Let me start off by 1- The disclaimer. I've been forgetting (As usual). This widdle pigeon stalker doesn't own Zoids. Got me?
2- Saying you guys are the GREATEST! I had some ideas beginning to form as it is, and no doubt the ideas you guys have given will be put to use. If only I had something to give you all. I'd hug every one of you, but I suppose that's a little disturbing, coming from somebody who stalks pigeons. :P …Okay then! Free virtual chocolate cake for you all to eat while you read! =D
-=Biddett da Pigeon Stalker=-
"Gooooooood morning!!" Hunter greeted, poking his head into my view. Damn. He found me. I had decided to find somewhere tricky to see me, to see if Hunter could find me. A small game of hide and seek, you could say. So I found a root that had broken through the bank at the drier area of the creek bed- where Flyer and I had sat for a while last night- and gone to sleep, hoping that Hunter wasn't smart enough to find me.
=Awww…=I whined. =You saw through my plan!= Hunter snickered to himself.
=I suppose everyone's angry at me disappearing, then?= I added after a small silence had set in.
"Nah, not really. Cat's still asleep. I don't think she knows the meaning of 6AM." Hunter replied, grinning.
I wormed myself out from under the root and climbed back up the bank. Everyone was up, it seemed, except Cat. I could hear gentle snoring from under the shade of the tree and gathered that was her.
Reja was making some last-minute adjustments to the Werewolf, so I nosed through the tall grass towards her.
=…I finally see you stopped fighting with Cat.= I said.
"God, she's so annoying. Can we ditch her yet?" Reja complained, closing the cockpit and jumping down.
=But she's the only one who knows where that old lady is who knows about organoids is.=
Reja sighed. "I can still get rid of her anyway. We'll find her, Cat or no Cat!" Reja smirked. She then grinned. "Only kidding. I suppose I can put up with her for a little while…"
=Okay. You sleep alright?= I was just making general conversation now.
"Yeah. Hey, do me a favour, will you? Go wake Cat up, and make sure you scare the hell out of her!" Reja grinned almost evilly.
=Heheh…okay. In a little while, if she hasn't woken up by then.= I chuckled to myself, in a strange organoid-like way. More like a gruff "Hrrk-hrrk-hrrk".
I plodded off to see what everyone else was doing. Ryu looked restless. He was already in Konran, and paced around in it impatiently.
=Someone's eager to get going.= I looked up at the big black draconic zoid.
"Yeah, well, it's nice here, but it's getting kind of boring now. Cat better hurry up and wake up or I'm going to have to make her." The Mecha-Ryu paced around the expanse of tall grass, and Ryu didn't want to say anything more.
Now…where was Flyer? Maybe she went off to that giant lake again… I boosted off into the air and flew across.
Flying's pretty cool. I wish I could just tell you what it's like…well, I suppose I could. It's hard to explain though. The exhilaration…the freedom, the feeling of almost weightlessness….Too bad I can't fly all the time though. I'd get ahead of everyone and risk getting lost or captured.
And that was horrible. Those bandits had been trying to force me to fuse into something. I didn't know what. Supposedly, there was a huge zoid that was built far, far away. It was said to be indestructible. It had so much power; it destroyed its home planet. Then it was left to wander the black emptiness of space. The machine they were trying to force me to fuse with was the "key" to it being summoned. They wanted to control this beast- this behemoth so they could be the force to be reckoned with.
Once they had found out that I couldn't fuse however…
I wrenched my mind from revisiting those memories. I don't want to remember that. The pain, the torture…it was beyond my limits. I didn't know what kept me sane. Maybe it was Hunter, who looked after me after each "session". He taught me how to speak to one person at a time, and I suppose if I didn't know how to do that we would have been caught back at that sandy bandit HQ prison…or more fittingly sandy hell.
