Out For a Ride [open]

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

On his last visit, Zouichi had visited the remains of one of the locked-down cities he'd passed through in the course of carrying out his missions. This time he wasn't particularly in the mood for a fight... but maybe he was in the mood for a ride.

The environment had taken on the form of the structure he sometimes saw in his dreams, an interminably long organic expanse. Sometimes the landscape grew upwards, into a mass of domed, seemingly alive city buildings. Sometimes there were portals underground, passages that delved deep into its core, whose walls were lined with the unidentifiable biomechanical innards that pulsed with the alien life of this place.

Actually, come to think of it, it reminded him a little of Stacy.

The area he was on now was a vast expanse of some unrecognizable material... but it was flat and solid, and therefore perfectly fine terrain for the XLA. Around it was not a sky, but the emptiness of open space. Whatever strange atmosphere surrounded this place was completely transparent, allowing anyone present to simply stare out at the stars.

He eased the motorcycle forward, with Fuyu hovering over his shoulder like a pale ghost.

Comments

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Yes. I suppose I strike people as the serious sort. So you're in good company. Heck, Anwei almost never picked up on his humor.

Have you been here for years, then?

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

He thought for a moment. There was no way it had been years, but it had been a long time. "N-not quite a year n-now... B-back home there's a g-girl, Amanda. I h-had ta work hard t-ta get used to her h-humor. I'd m-much rather y-yours though." He didn't seem too happy talking about Amanda, but he didn't seem to have any hatred towards her either. He smiled again, mentioning Zouichi's humor.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

You've been here for almost a year? Alex must be sturdier than he looked, to have made it here for that long.

Ah, at last some appreciation. Did she have to explain her jokes often?

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex nodded, "U-usually Mikel explained th-them though. I-it's been a long y-year though, b-but it's g-gone fast t-too..."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He nodded. Mikel sounds like a good friend. Do you know if he or any of the others are aboard the ship?

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex sighed and shook his head. "N-no... Unless they decided t-ta hide from me, and I d-don't think they'd do that.

"I-I'm p-pretty sure I'm the o-only Shadow Eater on the sh-ship..." It was one of the things that made him feel so alone sometimes, even with the new-found abundance of friends. There were just the occasional emotional complication when your friends aren't Shadow Eaters. If they have shadows of the wrong strength, then you couldn't sit next to them and console them.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Unless the rest of them are asleep, correct? They might just be in the pods somewhere, waiting to come awake again.

I mean, some hope was better than no hope, and Alex looked pretty glum. If it makes you feel any better, there seem to be a lot of people alone on the ship.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

He smiled a bit, thankful for the encouragement, "Y-yeah. It's different, but th-there's something t-ta be said about b-being alone together. I th-think my f-friends m-must be asleep. I-if anything, th-they were the h-heroes th-that were written about in other worlds. I m-might've gotten a f-few sentences a-at best."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't sell yourself so short, said Zouichi. If nothing else, you were important to them. And will remain to be, when you see each other again. And you still have Luna, do you not?

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

He smiled a bit more, looking off more into his own memories than into the distance. "Y-yeah, I think being i-important ta them's why I'm h-here. And I d-do have Luna." He ignored the voice of doubt that added for now. He wasn't going to think about if she went to the pods again.