... The little guy never was that strong.....}} He absentmindedly wiped the blood off on the back of his hand, cringing as he glanced at the dark smear. {{Like ENOUGH blood hasn't been spilled already....}}
---
After another hour of dodging death, they finally glimpsed the light at the end of the tunnel- they were in sight of Sanchiro's tower. And all three of them, though worse for their wear, were still alive. It seemed things were finally looking up.....
But this isn't that kind of story. Only a 1/2 mile off, a huge wave reared out of nowhere to come before the. Tsunami! They turned around to avoid it, but ran right into another!
And another!
They were surrounded on all sides by the waves, and to go higher was to risk being struck down by lightning.
The three looked around, helpless, and in a last-ditch attempt, Frost ricocheted up, trying to get above the water, Swift and Arcos right behind him.
But the two couldn't escape in time, and disappeared into the sea.
---
An hour passed, with no signs of life. The storm faded, and pulled back to reveal three suns in the sky. The land was stripped and fractured, crevices like open wounds showing plainly against the barren earth. The green sky held only the occasional yellow cloud, and the sea lapped calmly at the shores of the islands, breaking peacefully over the beach of Sanchiro's tower.
Then.... something else hit the sand. A dark, limp form was washed up. Swift. No movement at all came from him, dead still. But he wasn't.
Not yet.
Upon regaining consciousness, he jerked up suddenly, ignoring the pain signals from his shattered body as he stared out at the now calm landscape. Seeing he was in a shadow, Swift looked up. Sanchiro's tower. He had made it home.
Then he looked back at the sea. Along the beach and in the air. He was alone.
His brothers, his best friends, his sensei, the younger siblings he never even got a chance to know, Katass, all those innocents, all the others. Dead. There wasn't a sign of life on the whole damn planet.
That's when the survivor's guilt struck. Why did HE live, instead of all those others- Tern, Rager, Comet, Katass, Bolt, Zite, Frost, Arcos, Oboe, Damaiou, Ratal, the other kids (he didn't even know their names), all those poor villagers....... why?
There was too much in his mind, and Swift's thoughts were spinning rapidly, irrationally. It was just too much, an overflow of emotions, and then it all just stopped. His mind shut down, and he collapsed to the sand, in a coma.
Sanchiro walked up the beach, staring sadly at his son, the only other one of his people to survive their apocalypse. "Swift, poor child. Our world has gone mad around our ears. But I won't let you die, son. If you did, what would I have left to live for? Poor child. We are all alone in this world."
And with that, Sanchiro lifted up Swift and went slowly back up to his tower.
~~~NOTE- *sighs* The end of that story, back to Oboe and Damaiou now. So, is anyone interested by my take on namekian history? There are some inconsistencies, yes, but that's to be expected. Leave any comments you might have about my take on things in a review, if you wish. Or, if you'd like, you can plug your own namek fic! *laughs*
-
oh, and if any of you didn't recognize the name "Neru", you can either look it up on your own, or wait another couple chapters for me to explain. Ciao! ~~~
Frost was just about relaxed when Arcos had turned to speak, but stopped.
The cry of "cyclone" got him quickly UN-relaxed.
---
Swift had been sitting by a tree stump, talking to Zite about everything that had happened when the call went out. His head jerked around automatically, and he was running before he even knew it, grabbing Zite by the neck ruff and half pulling/half dragging him away from the blue-green water spout that was barely a quarter mile away.
"Hey, hey! I've got LEGS, Swift, I can run on my own!" Zite called out from behind, backhanding the arm that was holding him.
Swift let go, and stopped briefly to catch his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his little brother and Frost run up by them.
"Hey, where were you two?" asked Zite as he re-arranged his ruff.
Arcos was panting, but flashed a peace sign to say he was ok. Frost, chest heaving only slightly, nodded
"Well, let's go on now, shall we?" Arcos asked when he caught his breath. "Since we're all here and accounted.... shit."
Zite cocked an eye, but glanced around the four of them and shutup when he realized who was missing. He was about to say it, but Swift beat him to it-
"Where's Bolt?"
---
Bolt had heard Arcos' cry, had noticed the four run off, had seen Zite punch Swift to get him to drop him, had seen the other two reach them...
But he made no attempt to follow them. And he didn't intend to attempt it.
Instead, he turned toward the thing that had inspired so much fear in his comrades.
"What's to be afraid of?" he said to noone but himself, "You may run, but you can't hide. When the dark lady wants you, there's nowhere you can run to get away from her."
