Reese and Hiltz walked out from the old mine about half an hour later to see what Raven was up to. The looked around and found him where they left him.
Hiltz grabbed him by the scruff and pulled him up. Raven would have fallen straight back over but there was a tree behind him, so he fell into that instead.
Reese, help him and meet me in the cave," Hiltz said, walking off.
Reese walked over to Raven and helped him off the tree. Raven put one arm around her shoulders for some support and used his other hand to hold his wound.
"Why did you choose that bitch over me?" Reese asked as they were walking to the mine.
"She's not a bitch, Reese. You are," Raven struggled.
Reese stopped walking so that stopped Raven from walking too.
"I could just leave you here u know?"
"Yeah you could but Hiltz will get pissed with you," he smirked.
"Reese! Hurry up!" Hiltz called from the mine.
"Coming!" She called.
They stared walking dementedly because all Ravens' weight was on one side forcing them to walk lop-sided. They finally got to the cave and Hiltz gabbed him off Reese and dragged him down a dark corridor. Raven's pain was overwhelming. He would have sworn black and blue that he was dying.
Hiltz finally put him down at another entrance to the mine. It was flat and grassy- perfect for Zoid fighting.
"Seeming you're not fit for fighting so you will watch us kill your little girlfriend," He said, banging on some chains around Raven's wrists that where connected to the wall. "And you're going to watch her die."
Raven glared up at Hiltz. When Raven got the chance he would tear Hiltz apart.
"Reese, fix up Rabbit so he doesn't die on us," Hiltz said, throwing Reese a bandage.
"But…" Reese stared to protest.
"Just do it!"
"Okay, Okay!" Reese said and walked back into the cave. She came out a few minutes later with some bandages and a bottle of Anti-infect.
She unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. Raven tried to object but it didn't work too well.
She put some Anti-infect on Raven's wound, which stung even more. Raven moaned and rolled around a bit.
It took her most of the night and after she'd finished she left him to go and find Hiltz.
She found him on one of the exits of the mine. He was sitting on the cliff, watching Karl and his mob to set up their camp.
"What's wrong Hiltz?" Reese said.
He sighed and said, "Nothing. Come sit down."
Reese walked over to the edge of the cliff and sat next to him. It was a clear night and the winds were strong. Reese shivered.
Hiltz shifted a little closer to Reese and wrapped an arm around Reese's middle. When Reese looked up at Hiltz, he kissed her. Reese had been waiting for this moment for ages. When Hiltz pulled away Reese stared him in the eyes.
"I love you, Reese," He said.
"I love you, too," she replied.
Hiltz pressed his lips hard against hers and laid her on her back. He climbed on top of her but they were so carried away in doing this they almost fell off the cliff.
"Hey Reese," Hiltz said.
"Mmmm?"
"We can't let any of this get in our way. We have a plan remember?"
"Yeah, I know," Reese answered.
"I gotta go for a walk, I'll be back soon. Go check on Raven, will you?"
"Okay, I'll do it in a minute," she answered, staring up at the stars. She waited until Hiltz had left before moving.
Raven hadn't done much. He reminded Reese of a fish out of water- couldn't do much except roll around a bit. Raven was shivering violently and had a cold sweat. Reese walked over to him and sat next to him. She put her hand on his forehead- he was burning up.
"I. I got-gotta s-see Prachi," he scratched out.
"No you don't. You'll be fine," she answered.
Reese wrapped her arm around his waist and Raven moaned. He didn't want her touching him, but he had no choice really.
A couple of hours later Hiltz walked in.
"I've negotiated and we're having a ground battle in the forest first thing in the morning," he said.
"Hiltz…I don't think Raven will make it through the night. Look at him! He needs a doctor! He wont drink, he won't eat and he's burning up! If you want to win this fight you got to get him proper treatment."
"Reese come out here for a minute," Hiltz said walking out of the room.
She didn't want to get up because he'd just stopped shivering, but she had to anyway. She followed Hiltz out of the room and up the tunnel a bit.
"What?" Hiltz said blankly. "Are you saying he's going to kick the bucket on us?"
"Basically, yeah. I thought about it we can take him as far as fifty metres of the imperial people's campsite and he can stager the rest of the way."
"Are you crazy Reese? We'll get caught!"
"If you want your plan to work you'll need Raven, and he's not much use to you dead, is he? I figured we could catch him again in about six months time and threaten him that we'll kill his girl," explained Reese.
Hiltz sighed. He really did need Raven for his plan to work but six months is ages to him.
"Six months?"
"It will take about two months to heal, then he needs to recover then he needs to get fit again. Six months is reasonable," Reese said.
