Chapter Two: Soft Green


He's comfortable. And warm. He can't remember a time ever feeling this…cozy. Where was he? The last thing he remembers was fighting a battle…Did he die?

No, that can't be right. He remembers winning…against that bastard Hiltz…and he won with Flyheight of all people. It makes sense, he guessed. He's the only other pilot on Zi who was somewhat competent.

But now what? Did he get captured? Did Shadow get captured? Oh no…He needs to get out of here…he needs to get Shadow back. He tries to focus his mind on waking up, but it was like wading through a thick fog. His head just felt…heavy. But he was determined. He had just gotten Shadow back, and he will not lose him again.

He fights through his foggy mental state, until he slowly opens his eyes. It was dark. He tries to look around. He wasn't in a prison cell… prison cells are never this comfortable. He seems to be inside a tent. Well, that's good news. He notices a figure huddled in a corner. Shadow? No, too small to be Shadow. He tries to move, but his body is just so…exhausted.

Okay, one at a time. He tries to move his right arm, and gets ready to prop himself up. But when he does, he grunts in pain. His side hurts, his arms hurt, his head...just everywhere hurts. "Ow…yep, I'm no longer comfortable" he thought, as he gently sets himself back down.

His movements seem to have awoken the figure by the corner. "Raven?" it said. He recognized that voice…he tries to call her. "R-…R-Reese", he said, his voice raspy and barely above a whisper. Well, that was pathetic. It got her attention anyway, and she carefully crawled over to him. He is met with soft green eyes. He blinks up at her. Have her eyes always been green..?

"Sh-Shadow…" he says, still concerned where his best friend is. "He's right outside. He's resting, too" she replied. That's a relief. "Here", she says as she opens a canteen and holds it out for him. "It'll help your throat," she added when he didn't react. He takes the canteen, and tries to hold his head up to take a drink. She helps him, supporting his head and the canteen as he drank. She was right, the water was amazing. He hungrily drank the water, finishing the canteen too quickly, causing him to start coughing. And it hurt. Again.

"Easy" she said, putting the canteen aside. Her worried eyes watching him as he finally stopped coughing. "Go back to sleep, it's still a few more hours to sunrise", she said as she helps him settle back down.

He doesn't argue. The coughing fit seems to have taken all the energy out of him. His head was getting heavy again, the fog starting to come in. As he felt himself slowly drift away, he feels a blanket getting put on him, and gentle hands re-adjust whatever his head was resting on. "So warm… and comfy" he thought, as he drifted off to sleep, dreaming about soft green eyes.