round 3 Captain Waltas - Haunted

[Blueheart]

((Yosemite National Forest, Earth))

::He'd jogged until he was out of breath, and then stopped only to regain it before running again. Certain that he'd distanced himself sufficiently from the Yacht and from Kieran, he finally stopped, chest heaving, and dropped to his knees. Tears spilled from his eyes as he looked up into the dark sky filled with stars, the silouhettes of the trees outlined by the moonlight.::

o O I can't do this again. Not to myself, not to Daisha or the twins. I can't get involved again. It hurts too much.. O o

::Sighing, he sat on the broken stump of a tree that had fallen and died long ago, his eyes reflecting in the moonlight. His sensitive infravision picked up a skulking wolf, far in the distance, and its prey, a small rabbit attempting to remain absolutely still. What the Ba'ku's night-vision did not intercept, however, was the figure that emerged from shadows of the trees and into the clearing. The moonlight danced off of her brown/burgundy-colored hair, her green eyes, and her pointed ears. Tyr gasped as he recognized her.::

WALTAS: Eden..

REDSTONE::Remaining partially in the shadows:: So you blame me for your fear? Did I "break" you, k'diwa?

WALTAS::Anger rising to the surface:: Don't call me that.

REDSTONE::Mockingly:: What? K'diwa? Would you rather I called you the human translation? Beloved?

WALTAS: You don't have the right to call me ANYTHING.

::Even through the haze of anger, he found himself drawn to her, wanting to hold her again, to feel her lithe frame wrapped around him. He furiously fought down the urge to reach out for her.::

REDSTONE: The great Captain Tyr Waltas, broken by a woman. I was right to leave. You ARE pathetic.

WALTAS::Looking away:: I loved you with every piece of me..every bit of my soul I poured into you. And you did nothing but wait for the moment to destroy everything we had. You walked away from me. From them...

REDSTONE: And I'll do it again. Goodbye, Tyr.

::His head snapped around in the direction where she'd stood, only to find empty space. His eyes searched the wilderness, only to find what he'd found before-the wolf and the rabbit. Predator and prey. The rabbit was on the run, with the wolf in pursuit. He watched the chase idly, until another voice snapped his head in the direction where Eden Redstone had stood. There, in the moonlight, another form now materialized. This one from the dirt and mud itself, as if rising from the grave. It took form, and Tyr quickly found himself wishing it hadn't. Lieutenant Hammond, complete with her vintage gold-colored command shirt from Kirk's era, stood before him in all of her glory, carrying a fresh bag of guilt for the Captain.::

HAMMOND: It was easy to rid yourself of someone who walks away from you. What about someone who couldn't?

WALTAS::Bitterly:: You KNOW why I left. The timeline..

HAMMOND: So you abandoned someone you loved for Starfleet protocol. To preserve the future. What about my future, Tyr? Our future? So the Constellation would have survived...would it have made that great a difference? To wipe out the planet killer together and spend the rest of our lives in each others' arms? Was that worth your precious temporal prime directive?

WALTAS: It would never have worked..

HAMMOND::Walking forward, she planted an accusing finger squarely in his chest:: YOU walked away from ME, Tyr. You left me.. ::She walked backward, her form disappearing into the shadows:: to die..

WALTAS::Plaintively:: Please! Wait!

::Silence only greeted him. The Ba'ku lowered his head, tears falling upon the now dew-laden grass. The memories of the USS Constellation and his decision to consign them to their fate, including the woman he loved, tore at him from all sides. A strong yet feminine hand cupped his chin and lifted his eyes to hers. His heart nearly stopped in shock.::

WALTAS: Merigold.

::Merigold Kitiganzibi stood before him, smelling of sandalwood and lavender as she always had, the wind carrying the scent to him like the touch of a lost love. While Tyr had grown older and his hair was now gray, she stood before him in the flower of youth-just as when they'd first met aboard the Constitution. Her powerful form was accentuated in the moonlight, giving her an almost statuesque appearance. Except this statue spoke, and delivered more pain.::

KITIGANZIBI: Ah, the memories of first love.

WALTAS::Shaking his head:: YOU walked away.

KITIGANZIBI::[...]ing her head curiously, a curl of dark hair escaping to stray into her face:: Did I? Or did you ask too much, Tyr? ::She raised her other hand, holding the wedding band he'd given her. It gleamed golden in the moonlight:: Too much, too soon? You always wanted it all, when you wanted it, didn't you? Never willing to wait until the time was right.

WALTAS: The time was NEVER right for you. You never would hold yourself to me.

KITIGANZIBI: Blaming others again, Tyr? ::Snorting, she dropped the ring to the ground, where it dissolved into the vegetation around it:: I can see you still haven't grown up after all this time. ::Playfully, she flicked his graying long hair:: You've only grown older.

::She began to walk away as the words cut at him, wounding him from every side and angle. Through the pain and tears he spoke, his voice weak and labored. In the distance the wolf had caught the rabbit and quickly made the kill.::

WALTAS: Y..you killed me..

KITIGANZIBI: I did. ::Turning, a phaser now in hand:: And I would again.

::She fired, the bright orange beam burning a hole in his chest and blasting him off the log. He landed in a heap nearby as pain radiated outward, burning him, consuming him as the wolf consumed the rabbit. An anguished scream was all he could muster before the beam destroyed him utterly.::

((Yosemite Forest, Earth))

::He awoke with a continuation of the scream from the nightmare, but quickly silenced himself. He was shaking with terror, and his hand went involuntarily to his chest to feel for the phaser burn. There was nothing but the fabric of his sweat-soaked shirt. Allowing his breathing to return to normal and his heart to slow to its regular pace, he climbed down from the large branch of the tree he'd perched in and stood unsteadily on the ground. He looked about and found the wolf in the distance. The rabbit was
nowhere to be seen. Quietly, he returned to the campsite with no firewood, but still bearing a burden heavier than he had left with.::

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Captain Tyr Waltas
Commanding Officer
USS Discovery