WARNING: This story might contain shounen-ai/slash content. That means boys liking other boys, and I mean boys liking other boys. If that isn't your cup of tea, then don't read the story.

Okay, now on with the story!

Chapter1

        Van took off his shades as he walked around the town of Kalen. It was a small town, with small town people, just like every town he’d been to. He looked at them and envied their simple lives with their simple problems. He used to be like that...But that seemed like a long time ago. He put a cigarette to his mouth, lit it, and inhaled deeply. Yes, it was a very long time ago.

        Van entered the local inn of the town and was greeted by the innkeeper.

        “Good evening, sir. How can I help you?” asked the innkeeper in a fake cheerful voice as he walked into the local inn and up to the front desk.

        Van gave her a blank look, not liking the superficial tone of her voice and the stupid question he was asked. He took a long drag of his cigarette, exhaled and said, “A room.” Whether intentionally or unintentionally (most likely it was the former), he blew smoke in the woman’s face.

        “Of course sir,” the woman smiled, maintaining her phony cheerfulness, but Van could tell she was put off by him. “A room for one?”

        “What do you think?” Van asked her, not too kindly.

        “Uh-yes, of course,” the woman stuttered, probably bewildered from his behavior being so unusual from the normal townspeople. “How long are you planning to stay here?” tavern

        “Three days.” He handed her money and she gave him a room key.

        “Here you go. You have room nine.”

        Van took the key she held out, and without saying another word to her, he walked up the stairs leading to the rooms, putting out his cigarette on the railing of the staircase. When he entered his room, he slammed the door, dropped his bag, and collapsed on the bed. He was tired, in more than one way.

        Van brought another cigarette to his mouth and lit it. He watched as the smoke rose and disappeared before it reached the ceiling.

        It was always the same. He had been doing the same thing in every town he’d been to for almost six months. He’d go to the local inn of a town, stay there for a few days doing nothing and leave. It was all the same, but he kept on doing it. He knew this wasn’t the purpose of traveling, but he really didn’t give a damn. No one was there to tell him what to do and he could waste his time away if he damn well wanted to.

        Van smoked his second cigarette and watched as the ceiling changed from white to dark grey. It was getting dark, he noticed. He remained in bed, and didn’t bother to turn on the light. He watched as the room grew dark around him, the only source of light from his cigarette.

        He took the cigarette from his mouth and stared as the fire was slowly reaching the tip of it. He put it out on the night stand next to the bed.

        Another day wasted.

        “Good morning sir, how was your-“ was the innkeeper’s greeting, but was cut short as Van ignored her and walked out of the inn.

        Van scowled. He would have preferred to have stayed in the room, but this was a necessity. He was running out of food.

        A bell ringing was the signal that he had walked into the store that was this town’s main source of food. Not surprisingly, it was small and plain; just like the inn was. Just like everything else in this town.

        “Hello, sir, can I help you?” a teenaged boy, who looked to be a couple of years younger than he, said to him. He ignored the boy, just like what he did to the innkeeper, and walked toward the aisles of food. About fifteen minutes later, he had a basketful of food and put it on the counter. He said nothing and looked down at the counter as the boy started to cash the food. He was aware that the boy had been staring at him ever since he walked in the store. He knew what the boy was going to ask. He always knew whenever people stared at him like that.

        “Excuse me, but are you Va--“

        “No,” Van answered. It wasn’t a lie, not really. He wasn’t the Van Flyheight everyone knew and loved. He hadn’t been for a while. Or he probably never was.

        “Oh, sorry,” the boy said. “You really do look like him, you know. You even have his hair.” Van’s eyes remained glued to the counter as the boy began to speak his praises about him. “I saw him on TV about two years ago. It was right after he beat that Deathsaurer. Everybody in this town talked about it for months. He must be the best Zoid pilot there is to have beaten that Deathsaurer TWICE. It must be so cool to be him,” the kid said in a voice filled with awe.

        “I doubt it, kid,” Van said softly.

        “What was that?” the boy asked.

        “How much do I owe you?”

        “Um, right, that’s $20.45,” the boy said, staring at him suspiciously.

        Van took the food and was just about to leave when the boy spoke, “I won’t tell anyone you’re here. If that’s why you lied about who you were.”

        Van froze for a couple of seconds, then left without saying a word. He scowled as he was walking toward the inn. That boy was just trying to get on his good side. That kid probably called all his friends right after he left.

        “I should leave,” he muttered to himself.

        He looked around him and narrowed his eyes. He saw that people were staring at him and whispering. “News travels fast,” he thought. “Damn kid. I almost believed him.”

        The moment he walked into the inn, people who saw him immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Whenever he looked at one of them, they looked away. None of them were brave enough to come up to him. His scowl remained firmly in place as he began walking (or rather, stomping) up the stairs leading to his room. Everybody could talk behind his back, but no one had the balls to say anything in front of him. He hated people like that.

        He slammed his door and packed the few things he had. He was leaving. He couldn’t stay in this excuse of a town any longer. He gave a little growl as he thought of the people looking at him. They were all the same: in every town, that’s how they acted around him.

        He opened the window and without a second thought, he grabbed his bag and jumped out of the second story window, landing effortlessly on the ground. It was better that he left like this. He would have attracted too much attention if he left through the front door in plain sight, which was the last thing he wanted. Plus, people would know which direction he headed...

        *He went to one of the back roads of the small town, which were usually deserted, and went up to a jeep parked behind a clothing store on the edge of the small town. He knew now to hide the way he came into towns, lest anyone decided to follow him. He learned that lesson months ago when curious villagers did just that. He opened the door, threw his bag in and drove off, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

        “They’re fucking idiots; all of them,” he muttered to himself. He decided that he had enough. He would be staying away from towns and people for a while. He turned left, not wanting to go straight, since that led to another town. The direction he was headed had no civilization for three days of driving. Just the way he wanted it.

        He drove for two days, stopping for hours at a time to rest, eat, or when he just didn’t feel like driving. If he stopped less frequently he would have reached Sky Colony, the nearest city, by now. But he was in no hurry.

        The scenery hardly changed; it was flat as far as the eyes could see, save for a few trees here and there and mountains in the distance. That was why he was surprised when he saw a small dark lump to the far left of him on his second day of driving. He paid little attention to it at first, thinking it wasn’t worth his time investigating any further. But as he got closer to the object, it started to take on a more human shape, and it was lying on the ground. When he realized this, he made a beeline straight for it.

        “Hey, are you all right?” he called as he drove up to the person. He got out of the jeep and ran up to the person. He stopped in mid-step as he got a closer look at whom the person was.

        “Raven.”

to be continued...

Author's note:How was it for my first Zoids story? You can tell me by clicking the "submit review" link below.