The flames of Retribution
Chapter 5: Departure, Reunion & Sacrifice
The sound of the slap echoed throughout the cavern. Fiona's hand burned from the strike and Van lay sprawled out on the ground. He had accused Astra of being responsible for Karl's accident. Fiona had lost it. Then she saw Astra out of the corner of her eye rush back into her house and the door shut. Fiona knew what that meant. Astra would leave, Van had crossed the line. "How dare you... She saved his life!" The door slammed open and Astra was toting several bags and her organoids carried more. She packed everything in her Zoid and looked at Van in disgust. "Fool!" She called and got into her Zoid. "Elisi you Karl and Thomas will be able to contact me." And with that, she turned her Zoid and left.
Hours later when she stopped running the organoids growled as they spotted a town. She turned towards it and leaving Saix on the outskirts with Damienth. Astra and Helios entered the town and bought a few more things including fabric and thread. They departed after hearing the rumors of a red dragon Zoid appearing in the ruins a few days travel away to the west. Astra hit her acceleration and drove Saix to his upper speeds to try and outrun her sadness. When she set up camp that night she carefully measured and cut some of the fine fabric she had bought and began to sew. She slowly began to hum then to sing hoping to cheer herself up. When she finally turned in for the night she realized how much better she felt. Being on her own meant she could find Raven and travel with him and Shadere again.
She looked through the ruins but found nothing. One week rolled into the next but she continued to look. When she was holed up in a cave with the snow outside. It happened, the bracelet began to glow. She looked at Damienth and he bolted out of the cave and took to the sky. It took him nearly an hour to find the Geno-breaker and guide him to the cave. He watched the boy leave his cockpit and saw the surprise on his face when he was bowled over into the snow by his mistress. Raven was shocked when Damienth appeared and led him to a cave where he was pounced upon by Astra who was crying. He finally understood the words she babbled in his neck a few minutes later. "I was looking for you... I searched for three weeks. But until tonight I felt like I had no hope." He smiled and stroked her hair before they got out of the snow and into the cave. Raven went out one more time to grab his clothes, bedding, and supplies before closing his cockpit and returning to the cave.
When she told him why she was traveling alone he lost his temper and punched the wall. Causing the rocks to crack. She pulled his hand away and held it against her chest. "Please don't... I want to hurt him too but I don't want to see you hurt." He pulled her to him and with his injured hand gently grasped her chin to look up at him. Those brilliant purple-blue eyes looked at him, seeming to see into his soul. "Your eyes... They're beautiful." She whispered. And with those words running through his mind he lowered his head and kissed her. She reached up and lost her fingers to his hair as she leaned against him. Time stood still for them the world seemed so far away from them and yet so near. When they parted both had soft flushes to their cheeks. They got started on dinner and while Raven was stirring the pot, Astra was making them a bed. Once she was done she returned to the fireside in time to have Raven hand her a steaming plate of food.
After melting snow for water they washed the dishes and settled down for the night. Raven noticed she was sleeping in one of his shirts and smirked. As she crawled into bed he pulled her to his side and she pulled the blankets over them. "I think traveling with you will be much better for us both." He nodded and after sharing a few more lingering kisses they fell asleep. It took a few days to get used to one another but they found they were quite a team in battle. She watched his back and wasn't afraid to fight. They found some ruins and spent a week exploring them. Raven knew Prozen was hunting him now, and his connections to the zoidian woman would make her a target but something in him wouldn't allow him to leave her behind.
Traveling together was a wonderful new experience for them both. Astra loved to care for Raven, and Raven enjoyed having a partner that was loyal and honestly cared. Astra had gone to the village for supplies and had just finished putting them into their compartment when the sounds of battle reached her ears. She whirled around to see the geno-breaker and Van's Liger fighting. She quickly climbed into her cockpit and strapped down. Saix's eyes glowed as she darted towards the battlefield, She could see Irvine taking cheap shots from behind and the sides of the geno-breaker, Elisi and Moonbay were left out of the battle as Thomas' D-bison tried to get Van loose. "Stop it.." She whispered. Seeing the Liger finally get free and start attacking the geno-breaker. "Stop it." She said her eyes clouded by both memory and tears. Suddenly she charged forwards her zoid's speed making the flats rumble ominously. She could see the Descat and hear the zoids screams as it was ripped from this world, but now instead of Rafe being pulled from her she only saw Raven. Fiona felt the rage and pain overtaking the atmosphere and turned her zoid. Only to be blasted off her feet by Saix's wake. She had seen the Zoid and cried out. "Astra!" "Not again Elisi! I won't let someone be ripped away from me!" Saix bolted for the four fighting zoids her eyes only tuned on Van.
She saw the geno-breaker fire its particle gun but it missed taking out only the D-bison's weapon. "STOP IT!" She screamed and her Zoid jumped between the Liger and Geno-breaker. Van's blades pierced her Zoid. Striking the Zoid core. Astra's Zoid hit the ground and Raven was stunned, she had protected him at the cost of her Zoid. He saw the organoids circling the cockpit and before he could do anything a great burst of light blinded them, the light of the core was channeled away from the cockpit by the organoids. Three shapes now circled the cockpit his organoid Shadow had joined Helios and Damienth. Van charged again and this time Raven just swatted him aside. The red Liger passed him and the other zoidian girl rushed out of it and towards the cockpit. She was held at bay by the three organoids. "Please let me pass, I swear not to harm her. I might be able to get her free."
The three looked at one another and nodded allowing the other zoidian to pass. Fiona looked through the shattered cockpit's glass to see her friend was still strapped down and not moving, she could see blood dripping from her friend's body. "Thomas! Get me a medical kit!" He rushed back to his Zoid and pulled his out. Fiona was suddenly in the shadow of the geno-breaker and a single claw came down to pull the cockpit open. Raven came out of his Zoid and ran to Fiona's side together the two of them got the passed-out pilot out of her Zoid and onto the ground. Thomas came back with the medical kit and Raven took it from him and quickly laid it open for Fiona's use. She quickly pulled various equipment out of it and carefully cutting her friend's shirt. After asking the boys to turn their backs to her. She saw the nasty slices from the shrapnel and after cleaning them sewed them shut. She asked if Raven knew where her clothes were stored and he walked off to get her a shirt.
What he returned with was one of his shirts that was slightly large on him as to give her wounds fresh air and it was soft so it wouldn't catch on her soft skin. Raven gently lifted her form from the sand and cradled her to him, she had risked her life for him. No one had ever done that before. Helios merged with the Geno-breaker and the cockpit closed and its hand came down to lay beside them. "Raven wait!" Fiona called and the man turned to see the other zoidian "She will need special care I can provide her. There is a storm coming from the south and we need to take shelter. There are ruins nearby that will shield us from the worst of the storm." Van tried to jump in but Fiona turned on him with anger. "She is in this state because of you! I am so mad at you, I don't want to look at you for a while." Thomas came up and looked at the mess her Zoid had become. "Maybe she knows how to save it." Fiona hooked cables to her Liger and pulled the broken Zoid along behind her. Raven was surprisingly sitting on Damienth's back as they rode in the Geno-breaker's hand. Shadow circled above keeping an eye on both the storm and the ruins ahead.