Raiyev Part 21
#21 of Raiyev
Raiyev plopped himself down on the ground, his large frame making a loud THUD as it hit the soft grass, and he began to weep gently, small streams of tears rolling cautiously down his fuzzy masked face. Dr. Frost, still in Raiyev's paws, looked up in earnest at her large colleague--her friend, her savior from that wretched prison.
Well, Thomas did his part, too, Frost thought to herself. Oh, Thomas! Damn you, you fool! She started weeping as well, her tears a silent elegy for their fallen coworker. Raiyev felt it, too: Even though Thomas had betrayed them and helped get them into this predicament, he at least tried to make amends at the end. He at least freed them. And all this mess...this war the humans were waging with that other planet...and he was their weapon. How many other "weapons" of this sort did they have? It was all too much, and the giant raccoon couldn't help but feel as if he wanted simply to stay here, in this forest, for the rest of his days.
After a few minutes of sitting and weeping in silence, the bowed head of Raiyev suddenly jerked up, as if remembering something suddenly. "They're going to be coming after us!" he hissed down at the hybrid in his paws. "We need to split up. We need to just...go our separate ways. At least if they catch one of us, there's still hope for the other one."
"Please, no!" Frost pleaded. "You're so big now--you can make good time running away. Take me with you. Keep me safe, please!" Frost looked almost terrified at the thought of being abandoned here in this forest.
"I can't," Raiyev replied. "They're after me primarily," he explained. "You're not nearly as important to them...they won't search you out if they find me." He got up and started in the direction of the dirt road where Brad had brought him. Brad... Raiyev thought sadly. It felt like an eternity since Raiyev had seen him. He wished so much that he could just go back to being in his fiancée's arms. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
Time seemed to disappear from Raiyev's mind as he continued to think about Brad, wondering what had ever become of him. Before he knew it, he had already carried Frost to the dirt road. He set her down carefully and pointed down the road with a huge digit. "The main road is just down that way," he explained. "Please go...take care of yourself. Get away from all this. I'm sure we'll figure out something in the end, and I'll be okay. Just you wait and see." He tried to sound as convincing as he could, even though his heart told him otherwise.
Frost hesitated, then after a long, heartfelt hug around his leg, leaving some of her tears in his soft fur, she turned and started off down the road. To stay safe, Raiyev ducked behind a line of trees and watched her until he couldn't see her anymore.
He breathed a deep sigh and started off deeper into the forest once again, not really sure where he could go this time. Thomas was dead. Harper had gone to find out what she could...Harper! He suddenly remembered his agreement to meet her where she left him. He wasn't too far, and he started jogging towards their parting place hopefully. Maybe he could meet her there. Maybe she would be there already.
Raiyev came to the place where he had sent her off towards the facility, but he didn't see any signs of Harper or anyone else. The only tracks around were at least a day old--most likely from their previous visit to that spot. Raiyev sighed again and sat down, sniffing a bit at the air, hoping to catch some sign somewhere. It was useless, though, as all he was able to smell was the forest itself.
It's not too bad here, Raiyev thought. Maybe I should just stay here, in this forest. No, that would be still far too close...but maybe I can find someplace natural like this far away. Someplace where they would never find me. And then I could just relax there...with nature... He found himself digging his paws a bit into the soft earth, almost curious at the feel and texture of it against his bare paws. That feeling he had been harboring for so long began welling up inside again--the feeling of being at ease in nature, away from the science he had long held dear. He almost felt like some otherworldly force was drawing him to that sense of natural living.
After a while of just sitting and thinking, relaxing under the cool shade of the forest trees, Raiyev finally got up, stooping so as not to reveal himself above the tops of shorter trees (being a good 40 feet tall or so now), and started making his way as far away from the facility as possible. He didn't get far, however, when he heard the rustling of footsteps not too far away behind him. His hopes were up again that it might be Harper at last, but he suddenly cautioned himself that it might be another detestable human out to capture him again.
He turned around suddenly, and gasped as he saw the image of Brad standing there, looking very disheveled, grimacing up at Raiyev, almost as if he didn't recognize him.
"B-Brad?" Raiyev asked, tears starting to well up in his eyes at the mere sight of his lover. "Is that really you? Oh, my god, what happened to you? What did they do to you?" He started to approach the much smaller raccoon when Brad suddenly pulled out a pistol and aimed it squarely at Raiyev's face, making Raiyev stop in his tracks.
"You hurt me," Brad managed to squeak out in a dry, raspy voice. He was shaking, the gun wobbling in his grip.
"What?" Raiyev asked, totally perplexed. "What are you talking about? What did I do, hon?" But Brad just turned around and ran away back towards the clearing. Raiyev stood for only a second, still confused, and then starting chasing after his mate. "Please, Brad!" he cried out, louder than perhaps he should have. "Please stop! Wait! Talk to me!"
In no time, the two raccoons were standing back in that clearing where they had made love, a time that felt so distant to Raiyev now. Brad turned back around and pointed the gun at Raiyev once more.
"You hurt me!" Brad repeated, yelling it out this time, crying in his rage. "All of this! It's all your fault!"
"Brad, please!" Raiyev struggled, trying to find the right words. "Please, listen to yourself! This isn't you! This isn't right! You don't--" Raiyev stopped, thinking a moment. And he realized: If the humans could make him terrorize an entire city, they could easily take over the thoughts of his mate. "Brad, you have to listen to me! Listen! They're controlling your thoughts! They've brainwashed you! You have to fight it, please!"
Just then, an entire squad of humans dashed out into the clearing, surrounding them quickly, their own guns trained on both Brad and Raiyev. "Lower your weapon!" Raiyev heard one of them call, and saw it was a human pointing a gun at Brad. It was the first time he had ever heard any of them speak in their own language, and it sounded odd--the voice sounded far too unnatural.
"Don't hurt him!" Raiyev said braver than he should have. "Don't you lay a finger on him, you bastards! You leave him alone!"
"Why did you let them do this?" Brad cried to Raiyev. "See what they've done to me? Can you see what you let them do?!"
"No, Brad!" Raiyev turned to his lover once again. "Please, stop this! Snap out of it! I know you can fight it, please, you just have to try!"
"Lower your weapon or else we'll have to shoot!" the human said again.
"Why couldn't you save me..." Brad cried, then turned the gun on himself, placing the barrel in his muzzle.
"No..." the giant raccoon strained, uttering only a whisper, but it was too late.
Raiyev would never forget how simply poetic it looked, Brad's body arcing backwards after pulling the trigger. He seemed to fly gracefully through the air, suspended in time. The blood didn't even register in Raiyev's eyes--only the beautiful body of his fiancée, his mate, his lover. Laying sprawled on the ground, Raiyev tried to imagine that Brad was only sleeping, just like he saw so many mornings of waking up next to him in bed. But he was gone this time...gone for good.