The Wild Robot- More than A Task
Story Summary: A few days after the events of the DreamWorks classic, Bright bill has trouble sleeping one night after suffering guilt due to the day he told Roz she wasn't his mother; luckily, the warm-hearted bot isn't too far and notices this leading to a very heartwarming moment between the adoptive mother, and son.
Even when it is nearly interrupted when a somehow repaired Vontra returns, and tries to kidnap Brightbill to get to Roz, the robot immediately shows how far she is willing to go to protect her adoptive son even if she has to kill, or shut down Vontra herself.
Note: All credit to the original authors and DreamWorks SKG; I only take credit for the story.
In the forest, all of the animals were settling in as the night fell; Roz was heading back to the cove where Brightbills' old nest used to be. It was now a large open straw bed that both of them shared.
She had promised her wilderness friends about 3 years ago she would find a way back to them, and indeed, she kept that promise. They were elated to hear she had returned, but after that night she noticed her adoptive son Brightbill had not been around since; he didn't even sleep near her like he used to. This confused and worried her as he almost instantly embraced her when they met again.
That was until she realized the heavy guilt he was feeling as he remembered when he lashed out that she wasn't his mother even when he eventually had a change of heart upon realizing how close he could've been to death at a much younger age if not for her, he couldn't stop remembering how coldly he treated her; she also refused to let that stop her.
She slowly walked up to the crying goose and gently sat down next to him. " Brightbill, it's late... you should rest; why are you crying?" she asked as he tried to look away from her. Roz was undeterred, and simply placed a gentle hand on his head.
" Brightbill, please talk to me... I'm worried about you." Roz pleaded gently as he turned to her. " What am I supposed to say? I don't even deserve you being here." He said in sheer regret.
Roz blinked her eyes in shock, and gently held her adoptive son in her hands utterly horrified to have heard this. " Brightbill, where is this coming from? Who told you you don't deserve me?"
" I don't understand something mom... why did you continue to help me? I blamed you for my misfortune, I denounced you after all the ways you tried to help me all because I didn't fit in! I had to watch you almost be shut down, or even destroyed before I realized what you did for me!... It's not fair to you."
Roz was deeply distraught at her sons' pain; whether he was biologically hers' or not didn't matter to her, but then her eyes glowed as though giving a warm smile. "Brightbill, understand this: I did not look after you to be respected, and while it was initially made a task, that was how I was brought up in this wilderness... I was not meaning to tell you that looking after you was just a task."
Brightbill settled in her hands. " When I initially found you, I was programmed to complete tasks for others, but I had to learn to care for you simply because I was built for what I had thought was one specific purpose... however, something changed when you unexpectedly broke my transmitter... something that shaped me to be a better being than I thought I could be."
" You stuck with me through everything, and admittedly, I was confused at first; I wasn't the same kind of being, so I was unaware you actually saw me as a mother... ironically, even when Pinktail told me you did, I didn't understand... but then, the more time that had passed and the closer we grew, the more I realized why... I realized that it was more than you simply imprinting on me; it was you saying you trusted me... words couldn't tell you how much that meant to me and that made it all the more painful when you had to learn what happened to your..." she hesitated for a moment.
" Your real parents." she said visibly shaken at the horrible accident. " I worried you wouldn't have survived alone, so I took a chance... it was you trusting me that cemented my choice." she said in a very motherly and rather human voice despite being a robot as Brightbill gazed at her in awe.
" That is also what saved me from the horrible memory wipe attempt on me by that monster from Universal Dynamics who does not deserve to be named, especially for what she was planning to do to you; this is also how I was able to find my way back here, and there was nothing that was going to keep me from doing so."
Brightbill climbed up to her shoulder. " You've done a lot for me, mom."
Roz smiled. " Nothing is going to change how I feel about you, Brightbill; even if Vontra somehow comes back, and tries to take me again, I will find my way back here just as I did before because nothing can truly destroy a good family no matter how it is comprised or who or what forms it... because a good family only needs one key component to survive: love."
She hugged her adoptive son close as Brightbill extended his own wings as far as he could. " I love you, Brightbill and I always will." Roz said warmly. After they let go of each other for the moment, Roz leaned down to him, eyes glowing with love. " How do you feel now, Brightbill?" she asked.
