A Zusi's Path

Chapter 26: The End of a Tale

Re3x0 sat in his shuttle, his paws bounded by chains. He felt his heart sink into his chest as he looked out the window to see the endless void of space. His ears twitched as he could hear the vibrations of the shuttle rattle about. He knew these were his last moments alive, he was either going to drift in space forever for die upon crashing into another planet or other space junk. Heaving a sigh he leaned against the wall, thinking about his actions and what his life could have been.

"Could.. Things have been different for me? Did I have to end up this way?", He asked himself, looking at his bound paws he almost wanted to cry. Looking back out of the window he could see the distance between his pod and his home planet grow larger and larger. Nothing Re3x0 has ever felt, felt this horrible before. He was more alone than ever, knowing that he had nothing to live for even if he were to survive the shuttle's crash.

Looking around, and seeing nothing that could help him, he just lowered his head in shame. His ears ringing due to the silence that surrounded him. Re3x0, looking back on all the things he had done: Stealing, all the fights, ignoring his future, blaming his gang members, and even murdered the leader just to take his place. Also injuring the countless number of individuals from setting a building on fire.

"Was it really worth it?", he asked himself before growling, which soon turned into a whimper. "I.. I wish I could have changed the things I did. Maybe, I could have been an excellent healer if I just accepted it.. Then I wouldn't be heading to certain death..", He ranted aloud. Putting his paws on his head he groaned, not knowing how to cope with the issues. Feeling fatigued after trying to make an escape and not being able to sleep after being on the run. Re3x0, closed his eyes and hoped that he never woke up.

After what seemed to be many many hours later, Re3x0 woke up to the sounds of alarms and red lights flashing about. The entire shuttle was trembling and shaking violently. Re3x0 stumbled inside the shuttle to try and keep his balance, though him falling every time he tried to get to his feet. Hitting his body against the walls of the pod, impacts that would more definitely bruise. Frantically looking around, Re3x0 could see out the window of his pod which was cracked, and seeming to be melting from the high heat. He could see his shuttle was crashing. As there was more turbulence with the shuttle, Re3x0 was tumbling along the bottom, desperately trying to grab a hold of something with his bounded paws.

Suddenly, Re3x0's head hit the side of the cabin hard enough to knock him out.

Upon waking up, Re3x0 found himself in the upside down cabin. Broken windows and sparks flying from the walls. A massive headache overwhelmed him and he felt extremely light headed. Upon trying to stand up, he used his legs to push a bit of metal off himself and got to his feet. Seeing the windows of the shuttle shattered along the floor, wires, dirt, and glass littered the floor of the shuttle. He groaned as he saw sunlight out of the dents in the wall.

Pushing against the wall, he managed to squeeze through the space. Stumbling onto the dirt, the sunlight blinding him for a moment. He laid there on the ground, feeling the bruises' pain slowly ebb away. After what seemed like an eternity of laying in the grass. Re3x0 heard footsteps approach him.

"Woah! Mom! I knew I saw the UFO!", a little boy exclaimed, pulling his mother's arm. "Dakota, please don't get near it", the mother of the boy said holding her son by his arm. Re3x0 lifted his head he saw the strange creatures, tilting his head he wondering what kind of creatures they were. He managed to force himself onto his feet and he approached the two, limping and his fur all matted from the crash. "Hey mom! Look at that thing!", the boy exclaimed pointing his finger at Re3x0. The mother screamed as she grabbed a stick and threw it at the blue bipedal creature, and ran away with her son.

After getting hit in the head with the stick he then watched as the two fled from him. Upon walking around the area where his shuttle crashed, he explored the wooded area. While exploring he noticed more of the hairless creatures coming towards his shuttle, he tilted his head as one of them spotted him and pointed a black thing at him and a loud explosion came from it, and a sharp pain came to his shoulder. In an instant he fled, running on all fours, away from those things. He kept running until the sun went down this strange planet, seeing the starry night sky he sat down in the grass by a small stream. Every thought raced his mind, after thinking through all of his actions. He felt rage build up, for all of those who wronged him, and who he has wronged.

Finally snapping he decided to remove his final tie with his old life, grabbing the golden tag that has been on his ear his entire life, he ripped it off. Blood dripping from the opening, and his ear torn from where the tag was removed. Growling in pain he then tossed the tag into the river before getting up, and continuing to travel. He heard many noises, frogs, owls, and just about every little sound made him flinch. The moon was high in the sky, lighting the darkened forest a bit better, Re3x0 could see more than there was before. Not too far in the distance, he saw a house-like structure made of wood, rotten, and falling apart. Approaching it, he realized it had none of the hairless creatures, so he entered.

As custom on his planet, he grabbed a white stone and carved his name on the inside wall, "Re3x0" he wrote on it, just after he did so. He felt guilt prickle at his chest, making him feel uneasy, "I don't deserve a serial number. That is no longer who I am." Re3x0 said, looking at his feet. The memory of a Zusi who didn't go by a Serial number entered his mind. "Val!" He said out loud. She was a female Zusi he met who had removed the numbers from her name. After a while of figuring something out, he looked at the writing he made on the wall, looking at the white stone in his paws he then began to scribble out the numbers in his name.

"Rex." He read, taking a deep breath in and out look looked at the new name one final time. "I am Rex. I am a Zusi from the planet Proxima. This is my new life." The dark blue Zusi stood idle for many moments before leaving the abandoned wooden shack and walking alone into the woods.