End of the Cycle

"It doesn't hurt too bad does it? I mean I know it hurts, but I didn't make it worse or anything did I?" She asked, her voice low.

"No, you did well. It feels better already. I may not be moving much for a couple days, but that's to be expected." He was lying, it hurt terribly, but he would not let her know that if it could be avoided.

When he next woke, evening was creeping in. He saw her next to him, the shotgun across her lap as she carefully turned her small pistol over and over, trying to figure out how to roll the cylinder out. He smiled as she got it. She tipped the pistol and the cylinder emptied into her palm. She picked out the spent casing and tossed it aside. She carefully put the others back in before pulling over the larger pack and digging out boxes of ammo. Holding one of the shells from her pistol as a guide, she looked for more. She soon had the right box. She studied the box a moment, muttering as she read. He pulled out a single .22 round and put it and her example round into the pistol before carefully snapping the cylinder home. She sat looking at it a moment. He smiled as she rolled the cylinder out and emptied the gun again before reloading and snapping it shut. She practiced it a few more times until she could do it smoothly. He was glad to see her practicing. It would come in handy if they ran into more demons. She saw he was awake and smiled.

"Feel any better?" She asked.

"Yes. Practice with that shotgun as well. It is loaded with bird shot. Doesn't kick that much. The last shot in the magazine is a deer slug though. That one will knock you on your ass." He said after taking his pills.

"I just have it here in case something shows up while I'm messing with the pistol and its open or something. I don't think I could fire the shotgun." She answered quickly.

"Well, if it's standing by for an emergency, you don't want to pick it up while something is charging and not know how to use it, right?"

"Well, I guess not. Ok, I'll look it over." She said, smiling a bit. He liked when she smiled. He held that image of her in his mind as he drifted back off to sleep.

It was three more days before they could move again. He sat studying her arm after they had packed up. He decided that the stitched should come out, that they should have been out sooner. He carefully clipped them, one by one before pulling them. She cringed and whimpered a bit, but kept still and let him finish. She felt better when he was done. Her arm throbbed a bit worse than it had been, but she was glad she did not have to worry about tearing them anymore. After she checked his hand and back and re-bandaged them they were off. They made little distance. He had to stop frequently to take off the pack. Her stitched were holding, but he could only bear so much pressure on his back at a time. But he wanted to keep moving, fearing a sudden storm at the top of the ridge, where it was already cold and unforgiving. He did not want to be trapped up here with as little gear as they had.

Two more days saw them begin their descent down the far side of the ridge towards the ocean. They could see the Pacific on the horizon, perhaps twenty mile away. So very close. The downhill was far easier on them. They made good time between the terrain and him healing. On the third morning, when they sat down to rest through the day, he told her to remove the stitches in his back. She nodded, but looked very nervous. Before taking his coat and shirt off, he took her hands in his and looked her in the eye.

"You can do this. It's easier than putting them in. And don't worry about hurting me. I can sit through this just fine. Okay?"

"Okay. I'll try to be easy." She said, more relaxed now.

She clipped each stitch first, the way he had done for her. She pulled them out carefully, taking pains not to jerk on them as she went. He sat through it silently, as still as a stone. When she finished his back she carefully wrapped a layer of gauze around his back and chest to help pad against the pack. When he had his shirt and jacket on again she moved to his hand. He was right handed, so his clumsy left hand would probably stumble through removing the four stitches and tear his right open again. She clipped the stitches and carefully removed them. When the last one was out of his palm, she kissed the healing hole gently, a display of affection that caught him by surprise. He ran his fingers across her cheek, a small smile on his face. She closed her eyes and smiled as well at his touch.

"I'm so sorry I shot you." She whispered.

"I'm not." He answered.

They laid their packs down next to each other as pillows and curled against each other in the growing light. Before, they had slept against each other for warmth against the chill of the mountain top. Now, it was warm enough that they did not have to, but did anyways. He loved the feel of her back against his chest, her feet crossed between his, the warm cloud of her hair against his face. She wiggled closer to him, feeling the security of his arm around her waist, holding her stomach, the heat of his body against her back. She felt like nothing could ever hurt them like this. She drifted off to sleep as he held her and watched around them. He would wake her in a couple of hours to watch, but for now he simply held her tight and let his senses attune to the edges of their silent little camp.

They went down the mountain, eventually reaching the long run of grass and small bushes that led to the sea. They saw no more demons, and met no people. They felt like they could be the only people on the planet. They were also aware that they were learning more about themselves as they went. It was strange, as though with proximity to the sea came knowledge about why they were there. They were only another night travel when they talked about it.

The sun was not yet rising, but the sky was definitely lightening when they sat. She looked at him awhile, smiling a bit.

"We've done this before." She said, not quite a question.

"Yes. Many times I think. I think, hmm, I think that maybe last time was very long ago though. That this time it took longer before we were here. I think we knew more about what was happening and more about ourselves last time as well. I think the longer it is between, the more we forget. I don't know if that is right, and I don't know if that good or bad."

"This time was the worst of people. I think it has been that before. But I also think that it has been an asteroid and a sunburst. Maybe other things. But it makes me sad when it is people. That I do know. That such horrible things can grow and feed on what people are doing to the point that the scale tips. I can barely stand it."

"I know. But it the nature of people that makes that possible. The very same nature that makes it possible for all the art and science and enlightenment that they also display. Both sides of the same coin." He answered, his face a mask of concentration.

"Yes. I don't like what they do to me, but I understand it is necessary for their development."

"Your name." He whispered, thinking hard. "Your name is Terra." He finally said.

"Yes. Yours is Ahura."

"Yes. Yes it is."

They looked at each other a long time, smiling yet sad. They knew with this knowledge came an end.

When Ahura woke he found Terra was gone. Her clothes were next to him, still in the position she had been laying in. He knew that she was gone, but still he smiled. He knew he had saved her again, that there would be another cycle, and that she would go on. He lay back down and waited for his turn to disappear.