Desert time passes -
Another day on the road,
Moving to and fro.
The scenery, though barren,
Is quite beautiful.
We move like nomads -
Our two-party caravan
Filled with bright riches.
But it is not ours to keep -
The vault is its home.
I am head driver -
I make the turns and the twists
In our routine path.
And I follow behind him;
I trust his wisdom and calm.
I am the sidekick -
I provide questions and laughs
In our routine path.
And I lean on him for help;
I trust his judgment and strength.
But a change would come -
A seed of chaos contained
In a magic bag.
Now released by Pandora,
The seed's anarchy has spread.
A poison is felt -
Its strong fumes are inhaled
By the affected.
It clouds justice's great mind;
Innocence is doomed for life.
The team has split up -
My partner? The seed snatched him;
He runs from the law.
My partner? The seed pushed him;
He left the desert and hides.
Our paths are no more.
I do think about him sometimes -
Winston was my friend.
I do think about him sometimes.
Ted was my friend; only hope.
A/N: Henry may not be the most evil character out there, but he is his own Pandora and box. He has unleashed all of the chaos into the world yet has also left behind hope for some. This type of poetry will be the first of an unknown number of poems that will be focusing on the dynamics between various duos in the games. It's called a renga, a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry. Two poets will work on the same poem, but one poet will write the first three lines in the familiar haiku 5-7-5 count while the second poet will write the last two lines with a 7-7 syllable count that responses to the first three lines.
Needless to say, this first set of renga focuses on the first duo we see in 'Breaking the Bank' - Ted McAdams and Winston Davis. They were tricky to write for as they're only in their scenes for a few seconds. That leaves little time to discern who they are as people. But it was a good challenge - it led to my writing out how they viewed each other and what their feelings were on everything that happened from 'Breaking the Bank' to 'Infiltrating the Airship'.
References
-Pandora's box? Borrowed freely from the Greek myth.
Enjoy!