Life and Death

I started the landin' cycle for the Shadow.. Home... The Drift. Aiya, it'd been a long time since I was back here..."I said to myself, 'Welcome home'. No one 'round to say howdy, but then again it was for the best. My mood ain't too good 'bout now." I sighed, but the feelin' 'bout what went on wouldn't let go. "Weeks of watchin' Lily, tellin' myself not to grab her hand and drag her home. I made a promise, and gorram, if I was goin' to break it. I followed her, keepin' watch.... tryin' to make sure she was safe..... Waitin' for the cub to show. Oh it was there.... The scent was in the air." I lowered the ship onto one of the small landin' pads the Drift reserves for shuttles.

I could feel the Shadow's belly touch tarmack, started shuttin' the systems and engines down. "I don't know what happened day b'fore yesterday. Lily started to remember... Remember everythin'. Right down to when I told her she was the prey and not the hunter. She started to cry then. I wanted to comfort her, but we were runnin' out of time. I'd already signalled Seana to bring the ship closer so we could get out of here." Puttin' my shades back on, I popped the canapy, feeling the opressive hot air rush in along with the over bright sunlight. "Gorram....." I pulled my jacket off b'fore the heat overwhelmed me. "I signalled the Shadow to land in the small clearin'. Was halfway b'tween the ruined city and the village we'd been stayin' at. The folk there weren't happy 'bout me takin' Lily back home.... Got downright angered."

"That's when we hoofed it out of there. They chased us into the trees. We got lucky there. The weapons they threw missed more then they hit. Lily got ahead then stopped short.... That's when I cought the smell..... Reavers... and not a small group. I think the villagers made the same realization when the first reaver howl echoed through the woods." I slowly climbed out of the cockpit feelin' pretty dirty. "We had one chance to get out of there. Liy knew it too and headed strait for the ship. That's when the reavers set on us. Musta seen the ship comin' down and wanted it. I pulled out my swords and tossed one to Lily. After that it was a blur...."

I grabbed the small duffle from behind the pilot seat and headed for the river. "We had to get home. Lily popped the rear hatch and moved to get in. One reaver got lucky, Cut her bad across her back. She howled. That's all it took for me to ignore the other attacks to cut that reaver down. I pulled my pistol out in the other hand and started firin' into em. Lily crawled into the back, me b'hind her. I hit the controls fast, still firin' on em." Every few steps, I left a peice of bloodied clothin' b'hind. Didn't care if anyone saw at that point.

"I got Lily onto the small bunk and sprayed some wound seal on her Cut back. It was bleedin' bad, but the seal worked.... so long's she didn't move 'round too much. I got to the cockpit and cycled the near silent engines. I know I cooked a few of those reavers... could hear the screams. It was slow liftin' off with the wieght hangin' on. But my shuttle didn't let me down. I angled it up and headed to break atmo. We had to wait a few minutes b'fore Seana's team could scoop us. Only problem was, no dockin' ring... No way to hook up to the other ship. Sure, we were mag sealed to em like a leech, but no access. I commed em and they gave me instructions on helpin' Lily. I wasn't worried 'bout my own wounds... They were minor compaired to Lily's back."

I dropped the Duffle, dove into the lukewarm water, and started scrubbing myself with the sand. I had to get clean...."We had no food.... save a small snack packet. I gave it to Lily. She'd need it to help her regenerate. Had sugar in it.... Somethin' 'bout her usin' it as fuel. We got back to Hale's. Detatched and dropped down to the surface.... Some feller was sittin' 'round, never offered us help. Then Seana came, got us to the clinic and patched us up. Gorram we were both tired. Lily went off somewhere to sleep while I went to the Drift to see if Brooke was there. Needed to let her know I was back" Swimmin' up stream a ways helped the sand filter out of my hair, "But the trip wasn't an easy one.... We talked... Planned the end for Aurora. I didn't like it much but I said I was ready to do what had to be done. Lily said it had to be done in such a way so the cub woudn't be able to stop her endin'."