I watched the long grass blur into one another as I picked up more speed. It was all a big green blur. You couldn't make out each long piece of grass anymore. I looked upwards at the sky. The blue, unblemished sky. It's so blue…I wish I could just fly away…but what would happen to me? Maybe I just should. Leave- leave everything and everyone behind. I'll have no worries, no problems…
Ack. Listen to me. "I wish, I wish…" I can't believe how selfish I am!! What about Ryu, Reja, Cat, Flyer…and everyone else!...Actually, I wonder where they are. I know they got out after one of Reja's botched-up escape plans…Erin, Drake, Jade, Keith, Mya, Renate, Steve, Xzion and Zed… Are they okay? I hope so.
I came out of my musings slowly as I landed by the lakeside. Glancing around, I looked for the Dragon Fire. No, she wasn't here. I was about to take off and return to the tree, when I decided to check out the area. It would have taken too long on foot, so I took wing. I flew up high above the ground level to get a bird's eye view.
Nope, nope, and nope. There was no sign of Flyer's black, blue, and purple Gunsniper. I looked back over at the tree, and to my surprise due to my complete stupidity, there was the Dragon Fire, sitting placidly by the stream. I growled an organoid curse to myself and hovered back to the ground. I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen the big black zoid and when I had been practically sleeping right next to it!
I stomped off huffily at my idiocy. But before I could take barely more than two steps, a voice rang out.
"Well, well, well…who do we have here? Morning, Mystic!"
I jumped at the voice. Flyer!
=And where have you been, huh? I've been looking for you!= I demanded. Quickly, I backtracked to the lake and found the zoid technician by the lake.
She smiled to me and chuckled. "Fishing. I thought maybe we could get something here in case we're up in the mountains for a long time." At that, the silver-haired woman indicated an improvised fishing rod. It was mainly made from the branch of a tree, but the wire was constructed from the long grass braided and twined together to make a thick rope.
=Well, how come I didn't see you when I looked? You weren't hiding, were you?= I asked.
"No. I was about to say "good morning" to you when you took off into the air and hung there for a while." She replied.
Maybe I had flown up too high, and I hadn't been able to see her by the lake. She probably would have been a tiny ant at the height I had been at. Well, it was that, or I had been looking for the wrong thing. My eyes had been searching for her zoid, not her.
=Have you caught anything yet?= I inquired, a little excited. I've never seen a fish before…
"Mmm-hmm!" Flyer held up a woven basket that had been sitting beside her.
I rushed over and poked my nose inside. Fish! They were very slippery, and wet and cold. I felt a small chill as one thrashed against my muzzle.
=They're still alive!= I exclaimed.
"Yeah…well, of course! I only just caught them this morning." Fly grinned at my child-like enthusiasm. "You know, they way you're acting…it's as though you've never seen a fish in your life!" She then commented.
=I haven't.= I replied bluntly.
Her eyes opened wide. "You serious?" I nodded.
"Well, take one out then. Go have a closer look at it. I don't mind, as long as you don't lose it. Oh, and make sure you go clean yourself afterwards. You're going to smell like fish." Flyer told me and her purple eyes watched me cautiously as I removed a fish from the basket.
=What's so smelly about fish, anyway?= I questioned naively.
Flyer laughed. "You are such a little kid this morning, Mystic! They just smell. Real bad. And I don't think nobody wants a smelly organoid squashed in with them for hours on end. Go on, smell it!" Fly suppressed another fit of laughter as I sniffed at the still-wriggling fish.
=Yuck! That reeks!= I shrieked. Flyer burst out laughing uncontrollably.
The fish seemed to take this as its last chance. It gave one powerful thrash, and managed to squirm out of my grip. It flopped onto the grassy bank and flopped, before flipping itself back into the lake.
=Oh no!= I cried.
"Mys…" Flyer sounded a little disappointed, and annoyed. She made a "tch" sound and then said, "Oh well. It's just a fish. I'll be able to catch another one anyway."
=No, I'll get it back!= I replied , determined. She had told me not to lose the fish, and I had gone and lost it.
Without rethinking it at all, I leapt into the water.
"Mystic!" Flyer hollered.
I swished my tail and used it to propel myself through the water. My eye scanned through the water for that fish. Or at least a fish. It didn't really matter if I didn't get the fish Flyer had caught, just as long as I brought one back.
