2200 Blues © 2024 by G.R. Nanda. All rights reserved.
The world was ablaze. And Nickel was alone. The fog danced violently around him, split and pushed aside by smoke and rubble falling, careening around him. The man, Gancho, the friend of Steve who had led him through the city to safety, had told him to wait for his return after fending off soldiers and pirates seeking to exploit the chaos, the ruckus, and the disarray. But Gancho never came back.
Nickel was curled up in a ball, covering his head to shield himself from the rubble and dust. He was back in his hovercraft, all alone, nothing to do but stay out of sight while the world inside and out crumbled.
“Rise…”
Nickel opened his eyes a crack to see the air outside—gray plumes of smoke and ash mixed with the orange fog.
“Stand, perch yourself like a hawk before flight.”
The voice of the Thraíha Oracle returned to him. He remembered his last conversation with her, flashing through his mind in this moment of chaos. He recalled sharing with her his inheritance from his parents and the conflicted feelings he had about it.
“When you perch yourself atop the tree of Life, you see the universe unveiled. You must perch atop the highest canyon peak before a hunt.”
“For that, you must rise. Stand, not with your chest inward, but expanded like a hawk’s plumage.”
Nickel removed his hands from his head and started to uncurl himself.
“Stretch your wings high… hold them to the air, not against it, and you may soar like Great Father Hawk.”
Nickel straightened his back and pressed his fists into the ground. He growled and punched the earth.
“I am a Thraíha!” Nickel shouted to himself, striking the ground again. He straightened himself further and slowly stood up, dusting himself off.
He saw the blade that Gancho had left behind. Turning around, he spotted the disjointed walkway hanging from the side of a building with shattered railings. There were android guards sent by the United Republic war fleet, guarding the distress beacon to mobilize the emergency units of Merrix Depot. Nickel had been hiding from them thus far, sitting alone, cowering in fear.
No more.
Nickel leaned over and picked up the blaster rifle that Gancho had left behind. While his mind screamed against his footsteps, he moved forward and aimed the rifle at the blaster-points of the androids. In a flash and burst of crackling light, they were disarmed of their guns.
Without waiting to see their reaction, Nickel grabbed the sword Gancho had left behind, swinging it through the air as Akela had taught him, calibrating his positioning and accustoming himself to its weight. Then, holding it in his practiced offensive stance, Nickel rushed toward the walkways like the Thraíha warrior he was.
G.R. Nanda 