Author's Notes/ disclaimer: I own none of Invader Zim.
Here'sanotherlongoverduechapter!
Yes. I'm finally back after settling into another routine. I guess I'll try and make myself edit and post a few more chapters somewhat soonish maybe. I have so little motivation to edit, yet there is no way I would post without at least doing a read-through or two. Darn speeling arrors…
Deeper Meanings
Everyone was supposed to gather in the morning, but by sun down, most of the members had already returned to the camp. They slept outside in sleeping bags, forming a circle around their leader's tent. Apparently the captain never slept inside the tent, preferring instead to sleep in his own sleeping bag at the edge of the camp and away from everyone else.
"Here you go," Divis said, handing a sleeping bag to Lard Nar. "My mom likes sewing, so when I asked her to make some she was really happy."
"Oh... thanks," Lard Nar replied, accepting the gift.
"Where is your friend anyway? He disappeared after we left the stream... is everything ok with you two?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know... it just felt like something was a bit off... like you guys might have gotten into a fight or something."
Lard Nar bit his lip. He and Purple weren't really fighting... but he wasn't too sure what the Tallest was thinking right now. He kept checking to make sure the space-ship was still parked where they left it. Purple could easily take it and go anytime.
"Oh well, good friends fight sometimes," Divis remarked, shrugging it off.
The sun was beginning to set in the sky which had turned a bright red colour. All of the children had returned home for the night, and the group of Heroians that followed the captain were starting to gather wood from the forest. A few had taken up fishing poles and began walking upstream while others had grabbed some baskets and left to gather what they could.
"We usually make three or four fires to keep warm during the night, although it never really gets that cold on our planet. The coldest it ever gets is during the rainy season in Malmin, a time when the planet's rotation around the sun stretches away, so the sun isn't hot enough to burn away the clouds."
"The planet looks pretty alive for only getting a bit of water," Lard Nar commented.
"That's because of the fresh water reservoirs we built," Divis explained. "Before we took the initiative to help our planet, the trees and the grass were only green one time a year, but now they're always green, or blue, and we always have flowers."
"Does this planet have cities?"
"Yes, lots. We're just in an unpopulated place right now, because we don't want to cause a scene. We build all of our own ships you know."
It was strange for an advanced planet to be so dedicated towards preserving the natural life of the planet... Vort had cared enough to protect a few parks, and Irk hadn't cared to do anything at all.
Then again, Irk was mostly hard rock and dry dirt. There wasn't much life on that planet anyway. He wondered if this had been caused by the Irkens or if the planet had always been a desert. Would Purple know?
"Let's join Naku and Nuka's group," Divis suggested as he started walking towards camp.
"We can help gather firewood."
"Alright," Lard Nar agreed as he followed behind.
"You should walk beside me," Divis said. "It makes it easier for us to talk."
The captain emerged from his tent, and those who were still in the camp formed a half circle around him. They were excited about their next mission, and they wanted to hear everything the captain had planned.
"Now now, you know I won't tell you until morning," the captain replied, holding up his hands in mock defence. "Try to relax and get some sleep tonight. We'll all need to be well rested for tomorrow."
Purple spent much of the evening lost in thought. He wished Red hadn't been such a jerk... but he was only beginning to see things differently now that he was away from his own people.
Until he met Lard Nar, he had always thought the brutality he witnessed as an invader on other planets was meant to be crushed by the larger more brutal force of the Empire. He thought everything that had been downloaded into his Pak and everything he'd learned through training had been the truth… and why wouldn't he? No Irken would question the system they lived in. They wouldn't dare.
It was also a bit disturbing to find out that the armour all Tallest wore for 'protection' hindered his abilities. With it on, he couldn't move very easily, so he wore a hover belt. He'd almost forgotten he could do things like run and climb. His followers were always willing to fetch him whatever he wanted. After he became the Tallest, he became trapped both physically and mentally. He had to conquer, to destroy, to do anything the Empire or the Control Brains, wanted him to do, and for a while he'd even enjoyed it.
His reflexes were still pretty good from his training as a soldier. Apparently Tallest were quite capable of defending themselves, they were just told they couldn't, and they were expected to behave accordingly.
"Am I really going to trap myself back in that world...?" he asked himself, staring up at the stars in the black sky above. Irk was out there somewhere... and so was the Massive. It was strange that he didn't realize he felt anything towards his home planet until he was on someone else's.