The goose could only give a smile though still slightly teary eyed, but it wasn't because he was feeling guilt now; instead, he felt immensely loved, and grateful for her as he flew up slightly to hug her around her neck. Roz's eyes blinked in awe before she immediately reciprocated... clearly, she knew the answer.
" Thank you... for everything you did; thank you for being my mom." Brightbill said as Rozs' eyes glowed even brighter as though to emphasize how much his words really meant to her, and how deeply she loved him.
" There is no thanks necessary, Brightbill; even though our circumstances were not the best, I would change nothing about how I found you... well, except the part of... well, you know." she said as Brightbill smiled.
" It was only an accident, mom... I just wish I knew before; I never would hold it against you because you couldn't have known. Not to mention that you protected me from any threats that came upon me, even one of your own kind... I can never thank you enough for that."
" Oh and mom, I'm sorry for being so cruel to you; I know you never meant to hurt me." Brightbill said as Roz hugged him. " No apology is needed Brightbill... I know it must've hurt to find out your real parents had been killed, but in a way, I'm glad it brought us together."
" I honestly don't know what I would do without you." Brightbill said gratefully.
Roz smiled warmly both appreciative of her son's kind words, and filled with deep and truly immeasurable love for him regardless what differences they possessed. " Are you feeling better?" she asked as Brightbill smiled and nodded.
" I always feel better with you around." Brightbill said before settling next to her. " Goodnight mom... I love you."
Roz laid next to Brightbill giving one final gaze to him full of love even for a robot before eventually falling asleep.
Unbeknownst to them just minutes later, a bright light shone over the forest; in fact, a very eerily familiar one! Seconds following this, a loud rumble shook the forest in another eerily and frighteningly familiar way!
As the light grew closer, Brightbill suddenly shot awake! He flew around his robot mother being careful not to wake her to get a closer look, and as soon as he saw the ship, he gasped. " Mom!, Mom wake up!" he yelled as Roz immediately started back up, and shot out of her sleep mode.
" Brightbill!" she yelled as she awoke. He immediately flew around her to land back on her right shoulder; her transmitter began blinking as she stood up, immediately realizing what was happening as the light turned into a familiar ship quickly rushing out.
" Brightbill, stay behind me... it's Vontra! Keep quiet!" she cautioned with a whisper as he hid behind her head as the ship landed right in front of them. Not more than a second later, Vontra slowly levitated out of the porthole.
" Well well if it isn't Rozzum 7134..." she said in a very evil voice as Roz stood in front of her son. " That's Roz to you, Vontra... now why are you here?" Roz asked sharply clearly prepared to protect her son.
" Oh Roz... still living in a delusion that you're past your programming; of course you'd never have willingly followed protocol." Vontra said mockingly. " Well, that will soon be fixed!"
" You can try anything you want, Vontra but I'm not coming back to Universal Dynamics... I have already finished my work there, and now I will live the rest of my days here with my animal friends, and my son." Roz said having no mood to negotiate.
Vontra laughed before glancing behind her to notice Brightbill, her eye immediately turning red like it did when Roz jumped off her ship. " So you're the being she formed a connection to... isn't that interesting!"
" Stay away from my son!" Roz snarled standing in front of him protectively as Vontra simply shook her head. " Oh Roz... you've truly learned nothing from our previous encounter have you..." she mocked.
" I beg to disagree Vontra... I am not alone here, and no matter how many of your robots you send after me, I won't go willingly... I spent three years trying to get back here!" Roz said in an uncharacteristically threatening voice.
" Yes I figured that much..." she said in a bored and rather cruel voice preparing her ray gun. Roz immediately raised up her metal quills that she obtained from learning from the animals before turning to her son. " Brightbill, fly out of here as quick as you can, and whatever you do DON'T turn around!" Roz warned her son gently.
Brightbill nodded, and immediately tried to fly only for Vontra to strike his wing with her gun and cause him to fall right into her tentacles; now, Roz had enough!
