I'd prefer to know him on a first name basis as I do with the other characters, but the fans seem to firmly think that Prozen is his only name. Therefore, companions will call him by his first name, Gunther, while the evil good guys will call him by his last name…while cursing him of course.
Oh yes, and Thomas x Raven fans unite. *dance*
In case you haven't already noticed, yes, there will only be a little of the Karl/Prozen thing. I don't know how to write a romantic Karl, in fact, I'm not sure he exists, but I think you may have already figured out what Payne has in store for Prozen and Hiltz. He is a bad man.
Chapter 10: Porcelain
Raven sat on the porch of the house, looking out over the grey water in front of him that lapped hungrily at the beach. It had been raining all night and showers still peppered the land with a fine grey mist.
But for all its depressiveness, it was somehow therapeutic, and for the first time in his memory he had slept in that day to wake alone…well, sort of alone…and calm. Dressed in a pair of loose trousers and a long sleeved shirt with thongs he rested his head against a hand and watched the seagulls wheel and turn in between the rain fall. Shadow was beside him, his head in Raven's lap, purring softly as his eyebrow ridges were scratched.
The door carefully opened and he heard shuffled footsteps and a grunt as the other person sat down beside him.
"Hi." Raven said, without sparing him a glance.
"…" The person looked at him. "What…did you…just say?"
"I said hello."
"Oh. I…thought that's…what you…said. I couldn't…be…too sure."
"Yeah?"
"…Yeah."
Silence for a moment. Raven looked down at the sand a few steps away from him. He'd been drawing with a stick, a childish act indeed, but somehow fitting for this meeting. He finally turned away from the sea, having been pulled into it's melancholic grip by memories past. His lower lip trembled, and tears that had not been shed since the death of his parents began to fall.
"I missed you, you asshole." He whispered. "What the fuck did you think you were doing?"
Prozen reached out to gently stroke his foster son's face. "I have…no idea." He replied.
Raven gulped, trying to swallow those horrible and weak tears, but now he couldn't stop. He lunged forward and threw his arms around the older man's neck, burying his face in his shoulder and began to bawl his eyes out. Prozen gently slid his arms around the boy in a loving hug, and held him until he had stopped shaking.
"It's all right…Raven." Prozen whispered, stroking the youth's tousled hair. "I'm here. I'm…not going anywhere. I wouldn't…know where to go…if I was going to leave. So…nothing to worry about…" Each word took effort and concentration to fight the folds of fever.
"I don't care!"
"Shh…shh…"
"You left me. You left me, just like my parents did. I was so mad, I blamed Van, I blamed everyone, I blamed myself…because…because I wasn't a good son…thought…thought you were…punishing me by going away…"
"I…would never…punish you unless you…did something really bad, and even then…I'm…pretty sure you'd find some way…to…appeal to my…better nature."
Raven twisted around so he was curled up in his foster father's lap like a baby, his head resting against Prozen's upper arm. "M'm glad you're okay." Raven murmured.
"So am I."
"…I was so mad when you did what you did…I did some really stupid things…"
"Ah, blowing up…military bases?"
"Yeah."
"That's…not being stupid." Prozen replied, each word an effort. "That's just…being annoying."
Raven smiled. "Yeah? I…I heard there were rumours you were still alive, and I ran to see what it was…only to find Rhyss and Hiltz…what did they do to you?"
"…I don't know…my memory is…shattered. I'm…seeing things…hearing things."
"You're not going crazy. And you don't need your medication."
"…I don't?"
Raven stared at the confusion on Prozen's face. "No. You never needed it in the first place. People were just stupid and paranoid."
"…Paranoid…about…what?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Raven sighed. "I missed you."
"I…missed you…too…Raven." He held him for a little while longer until Shadow grunted and stood up, upset at his master having all the attention and not him. The black organoid nudged Prozen's shoulder, and the warlord smiled, then gently scratched beneath his chin.
"We found Ambient. But…he turned to stone. Just like Shadow did…then I knew I was really alone…I'd lost you to that thing…and then I lost Shadow…"
Shadow lost patience with being scratched and then gently caught Prozen's hand in his mouth and gave it a little tug.
"Shadow, cut that out." Raven growled.
The organoid didn't. Far from it in fact. Instead, he moved around and nudged Prozen with his snout. Raven slid out of his lap and grabbed the organoid to try and pull him away. When this had no effect, Prozen stood up and gently caught the organoid's head.
"Shh…Shadow. Take…it easy."
"I don't know what's wrong with him!"
"…He wants me…to go with him. It's alright."
"But you're sick!"
"…I'm…fine."
"Gunther! You stubborn asshole! You haven't changed, have you?!"
Leaning on the organoid, Prozen allowed himself to be led to the front of the house and to the right where the garage loomed. As Shadow moved he clucked to himself, as if satisfied with something. Something very important. Raven ran ahead of them and opened the door, still the picture of confusion.
"Shadow, why are you doing this? He's dead. He's not coming back."
"…Ambient…" Prozen murmured, and stepped into the gloom. The organoid was partially curled up, every limb showing weakness. It was somehow horrible looking at the statue of one of the most powerful things on Zi, that had once been very much alive. Well, alive in a sense. "They…bought you here. Why?"
