Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

I wonder . . . has anyone noticed that I'm being deliberately vague just WHERE precisely RAF is within the narrative?

"We can't tell you who we are. Or where we live. It's too dangerous, and they might find us. ... Because everyone is in really big trouble. Yeah. Even you.

Damn, forgot about that.

Actually, no. I just assumed that the reader would assume that it would be in their native country, that's why I try to keep it as vague as possible.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Soul-Searching

Cloak had sat down with crossed legs as the door to the bunker vibrated as the infected had renewed their attempts to break into this refugee stronghold. All the RAFians, except Cloak (who needn't bother, as he could see through Earthsight and Metalsight), looked warily at it.

"The door cannot be penetrated by those children outside," Cloak said, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"How d'you --" Demos began, the Cloak gave him a dirty look that clearly said Really?, and Demos amended his statement by ending it with an abashed, "Oh."

Cloak could easily see the infected middle schoolers -- four boys, two girls -- charging the door futilely. He could tell that they were infected due to his feline ability to sense evil. It was still rather distracting.

Phoenix used this very potent distraction to speak to Cloak with some quasi-privacy.

"Cloak," he said, in hushed tones, "we need to have a word."

"About?"

"You know what about." Phoenix said.

"I'm afraid not, Phoenix." Cloak said, cottoning on to what Phoenix was after, but playing dumb.

"Save it," the mod countered. "I know you're planning something dangerous to cure this plague."

"Why would --"

"Don't," Phoenix said. "You and I both know you're planning something. Stop the pretense of otherwise."

"Fine," Cloak said, dropping all pretense, as he uncrossed his legs, his tail tip twitching unconciously. "I do have a plan."

"Care to let me in on it?"

"No." Cloak said firmly. "You'll just try to stop me from doing what must be done."

Phoenix hid his surprising realization, and said, "You're planning on sacrificing yourself, aren't you? Aren't you?"

Cloak said nothing, but turned his gaze away from Phoenix.

"Why are you so quick to die for us?" Phoenix hissed. "Why not live for us instead?"

[Cloak]

Third chapter today. Haven't done that many in a while. Anyway, 'bout 8 more chapters to go, not counting this one:

CHAPTER TWELVE:
An Inexpected Turn of Events

Suddenly, the pounding at the door intensified. Cloak "saw" something that shocked him, for he did not expect it.

"Aquilai and Aila are out there," he said, "right outside the door."

"Sh-should we let them in?" Kelly asked.

"No," Cloak said, his eyes shut. "They've been infected."

Phoenix's eyebrows knit together, as he said perplexedly, "But . . . but why didn't they just regenerate?"

"Perhaps the Plague isn't sufficient to trigger it?" Cloak postulated Then he shrugged with a heavy sigh. "I dunno. They are the only two Time Lords to ever be infected with the plague to my knowledge."

The fury and flurry of pounding was almost deafening. It was most certainly distracting.

"In another words," Richard said promptly, a heaviness to his voice, "we can't do anything."

"Not at the moment, anyway," Demos said, noticing the slightly slower frequency that the pounding came.

"Are they leaving?" AniDragon asked, a sadness and hopefulness lilt in her tone.

Cloak's eyes widened with surprise as he "saw" what was happening. He could not keep the shock from his voice as he answered, "No. No, they aren't."

"Then why have they slow . . . slowed . . . down . . ." Kelly said, just understanding at the last moment.

They were giving up, they were collapsing. They were . . . they were . . . dying.

***

"Ah, yes," Malice said, nodding excitedly. "The little extra fiddling I did is starting to tak effect now."

Ravager growled lightly.

"Yes, slowly makes it more tortuous, more painful."

Ravager let out a mew.

"No, silly head," Malice said with a girlish giggle, "not for them. For Cloak, my dear. Cloak."

[Cloak]

Yes . . . going onto the fourth chapter today. But don't get used it it -- it's simply because I'm off today.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
An Unforeseen Consequence

"Dying?" Kelly said shrilly.

"You can't be serious," AniDragon said disbelievingly.

"He looks pretty serious to me." Demos said, somewhat indifferently and inreverently. It was his demonic nature that caused him to be so flippant about death. This was no surprise to the other RAFians, so used this lighthanded approach to such a macabre subject.