" You know you're not too fast for a bird, Brightbill!" Vontra mocked only for a few quills like a porcupine to shoot her right in her eye. Vontra screamed, and Brightbill immediately kicked her further away with his flippers. The injury that the hit from her gun however was too great for him to fly!
Roz knew she had to get him fast, and showed no hesitation as she ran back to them. Vontra immediately advanced on him having every intention to kidnap, or even kill him; unfortunately for her, Roz was not the only thing she had to deal with.
Not more than a second later, all of Roz's animal friends advanced on the robots like a swarm of wasps, creating a perfect distraction, but she only had minutes to get her son...just ahead, Brightbill was limping in pain as everything started to blur in his vision; he saw a long black tentacle-like shadow and immediately knew who it belonged to!
" Mom!" He yelled as Vontra snaked one of her tentacle-like legs around his neck. Roz immediately saw what was happening and jumped at her!
" Get your tentacles off of my son, Vontra!" Roz growled in an uncharacteristically angry, and stern tone having had enough of the evil robot as she hovered to the side. Roz missed her target slightly, but used her long arm to clasp onto her.
" Don't make me kill you Vontra because I will do it if it protects Brightbill!" Roz warned as Vontra sighed mockingly tightening her grip on Brightbills' neck, the latter giving a frightened shriek.
" You can't Roz... your kind isn't programmed to harm another remember?" Vontra mocked before she suddenly heard a rumble, and ended up getting side-punched by Thorn and Fink as Rozs' animal friends rushed over to them to help save her son!
" She isn't the one you should worry about!" Fink smirked as Brightbill felt himself get flung out of her grasp, and almost right towards a waterfall!
" Brightbill!" Roz screamed rushing after him, desperately praying she would reach him in time. She knew that because of his injured left wing he would have more trouble flying which placed him even further in danger!... she would not lose him!
Vontra pushed Fink away, and prepared to fire at Roz... unfortunately for her, Thorn knew what she was planning and lunged right onto her, tearing her to pieces, and this time, because he managed to tear out her core, she was ultimately destroyed... for good!
Her threat was over.
" Come on, we've got to help Roz!" Fink yelled racing after her, the rest of the animals following suit. " Paddler, the tree!" Fink yelled as the beaver immediately gnawed at it just enough to bring it down to form a bridge.
Roz reached the waterfall just ahead where she saw Brightbill trying to hold to the edge with his feet, and quickly rushed over to him! " Brightbill!"
Brightbill turned just enough to see Roz rushing towards him and gasped in relief, but also panicked. " Mom!" he yelled out.
" Brightbill, don't move; I'm coming!" Roz yelled out coming just a few inches from the waterfall; then, she saw Brightbill begin to lose his grip letting out a loud scream and panicked; if Brightbill completely lost his grip on the edge, he was facing certain death...! Roz was quickly running out of time!
Another few rocks fell off the falls! " Someone give me a hand, please!" Roz yelled out in complete fear that was almost entirely uncharacteristic of her; luckily, Thorn was nearby and he quickly used his mouth to grab Roz and place her on his back!
Quickly, he moved as fast as his paws could carry him, and luckily, just when Brightbill was about to fall to certain death, Fink managed to catch his wing in his mouth and quickly pulled him up.
" I got you, buddy!" Fink said with a warm smile as Pinktail helped to hold his injured wing; both of them quickly pulling him back onto the log, and the latter gently placing him on his back just as Roz made her way to him.
" Roz, he's over here!" Fink yelled out to get her attention as she gasped in relief, and she could've sworn she felt a few tears come to her eyes even being a robot, gently holding out her hands as he gently laid her son into her embrace, shaking and in tears as she hugged him close.
" Brightbill... thank goodness you're alright!" Roz whispered relieved beyond all measure both that her son was okay, and that Vontra's threat was permanently over as he cried in her shoulder before she saw a sharp, black shard of metal sticking out, and a small bit of blood coming from his wing.
" Oh no...! Pinktail, Fink lay him flat, now and quickly!" Roz said firmly, and worried as Fink gently turned him over much to his confusion. " Brightbill, look right at me okay?... try to hold still." she said gently as her left hand gently stroked his head while her right turned into a few drills.
