Coyote

[46] captain save everyone.

"Wolf." Rainbow coughed.

"Rainbow, don't talk. You've lost a lot of blood." He sniffled. It was worse than that. "Why did you do that? You didn't have to risk your life to save mine... or hers."

"Wolf... relax."

"What do—"

Rainbow touched his face with her hand. "Look closely. I am fine."

He shook his head. The realization that his best friend would die soon wrangled his heart like a wet towel. Though he had no choice but to comply. It was her dying wish.

Turning to her torn body, the pool of blood had gotten smaller. Not only that, but her body wasn't like that of any human he had seen before. Where were her insides? Her severed torso looked like sliced meat.

"What—" Wolf raised his brow and curled his lip when he saw it. The blood around Rainbow slowly returned to her body, reforming her lower half. He scurried backward on his hands. "What's going on?" His heart raced a thousand miles.

What the hell did he see? He shook his head. No, it couldn't be. The explosion must've messed with his mind somehow. Maybe the helmet broke, and the projectiles released hallucinogens that made him see things.

"Wolf." Rainbow's face had regained a bit of life, and her eyes were wider than before. She stared at him with intent, while before she had trouble opening her eyes.

"What the fuck is going on, Rainbow?"

Rainbow couched twice. "I will explain later."

"But—"

"Trust me, Wolf. I do not have time now. I need to sleep to heal faster. But before I do, I have a favor to ask."

Wolf didn't know what to say. This was insane. She looked dead a few minutes ago. Now she could form full sentences? Also, she needed to sleep to heal faster? What the fuck! It was either he was going crazy, or his assumption of being affected by hallucinogens was correct.

"Wolf, did you hear me?"

"Yes." Wolf bit his top lip. "What do you want me to do?"

"Save Cleo from the bounty hunters. There are too many of them for her to deal with alone."

Wolf curled his lip. "And why would I do that?"

Tears welled in Rainbow's eyes. "Because I love her."

And there it was, the answer he had been waiting for: Love. It explained her erratic actions these last few weeks: leaving Paradiso without telling him, not answering his calls, fighting the other coyotes, and being out in the open on a neutral planet.

He had never met anyone Rainbow loved, let alone be interested in. When it came to love and relationships, Wolf did all the talking and complaining while she listened and advised. She always avoided questions about her own love life, and Wolf stopped asking.

But she was in love with a terrorist. No matter how much she lied to herself about her relationship with Cleopatra, it only had one ending: her heart breaking while Cleopatra paid for her sins.

Wolf sighed. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Thank you." Rainbow reached inside her shirt's pocket and took out something. "Here." She opened her palm and revealed a purple ring with glitter covering it. "It is the finished version, though it does not have nano-bugs. Take it."

Wolf wore it on his right middle finger. Turning to Rainbow, she had fallen asleep, snoring like she wasn't in a war zone. For now, he would do what she asked. Later, he'd demand the whole truth from her.