The Phoenix Colony

Chrys' nose led them to a bush at the base of the mountain. "They aren't in a bush." Raylene almost cries as she grabs a branch and shakes it. It comes loose, revealing that it wasn't a bush at all, but a covering for an underground cavern. She shimmies through the opening and into the opening of the cave. Pasha is on top of Viva with his hands around her throat. She grabs a branch from the wood pile and slams it on his badly burned arm, breaking his hold on Viva.

 

Viva gasped for air as Pasha's hold on her loosened. She fluttered her eyes open, looking around frantically. She saw Raylene who had hit Pasha, and moved away from him. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her chest inflated and deflated abnormally. Her eyes took a vicious turn as they scanned Pasha from top to bottom: angry, sad and worried. Her tears did not cease as she crumbled to a corner, continuing her hostile breathing for air.

She looked up at Pasha once more, hate incensed in her eyes.
"You're a monster! A terrible...terrible monster! You can't go on without killing. I placed my trust in you...but you were always bound to kill."
She then breathed a bit more, and shouted once more:
"I...hate you! I hate everything about you! I can't believe I let you live this long, when I was supposed to kill you for thew government the day we met!"
Then, as if condemning herself, she got up and continued:
"Yes, Yuri Shao worked for the government. I WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT! I'm a freaking SPY! An ASSASSIN!"
"SHUT UP Miss. Assassin."
Not today...not anymore.
"You may just regret this."

 

Raylene dropped the log and stood in utter bewilderment. She wanted to make sure Viva was alright, but she started yelling, telling Pasha that she was supposed to kill him. She looked from Pasha to Viva and then back again. She backed against the wall of the cave, dragging Chrys with her.

As her back touched the cold stone, something tugged at her pant legged. She looked down and saw what looked like a fur covered snake. She reacted before she could think and screamed. She pointed at the thing and bolted away from it. "What is that thing?" She demanded, her voice shaky and out of breath. The fight between Pasha and Viva took the back burner for the moment as the snake followed her around the cave.

 

Pain. Pain? He screamed, falling down next to the fire. His arm throbbed painfully as he looked at Viva’s form. He had hurt her. He had lost reality again.

It started with a deep regret, he wanted to run and make her better. He could feel the tears starting down his eyes. He had hurt her. He had HURT her. Her words came before he could run towards her, and his heart sank.

Spy? Government? Kill me… assassin? His heart ached painfully, as he struggled to hide his heartbreak. She had never loved him, she was just there to kill him. If only he had killed her, he wouldn’t have to feel his pain now. He couldn’t get the sadness from his eyes, as he fell back, never taking his eyes off her. He stumbled to the entrance, not looking at anyone but her. Her hating eyes. Her… lying eyes. He struggled to pull himself through the entrance, and he ran.

The pain in his arm was nothing compared to what reigned in his heart. He stopped in the middle of the woods, his knife cupped tightly in his hand. He had hurt her, and in turn she had hurt him. The tears fell.

 

As Fox was about to cut open the red pineapple, she could weakly sense some movement near by. She closes her eyes and concentrates. There are two people. One of them is rather large, and moves like a man. The other one is small and moves like a girl.

Fox stands up and pulls out her knife. "Alright, whoever is there, come out!" yells Fox. A large black guy and a small japanese woman steps into the open.

"We aren't looking for trouble." says the woman, "We heard some noise and wanted to see if there were other survivors."

Fox sighs and says, "I guess we could use some company for lunch. I'm Fox, and this is Derek." "I'm Mineko and this is Bull." says the woman as they sit across from Fox and Derek. The four of them begin to eat the fruit. Though it is odd. Its nothing like a pineapple on the inside. Its more like a grape. "I guess we'll call these pinegrapes." says Fox.

 

Viva watched him retreat, and run out of the cave. Suddenly her anger vanished and she reminisced what she had said.
"Let's see...you said he's a terrible monster, that you hate him, that you work for the government as a spy and assassin - and you were supposed to kill him. Oh, you should've added you wanted to kill a girl too - for fun."
I didn't mean to put it this way...
"Well, he didn't mean to kill you or Fernandez. You knew that, still you reacted. Stupid much?"
It's all my fault.
"Guess what sweetie...you're a sick cheat, tis all."
Viva ignored Raylene and Chrys who seemed shocked by their fight, and followed out of the cave.
"Pasha, wait!"
She yelled, the cold freezing her tears. She saw him in the middle of a crowd of trees, weeping.
"I'm...sorry. I didn't mean it that way...please don't...get angry..."
She muttered, unable to put her words right. Despite her years of diplomatic knowledge, she couldn't say one straight sentence.