Something silver glimmered through the water. I swam a little closer. It was a school of fish! Excitedly, I drove through the water, straight for them. But to my dismay, the fish quickly darted away into the deep blue of the lake.
So they were smarter than I thought. I hung back in the water for a while, thinking. How was I going to get close enough to them for me to catch one? Hmmm…
Well, swimming is a bit like flying, isn't it?...That's it! I can use my boosters!
Moving through the water, I glanced around for more fish. I poked my head into small nooks and crannies in the bank, down along the lakebed and through the glades of seagrass. But to no avail. The fish were aware of a big black, grey, and white organoid that was out to get them now.
Finally, amongst the seagrasses, I saw something move. It was a fish…but it was flat! I surveyed it from a distance. It was hard to keep track of though, its colour was almost the same of the lakebed. The flat fish seemed to be hiding on the bottom of the lake, it was if it was cramming itself into the sand.
Suddenly, something else caught my eye. It was a huge, silver fish. This one was at least twice the size of the ones Flyer had been catching. I smirked. This one would do nicely.
It swam placidly along, near the surface. Soon, it would be straight over the top of me. Any moment now. Four….three…two….one….
My boosters kicked into action, and I rocketed upwards. The fish didn't even get a chance to swim away. I clamped down on it with my teeth, and I tasted salty fish and water. I then broke the surface and flew high into the air.
It took me a moment to realise that it was over, and I was in the air now. I calmed down and landed on the bank. The taste of the fish was really getting to me. I never knew how disgusting salty fish tasted. Spitting it out on the ground, I glanced around for Flyer.
=….Flyer?= I called. Nobody answered.
Where was she? Did she just up and leave me here? No. She wouldn't do that. But…where is she?...Maybe she really did leave me.
My eye darted around the lake. Well, maybe Flyer had just went to look for me. She had sounded pretty scared when I jumped in.
=Flyer? Where are you?= I called out again. I looked over the scene again. The green grass waved in the gentle wind, the pure blue cloudless sky looked down from above, the water lapped softly against the bank of the lake, and the deep hue of the lake echoed the flawlessly clear sky.
There was something sitting near the edge of the water. I shuffled over to investigate, and I stumbled upon a woven basket, discarded and laying on its side. I nosed my snout into it to see what it held.
Fish.
This was Flyer's basket! I wrenched my muzzle from inside it and looked around. Surely if she left her basket, then Flyer would be somewhere around here.
I made a brisk pace and searched the nearby area. The only other thing I found that would have to be made by a human was a fishing rod. It was the same one the silver haired woman had been using- made of a thick tree branch and a thick rope made by braiding the long grass of the plains together.
=Where are you?!!= My voice had risen to a panicked yell. By the looks, she had left in a hurry. What would make her want to leave so hastily? Maybe everyone back at the tree was under attack!
I took off at a run towards the tree. I couldn't just leave all my friends if they were being attacked! I had pelted about a meter when I froze. If I just ran in there, chances are I'm going to be captured. And I don't think nobody's going to like that. I just stood there, my mind fighting with itself about what I should do. Stay here, and do nothing, or go to the tree and risk being captured.
What should I do?! My mind was in chaos. Suddenly someone yelled,
"Mystic!!" I jumped. Flyer!!
"Mystic, you stupid organoid! What were you thinking?! You got us worried sick!!" Another voice scolded. Reja?
There everyone was. Flyer came out at a run, from seemingly nowhere, quickly followed by Reja, Ryu and Hunter.
=Wha..? I thought…I thought you were under attack!= I said, confused.
"No…" Hunter replied, scratching his head.
"You should have seen Flyer come running. She was screaming at the top of her lungs 'MYSTIC'S IN TROUBLE!!!' which gets us all worked up, we come running over here in two seconds flat and here you are, standing here with a…fish." Ryu explained, grinning.
"Well, I was worried about Mystic…" Flyer started. She then processed what Ryu had said at the end. "You did that just for that stupid fish? Mystic, really!" Flyer exclaimed, her voice giving a tone of disbelief.
