To Watch the Fall

 Written by Zelda

 

 

                Another victory. Not that a victory was anything regular in the Pond, but this was a shutout. Wildwing, with support from the fierce defense, had shut out the game. The team skated up, and clunked their helmets with Wildwing's in celebration. Zelda nuzzled him likewise. The team always were very affectionate towards one another on the ice, being protective, supportive, and congratulatory. The same went double for Wildwing, who had a lot of responsibility to cover, both on and off the ice. He was, after all, team captain, leader, and ardent goalie. The team formed a ceremonious stick slapping pyramid, and skated off into the locker room. They stowed their uniforms, and went back down

into the Ready Room to rest.

                "Well, it doesn't get any better than this." grinned Mallory, sitting down on a couch, and turning on the TV.

                "Well, you got that right, shutouts don't happen often." agreed Duke, gesturing to Wildwing.                 "Well, it's not like I did this on my own!" he smiled back, cuffing Duke playfully on the shoulder.

                "Regardless, a textbook victory." beamed Zelda proudly.

                "Great, but tiring." sighed Grin.

                "Yup. I'm going strait to bed. Replay clips can wait until tomorrow morning." said Dive, as he headed off for the bunks. Mallory turned off the TV, and tailed the team, as they all trodded off to a well

deserved rest.

 

                Zelda lay drowsily in her hammock, sleeping in Nosedive's room tonight, as the rest of the team settled in. She usually didn't fall asleep until the rest of the team had anyway, and was trying to keep her eyes open to stay in a conversation the others were having over their coms.                     

                "Well, pocket another victory." yawned Nosedive, putting his hands behind his head as he lay in his bunk.          

                "Bah, a victory is much more than it may seem." Zelda commented.

                "Yeah?" asked Nosedive.

                "Oh sure, you get prestige, more fans, surged confidence, and a chance to really intimidate the other teams." Wildwing grinned.

                "Every hockey team has fans." said Mallory.                                

                "Yes, but it's a good one who can keep them, while gaining more at the same time. You'll see, you'll need them. Sooner or later rough times will come. They'll be there for us." said Zelda. Small talk carried on, but everyone eventually drifted off into sleep.

 

                Wildwing yawned. 8:30 in the morning. He had slept well, but was still tired. He leaned up, and glanced around the room, seeing he was the only one who was still asleep. He rubbed his neck, which seemed sore. This wasn't unusual, they took quite a beating in games, and often came away with a few scrapes. Wildwing finally rolled out of bed, took a few minutes to wake himself up, and walked out into the Ready Room.

                "Well, look who's up." smiled Nosedive, as his brother came walking groggily out to where the team was watching replays of the game last night. Wildwing grinned back, and sat down with the team. As he started to go over the replays with the team, he also started to sneeze.

                "Jeez Wing, looks like you caught a cold or something." said Tanya.

                "Yeah, I guess so." he said in reply, and continued on with what he was doing. Later in the day, he noticed his shoulder muscles started to hurt.

                "Better get to bed a little early tonight, Wing." advised Zelda. Wing shook it off. He didn't take the team's concern as mockery, for he himself wanted to be in the best condition for the next game. And so, he did fall asleep early that night, much to his relief.

 

                The next morning brought even more discomfort for Wildwing. He found it hard to get out of bed, and hard to walk around. It felt like his muscles were stiffening up. Zelda rubbed her snout in thought.

                "Maybe we'd oughta take you down to the Medicom, see exactly what's up." Wildwing nodded. He and Zelda went, early that afternoon, down into the infirmary, and Wildwing lay down on a Medicom bed as Zelda activated the scanner. Wildwing lay, watching the scanner circle around him, as Zelda read the data. "Fever, cramped muscles, slightly strained heartbeat..." she read off. "Hmm, if you don't mind Wing, I'm just going to do a few more focused scans." Wildwing nodded. Zelda frowned as the data fed out across the screen.

                "What's up?" said Wildwing.

