van and mercenary chapter 16, a zoid fanfic, in which the century's Van meets Bit Cloud and others

Very clever fanfic. It makes it so that characters from two eras which are hundreds of years apart end up meeting. The main Zoid in here, called The War Wolf, is very believable. Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com

Sakura's Disclaimer: This goes for all chapters,so I don't have to write this dislaimer again...I don't own Zoids and don't get paid for writing this.Thank you.

Sakura was shot and badly hurt from it,all though she tried to be strong and tough.She wanted to go out and look for Sombra,who had been captured by the Neo Empire.But I would'nt let her.Not with that injury.

But then,I had a vision.A terrible one about Sombra's death at the Neo Empire's hands.I had to stop that from happening,and so went to rescue Sombra myself.

I managed to infiltrate by disguising myself in a Neo Stormtrooper uniform and was quick to get Sombra out,but not without getting found out and chased.We almost got caught,but Sakura showed up and fired at their base,ensuring Sombra's and mine safety.

But the force of the blast from behind knocked Sombra and I into a strange position,making it look as though I had kissed her,and Sakura ran off upon seeing this...

Chapter 16

"The Fate Of The Lovers"

Sombra said as she piloted her Shadow Fox across the midnight desert,bathed in the light of the full twin moons of Zi as it made it's quick,graceful strides.

"It was probably the position we were in.Maybe it scared her to see us like that,not realizing it was complete acciddent."

"Everybody's afraid of something,Van.And I think Sakura's afraid of losing you to someone else."

My jaw sort of dropped.Was Sombra saying that...Sakura loved me?And was afraid that I loved Sombra instead of her?

Man,I never had any idea it was like that...I did'nt think Sakura felt that way.But what else could explain why she ran off before?

In the meantime,Sakura had found herself in a very unexpected place.She was sitting up on top of a dormant Volcano at the high,outer edge of the stone pit,chunking rocks down into the lava pool below.She grumbled to herself,chucking another rock.

But what was unusual was,she was crying.There were only a very,very few times she had ever cried in her life,so tears were rare of her.But yet she shed them now,like droplets of rainwater falling from a sky of clouded and stormy emotions.

She shook her head,tossing another rock in,harder than the rest.She felt angry,sad and exasperated all the same.

"But...Van's been such a good friend to me...he's done so much for me...how can I get mad at him for loving someone?I guess I can't...if I'm really his friend,I'll just be happy for him,and only wish him the best of luck in his love.But...it still hurts...that he...does'nt want me like that..."

She swallowed hard,not finishing and afterward remaining silent,just sitting there with only her lonely tears to comfort her.

She whispered,being so deep in her emotional thoughts that she did'nt notice her stalker,whom crept up ever so silently behind her,ready to strike at any moment.

Sakura just sat there,having no idea of what was hanging over her head as her stalker slowly but surely inched closer.Then...

She turned her head finally upon hearing the twig snap,only to see a pair of silvery,glowing eyes staring at her.She yelped,jumping up just before she was tackled and held to the ground.

Finally Sakura got a good look at her attacker in the full light,looking up at it's shiny,metallic black,Velociraptor-like features.

An image flashed in her mind of not too long ago,when I had told her about Organoids.

Sakura thought when she realized it,putting up both feet and kicking the black Organoid off before reaching for her 357 Magnum.But it never left the holster,as a hand clamped down roughly over Sakura's before she could do so,an arm wrapping around her neck.

"Okay,now,unless you want your pretty little neck broken,you're gonna go peacefully..."

An evil voice crept into her ears from behind.Sakura turned to try and see this person,but could'nt turn enough.She growled in frustration and did what anyone would do:She brought her foot back and kicked her captor between the legs with her hard,heavy combat boot.

The person grunted,letting go of Sakura and doubling over as she turned,finally getting a good look at him as he raised his face to sneer at her.He had short,raven black hair and amethyst eyes.

She started putting two and two together,remembering all the stoies I had told her of before I got pulled forward in time.

Raven told her,then leaping at her.Sakura drew her Magnum again,but the Organoid,who she now realized was Shadow,slammed her arm from behind and made her drop it,Raven getting her down again.

Sakura struggled,starting to roll across the ground with Raven,the fight going into a power battle as they struggled and fought against each other,rolling over dangerously close to the lava pit.Shadow roared and went over,grabbing Raven by the nape of his neck before he went over.

But Sakura was'nt so lucky,as she continued to tumble right over the edge and down the steep innard cone of the volcano.

Fortunately,however,she miraculously rolled onto a ledge,stopping there before falling in further.She sat up a little and sighed with relief,then starting to climb back up.But Raven was'nt through with her yet.

"Then so be it,female.I don't care if Vader does want you back alive.Nobody fights back at me and lives,especially not a woman."

Another low growl escaped Sakura's throat as she looked up at Raven,then down to the bubbling hot lava pool below.She sighed,then looked back up at Raven again as the words she thought would be her last escaped her lips.

She told him,once again in the thought of when she had seen Sombra and I's acciddental kiss.And with that...

With that,she let her fingers slip from the rocks she gripped,gravity taking quick hold on her body and pulling her down toward the molten pit below.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion for her as she closed her eyes and whispered in what she was sure would be a final prayer,

Then,just as she thought for sure she would hit the boiling pit that sat beneath her falling form,everything seemingly went back to normal speed as someone gripped her wrists and pulled her up.She let the breath she had been holding out in a surprised manner,looking up at her rescuer with her shimmering,aqua eyes.

She whispered,emotions and heat sickness weakening her as to where a whisper was all she could muster.

I nodded to her slowly,looking over at Raven as I ascended higher on my white wings.As you can probably guess,he was amazed at the fact that I had wings,but he was'nt too thrilled about it either.He growled,raising his gun to me.