 

His tears came to a momentary spot. Her words sent anger through his veins, his heart momentarily stopping. Why couldn’t she have just killed him? It would have hurt less this way. He wanted to run into her arms and say it was okay. Say he was sorry for what he did.

“Then do—“ his mother started.

Pasha growled under his breath, his fist hitting the snow below him. He yelped in pain, grabbing his badly burnt arm. The pain was coming back to him, as his eyes stared into the ground.

“Just do—“

He got up, in one quick movement and walked past her. He never looked her in the face as he headed back to the camp. He hated her.

 

Pasha ran from the cave and then Viva followed, leaving Raylene and Chrys with the furry snake thing. "What the hell just happened?" Raylene asked Chrys. She grabbed a fur and threw it over the snake in an attempt to make it stop following her. "Why do they have this thing in here? Is it a pet, like Joey?" Raylene lifted the corner of the fur and the snake poked it's head out and meowed at her. She dropped the fur again and decided to follow Pasha and Viva and headed out of the cave.

Outside, Pasha was in the trees and he was crying. Viva was walking towards him, trying to plead her case. Raylene sat on a rock by the cave entrance, letting them have some privacy. She just didn't want to be near that snake. She focused on the birds chirpping in the trees so she wouldn't hear their private thoughts and hoped they would work it out. Suddenly, Pasha was storming back towards camp and Raylene stood to get out of his way.

 

Viva sobbed, not accepting the harsh reality.
"Pasha, please, I'm sorry. I don't hate you. I don't want to kill you. I love you, I really do. I didn't mean what I said...please don't just go."
Her feet hurled to the ground, and pierced into the snow. Her body trembled from the cold and the lack of hope she faced. She was wrong. It was all her fault. But wasn't there nay way out? Couldn't she fix it?
"Pasha...please..."
She wailed, and then slammed her head into her cupped hands.
"Say something."

 

Chrys didn't however, "Big Burly, what the heck is going on?" She demanded, her hands on her hips, her tail twitching into a question mark.

 

True love was something that Raylene had never experienced herself and if these two people with so much turmoil in their lives could find it, in the middle of nowhere, then she couldn't just watch them throw it away. She stood in the doorway of the cave, blocking Pasha's path.

"Don't walk away from her. You need each other. You love each other." She braced herself for his wrath and refused to move out of the way.

 

Her words made his heart sink. But he couldn’t pull himself to forgive her. She was here to kill him. She had lied to him! How did he know her words were true?

“She’s crying though…” his mother said.

“Shut up!” he snapped, though his words came out weakly.

He stopped suddenly, his eyes meeting Raylene’s. He pushed her aside, his actions still weak. He looked at the new girl, her words barely reaching his ears.

He said nothing as he slunk into the cave. He slumped into the back of the cave, letting the shadows hide him. His arm throbbed but he let it go. He didn’t care anymore. After all, he was a monster.

Tatee slithered up to him, nuzzling him gently. No smile came as his good hand brushed the creatures fur.

 

Chrys was completely confuses, Ray was suddenly acting like a marrige counceslor. "No, really, what the hell is going on here?!" She asked again, her hearrs perking up for sound, her tail twisting into the question mark.

 

Viva's heart sank as Pasha ignored her, walking back into the cave.
"It's alright honey, breakups happen."
Shut up. For the last time, shut up. I hate you, I hate everything about myself. I HATE MYSELF SO JUST SHUT UP!
The voice stuttered, and said quietly:
"Viva..."
Just leave me alone, and never talk to me. I hate myself.
The voice stopped its rattle. In fact, Viva's entire mind blanked out. Like never before. Almost as if she was dead. She slowly crawled out of the snow and walked to Raylene and Chrys.
"Uhh...sorry about the situation. And thanks for the help. I take it you two were hearing our thoughts for a reason?"
Her voice was emotionless and dry. She turned to Chrys and asked:
"Hi, who might you be? I'm...never mind."
Her entire internal mechanism had been ruined.