                "I'm not sure. These tests say you've got something much bigger than a simple cold or fever..." Zelda rechecked the tests, and frowned. "Well, they're still coming up the same. Let me reference this and see exactly what we have on our hands here." Zelda looked at the referencing results. "No, this can't possibly be right..." she started.

                "What is it?" asked Wildwing. Zelda leaned over to a com link in a panel on the wall, and activated it.   

                "Guys?" she called.

                "What's up Zelda?" replied Mallory.

                "Mallory, can you gather everyone up and bring them down here?"

                "Sure." replied Mallory, slowly sensing Zelda's tone.

                "Thanks." Zelda replied, and switched the link off. "I'm not sure this thing is right Wildwing, but this is something I'm very unfamiliar with." she started, rearing up beside him as he lay.

 

                The infirmary door opened with a hiss, and Zelda plodded out slowly.

                "So, how's Wildwing?" asked Nosedive.

                "Umm, guys, I have bad news." Zelda sighed. "According to the Medicom, Wing has a really rare virus known as the Plague of Statues, or POS for short."

                "So?" asked Duke.

                "Well, the symptoms start off as those of a cold of fever, then the muscles cramp up. The patients crimp up and freeze like statues."

                "But you can treat it, right?" asked Grin.       

                "Well, that's the really bad news. Only about ten people have had this... ever, and all have died from it. There is no known treatment, and no cure." Zelda sighed and hung her head. A moment of silence.

                "Are you sure the Medicom's right?" asked Tanya.   

                "I wish it weren't, but I've done these tests over and over. The results all point straight towards this." Grin patted Zelda on the snout.

                "Is it contagious? Can we see him?" asked Dive.          

                "No, it's not contagious at all." Zelda replied, as the team followed her into the infirmary. Wildwing leaned up to meet them, holding his side gingerly. "There is the chance that all these tests could be wrong, but we'll have to see what develops." finished Zelda.

                "You feel okay Bro.?" asked Dive. Wildwing grinned.

                "I hopefully will in a bit." he sighed, lying back down.

                "Come on guys, let him rest." sighed Tanya, and the whole group, including Zelda, left him to sleep.

 

                Zelda monitored the group carefully as they walked away. Was it just her perception, or was she the only one who realized how grave the situation was?

                "The Medicom could be wrong, right Zelda?" asked Dive.

                "I wish I could say yes." Zelda said. "But nothing has ever given me reason to doubt the Medicom before."

                "But there are a few things to be taken into consideration with this whole disease thing." said Tanya, patting Nosedive on the shoulder.

                "Like what?" asked Grin.

                "Well, we're Ducks. All the patients who've ever had this disease before are humans. Therefore, we have to take into account certain genetic differences, tolerances, etc. This disease may or may not be so deadly as it sounds. There's always the slight chance the Medicom will foul up, but Zelda performed those tests dozens of times. I'm not sure that's the problem."              

                "The unfortunate thing is the severity of the disease." said Zelda. The team entered the Ready Room, and sat down in various places. "I still think I've failed to tell you the full brunt of Wildwing's case."                                

                "Well, no time like the present to fill us in." said Duke.

                "POS is something quite serious." started Zelda. "The disease stiffens up the muscles, the outer ones first. Movement of any kind becomes very painful, and, even after the patient dies, the body remains frozen as if it were a statue, hence the name of the disease."

                "But you can give Wildwing stuff, right? I mean, to help with the pain and all." said Dive. Zelda could tell he was unaccustomed to talking abut such things, and he was worried.

                "That's the thing. If we know anything about POS, it's that painkillers and treatments actually aggravate the disease." Grin sighed.

                "It will be a battle Wildwing must fight on his own."

                "Yes, I agree in full." added Zelda. "However, we have to let him know we stand behind him." The team nodded. Dive sat up, uncomfortably.

                "But, is he really going to die?" he asked slowly. Zelda walked over and reared up beside him.

