Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Wastes ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"Because I don't know who I am; and where I live people don't really care to know me so I learned to live by myself. At night I have nightmares, and wake up screaming. I can never remember what they are, but they must be bad. At first I wondered if they were memories, but what kind of memories would terrify me that badly?"

"Well they are-" Suddenly Zenith started flapping at her head. She let go of Maven's hand to protect her head as she screamed. "Alright! Leave me alone!"

Maven paused as he watched the scene unfold. "My nightmares...are my memories?"

Zenith landed on Maven's shoulder while Skyla pulled feathers from her hair. "You are very cruel sometimes. Sometimes living in complete darkness can be very lonely you know," she said to Zenith.

"Zenith, why are you so dead set that I can't find my truth? Why don't you want me to know my past?"

Skyla bit her lip and hugged herself. "Remember I said that some things are better left unsaid? Well...some things are better left unremembered," she said in almost a whisper. There was a sadness to her. "There...is a lot...of...heartache..." Zenith cawed at her and she only nodded.

"Heartache I can deal with," he reached out and squeezed her hand. She seemed sad...almost heartbroken. "Is it...really that bad?"

She looked at his eyes. "You have no idea..."

Maven swallowed hard. He wanted to know who he was, but the look in her eyes made something within him worry. Taking a deep breath, he let his gaze fall to the ground. "I want to know. I can handle whatever it is. I mean, I've lived through it once. Going through it once more can't be that bad..."

She moved his hand to her lips. "Did you ever wonder why you lost your past? Maybe...maybe it was because it was too much...maybe it was because you wanted to lose it..." she said softly then kissed his hand. She shouldn't be doing this. She shouldn't be getting so involved knowing what she knew. But she couldn't help herself. From the very first time she saw him in her dreams she knew that she would be drawn to him. It was like a pull.

"You've seen my past and you can handle it," he whispered. "At least give me something. My real name. My parent's names. Anything...."

She glanced at Zenith while the bird glared hard at her. "Farrah...she was your life," she said. No sooner had she gotten it out of her mouth, Zenith lunged at her. She threw her arms up to protect herself and Zenith clawed and scratched at her arms. She made no sound. She took the punishment as her eyes welled with tears.

"Farrah...?" He held out his hand and suddenly Zenith quit moving. "Stop it, Zenith. Leave her alone. I want to...I need to know this."

Skyla lowered her arms, blood dripping down and hitting the pavement. "You met her when you were younger...she was your best friend. It didn't take long for you to fall in love. Your parents were never in the picture but hers were. They found you as a child and raised you as their own," she said softly. "Your name was Landon Trials. You had a good childhood until you found out you were gifted. Of course the village was terrified of you...but your adopted parents loved you anyways. Farrah loved you anyways. You found Zenith as an egg and together you and Farrah hatched her. She was like yours and Farrah's guide, always showing you the right path."

Tears streaked down her face. "But your power grew with you and you got cocky...almost greedy with power because no one was like you. You and Farrah got engaged. You were planning on building a house on the outskirts of the village. Farrah tried to get you to focus more on her than your power but you were insistent on pushing yourself to be better." She looked at the ground and started to cry harder. "You took Farrah for a walk on the mountains. You wanted to show her how much better you had gotten over the last few months but you got too ahead of yourself and there was a rock slide because of it. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and people were killed...including Farrah's parents. She didn't forgive you. She couldn't..." Her body shook as she was reliving it like it was her life. "When you couldn't convince her of how sorry you were...you tried moving the rocks from the houses...you tried doing it for two years, rock by rock...but still Farrah didn't come back to you. So...you tried to kill yourself...and here you are..."

There was no sort of emotional trace on his face as he heard this. It was as if he just shut down. "Oh...." Those were just words to him. Words without meaning. She might as well have been telling him a made up story. He wouldn't know the difference. "I guess I was better off not knowing."

She didn't know what to say about that. Slowly, she turned from him and walked to the other. "Holy shit, what happened to you?"

Lana pulled out some rags from her bag and started wiping Skyla's arms. "Scratches? What happened, Skyla? Where you attached?"

Maverick looked behind them but all he saw was Maven and his bird.

"Zenith got mad at me. I don't think I'm welcomed around her anymore," she said softly.