Grabbing more sand, I scrubbed again, still feelin' like I needed to get clean. "I called Aurora and left her a message. Let her know I was willin' to talk, and maybe trade. It didn't take long b'fore Brooke showed up at Bootleggers. Dylan was already there, hangin' out. he let me know she was on her way. I can say I was pretty surprized how Brooke was dressed..... Or the lack of.. Dylan said pretty much what we were both thinkin.... Anyway... Brooke flew us back to the nest where Dex was. They got me into that tank to speed up healin'. I needed it. Didn't want to be hurtin' if I had to fight with the cub. I could only hope Lily'd be ok when it came time."

My skin was startin' to sting from my scrubbin. So I sat there as the river slowly moved 'round my body. "The cub called me sayin' not to keep her waitin'. Impatient.... I was dropped off at Mac's. From there I flew to Hale's.. and a meeting I won't forget too easy. I met her at her small apartment. She looked all grown. Wearin' pretty revealin' clothes. And I knew I was in trouble..... We played a game that she tired of real quick.... She decided to change. While she was upstairs, I let Lily and Gallagher inside..... Gorram, I was feelin' a lot uncomfortable. Then the cub started dancin' and tellin' me 'bout her and Thoth... Made me real uncomfortable.... Then she started undressin'.... Now that was b'comin' a lot more uncomfortable. I could smell Lily's scent close by...."

Slowly climbin' from the water, I dug into the duffle for the last clean pair of clothes I had, while lettin' the warm sun dry me. "The cub was wantin' me to get closer. I did. I kissed her. I held her down with my own body weight. Then Lily did it. She stabbed then sliced the cub's head right off. Blood flyin' everywhere.
I got up needin' to wash my face and mouth... Gallagher come up then... he doused Aurora's body and head with fuel and lit it. We left then.... Covered.... Gallagher told us the CSI crew'd clean it up. No one'd know she was there. Or us for that matter. Krenshar'd be wonderin' where she was, but I doubt anyone'd be willin' to tell him. The witnesses knew what needed to be done too. They come to verify it was over. Done." I got dressed, then picked up the bloodied clothes and burned em. Needin' to wipe away the last of what was the cub.... What we did.

As the wind blew the last of the ashes away, I walked to the bar. "I needed a drink. Soemthin' I ain't done in a long time.... Needin' a drink bad. Rose come in along with a minin' robot abotu then. We got to talkin' I needed to....I felt all spun about... and not in a good way. I took one drink and was done. Rose said she'd never tell what I told her. The robot was another thing. No concept of keepin' quiet 'bout stuff." I needed sleep. I could feel my mind driftin' as I went to the other shuttle. "I didn't care if I slept on the deck with it all locked up. It was safe and quiet. At least I kept my promise and got us home safe." Pullin' the blankets from the bench, I dropped em on the floor and lay down.... driftin' off to sleep.

On the Raggedy Edge; Survival

I looked 'round hopin' no one saw me sneak into the buildin', "Gorram cold..... And little food." Kickin' at the rubble from the decayin' brick wall, I picked up a good piece and chucked it at the trash pile. I was hopin' to flush somethin' from there.... Maybe somethin' to eat. "Met up with a few more folk, but only two knew Lily. I told them too. Storm was one. She's the daughter of Inxy. Good to know. She said she'll watch out for Lily too. Good to know I ain't the only one. I know Seana's got a watch out. She said as much. I ain't seen Xoxo 'round. Wonderin' where she's at."

Spotting the scrawny dog, I decided it didn't have enough meat on it's bones to be worth eatin'. I let it run off. "I spotted Lily and went try and talk to her and run into Inxy, instead. She was real protective. I had to convince her I was tellin' the truth. I let her listen to the last Comm signal I got from Lily. From there she told Lily I was in for the hunt." Sighin', I went lookin' for another big water rat to eat. Nothin' here for pickin' up a real meal. No restaurants, no grocers.... Nothin'.

"Later, Lily decided to attack me. She wanted me as hers. Then she gorram bit my shoulder. Right through the heavy leather jacket I was wearin'. It's deep, hurtin' pretty good now. Had to call the ship down when no one 'round. Changed my clothes and grabbed a ration pack. Gorram last one too. Put somthin' on the bite, but it's already red. Maybe if I could've got to a first aid kit earlier it might not be a problem. I grabbed the antibiotic pack and took that. That'll hopefully take care of it." Hearin' somethin' I moved from the alley, 'round the corner, and down the manhole. Maybe they won't be lookin' for me specific.

