( Aa.. ^^; Sorry! Upon further inspection, I found 'Resolve' was full of run-on sentences that were rather confusing, the verb-noun agreement fractured and just plain wrong. There was a typo, and, I keep forgetting to say, "Zoids is not mine! So… Yeah!" So, I've re-uploaded it. I hope you weren't unfortunate enough to read it the five hours I had it posted, at first! Now, the revision! –verdandi. )
Flimsy blades of orange writhed and rose eagerly from charring flakes and chunks of dry wood and foliage. They made an insecure edge of light on which shadows trespassed. Staring down into the half moon of soup that was left in her tin for a moment, she then settled it on the bright, but cold dirt to one side. Her male accomplice was sitting not quite opposite, but off to one side, casting a wavering glare into the stable fire. It was easy to trail his thoughts, which lingered on the absence of Shadow, loyal, possessive. A sense of security. She had her gaze on him, very nearly unreadable, easy to misinterpret.
"Don't pity me." Raven frowned, rolling his solid violet stare back on hers. Reese cocked a slim eyebrow.
"Is that what I'm thinking?" She returned in a normal, cryptic fashion, never altering her point of focus.
"... When will we get there?" The little squabble ended, neither aggressive, cocky, nor childish enough to carry it on, this night. Raven withdrew, for once.
"It will probably take another day. You know... I don't think that this.. Well. I have a strange feeling." The Zoidian explained, a small, perplexed frown bearing down on her expression. The trio had been existing in unsettling harmony on the trek to the Rare Hertz, only stopping for water, supplement, and rest. Raven remained awake that night, as he'd been doing abundantly, lately, elbow flung around a knee and hand suspending a tin of caffeine-rich coffee by its mouth. Reese tucked into a curl near the placid, large figure of Specular, the massive organoid twitching slightly and wrapping in a protective crescent around her.
Unwelcome, the sun came, its light white and spread throughout the thick fog. The Geno Breaker was already screaming away, hovering so near the ground that dust ripped upward in two ridges, following them. It was another long, uncomfortable day of moving across scenery that never shifted from a barren, plateau flecked theme. The neon spotlights of the Zoidian's intense blue eyes were glued on Raven. Even with a dive into his past, still so enigmatic. He shot a violet stare back, narrowing one eye. The cockpit was burning, cramped. There was a solitary seat, and they held these long staring qualms about who needed to make room for whom.
A haven, a human well in the blistering waste of the planet side, a small village turned the spines of several small houses to the sun. The people were isolated, more like stranded, and probably without extensive informants. And even if they did recognize the pair, the Death Stinger was the first threat on hand. The ominous, towering Geno Breaker glided to a still hover in the relative shade of a looming plateau, and then dropped both feet onto the loose earth. A flame of dust went winding up from the impact. The cockpit hissed open, and the crow-haired pilot dropped out, landing with a graceless fluff of sand. A large, and emptied out container was gripped slackly in his right hand.
"…Where are you going?" The Zoidian stood in the opening to the cockpit, one hand raised to steady herself, as well as filter some sunlight away from an almost-albino complexion. The tone of a low voice was tuned to sound tired, as she was.
"To the village."
"What for?"
"I… just wanted to get some water."
"Hm? Yeah… Okay."
"You can stay here if you want, that's fine by me. Or you can come along."
Already leaving. The town was so pleasant, small. Dusty… the buildings weren't too impressive, and it was so quiet. Peaceful, it was the perfect little escape, the perfect little quiet place where you could start over. Begin a new life. Obligated as an ancient Zoidian… Reese could never achieve that; was doomed to suffer everlastingly.
"Thank you both." Raven smoothed over a grateful, puzzlingly warm smile, a strange thing to see, again. Holding up the large, geometric container filled with water. The couple that supplied them with a little extension on life grinned gracefully, fitting perfectly into the world as they leaned into one-another.
Alienated, Reese stood back, a perfect statue, aside the somber wind rolling over her wind-blocking cloak. The luminous hue of her irises turned away from her thankful accomplice, and rolled over on two small girls, beaming, giggling, and playing in the slightly fertile soil as though it were just a great sand box.
She turned at the ghostly sounds of dirt compacting, Raven was approaching. The smile had faded into something unreadable, and he described the predicament.
"There's an evacuation notice issued for this town, too." In so few words. "It's the same wherever you go." He walked past, well knowing that his companion would follow. Faltering in her path, she frowned, raising her chin.
"Doesn't that… make you feel angry?" Reese inquired, astonished at the lack of historic rage… It was too hard to live this way. What would happen?
"Not really. I can't even count how many fortresses and bases I've destroyed. I don't have the right to be angry, now. After everything I've done… I guess… It all comes back to haunt you in the end. Hm…" The pensive look on his face bordered on anguish. Reese quivered slightly, raising a fretful hand to his retreating form. Padding sounds alerted her to footsteps behind her. Those two charming little girls were smiling up at her, offering obscene amounts of friendship and warmth in simple expressions. Reese was taken aback by it, giving them a perplexed stare. One of them thrust a canteen upward, into her grasp.
"Here! You'll probably be thirsty, too!" The young girl cried, eyes crescendos.
"Take these, too!" The other quipped, holding out an open palm with seeds, something scarce and valued, several of them. A long pause washed over her, and she held her hand out to receive that present. The small child cupped her hand under Ryss', a complete stranger; and dropped the little buds of life into her opened hand. What was such a simple movement left the Zoidian struggling. The little girl's hand sent a shot of warmth into her cold hand, and it traveled up through her arm, escaping in a smile. These people had to be saved.
"… Thank you."
With a nod each, the girls swept away, giggling and tagging back into the false safety of the town.