=Well, you told me not to lose the fish…and I did.= I walked back over to where I had spat out the fish and picked it up in my small organoid hands and came back over.
"Wait, wait, wait….all this is just for a fish? Am I missing something here?" Reja said, perplexed.
=Errr…= I started.
"Long story. Mystic's never seen a fish before-" Flyer began to explain.
"Really?" Hunter interjected, astounded.
"Hey, am I telling this or what?" Fly sounded a little annoyed.
"Oh. Sorry. Carry on…"
"So, I was fishing for some fish to take with us, and since Mystic wanted to see one, I let her have a closer look. It was still alive and it jumped out of her hands and back into the lake. And then she jumped in…and now I just found out, that was to get it back, which she did." Fly sounded irritated, but she smiled a little. Okay, is she mad or pleased with me? I couldn't tell.
"So what's wrong with Mys going swimming?" Hunter asked. "It's not as if moisture fries her circuits or anything."
"It's because Mystic doesn't know how to swim." Fly said flatly.
And then, it hit me. I didn't…I just jumped in and went with whatever happened. I wasn't controlling myself. What's up with that? The only water I've ever been in was the fluid in my pod, and that's it…
"Well, she's okay now, isn't she? Let's go already!" Ryu whined.
"Oh, shut up! We're going to go back, wake Cat up and then we'll go, okay?!" Reja shouted.
&&&
I leant over Cat. Hee hee. This was going to be fun!!
=Catalina…=I called to her, in a very haunting tone.
"Hunh…who's that…?" She mumbled in her sleep.
Everyone snickered and tried to hold the laughter in so they wouldn't wake her up.
=Catalina…= I called again.
"Who…are you?" She muttered again.
"She's lost it!" Reja whispered to Fly, who bent over, and tried her best to stop laughing.
=Open your eyes and you'll find out…=
Very slowly her eyes fluttered open. And what she came face-to-face with was a big black, scratched and battered organoid head.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A scream echoed through the morning. I shrieked at the sudden scream and then everyone doubled over, laughing.
Hunter was pounding the tree, Flyer had tears in her eyes, Reja fell over, and Ryu was slapping his thigh. "Hrrk-hrrk-hrrk!! HERRK-HERRK-HERRK!!" I myself was rolling in the dust.
"…That's….not…FUNNY!!" Cat bellowed, and everyone fell silent.
"Okay, let's go then." Ryu announced, and everyone piled into their zoids, and I happily jumped in with Reja, who after arranging everything about fifty times in her already-cramped cockpit, managed to find enough room for an organoid.
&&&
"Um…was it a left at the twelfth fork with three paths, or was it right at the seventh one with two…?" Cat thought aloud.
"Do you have a clue where we're going?" Reja questioned.
"Well, you could try getting us there if you want." Cat replied smugly, and her pink Blade Liger gave a growl in Reja's direction.
Everyone halted to a stop at the fork, where there were three paths, one going straight up, one going left, and another right.
We had been trekking north in our zoids for about half a day, and by now we were hiking up the foot of a mountain. From here on, things were going to get tough. It was going to get cold, and it was all uphill with scrawny bridges across giant cavities. Not to mention spiralling mountain paths, with so many forks and crossroads you'll be thinking you've stumbled into some weird maze.
Well that's what I've heard from Cat anyway. I noted that most of the vegetation had disappeared without a trace, with only small stunted trees left, bent with the harsh wind left.
And then, another howl was heard. No, not a howl of an animal- the howl of the wind. We had been fighting against the air currents all day.
"Ugh!" Hunter had to dig his Blade Liger's claws in to stop from being thrown backwards by the sudden force of the air.
Ryu didn't say anything, but you could tell he was also struggling with his zoid not to be pulled away from the onslaught.
"Hang on, Mystic." Reja whispered to me, a bit more to herself for comfort. She pulled the Werewolf's head down and forced it forward. It inched ahead, but against the howling wind that was all it could do.
Flyer took the force of the wind and moved forward, with some effort. Her black, blue and purple Gunsniper was heavily decked out with weapons so it has more weight to keep itself anchored to the ground. But its still harder than on the plains with no wind.
