Travelers

Chapter 40 - The Last Words

Jacob felt his currentgift surging through him and into the knife in off hand. He holstered his pistol and switched his grip. He pulled back the knife and threw it. He felt all of the power in him leave his body as an arc of electricity followed the path of the knife. Ryan attempted to block the knife with his saber, but the massive power behind the throw cut straight through the blade. The knife hurled into Ryan's shoulder, an arc of energy jolted from Jacob into Ryan, and he was thrown back into the wall, smacking his head against the cold metal with a sickening clang. Jacob reached down and picked up the saber, and noticed a small collection of them on his back. There were three other sabers besides his own. Jacob grabbed each of them and motioned for Calen and Akos to keep going. They caught up with the others at the hangar where their ship was docked, and Cyra was waiting just outside the hangar.

"I don't know who you are, or why you even came here, but you need to go," she said sternly, "You've caused enough trouble as it is." Jacob nodded as he and Calen continued to their ship in the hangar. The four sabers wrapped in one arm, Jacob stepped up the ramp to their ship. Calen closed it behind them and called up to Mal to take off. They were flying through the great black moments later, and moments after that they were shooting through hyperspace. Cat was undoubtedly co-piloting in his place for now. He sat in his quarters for the next hour thinking about what Ryan had said. The words rang through his head as he sat on his small bed.

"Trust me, we're more alike than you know. There is a darkness inside you too, and you can't deny it."

He had to admit to the truth of the words. There was darkness inside of him, just like there was in every person, but did that really make him as bad as Ryan? Ryan had betrayed their trust, broken promises, and tried to kill them several times. He had even nearly succeeded at the Black Gate too. He was just thinking of the events near the end of their very first adventure when his thoughts were rattled by a knocking at the door to his quarters. He rolled off his cot in surprise, hitting the ground hard. He stood, brushing himself off, then opened the door to find Cat standing there.

He was a little flustered at first, but quickly regained his composure. He was glad Cat didn't have her currentgift anymore, or she would have noticed how nervous she was making him. Then again, she might have noticed anyway. "Hey, what's up?" he said, still a little rattled from having his thoughts disturbed.

"I just heard what you did from Calen," she started. Jacob tensed thinking of what she thought of him now. "Are you okay?" He relaxed a little, knowing that she wasn't disgusted by him knowing that he just needed to finish off Ryan once and for all.

"I'm doing alright, I guess. I was just thinking about every time we've dealt with him. Do you remember back at the edge of the Shire, way back in our first little adventure?" He asked her.

"Yeah, we were so different then. Everything's changed, hasn't it?" She agreed. Jacob realized that they were still standing in the doorway to his quarters, and he glanced behind him at the condition of his room, which was a mess. He stepped out of the room and asked her if she would go for a little stroll around the ship with him.

"When I helped Ryan get the warg off of him, I made him a promise. I told him..." Jacob trailed off, collected himself, and started again. "I told him that if he hurt any of my friends, that I wouldn't be so kind again. Was it wrong to do that?" Jacob finished. Cat nodded a little, thinking about it.

"Yeah, I think it was a little far to go. Maybe if you had just helped him things would be different for us now, but what's done is done. It's in the past, Jacob, and now we have to live with the consequences, as long as we learn from them." Jacob smiled and thanked her.

"You know, speaking of promises..." he trailed off once again. Cat gave him a confused look, but waited for him to find the words he was looking for. "At the Black Gate, I told you I would tell you something if we made it out of that. We made it out of that mess, and many more besides it, so I need to tell you, since I am fulfilling promises today. What I was going to say is..." he stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and finished. "I like you, Cat. I like you a lot, and I have for a long time."