"Aiya, this place is full of strange folk. I was able to sit with Lily for a short while, but she don't remember much of Hale's or anythin'. I can see why. I'm even caught up in it. But I got too much to worry 'bout to be forgetful. This ain't the place to relax. You die here if you let your guard down. I been attacked already. Got bit. Was lucky that's all it was. And there were others out there.... huntin'. I been able to get a few quick Waves to Seana and one to Brooke. Then Lily decided to go playin' in some buildin' what had a man in a blue tank. She thought it was Blue.... I had to explain it wasn't. Made her sad, but she needed to know the truth of it." Another noise. Sewers echo.

"Had to keep movin' or get killed. Just last nigh, Lily and I got caught up in a a fight b'tween the folk that took her in and a rival group. A lot of injured after that. Lily run off. Someone come and offered me a place in the group what took Lily in. I figured it'd be better then bein' there without someone at my back watchin' out while I slept." I moved further down along the sewer tunnel listenin'. Somewhere out there was Aurora..... I caught scent of her earlier today. It's got me a little worked up.So far no one's hurt Lily. Yet. But I got a real bad feelin' that ain't goin' to last. I got to make sure Aurora don't get her. Lily has to make it home. And I'll do what I got to to make it happen."

Movin' quietly, I climbed the small accessladder back up and out. "Just hopeSeana can get us the hell out of here soon. We needfood and some tendin'. Both of us. Things got bad again late. Another fight, but with some mutants. Got cut up a little, but I ain't tellin' Lily that. She don't need to know that. Sides I can hold out for a while longer. I just got to get herto realize home ain't here. She got family waitin' for her...." Runnin' back to the woods and some relative safety. Good thing there's folk out in the village what'll watch out for us.... But we can't stay here much longer either. Time's short....

Hunt, Hunter, Hunted....

Settin' here alone in the cockpit of the Shadow, I watched the planet slowly spin in it's orbit. Down there was someone I care 'bout. Lily.

Things been crazy, real crazy..... "Brooke come into Bootleggers over a week ago. She decided she needed a ride to Paquin. I walked her to the stealth shuttle I had fixed up. Yeah, I been workin' on it in case she needed a way to bolt. If the 'liance showed, or Faith himself, Sentry, Dex and I could get Brooke out safe." Makin' sure the orbit was stable, I checked the auto pilot, "Varahi gave Brooke a place to rest and recover from the flight, while I did some scoutin'. Checkin' for possible problem locations. Yeah, I was playin' security. Someone had to keep watch."

I had to check the satillite position to see if I could send a long range comm signal. Had to make sure Seana knew where I was, and where Lily was at. "Had set up cams at a few key locations in case. Good thing too. We had a few visitors nosin' 'round. Then Brooke went into labor. It's hard to be concentratin' on watchin' when all you can hear's screamin'. Well maybe not all screamin'..... WillieB showed up and gorram if he didn't almost faint away. Dex was helpin' the doc with Brooke while Sentry waited nearby to help if needed. I can say Brooke had her babies, Calius and Kiah." I sighed checking the coords. Looked like the satillite could send the comm signal out system. "Yeah,ended up she did have twins. I joked with Sentry 'bout maybe bein' a reader."

"We had troubles though... Someone in the company was passin' info. Willie B sent a wave to old man Faith and we had our answer. Or at least that one. Might be we got another, but I ain't sure yet," I shrugged out of my flight harness and checked on the equipment I'd need on the surface. Didn't want the folk here to get riled up. "But there wasn't no time to spend with Brooke's family, cause Aurora showed up too. She just waltzed right in even after I told her to leave. Gorram, she was downright pushy. I carried her outside and told her to leave. She said she wanted to see the babies. never seen one, she said. We had words, the she spat on me. Disrespect's all I can say. I took her back outside where she jumped the rail down to the beach and run off."

Takin' a few minutes, I changed clothes and went back to the pilot seat to strap back in. "Dex took her to a safe place. While they were enjoyin' family life I was dealin' with Aurora. Aurora came to the Drift to talk to JJ. She was complainin' that Miya was tryin' to poison her. Needed a safe place to stay. And sure enough, poor JJ offered to let her stay with her. Then Aurora decided she had to go back to destiny to get somethin', so I took her back. When we got there, Aurora wanted to play games and sit 'round. Gorram, I had cargo to finish loadin' and findin' Lily. Then the Christmas tree she had in the room fell on her. I lifted it so she could get from under it, then she demanded it be removed from her place. I took it outside where someone was likely to take it away."