He yelled,firing the gun.But I managed to move off to the side,evading his bullet,but just barely.

I decided to run just this once;or fly actually;as I did'nt want Sakura in any worse condition than she already was,so I flapped my wings hard and fastmoving myself and Sakura away from Raven.

The black organoid spread it's demonic-like wings and soared up at Sakura and I,letting an unworldly roar escape it's mettalic throat as it flew above me,about to come down with a body slam.I had fortunately seen that one coming though and so slowed to evade Shadow's slam,then moving forward as quickly as my wings would take me,holding Sakura close as I managed a hard kick to the back of Shadow's metal head and continuing to fly forward.

Shadow was'nt giving up though,as it roared and came at us again from behind.It was way faster in flight than I was,so I had to figure a way to slow Shadow down,but how?It was pretty hard to think as I had to duck and dodge from one side to the next to evade Shadow's attacks.

Sakura closed her eyes tight as she laid in my arms,suddenly getting a fear of heights in amongst all of this.But she swallowed her fear,knowing she had to do something,otherwise Shadow was gonna have us.

She looked down,seeing Shadow flying just below us,about to try an upward ram to throw my wings out of the right air current.Bravely,Sakura pushed herself from my arms and jumped down,landing on Shadow's back.I yelped slightly in surprise when she did it,but watched her for a second as she drew a dagger from her combat boot and slashed Shadow's thin wings with it,causing the Organoid to go awry in the air.Sakura growled in frustration and jumped from Shadow's back.I did'nt hesitate to go after her,flying down and gripping her wirst tightly to stop her descent.

We then both watched as Shadow hurled toward the ground,disappearing into the foliage of the surrounding forest just before it crashlanded.Sakura and I smiled and I turned,about to fly us out of there and to find Sombra.

But now it was Raven's turn again.By now,he had gotten his hands on the 357 Magnum that Sakura had dropped an aimed at us with it from behind,smirking.

He muttered before pulling the trigger.The bullet flew out lightning fast,faster than with a normal Magnum,as Sakura had modified it to do.

As you can probably guess,I was'nt really expecting this,having not thought Raven to have followed Shadow and I's flight path this far this quick.I felt the hot,searing,piercing pain of the bullet going into my right wing and let out a pained yell,nearly dropping Sakura,but holding on and managing not to.

Sakura encouraged me as she looked up at my wound,which blood flowed freely from now.She then turned the gaze of her aqua eyes to me,realizing I could'nt move that wing now.

I told her through clenched teeth,the pain intense as I managed to keep my wings stiff,both of us soon gliding to the ground.I let go of Sakura's wrist as soon as her feet were on the ground,but I could'nt stop myself and my landing ended up in a fall.Sakura came over to me quickly after I had fallen,kneeling down next to me.

She told me,reaching into her pocket and pulling out a camouflage bandanna,then tieing it as best she could over the wound on my wing in an attempt to slow the bleeding.I blinked slightly as I watched her.

"Does'nt matter.The lucky part is that I had i to cover the wound with.Now,come on.We'd better get you somewhere where we can treat that wound properly."

I nodded and Sakura helped me stand,bringing my arm over her shoulders and helping support me.I could walk on my own easily though.Apparently Sakura was just worried about me.

That's when we heard something in the distance.It sounded like a Zoid heading towards us.Sakura looked up and listened,then sighing.

She said,helping me lean against a tree and starting to walk off.I started after her.

I sighed,realizing what this was all about now as I came forward,putting my hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Sakura,hold up!It's not what you think!Sombra and I were'nt kissing!I know it looked that way,and that it's probably hard to believe otherwise,but..."

Sakura stopped,turning to me and waiting for me to finish,her aqua eyes locking with my chocolate ones.I then continued,not wanting her to run off again.

"After the blast,sombra and I were just sorta thrown into that position!I seriously had NO intention WHATSOEVER of kissing her!You have to believe me Sakura!And besides,even if Sombra and I were like that,you and I are still best friends no matter what!And well,I don't know if you need me or not,but I definately need you...and plus,well...I don't want you to be lonely again..."

Sakura just sort of stared at me a moment after that,her aqua eyes starting to water up a little.

The next thing I knew,she was on me with the tightest hug I had ever felt.I was slightly surprised at first,but then hugged back,gently laying my chin on her shoulder.I heard a sob or two emit from her shaking form just before she choked out.

"Th-thankyou Van...I...I thought...I thought for sure I was gonna l-lose you..."

"Oh,Sakura,you'll never lose me.Never.I promise.You and I will always be together.We have a special bond that keeps us together in heart,even if we're not together physically.I mean hey,I did'nt get pulled 300 years into the future here for nothing,eh?"

Sakura sniffled and chuckled a little,never lifting her face from my shoulder as a few more tears ran from her aqua eyes. continued to hug her close to my body,gently rocking her back and forth.

Sakura nodded slightly,hearing the Shadow Fox drawing closer now and wiping the tears from her eyes in an attempt to make herself look presentable just before the Zoid stopped not too far away from us,Sombra jumping down from the cockpit and coming over to us.Sakura smiled to her.

"I'll tell ya all about it later.But for now,I think we'd best leave this area."

Sakura smirked,knowing how to fix that and show off at the same time as she went over to the Shadow Fox,jumping up and climbing onto it's back before calling down to us,

Sombra said,sweatdropping slightly before getting into the cockpit.I was quick to follow suit,jumping into the seat behind her's.

The cockpit canopy came down over us with a soft hiss as we clasped our harnesses,the Shadow Fox giving a roar before heading off on Sombra's command to go to the War Wolf so Sakura could get it and we could get outta here.

I leaned back in my seat,sighing with relief that Sakura was back safe and sound.I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to her.But one thing still bothered me though.

Van and the Mercenary by Sakura

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