"Maybe we should find somewhere to wait out this wind." Ryu suggested, straining to hold on.
"No. It'll stay like this. Trust me." Cat replied bluntly.
"Then tell us where we're going before we all get sent flying!!" Reja barked.
Cat remained silent.
"Oh, stuff this! I'm going!" Flyer suddenly exclaimed, pushing her darkly-coloured zoid forward.
"Fine! Go get lost and find yourself sitting at the bottom on a ravine!" Cat spat.
Flyer ignored her and went straight ahead up the slope.
"Wait! I'm coming too!" Hunter called after her, and gingerly moved his Blade Liger forward. After a moment, he then continued, the head of his Liger pushed down, and relied on the brute power of the zoid to move him forward.
Ryu grunted and shifted his weight on his large black draconic zoid and followed suit.
=Let's follow them. Please.= I suggested to Reja hopefully.
She sighed. "Well, it looks like I'm going to be left behind if I don't!" and with that, she slowly and tentatively moved the jet black zoid ahead.
"H-hey!" Cat yelled after us. She hesitated for a moment, and then trailed along.
Presently the wind faded away, just as quickly as it had come.
"Oh…thank god!" Reja mumered.
Something seemed familiar here. What…was it? I don't know. Something does. It's as if I've been here before.
I shook my head to clear the confusing feelings.
"What's up?" Reja asked me.
=Uh…it just feels like I've been here, that's all.= I replied a little shakily.
"How's that possible? You've never been anywhere besides your pod, and the places we're taking you to…or have you?" Reja trailed off into thought.
=That's what's been troubling me. It seems I've lived before…= I shook my head. =This is just so confusing. Maybe once we get to that woman's house she'll know what to do.=
"That's if she really does know anything about organoids." Reja added to herself.
A voice crackled over the intercom. "Mystic? You okay?" It was Flyer's voice, sounding a little concerned.
=Uh, yeah. I think.=
"Okay then. Just checking." And with that, the transmission ended.
My eyes were suddenly drawn to Hunter's Blade Liger. I know I've seen it from somewhere…
"Man, I'm sooo hungry! Can we stop yet?" A voice from within the blue Blade Liger complained.
As a glanced around, there was the Liger, a Command Wolf and a Gustav. Everything else was gone, and I was standing outside the zoids, watching on while I ran along beside them. And something was different…it just looked different, like it was a different climate or something, yet it was everyway else like the mountainous path we've been climbing along.
"Oh, be quiet Van! It's only been a few hours since we left!" Another voice shot back. This one was female, and from within the Gustav.
"So…?" Van replied.
"Maybe we should. I don't think Zeke likes this cold weather, you know." Someone else now. Something tells me her name…what was it? Fiona. How do I know her name?
"He'll be fine. If anything happens, he'll just fuse with the Blade Liger. Anyway, if it starts blowing again I don't want to be stuck sitting outside while my Command Wolf is sent flying." This voice came from the Command Wolf.
Zeke? Who's that? He can fuse?
"Okay then." Fiona replied. "We turn left at the next fork, right Moonbay?"
"Yeah."
We were now at a fork. I had been in a daze for some time, by the looks, and everyone had been trying to stay on their feet, so nobody had noticed me slipping into a trance.
"Where now?" Hunter asked.
=…LEFT!= I suddenly yelled.
"What?" Ryu asked.
=Left! We go left! I know where to go! Left, okay?= I blurted.
"Left it is." And Flyer turned to head to the left fork, without a moment's hesitation.
"So you're just going to follow an organoid that has been nowhere but a pod, and not me who knows where to go?" Cat fumed.
"Yeah. I trust Mystic. She's an organoid. Just because she was taken out of a pod doesn't mean she hasn't been out of it beforehand." Fly replied simply.
Flyer thinks I've lived before? Maybe…maybe that's what the visions are! They're memories! Wait, no…it seems they're coming from two different people….oh, I'm confused…I snapped out of my thoughts as the Werewolf lurched forward, and towards the left passage.