Strappin' in, I cheched my landin' zone again to be sure no one would see me comin' down. "While she was upstairs gettin' changed I went to talk to Seana. I knew somethin' was up. Lily sent me a pic and commed me. I tried to warn her 'bout what the cub was up to. Dont know if she understood what I was tryin' to tell her. Seana needed to know Lily was safe. When I got there I talked to the mayor. Gave her the pic too. She told me to go find Lily at any cost. I went back to get Aurora to tell me where Lily was. Then she started tellin' everyone I was crazy. I needed to be in the medcenter there. She went on like that then when no one did anythin' she kicked me. I told Mister Krenshar he needed to teach her some humility and respect. I don't think he understood. Fact was Aurora wasn't respectin' him neither. I said as much to her while the others looked on. Miya and Thoth agreed. Gark was there and was a little shocked at what I had to say. Mister Krenshar was a little b'side himself not sure what to do. Then I showed em all the pic Lily sent me."

The ship moved silently down through the atmo to the area I chose as a landin' area. "Got Aurora real worked up. She tried to tell everyone I was insane, and when that didn't work she tried to say Lily left me. I know Lily. I know she wouldn't send me back the Christmas gift and say g'bye. I knew then that Aurora stole it from Lilys stuff. The cub ran for her ship. Gave me a chance to maybe find Lily, was my thinkin'. she started liftin' off, as I grabbed the crystal. Then I ran for my smaller ship. No one stopped me. In fact Thoth and Miya offered to help save lily." I cycled the ship to start landin' in the clearin' out of sight of anyone.

"Aorora can fly that ship, but she ain't that good. I followed her, keepin' close enough to see where she was headin'. Maybe she would show me where Lily was. It was way out there on the raggedy edge. Some forgotten colony left on it's own for too long. Seems it wasn't on the nav charts. I set the new nav coords and pulled back. Had to get the info to Seana so she knew where we were. I flew back to the drift to get supplies and give Seana the location. While I was there I quickly packed the cargo container so Brooke could have someone sell it off. Wasn't much to load, just needed to get it done fast. Lily didn't have much time. Two gorram days.... her head start. And time was runnin' out."

It was snowin' down there, so I grabbed my coat and put it on. Was a hard choice to leave my gun behind, but I didn't want to have to answer any strange questions 'bout em. "I sent a wave to Seana, tellin' her I'd be here. Had to find Lily at least and warn her. I made a promise not to take her from the hunt, but nothin' bout not watchin' out for her. I love her.. Didn't want to see her hurt... Or worse. I know she could die. 'All things end....'. Somethin' she even told me 'bout herself. Well that ain't goin' to happen while I'm 'round." Grabbin' the sword from the storage nettin' I strapped it onto my back then set the auto pilot. "I went lookin' 'round the place, gettin' a lay of the land. Yeah I saw the map from the ship, but it ain't the same as bein' on the ground. Took a while b'fore I caught her scent. She was 'round somehwere. It was strongest by some arena, but she wasn't there. Some elder was standin' 'round there. Was hopin' he could hel me find her. Talkin' to him was a failure. He just kept yellin' at me and tellin' me to leave."

"First time I made that kind of impression in a real long time. Went through to the small city. Heard gunfire and went to check it out. I was wishin' I did hang on to my gun. Looked like some gang on the hunt..... but no Lily. At least that was a good sign." I watched the ship lift back into the atmo, then checked my compass. "I talked to a few folk there, One said he knew Lily, so I asked him to give her the meesage she was in danger. That it was her what was bein' hunted. He took me back to the outskirts of town and said he'd pass it along. Well it was gettin' cold so I found a fire along a path. Spent time checkin' the clearin' b'fore I moved closer. Someone else showed up and hung by the fire for a while. he didn't know Lily when I asked so he moved on. then last night I run into Storm. Seems she knows Lily too. Daugter of Inxy, Lily's friend. I gave her the message too, and to watch out for Aurora. I knew the cub was down here somewhere....and dangerous."