When he and Red destroyed the Resisty, he really believed he was doing the right thing. He felt no remorse when he ordered the slaughter of those aliens; they were inferior. The Empire had no need for them... but Lard Nar was different. Vortians were useful. Purple had argued against using the canon sweep on Vort. He'd never fought so hard to prevent a slaughter before... and Red... Red thought he was crazy.
"You're acting just like HER Purple!" the red Tallest hollered.
"So what if I am?" Purple questioned, raising an invisible brow.
"She trusted those... those Vortians, and they killed her!"
"Zim killed her Red... we saw his memories..."
"But he had never killed a Tallest before he started interacting with those vermin!"
Purple sighed. The argument wasn't going anywhere.
He wondered how many planets would be taken before the Empire was satisfied. How many more aliens would become trapped in that kind of existence? He'd never cared about something like this before.
Were he and Lard Nar friends...? He wondered. Probably not. Irkens didn't really have a good grasp on the meaning of that word. Had Red been his friend...? Probably not. He wasn't sure... Red was his DNA brother, but that didn't automatically make them friends did it?
Irkens had even less understanding of family than they did friendships.
He looked down at the ground below him, wondering if he could jump down without hurting himself. Everyone would tell him he couldn't if he was back on Irk. He let go of the branches and leaped down from the tree. He landed easily, and he dusted off his hands. That wasn't difficult.
Purple decided to return to camp. Everyone would be sleeping now, and he could easily slip in unnoticed. He walked towards the smoke rising into the sky and found everyone asleep. There were four fires going, but they didn't have much life left.
His antennae flicked up when he heard someone muttering. He paused and looked around. The captain was lying nearby, away from the rest of the group. Purple approached him slowly. It was obvious the captain was asleep.
The Tallest sat down beside him. This was probably the reason the captain separated himself from everyone at night. The Heroian leader was having a nightmare. It reminded him of all the nightmares Lard Nar had...
Purple watched as the captain's small body tried to fight off the terrors in his mind. The Tallest caught a few broken words... it sounded like "please no" and "stop." He placed his hand on the Heroian's shoulder, feeling the small creature's muscles tense. The captain's eyes snapped open, and he breathed heavily as he tried to recover from the vivid images he'd seen.
"You've been tortured," Purple stated as a matter of fact.
"Oh... Kaenen... you startled me..." the captain remarked, quickly feeling for his mask to make sure it was still on. "Do you need me for something?"
"Was it the Empire?"
The captain sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "Yes... it was the Empire..." he admitted.
"I'm surprised they let you go."
"Me too... I guess the Tallests got bored with me or something. In any case, I was one of the lucky ones."
The masked Heroian smiled. "As long as you're still alive, you have the chance to do all sorts of things. Your friend will realize this too."
"Do you plan to kill the Tallest?" Purple questioned, curious.
The captain chuckled as he moved to sit. "If it would work, possibly... we are a people who promote peace. We only fight when necessary, and even then, we don't like to take lives. But the Tallests aren't really the problem. They're just the pawns... no... the real problem is at the root of the Empire itself, or so I've been told... but the Empire has dozens of control brains. Even if we destroyed one, the Irkens would simply rebuild it."
"That's true," Purple agreed. Not even Zim's rampage on the surface of Irk did much to faze the Empire.
"But one day, we will find a way to bring down the Empire. I really do believe that, and the more help we have the better."
"What if you end up a slave instead?"
"Er..." the captain's expression fell. "That would be kind of a downer... but I guess that's always a possibility. I don't really know... I'd be alive at least. I could always try escaping."
"Well, I'll let you get back to sleep," Purple said, lying down in the grass.
"Aren't you going to join the others?"
"Nah, I'll stay here."
"I might wake you..."
"I don't care."
"Ok... well... good night."
The captain lay back down and snuggled into his sleeping bag.
Purple stayed awake for a while, wondering about what he'd do when he returned to the Empire. Could he keep going like nothing happened...? Wait... he frowned. Heroia had been marked for something... but he couldn't remember what it was.
He doubted it was an invasion... Red was the one who suggested investigating what happened to Irk's stolen supplies, but he didn't recall hearing anything about an invasion.
Note to Self: There is no 'Prisoner 16' in your documents. You deleted it because it was the exact same as Prisoner 17 except you didn't EDIT that one.
(I had a chapter splitting error).