Jean woke up by hearing a gasp, a thud, and a groan of pain. He was still in a slumped sitting position from the night before when he was trying to help the other two people regenerate.
I must have fallen asleep just a bit after my Bone Growth ability ranked up to 3. Now I guess it’s time to socialize. Jean thought with droopy thoughts.
Light shone through some roots to give Jean enough light to see the sleeping guy, still leaning against a crystal, which lost its glow from the night before. And next to him was a girl. She was staring at him while she was holding her forehead.
“Who’re you?” She asked with a raspy voice.
“I’m the guy who saved you and dragged you to this tree. My name is Jean.” he said, holding out his hand to shake.
She looked at the hand but didn’t reach for it. “Where…” As she asked she started to panic and felt at her upper chest, landing on the wound. There was still a bit of cloud filling the hole, but the wound was nearing closure. She looked down at it and started to scratch at the cloud bandage while freaking out.
“Stop!” Jean yelled. “It’s just cloud filling the space while your wound finishes healing!”
She slowed down and stopped her panic. “You did this to me?” she asked.
“Yeah. I could only repair the bone, give you a potion, and try to seal the wound. I can’t actually heal. But I think I still saved your life.”
“Thanks…” She said shyly, “Is Freddy ok?” Looking past Jean at the other guy.
“He should be. He was mostly healed when I found him. I still gave him a potion, but he already had that crystal. It was giving off healing earlier.” Jean explained. “Can I ask a question?”
She nodded.
“What’s your name? Are you from San Bernardino?”
Her eyes widened. “You’re one of the other outworlders? You! You were the one who stopped to fight the zombie!” She shifted around to sit up without hitting her head. She winced as she flexed around her injury. “I’m Galadriel. Thanks for saving us.”
Jean tried again and put his hand out to shake. “It was my pleasure. Actually, it wasn’t really pleasurable. I had to dig bone shatters out of your chest.”
“Oh…That’s awful.” She said while readjusting her clothes to cover the cloud bandage.
“About that. Why don’t you have lungs or a heart?” Jean asked sheepishly.
“Oh, nobody told you?” Galadriel asked. “You don’t have most organs either. But before we get into that, did you see anyone else? There was a bronze rank priest of purity. His name is Dominic.”
Jean refused to believe that he didn’t have organs, but he was thrown by the question. “I.. umm, I only saw a body. I don’t know if he was whom you are talking about, but there is a purity priest out there a couple of hundred yards away. He had the same heart-piercied wound as you two.”
Jean couldn’t look at Galadriel. He saw the hope in her eyes a second ago. He must have been a friend.
It was quiet for a few seconds before Galadriel gestured to Freddy and said, “Can you wake him up? He needs to be a part of this conversation.”
Trying to fill the request, Jean put a hand on Freddy’s shoulder and gave him a little shake. He didn’t wake up. Jean bent around the guy and let him lean back off of the crystal. He was breathing and Jean could sense his aura. He was stable, but not waking up.
“Freddy! Fire!” Galadriel screamed at a ridiculous volume.
In a panic, Freddy woke up and tried to scramble back in between some roots. He realized after a second that there wasn’t a fire, just the firey hot mess of Galadriel… and a stranger.
“Gabs… who’s this?” Freddy said while still crammed into a corner, looking between the two.
“He’s the one who saved our lives - His words, not mine, and he is the other outworlder who fought the zombie while we ran. But Freddy,” Galadriel paused. “Dominic didn’t make it.”
Freddy just looked at Galadriel, and tears started to stream out of his eyes. He blinked and tried to wipe them away, but he kept looking at Galadriel. Freddy said with a soft voice, “We did this.”
Galadriel looked resolved more than sad, then she responded with, “I know.”
She turned to Jean. “We have been information-isolated. Can you help us fill in some holes?”
“Sure. I have had a couple of mentors over the last eight days. They haven’t taught me a whole bunch about the world or anything, but they have been well-meaning. What do you need to know? Then, I want to hear your guys’ story.” Jean said.
“Well, all we really know is that we are in a new world, we are now a species Outworlder. There is magic in this world, and our souls pair with magical essences. There are gods and the church of purity has a special interest in Outworlders. And I’m pretty sure the church of purity is full of liars, which is why I’m not sure of anything I’m saying right now.” Galadriel explained.
Freddy interrupted with a stuffy nose, “We have been detained by the purity church since day one. They basically just tried to win us over with bribes of magic powers, but they made us use purity essences before we were allowed to eat and made us pick out an essence set that first day claiming that they didn’t have food. Then they just questioned us for the last week until we escaped last night with the help of one of the nice guys in the purity church. That was Dominic…”
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Things got quiet again, so Jean figured it was his turn. “I basically just scrambled in the wild to get my essences, until I was rescued by my now-friend Gabe. He took me to the City in the Sky, and then they started to train and equip me for The Trek - That’s like this world's rite of passage to get stronger or die trying. I’m not sure why everyone needs to, but that’s what the good people have told me is best.”
“So why are you back in the forest?” Galadriel interjected.
She seems like the skeptical type. Jean thought.
“Well, I was searching for a familiar buddy.” Jean looked around and then looked up into the trunk of the tree and smiled. “Hey Ranger, come here!” Jean shouted.
A moment later a drift of ash flowed in and materialized on Jean’s lap as an amber squirrel with a bone harness. Jean bent his head down to make eye contact with the little girl and scratched her back. “This is my new friend Ranger! And I’ve also got a Screech Echo familiar in my aura right now, but he’s a little much to meet.”
Ranger jumped onto Freddy’s lap and curled up. Freddy hesitantly put his hand on the rodent and started to pet it.
“That little one right there is the one who guided me to you guys in the first place. That’s why I named her Rescue Ranger.” Jean said with a childish grin.
