Hawk's Fight with Buck

(Alternative Scene from "Time of the Hawk")

by

Teresa Spanics

Chapter Three

Hawk was exhausted, and though he knew he would have to start digging Koori's grave, he also knew it was almost nightfall and he feared not giving Koori a proper burial.  Instead, he carried Koori's body to where the statue of Make-Make stood and laid her down beside it.  Hawk made another nest in front of the statue and also made sure Koori's cloak was wrapped firmly around her before laying her in it.  

Kneeling in front of his people's god, Hawk looked up at Make-Make and hoped his god would hear his plea.  "Make-Make, I had vowed to kill humans in retribution for my people's deaths.  I have done so.  Now ...now, I ask for one thing ... in return.  I ask ... for death.  My mate is gone.  I ... I can't ... live without her.  Please ... let me die."

Hawk bowed his head.  He could only hope that Make-Make would answer his plea in his dreams.  There was nothing else Hawk could do except lay down beside Koori and rest.  Hawk laid down and gently cuddled Koori's body to his.  It would be another long night for him, a long, lonely night.

Buck had watched Hawk from a distance.  From where he was, he could see what had been a thriving community.  Buck could only guess at the way of life that Hawk and his people had led before humans had come in and destroyed everything and everyone.

The level of destruction looked more and more like a group of vandals had come in and destroyed everything just for the sake of destroying and for cruel fun.  That innocents had been here made it all the more horrifying.  He had found a mass burial site and guessed that it had to be Hawk's people buried there.  The varying lengths of the graves could only give a suggestion of the varying ages of each individual inside.   Whoever had been responsible for the deaths of Hawk's people, they had spared no one, neither young nor old.   Only Hawk and Koori had been left alive.

Buck had made another camp close enough to keep an eye on Hawk, but again far enough away to avoid a confrontation.  The next day, he knew that the both of them would have to meet again.  Buck feared that if he did not bring Hawk in soon, the Galactic Court would send someone else to get Hawk, and that person would not understand the reason behind Hawk's actions.

It became clear to Buck why Hawk felt and acted the way he did.  As far as Hawk was concerned, humans cared for no one and nothing else but themselves, and the mass grave was proof of that.

The sun had not yet risen when Hawk woke up.  The cold light of dawn matched the coldness Hawk was feeling in his heart.  The time to say goodbye to Koori had come, but Hawk could not force himself to get up.  There had been no dreams last night.  His god, Make-Make, had not yet answered his prayer.  Hawk stayed where he was beside Koori, hoping that he would fall back to sleep and the answer to his prayer would come to him. 

The first rays of the morning sun shone over the cliffs and fell on the statue of Make-Make and the two bird people.  Hawk looked at the rising sun and realized that there was no denying his duty to his dead beloved.  A shuddering sob shook Hawk as he got to his knees and gently scooped up Koori's body.  Slowly and carefully, Hawk carried Koori to the burial site of their people where they both had worked together to bury their dead. 

Hawk had used Warhawk's talons, his ship, to dig the mass grave before he and Koori carried each body into the pit.  Standing near the site, Hawk's painful memories were of the days it took to bury all their friends and family members, and now another searing memory was to be added to the site.  A memory of grief, guilt and heartbreaking loss.

Placing Koori to one side and putting his gloves on, Hawk began digging Koori's grave with his hands.  The ground was already loose as it was only a month before when the mass grave was dug.  Once the shallow grave was finished, Hawk gathered ferns for Koori's body to rest on.  Then gently, Hawk picked up Koori and lowered her into her grave.  Once she was inside, Hawk made sure that Koori's cloak was wrapped around her and she was surrounded by soft ferns.

Kneeling by the grave, Hawk removed his gloves and, with tears running down his face, held Koori's head gently between his hands.  The time he first met Koori came to him as did the day when he asked her to be his mate.  Their passionate wedding night when they both declared their love for one another and fell asleep in each others arms in the Soaring Place where all new mates go to bond for life.  Pain filled him as the last words Koori said to him before dying came back.

Hawk kissed Koori on the lips and told her, "I'll be soon with you, my love."

Gently covering up her face with a corner of her cloak, Hawk put his gloves back on and gathered the rocks that had been piled up nearby and began placing them carefully over Koori's body.  Once the last one was in place, Hawk began creating two markers with Koori's name and his name on each. With the markers complete and after wiping his eyes, Hawk placed Koori's behind her head and his next to it and sat back on his knees.

Buck walked up quietly and stood at what he hoped was a respectful distance.  It had taken a lot of effort just to walk up to the birdman.  Buck had watched Hawk as he buried Koori and wondered just how he would take him in. Taking a deep breath, Buck was about to tell him that he would come with him when Hawk spoke.

"At least you had the decency to let me bury my mate, Koori," said Hawk as he got to his feet and turned to face Buck, "You and me have unfinished business, human."

Hawk had thought he had seen and heard someone following him back to the Valley of Eagles.  He suspected that it had to be Captain Buck Rogers for there was no one else that would dare come after him.  Of course, Hawk knew why.  The human planned to take him back with him to face the humans' 'Galactic Court'.  Hawk felt no remorse for the killing of humans for he had done it in retribution for the mass murder of his people.