"AHH!" A gust of wind caught Hunter off guard.
"Whoa, there…" Ryu steadied the blue zoid by placing the Konran behind him.
"Thanks…" He mumbled.
"I think we'd better find somewhere to stay soon. It'll be getting dark soon." Reja stated.
There were agreements all round. Just then Hunter bounded away.
"Hunter, you stupid kid! Get back here!" Cat called. "Ugh. That kid's gonna be the death of me…"
"Hey! Come take a look! It's a cave!" Hunter called down.
=Let's go!= I cried.
The zoids quickly ambled along the path, as fast as their zoids could take them on the steep, rocky lane.
"Just here!" Hunter called again, and then we spotted the blue zoid. With relief, the small group comprised of miss-matched zoids also saw a huge crack in the mountain. Well, it looked like a crack, but it was far too big. A Whale King could fit in there. It was probably created from an earthquake or something.
And so the zoids crawled in and we jumped out. Flyer immediately brought out some fire-making tools and told Ryu to go get the fish she had given to him so they could make something to eat.
I glanced out and saw the horizon. It was now a sunset with glowing fierce orange sky, tinged at the top with the deep blue-black of night. A few stars had already come out and I paused to take in the scene. You could still see the plains, far off. And the gigantic tree we had camped at yesterday. It was strange to think we had gotten this far away and this far up the mountain in just a day.
Still further off, you could still see the rocky dusty bronze walls of the canyons. But you couldn't see the desert anymore.
A chilly wind blew past and forced me back into the cave where everyone else had already been seated around a fire. I walked around and sat next to Flyer.
A general conversation started, about who missed who, and a deeper history of where everyone had come from. Hunter didn't know his parents. He had been found in the desert with Kane inside their zoids, strangely enough, and had been raised by those bandits. Reja was the daughter of Commander Roger Diotra and Jennine Diotra of the Con Delta Zoid Base and Academy, and grew up there, and trained pilots at the academy. Cat had been raised in an orphanage after her parents bet everything on a zoid match and left once she got a zoid licence. Flyer was born in the New Wind Colony and had an average life, and learnt how to fix zoids once she moved out of her house for a living. Ryu didn't say anything, he just watched and listened. I wonder what had happened to him? I then blinked and watched the dancing fire. It was dark now. But what about me? What about my history? I was rescued from a pod a while ago. And these guys found me. But that's about it. What about those…memories, those visions? Are they real memories?
I sighed and listened in as the conversation turned. I wish I knew…
&-&-&
Blazing red eyes watched over the twilight mountain below. His messy black hair blew in the wind. He folded his arms and watched. It was getting boring.
Suddenly someone else caught his eye. A boy. He had medium-length pitch-black hair, dull grey eyes, and wore cargo pants and a black shirt. The man blinked and watched him come closer.
"Who are you?" He called out.
"Kane." The boy replied.
Well, well, well! I can only say one thing. CHARACTER SWAP COMING SOON! Lol, okay. Can you guess who? :P
Hmmm…thanks to everyone who reviewed and this is only down the bottom 'cos I got reviews while I was already writing the chapter lol….
Dream Dragon: I guess I am kinda weird, but I do have a love for birds! I thought having a story from the organoid's point of view would be pretty original, so that's why I chose it.
MP: Actually I do have a plot, a "big baddie" but it'll be a while before that's introduced, and I wanted some things for them to do before it (that's what the chapter-long ideas I asked for were. They weren't for this chapter, but for later ones and I'll probably use them). And they are already on their way to see someone about organoids. Anyway…once I get to the nearest city or something, I'll bring in Gavin- but it might be a while yet.
Blue moon wolf: Finally someone took a stab about Mystic! I was waiting for that! I can't tell you if she's Shadow or not; otherwise it'd spoil the fic! Did I throw you with that last "vision"? :D
Hmmm…the next chapter I've been planning ever since I started this fic, and although I can't give you a sneak peek seeing I haven't written it yet, I can give you the title:
Showdown In The Snow =)
Anyway, better get going!
Don't forget to review!
-=Biddett da Pigeon Stalker=-