ZOIDS: You're Taigin Yenrai's Father!
"Please, you can't tell anyone," Ruby stuttered.
"Who said anything about telling? I swear by oath I'm not telling. I just want a favor," Yenrai grinned slyly.
Ruby took in a deep breath. "What is it?"
"I want you to tell Sam that you're still alive. He's been so worried. I tried to comfort him, but he says he has to see you." Yenrai shook his head sadly. "I couldn't do a thing."
Ruby was startled. She stared at this man for a while and then it hit her like a tidal wave.
"You're Taigin Yenrai's father, aren't you?" Ruby asked excitedly.
Yenrai smiled. "The one and only. Just testing your memory. It's pretty good if you remember Taigin. He was only at the huts a few months before you left."
"If I didn't remember that handsome face I'd call me crazy," Ruby giggled.
"You know this guy?" Kiyo asked Ruby.
Ruby filled Kiyo in on all the things that happened before he knew her. The whole thing with the kidnapping, all she could think of. For the first time in her life, Ruby could talk openly about her past, though she still did not accept it in the least bit.
"You were part of the Backdraft?" Kiyo asked.
"No," Ruby started. "I was a little bit lower than the Backdraft. The group just relied on the Backdraft for Zoids and that sort."
"Oh, I see."
Ruby turned to Yenrai. "Do you know where Taigin is? I would really like to meet him so I could talk to him."
Yenrai's face turned to sorrow. He was no longer the jolly plump man he used to be. He suddenly looked older than he really was.
"Taigin..." Yenrai paused, as if he was thinking about if he should say it or not. He took a deep breath and continued, "He left the roost a few days after you. Said it would do him good to act more like an independent man than a childish one. I think it was because he wanted to find you, but he never said.
"He took off in the Liger Zero X, and that was the last we heard about him for a while. Then we heard he was the leader of the Backdraft, the one we don't work with. I immediately called him to tell him to quit; the Backdraft is a deadly job. I tried to talk him out of it, give his job to someone else, but you know Taigin. You and him are exactly the same. He starts anything; he has to finish it. He refused to quit his leadership. A few months later, the news said that there was a war between the Backdraft bases. One involved was Taigen's. They said..." He couldn't continue any more.
"They said..." Ruby echoed. She suddenly put her hand to her mouth. "He wasn't... Dead... Was he?"
Yenrai was silent.
Ruby shook her head and mouthed, 'No.'
"Ruby, he was the head of the Backdraft for three years," Yenrai snapped quickly. "It would have happened sooner or later. The Backdraft groups are always fighting, and this time it took a huge death toll. Young men, only around sixteen to twenty four, were recruited that fall. Out of all the forty-two of them, only ten remain,"
Ruby was shaking. She started to cry, a steady flow of tears that seemed as if they would never let up. She was crying because she truly missed her father, Sam, she cried because Taigin was dead, she cried because of all the bottled up emotion inside of her.
Yenrai tried to comfort her, tell her everything would be all right. It had no affect, and Ruby's tears came out in a fresh wave. Yenrai told her to stop crying because of what Taigin would think. If Taigin were watching, he would have told Ruby to lighten up. To not cry about the past, no matter how horrible or sad it was.
In the end, Ruby was convinced that there was nothing she could do for Taigin and she went to her room. Even so, she cried herself to sleep and cried to let all her fear and anger out. This time it wasn't for Taigin. It was for every one of the men who lost their lives in the war between the Backdraft groups.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~
Ouch. That surprised me. What about you? I think the story takes a twist. Right about *points* here.
"Please, you can't tell anyone," Ruby stuttered.
"Who said anything about telling? I swear by oath I'm not telling. I just want a favor," Yenrai grinned slyly.
Ruby took in a deep breath. "What is it?"
"I want you to tell Sam that you're still alive. He's been so worried. I tried to comfort him, but he says he has to see you." Yenrai shook his head sadly. "I couldn't do a thing."
Ruby was startled. She stared at this man for a while and then it hit her like a tidal wave.
"You're Taigin Yenrai's father, aren't you?" Ruby asked excitedly.
Yenrai smiled. "The one and only. Just testing your memory. It's pretty good if you remember Taigin. He was only at the huts a few months before you left."
"If I didn't remember that handsome face I'd call me crazy," Ruby giggled.
"You know this guy?" Kiyo asked Ruby.
Ruby filled Kiyo in on all the things that happened before he knew her. The whole thing with the kidnapping, all she could think of. For the first time in her life, Ruby could talk openly about her past, though she still did not accept it in the least bit.
"You were part of the Backdraft?" Kiyo asked.
"No," Ruby started. "I was a little bit lower than the Backdraft. The group just relied on the Backdraft for Zoids and that sort."
"Oh, I see."
Ruby turned to Yenrai. "Do you know where Taigin is? I would really like to meet him so I could talk to him."
Yenrai's face turned to sorrow. He was no longer the jolly plump man he used to be. He suddenly looked older than he really was.
"Taigin..." Yenrai paused, as if he was thinking about if he should say it or not. He took a deep breath and continued, "He left the roost a few days after you. Said it would do him good to act more like an independent man than a childish one. I think it was because he wanted to find you, but he never said.
"He took off in the Liger Zero X, and that was the last we heard about him for a while. Then we heard he was the leader of the Backdraft, the one we don't work with. I immediately called him to tell him to quit; the Backdraft is a deadly job. I tried to talk him out of it, give his job to someone else, but you know Taigin. You and him are exactly the same. He starts anything; he has to finish it. He refused to quit his leadership. A few months later, the news said that there was a war between the Backdraft bases. One involved was Taigen's. They said..." He couldn't continue any more.
"They said..." Ruby echoed. She suddenly put her hand to her mouth. "He wasn't... Dead... Was he?"
Yenrai was silent.
Ruby shook her head and mouthed, 'No.'
"Ruby, he was the head of the Backdraft for three years," Yenrai snapped quickly. "It would have happened sooner or later. The Backdraft groups are always fighting, and this time it took a huge death toll. Young men, only around sixteen to twenty four, were recruited that fall. Out of all the forty-two of them, only ten remain,"
Ruby was shaking. She started to cry, a steady flow of tears that seemed as if they would never let up. She was crying because she truly missed her father, Sam, she cried because Taigin was dead, she cried because of all the bottled up emotion inside of her.
Yenrai tried to comfort her, tell her everything would be all right. It had no affect, and Ruby's tears came out in a fresh wave. Yenrai told her to stop crying because of what Taigin would think. If Taigin were watching, he would have told Ruby to lighten up. To not cry about the past, no matter how horrible or sad it was.
In the end, Ruby was convinced that there was nothing she could do for Taigin and she went to her room. Even so, she cried herself to sleep and cried to let all her fear and anger out. This time it wasn't for Taigin. It was for every one of the men who lost their lives in the war between the Backdraft groups.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~
Ouch. That surprised me. What about you? I think the story takes a twist. Right about *points* here.