                "I know Wing doesn't look that bad now, but I can't answer that definitely at the moment. He may lose this fight, and then he may win. We have to give him all we can, and trust him to do the rest." Dive slumped down. Zelda could tell this was going to be hard on him as well. She looked away, up at the rest of the team, to see what their reactions were. They stood or sat, looking down at the floor, each one of them not wanting to add anything further. And neither did she.

 

                Zelda awoke early the next morning, and shook herself up. She had spent the night outside of the infirmary, to give Wildwing a little quiet and space to himself. She walked in, to the steady whirring of the Medicom. She reared up beside a control panel, and checked the data the Medicom had been gathering and monitoring all night. She frowned. He was getting worse.      

                "Hey Zelda." Wildwing smiled. Zelda turned around to greet him warmly.

                "Well good morning." she replied, coming over to him. "How do you feel?" she asked, rearing up beside him. Wildwing reached over to pet her, but suddenly recoiled, gritting his teeth in sudden and intense pain. He flopped back against the bed. "Easy, easy, just keep still." Zelda said, patting him gently on the shoulder.

"Ouch." he snarled.

Zelda looked at his hand, to see it frozen stiff in a crimped position. "Can you move it?" she asked.

                "Yeah, but it hurts." he said. The infirmary door opened with a hiss, as Tanya came in.

                "Morning you two." she said gingerly, coming over.

                "Morning." said Wildwing.

                "Okay Wing, try to move your hand as much as you can. You can stop when you like." Zelda continued. Wildwing set his teeth, and started to flex his fingers. Each one shook with strain and effort as he flexed them slightly, before he finally gave up. Zelda and Tanya looked at each other in surprise. Was this the same Duck that had been so active just two days before, that he shut out a hockey game?

                "Ouch.." Wildwing grimaced again.

                "It's started." Zelda said calmly. "The disease has started to stiffen your outermost muscles up. You'll find your neck and feet are the same way. Now try and move your elbow." Wildwing flexed his arm more easily, but it still caused him pain. "Okay, okay, that's enough. Thanks Wing." Zelda said.

                "Don't mention it." he sighed, leaning back.

                "So now what do we do?" asked Tanya.

                "Well, frankly, nothing." Zelda replied blankly. Tanya glanced at her, alarmed. "I know, I know." Zelda sighed. "I've been researching this. We have to let it pass over." Tanya looked back for a second at Wildwing, and then walked out. Wildwing looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his beak shut. "Relax Wing, you need your rest." Zelda said. Wildwing, closed his eyes. He was tired. Zelda smiled, and walked out. She nearly bumped into Dive, as he was walking in.

                "Oh, hey Zelda." he said. "Is Wing up for a visit?"

                "Well, he's tired, but I'm sure he'd be glad to see you." Zelda grinned. Dive walked past her and into the infirmary. Zelda walked away with a sickening feeling in her stomach, like she was becoming too much of a nurse. She was smiling too much. She had no reason to smile. The dragon slid out of the glass doors of the Pond, and lit gently on the roof. She took a deep breath of the twilight air. Man, she loved it up here. She decided that she was going to wait until the clouds overhead blew away and the stars came out. She loved to do that. You felt as if you were part of it all. The huge dawn sky, lit with the glitter of a shattered moon. Zelda pulled herself away slowly. Was it written in these stars what Wildwing's fate was? Zelda stared hard. She had indeed been doing some studying of POS. A lot of studying. She was reluctant to tell the others the full brunt of her findings, she didn't want to scare them like it had scared her. But the truth had to be known. POS went beyond muscle pain. If it progressed to its most lethal stage, it would start attacking the internal organs themselves. Breathing would become agony, and in the end, the victim would be strangled to death, choked from the very heart. Zelda shuddered. She simply couldn't picture it happening to Wing. Was it an inner sense that his diagnosis was wrong, or did she just want to believe it was? She looked back at the sky, and the horizon. It seemed cold, hostile now. She folded her wings, and slid back into the Pond through a door in the roof.