Lana went through Hailey's bag until she found some spray. She sprayed it on Skyla then wrapped her arms. "What did you do?"

"Damn, the bird must be really pissed at you."

"She's just protective. I stepped in her boundaries even though I was warned," she replied numbly. Lana looked her in the eyes. She had never seen Skyla so detached before.

"That's what happens when you poke your nose where it doesn't belong," Sarah said as she watched Maven with keen eyes.

Zenith tried to land on his shoulder, but an invisible push sent her flying away from him.

"Yes...I suppose you are right..." Skyla said in a low voice. Even if she didn't want to, Maven would have kept pressing her. She didn't ask to know about him. She didn't ask to see it all. And she didn't ask to care about him so much to want to tell him.

"Looks like we're here," Sven said as they reached the large gate which ran around the military complex. "Place looks like a ghost town.... Boris. Feel like opening the gate for us?"

"It would be my pleasure comrade." He moved Hailey to his shoulder and pressed his hands in between the gate. There was a loud creaking noise as his muscles bulged and the gate began to move. Inch by inch he pushed it until it was open.

"Nice job strong man," Sarah smirked.

Hailey yawned as she heard the noise. "Are we there yet?"

"Yes, we're here," Boris told her as he slipped her back down into his arms.

"Doesn't look like anyone has been here in a hundred years." Sven pulled out the com data as one by one everyone but Maven went inside the base to examine it. "There's probably some pretty valuable stuff in here."

Finding the closest computer, he pushed the com date disk into it and let it boot up.

Lana sat in an old chair next to Maverick while Skyla ran her hands over the walls, caking it in dust.

Soon the computer screens all around them came to life, all of which showed Xavier's face on it. "Oooh, it seems that you've made it there in one piece."

"Yeah, so where's this A.R.K. at?"

"Oh, it's not here I'm afraid. This is just a place which would have files about it so that I can determine where they're ate. I'm hacking into its database and transferring the data back to my place. By the time you get back here I'll have the information you need so you can set off again."

"Another words not all of us had to come all this way!" Evana snapped. "We could have left the useless ones with you!"

"Useless ones? I didn't realize that any of you were useless," he said while humming. Data files seemed to fly past him as he took out everything that the government had in its files.

Skyla patted Lana then went out back to the front door. She didn't like being indoors to much. Even if the outside wasn't so great, it was still outside. She walked to the gate and glanced at Maven. Hugging herself, she turned be back to him then walked over to a rock and sat down. She could hear Zenith in her head going on and on about the damage she had done and how she would pay sooner or later. Skyla put her hands over her ears to shut her out, but it didn't help. It was obvious that Zenith was pissed.

Maven looked up at Zenith as she started to caw and fluff up her feathers. Following her gaze, he saw Skyla. "Leave it be, Zenith," he said. "What she told me doesn't change anything."

Skyla looked off in the distance as some wild horses running. They were heading to find water. One of them stopped, the leader and stallion. She watched him knock his huffs on the ground and twist his neck about, urging her to come. She shook her head. "I cannot follow friend...I have a duty to my kind..." she said softly. He bucked and reined, calling to her. "Even a wild horse who I have yet to meet knows I do not belong here..." She ushered him to go and he took another glance at her before following his family.

"Okay! All the files are downloaded. You guys can come back here and restock before I send you out again."

"Oh joy. More grunt work."

"Don't worry about us, we only need showers, food, water, and a car!" Evana snapped then walked out with the others behind her.

"Sure. I'll get right on that!"

Sven rolled his eyes and unplugged him from the machine so that they wouldn't have to listen to him anymore. "I'm going to punch him when we get back."

Lana walked over to Skyla and put her hand on her shoulder. "You seem so...distant. Is everything ok? Did you fight with Maven?"

Skyla looked at her and stood as everyone was coming out. "No, I just used my gift. I'm still getting use to being around my own kind. I keep forgetting that the human race is a lot more complicated that the animal kingdom."

Lana's face softened. "Maybe-"

"I don't belong here, Lana. But I'm doing what I can to make the best of it. Please, don't mind my rambles," she added the started walking with the rest of them back towards Xavier's.

"I wonder how many of these junk errands he's going to be sending us on," Sven said as he ran the data through the device. "He said we were going to change the world. Not be delivery men. This thing didn't warrant everyone coming. One or two people would have been just fine."

