//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Second Awakening // Story: New Beginnings // by Black Alicorn //------------------------------// - - - - - A Spinar Dragonfly gunship soared over the tree canopy, it's search light scanning the marshes for it's prey. Under a tree he lay, injured, lost, surrounded. He looked at his leg with fear in his eyes. He sighed as he glimpsed the spike in his leg. “Nice shot....” He gripped it tightly, making sure he would get it for the first try. Hopefully it wasn't too late. He pulled lightly. Almost immediately, a wave of pain coursed through his body. His eyes closed tightly as he fought not to scream. It was too late. The round had deployed it's secondary spikes, meaning it could come out...but at a price. He sighed again, defeated. “Great....” He grabbed a nearby branch, placed it in his mouth, and grabbed the spike again. This was going to hurt. Tears rolled down his eyes as he waited for the ax to fall. He pulled with all his strength. The branch snapped like a toothpick as his teeth came crushing down. Without the branch, his mouth opened, then he screamed in pain, echoing in the forest. Within moments, the sound of approaching engines.... - - - - - Wolf awoke with a gasp. “Sirius...” His eyes opened fully now, and he glimpsed the wooden ceiling. “What the hell?” He jumped out of the bed, but came crashing back down as a wave of pain ripped through his body, emanating from his side. He looked at it and saw a blood covered bandage. “Damn it, not again.” He looked around the area. No one was there, the place was empty. Masks that resembled those of African tribes decorated the dark wooden walls of the room. An assortment of herbs and bottles filled the many shelves in the room. A large black cauldron sat in the middle of the room, something boiling within. He looked into it. Some green liquid boiled inside. The heat emanating from it was immense, and the amount of steam was overwhelming. He backed away, as a headache suddenly hit him. He tried to get up again, much more slowly this time. He managed to do so with minimal pain. He began to walk around the room slowly, looking around as he went. He felt a little disoriented, and nearly fell to the ground. He regained his balance at the last possible second. He placed a hand to his head as another headache suddenly hit him. “Ow...” He looked around some more and found a single window. He walked over to it and looked outside. Dense forest as far as the eye can see. He looked down at the ground, and on the left there were roots right under the window. “What the hell? Am I in a tree?” He looked over to a door and debated on what to do. If he left, he could make it back to Ponyville, but in his injured state he would be easy prey for whatever was out there. If he stayed, who knew what could happen. He eyed the large cauldron with a great amount of suspicion. If he stays, he could die, if he left, he would die. The best decision in his opinion was to go outside and check the surrounding area. The door opened with a loud creak. He walked a few meters outside the door, then immediately looked to his waist. “Damn.” He lost his sidearm. His primary means of defense. Examining his waist again, he found something else. He drew his combat knife from it's sheath. A smile appeared on his face as he glimpsed the eight inch long blade. “Never mind, I like you better.” While in ranged combat he was rated 'Average' (which in terms of 'normal' humans was 'Excellent'.), in hand to hand combat he was rated 'Extremely deadly'. His favorite weapons were always blades, but his signature weapons were his razor sharp wrist blades. When he was using them, he was damn near unstoppable. He readied his knife, just in case something would attack. He looked around the surrounding forest. Nothing was there. Complete silence. He turned around, and was stunned at the sight of a massive tree. He was amazed at the ponies talent in carving trees into homes, or in Ponyville's case, a library. He gave a quick whistle as he placed his arms to his sides, then quickly drew them back as a wave of sharp pain hit him. All of a sudden, rustling could be heard in the distance. He turned in the direction of the noise, knife ready to attack. The rustling grew louder and louder as the creature drew closer and closer. - - - - - - "Thirty feet.....Twenty...Ten...." - - - - - - He prepared to attack until he saw what emerged. A zebra, with a pair of baskets on her back, filled with herbs and plants. It ignored Wolf and walked straight to the hut. As it reached the doorway, it looked back to Wolf and nodded for him to come in. Seeing no other option, he followed the zebra in, reluctantly putting his knife away. As he went inside, he saw it pouring the newly collected herbs into the cauldron. He reached for his knife yet again, but didn't draw it. After finishing pouring the herbs, it showed Wolf the bed and nodded to him. Understanding immediatley, he layed down in the bed, waiting for something to happen. 45 minutes later.... The zebra approached the bed, a wet cloth held in her mouth by the tip of her teeth. It brought it close to Wolf's wound, only to have him move away, drawing his knife. "It is alright, unjustified is your fright." "Who...Who are you?" "Zecora is my name, and from the great savannahs I came." "Well...I'm Wolf." He put back his knife and sat still again. Zecora brought the cloth closer to his wound, only to have him move away again. "What are you doing?" "Although I have much to do, you I must heal, and I will perform my task with great zeal." "Alright...Do it." She brought the hot, wet cloth to his wound, only to have him grunt in pain. 5 hours earlier. Ponyville. Twilight stomped around furiously in the Mayor's office, outraged by the rescue missions failure. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?! ABANDONING HIM LIKE THAT, AFTER HE SAVED US THREE TIMES?!" "Twilight...calm down." "NO I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" The Mayor jumped out of her chair, enraged by Twilight. "You think I want to leave him out there?! Do you?! I'd go out there myself to look for him! But my duty lies with Ponyville first." The Mayor's outburst had shut Twilight up but good. Her head just dropped, and she walked out of the room, leaving the Mayor to resume her duties. 5 hours later, Ponyville library Twilight lay in her bed, her pillow soaking wet from tears. She got up and looked out the window towards Everfree forest, then fell back to her pillow, crying yet again. Amidst her gasping, she managed to say one sentence. "Oh Wolf....Please come back safe....Please..." End chapter 16.