 

                The Pond seemed so strange and empty. From beneath her, Zelda could hear a stick slapping around. It echoed off of the cavernous walls. She flew down, and lit on the ice beside Duke, who was snapping a row of pucks into the goal. He was frustrated, she could tell. He finished up the row, and skated up to her.

                "Hey." he said rather dully, patting her on the snout. She stared up at him.

                "How is he?" she asked.

                "Sleeping, I guess." he said, skating slowly away.

                "Good, he needs his rest." Zelda said, talking simply to fill the hollow space. Duke sat down on the bench, and removed his skates. "You're worried, aren't you?" Zelda asked, sitting beside him.

                "So are you." Duke muttered.

                "Well, you would be right." Zelda replied.

                "I can't believe this is happening again." Duke said.

                "What?" Zelda asked.

                "I was there, when Canard fell. It's happening again, just slower. He's falling all over again, just in slow motion."

                "But it's different this time."

                "Yeah. Wildwing was able to grab him, to give him another chance, another option." Duke turned to look Zelda in the face. "That's what's different this time. None of us can grab him, we can only watch." Zelda reared up and leaned on his shoulder.

                "But Wing's not dead yet." she reminded him. "There is something we can do. Regret and sadness can come after. Right now, Wildwing needs us." Duke nodded. "Come on, let's go pay him a visit." Duke and Zelda got up, and started walking off towards the infirmary.

 

                Dive glanced up as the two entered. Actually, he had almost been waiting for them. The rest of the team was hanging around into the infirmary, kinda just standing there. Dive was nervous for some reason. He sat next to his brother, who was still wide awake.

                "Hey guys." he greeted, as the two walked in.                      

                "Heya Wing." Duke answered with a type of hollow cheerfulness, coming over to him. Zelda checked the equipment. She was always so nervous around this foreign technology. She almost didn't like Wing being watched by all those scanners and machines. But, they did their job.

                "Your fever's rising Wing." she frowned. Tanya glanced up.

                "Hey Zelda, we have nothing to do. Play us a tune, would you?" Zelda smiled. She knew Tanya was searching for something they could do for Wildwing. Anything.

                "An excellent idea." she said, going over to a corner and fishing out a few instruments. She started piping away at a flute, and as she went, added a guitar she was plucking with one of her feet, and chimes she banged rather blindly with her tail. If one thing could express their feelings, music would. It was a song of lonely, whining high notes, and deep, strong base notes. But it wove a melody of enchantment, and the group sat listening. Night was closing slowly in. The team was still at a loss as to what to do. Finally, Wildwing raised his head, very slowly.

                "You guys don't mind staying here for the night, do you?" he said slowly.

                "Not at all." said Grin, who was sitting in the corner. The team looked rather relived. They dragged a few spare bunks in, and set up for the night. Zelda watched all of the activity with a rather distant air. They all wanted to stay here, to be with their leader, to be with one another. Zelda was dimmed by the fact that it might be the very last night they all slept together. Finally though, it was late, and everything was in place. Zelda checked on Wing one last time before she plodded over to her moss blanket. His fever was still rising. She wished there was something she could do. As she lay down, she began to sing. It was a soft song, something that she hoped would put worried minds to sleep. And it did seem to work, for when it was done, the room lay silent. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes, was Wildwing's face as he lay.

 

                Zelda awoke early in the morning. In fact, nobody else was up. Or so she thought, she heard sheets shuffling around. It was Wing. She got up and walked over to him. Feeling his forehead, she could see him wince. He was burning up. Zelda sighed, and took his warm, gloved hand, rubbing it gently. Looking into those squinted eyes, she couldn't stand to see him like this. She walked out softly, leaving him to rest. She walked out into the chilled hollow of the Pond itself. She swooped down, and landed on the ice. Folding her wings gently, she trotted around. She took up each of the positions of the team silently, almost mechanically. Finally, she came to Wildwing's position. She brushed up against the net, sighing. The symbolism of this whole place was almost overwhelming. When she thought back to all that had happened here, it filled her with memories. She felt the battered sides of the posts, and circled around in the net. She was filled with an intense sense of pride for everything the team stood for, and then she thought of them all sleeping, together with their dying leader. Zelda blinked hard. She lay down on the cold ice, and curled up inside the goal net, sobbing quietly to herself.