 

..Wow, HyperPyper here doesn't even recognize me...Chrys extended a hand, "Hi Viva, v-i-v-a, name's Chrys, with a y." She kind of wanted to hug the weirdy, but she wasn't going to. "I don't read minds, just messages of the wind." She grinned, pulling the girl into a hug, despite herself.

 

Raylene stood there, shocked that Pasha completely ignored her and walked past, like she wasn't there.

"Uhh...sorry about the situation. And thanks for the help. I take it you two were hearing our thoughts for a reason?" Viva said as she walked to Chrys and Raylene. "Hi, who might you be? I'm...never mind."

"Viva, we were looking for more tribes. We heard a yell and I started listening for thoughts since I called out and no one called back. Chrys' nose found you." Raylene looked at the red capillaries in Viva's eyes that had burst, "and just in the knick of time, it looks like." She ran her fingers along Viva's neck, checking for wounds and finding finger sized bruises in the flesh. "Can you breathe alright? He didn't crack your windpipe, but I'm sure it will be sore for awhile."

 

Viva didn't smile and simply pulled herself out of the hug.
"Nice to meet you Chrys."
"Viva, we were looking for more tribes. We heard a yell and I started listening for thoughts since I called out and no one called back. Chrys' nose found you...and just in the knick of time, it looks like."
Viva silently stood as she touched her neck. It didn't seem to hurt really.
"Can you breathe alright? He didn't crack your windpipe, but I'm sure it will be sore for awhile."
Viva nodded, and then said saliently:
"I'll be fine. Pasha might need something for his burned skin. And Cevin, our new friend, broke a couple of ribs. I'm not sure he fixed them."
She then pulled her hair into a ponytail, saying:
"So...why gathering the tribes all of the sudden? We'd love to come...but not without reason."
Her emotionless gestures could haunt a dead man.

 

Raylene was confused. This wasn't the Viva she met back at the old cave. She spoke cautiously. "We've met another tribe with 10 men. We are going to hunt the invisible creature. It killed Britney and Ben a few nights ago. If we don't stop it, it will kill all of us. We need as many people as we can get." She paused for a moment. "We have a guy in the tribe that is a genius with medical stuff. He could help Pasha and your other tribe mate."

 

Viva nodded and spoke impassively:
"Fine. We'll join you, just tell us where to come. We have a lot of packing to do, so we might take a while."
She crawled back into the cave, only holding her head up to hear Raylene's answer. For a moment, she imagined the beast hurling an attack at Fox, their so-called ex-leader.

 

Raylene pointed the way they had come. "It's that way. Stay close to the mountain side. It took us about an hour to walk here. Do you want help packing up? You have 2 wounded. We can stay and help." For an instant, she saw Fox in the clearing being mauled by something invisible. She blinked and the image was gone. She shook her head and looked back at Viva.

 

Viva shrugged, knowing that she and Pasha weren't going to work together for a change, and Cevin could use a little bit of relief too.
"Sure, if you don't have other plans."
She dropped into the cave, and started like a news reporter:
"The skins and furs must be carried. We have quite a lot of meat on us too, though we should probably dispose off the stale meat. We also have these spears and horns for hunting. Very valuable. And of course, the pet."
She stopped, eyeing the snake pacify Pasha.
"The pet is probably taken care of."
She then broke down the fire, finishing:
"We should hurry, its getting colder for some reason."

 

...That's odd, I could swear that for an instant Hyper smelled like a predator,...no, just my mind playing tricks.... Chrys looked around, ...Darn, I wanted to take a nap...Aw well.. CHrys let out a huge yawn, inadvertantly releasing her claws and getting her hand stuck in a nearby branch. "Um, can I have some help?"

 

Raylene helped Chrys pull her hand free and followed Viva back in the cave. She started rattling off what needed to be taken and then mentioned the "pet". Raylene eyed the thing in Pasha's lap with disgust. "Where did you find that thing? It's creepy." She started piling furs in the center of the cave.

 

"Where did you find that thing? It's creepy."
Viva sighed as she cut the meat into slabs, removing the hard parts.
"It's the baby of the beast. Really useful if we want to hunt down the beast."
Tatee slithered down to Viva and licked her. She callously put her aside.
"She's called Tatee, by the way."

 

Chrys looked at it, "Mrow." She said simply, and it responded, "mrowmrow,meow." ...So I can undertand, You're afreid and want mommy?....I don't know what to say to you... She put a hand under Tatee's head, caressing it, looking up at Pasha, she asked, "Can I hold it?"