"Aquilai and Aila are . . ." Cloak said, folding his arms and bowing his head morbidly, ". . . are the only ones left standing."

"What's that --" Phoenix began.

But Richard cut across him, "The rest are dead, aren't they?"

Cloak shut his eyes, as if to protect himself from the truth, as he said, "They are motionless. All but the Time Lords."

"So . . . what do we do about this?" Demos asked.

"We must bring them in," Richard decided. "Quarantine them. The Plague can't affect us -- permanently, at least -- and maybe, just maybe, we can learn how to stop the Plague or trigger them to regenerate."

***

It went off without a hitch, and the two Time Lords were safely quarantined. But none of the RAFians would be able to forget the prone bodies on the ground. The only RAFian laying motionless there was Gulliver. All dead, and in death, their color schemes reverted back to normal. Apparently death was a cure, albeit an extremely undesirable one.

"It looks like the lethality increases threefold every thirty-six hours," Phoenix said, looking at a readout. "Most are dead within a week."

"It's just fortunate that the casualities have only amounted to fifteen people." Richard said. "Still, it is a regretable loss."

And their blood is on my hands, Cloak thought, savagely bitter. I cannot hesitate any longer . . .

"They're still not regenerating, though." Kelly said. "My I should heal them."

"Can you?" Demos asked.

"I dunno if I'm strong enough, though. It may very well be too late."

"Don't talk like that!" AniDragon said bracingly. "We'll figure this out. We always do."

"Actually, Goom, Aquilai, and Yarin always figure these things out." Demos said.

"Details!" AniDragon cried exasperatedly.

"Hey," Phoenix said suddenly, "where's Cloaky?"*

---

*Bit of a "Phineas and Ferb" reference.

[redtailedsaffa]

Nice Sunday morning treat, all these chapters!

Whoa, it's getting darker, but it's also getting better.

[theyoungphoenix]

Agreed. ^

Hi Cloaky! I missed you! I wanted to pop in (at three in the morning, but that's besides the point) and say hi!!

[Cloak]

Hiya, Abby.

And Saffa, there would have been more if my internet had not decided to crap out on me.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Requiem for a Regeneration

Cloak had slipped away, by Walking back to the Nexus and then immmediately Walking back to the general area of the forum. He saw destruction, but there seemed to be a lot of mayhe,. a few prone bodies. But he could "see" them breathing.

Even the very sky and clouds was blood-red, as if they themselves had been infected. It was very much like a dystopian world imagined in pretty much every cartoon, except the buildings and people were mostly in tact.

He just had to consult with one person before he put his plan in action. Just the one person whose judgement he valued more than his own . . .

***

Before anyone could comment on Cloak's sudden disappearance, there was a loud, incessant beeping at a high pitch. The Time Lords vitals were going critical.

Cloak's departure was quickly forgotten as the RAFians rushed to Aquilai's and Aila's side. But the two were quickly overtaken with a bright light.

"What's going on?" AniDragon asked.

"They're regenerating." Richard said, shielding his eyes.

"It's about time," Phoenix commented.

It was a matter of seconds before the Fourth Aquilai and the Fourth Aila stood before the RAFians.

Aila looked quite fashionable, with her long hair pulled back into a stylish ponytail. Her clothes were of reds and blues, with yellow accents. She maintained a Ultimate Alien Gwen Tennyson-like form, including the confident smile.

Aquilai was no longer an Earthbender, but had regenerated into an Airbender. He even bore the bald head and the tattoos. He wore a khaki trench coat much in the style of the Question, even with a fedora. He wore a cheeky smile, but other than that his personality is unchanged.

"Took you long enough," Demos said.

"Eh, so sue us." Aquilai countered.

[redtailedsaffa]

So it's the Fourth now. Are they limited to 12 too? Or maybe more?

[Cloak]

Unless either of them tell me different (Aila will be implausible, as she never posted much and has been here since forever), than yes, Saffa.