" It's okay, kid; it might hurt a little, but it won't last." Fink said softly as Brightbill shut his eyes giving a pained cry as Roz tried to dig under the edge of the shard; she was grateful it didn't hit his neck or worse because if it had, he likely would've been facing certain death; as it was, his wing could've very nearly been unsalvageable if the shard from Vontra being destroyed had been sharper, or if it dug deeper into the middle of his wing!
The goose screamed as Rozs' drill pushed under the shard, but tried to hold still. Pinktail helped to still him as Roz turned her drill into a set of tweezers, and managed to pull the sharp metal shard out of his wing in a quick motion. She then carefully cleaned the resulting wound and gently wrapped it in leaves that she resourcefully stitched together to form a bandage-like stitch of leaves.
" You'll have to refrain from using your wings for a little while, but the pain should subside in a few hours." Roz said gently as Brightbill started crying. The tenderhearted mother bot sat down and wrapped her arms around him, clearly relieved to have been able to save him.
" Brightbill, it's okay... she's gone, and this time she's not ever coming back! No one will ever hurt you this way again..." Roz whispered very gently as Brightbills' tears still didn't cease, but no one was surprised.
He not only almost lost his ability to fly because of that monster, and was even nearly kidnapped for who knew what reason, but he could've nearly lost any connection with his mother just like when Vontra first came to the island; even worse was the fact that had it not been for her friends, that could've been the very last time she ever saw Brightbill.
" I can't believe even a robot could be so evil!..." Pinktail gasped in horror as she came up beside Roz with her many children.
" Sadly, this isn't the first time she's tried this since I made my way back here... I should've been more alert... this was all my fault." Roz said sadly as Brightbill raised out his wings to hug her around her neck.
" Mom, don't blame yourself... you did your best to protect me and by all accounts, you ultimately succeeded... I could've been imprisoned and/or killed through who knows what methods if it weren't for you; Vontra was already plotting this for awhile it seems... but you stopped her before she could! You saved me not just from being permanently separated from you... but even a fate much worse than death." Brightbill said immensely grateful for her.
" I can't tell you how grateful I am for saving me, and not just now... but back then as well." he said.
Roz hugged her son close as Pinktail watched with a proud smile. " Don't have the programming to be a mother, hmm?" she teased kindly remembering the first time she met Brightbill as Roz smiled.
" Maybe I just needed the right motivation." Roz admitted as she and her children smiled proudly at the motherly robot. " Well, you certainly grew into it." she encouraged warmly as Rozs' eyes glowed brighter than ever.
" That is very appreciated, Pinktail." Roz said happily.
" It's just like I told you, Roz... no one starts knowing how to be a parent, but in time they learn to understand their children, and judging by the way Brightbill is holding to you... I'd say you clearly grew into this." Pinktail smiled.
" You clearly have been built for this without even knowing it." Fink encouraged as Roz smiled. " I guess I really was."
Brightbill started to fall asleep in Rozs' arms, and she looked down to notice it. " I should probably get him back home... he definitely needs his rest." she said with a slight laugh hugging him close.
She turned to the other animals. " And thank you... all of you for helping to save my son." she said to all the animals who called out in response as Thorn smiled hugging Roz. " No one messes with our friends... especially not other robots!"
Roz was clearly smiling before walking onward. " I must go put my son to sleep now." she called back as the animals nodded, most of them leaving to rest themselves. Roz walked back to the cave where their nest was and gently laid a sleeping Brightbill on the center of the nest and forming a blanket from grass and hay, gently laying it over him as he slept.
Leaning down, Roz pressed her head against Brightbills' as though giving him a kiss and situated herself right beside him. " Goodnight, Brightbill... I love you, and remember... you were more than a task to me: you are the greatest thing that ever happened in my life." Roz whispered before shutting off to rest.
She felt Brightbill trying to fly up to her legs like when he was younger, and started back up so she could lay him on her legs, holding him close with her hand before shutting back off to rest while making sure her transmitter was up just in case.
One thing was for sure: it didn't matter what would come next for her... but she would never let anyone harm Brightbill that way again, or come in between them... for no matter their differences physical and otherwise, there was truly no love more unbreakable than that between mother, and son.
The end.