"They were going to smash him. I didn't want that." Raven scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "He looks peaceful. Uh, did you two know each other?"
"Bits…and pieces. I know who…people are, Raven, but…there's something else…beneath the surface…asking to get out…" He reached out and touched the head of the beast. Distantly, there was the sound of a car motor.
"Um, they're coming back. Evelyn will be mad if she finds you out here and not tucked up in bed. You're suffering from Gapgi Fever…"
"Shh. I feel fine…"
"Liar."
The motor got closer.
Prozen moved his hand over the organoid's head, his face an expression of intense wonder. Then-
What happened next was hard to describe, but not impossible. Just as Fiona had done a few weeks before, his form became light, living energy. Spreading out from his hand was warm colour; a rich crimson flowed like water, glowing brighter and brighter as the light flowed over him. Raven heard the others coming in to see what was happening, but the light was so bright he had to shade his eyes…ah…
And as quickly as it had come, the light went out, and two things happened – as Prozen slumped to the floor, and Ambient sprang up, roared, and stood over him.
"Oh my…!" Came a startled female voice. Evelyn, Raven realised.
Ambient seemed to assess the situation and stopped growling so loudly, moving back as the humans came cautiously forward to see the damage.
"He's unconscious."
"Again?" Thomas gasped. "Geez, tell me Karl, did he ever sleep when he was in office or no, 'cos he's probably catching up now."
Karl said nothing but carefully, as to not disturb Ambient, lifted up the still body again and took it inside. Raven felt a strange weight lifting from his heart that was even more so when he felt Thomas pat his shoulder. "Don't worry Raven. He's in capable hands."
Odd how he felt happy now, watching the smiling lieutenant in front of him, he'd been so sad without his company around. Thomas really made a difference around him, like, like little flickering lights that followed him and made everything else seem bright. Hell, even the clouds looked lighter.
"C'mon Raven, lets go inside. It'll probably rain soon. You should see how many people are out and about now! Everyone's trying to get their hands on the reward offered for the capture of the minister! I only said jokingly that maybe we should get the money, but Karl hasn't talked to me since. He keeps looking at Prozen, and I think he feels guilty because he didn't help out when he needed it and stuff." Thomas took a deep breath. "I'm hungry. Let's eat."
Raven stared at him, completely submerged, drowning in the absurd good naturedness of his companion. It was like a drug. He couldn't get enough of it.
With a final glance at his own organoid…who was, quite frankly, being embarrassing by jumping around the slightly larger one like a puppy, he linked his arm with Thomas' and smiled. "Yeah. Let's go and get something."
"Does it bother you that Prozen's back? I mean, can we trust him and stuff? Can we trust Ambient?"
"I don't know."
"Why are you smiling? I haven't seen you smile before like this. Did you guys make up or something?"
"Well, he said he was sorry."
Thomas stopped at the steps and gave Raven a stern look. "Just because someone says they're sorry doesn't mean they actually mean it. Van says sorry to me all the time, and I know he doesn't mean it."
Taking a deep breath, the shorter of the two considered his options. "Do you still like Fiona?"
Thomas gave some thought to this, and finally looked at his companion. "I think I always will." He said, quietly. "I like the way she shimmers. She's such a lady. But you know what? Seeing her watch Van all those times made me realise she loves him more than anything else in the world." Another pause. "Except maybe salt in her coffee."
"Why does she seem so infatuated with that?" Asked Raven, holding open the door
"I tried it and it tasted gross." Thomas shrugged. "Do you think my brother likes Prozen?"
"Gunther."
"Huh?"
"His name is Gunther. Gunther Prozen."
"…Yeah, I know that, but I don't like him."
Raven rolled his eyes in frustration. "Whatever. But he…he's my dad, Thomas, and I'd like it if you were civil to him. I know he's a bit of a bastard-"
"A bit? A bit?!"
"Okay, maybe a lot, but still." Raven stopped in the living room, folded his arms and watched Thomas. Even if he was older than him, damn it, he was a lot younger in mind. Thomas pouted and glared at Raven from beneath his brows.
"I'm sorry Raven." He mumbled.
"I'm sorry too." Came the happy reply. Again, touching his shoulder felt nice. A part of Raven wanted to draw away, the other wanted to stay and curl up Thomas' arms and make him tell the darkness inside to go away. He smiled faintly again.
"Raven?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you let go now?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Raven turned away, his cheeks burning a rich red.
Whoops.
~ to be continued.
Hehehe I think this chapter sucked, Gunther didn't feel right :( I hope this Raven is in character. We never really see what Prozen and Raven's relationship is like outside the military. I think it would have been cool if they kinda had a close relationship. A few chapters from now, a very knowledgably and rather adorable character will step in. I thought he got only a tiny part in the series, and it sucked because he was kinda cool. Dumb, but cool. Well everyone, like some of the other characters, Jake O'Connell is not what he seems. He's gonna kick ass!
Oh, and between you and me, I'm currently writing chapter 18, "I don't pay for sanity", where Hiltz goes baaaaad. Oh yes, and he also gets his new zoid. Nyuuuuuuuuuu~~ You'll also see how a Hertz actually CREATES Zoids. *yawns* This was my first day back at tafe ^^ I missed it so…