"Okay. Well we gotta grab Raven then."
Within ten minutes Hiltz had Raven over his shoulder and they were striding across the grassland toward Shubaltz's camp.
"Right Raven, if you want to live your going to walk the rest of the way to Shubaltz's camp" Hiltz said, putting Raven down.
He was unsteady on his feet and couldn't stand. But he was strong so he was prepared to face the challenge. He at least wanted to live to see and touch Prachi again. He had to walk about fifty metres to get to help; he didn't think he would make it.
Hiltz and Reese let go of him and walked off back toward the mine. Raven got to about ten metres of the bush that hid the camp a bit but tripped and fell over. He knew he would never be able to get up again. He couldn't call out to someone and I didn't think anyone heard him. He was wrong; Vinnie Roe's sensitive ears picked up a sound from the other side of the bush.
The horse went to investigate. No one noticed the horse walk away except Prachi. She didn't follow; just watched.
Vinnie Roe walked over to Raven who was lying on the ground. He wasn't moving but Vinnie Roe knew he wasn't dead. The horse remembered this guy by his hair. He nosed Raven then sat down next to him. The horse was only wearing a bridle; Prachi took his saddle off earlier.
Raven crawled up onto Vinnie Roe's back and grabbed his mane. The horse got up as carefully as be could so Raven wouldn't slip off. He walked back to the camp and through the bush.
"Raven!" Prachi squeaked, jumping up.
She ran over to the horse and pulled Raven off him. A couple of the soldiers jumped up and raised their weapons.
"Hold your fire!" Karl ordered jumping up too.
Raven collapsed onto the ground. Prachi held his head into her and rocked him. She stared crying because he was so sick and hurt. She didn't like seeing him like this. She didn't like what that blue haired women did to him.
"Nurse!" Karl called, and a nurse came running. Karl stared at Raven and Prachi. Karl was happy, he can now avoid a fight, but then again, he wasn't happy. In his eyes Raven was still a psycho killer.
Within an hour, the nurse had got Raven into the first-aid tent. She had re-bandaged him and given him some painkillers.
The nurse was just about to give Raven a needle.
"W-what's in th-that?" Raven scratched out.
"Don't worry, were not going to kill you, its to stop infection," she said.
Raven laughed weakly. It sounded evil though. Like he had something planed. The nurse freaked a bit.
Prachi didn't leave his side all night and even when they got him back to the base and in the hospital she refused to leave him. When they got back to the base the doctor stitched up his wound. He was set up with a drip and given more painkillers.
Prachi sat next to Raven in the hospital bed. He was holding her limp hand in his. The beeps, clicks and dripping of the IV were all the sound in the room. He could barely stand to look at her. Prachi stared at the ground.
He shouldn't of come in the first place, Prachi thought. I'm going to get my revenge on those people! Hunt them down and kill them like animals.
There suddenly was a knock on the door. Prachi looked up.
"Come in," she said gruffly.
It was Van. The Guardian must have just come back from their scouting mission.
Prachi rubbed her eyes and got up to hug him. "Hi Van."
He hugged her back. "Hey Prachi, are you ok? What happened to your face?"
Prachi still had bruises over her face where Raven, Reese and Hiltz had hit her. She told him what had happened. Van suddenly realised that it was Hiltz and Reese that she was talking about.
"No Van, this is my war now. You can help fight but your not going to fight for me. I will win, if I don't I'll die trying. As long as there's something there to fight for I'll fight it to the death."
"But Prachi, you don't know how to-"
"I will learn how to fight. God damn it Van, I was raised in the miliary for Pete's sake! Anyway you can't and won't stop me Van. I'm not a child anymore. No more big-brother stuff. If I have to fight this fight myself I'll do it!"
But Prachi, you don't know how they think. You don't know how they work! You can't just go out onto a battlefield and win without knowing anything about your opponent!" Van argued.
"You just don't get it do you? Look, come here." She walked over to Raven's bed. She unbuttoned his shirt and showed him the bullet wound. "If you where Raven, Lying here helpless, I would go out and fight for you. I would hunt them down and cut them up. That's what I'm doing! It's too late Van, you're too late. I know why I was put here now. To get rid of evil in this world so that there is no more suffering. I'm fighting for Raven, for everyone, the world. I'm fighting for Zi. If we just let this go, they'll multiply and then you'll have another war on your hands. Then you'll have more pain, more agony. Do you really want that? Van tell me now, or it'll be too late."
Van sighed, taking in what she had just said. He knew it was true, all of it. He knew there was no more stopping her now. She had her head strung high and her eyes focused on the horizon.