So here I am in unfamiliar territory, no ship I can readily access, and a lot of dangerous places you can get ambushed in. "Found out from Storm the hunt was over. So Lily was on a hunt where she was the prey. Whether she knew it or not. Now I'm tryin' to keep a distance and watch her. I'm pretty sure she knows I'm here. I'm hopin' she'll understand I'm wantin' to make sure she's ok. A lot of folk, includin' me, care 'bout her comin' home safe. I'm thinkin' there'll most like be a confrontation b'tween her and the cub sometime soon..... When? I don't know. But it won't be a pretty....." I looked up knowin' my only way home was up in the black. The ship'd stay in orbit and contact me once a day. I could send the signal for it to land if I needed to get out of here, otherwise it'd stay in orbit. No one'd know it was there. No transponder, no markin's, no lights.

I sighed, breathin' in the cold air and shivered a little, "I found her runnin' round out with a few folk last night. Just hope none of em are tryin' to kill her. Can't say as I care for the cold and the strangers that're out huntin' every night. It's like they all gone feral.... Well some of em. Not quite reavers but desperate. One good thin' though. It's dark here longer. Short days, and that suits me fine. There might be mutants here, but I ain't all that human with my senses the way they are. It might just keep me alive until I can convince Lily to come home."

The Boilin' Pot

"I'm tellin' you I could sleep a week with all these crates we been goin' through, "I sighed as I hefted one of the crates of supplies into the cargo container. "It just ain't been a great season to be jolly. First there was helpin' Lily with the final stuff on the Blue Sun walk. At least I got spend some time with Lily b'fore the big hunt." I took a moment to stretch my back and arms b'fore pickin' up the next box. There was a lot of stuff to move.

"Yeah, Spent openin' night mannin' the entry. Had to tell folk where to head and how to get in. That weren't so bad. Sides, the place looked downright shiney. Yeah, I know... All the lights and all. Still it had the holiday feel." 'At least for most,' I thought. " Hell, most of if not all my family was gone. So were a lot of others of late. Shadow was gone. Caliban too. A lot of folk without homes and families on this here time of peace....", Kicking at the dirt, I picked the crate up, movin' it into the darkened interior of the cargo container. "Sometime later that night...And I'm not sure how exactly, but I got taken. No not what you think.... One mo I was at the gate workin', then the next I'm wakin' up in the clinic. My foot was all numb and my boot was off."

I shook my head as I stepped back out into the bright light of midday, "Found myself stinkin' of whiskey and layin' on the scannin' bed. I know I wasn't drinkin'. Hell I ain't been drinkin' much for well over a month now. Since I got shot, I been stayin' away from most liquor. Well, I got up and looked down to see I was reunited with my gorram toe. If you were to ask me how... I'd be as confused as to how as the next man. But there it was.... my own toe." Smilin' I looked down at my booted foot. "Maybe I got an early holiday gift. From who? Got no idea. Anyway, I contacted Brook and Dex. Let em know what all happened. They found me sittin' there confused and dazed. Ended up they took me back to the Drift where we met up with Rose. Seems she got some medical trainin' and checked my foot. Then it was decided they were goin' to check for trackin' devices.... And gorram sure enough there was. Stuck inside a tooth...."

Somehow the thought of them tryin' to decide how to best yank my tooth didn't give me a good feelin'. I grimaced at the thought, "Rose said she could disable it with some device she had in her things. Took her a couple of minutes to find it, then she placed it against the side of my face and pulsed it. No more signal. Dex double checked to make sure it was good and well dead. After that it was decided that I'd be stayin' with Brooke and Dex at their place for the night at least. I spent pretty much of that time sleepin'. Once there I was asked to climb into to a tank. Dex said it was from NVI. After a little convincin' of it's safety, I got in. Dex let Rose take over with the scan and the healin' of my foot and side. I guess I slept through it."