[redtailedsaffa]

Well, I haven't seen Aquilai around for a long while, either... sad, he was fun. :/

[Cloak]

And helped make "Memoirs" better, by his constructive criticisms and comments. And stopped me from making a very big mistake . . . ironic this comes up, by this chapter.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
The Desperate Decision

"Wait -- Cloak." Phoenix said, bringing everyone's attention back to the Realm Walker's abrupt departure. "Where'd he go?"

"Cloak was here?" Aquilai asked.

"Yes, he told us that the way that the Hate Plague was defeated before." Demos said.

Richard's eyes widened. "He said that it was by destroying the Matrix of Leadership, a device of great energy."

"He did not say that." Kelly corrected. "Did he?"

Aquilai was remarkably quick on the uptake. "And Cloak is a being of incredible energy. . . ."

Color drained from Aila, Demos, AniDragon, and Kelly's faces.

"I had hoped he would consider an alternative," Phoenix said.

"As did I," Richard said knowingly. "He clearly feels responsible for the deaths this plague brought about."

"How's that? He didn't infect anyone." Demos said, confused.

"It is clear Malice had, though," Aquilai said, fully serious. The superficial resemblance to a young Tenzin was irresistible. "Cloak must believe that he is responsible for Malice even releasing and infecting others with this plague."

"But he hasn't any control over what she does!" Kelly protested.

"He surely believes she wouldn't even be in our universe, if not for himself." Phoenix pointed out. "He probably believes his mere presence here has brought this about."

"And there is only one life that he would willingly sacrifice for us," Aquilai said heavily.

"You're not saying --" Aila began.

Richard nodded, " I believe Cloak is going to take his own life to stop the plague, just as the Matrix was sacrificed to stop it in that other realm."

"We have to stop him!" AniDragon, Kelly, and Aila cried in unison.

"We can't." Richard said.

"You're going to let --" Kelly began angrily.

"You misunderstand me." Richard said calmly. "We can't stop him when he's made his mind up like this. It's nigh on impossible to hold a Realm Walker, especially one with Cloak's determination."

Richard sighed heavily, then continued, "No, we'd best find an alternative. And find it fast."

"Oh, lovely," Aila muttered.

[Cloak]

Currently planning out the chapters of Book CXCIX ("The VSSL"). Going well.

I think I might be able to squeeze in another chapter.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Sage Advice

Cloak was in a forest clearing that looked eerily like the lion turtle's back in "Avatar: the Last Airbender". He sat down on the smooth hexagonal space, closing his eyes. He touched his his fists together.

He breathed in . . . then exhaled slowly. He repeated this several times.

For a while nothing happened, just the sounds of the sanctity of this untouched, pure area of forest. It was wonderful.

But soon, as Cloak's mind focused and yet relaxed, it was all left behind, and he was standing in a cloud-filled void. He knew he was standing on a hard, stable, featureless surface without a definite texture and color.

There was only one other figure here, in a simple army green cloak, white shirt, khaki slacks, and black shoes. His cloak's hood was down. He had his back to Cloak and he held his hands behind his back. His wings extended slightly.

"Gr-grandfather?"

"Why are you so intent on joining me in oblivion?" he said. His tone was not approving.

"Grandfather, I need your advice. I need to know that this'll --"

"I know very well why you've come," he said, turning to face him. The lookmwas quiet intimidating. "You've come to seek reassurance from your plan."

"Grandfather, I need to know."

"I have never encountered the Hate Plague," he said without hesitation. "So I have no idea if your plan would work. But that's no the real reason you're here. And you know it."

Cloak opened his mouth to speak but was at a loss for words.

"You may think this course of action is selfless and righteous," Sage said, closing the distance between the two. "And many who do not know you, who do not care about you, may also see it that way as well."

Sage looked Cloak directly in the eye, and those fierce eagle eyes were intimidating, though they showed nothing but love and compassion. He continued, "But this course of action, Cloak, is, in all actuality, very selfish."

Cloak was completely nonplussed at this. How is sacrificing his life for the greater good selfish?

"It is one thing to fall at your enemy's hand," Sage elaborated. "It is quite another to take your own life."

"But . . . but there is no other way."

"Isn't there, Cloak? Isn't there?"

Silence met these words.

[Cloak]

Last chapter of the night (after this chapter, it'll be three chapters from the end).