So as the water spout came closer, the wind started to swirl around him, the waves brushed over the land, all the forces lancing forward at the island, he only uncrossed his arms, and held them out, laughing so hard he was crying.
Or vice-versa.
Suddenly the full force of the elements slammed against him, taking his breath away. For a few seconds, it was a pain beyond imagination. But that faded, like the rest of the world around him, until there was nothing left...
And for the first time in years, Bolt was at peace.
---
As suddenly as it had appeared, the cyclone disappeared. Literally. Within fifteen seconds of swallowing Bolt, it absolutely collapsed into a rush of water that drained back into the sea.
Swift, who had bolted (no pun intended) when he saw his friend was still behind them, got socked by the residual wave and pulled under. It dragged him to within thirty feet of the shore, but then his claws caught a tree and the water went out without him.
Too preoccupied to think about that, once he could stand he was off and running again. But what he found served no purpose but to confirm his fears.
His hand shaking, he knelt down and felt for a pulse. Nothing.
He was too upset even to cry.
Bolt had been his best friend ever since they'd been born. He remembered what he'd been like before the accident, during the five days the kid was dying and noone could do anything about it, when they'd tried to wish him back, only to be told it was impossible...
THAT was when Bolt changed. But it went away again after a while, and Swift forgot. Everyone forgot. Even Bolt. But all that death around him must have affected him, bringing up his only defense- his twisted indifference.
"Aeco?" said a voice a few feet away. Swift pulled his head up, his vision distracted by a series of sparkles that blocked it.
Arcos leaned forward and hugged his brother tightly, whispering "We have to go now."
"W-why?"
"Because, we've got to do our best to stay alive now. And father's probably worried about us. Not to mention that SOMEONE has to tell him about Comet, and the little ones."
"Katass-san too."
"Yes, him too." Standing up, "So, do we go now?"
Swift nodded. "But first..." he reached down, picking Bolt's bandanna up softly in his fist, and wrapped it around his forehead.
Arcos smiled, and the two of them blasted off, followed by the others.
---
The trip didn't get any easier after that. Once they breached the higher islands that made up the outside of the archipelago, there was no more shelter of any kind for them.
So not only did they get the full force of the storm itself, they also were no longer sheltered from the devastation it was bringing upon their people. It was depressing, but they all knew that to stop to help would only result in their deaths along with those of whom they tried to aid.
Their minds were firmly set on getting out of this alive, which meant getting to Sanchiro-sama's tower. Even though it seemed the most dangerous place to go to a logical mind, being a small, high pillar of rock, there seemed to be something about it, an almost holy aura, that kept it a place of safety and security.
But they weren't safe yet.
---
The storm was only getting worse as it went on. As they soon learned, there was more to the dangers than just the storm itself.
Arcos was the first to find that out, when a TREE that had gotten ripped out of the ground came flying into him, knocking him unconscious on impact and hurtling him into the wave-churned sea.
Swift saw it happen, being right behind him, and nearly had a heart attack when Arcos get tossed into the water. Without a second thought, he plunged in after him.
---
The first thing Swift noticed was how quiet it seemed, but that thought flew from his head as he suddenly realized the cold, the biting, stinging, ever-present cold. The water was murky in every direction, no light shining from the surface to tell him where he was in it all. And nothing made sense anymore- up was down, right was left, this way was that way..... but where was Arcos?
He felt so cold, like it went straight to his brain, mushing thoughts together in ways that didn't make sense, and the way the turbid environment was so quiet only adding to his confusion. But the temperature made him feel faint. It was so cold, so cold, so-
---
The next thing he knew, he was lying on the grass, coughing his guts up, head spinning with flashes of color and light.
"HELL?" Swift screamed, before choking again, spitting out more sea water as he tried to regain his breath.
{{Wait... I'm breathing? I'm still ALIVE?}}
Finally he got his vision back, and saw Frost's back a few feet away. Swift reached forward, about to tap him on the shoulder and ask what was going on, when a sound he'd never heard before echoed throughout the air. It was haunting, yet..... beautiful. And coming from.....
"Frost?" Swift whispered, confused.
"Yes?" he said, turning his head.
Frost was SMILING.
---
Swift found he couldn't speak for shock. He had NEVER seen Frost smile, in all his life. Not once. And that noise.... had he been....
Arcos popped up from behind Frost, smiling broadly. "Hey, Frost said you went in after me! Are you NUTS, Neru????" he said, using his brother's nickname.
