Steeltalon's Last Stand
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:53 amA short one-shot about the half-mutant who would give her life to save her family.
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I’ve reached my limit. So thought the black and white female raptor. She was lying under a stormy sky being pelted with raindrops, but she made no attempt to move to a more sheltered place. So much for holding on… The female kept her eyes closed, her body laced with scars and fresh wounds. Her jaws were parted slightly; her fangs covered in blood, some of it her own. Her injuries had finally caught up to the half-mutant. After many years, she was fighting her last battle. She lay there, drenched and shivering, alone. This was how she’d wished it would be. She would die alone, and her friends and family would dispose of her body. “D…Darkness,” the female rasped. She lifted her head, dulled crimson eyes narrowed. No, that wasn’t her mate. It was someone else, approaching her through the storm, their footsteps hidden by the crashing thunder and howling wind. “Steeltalon,” a voice murmured. “Hold on. Don’t let go…please.” “You’re a fool, Silver,” Steeltalon snapped. “This is my time…” “No it’s not!” Silver protested, pressing a wad of rain-soaked moss to a deep wound in Steeltalon’s chest. “You’ll be fine. Please, just hang on!” Steeltalon made no reply, her breathing starting to slow. “Do you remember…” Steeltalon began softly, so quietly in fact that her voice was nearly lost in the pounding rain. “…the day we met?” She swallowed painfully, sending a juddering spasm down her nine foot long body. “What a day it was.” “Don’t do that!” Silver snapped. “Don’t you go saying your good-byes!” Steeltalon gave Silver a look through narrowed eyes. “Why won’t you just let me accept my death?” she growled weakly, her voice rasping in her throat. “Because you’ve been just like a mother to me!” Silver hissed, angry that Steeltalon was so ready to give up. “I can’t let you go!” Steeltalon laughed softly, making blood gush faster from the terrible wound in her chest. “You always were a fighter,” the half-mutant murmured. Thunder boomed overhead, and lightning crackled in the distance. Steeltalon lay there, in the mud, with her foster daughter beside her. “Silver…” the black and white female muttered after a short pause in which the silence was broken only by the sounds of the storm. “Go back to the clearing. I’m not worth staying out in the rain.” “Don’t say that!” Silver snarled, now pressing the moss to some of Steeltalon’s other wounds. The half-mutant shuddered, pain coursing through her body. “I have…fought my last battle,” Steeltalon growled softly. She sighed. “Good-bye, Silver. Tell Darkness…I am…glad we met. And tell the others, that no one else ever had better friends.” “No!” Silver growled, pressing on the moss harder, although it was soaked with blood already. “You’re going to make it!” Steeltalon smiled at Silver. With a grunt of pain and effort, she pushed herself into a crouch, and leaned forward to whisper her last farewell to the off-white raptor. “And you, Silver…I’m glad we met too. Good-bye…” She fell back onto her side, her eyes unseeing, unaware of the rain that continued to pelt her unmoving body. “Steeltalon!” Silver screamed. “NO!” Her shrieks rang through the air, and she fell to her knees, screaming her surrogate mother’s name to the skies.
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I’ve reached my limit. So thought the black and white female raptor. She was lying under a stormy sky being pelted with raindrops, but she made no attempt to move to a more sheltered place. So much for holding on… The female kept her eyes closed, her body laced with scars and fresh wounds. Her jaws were parted slightly; her fangs covered in blood, some of it her own. Her injuries had finally caught up to the half-mutant. After many years, she was fighting her last battle. She lay there, drenched and shivering, alone. This was how she’d wished it would be. She would die alone, and her friends and family would dispose of her body. “D…Darkness,” the female rasped. She lifted her head, dulled crimson eyes narrowed. No, that wasn’t her mate. It was someone else, approaching her through the storm, their footsteps hidden by the crashing thunder and howling wind. “Steeltalon,” a voice murmured. “Hold on. Don’t let go…please.” “You’re a fool, Silver,” Steeltalon snapped. “This is my time…” “No it’s not!” Silver protested, pressing a wad of rain-soaked moss to a deep wound in Steeltalon’s chest. “You’ll be fine. Please, just hang on!” Steeltalon made no reply, her breathing starting to slow. “Do you remember…” Steeltalon began softly, so quietly in fact that her voice was nearly lost in the pounding rain. “…the day we met?” She swallowed painfully, sending a juddering spasm down her nine foot long body. “What a day it was.” “Don’t do that!” Silver snapped. “Don’t you go saying your good-byes!” Steeltalon gave Silver a look through narrowed eyes. “Why won’t you just let me accept my death?” she growled weakly, her voice rasping in her throat. “Because you’ve been just like a mother to me!” Silver hissed, angry that Steeltalon was so ready to give up. “I can’t let you go!” Steeltalon laughed softly, making blood gush faster from the terrible wound in her chest. “You always were a fighter,” the half-mutant murmured. Thunder boomed overhead, and lightning crackled in the distance. Steeltalon lay there, in the mud, with her foster daughter beside her. “Silver…” the black and white female muttered after a short pause in which the silence was broken only by the sounds of the storm. “Go back to the clearing. I’m not worth staying out in the rain.” “Don’t say that!” Silver snarled, now pressing the moss to some of Steeltalon’s other wounds. The half-mutant shuddered, pain coursing through her body. “I have…fought my last battle,” Steeltalon growled softly. She sighed. “Good-bye, Silver. Tell Darkness…I am…glad we met. And tell the others, that no one else ever had better friends.” “No!” Silver growled, pressing on the moss harder, although it was soaked with blood already. “You’re going to make it!” Steeltalon smiled at Silver. With a grunt of pain and effort, she pushed herself into a crouch, and leaned forward to whisper her last farewell to the off-white raptor. “And you, Silver…I’m glad we met too. Good-bye…” She fell back onto her side, her eyes unseeing, unaware of the rain that continued to pelt her unmoving body. “Steeltalon!” Silver screamed. “NO!” Her shrieks rang through the air, and she fell to her knees, screaming her surrogate mother’s name to the skies.