Galadriel looked at the creature and said, “You’ve definitely had a better time here than us. The only good part of coming here is that we don't have type one diabetes anymore.”
“We?” Jean asked looking at Freddy while ignoring Galadriel’s assumption of him having a better time than them.
“Yeah, we have been friends since we were kids. We met at an insulin therapy clinic in San Bernardino when we were seven.” Freddy explained. “But now that we’ve got new bodies made of magic, it’s not a thing anymore.” He had a grin that showed that he was still thinking about the friend that got killed.
“Congrats then? I guess I had melanoma when I came here, but I had no idea. It only got cured when I got a purity essence though and became immune to mundane disease. So what’s this about new bodies and no lungs?” Jean finally got a chance to ask.
“You have a purity essence too?” Gabriel questioned.
“Yeah, it wasn’t forced on me, but a purity priest almost killed me, and then gave that to me instead. I still don’t know what to think about that whole situation.” Jean explained
“I dunno about the priest situation, but I have a theory about you still having cancer with a fresh body. Well, you know how you appeared naked and without hair at the start of things?” Galadriel said while looking at his stubble for hair.
“Yeah…”
“Well, you were that way because your body was completely destroyed and remade in the deep astral based on your soul. At least that’s what the Church of Purity said. My guess is that cancer is different from other sicknesses because it’s technically part of who you are.” Galadriel postulated, then continued, “The weird part is that as a magical creation, you don’t have the same internal processes as before. And supposedly, everyone who is silver or gold rank would have a similar body to us: Just skin, meat, and bone.”
“That’s how you guys survived a stab to the heart!” Jean interrupted. “And that’s why Dominic didn’t…” He trailed off.
“Yes. That sounds right. It’s just good that that stone squid was smart enough to kill us with one strike to the heart and didn’t want to eat us.” Galadriel said.
“So it was a stone squid? It was probably a gold-rank monster. That’s basically all that manifests around here.” Jean assumed.
Galadriel lifted her head a bit. “That’s why we need to get stronger, fast. Do you know how to get back to your base or city?”
Jean shrugged, “Not really, but my friend is going to pick me up sometime today. We are going to be going straight to North Tips today, wherever that is. Want me to ask if we can take you guys?”
“Could you take us?” Galadriel asked, “A City in the Sky sounds far, and we are just trying to get away from the Church of Purity before they try to find us and use us for their schemes.”
“Yeah. And I bet that Gabe wouldn’t mind. He’s kinda wild, but he’s got a good heart.” Jean said.
Freddy finally looked up from petting Ranger, clearly stuck in his head. “I don’t know if I can trust anyone too soon. Not even you. I don’t even know your name.”
“Jean.” He said while nodding in understanding, “Trust is going to be a hard thing in this world. Also, while I’m thinking about it, don’t tell anyone that you are an outworlder. There is some serious prejudice against us. I’m not sure why yet, but I’ve gotten warned a lot and been hit a few times because of it.”
“Nice to meet you, Jean. And thank you for the potion last night.” Freddy said while holding his wound. “I think I still need to heal up though.”
Freddy positioned himself a little bit and closed his eyes. A moment later, the crystal next to him grew out of the ground a little more and started to radiate healing energy.
The two simultaneously signed a sign of relief as the healing power washed over them.
“I’m going to give you guys a bit of time. I’m going to do some light training and get out from underneath this tree. If you need anything from me just yell for me. And if you hear a terrifying screeching, it's fine. I just need to introduce my familiars to one another.” Jean said. Once he saw their nods of consent he crawled out of the hidy hole, knees on the soft cloud bed.
Once Jean was out from under the tree he could appreciate the morning sun and breeze. He started the combat forms that Tigris taught him, and fifteen minutes later he decided that it was time to work with the Screech Echo. He mentally nudged the familiar out.
The comfortable feeling of not being alone left Jean as the echo creature blipped in front of him.
“Hey friend, I want to work on teaching you to talk. Then, I wanna introduce you to another friend, maybe three new friends.” Jean said as cheerfully as he could.
“KEEECH” The echo screeched.
Jean did his best to not cringe and cover his ears because he wanted the little guy to feel open to trying to talk. So Jean started the grueling process of teaching someone a new language.
Jean tried to explain “Yes,” while nodding, “no” while shaking his head.
But the closest thing the echo could manage was a screech like, “YEECH,” and “NEECH.”
But soon enough Galadriel came out holding her wound, yelling, “What in the world is going on here!”
“We are working on learning how to speak! It’ll just take some time.” Jean said defending the echo.
Galadriel rubbed at her temples and looked at the echo and reached out her hand to shake. “Grab my hand, it’s how we meet each other.”
The echo teleported in front of Galadriel which made her stumble backward before she looked at Jean to see if things were ok. Jean gave an encouraging nod and Galadriel continued with greeting the echo.
She said, “My name is Galadriel Skywalker. What’s your name?”
The echo blipped its hand into hers while blaring out an outrageously loud noise.
Galadriel pulled back her hand shaking it and looked at Jean, “It feels like I was using a jackhammer!”
“Wierd. That must be his combat ability. Resonating force damage?” Jean walked up to the echo and touched it. “Yeah, I don’t feel anything.”
“So his name is a screech?” Galadriel asked.
“No. I just haven’t picked one out for him yet.” Jean answered.
Freddy shouted out from the roots, “how about Too Loud?”
Jean yelled back, “He’s just a baby, and he doesn’t know any better!” Then he looked at Galadriel, “I want to give him a name that he could grow into. Any ideas?”
“How about Steve? That’s just about the most adult name that I can think of.” She responded.
“Hmm, what do you think? Do you like Steve?” Jean asked the echo.
The echo blipped back into Jean.
“I think he likes it. Steve it is for now then.” Jean said, satisfied.