Boris nodded in agreement. "It does seem a bit ludicrous to have everyone come at once, though at least we have learned a few important things about each other in the process."

"Yes. Nothing says bonding like running for your lives and killing bandits," Sarah quipped.

"I hope he doesn't expect us to walk every damn where. By the time we get all this shit done and get back to him the world will already be over," Evana said as she kicked a rock while they walked.

"I like walking!" Hailey said from Boris's arms.

"I believe you walked a total of two steps," Evana said with narrow eyes.

"Fee Fi Fo Fum!" She said as she crawled on Boris's shoulders. "I'm a giant!"

Maverick laughed. "At least one of us is having fun."

Boris laughed as she held onto his head to keep from falling off as he moved. "I do not mind the walking. Though this world has fallen to shambles, it is still our home. I feel as if we've failed it.... So I don't mind walking. It reminds me that this world needs to change for the better."

"That's what they said before the war. And now look at it. We always say we want change but it always makes things worse," Maverick pointed out.

"It's not job to change things...we are just taking the steps to it... It's going to take more than just the ten of us to change the whole world..." Lana said as she suddenly appeared next to him. Maverick smiled.

"Very wise."

"Perhaps, but someone has to start, so it might as well be us," Boris pointed out.

"As long as I'm getting paid, I'll bring a revolution for whatever you need," Sven smirked.

"No one cares what the hell you do," Evana said rolling her eyes.

Sven moved closer to her. "Now I think you're just being cruel because you don't want to admit that you're attracted to me."

She smirked at him. "If I wanted you, you would already be on your back, naked and hard," she said.

Lana blushing and Maverick cleared his voice.

"And what makes you think that I'd let you be on top. I don't play the bottom in bed," he said, liking the challenge she presented.

"I didn't ask you what you wanted. I take what I want."

"You know when we get back to Xavier's I might have to teach you how to be a good girl."

She thumped in on the forehead and he landed on his ass. "You aren't man enough for me. Stay on the dirt where you belong." She turned and continued walking.

Skyla walked up to him and held out her hand to help him up. "You seem to always be on the ground after conversing with Evana."

He took her hand and got up, then rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, well when we get back she'll be the one on the ground. I can assure you of that."

"I don't think you should hit a girl..."

"That is no girl.... And I didn't mean that I would hit her," he smirked.

"Well...I don't think pushing her would be very nice easily. Perhaps you should sit down with her and talk?"

Sven looked at her and sighed. Patting her head, he started to walk away. "Give it a few years and maybe you'll understand."

She watched him walk away. "Understand...what?"

"The way that men and women act when they like each other."

She stood there completely lost. As he walked off with the others, she looked down at a little mouse. Reaching in her bag, she pulled out a cookie and handed it to the little thing. "Apparently I still have a lot to learn," she said softly.

Sarah punched Sven in the arm as he caught up to them. "You ending up on your ass isn't a good image for you."

"Shut up," he muttered as he rubbed his arm. "You know that I'm not a hand to hand fighter. That's why I love my guns."

Skyla held out her hand and the mouse crawled into it. She put another cookie in her hands and walked while it ate. One minute the mouse was there, the next it was firmly nestled in Zenith's claws as she grabbed it and pulled it up into the air so that she could eat.

"Zenith! You cold hearted bird!" she screamed. Grabbing a rock she threw it at her but of course missed. She chased after Zenith. "Stop! Don't take your anger out on the mouse! Please! Bring it back!" Tears streaked down her face as she could hear the little mouse cry out for her. She was so far from her forest, so far from home. That little mouse gave her a little piece of home and Zenith knew it.

Zenith flew far out of her reach, but not out of Maven's. His hand stretched out, and all of a sudden Zenith quit moving. Slowly she began to descend, her claws moving to let the mouse fall out of her grasp. "I'll find you something else to eat girl," he told her as he stroked her plumage to get her to calm down.

The little mouse ran under a old car and Skyla went after it. "Please...don't run..." she begged. Crawling on her hands and knees, she went under the car as well. The little mouse shook and coward from her. Reaching in her bag she pulled out some cookies and left it under the car for the mouse. Slowly she crawled back out. With Zenith not talking to her or being friendly, she felt even more distant from nature. It made her stomach hurt and her heart heavy. She felt sick.