Steppin' back to see what could fit in next, I rubbed my chin, thinkin', "Next day I asked Dex if there was somethin' I could do 'round the place so I didn't go stir crazy. So he gave me some stuff to repair. It's what I did durin' that day. While I was there I did check some of the old messages I loaded up just before we left MacLaren's Drift. That's when I found the message from Lily askin' me to meet her this very night to say goodbye. It was time for the hunt. I asked Brooke to fly me back to Hale's Moon for a short time, then we could pick up some of the food supplies I had set aside to store as needed. When I got there, Lily was all dressed real nice. She looked all shiney." Sittin' down on one of the bigger crates, I wiped the sweat from my face and neck.

"Yeah... She asked if we could take a walk through the Blue Sun holiday setup. We spent the time just walkin' and not thinkin' she was leavin'.... But then the walk was over. We were at the little Santa cabin. Inside, we talked for a short while b'fore givin' each other our gifts. I gave her a big crystal I had found. Seems the asteroid field has some other stuff sides wrecks. Found it in one of the broken floatin' rock. Big old shiney amethyst crystal. Real clear. Not often I find somethin' like that."When I found it, I had hung onto it to give her for a special occasion, and it seemed the right time to. Then she was gone. Runnin' 'round. Then she hid. Most like, to keep me from followin' her. What made me unhappy was her makin' me promise not to go and get her back. And now I got to hold to that."

Puttin' the bandana back in my pocket, I stood back up and grabbed another box, "Afterward, it was stickin' to work. Salvage and load these here containers with saleable stuff. Brand even come by one day sayin' he found a big old ship. We took a day and checked it out. Gorram it was a mess in there. Looked like reavers been in there. Dried blood and gore...... Bodies long dead and dried out. I ain't seen such a sight b'fore. Don't think I want to again either. There was a lot of salvage though. Some good stuff still intact and usable. Trust, we went over that stuff once we got it on the ground to make sure it was still good. When I had the chance I took a day after that and pulled an old shuttle out of it. Looked like it was partially stripped. Once it was free of the wreck, I hauled it back to the space station over Mac's. I talked with the dock manager to let me barrow one of the lower landin' decks to work on the shuttle. Once done I'd have it out of his way."

"Then there's the new situation with too many new faces 'round the Drift of late. Seems Faith's pa showed up. He was talkin' to Brooke..... I bet I know what all he wanted too. And it don't include Brooke. Bri was ready to kill him, 'cept Brazen, who happened to be there, was holdin' her back. For once I stood back and watched. I will tell you this, Faith had a lot of nerve to come all the way to the Drift just to talk. He want's that baby.I think a lot of folk'll hunt him down if he does try. Then a few days later I even had someone by the name of Kari come lookin' for me direct. Said she was Nack Barnes sister... and Lily's sister....Needed to let me know that the hunt was a fake. Wasn't real. Aiya, I wasn't happy to hear that. She offered to find Lily for me. I took her up on it. Seein' as I made a promise, I need to keep it. She also told me 'bout Aurora.... That cub's real bad news..... Kari said Aurora was goin' to hunt Lily and me down. Get rid of us both. And that she grew up. All adult like. And had dark hair. That do bother me a lot." I frowned and hefted the new box, carrin' it inside the larger one. I placed it on top of the other ones makin' sure it was snug.

"Then I Saw Brooke at Bootleggers yesterday. She was lookin' real uncomfortable. I started to wonder if she was goin' to say it was time..... Instead she said she wanted head to the companion's guild for a rest. Can't blame her much. She's been runnin' 'round Like a mad woman for the last little while now. I agreed to fly her there. I'd stick 'round in case there was trouble, or she needed to go elsewhere on request." I nodded, happy with how the packin' was goin'. "Spent the night sleepin' in the Shadow. Left my comm open in case she called for anythin'. Like Varahi said. This is like family. Got to keep supportin' each other. And the thought of bein' a sort of uncle again......", I smiled thinkin' after the family I lost, that maybe this was somethin' I needed. To be a part of somethin' that brings a family together. One small moment, one new, shiney family member."

"Speakin' of.... I got to head back." I closed up the cargo container, lockin' it down, "There's a lot goin' on. On the one hand I got Lily, I'm real worried 'bout. I need to know she's safe. And then there's the Boss. A lot of priorities. A lot of things that could potentially go wrong. It's why I'm handlin' security for Brooke.... Then I'm goin' to start doin' some lookin' for where Lily might be. I won't go there direct, but it dont mean I can't keep tabs."