 

                Grin felt the breeze blowing past his face. Up here, he could really get some peace. However, even meditating didn't seem to be helping his worries. He had woken quietly and left, going out and onto the roof. He had passed Zelda as he went out, but didn't bother her. He knew she might need a little time to herself. It was nice and cool out here in the morning, it got too hot to come out here in the afternoon. Grin pretended not to hear when the door creaked open. He opened one eye, and was slightly surprised to see Mallory sitting down next to him.

                "Hey." she said.

                "Hey." he answered. Mallory breathed deeply.                  

                "It's nice up here..." she said, most likely trying to make conversation.

                "Yeah, Zelda likes it up here too." Grin replied. The door creaked slowly again.

                "Speak of the devil..." said Mallory, as Zelda trotted up. She lay her head on Grin's folded knee, and sighed as she lay down.

                "How is he?" asked Mal.

Zelda replied with an exhausted look that said to her ‘Do you really wanna know?’ "Sleeping." Zelda replied verbally.

                "How much longer do you think he has?" Grin asked.

                "It depends on when he decides to give up." Zelda said, getting up. She left the two on the roof and dove off, landing on the black asphalt of the parking lot.

 

                She landed in an alley, next to the walls of the Pond. She had flown away from the two without much of a conversation, and she knew it was a little rude, but Zelda was sick of the team asking her how Wildwing was. She didn't know how he was. Wildwing had stumbled into uncharted territory with that disease. He had survived two days longer than any human with the virus, he had gone past all medical knowledge. He was on his own. And Zelda had not a shred of experience to offer hope for him or the others. She was disgusted with herself. She turned out of the alley, preparing to go off and back into the Pond. But she heard the scrunching of metal behind her. Curiously, she peered her head around a forest green dumpster to find Nosedive stepping on empty soda cans. He did it blankly, slightly frustrated. Zelda picked up a can in her jaws and bit down on it, her teeth shearing through the thin aluminum. Nosedive turned at the sound, rather alarmed. He saw Zelda and sighed, sitting down on a wooden crate.

                "Hey." he said.

                "Lonely?" Zelda asked, perching up beside him.

                "Yeah, I always do this when I need to vent." Nosedive said, stepping on another can. "Wing and I used to see who could make the biggest dent in them." he smiled, remembering. "He always won."

                "Well, at least you were recycling." Zelda grinned back. Nosedive leaned down, the loose locks of blonde hair drooping over his eyes. Zelda sighed too. Memories like that would turn from happiness to pain, if what they all feared became reality.

                "Zelda, tell me the truth." Nosedive said. "Is my brother going to die?"

Zelda shifted nervously. "I don't know if that's important now." Zelda said slowly. "What's important is whether or not HE thinks he's going to die."

                "But what do you think?" Nosedive asked.

                "I know it's bad, but we can't give up on him yet." Zelda said, blinking.

Nosedive looked up with tears in his eyes. "But what am I gonna do if he does die? What are we all gonna do?" he sniffed.

Zelda spread her wings and hugged him. "We'll worry about that problem when and if we come to it. I'll be honest with you, I've never seen Wing this bad. But I have a feeling. This is no reason to abandon hope."

                "I know, I'm just..... worried." Nosedive said.

                "We all are." Zelda started.

                "But he's my Bro." Dive said, choking on his own tears. "He was always there watching out for me, what can I do for him?"

                "Hope." Zelda replied, sniffling herself. "Hope is what we all cling to when in times of need, but we have to help Wing now. We are the ones who need to hope for him, so that he doesn't let go and fall." Nosedive nodded.

                "But it seems so little, like next to nothing we can do for him." He said.

                "Maybe that's why we're worrying so much." Zelda nodded. Nosedive took a tissue out of his pocket and blew into it. Slowly, the two got up and walked away.

 

To be continued.......