By
Disclaimer: don’t own them sadly others do, never made a plug nickel off them either.
The road was empty. Not a soul was in sight as he walked along its side under the early morning sky. The rays of light just peaking over the lush tree line did little to cut through the chill that had settled deep in his bones. Ezra Standish was at complete loss as to exactly how he ended up there. Turning to look back at where he had come from.
What lay before him was a red hued sand covered land and instead of the moon two cloud covered planets large in the sky next to the rising sun. A loud rumbling off to the left caught his attention. The sand was churning up as something burrowed through ground beneath heading straight toward him.
What the…
A monstrous blue and yellow snake like creature exploded through the surface and flew over his head as he dove away, missing him by mere inches. He hit hard, though still flustered Standish wasn’t taking any chances crab crawled away.
More than a little confused Ezra knew full well panicking at this juncture would do no good so he reverted back to his mother’s training forcing himself to calm down.
Finally resting on a sandy crest only to be swallowed up by a vortex, wildly tumbling towards a brilliant light. A powerful force gripped him bodily stopping him just short of the soothing glow.
“Breathe!”
“God dammit!”
“Breathe!”
Cold, wet and numb Ezra’s eyes popped open to a hazy world. A crushing grip pulled hard into his mid section. A split second later he was spewing out a mouthful of bile and filth that spurned a ragged coughing fit that had him unable to properly draw in air. How long the bout lasted Ezra wasn’t sure, he sat wheezing soaked to the skin not truly understanding what exactly had happened. His brain couldn’t quite comprehend let alone hold on to these thoughts he tried but failed. Only able to muster up the reserves to stay somewhat upright and conscious while concentrating on steadily breathing occasionally letting out a sputtering cough as he weakly leaned into something warm.
It had taken a while but Ezra finally realized that not only was someone propping him up but also was holding him in a comforting embrace speaking softly to him, taking even longer to understand the soft words.
“That’s it… take it easy… you just remember to breathe Hoss…” The quiet soothing tones vibrated through the rough coat as the spent southerner leaned heavily into the other man.
“Buck?” Ezra questioned the reality of his friend’s presence there with him, his mind muddied and unsure of what had just transpired.
“Yep it’s me… you scared me.”
“Sorry…”
“It’s alright jist don’t do that again.”
“Mr. Wilmington…. Rest ass.. sured …I have no intention…. to repeat that…” Ezra tiredly agreed despite the fact he was still failed grasp the particulars in regard to the day’s events. The exhausted man gave in and drifted off before completing his thought.