Then it's gonna be bedtime for me.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
The Discovery

"What if AniDragon boosts your power, Kelly?" Aquilai asked pragmatically. "Would that work?"

AniDragon smacked her forehead than facepalmed. Then she spoke with obvious sincerity. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

"It's worth a try, I think." Kelly shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

"But what if even that's not strong enough?" Demos asked, being rather inappropriately blithe.

"It'll have to be." Richard said heavily. "We haven't anything else. Aquilai, Aila -- you stay here. Demos, Phoenix -- find Cloak before he consummates his plan."

The two Time Lords did not argue. Demos, however, giggled a little over Richard's use of the word "consummates". The RAFfather's eyes rolled at this, as he then prompted, "Let's get going."

***

"But . . . Grandpa . . . Grandpa, it's my fault."

"Your fault? Your fault?" Sage echoed. "Cloak, you had nothing to do with it. You cannot control Malice's whims."

"If I hadn't --"

"What makes you so sure that she would not of done it anyway?" Sage asked. "After all, it is one reason she had been sent to the gate so many years ago."

"But . . . maybe if . . . if I didn't come, this universe would be safe."

His grandfather facepalmed, realizing where this was coming from. He muttered angrily, "Gateburst, Ursa!"

Ursa was Cloak's mother, Sage's eldest daughter. The eldest daughter of six. Clearly, Sage believed she had something to do with Cloak believing himself to be at fault for things far outside his realm of control.

It was true. Being his mother's scapegoat for so long had made Cloak feel that he bore all the world's burdens.

"Cloak, no one can bear the world's weight indefinitely. Such stress, such pressure," said Sage affectionately, clamping his hands onto Cloak's shoulders, "it's not something any one man should bear. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it for you, though. Circumstances and situations are going to arise outside your control. All you can do is your best to deal with them as constructively as you can."

Cloak said nothing. He knew what he could or should say.

***

Richard, AniDragon, and Kelly arrived at RAF -- a bulk of the RAFians had remained there, but in rather precarious conditions.

AniDragon clapped her hand to Kelly's shoulder, activating her power -- amplifying Kelly's healing power.

"Uh . . . no what?" Kelly asked.

"Got me," AniDragon shrugged.

"Sing, perhaps? I mean the music already started." Richard suggested noncommittally.

[redtailedsaffa]

Aaaaand let the singing begin!

[Cloak]

Yes -- but not yet.

Anyway, I finished planning out Book CXCIX ("The VSSL"). As it stands right now, it'll be the usual twenty chapters.

May be a short chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
The Calmness Before the Song

"Now," Sage said, "our time together draws to a close."

"But, Grandpa," Cloak protested, "I'm . . . I'm . . . so confused. I . . . I . . ."

"You'll figure it out. I have every confidence that you will, young one. It won't be easy, but the things that worthwhile are never easy." Sage said. "You must go to your friends. Taken together, your unity with them is truly a force to be reckoned with."

Cloak didn't get right away that Sage was handing him a clue. With a whitish-blue flash, Cloak's eye opened in the real world.

But Cloak did not move for the longest time. He was reeling. He was willing to give his life, sacrifice it without a second thought or qualm. But he found out that such an act would disappoint his grandfather greatly . . .

"There he is!" a voice cried suddenly. "Demos, he's over here!"

Cloak remained motionless. He recognized Phoenix's voice, but he remained silent and motionless.

"Cloak, don't do it!" the mod cried. "We've found another way. Don't kill yourself!"

"I'm not," Cloak said tonelessly.

"Wh-whaaaa?" Demos said.

"I know that there is another alternative." Cloak said, standing in one fluid movement, his cloak barely moving.

"Huh? How?" Phoenix said.

"Let's just say a muy importante birdie told me," Cloak said.

***

Malice reacted to this sudden reversal of fortune indifferently. Ravager was perplexed at this.

"It was just a scheme like any other," she shrugged. "Win or lose, I will just scheme again."

Then she rubbed her chin.

"Pity too," she said thoughtfully, "I almost had Cloak take his own life."

[redtailedsaffa]

Ugh, that last line just had evil written all over it.