Double Rainbow

Dark Rainbow-3

I open my cage and patrol the room. I hate the screaming and crying of the Canira. One tiny griffon (already mutated- he's got fire breath) is whimpering really loudly, so I rake my claws along the front of the cage. The sound of screeching metal seems to shut him up, but I give him my signature warning stare, just in case.

My cage is stuffed with pillows and meat piled high- my favorite little delicacies, I accept no less. I try to bury myself in stuff, because the Obsidians will let me, but something seems... off.

My only real friend here is the amber-eyed Obsidian, Storm, even if he is a bit weird. He had to train me not to call him 'sir', and eventually, when I focused on his eyes, it was much easier to treat him like an equal. Everyone else is either above me or below me. Drastically.

"Today's the day. Oh, Lupis, I prayed it would never come..." says a voice I recognize as Storm. Lupis? The word sounds oddly familiar, and I'm sure I've heard the wolf prisoners in here say it at some point. An Obsidian, though? Why would he use a word like that? Why is he so worried? I open the door to greet him.

"Dark Rainbow!" He's in his typical leopard form.

"Dark Rainbow Canira." He always forgets that last part. It annoys me much more than it should.

"Okay, you have a test-" he winces at the word, "-today."

"Cool. Should we go?"

"Yes."

We walk down the halls together, side by side. He always acts like he's superior to me when we're in the halls, no matter how chummy he is inside the chambers.

Obsidians of all shapes pass us, but today they say random words of encouragement to me-

"Be superior. You know you are."

"They are scum."

"Do not fail us. Or else."

We arrive at a small, silver door. Storm opens the door, and it's much bigger on the inside. Two small lumps sit in the corner of some type of boxed-in area.

"Step in." says Storm, guiding me into a door to the area. I do. A metal door closes behind me with a metallic shing.

"E-238472-Codename-Dark Rainbow. You are taking test 55-3. Your instructions- kill these two." he continues. His voice is official-sounding enough, but there's something underneath his tone. "You may begin."

My red eyes glow like rubies in the sunlight. I grit my teeth, looking at the puny lower life forms. There's something different about these two. A gold pegasus with a matted, sparkly pink mane, and a red Canira who looks much too fierce for his size.

He's snarling, but not at me. He's staring straight at Storm. "Storm! We trusted you!"

"And I trust you." replies Storm cooly.

I lunge at the pegasus, but to my surprise, the red one hurls himself in the way. He faces off with me, and I find myself going way too easy on him. He stares straight into my eyes, and something begins to crack. Everything throbs way too fast, and my head is on the verge of exploding.

"Cherry! Fly out!" he says to the pegasus, but she does nothing.

"I can't fly." she cries, "I'm too young."

The red Canira groans. I take the split second he glares over at her to smack him in the face. He begins to bleed, but he rakes me under the stomach and slides out behind me. I try to catch him, but he's desperately fast.

I go for the pegasus, who kicks me, but she's simply not strong. The red Canira swipes her out from under my claws, and they dig into his flesh instead. He splays out his paws and gives up. "Let her live, okay?"

I'm about to go for a killing bite when I look into his eyes, their deep amber. I can't do it. My grips weakens, and I look up at Storm. He says quietly, "Open your eyes, Dark Rainbow." He turns to the shape of a wolf and howls a little. I let go. The guilt of all the awful things I've done crashes down on me like a waterfall. The whole Obsidian Factory as it really is almost numbs my senses- the decay, the agony, the fear.

Old memories flood through me too fast to comprehend. My past life, my life as a wolf, is so close now. My eyes turn sapphire blue and I let go of Torch.

"Run." I say. "Take three lefts and two rights. Second door to the left is a portal to Dreamland. Go."

Storm opens the door and the two of them run.He stares at me for a second, and our eyes meet. His mouth is wide open. I look away, confused and slightly weirded out. I turn to Storm. "You knew the whole time. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It wouldn't have done anything. You need an extremely powerful situation, like life or death, to wake someone out of a mindwipe. I couldn't just tell you, your brain was programmed to deny it."

"Why would you help me, though?"

"Listen. They're going to kill me when they find out. For real. I just want you to hold Torch's image in your brain, that image of you letting him go. Okay?"

"That's his name?"

"That's his name. Now, on top of that- if you just remember that, you'll be fine. The mindwipe will seemingly work, but it will have no effect. And if you really want to know why I helped you... let's just say you're not the only one who got a second chance. There are others of us."

"Others... other reincarnates..."

"No, others of our old kind still live, but I like the term for us. Reincarnates. I'm just going to warn you now, although you'll still be able to think after the mindwipe, you're going to forget about your past life again. You're also going to forget me, because now I'm associated with it. I promise though, whatever it takes, I will come back to you. Stay strong. Blame it all on me. Okay?"

"I don't want to lose you..."

"OKAY?!"

I hear yelling in the hall, one terrible scream, and then footsteps coming this way. "I got it." I say. The Obsidians break down the door, and they see me and him and put what they think is two and two together. I see him mouth "Goodbye... Dark Rainbow." My wolf name. My name now, too. I will keep it for him, forever and ever.

Then I see her. Queen Nethera herself. She snarls, and all the Obsidians back out of the way, forming two lines with an opening between her and Storm. I want to go to him. This, too, has happened before. Storm, no, Storm Runner, was murdered before my eyes and I was powerless to stop it. It's going to happen again. The deja vu, the pure, awfulness of it starts to overwhelm me so much that I barely see what happens next. Queen Nethera raises one claw high. I want to scream, but I can't. She strikes it down, and Storm explodes into pieces of fractured obsidian.

Gone.

Dead.

The others move in to take me away to the mindwipe chamber.