"ARCOS!!!!" Swift yelled, suddenly discovering his voice again as he bumrushed his little brother, nearly squeezing the life out of him in a hug. "You were dead! ~I~ was dead! What happened?"
Arcos shoved the headband over his aeco's eyes, and when Swift pulled it away, he saw Arcos pointing at Frost. "He saved our lives, both of us. Seems HE knows how to swim."
Swift glanced back at Frost, and remembered his earlier questions. "Frost... I heard this weird noise when I woke up, and I was probably delusional, but I think I saw you smiling."
"You weren't." was all Frost said, an amused look in his eyes.
Swift's jaw dropped, but Frost continued, saying as he put his hand on Arcos' shoulder "This little guy gave me quite a scare back there. I couldn't find a pulse or anything for about twenty seconds, but then he woke up."
"And I made him SMILE!!!" Arcos chanted out, raising his arms in victory, "He even LAUGHED!!! I feel so... fulfilled!"
Swift smirked, and tried not to fall on his backside laughing, but lost. His ear twitched at something missing in the air, and he jerked his head up, looking around. Then he knew what it was, and whispered "Where the hell is Zite?"
Frost sighed, and said "I don't know. He was there when I went under after you guys. When I surfaced, he was nowhere to be seen."
A thin stream of purple ran down Swift's lip from where his fang had punctured it. {{I shouldn't be surprised.... The little guy never was that strong.....}} He absentmindedly wiped the blood off on the back of his hand, cringing as he glanced at the dark smear. {{Like ENOUGH blood hasn't been spilled already....}}
---
After another hour of dodging death, they finally glimpsed the light at the end of the tunnel- they were in sight of Sanchiro's tower. And all three of them, though worse for their wear, were still alive. It seemed things were finally looking up.....
But this isn't that kind of story. Only a 1/2 mile off, a huge wave reared out of nowhere to come before the. Tsunami! They turned around to avoid it, but ran right into another!
And another!
They were surrounded on all sides by the waves, and to go higher was to risk being struck down by lightning.
The three looked around, helpless, and in a last-ditch attempt, Frost ricocheted up, trying to get above the water, Swift and Arcos right behind him.
But the two couldn't escape in time, and disappeared into the sea.
---
An hour passed, with no signs of life. The storm faded, and pulled back to reveal three suns in the sky. The land was stripped and fractured, crevices like open wounds showing plainly against the barren earth. The green sky held only the occasional yellow cloud, and the sea lapped calmly at the shores of the islands, breaking peacefully over the beach of Sanchiro's tower.
Then.... something else hit the sand. A dark, limp form was washed up. Swift. No movement at all came from him, dead still. But he wasn't.
Not yet.
Upon regaining consciousness, he jerked up suddenly, ignoring the pain signals from his shattered body as he stared out at the now calm landscape. Seeing he was in a shadow, Swift looked up. Sanchiro's tower. He had made it home.
Then he looked back at the sea. Along the beach and in the air. He was alone.
His brothers, his best friends, his sensei, the younger siblings he never even got a chance to know, Katass, all those innocents, all the others. Dead. There wasn't a sign of life on the whole damn planet.
That's when the survivor's guilt struck. Why did HE live, instead of all those others- Tern, Rager, Comet, Katass, Bolt, Zite, Frost, Arcos, Oboe, Damaiou, Ratal, the other kids (he didn't even know their names), all those poor villagers....... why?
There was too much in his mind, and Swift's thoughts were spinning rapidly, irrationally. It was just too much, an overflow of emotions, and then it all just stopped. His mind shut down, and he collapsed to the sand, in a coma.
Sanchiro walked up the beach, staring sadly at his son, the only other one of his people to survive their apocalypse. "Swift, poor child. Our world has gone mad around our ears. But I won't let you die, son. If you did, what would I have left to live for? Poor child. We are all alone in this world."
And with that, Sanchiro lifted up Swift and went slowly back up to his tower.
~~~NOTE- *sighs* The end of that story, back to Oboe and Damaiou now. So, is anyone interested by my take on namekian history? There are some inconsistencies, yes, but that's to be expected. Leave any comments you might have about my take on things in a review, if you wish. Or, if you'd like, you can plug your own namek fic! *laughs*
-
oh, and if any of you didn't recognize the name "Neru", you can either look it up on your own, or wait another couple chapters for me to explain. Ciao! ~~~